Reflections from the Global Leadership Summit

I've been reviewing some of my notes from the GLS that I attended last week and thought I'd share a few of the great one-liners that I heard.

These first three come from Bill Hybels whose church, Willow Creek, organizes the event each year.
“Swing hard or surrender your bat.”
“Churches are in the life transformation business.”
“Don’t go out with a whimper.”

The next comes from Corey Booker, mayor of Newark, New Jersey who sounds more like an evangelist.  I think he attributed the quote to Abraham Lincoln, but I'm not 100% sure on that. 

“Everyone is born an individual, but sadly most die as copies.”

The next four all come from a message by Steven Furtick, pastor of the Elevation Church in Charlotte, N.C.  His text was 2 Kgs. 3:9-20 about Elisha’s meeting with King Jehoshaphat. The context was a desperate need for water for the army and the cattle. Elisha’s word from the Lord was, “Make this valley full of trenches.” Steven’s paraphrase, “If you want to see the land filled with water, dig some ditches.”
His other one-liners that I noted were these:
“Just having good ideas doesn’t make you a visionary but a daydreamer.”
“If the size of your vision isn’t intimidating to you, it’s probably insulting to God.”
Speaking of our tendency to be discouraged as we compare ourselves to others, he said, “We compare our behind the scenes work with others’ highlight reels.”

The final set of these come from Erwin McManus from Mosaic Church in Los Angeles.
“The extraordinary nature that God puts in each person at birth is beaten out of us by life and most die very ordinary.”
“Our churches are full of folks who are filled with dreams that will die in them if we don't liberate them.”
“You at your best are not in the slightest way intimidating to God.”
“We must tell the human story with authenticity.”
“Whoever tells the best story shapes the culture.”

Global Leadership Summit

I spent a very enjoyable two days at Willow Creek Association's Global Leadership Summit, attending the simulcast of it at Pleasant Valley Baptist in Liberty, MO.  It was an interesting line-up of speakers again this year.  I really wasn't disappointed by any of the speakers, but felt that a few of them really hit home runs.  Steven Furtick did a great job of preaching a message about Elisha's audacious faith.  The demeanor and spirit of Mama Maggie Gobran as she shared about her work among the least of these in Cairo's slums was riveting.  Patrick Lencioni, a last-minute pinch hitter substituting for Starbucks CEO Schultz who withdrew, was absolutely hilarious but powerful at the same time.  I also enjoyed Erwin McManus of Mosaic and his emphasis on getting back to telling the truth and communicating the gospel story in its power and simplicity.  Hybels as usual was great as he echoed a similar theme of McManus.

If you've never attending a GLS, I'd encourage you to think about doing so next August.  It's an outstanding two-day event bringing together Christian leaders as well as prominent business leaders to address the broad question of improving our leadership skills.

Wedding Vows or Miranda Rights?

Our church's administrator shares humorous cartoons and stories each week from Christianity Today.  This week's was priceless.

Weddding Vows or Miranda's Rights?


I was watching my 5-year-old granddaughter Christy play with her dolls. At one point, she "staged" a wedding, first playing the role of the bride's mother who assigned specific duties, then suddenly becoming the bride with her "teddy bear" groom.

She picked him up and said to the "minister" presiding over the wedding, "Now you can read us our rights." Without missing a beat, Christy became the minister who said, "You have the right to remain silent, anything you say may be held against you, you have the right to have an attorney present. You may kiss the bride."

—Sonja R. Ely, Dallas, Oregon. Christian Reader "Rolling Down the Aisle."

Willow Creek Leadership Summit

I'm excited about the opportunity of attending on Thursday and Friday of this week the Annual Leadership Summit sponsored by Willow Creek.  Last year was my first year to go and I enjoyed it and was challenged by a great deal that I heard regarding leadership.  I'll be attending again this year at Pleasant Valley Baptist Church in Liberty.  They do a wonderful job of hosting events like this.  Our pastor and our minister of discipleship are also both going this year.  Should be an exciting couple of days of worship, inspiration, and information.