This Week at a Glance

This is becoming my weekly instead of my daily diary, but I'm determined not to just let it go. A few things to record from this week:

Made some progress at work: planning/editing the November issue, consulting with Jim Nieman about layout and design options for the October issue. Spent quite a bit of time emailing and on the phone to nail down plans for the Stone-Campbell Dialogue meeting that will happen this year in Abilene in October. (Evelyn and I are planning a nice dinner out the weekend before her birthday, because I'll be in Texas on her birthday.) Did some work toward further marketing of the Christian Standard app and its digital editions. As of today, close to 1,300 people have downloaded the app and close to 100 have actually paid to read the magazine via the app. That's gratifying; the numbers grow every day. But the progress seems slow to me.

Thursday Paul Williams was in the office for our last official meeting together. His contract as consultant with Christian Standard ends in August. It was a productive meeting, a nostalgic meeting, a meeting with blessings (Paul has always shed light on my path), ultimately a difficult meeting. I will truly miss all the insight and ideas he's shared to help make Christian Standard what it has become.

Friday I had a great lunch with Dave Lautzenheiser; talked over my plan for the worship service August 31. He asked me to lead in the Classic service, because he plans to be out of town that weekend.

The weather has been hot and dry, at least it was till the end of the week when we had a couple of rip-roarin' thunderstorms overnight a couple of nights. I had thought maybe I'd come home from work Friday to cut grass, but Evelyn decided (and I agreed) it was just too hot! So on an impulse we called Terry and Shirley Wuske and invited them to share dinner with us at LaRosa's (our treat)—just for the fun of it and to celebrate the new half-time development position Terry began with Grundy Mountain Mission last week. He'll do a fine job, and he can do it from Cincinnati! So they won't have to move, and we won't have to tell them good-bye. We adjourned to our place after spaghetti and hoagies to finish off a peach pie Evelyn had baked earlier in the week (with peaches we had bought in Amish country). We really enjoyed the spontaneous evening together.

Saturday night Paul and Sev Friskney came for dinner. We hadn't visited with them all summer, and it was good to laugh and catch up. We had typical picnic fare: hamburgers on the grill, baked beans, cole slaw, and Evelyn's potato salad. She made a Rice Chex ice cream dessert that we used to serve every summer but hadn't had for years. It was a fine evening.

Brian preached in the gym, and those of us in the auditorium
enjoyed his sermon via the video feed.

We enjoyed being at church this morning. This was our regular Welcome Center Sunday, so we were there about 8:30. I had some contacts to make regarding that worship service next Sunday, and we enjoyed all the chatting and laughing we always enjoy with the extended time to see folks. Trevor had asked Brian Jobe to be guest preacher, and he had a fine sermon. I'm thinking I'll use his points as the jumping off point for my men's group Bible Study Thursday.

 After church Evelyn and I each had separate meetings to attend. Mark Senseman led a training meeting for people who have been serving at the Welcome Center; he announced and explained some exciting innovations and renovations coming to that whole ministry. Evelyn attended Mark's meeting while I attended training led by Dale Reeves for "tribe" leaders in anticipation of a new series kicking off September 7. Dale has done an excellent job getting all that ready. Evelyn attended training for women's Bible study leaders last Sunday at lunchtime, and she's at a women's kick-off event this evening (Sunday) for that whole emphasis. It's really great to see strategic plans, training, and fresh ideas from those leading the ministries we're involved in!

Great Group, Great Meeting, Great Quotes

Quotes of the Day:

Actually, these are quotes from the last three days. Wednesday afternoon through this morning, I've enjoyed the annual retreat with the Christian Standard contributing editors. This group of 12 Christian leaders from around the country helps Paul Williams and me choose topics, find authors, and set the direction of Christian Standard. But the group has become so close that our time together feels more like a spiritual retreat than a planning meeting. 

Following are quotes from our discussions, gleaned from my notes.

