Aug

30

Think You’ve Got it Bad?

August 30, 2010 | Leave a Comment

Sometimes we think life is pretty difficult. Sometimes we feel sorry for ourselves. Here’s someone who knows that joy isn’t based on our circumstances. Now, stop whining!

Jun

25

Creating Other People

June 25, 2010 | Comments Off

I’ve been reading a great book called SuperCoach: 10 Secrets to Transform Anyone’s Life by Michael Neil. The book is full of  helpful hints for successful living. I especially liked his chapter on “Listening” in relation to my interest in challenging people. He says, We’ll nearly always hear what we’re listening for. This creates a [...]

Jun

21

The Plan A Woman in a Plan B World

June 21, 2010 | Comments Off

If you’re looking for a simple but meaningful women’s study for the summer, Debbie Taylor Williams’ The Plan A Woman in a Plan B World may fill the bill. We all grow up with our “Plan A” – the perfect husband, children, career, good health. But these hopes and dreams can be thwarted or may [...]

Jun

10

When the Need is Serious

June 10, 2010 | Comments Off

My husband was recently diagnosed with a serious illness. We don’t have enough information yet to know how advanced it is or how quickly it will progress. We shared the news with our son last week. Tonight we shared it with our small group. We’ve been with most of these people for over six years. [...]

May

26

Life In Spite of Me

May 26, 2010 | 1 Comment

Do you get tired of people whining and complaining about their circumstances? Sure, some people have pretty serious situations and I certainly don’t want to minimize the problems of others. Sometimes I barely manage my own issues. But when I meet someone who handles adversity well, my admiration soars. Kristen Anderson has become such a [...]

May

14

What a Small Group Leader Should Be

May 14, 2010 | Comments Off

Do you have goals for yourself as a small group leader? How do you see your role? It seems to me that’s something each leader needs to decide before going too far. And it’s probably a discussion you probably need to revisit periodically because it’s easy to get sidetracked. Sam O’Neal at SmallGroups.com says that, [...]

May

13

American “Millennials” Are Spiritually Diverse (Part 2)

May 13, 2010 | 1 Comment

Today we’re presenting the second part August 2009 LifeWay Research study of a national, demographically representative survey of 1,200 Millennials in the United States.  The first part of the study is reviewed here: Here is how Millennials respond to a series of doctrinal statements: God, Satan, sin and salvation * “God is a real being, [...]

May

11

American “Millennials” Are Spiritually Diverse (Part 1)

May 11, 2010 | 1 Comment

Two-thirds of American “Millennials” – those born between 1980 and 1991 – call themselves Christian, but far fewer pray or read the Bible daily, attend weekly worship services, or hold to historical positions on the Bible and its teachings. These findings, which will affect how we lead our churches and small groups, are from a [...]

May

6

The Gift of Dignity

May 6, 2010 | 1 Comment

When dealing with challenging people, I’ve found that simply treating them like human beings makes a huge difference. Very often, a challenging person in your church or group is a challenging person everywhere. And because of this, they are often shunned or ostracized. For many, this has happened all their lives. What we consider challenging [...]

Apr

30

Lead a Small Group Discussion like Jim Lehrer

April 30, 2010 | 12 Comments

On his blog, Small Group Leadership, my friend Michael Mack quotes Donald Miller’s interview of Jim Lehrer. Miller asked Lehrer how to moderate a political debate, and Mack applies the same approach to small group leadership. He says there are two keys to moderating any discussion: 1. The focus is on the participants, not the [...]

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