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"In a business, a leader is trying to get people to do what they don't want to do, and in ministry the leader is trying to get people to become what God wants them to be." -- Jeff Manion, Senior Pastor of Ada Bible Church (in interview with one of my Church Leadership Class students)

Delivering a "canned" sermon from the internet is like serving Spam for Thanksgiving. Not too appetizing -- but I suppose if you can't cook, it beats starvation. (On a Positive note -- over 1500 pastors recently signed a No Spam Sermons pledge -- I was glad to join 'em!)

In a recent speech at the Asian Society of Missiology Conference, Dr. Ralph Winter, the guru of evangelical mission efforts, recently made the following observations -- 12 Mistakes Western Mission Agencies Make: 1. The Mistake of Starting Bible Schools, Not Universities 2. The Mistake of Only “Salvation in Heaven,” not “Kingdom on Earth” 3. The Mistake of Congregations Sending Missionaries, Not Using Mission Agencies 4. The Mistake of Whole Congregations in Direct Involvement, Not Professional Missions. 5. The Mistake of Insisting that Devout Followers of Jesus Call Themselves “Christians” and Identify with the Western Church 6. The Mistake of Sending Only Money, Not Missionaries 7. The Mistake of Sending Short-Termers, Not Long-Termers 8. The Mistake of Not Understanding Business in Mission and Mission in Business 9. The Mistake of Healing the Sick, Not Eradicating Disease Germs 10. The Mistake of Thinking “Peace” Not “War” 11. The Mistake of Assuming Science Is a Foe Not a Friend 12...

Studied Ancient Egypt today with the Kids -- including the public unveiling of King Tut -- the history timeline -- Hieroglyphics (write your name here) -- and we toured a pyramid. (I told them how I actually toured the passageways of one of the pyramids of Giza a few years ago, and they were somewhat impressed.) Then, I sang Steve Martin's "King Tut" for them. (King Tut -- buried in his jammies, O King Tut -- should have won a grammy. Born in Babylona -- Moved to Arizona -- O King Tut) They rolled their eyes. Fortunately, it started snowing and that saved the day.

We were honored to have Dr. Jim Dunn, General Director of Spiritual Formation for the Wesleyan Church, to speak at our church yesterday. He did a fantastic job -- and really blessed the people (although I took some good natured ribbing -- "You only work one day a week, and now you bring in a ringer for that??") In the afternoon, Jim and the team from the Spiritual Formation Department (Colleen and Steve) conducted training for our teachers at the Spooner Wesleyan Church. It started as the Packers trailing the Chiefs by six points with less than four minutes left in the game. I snuck back to the vehicle and listened to Favre lead the Packers back for the victory! I don't know what that says about my spiritual formation -- but it was fun. In his talk, Jim shared a lot of good insights -- but I was especially intrigued by his "5 Things People Want to Know About Your Church." 1. Do I fit here? This is a question of acceptance. 2. Does anybody want to know me? This...

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