Mar

23

Article in Ministry in Motion

March 23, 2008 | Leave a Comment

Ministry in Motion (MIM) has just published an article I wrote on maturity and small group leadership called Growing Older or Growing Up? Your Focus as a Leader. You can read it on the Ministry in Motion website, as well as several other excellent articles. Teena Stewart of MIM has written a great book on […]

Mar

3

Keep it Small–Again

March 3, 2008 | Leave a Comment

This seems to be my mantra lately. Probably because I keep seeing the effects of groups that have grown too big.
I’m preparing my workshops for the Bay Area Sunday School Convention (BASS) for this coming weekend, and noticed that I have something about “keep it small” in all of them. Must be important. I just […]

Nov

4

Starting a New Small Group

November 4, 2007 | 2 Comments

Nate Conrad at Naperville Presbyterian Church in the Chicago area lists five common misconceptions about leading a small group. These include:
We need to have a really healthy home life before we can welcome anyone into our home. We need to finish the basement, clean up that unruly closet, add some landscaping, get our own […]

Oct

17

What Growing Christians Need

October 17, 2007 | Leave a Comment

My friend, Mary Schaller of SeekerMinistries and I were talking last week about what makes small groups successful. She mentioned a new market research study done by Willow Creek Community church that has found some fascinating information about how people grow. The study is called Reveal and is described in their online magazine and in […]

Oct

2

Where are the Mature Saints?

October 2, 2007 | Leave a Comment

Gordon McDonald has an outstanding article in CTs LeadershipJournal.net. He’s talking about the sad lack of mature Christians and what he believes is the cause of it. Here are a few choice tidbits, but do take time to read the whole article. He’s right on!
The marks of maturity? Self-sustaining in spiritual devotions. Wise in […]

Jul

23

Gary Sweeten Review

July 23, 2007 | Leave a Comment

My friend, Gary Sweeten, has posted an excellent review of Why Didn’t You Warn Me? on his blog. I quote Gary several times in the book. He has taught me more than almost any other person in terms of communication, renewing the mind, counseling skills, and inner healing. When he was with the LIFE Conferences […]

Jul

9

Small Groups that Lead to Transformation

July 9, 2007 | Leave a Comment

When I lead a small group, there are several elements I consider essential. As I’ve mentioned before, my goal is always to work in conjunction with the Holy Spirit to bring each member to maturity in Christ. Or at least to more maturity than when they started the group.
John Ortberg has an excellent piece in […]

Jul

6

Shaping Leaders and Members for Maturity

July 6, 2007 | Leave a Comment

Brett Eastman, CEO and Founder of Lifetogether, Inc., has written a great article on coaching leaders. In “Shaping Shepherds and Sheep: 6 steps to mentor your leaders and their groups,” he uses MENTOR as an acronym of the steps to help you guide your small group leaders to spiritual maturity—so they can lead their members.
Motivate […]

Jul

2

Small Groups Help Us Change

July 2, 2007 | Leave a Comment

Michael Smalley at Gosmiley.com says,
Numerous studies have discovered how powerful small groups can be in terms of our emotional satisfaction in life. Married people should really pay attention to this information. Dr. David Olson discovered that for couples who attend a marriage enrichment weekend and then follow up the weekend by getting involved […]

Jun

10

Growing in Spiritual Maturity

June 10, 2007 | Leave a Comment

You know that one of my favorite themes is maturity. I love this quote by Erwin McManus in An Unstoppable Force: Daring to Become the Church God Had in Mind.
“A person who is growing in spiritual maturity is developing emotional health. A person who is growing in spiritual maturity is healing broken relationships and building […]

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