Category: dialogue
what being missional is about
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Being missional is the topic du jour in the mainstream American church, and there’s no sign of the momentum slowing down. Last week in Austin, Texas, I participated at the Verge Conference 2012 with ~ 2,500+ others in attendance to get invigorated about missional communities + missional churches + being missional, and even getting our…
How can organizations get along in an organic movement?
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@ dialogueThere’s something about a movement that attracts attention, people and/or media and/or whatever. Some more than others. There’s the Tea Party movement.. Occupy movement.. Arab Spring movement.. movements can be social, political, even religious. Some people have a degree of uneasiness with calling something that’s orchestrated by an organization as a movement, insinuating that a…
List of Christian podcasts that aren’t sermons
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Recently I’ve been looking for podcasts to subscribe to for my commute time. I’m most interested in the intersection of social and spiritual things, aka people & relationships, which isn’t as popular as topics like technology or cooking or celebrity gossip. In the Christian podcasting world, most podcasts are sermons or teachings or devotionals or…
Asian American churches in the metro Washington DC area
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Question: “I’m looking for a church in the DC area with a large Asian American demographic in attendance. I really want to be integrated into the Asian American community. Can you refer me to such a church in DC? I don’t have a car or know how to drive, so my traveling options are limited to just walking.” Answer…
how to pick a mission statement if any one will do
Mission statements are supposed to be really important, along with vision and values, for an organization to have purpose and alignment and the like. Look at this list actual mission statements below. I confess the meaning of a mission statement is lost on me. I can’t tell what it is that the company or organization…
Why We Sin When We Know So Much
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@ dialogueThere’s something ugly about moralism and self-righteousness, the exhausting effort of trying to be good and to do the right thing all the time. Doing good is a good thing. This isn’t to say we give up and give in to our lustful desires and “animal” instincts. What I’m realizing as I revisit this topic…
Asian American Christian faith matters
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A handful of events and networks have crossed my radar recently that cultivate dialogue around the contextualizing of Christian faith for/with/by Asian Americans. October 15th / 22nd @ Dallas / Houston Legacy Dialogue 2011: Trust Factor – how to build trust between two generations in ministry – the future of next generation English ministry in…
Performance. Skills. Salary. Excellence.
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@ dialogueSome people get paid to do what they’re great at doing, some don’t. Getting paid doesn’t mean the best performance. The thing can be whatever: singing, speaking, teaching, blogging, marketing, managing, etc. Here’s the random thing I’m thinking about this Saturday. How does excellence in performace stack up against one’s skills and paid status? I…
When is a home Bible study a church?
America was founded with a primary motivation for the freedom to worship without government regulations. (Unlike some, I am not convinced that America was intended to be a “Christian nation” or founded on “Judeo-Christian principles,” though Christian influence was certainly part of the mix. What is clear to me is religious freedom that guarantees the…
Untapped potential of Asian Americans
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Got tapped to weigh in on this informal survey on Facebook from Tom Lin: What are some gifts Asian Americans bring to the Church and missions? Scroll down to see all the responses that came in and add your response — Santa Ono: “A cultural perspective that often places community before self. A tendency to…
Learning how to preach better and present too
I’ve heard it said that you learn to teach by teaching. You learn to preach by preaching. “Practice makes perfect.” I’d say that practice does help. And some other resources can help too, like a personal coach and looking at a broader range of samples than just a few favorites. As someone who does public…
Re-imagining brick-and-mortar as Borders closes out
As we watch the big-box Borders close its retail bookstores, it gives us pause (and some, anxiety) about the post-print world. I had to ask, why would Borders have to shut down while Barnes & Noble stays open? View “Why Borders dies while B&N survives” on Storify In a post-print world, there are signs that…
