i had a thought today:
i want my preaching to be as biographical as it is instructional (if not more).
i want my preaching to not just show people what to do but, through my preaching, to really be painting a vivid, accurate, overwhelmingly compelling picture of God. i want my preaching to show people the character and nature of God as much, if not more, than it gives them practical ways to live their life.
matt chandler makes a very good point about the "de-churched" (i.e. people who grew up in church and left). he says that the primary reason they bail on the church is because they weren't being taught the character and nature of God, only pragmatism and behavior modification. he says that their theology is based on this idea: "if i do certain things or abstain from certain things, i will have God's favor." so inevitably, they face tragedy or some situation that totally shakes their faith and they roll out.
i think that's so true and i'm hoping that each sermon of mine would be a brushstroke, painting a clearer and clearer picture of God for the people listening, so that, over time, they would really have an accurate understanding of who God is and live in response to that.
Friday, October 16, 2009
Monday, October 5, 2009
an objective for every meeting
i was reading an article on planning effective meetings and one very basic statement jumped out at me. the author said "every meeting should have a written objective and a written agenda."
i think most of us agree with the agenda part but clarifying (and writing down) the OBJECTIVE is so critical. how many meetings have you planned or simply attended where you had no idea what you were trying to accomplish? you've met, you've talked, you've given updates, but it doesn't lead to any particular conclusion or goal.
i've been challenging myself lately to be much more intentional with my meetings. i'm heading out of town for vacation this week. so yesterday, the written objective for a short meeting with my team was "to make decisions on things that would require my input while i'm gone." clarifying that objective ahead of time was SO HELPFUL! it helped me keep us focused on specific issues that might come up this week instead of drifting into the many other things that, while important, don't require a decision this week.
hopefully instead of more meetings, we can all have more effective meetings.
i think most of us agree with the agenda part but clarifying (and writing down) the OBJECTIVE is so critical. how many meetings have you planned or simply attended where you had no idea what you were trying to accomplish? you've met, you've talked, you've given updates, but it doesn't lead to any particular conclusion or goal.
i've been challenging myself lately to be much more intentional with my meetings. i'm heading out of town for vacation this week. so yesterday, the written objective for a short meeting with my team was "to make decisions on things that would require my input while i'm gone." clarifying that objective ahead of time was SO HELPFUL! it helped me keep us focused on specific issues that might come up this week instead of drifting into the many other things that, while important, don't require a decision this week.
hopefully instead of more meetings, we can all have more effective meetings.
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