"If you go thru a lifetime easily, all you have to offer people is pablum."  Roy Lawson

"Part of the ugliness of being a pastor is the numbers game." Glen Elliott

"When God is doing a new thing, one of the greatest obstacles to doing his will is my current ministry." Randy Gariss 

"Never has there been a time when how you say what you say is as important as what you say. The end of apologetics is not a neatly worded statement of fact but, does it lead a person to Christ?" Ben Cachiaras

"Can we talk about things with honesty without killing the debate by name calling and judging?" Jim Tune

"You cannot win the culture wars, and I do not believe Christ calls us to win the culture wars.

Our citizenship is not in this world."  Jim Tune

"Poverty: It’s not just about money.

We approach the topic patronizingly." Becky Ahlberg

Picture of the Day:

I persuaded our committee members to line up for a quick snapshot a we began our time together this morning.

Back row: Paul Williams, Doug Priest, Glen Elliott, Arron Chambers, Randy Gariss. Front row: Ben Cachiaras, Jennifer Johnson, Roy Lawson, Matt Proctor, Jeff Faull, Jim Tune. Seated: Phyllis Fox, Becky Ahlberg.

Strange Noises, Knowing What's Coming, and What We Need in Elders

Concern of the Day (well, at least one of them!): Evelyn heard a loud tumbling sound coming from the roof at about 7:00 this morning. I was in the shower, so I didn't hear it. She thought something had fallen off the roof, or a deer had been on our deck. But neither appear to be true. So did some rafters fall inside either of our attics? The sound happened just once, and we've heard nothing since. (No scurrying, scritching feet, thank goodness—at least not yet!) If we don't hear anything more before then, I'll venture into the attic Saturday when it's light. I don't wanna go up there with a flashlight in the dark.
Updates later.

Quote of the Day:  "People of depth know what is at stake with each new year. They know we are blessed not to know what is coming."
—Paul S. Williams, in his column posted today at christianstandard.com 

 Second Quote of the Day: "Elders are ultimately responsible for the congregation. They must be men of conviction who are willing to make hard decisions and live with them long enough to see if they are working. Only when men of conviction serve as elders will churches be able to make decisions that positively alter the direction of a congregation. Otherwise, the loud voices of the 'we like it this way' or 'that won't work' crowds will dictate the demise of the church.
—Chuck Sackett in an excellent article that will appear in Christian Standard's March "Elders Meeting" column

Picture of the Day: Tomorrow morning (we meet at 6:00 a.m.!) is my men's Bible study's first gathering of the new year, and the last session of the six-part video series, The Christmas Experience, narrated by Kyle Idleman. Our guys have really enjoyed it, and one of them, Brad Comerford, even borrowed the videos to use at home during Christmastime. Thanks to Mike Mack for recommending the series in his column in Christian Standard.

 

It Was Wonderful!

This will be one of those "make-up" diary entries I mentioned yesterday. Let me be one of the last writers in the blogosphere to add my reflections about the North American Christian Convention last week in Louisville.
In a word, it was wonderful. I suppose if I were to add a second word it would be exhausting. By the time we were driving home Friday afternoon about 3:00, I was completely spent. Evelyn drove, and I napped.
Highlights for me:

• Getting to interview almost a dozen of the convention's main session speakers and special guests, including Wayne Cordeiro, Eric Metaxas, Ken Davis, and, most memorable, Joni Eareckson Tada. They were universally gracious, with meaningful challenges for me personally and every Christian. The interviews will be posted, one or two at a time, over the next couple of weeks at ChristianStandard.com.

Eric Metaxas was passionate and personal.

Wayne Cordeiro was warm and wise.

