Tim Keller was recently featured as one of the headliners at this year’s Leadership Summit put on by Willow Creek.

Some of the other speakers on the list are favorites of mine too including Jessica Jackley (the best $25 you’ll spend this year if you try out Kiva.org), Dave Gibbons (Monkey and the Fish and if you’re ever in southern CA, you must visit New Song Church) and Chip and Dan Heath (awesome book! Made to Stick from the moment you see the book cover jacket in person you’ll understand why).

But back to Dr. Keller. . . (more…)

What if I said, I can give you front row access to the following ministry leaders’ and pastors’ teaching:

• Scott Williams (www.LifeChurch.tv)
• Perry Noble (New Spring Church)
• Dan Kimball (Vintage Faith Church)
• Nancy Beach (Willow Creek Church)
• Leonard Sweet (Author/Futurist)
• Mark Batterson (National Community Church)
• Reggie McNeal (Leadership Network)
• Ed Stetzer (Lifeway Research)
  
• Dave Ferguson (Community Christian Church)
• Alan Hirsch (Forge Mission Training Network)

Well, the truth is, you can have access to their priceless content and much more actually.

At what price?  How about: $FREE?

I just registered and you should too .  .  . (more…)

Every summer, I try to do something I call “evergreening.”

It’s all about tending to the soil.  Clearing a path.  Planting new seeds.  There may be no immediate visible gain. What is happening? It’s investing in something worthwhile — renewing ourselves for the future.

With this in mind, our family tries to incorporates visits to new churches or conferences into our summer vacations.  It gives us a fresh perspective, a wake-up call and allows us to take a breather to “reset” ourselves.

Last year, we visited New Song, North Coast Church, and some others great ministries in southern California.  And back on the east coast, our whole family renewed our spirit at the JAMA conference in Philly.

This year: Wave Church in Virginia Beach.  As an added bonus, we found out that they are hosting the Wave Conference and one of my favorite pastors will be there too, Pastor Ed Young:

Check out the Wave Conference Center — part of the church’s facilities where the conference will be held!

I’m excited.

What about you?  What are you doing this summer to clear the path, plant new seeds and refresh your outlook for the future?

How many times have you visited websites (not just limited to church websites) where it is just a brochure put up on the web?

We all know this is NOT the best use of websites.

Although websites can be static and linear, it doesn’t mean they can’t also be dynamic and tell a story.

Here’s one of the best Christian websites I have seen that tells the gospel story on the web.

Read this before you die. . .

No really, that’s the website address: ReadThisBeforeYouDie.com

Immediately from just the website URL, you can tell this site is different.  From the time you are typing in the URL, you are brought into the story.

Check it out for yourself and let me know why this site is so “alive” and forwardworthy?

What other Christian websites out there are worthy to be included in this category?

“Christ-Centered” is one of the most casually used buzzwords in the Christian “industry” — we toss it around because it makes us seem so pious. so mature. so right.

The truth is it is over-used because it is so safe.

If you pause to consider the implications, it becomes dangerous, atomic, even nuclear.

What do I mean by this?

Read this text below if you want to know what I mean when I say “Christ-Centered” . . . after understanding what is laid out in plain old English, you may not be so flippant ever again in using the phrase going forward. . . (more…)

I recently wrote about this historic and officially government-mandated day today.

And it’s finally here! The National Day of Prayer, set as the 1st Thursday every May, is today when the nation prays together.

Last year, approximately 2 million people gathered across the country to pray as a collective group.

President Obama signed an official proclamation for today.

. . .NOW, THEREFORE, I, BARACK OBAMA, President of the United States of America, do hereby proclaim May 7, 2009, as a National Day of Prayer. I call upon Americans to pray in thanksgiving for our freedoms and blessings and to ask for God’s continued guidance, grace, and protection for this land that we love.

Today, The National Day of Prayer Task Force actually criticized President Obama for (more…)

66 percent of young adults are searching for meaning and purpose in their lives.

And 62 percent considered themselves “spiritual” although almost  80 percent said they never attend church, or only attend once in a while.

The normal reaction would be to try and usher these young adults looking for meaning to the front door of their local church.

But United Methodist Church is doing the opposite.  They are promoting the back door into the church.

The UMC is launching a $20 million campaign this month to try and connect that desire for purpose and actual outlets to make a difference in a person’s circle of influence.

Through their PR, events and a television ad campaign, they are pushing the 18-34 year olds to the 10,000 doors website which is a portal for social gospel and other volunteer oppportunities worldwide (complete with a Google Maps mashup to visually find projects in your neighborhood). (more…)

The constantly nagging question for the Church is where should it focus and what are the measures for success?

The old model has clearly been the ABC model for doing Church: How large is your attendance?  Are you building out the physical plant of your church? Are you drawing people into your buildings?  Are you creating ministries and programs that reinforce your church as the fundamental epicenter?  How are you attracting people to your church? And are people giving out of their wallets? Tithing? Sacrificing for the offering plates?

The big trap is when the Church- literally – is the focus, purpose and intention of the ministry.

Let’s make sure we’re packing the pews the more people!  Is this program or that program supporting our objective to position the church (its vibrant programs and ministries!) as the center of attention and focal point of the community?  Are we successfully teaching people to empty their wallets into the offering plate so that we can plan more programs?

But some are arguing for a new old model.  Leonard Sweet’s latest text, frames what the body of Christ was called to do within a simple, yet beautiful M-R-I model.

The intro chapter of So Beautiful: Divine Design for Life and the Church gives a taste of Sweet’s message. . . (more…)

Easter 2009 was significant for the Church in more ways than one.

Are you keeping your eyes open?  It’s happening right in front of our eyes.  The Church (with a capital “C”) is engaging culture in the most proactive way.

If you’re taking note about what’s happening in our culture today, you’ll see the frenzy for connecting with each other online.

Twitter, Facebook and all the developments in social media is really changing how we relate to each other and live.  Heck, even Oprah has hopped on the bandwagon with thousands of official Twitter followers — even before she sent out her first tweet.  On Friday morning, before the Oprah show broadcast where she’ll tweet for the first time, all live, she literally had almost 100,000 official followers.  Some Twitterati have over 1 million syndicated followers -  just hungry for 140-character messages from the soon-to-be digital-culture leaders just like Oprah has done in other media arenas.

Celebrities aren’t alone in using the latest tech social structures to wield their influence.  (more…)