Living Retro

I'm loving our Retro series--if we could just get rid of that video of the guy in the John Travolta suit! Last week, we took a new look at Psalm 23. This week, it's the most popular verse in the Bible--John 3.16. We're going to try to get fresh insight on the most quoted verse of all time. It's going to be great.

I'm About to Go Nuts

For a boy from Kentucky, I've had about all of the high faluttin' learnin' I can handle. I'm in the second week of my second doctoral residency at Gordon Conwell--Charlotte. Today, we're spending the entire day formulating our proposal for a thesis-project (also known as a dissertation).

What's crazy about it is this--I really am doing this. I've dreamed about getting a doctorate since going to college. And, it's really hapening. I'm so thankful to our church, our network, and my family for all of their support in earning this degree. It wouldn't be possible without them. After this year, there is one more residency and then the implementation of the project and the writing of the dissertation.

Courses have been great and so practical this time around--I have over 20 pages of typed notes from the classes so far--not counting handouts.

D.Min. Thesis Ideas

I'm working today on developing ideas for my thesis. The thesis has to include 1) A proposal, 2) Biblical Review, 3) Literature Review, 4) Implementation, and 5) Evaluation. So, with that in mind, here are my thesis ideas:

1. Facilitating a Life Giving Leadership Development Culture at CLA
2. Equipping Elected Presbyteries to Think and Act with a Life Giving Leadership Bias
3. Implementing Mechanisms for Surfacing Organizational Doubt in order to positively move the Organization to the Next Phase of Development.

I need to know by Tuesday so I can get it on record and move into what is called D.Min. candidacy. As a D.Min. candidate, I will have one more residency plus the thesis to complete before earning the Doctor of Ministry degree.

Doctor of Ministry (D.Min) Progress

I'm in class right now at Gordon Conwell Theological Seminary in Charlotte, North Carolina as we discuss how worldview influences ultimate purpose, which combine to influence the aims, which along with growth principle influence strategy (vision) of the organization or church.

Christian Life Assembly's ultimate purpose is to transform people into life giving followers of Jesus.

The big question then is what does a life giving follower of Jesus look like? How do we partner with the Holy Spirit to transform people into that picture? Great questions.

Sweet Magnolias

I woke up and walked over to the guest services center for breakfast at the hotel here in Charlotte for my D.Min. residency. As I walked I smelled a scent I had not smelled for a while--magnolia! It smells great and reminds me that I'm in the South--though we didn't have many Magnolia trees in Kentucky. I'm going to leave an hour early for class today even though mapquest says it's only 15 minutes. I don't want a repeat of the two hours late that happened last year in Boston.

Is it really that easy?

There is an interesting quote about building a team at the end of Patrick Lencioni's book, The Five Dysfunctions of a Team. He writes, "As much information as is contained here, the reality remains that teamwork ultimately comes down to practicing a small set of principles over a long period of time. Success is not a matter of mastering subtle, sophisticated theory, but rather of embracing common sense with uncommon levels of discipline and persistence."

How much of life or ministry is like teamwork--practicing a small set of principles over a long period of time? Embracing common sense with uncommon levels of discipline and persistence?