• Working with Tim Antkowiak of Southland Christian Church, who did all the videotaping of the interviews. Tim went above and beyond what we asked him to do: brought in a green screen so he could insert unique backgrounds behind the interviewer and his subject; created a lead-in tape with background music; edited the feed from two cameras into one smooth program. He told me he's spending about 3 hours of editing for each 10-15 minute interview. And he couldn't have been more pleasant or flexible or dependable during the convention itself.
• Bunking with Miles and Jennifer (as well as Evelyn!) in the Marriott for the week. It was a special joy to see Miles enjoying the convention, meeting Jennifer's friends, and showing his potential as a young Christian man. And he's fun! 
• Hearing Sam Stone choke up when he got to the end of his speech at the Cincinnati Christian University banquet, on the line, "There's no one I would more like to see receive the Legacy in Leadership Award than Mark and Evelyn Taylor." There are so many years and experiences and shared memories contained in that moment.

Sam and Gwen posed with Evelyn and me after the CCU banquet.

• In spite of the busy schedules, enjoying special times with relatives, coworkers, and friends at several special meals. I'm thinking in particular of our Tuesday-night meal with the Aulen clan, my Tuesday-night dessert with Paul Williams, and our Friday-afternoon lunch celebration hosted by Robb Faust for all of us who had helped him pull off the Standard display. 
• The sermons! As I wrote at the Christian Standard website, the preaching moved me more this year than any year I can remember. You really should go to the NACC website and listen to several of them. My favorites: Matt Proctor, Aaron Brockett, Randy Harris, Rick Atchley, Joni Eareckson Tada. (And the other two were outstanding, too! Listen to all of 'em!)

The Duty's in the Details

Today was a day for correspondence. A letter to a reader who had sent me a photocopy of an old article in Christian Standard by W.F. Lown that told the story of the merger of Midwest Christian College and Ozark Bible College decades ago. (This in response to my column encouraging more such mergers today.) An e-mail to a reader /friend who wanted to talk with me and Paul Williams about a piece Paul had written decrying the preponderance of one DiSC profile among successful church planters.
And then e-mails recruiting people to help with projects I'm involved with.
One task is to find a few folks in Indianapolis who would participate in a committee to help make local arrangements for a meeting of the Stone-Campbell Dialogue in that city this October. The committee will be made up of church staff people from independent Christian churches, a cappella churches of Christ, and Disciples of Christ congregations. My job is to recruit the 4C's members. (Two have already said yes. One or two more, and I'll be there!) Next I needed to write e-mails to folks asking them to lead table discussions at the Networking Breakfasts co-sponsored by Milligan College and Standard Publishing at next summer's North American Christian Convention.
All this sounds simple when I describe it in just a couple of sentences. But finding the correct e-mail addresses, carefully writing the e-mail invitations and then copying and personalizing them for each new recipient--all this takes time. And it's a little mundane; I get bored and distracted easily, remembering other e-mails I'll need to write, checking a website for information I remember I want, and being distracted by something totally non-work-related that I find on one of those websites.
For an editor, I have a remarkably low interest in pursuing details. I've learned to tend to details in many ways, but I never relish it; and we've made some significant mistakes because I only glanced at something that should have been carefully examined.

I really didn't find anything to photograph today, but my day reminds me of a picture I snapped last week. This is the checklist that managing editor Jim Nieman pulls out just before we give each month's issue to the printer. I've seen it on the table with the proof more than once, but I'd never really read it before. As I thought about the painstaking care he gives each issue before we release it, I'm glad I work with someone with an instinct for details that exceeds my own.

An Older Leader Looking at Young Leaders

Not much to take a picture of today. Spent most of the day looking at nominees for our Young Leaders Under 40 to be featured in our July issue. We have received maybe 4 dozen nominees plus a bunch from our contributing editors in their annual retreat in January. The only problem is that just today I discovered a folder of nominees I had forgotten Diane was gathering for me. This after I spent time with Paul Williams deciding on the fewer nominees we had without all those in the folder. And after having then sent our shorter list to the contributing editors to evaluate.
So today I made a giant spreadsheet of all the likely nominees--those I just saw today plus the names our contributing editors had, uh, contributed. I'm going to fess up to Paul tomorrow (I spent quite a bit of his time evaluating the incomplete list last week), and we'll decide on a final list.
Today was haircut day, and I stopped on the way home to continue my once-every-five-weeks habit.

