The Future - What will it look like?

About a month ago, I spoke at VISION 2020 LEADERSHIP - A TIME TO SEE THE FUTURE. Rev. Tommy Reid, pastor of The TAB in Orchard Park, NY asked me to spend time with their pastors, elders and leaders.

We focused on, What Will The Church Look Like in 2020?

I wish I would have had this video.
Our world is changing!



The landscape in America (indeed our world) has changed. Christendom (in America) no longer exists.
Some of the key points were...
I.. People in leadership positions face several challenges. 1) FOCUSING ON THE WRONG ISSUES (trying to fight society – fight reality) 2) NOT RECOGNIZING THE CHANGES AROUND THEM (sometimes denying them) and 3) trying to apply the wrong “fix”.

Every church needs transformation.

Those that aren’t changed DIE.

But without a clear understanding of the nature of change, the chances of growing a healthy church are diminished.

II. Last to see the shift
People insulated within any paradigm (group / institution) typically are the last to see the shift and least able to recognize strategies that are not going to work.

III. DO - DELIVER - DECLARE

How we DO church, how we DELIVER church, and how we DECLARE the message.

Some people have observed a five hundred year cycle in western history—a period of upheaval followed by a period of settling down, then codification, and then upheaval again because we do not like to be codified. So, about every five hundred years the church feels compelled to have a giant rummage sale, and we’re in one of those periods now.

HERE’S THE KEY….The emerging generation has a different STYLE, worldview and priorities. They have different ways of communicating.

Knowledge based Organizations will morph into highly distributed anytime networks.

It calls into question the future role of large facilities, high technological overhead and an emphasis on an insulated professional corps for business, government and ministry.

We are watching the leveling of the “playing field.”

ACTION:

1. Develop a strategic plan.

2. We need Men of Isachaar who “discern” the times.

“Exegete the environment, exegete the times. Discover what it taking place now. Look at future trends, major forces shaping society/our environment.

3. We need some people who understand the “Gretzky Factor.”

4. Prepare for contingencies.

SUPER BOWL SUNDAY

Are you ready for some FOOTBALL!?!?!

I am looking forward to cheering for Kurt Warner and the Arizona Cardinals.


This is a fun video.

Check it out.

"IN...." INcongurous, INcredible, INsane

I am amazed at the INANE, empty-headed statement by Nancy Pelosi. Headline... "PELOSI SAYS BIRTH CONTROL WILL HELP ECONOMY." Right below that story was a report from Japan... "Japanese workers urged: Go home and multiply." How incongruous. Pelosi states... Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi boldly defended a move to add birth control funding to the new economic "stimulus" package, claiming "contraception will reduce costs to the states and to the federal government."

Pelosi, the mother of 5 children and 6 grandchildren, who once said, "Nothing in my life will ever, ever compare to being a mom," seemed to imply babies are somehow a burden on the treasury.

The revelation came during an exchange Sunday morning on ABC's THIS WEEK.

STEPHANOPOULOS: Hundreds of millions of dollars to expand family planning services. How is that stimulus?

PELOSI: Well, the family planning services reduce cost. They reduce cost. The states are in terrible fiscal budget crises now and part of what we do for children's health, education and some of those elements are to help the states meet their financial needs. One of those - one of the initiatives you mentioned, the contraception, will reduce costs to the states and to the federal government.

STEPHANOPOULOS: So no apologies for that?

PELOSI: No apologies. No. we have to deal with the consequences of the downturn in our economy.

The story about Japan states...

Japan in the midst of an unprecedented recession, so corporations are being asked to work toward fixing another major problem: the country's low birthrate.

At 1.34, the birthrate is well below the 2.0 needed to maintain Japan's population, according to the country's Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare.

Analysts say the world's second-largest economy faces its greatest threat from its own social problems, rather than outside forces. And the country desperately needs to make some fixes to its current social and work structures, sociologists say.

________________________________________________________________

I think America is in for some rough times ahead.

Modern Day David?

I love authentic, real, down to earth people.
This "good ol' boy" appears to be one.

I'm NOT lovin' it - McDonald's

Okay, what's the deal with this FALSE advertising that McDonald's is doing here in Chicagoland?!??
The advertisement states that on Monday, you can go into a McDonald's Restaurant and they will give you a free latte or mocha.
Out of curiosity, Joy and I have gone into a couple of them (on Monday) requesting one of their drinks and the answer has been, "Oh, were not doing that." I then ask them where there is one that is participating in their MASSIVE advertising campaign. And they refer me to a McDonald's further down the road.
I don't get it and...
I'M NOT LOVIN' IT.

This ad appears to be a lie in Will County....

Brilliant Politcal Humor Commentary

A friend sent this to me. It speaks for itself.