Christian Comeback in Europe - Prison Fellowship
January 29th 2007
Archive for January, 2007
Strategic Planning for Ministries
January 23rd 2007
I’ve just added a new page, Strategic Planning for Ministries, which you can reach at any time by its link above. It’s the home for a series of posts I’m beginning to write on that topic.
Balanced Scorecard: How to Use This Material
January 23rd 2007
I’m writing about the Balanced Scorecard for a specific audience, people in a couple of ministries who are working through these ideas together. They will remain here, of course, to be used by any reader. This section will be useful to you if:
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You are confident you understand how strategic planning fits into God’s way of dealing with us,
You are ready for some serious thinking for improved stewardship, and
You have a copy of Balanced Scorecard Step-by-Step for Government and Nonprofit Agencies to read through along with the blog posts
Otherwise I recommend you turn to other entries in the Strategic Planning for Ministries series.
Technorati Tags: Balanced Scorecard, Strategic Planning
The Balanced Scorecard: Series Introduction
January 22nd 2007
The Balanced Scorecard approach to setting strategy and monitoring progress appears promising, as something that could be very helpful for mission agencies, parachurch ministries, and possibly even churches. With this post I begin a series of articles based on Balanced Scorecard Step-by-Step for Government and Nonprofit Agencies, by Paul R. Niven (John Wiley & Sons, 2003).
Why a book like this? Those who know the Balanced Scorecard know that it is a wildly popular system in business organizations, since its introduction by Robert Kaplan and David Norton ten or fifteen years ago. Its power comes from its balanced strategic look at both inward processes and outward results, and the close tie it builds between measurement and strategy.
But is it biblical?
Technorati Tags: Balanced Scorecard, Strategic Planning
An Upside-Down World | Christopher J. H. Wright | The Christian Vision Project
January 22nd 2007
I recall 20 to 25 years ago at the U.S. Center for World Mission, hearing about God’s great new work in missions: Third World missions sending. Here is an update on where Christianity is really centered now in the 21st century.
Cerulean Sanctum » “The World’s Best Bible-Reading Program”
January 22nd 2007
I’m going to give something like this a shot. It looks like a great way to grow deeper in Christ.
The Black Box: Darwin, Marx, Nietzsche, Freud - Stories
January 17th 2007
I’ve been reading some adult fiction lately.
How strange that it would seem wrong to say that! In this case, “adult” means intellectually and emotionally challenging.
Nickell John Romjue is a military historian who sees the present as clearly as the past. He wrote The Black Box: Darwin, Marx, Nietzsche, Freud - Stories to explore the effect of Darwin etc. on individuals at the start of the 21st century.
My first impression on reading his introduction to this volume was, “here is a man who knows how to write.” His facility and rhythm in the use of English were immediately noticeable. As I continued reading the stories I also discovered his vocabulary is also impressive. Mine is good by most standards, but just now I had to look up “massif.” (Please don’t tell me, “Come on, everyone knows that!”)
“Through a Glass, Darkly”
January 15th 2007
Jeff Sharlet, contributing editor to Harper’s magazine, has taken a serious look at American fundamentalism in Through a Glass, Darkly.
Christians reading this will be put off by his snide dismissal of our faith early in the article:
“Those unable to feel His soothing touch . . . snort at the notion of a god with the patience or the prurience to monitor every tick and twitch of desire, a supreme being able to make a lion and a lamb cuddle but unable to abide two men kissing. A divine love that speaks through hurricanes. Who would worship such a god? His followers must be dupes, or saps, or fools, their faith illiterate, insane, or misinformed, their strength fleeting, hollow, an aberration. A burp in American history. An unpleasant odor that will pass.”
But I recommend you read it anyway, and sincerely try to understand what he has to say.
Continue Reading »
How Do You Know What You’re Accomplishing?
January 4th 2007
Happy New Year!
I’m about to start a series of informal surveys with church and mission leaders, asking,
- “How do you know what effect your ministry is having in people’s lives?”
- “How can you tell when or whether a certain ministry approach is more or less effective than another?”
- “What indicators do you use to recognize fruit from the work you do in ministry?”
This is not to say that every ministry should have equally obvious fruit. Hudson Taylor opened up inland China to missions, a work of incredibly historic significance, even though he saw no conversions in his first several years there. Ministry through the arts (or a blog) may be significant but distant from the people it touches. Nor does it mean that the answer should be the same from one ministry to another.
But it will still be interesting to know how this question is answered. What about you? How would you answer these questions for your ministry?