More Than a Year

Yep, those page views are down because I haven't posted since Sunday. I just realized I've been doing this blog for a little longer than a year. First post was the last day of January last year. This isn't the first time I've missed my goal of blogging every day, but I haven't missed many. And as I browsed through the pictures and the posts, I came across some events and thoughts that I had forgotten about, or at least forgotten that I'd written.
So I'm glad I've been engaged in this little project, even though some days it feels like a burden or a job to come up with something to write.
Yesterday and Monday I was in Indianapolis. I was helping a friend with a project Monday. He's not sayin' much about it, so I won't say anything about it either--yet. Probably someday.When Paul Williams and I realized he would be in Indy when I would be there, we decided to take advantage of the opportunity and get in some planning on future issues of Christian Standard. We got some good work done and enjoyed our time together.

I drove home from Indy and got to work about 9:30. Jim Nieman had the proof for our March Christian college issue all spread out on two countertops for final checks before uploading to the printer today. It's not as edgy or head-turning as some of the previous issues, although I think my editorial, "'Merge' Is Not a Dirty Word" will get some reaction, and several of the back-of-the-book monthly columns are really fine. We'll see if anybody likes it.

I am particularly challenged by Brian Mavis's column in the March issue.

Using Our Noodles

My best days are a mixture of meetings and desk time, and by that measure today was a fine day.
Three meetings--all of them productive and positive, at least generally so. And Robb Faust and I went out for lunch. (I like going out for lunch; it really does help me be more productive in the afternoon. But I don't like taking the time or spending the money every day.)
Meanwhile, I prepared copy for our weekly e-newsletter and wrote a draft of my column that must be posted tomorrow. I got a big boost on that task from Ben Cachiaras's blog post that he copied and e-mailed to me Monday. I'm going to quote a big batch of it. Thanks, Ben!
We're making some progress, and I'm feeling good about that.
Tomorrow I have one meeting, and a phone conference with Paul Williams. Those will be nice breaks in the long list of editorial tasks, article assigning, and correspondence I need to do as well.

Tonight we had leftover chicken and noodle soup for supper. Evelyn made it fresh to greet me Sunday night when I got home from Orlando. Jennifer had shared the recipe with her, and we agree: it's yummy!
"You're going to take a picture of leftovers?" Evelyn said as I snapped this one just before we sat down to eat.
"Yep."
Enjoy your giggle, Bob Wallace.
If some reader would like to try our discovery, here's the link to the soup recipe:
http://www.creativelydomestic.com/2010/10/guest-post-crockpot-chicken-and-noodle.html.

Good and Seeking Better

"I feel more energy from this group than ever before," Paul Williams told me after our first session with Christian Standard's contributing editors Wednesday night this week.
They are universally pleased with what we've achieved in the move to monthly editions with Christian Standard, and we feel certain that is what created the positive spirit that permeated our time together, which ended this morning at about 10.
I reminded them--and myself--of a maxim my high school drama teacher often offered: "The closer something gets to perfection, the more there is to criticize about it." And the group was not without suggestions for small and some larger ways we can take the magazine to the next level. And not only the magazine, but the whole brand, the whole ministry that Christian Standard can have.

I grabbed a picture of part of our group as we were breaking up this morning: (standing, left to right)
Paul Williams, Jeff Faull, Arron Chambers, Jennifer Johnson, Becky Ahlberg, (seated) Jim Tune, and
Doug Priest. Also attending this week were Ben Cachiaras, Glen Elliott, Randy Gariss, Matt Proctor, and  Roy Lawson. Our 12th member, Phyllis Fox, had to miss our meeting this year.

Arron got us
started this morning
with thoughts he's
been pondering
lately: building
disciples whose
chief characteristic
is their love
for Jesus.

