Some people ask, "What do I do when I practice solitude? What should I bring with me?" The primary answer, of course, is—nothing.
At its heart, solitude is primarily about not doing something. Just as fasting means to refrain from eating, so solitude means to refrain from society. When I go into solitude, I withdraw from conversation, from others, from noise, from media, from the constant barrage of stimulation.
"In solitude," Henri Nouwen wrote, "I get rid of my scaffolding." Scaffolding is all the stuff I use to keep myself propped up, to convince myself I'm important or okay. In solitude I have no friends to talk with, no phone calls or meetings, no TV to entertain, no music or books or newspapers to occupy and distract my mind. I am, in the words of the old hymn, "Just as I Am"—just me and my sinfulness, and God.
Continue reading "How to Think About Solitude"...
The Future of Short-Term Missions
Where is the movement right now? Where does it need to go?
Paul Borthwick holds a doctorate in Cross-Cultural Ministry from Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, and teaches missiology at Gordon College near his Boston home. He's the author of How to Be a World-Class Christian and 14 other books. Borthwick has coordinated over 100 missions trips all over the world. He also serves as a senior consultant with Development Associates International. Borthwick spoke with Round Trip Missions about the future of short-term missions and about how to best serve with our Christian brothers and sisters in the Global South.
How would you describe the present state of the short-term missions movement?
When I think about short-term missions, I recall a comment someone made about the People's Republic of China: "Anything you say about China is true." Well, almost anything you say about short-term missions is true, too. On the positive side, is it producing new missionaries? Yes, there are cases of that. Is it giving people a greater vision, and taking people across cultures into places they would never have gone on their own? Yes, absolutely.
But on the negative side, are there places where it's doing cultural harm? Yes. Are there places where people are coming in with incredible cultural insensitivity and maybe undermining the long-term work that's being done? Yes. So short-term missions is all over the place. It's big, it's untamed, and the results, I would say, are kind of random at the moment.
Continue reading "The Future of Short-Term Missions"...
What makes a great staff meeting? We follow several principles:
Have a regular time and place (and don't cancel!). This builds a pattern that reaps long-term benefits. Most staff teams find it best to meet early in the week. We expect all staff to be there.
Start (and end) on time. Starting late is disrespectful to those who have made it a priority to be on time. The discipline of the end time moves the meeting along and allows people to plan the rest of their day with confidence.
Have an agenda and stick to it (most of the time). Most meetings fail when adequate thought has not been put into what the group should discuss. Place priority items at the top of the agenda.
Be prepared. Those with assignments must come prepared. If this discipline breaks down, participants begin to consider preparation optional.
Have an established leader. Consistent leadership enhances the effectiveness of the meeting. If the senior pastor doesn't lead the staff meeting, some churches delegate it to another pastor skilled at meeting management.
Continue reading "Ground Rules for Staff Meetings"...
We're currently putting the finishing touches on a resource called Surviving Information Overload. It includes an original article from Angie Ward, a blog post from Tim Challies, a Books & Culture piece by Alan Jacobs, and a couple of very practical excerpts from Kevin Miller's book of the same title. Great content, and on an issue that affects everyone—I'm excited about it.
We also included a lengthy Leadership journal piece that you should look forward to reading. It's essentially six articles in one, with six different pastors and leaders responding to the question, "How do you select the information that's important and valuable in ministry?"
As I looked this article over, a number of quotes jumped out at me from its 3,000 words. Here are a few:
"The Enlightenment suggested that if we could just get more information, we'd be better people. I don't believe that anymore, which has helped me be less compulsive about my reading… I would rather know a few things well than a lot of things pretty well."
-Ben Patterson
"I'm not reading for information as much as for perspective."
-Ben Patterson
"I mostly read dead people. Reading things that are old delivers me from the feeling of information overload."
-David Hansen
Continue reading "What We Read and Why"...
Top 10 Posts of 2009
The year's most popular posts addressed church membership, small churches, and more.
10. Small Churches Need a Brand Revival
by Chuck Warnock
9. Book Corner: Pursuing the Gay Community
by Brandon O'Brien
8. Audio/Visual Tips for Engaging Worship
by Branon Dempsey
7. Leading a Small Church
interview with John Koessler
6. 5 Reasons You'll Want to Leave But Shouldn't
by Angie and David Ward
5. J.I. Packer on Restricting Communion
an interview
4. Church Membership? Yes!
by Thabiti Anyabwile
3. Church Membership is Not Enough
by Eric Bryant
2. Porn Okay, Except on Sunday?
by Tim Avery
1. Is This Gossip?
by Kevin Miller
