Mike King

Ed Dobson returns to Youthfront

Ed Dobson will be at Youthfront on Monday morning, November 9th from 10:00 to 12:00 speaking to youth workers, pastors and ministry leaders.  If you fit in that category e-mail me and I will let you know more details.  There is no cost for this event. 

It has been more than two dozen years since Ed Dobson has come to Youthfront.  He was a frequent speaker at our camps and other events.  Ed Dobson was instrumental in getting me to do a M.A. at Liberty University back in the mid-eighties.  We both later became disillusioned with fundamentalism and the agenda of the Religious Right.  Ed became pastor of Calvary Church in Grand Rapids, Michigan.  Ed was also instrumental in planting Mars Hill led by his youth pastor Rob Bell.  Ed also has Lou Gehrig's Disease and has made his story all the more compelling.

Ed serves as an advisory editor for Christianity Today and consulting editor for Leadership. He was named "Pastor of the Year" by Moody Bible Institute in 1993.  Ed has been featured recently in USA Today, Good Morning America, plus many other national media outlets. Ed, inspired by A.J. Jacob's book The Year of Living Biblically, just completed The Year of Living Like Jesus.

Watch Ed Dobson discuss his book The Year of Living Like Jesus on Good Morning America.

 

Amazing post from Seth Godin

Very interesting post here by Seth Godin.

Are you hunkering down or dreaming during the day?

I've become a fan of Roy Williams, not former KU basketball coach and current UNC basketball (although he's alright), I'm talking about marketing guru Roy Williams.  Every Monday he sends out a memo.  He tends to inspire me with his view of the world.  Here are some of his thoughts today...

"All men dream, but not equally. Those who dream by night in the dusty recesses of their minds  wake in the day to find that it was vanity: but the dreamers of the day are dangerous men, for they may act their dream with open eyes, to make it possible." – T. E. Lawrence (of Arabia)

Hunker down or dream. It's your call.

The 7 Steps to Hunkering Down:
1. Stay scared. Call it "street smart."
2. Cultivate cynicism. Call it "straight talk."
3. Praise pessimism. Call it a "reality check."
4. Believe you are wiser than everyone else.
5. Feel secretly superior.
6. Take no action that might improve your condition.
7. Crow "I told you so" when things get worse.

The 7 Steps to Pursuing Your Dream:
1. Know what you're trying to make happen.
2. Expect good things to happen for you.
3. Plant seeds of good things daily.
4. Trust that some of your seeds will grow.
5. Measure success by your own criteria.
6. Make progress daily without fail.
7. Believe in the power of the Elbs. (Exponential Little Bits)

Christian Vision Project

The Christian Vision Project Web Site contains some helpful, informative and thought-provoking articles written by creative Christian thinkers—pastors (including Tim Keel), scholars, artists, and activists—who are all asked one important question. In the year 2006 the question focused on Culture, in 2007 it was Mission and in 2008 the question focused on Gospel.  The articles are featured in Christianity Today, Books & Culture, and Leadership.  But they are all linked to from the Christian Vision Project Web Site.  Check it out here.

Grounded Leadership

Something that has settled deep into my heart, mind and soul over the last three months is the issue of being grounded and true to yourself.  In A Failure of Nerve, Friedmann argues that leaders must be self-differentiated from those whom they lead and from their organizations, churches, institutions, etc.  Leaders must know who they are and not be tossed about by waves of public opinion, the latest trends, or the last conversation or book that one reads.  A leader must be able to decide even when the decision will not be popular.  In our culture, strong leadership will result in sabotage.  Friedmann insists that we should expect it.  The only way to survive the challenge of leading in the day and age in which we live is to have clarity around your vocation (calling).  A leader needs to focus on a their own well-being, spirituality, life and presence.  Our churches, families, organizations, youth ministries need leaders who are a "non-anxious presence" in their environments.  The first commitment of a leader to those she/he leads is to care for their own life.  Spiritual leaders must nurture their souls.  Friedmann writes, "I am convinced that to the extent leaders of any family or institution are willing to make a lifetime commitment to their own continual self-regulated growth, they can make any leadership theory or technique look brilliant."  Theories, programs, technology, strategies, gimmicks, trends, etc., will come and go.  In the midst of cataclysmic change swirling surrounding us, spiritual leaders must be more committed than ever to sit at the feet of Jesus, yoked to the Master and Lord of all.