What Makes Changing Your Mind So Hard?
How many times have you made a point to someone and they responded by telling you they were wrong? That you had convinced them to change their mind? Rare to never. Changing your mind takes time. Changing someone’s mind isn’t always a realistic goal. When we make it our goal we often resort to unsavory […]
The Wisdom of Making Complex Things Simple
Once you have read 5000 pages on the meaning of the gospel it is really easy to have a concept of the Gospel that is not easy to state in a simple manner much less share in a way others can share it. I cannot stress the importance of study nearly enough. Study is essential […]
Listening
It is impossible to listen… you don’t have any questions while you are talking while you are thinking up your next response while the other person is still talking if the other person doesn’t have your full attention while you don’t actually read their words or hear all their words…skimming a comment or 50 comments […]
Being Direct
Every eldership I have ever worked with I have told up front that I will trust them and that I expect for them to tell me anything I would need to know including any criticism that they are directing toward me. This is a very important thing to establish in any important relationship. Often we […]
“I Know you are Busy, But…”
isn’t the most productive way to start a conversation. If something is worth asking someone to drop something else they are doing to do what you need them to do then you don’t need to start by making excuses for them before they have a chance to make them for themselves. While a sensitive and […]
Everything Communicates
Communication is unavoidable…in fact, if you try to avoid communicating that in and of itself communicates something to those who notice your behavior. If people can tell you care – that communicates. If people can tell that you don’t care – that communicates. If a ministry is running smoothly – that communicates. If a ministry […]
Preaching Into a Meaningful Whole: Connecting Sermon with the Rest of Worship
The sermon is never complete until the last word is said and people stand and sing. No matter how much I prepare, study, and wrestle over what needs to be said or how to say it…the sermon is never done until it is done. In order to make the sermon fit better into the rest […]
Church and Communication
There are many ways to communicate. Sometimes we communicate intentionally. We have a message and we explain that message. We can also communicate by accident. There are things people think we are saying that we aren’t. This can happen due to lack of communication – because we didn’t say anything people make assumptions and end […]
Sending Mixed Signals
Look at this picture and see if you see anything strange about it. We took this picture on the way home this evening. Two signs are one way street signs going to the right. There is a don’t turn left sign to help you avoid going the wrong way down a one-way street and then […]
God Uses Our Failures
I realized on Sunday that someone told me something earlier in the week that I was supposed to pass along. I forgot to say anything about it and I felt really bad about it. So I sent an apology email to my elders letting them know what happened and that I was the guy who […]