We realized that this is the 10th time we have convened an annual retreat for the contributing editors. If I had thought about that sooner, perhaps we could have done something "anniversaryish" at the meeting. Nothing special we could have planned, however, would have enhanced or increased the passion these men and women expressed for what we have accomplished--and what we must accomplish as we seek to serve Christian leaders with Christian Standard.
Perhaps it goes without saying that the magazine would not be what it is today without the input of this diverse and talented group. I'm sleepy this evening, because I woke up in the middle of the night and couldn't go back to sleep for thinking about all we must yet do (and, as is common in the middle of the night, stewing about how to achieve it, given all the present restraints). But in the morning, I realized that there are ways to do what we must, and I will pursue them. Good people are with me, and God is our strength.
Jennifer is one of our contributing editors, and she and I are going to Universal Studios tomorrow before we both head back home Sunday. It has been chilly and gray today, but they're saying we'll have temperatures in the mid 70s tomorrow.  I hope so!

Find the Mark

Took two carloads of my coworkers to lunch today--all of them colleagues in our magazines work at Standard Publishing. Forgot to ask the waitress to take our picture, but I got the folks to pose for a picture outside the restaurant, Ferrari's Little Italy in Madeira. Then one of them, our Creative Services Director, Mark Haas, told me to jump into the frame and he snapped a second picture. He offered to Photoshop me into the first picture, but it's easier just to post both pix here. :-)

The lunch was a fun and tasty interruption to a productive planning day Paul and I enjoyed. Tomorrow I'm going to try to follow up on all of the ideas and assignments I've jotted down as a result.

The Best Part of Christmas?

Don't you love Christmas gifts? Especially when they arrive in the mail in a BIG styrofoam box? And when you open 'em, they're full of FOOD?! Steaks and pork chops and twice-baked potatoes and stuffed sole (and, oh yeah, there were hamburgers and "gourmet franks" in there too!).

Evelyn's brother and his wife sent us these goodies for Christmas, and we're having fun deciding when to eat them.

Needless to say, this was the most exciting part of the day. But the rest of the day was fairly productive. My desk is straight, and I have a long list of decisions to make and plans to finalize with Paul Williams when he shows up in the office tomorrow.

I'm taking the magazine people out to lunch, along with Mark Haas and Jared Alexander and Matt Lockhart--it's a Christmas celebration. And like the best Christmas celebrations, it's going to involve wonderful food!

A Child Is Born

Last week I showed proof pages from the October Christian Standard, including Dudley Rutherford's smiling face leading off one of the articles. Today I snapped this picture of the actual October issue. Our samples came overnight from the printer this morning. I hope readers will like it. Another of my favorite articles is the one pictured here, by Pat Magness, who teaches at Milligan College. She does an excellent job surveying contemporary fiction written from a Christian perspective. I learned a lot by reading her piece, and discovered some books I'd like to read!
Spent this morning editing on the November issue and handling correspondence, including with authors who are writing for January. Spent most of the afternoon on the phone. Paul Williams and I spent almost two hours brainstorming authors and angles for February and March issues. More assigning will be on my to-do list next week! (But November editing is at the top of the list for tomorrow.)

Pleasant Temperatures and Good Meals

Did something today I haven't done since I don't know when. Drove home from work with the car windows open and the air conditioning off!  Temp was in the 70s; the car thermometer read 69 on the way to work this morning. And they're saying the overnight low will be in the 50s. We'll take it, and we had about a half an inch of rain all total this week.
It would be nice to believe the oppressive days of our summer are over.

Actually I wasn't coming home after work; I was meeting Evelyn for dinner at the Indian restaurant in West Chester. Oooo, it was so good, a favorite place we haven't been to for quite awhile. After that she headed for the grocery store and I went to a meeting at church.
Did some planning and handling of correspondence today. Had a nice touch-base phone call with Paul Williams.
Ate lunch at the Kroger's cafeteria over on Montgomery Road, so good and only $4.99.
Bob Willson wrote to say he and Sue and Anna would be in town tomorrow, and we invited them for dinner. We'll cook some chicken on the grill and enjoy catching up with them.

Discussions Just Begun

"Wherever two or three are gathered together . . . someone's wrong!"

