Beeson Training - Better afternoon.

Well, the afternoon today went much better than the morning. I got to the Church of the Resurrections for the Beeson Institute for Advanced Church Leasdership modul and found a few friends. This module is Healthy, Winning Staff Tems. We heard from Dale Galloway from the Beeson team and Mike Breaux, teaching pastor at Willow Creek. Some highlights:

"Master Plan for Staffing" From Dale Galloway . . .

Eight major comcepts you need to know in order to build your dream team:

1. Choose people who have the same philosophy of ministry as you have
2. Hire persons who are ministry centered rather thatn performer centered
3. Select someone who either can do something you can not do or who can do something better than you can; otherwise, you don't need that person
4. Put the staff person over an area of ministry. Give them ownership and responsibility to grow as large as possible.
5. Everyone should have the same "#1" job description: To recruit, equip and train lay leaders in your area of ministry.
6. Recruit the strongest staff leader you can get to join your dream team.
7. You have to change a grow every time there is a new staff person so you can help the new staff person be successful.
8. Staff should have areas of specialization as well as common ministries that all staff will be responsible.

NEVER ADD A STAFF PERSON TO REPLACE VOLUNTEERS!

"Leading through Transition" From Mike Breaux:

1. Know who you are.
2. Own the dream.
3. Share the Load
4. Communicat vision over & over
5. Three steps forward, two steps back
6. Refuse to let ANYTHING get you down.

Terrible Start to Kansas City, Kansas

Short post. LOOOOOOOOOONG morning. Left 38 minutes late for the airport (overslept); got stopped by Baltimore police (headlight out); Got warning for headlight but fined for my licence being expired ($60); two flights on tiny jets (no one sat next to me - thanks be to God!); realized I couldn't get a rental car with an expired driver's licence (paid $45 to get a shuttle) and the only food I have had so far was a muffin and diet coke on the plane. More later . . .

A Giant Fish Story

After church today I ate lunch with a couple of guys who had been in my youth group. One of them, Jeff Fawver (remember that name) has landed a TV show with a local TV station. Being an avid fisherman, Jeff and his buddy will be doing a show about, you guessed it, fishing. The show goes into production this summer. They will be doing 13 shows. (They are looking for sponsors) I will let you know more as soon as I am able. Jeff, I know you read this blog. I don't know if you have a title or not for the show. It would be great if you could comment here and let us all know.

Anyway, he was telling fish (get it) stories at lunch and mentioned this whopper, literally, of a story about a giant catfish. Click here to see the entire story. F.Y.I. I can't say that I endorse everything in the article.

Here is a snapshot:

The monster fish announced itself with four resounding whacks of its tail, thrashing against the net that had trapped it in the pale brown water of the Mekong River.

It was a fish called the giant catfish and it was the size of a grizzly bear, taking five boatmen an hour to pull it in and 10 men to lift it when they reached the shore in this remote village in northern Thailand.

More Women's Football

Here is more women's football stuff. ">

100 Days Until Practice

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There are only 100 days until the first official practice of the football season! The other day I was checking out my myspace friends and found this video that someone made. I found out it was a friend of one of the cheerleaders. The guys name is Pat. Enjoy.

Gettting My Football Fix!

I had to blog about this!!! I just received a phone call from the other assistant football coach. I had told him I was having football withdraw. Well, he called to tell me where I could get my football fix. He was at a NWFA game in Harrisburg, PA. National WOMEN'S Football Association. That's right . . . Women's football! One of his friends plays for the Pittsburgh team. Here's a news article and the "local" teams' website. I have to see this for myself!

Still 24 To Go

Here is the weekly update on getting at least on visitor from each state. This is kind of disappointing . . . This week we have not added any new states. :( While we have had a good number of returning visitors, no new visitors from the remaining 24 we are looking for. Maybe next week will be better. So far this has been an enjoyable activity. I hope you will continue to read.

National DAY of Prayer? ?

Although I love the fact that there is a National Day of Prayer, I really think we need a National YEAR of Prayer (or better yet YEARS).

Everything's Up To Date For Kansas City!

Today I made some final plans for my trip to Kansas City for my third Beeson Institute For Advanced Church Leadership module next week. The module, "How to Build Healthy, Winning, Staff Teams" will be held at the Church of the Resurrection in Leawood, KS from Tuesday, May 8 to Friday, May 11. I have really enjoyed the other modules I have attended and have learned a lot. The days are filled with lectures on the topic for that module with "processing groups" following. These groups allow interaction to help sort out the things you have just heard. At the same time they try to work with churches who are prolific in the topic at hand. Some of the guys are taking the modules for their Masters degrees and a few are working on Doctoral degrees. The rest of us are just . . . there learning.

I will get to hear Miles McPherson from the Rock Church in San Diego, CA, Mike Breaux from Willow Creek, and others from successful ministries around the country.

I also like the chance to get out of Central PA and see different areas of the country. I always try to eat at local places that aren't available here. Also, the Royals are in town Tues - Thursday, so maybe I will get a chance to go to a game - they play the A's.

Then on Friday the module is over at 11:30 AM and I am taking my rental car across the state of Missouri to Saint Louis for one night to visit my cousins.

It will be a nice break and yet a great learning experience for me.

OCC Trip Video

I was moving files off of my laptop to a new 160 gig external hard drive when I came across this video we made of our trip to Operation Christmas Child last November. It's kind of long, but enjoy.