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.

What Should Christian Standard Publish? (and, what should teenagers watch on TV?)

Picture of the Day: I spent much of the day putting together a brief report I'll make at Christian Standard's annual contributing editors retreat later this week. Below is a jpeg of the first slide in the PowerPoint I'm creating.

Every year the contributing editors discuss what Christian Standard ought to be discussing and who ought to be writing for us.
An open invitation to readers of my blog and visitors to my Facebook page: What do you think Christian Standard should include in its content line-up for the next 12 months? Leave your comment here or at my Facebook page. I promise to share it!

Quote of the Day: The biggest take-away from this study is that what teenagers are watching can make a really big difference in what they think, and ultimately how they behave and really important life decisions. 

—Melissa Kearney, an associate professor of economics at the University of Maryland and co-author of a study that attributes part of the decrease in the U.S. teen birthrate to the MTV show 16 and Pregnant—in an interview with NPR today.

Years ago I worked with a group of Christian leaders who visited the big three networks' headquarters in New York to plead with them to lessen the amount of sex and violence on TV. To a person, each network executive insisted there is no relationship between what people watch and how people behave. So I almost wrecked the car when I heard this university professor on the radio sharing the above conclusion as a result of her careful research. Many readers will want to read or listen to the whole interview.

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!