Good Words from Brene Brown

I had the privilege to attend Willow Creek's Leadership Summit a couple weeks ago and am just now beginning to download the thoughts and takeaways from those two days.  One of the more riveting speakers was Brene Brown, who you can get a taste of with her TED talk here.

Some of her best thoughts from her Willow talk were:

• In the absence of love and belonging there is always suffering
• Leaders can't give others what they don't have 
• When you judge your self for asking for help you are automatically judging others when they ask for help (this one hurt a little- a bit close to home!)
• You can choose courage or you can choose comfort but you cannot choose both; they are mutually exclusive

I Am A Church Member

Interesting blog here on church attendance and membership.  While some of the premise could be correct, I think if you include activities such as attending a small group/bible study or serving somewhere, the statistics (while almost impossible to track) would be better.

Also, I read Rainer's book on church membership (mentioned in the blog post) and it's worthwhile reading.

12 Simple Rules for Greeting

Some really good (and comical) stuff here

July's Top Posts

The top posts from July:

• Seth Godin on Money
• Garbage Wars
• My One Social Media Rule

Troubled Minds

I recently read this book off the recommendation of a Facebook friend who also works within a church.  While I don't have any nuggets or takeaways to post here, it was an informative book and one that leaves you with more questions than answers.  This isn't a book that tells you how to begin a mental health ministry.  It's more the author's personal story of mental illness within her family, what type of support they received (and often times, did not receive) from the church, and areas where the church can do better (or in some areas, just do something) in this area.  

In Case You Missed It

In preparation for teaching this Sunday, I am reminded of this blog from a couple months ago.