vision clarity

If you asked me to tell you some of the best stories from Verve I would say, “Well, there’s a lot,” and then I would launch into the story about the pimp we led to Christ who has now given his entire life to ministering to people on the streets of Las Vegas, and I…

So you’re trying to discover your values and one you come up with is “Excellence.” Who doesn’t want excellence, and your church has a history of striving for excellence. Question: What if our culture changed in such a way that excellence became counterproductive? What if, when people spoke of your church, they started saying things…

In his coaching, Will Mancini asks churches to think of a river, water coursing powerfully and with great momentum. Now take the banks off the sides of that river and what do you have? A puddle. It may be a big puddle, but it’s a puddle. No direction, no movement, no momentum. A church without…

If you asked me for my personal values I might talk about integrity, or family, or humor. I would not talk about breathing or eating. The reality is breathing and eating are more central to my existence. I could certainly list them as my most critical values, but I wouldn’t. Why? Because they are givens,…

How do you decide your church’s values? You don’t. You can’t decide your church’s values any more than you can decide your height or whether you’re right or left handed. There are things that are true of your church, they impassion and guide your actions. Those are your values. Your values may not be very…