That was one of a hundred one-liners Chonda Pierce delivered during her alternately hilarious and heart-touching monologue during the Thursday-night evening session at the North American Christian Convention in Orlando, July 12. Chonda hadn't attended two special seminars I heard earlier that day. But each of them contained questions and ideas that at least someone in the church would call wrong. This is one more thing good about this year's North American Christian Convention. It stretched us by challenging us with ideas we may not have heard or taken to heart before.

One of these seminars was led by Reggie McNeal, from the Leadership Network. He offered a string of disturbing statistics to remind us that the church in America is in trouble. The fastest-growing religious affiliation in the U.S. is "nonaffiliated," he said, claimed by one out of six Americans, one out of five men, one out of four young adults under 25. "We've doubled the rate of the unaffiliated," he said, "while we've got the best church buildings ever!"

"Doing church better is not the way to reach our culture today," he added. "Doing church better is aimed at a smaller and smaller portion of the population that is open to being 'congregationalized.' They cannot match their life rhythms with the rhythms of congregational life."

His solution? The American church must "do better at being a missionary culture instead of a membership culture." He said the church is who not what. "It's a relationship, not a destination. All of life for the Christian is a mission trip. Everywhere you are, the church is."

We'll always have congregations, he said. All the talk about missional activity is simply "expanding the bandwidth, adding to the toolbox." He suggested that churches change their metrics, measuring people development,  not just participation. "Did something happen in the community because we are here?"

Earlier Paul Williams moderated a panel discussion with five church leaders who talked about "Sticky Conversations" that are happening now in our communities. Steve Larson addressed the problem of pornography, stressing that communication about porn is vital: "This is an issue that needs to see the light."

Tim Harlow considered whether Christians should drink alcohol. His conclusion: 87% of 18-35-year-olds think the church is judgmental. He believes this attitude is "keeping people from the kingdom," just as the legalism of Pharisees kept people from the kingdom in Jesus' day. For Tim, whether or not Christians drink alcohol is definitely a question that belongs in the realm of opinion, where there should be liberty.

Ben Merold addressed the question of eternal security, with a string of Scriptures that state that it is possible for the Christian to fall away from the faith.

Julie Gariss suggested three steps to help local churches deal with the issue of divorce and remarriage. "Jesus held up the model of marriage; we must too." She urged churches to consider carefully the Bible's criteria for leaders, that they must be "above reproach." And she urged older couples to invite younger couples into their homes, to form relationships that allow younger couples to see models of successful marriage.

The fifth topic, homosexuality, generated the most feedback from workshop attendees during the discussion time toward the end of the session. Perhaps this is because presenter Teresa Welch listed questions we must ask as we approach this issue, without suggesting answers to most of them, although she did list biblical texts that support the conclusion that homosexual activity is sin.

These workshops are just two examples of how this year's NACC fulfilled president Rick Rusaw's goal to offer a program that stretched those who attended. The discussions they started will continue in communities across America, continued by those who attended these sessions.

Trust a Smiling Editor?

Paul Williams was in the office today. I think I took his picture with Matt Lockhart the last time he was in. I promise not to take your picture every time you come to the office, Paul! But this one is for a special purpose. Soon we'll distribute  a news release to announce the advent of Christian Standard becoming a monthly magazine, effective with the September issue. The publicist preparing the release (Joni Baker) said we need an image, and I humbly suggested that maybe a picture of the editor(s) would be as interesting as another magazine cover. And our marketing manager agreed. So . . . here we are. Scott Ryan from our office took the shot. Isn't he a good photographer?!
Before and after the photo shoot, Paul and I brainstormed article and theme possibilities for future issues. Oh yeah, we came up with some good ones!

