A Book for the New Millennium

Yes, another book.

It is WIKINOMICS, by Don Tapscott and Anthony D. Williams.

Anyone interested in having influence in the New Millennium needs to read it. It sub title says it all: "How Mass Collaboration Changes Everything".

Are you a business leader? You need it to read. Are you a Para-Church Leader? You need it to read. Are you an elder? You need it to read. Are you a Grand Parent? You need it to read. Are you a Parent? You need it to read.

We live in the midst of the Fourth Great Awakening as predicted by Nobel Prize winning Economist Robert Fogel. Fogel saw the revival of the Sixties as culminating in the Awakening in the New Millennium. Believers need to get on board now and ride God's waves of Renewal, Restoration and Reformation.

Just as Gutenberg revolutionized business, education, the Bible and thus the church and the world, the world wide web will revolutionize all institutions. Some Pastors are still trying to build a church designed to fit the 16Th Century and here we are in the 21st Century. It is frustrating to see such ideas in our churches.

Some old fashioned leaders are very afraid of anything unusual or different. Like dinosaurs who died because they could not adapt the current church movements are breathing their last unless the leaders wake up and smell the caffeine. Historically Christians led the scientific revolution, the American Revolution and the freedom from slavery revolution. Now is the time for a new revolution of communication, outreach and Christian impact.

The book Wikinomics is startling in its insights about what is happening in the world of business, industry, research science and world trade.

Make Your List and Check it Twice

Tomorrow Karen and I are off to visit Jack Donovan Sweeten, the 2 1/2 year old musical genius who lives in Steelers' Country. Oh well, we can't have everything.

While we are on vacation, design a program to deliver health care to those who need it. In the last blog I asked several questions. I have not received any Comments yet and I am disappointed.

Maybe the questions were dumb, uninteresting or off the point. But, there they are and I am stuck with them.



Take a swing at the questions and imagine you have been given a grant of $1,000,000.00 to spend on building a Christian health and healing ministry. Take a leap of faith and make up a plan to spend the dough that Bill Gates gave you to deliver health care more effectively. The whole world is in desperate need for a better system of health care.

Jesus, The Great Physician, seemed to know a lot about healing and He cared a lot for sick people. Does it make sense that he would ignore those people in the 21st Century? Why do so many Christians boycott health and healing today? Seasoned Believers have the knowledge, wisdom, experience and time to make real changes in the lives of millions of people.

Allow me to offer a hint. Almost every chronic disease today results from a badly chosen "life style". What Seasoned Believers have to offer are our spiritual, emotional and relational resources.

Second, many problems could be treated easier, cheaper, quicker and better if there as a system that brought all the resources together in one web page.

Third, the greatest needs are spiritual in nature not physical.

Fourth, lay people are critically important to enhancing good health.



Have fun!!

The Crisis in Church Growth

Imagine that you and your spouse are interested in helping poverty stricken people get good health care at a reasonable price. You are a doctor and your spouse is a nurse and you have a million dollars to invest in developing a solid, modern health care facility in the middle of a destitute nation.

What would you do with the million dollars to have the greatest long term effect?

Option #1. Build a clinic and offer free medical and nursing care to everyone who came.

Option #2. Start a nursing school and select a few highly qualified students to be trained.

Option #3. Start a medical school and select a few highly qualified students to be trained.

Option #4. Start a school to teach the villagers how to prevent diseases and care for themselves.

Option #5. Invite foreign specialists to visit each year and do badly needed surgery.

Option #6. Start a church and teach the people to pray, read the Bible and know Christ.

Option #7. Some combination of these. (Which ones?)

I have my priorities. Do you?

Seasoned Believers can do all of these, if they choose to do so.

Seeker Churches and Seasoned Believers

The last slide I have taken from the Reveal blog shows the data they discovered about their most dedicated and long term members. In what must have been a terrible blow to Bill Hybels, the data shows that their most committed people are also the most dissatisfied. In fact, they are so wrought up they want to leave the church soon.

Many of the members of this group are ready to bolt. That is what the huge drop at the end of the chart means. Such a realization would have to shake the foundations for any of us in ministry and, according to the Willow Web, it shook them to the core.

None of these slides is truly understandable if all you do is look at them on my blog. I urge you to buy the book, Reveal, and prayerfully read it with a new appreciation for what Willow Creek has done for us all. They, and the other churches in the survey, are certainly not alone in having worked hard to produce satisfied disciples only to discover otherwise. Go to their blog and read. http://www.revealnow.com/storyPage.asp?pageID=6

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The next step is the crucial one. What are we to do about it? What types of processes, programs, materials, gatherings will actually transform Christians into fully functioning, mature Disciples?