Kingdom Strategist looks back at 2009

I haven’t fully gotten into the blogging groove yet. I’ve been at it for just over a year now but I’m only recently starting to feel like I’m picking up momentum. But I enjoy blogging and I’m especially enjoying all the new people I’ve met and interacted with this year. I know that my blog doesn’t have much to do with these relationships forming but it’s part of it none the less. Well someone forgot to send me the memo letting me know that bloggers have to do two things at the end of the year.

Check and check. (more…)...

Top Squirrel Moments that Defined the Decade

While a lot of attention is being given to the people, events and developments that have defined the last decade, I think one important category has been overlooked. When I think back on all of the things that occurred from 2000 to 2009, the thing that stands out the most, that had the biggest impact on the world, the thing that will be remembered for years to come is… squirrels*.

(* I’m lumping squirrels and chipmunks together. If this offends you… you may have bigger problems.)

Forget world events, forget technology, the past ten years has been dominated by, nay defined by sciurids...

Who are the Business as Mission leaders? (part 1)

We’re continuing with sharing excerpts from my BAM Survey 2007 Report, an in-depth assessment of the state of the Business as Mission movement based on survey responses from 497 people in 38 countries. You can purchase an electronic copy of the BAM Survey 2007 Report for $14.99 here.

Today we look at the demographics of the survey respondents in order to get an better idea of who makes up the global Business as Mission movement.

For the first time, the survey results enable us to describe the community of BAM leaders that has formed around the core elements that define Business as Mission (Exhibit 2). Of survey respondents that rated their understanding of Business as Mission as “Very Familiar”

Defining the Business as Mission Movement

The following is an excerpt from the BAM Survey 2007 Report, an in-depth assessment of the state of the Business as Mission movement that I wrote while developing the consulting services division of EC Group International. The report is based on survey responses from 497 people in 38 countries.

Though based on data collected in 2007, many of the insights contained in this report are valuable in understanding the state of the Business as Mission movement at the beginning of 2010. That is why over the course of the next several weeks I will be posting excerpts from the report on this blog. Additionally, you can purchase an electronic copy of the BAM Survey 2007 Report for $14.99.

Whether you are a BAM practitioner, a church or missions organization that supports Business as Mission, or an individual who is ...

Online Excellence Conversations – DJ Turner of Denver Seminary

As part of the Excellence in Online Ministry research project, I have gotten to speak with a number of thought leaders in the area of online ministry. Recently I spoke with DJ Turner, Director of Communications for Denver Seminary and she shared with me about their challenges and success in leveraging the web to serve their broad audience. DJ provided tremendous insight into how strategically approaching your online activities can help a ministry to be excellent. Here are some highlights from our conversation:

Strategy Principles – Simplicity

In order to be effective, good strategy must be simple.

Simple to understand.

Simple to communicate.

Simple to execute.

As strategists, our job is to achieve simplicity while not sacrificing the quality in our content or purpose. We are the ones who lead people to the simplicity that exists on the far side of complexity.

Today’s Management Tip of the Day from the Harvard Business Review presents three C’s to help you and your organization eliminate complexity and achieve simplicity:

Collaboration. Silos are the enemy of simplicity. Work across the organization to identify where the complexity is and together improve the way business is done.

Coordination. Smooth coordination is critical to finding simple solutions to the problems you’re trying to solve.

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Lives Transformed Through Business as Mission

Barrington Gifts is a Business as Mission company that manufactures luxury gifts. The company is based out of Dallas, TX and operates a manufacturing facility in Xiamen, China. I’ve written about Barrington before and am a big fan of what they do.

I received an email this morning sharing a video which tells the story of Shirley Huang, a Xiamen local who found both employment and a new life in Jesus through Barrington.

Shirley, a local resident of Xiamen, has found a new home in our factory. When we heard about her, she was lonely and seeking a job. Upon interviewing and offering her a position, she eagerly agreed. Although she was nervous and intimidated, her courage and her colleagues’ friendliness helped to overcome these initial feelings.

Without listening, speaking no longer heals

Somewhere we know that without silence, words lose their meaning, that without listening, speaking no longer heals, that without distance, closeness cannot cure.– Henri Nouwen

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Triperspectival Prayer

After dropping my kids off at daycare this morning I decided to take a quick walk around my block just to get a little fresh air and spend some quiet time before I dove into my day. As I walked I began praying, which is not something I feel I’m very good at or do nearly enough.

My prayer this morning was something like this:

God, thank you for your perfect love and for the love and life of your son Jesus. Thank you for what you have done for your name’s sake to redeem this world, defeating sin, and restoring us to your holiness.

Father, transform my heart. May the truth of your love wash over me and change me.

Can Missions Organizations Be Excellent in Today’s Environment?

Yesterday, I received an email from leader in the mission field with some feedback about the value of trying to define a standard of excellence for ministries’ online activities. What he described was a reluctance among mission (and probably all non-profit) organizations to embrace standards because doing so would mean committing to doing what it takes to live up to those standards. As he put it:

We have not had much traction in finding groups looking to set more standards that they would then have to adopt/invest effort to measure up to.  It is a particularly challenging time for mission organizations trying to do as much as they can, as well as they can with shrinking resources.

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