It's All About the People

Not long after I came to work at Standard Publishing, I often remarked, in something close to awe, that the best part of my job was the wonderful people I was able to meet from around the country, and even around the world. What a privilege I've had to know so many church leaders and their spouses, some of the finest souls on this earth. I've sat in committee and board meetings with them, and worked on projects with them, and listened to them speak in workshops and at conventions. Many have become more than acquaintances, and I've seen how they order their lives in a way that honors God and leads the church and influences the world.
Of course, I've worked more closely with some remarkable people too as I've taken on various jobs here at Standard Publishing. Maybe I'll take time to tell stories about some of them as I decide what to write day-by-day on this blog. But for now, I'll just picture two of them, whose picture I snapped yesterday at the end of the workday.

Matt Lockhart is vice president of product development here at Standard and the fellow I've reported to for the last year and a quarter.  Paul Williams has worked with me from Day One as editor-at-large of Christian Standard. Paul spent the day with me yesterday brainstorming about the future and helping me plan upcoming issues of the magazine. We had a good day, but the memory that brings the best smile to my face is this picture that reminds me of the many contributions each of these fellows has made to my work and my life. What a treasure to know and work with both of them!

What's NEXT?

Paul Williams was one of
two facilitators for the
NEXT conference.

Greg Nettle led our group
half of the time.

The NEXT conference for emerging leaders,  a blessing and challenging time for all of us who attended, ended today at noon.

My take-aways: We have an emerging generation of young leaders more innovative in ministry, more down-to-earth in their approach to sinners, and more willing honestly to examine their own lives than any generation of leaders I've known during my ministry.

Today we went around the circle, and each person shared "best

Caleb Kaltenbach and Brian Jobe

practices" from his or her ministry.  The result was a smorgasbord of creative ideas for personal productivity, community outreach, leadership development, technology usage, stewardship, and personal accountability.

The personal accountability theme continued in the final session, led by Greg Nettle, who challenged each of us to end our ministries well. Group members shared steps they have taken to establish healthy boundaries and vulnerability with a group of close friends, their staffs, and their spouses. It was a rich and helpful time.

So what's next for our movement? Seems to me the integrity, passion, and creativity of those assembled in California this week all bode well for the health of our church in the next decade.

I'm writing this at the John Wayne Airport in Orange County, where I'm waiting for a flight to St. Louis via Denver. I'll spend the rest of the week there with Evelyn, and Paul and Sev Friskney. Evelyn and Paul will be attending a conference for college English teachers, and I'll be reading, editing, and maybe doing a little exploring in the city with the big arch.

It's a good week away.

Jodi Hickerson and Danny Schaffner

California Dreamin'

The rocks around the tide pools at Laguna Beach.
One of my favorite places to visit, and
I got to go there today!

The NEXT Conference, hosted by Provision Ministries in Irvine, California, started last night with a stimulating discussion led by Greg Nettle. He described his struggle with the question, "What is our church doing to make disciples?" This came as he saw longterm attendees at his church who were as scarred by the sins of our culture as people outside the church. He challenged us with his church's decision to create communities in neighborhoods to reach and serve their neighborhoods and make disciples. And his congregation is seeking to invest 30% of its budget on their weekend gatherings in the church building and 70% on ministry outside the building, instead of visa versa.

Today Paul Williams presented material based on his doctoral research that shows the connection between the DISC profiles of church planters and the success of their new church plants. He followed this up with material about how family systems influence church function--or dysfunction, as is often the case.

We spent some time discussing our individual landing spot with regard to our identity with and for the fellowship of Christian churches and churches of Christ, and then broke for the day.

Jeremy Brown and Greg Lee were two in our beach party.

Bart Stone, always smiling, especially
in this beautiful spot.

I had the chance to ride with some others for a quick walk on Laguna Beach during our afternoon break. The conversations to and from the beach were filled with talk of ministry problems and opportunities and approaches. The same was true for the animated discussion around the dinner tables at  Bluewater Grill this evening.

A good day. A challenging day. I'm tired, but I need to pack up and be ready to start again at 8:30 tomorrow for a session that will last till noon. Then a flight to St. Louis through Denver to meet Evelyn who will be attending a conference for college English teachers the rest of the week.