A Dutch kid from Kalamazoo grows up well, finds Jesus Christ, moves to Chicago, and enjoys success in his work. Over time he embraces one of his father’s hobbies — sailing. He’s good with his boat and pulls together a team for racing. One member of his crew, a good friend, doesn’t share Bill’s faith […]
Category: Influence & leadership
Overcoming the fear of getting involved
Two big reasons people avoid youth ministry are fear and ignorance. Fear of failure, rejection, appearing foolish or boring, being disrespected, not knowing how to handle a group, not knowing what to say, and all that. Fearful stuff. And the ignorance part? Not knowing what to do! I can’t picture what value I bring or […]
Wisdom on meetings from a fighter pilot
I heard from a pastor friend yesterday. He was in staff meetings all day. When meetings are mandatory, you can at least make them strategic if you do your homework. Here are three priceless insights on making progress in meetings. They come from the biography of John Boyd, the legendary fighter pilot who tangled with […]
Changing of the guard
Sometime this summer new freshmen will move up and graduating seniors will move on. In other words, your group will change. Here’s one way to influence the change. Back in college we joined the men’s choir. Eternal practices, frantic sprints to reach the dining hall before it closed (one guy leapt over the hood of […]
Dealing with attitude
Put a young guy in a fast car with good friends and thunderous music, and what does it spell? Attitude. Strutting, shoving, chest-butting, trash-talking, risk-taking, death-defying, arrogance-wreaking attitude. Attitude is influence. It commands a response and gets what it wants. (Or, sometimes, what it deserves.) The funny thing is . . . it’s vapor. It neither […]
