TimHowey.Com

How Prayer Changed our Multi-site Campus Name

Hello Everyone,

Grace Church is in the process of praying for, planning for, and trusting God for the launch of two church plants in the next year:

• One independent church plant (different name, different pastor, different branding, different board, etc.)
• One multi-site campus location (Grace Church's Olathe Campus)

We are launching our Olathe Campus on (Lord willing!) Super Bowl Sunday, February 5, 2017. We are announcing the Olathe Campus pastor and location on the weekend of May 14-15. Don't miss that weekend!!

I wanted to share a story of how prayer has totally changed my mind recently about what we should call our current campus at 159th & Antioch. Check it out:

Facebook Q&A - How Prayer Changed Multisite Name from Grace Church on Vimeo.

Leadership Development Books

I wanted to update the list of books I recommend at Grace for leadership development these days. Here are my leadership 15:

1. The Practice of the Presence of God by Brother Lawrence 
2. Words to Winners of Souls by Horatius Bonar
3. Spiritual Leadership by J. Oswald Sanders
4. Courageous Leadership by Bill Hybels
5. Overcoming the Dark Side of Leadership by McIntosh & Rima
6. The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership by John Maxwell
7. The 17 Indisputable Laws of Teamwork by John Maxwell
8. Gaining by Losing by J.D. Greear
9. Crucial Conversations by Patterson, Grenny, McMillan, & Switzler
10. Crucial Accountability by Patterson, Grenny, Maxfield, McMillan, & Switzler 
11. Influencer by Grenny, Patterson, Maxfield, McMillan, & Switzler
12. The Five Dysfunctions of a Team by Patrick Lencioni
13. Death by Meeting by Patrick Lencioni
14. Good to Great by Jim Collins
15. Good to Great and the Social Sectors by Jim Collins

These books are just the "on-ramp" to a lifetime of learning for leaders. Great leaders celebrate the wins, but are never satisfied with the status quo, personally or organizationally. Great leaders are insatiable learners. Great leaders are readers. Great leaders are like Jesus.

As a bonus, here a four more books:

1. Knowing God by J.I. Packer
2. The Christians' Secret to a Happy Life by Hannah Whitall Smith
3. On Prayer by E.M. Bounds
4. The Complete Green Letters by Miles Stanford

 

Q&A - How to Share your Story

We're in our "Me-ligion" series right now at Grace, challenging people NOT to practice "Me-ligion" (i.e. caring only about your own spiritual needs, treating religion as a solely private matter, etc.). This is the heart of our vision at Grace: "to help everyone become an outward-focused follower of Jesus".

One of the safest & most powerful ways for you to impact other people spiritually is simply to tell your story (sometimes churches call this your "testimony"). That's what Jesus told the man in Mark 5:19 to do (along with us!):

"Go home to your friends, and tell them what great things the Lord has done for you, and how He has had compassion on you." --Jesus

But how do you do that? Everyone's "God story" has four parts, following how Paul shared his "God story" in Acts 9, 22, & 26.

Check it out: 

Q&A with Pastor Tim Part 47 on How to Share Your Story from Grace Church on Vimeo.

Q&A - What leadership books do I recommend?

In this video, I shared my updated list of books (i.e. my first 12) for Christian leadership development.

1. The Practice of the Presence of God by Brother Lawrence 
2. Words to Winners of Souls by Horatius Bonar
3. Spiritual Leadership by J. Oswald Sanders
4. Courageous Leadership by Bill Hybels
5. Overcoming the Dark Side of Leadership by Gary McIntosh & Sam Rima
6. Influencer by Grenny, Patterson, Grenny, Maxfield, McMillan, & Switzler
7. Crucial Conversations by Patterson, Grenny, McMillan, & Switzler
8. Crucial Accountability by  Patterson, Grenny, McMillan, Switzler, & Maxfield
9. The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership by John Maxwell
10. The 17 Indisputable Laws of Teamwork by John Maxwell 
11. The Five Dysfunctions of a Team by Patrick Lencioni
12. Good to Great & Good to Great & the Social Sectors by Jim Collins

I also share how I'm experimenting with reading a little of two books at once, every day, after my daily Bible reading.

Q&A with Pastor Tim Part 43 on Books for Christian Leadership from Grace Church on Vimeo.

Check out Pastor Tim's answer to this Q&A question about which books he recommends for Christian leaders.

My Pastoral Calling - 8 Confirmations

During our recent series at Grace called Voices: a study of Nehemiah, I mentioned how I God had confirmed to me in eight specific ways, that He wanted me to leave my job at Black & Veatch and start a new church in Overland Park.

I was asked about those 8 confirmations.  Here they are:

1. My Pastors Recommended This Opportunity
2. My "Pastoral Desire" Answered By This Opportunity
3. God Is Currently Making A Move In My Life
4. I Shed Tears Throughout our Missions Conference
5. Kansas City Is a Unique Field In My Life
6. Other People Have Mentioned This Opportunity
7. This Opportunity is an Open Door
8. This Opportunity Has Been Confirmed By The Word

 

For more details, click here to download an abridged version of the original document I wrote as I sought God's direction for my life.

Leadership Development Books - Update

Here is an updated list of my top ten books for leadership development.

1. The Practice of the Presence of God by Brother Lawrence 
2. Words to Winners of Souls by Horatius Bonar
3. Spiritual Leadership by J. Oswald Sanders
4. Courageous Leadership by Bill Hybels
5. Crucial Conversations by Patterson, Grenny, McMillan, & Switzler
6. The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership by John Maxwell
7. The 17 Indisputable Laws of Teamwork by John Maxwell 
8. The Five Dysfunctions of a Team by Patrick Lencioni
9. Influencer: The New Science of Leading Change by Grenny, Patterson, Maxfield, McMillan, & Switzler
10. Good to Great by Jim Collins

 

A Study of Courage - Daniel 1

We kicked off our series called Backbone this weekend.  We're taking the months of June & July to cover 9 of the 12 chapters of Daniel (chapters 1-7 & 9-10).

Here's are the resources I used for last week along with our OWNit365 Daniel video:

• Daniel - Book Overview by Ray Stedman

• Maya Angelou on Courage
• Maya Angelou's Wiki Page

• Mariam Ibrahim's News Story
• Mariam Ibrahim's Wiki Page

P.S. Could "courage" not be defined as cooking and eating bacon during a weekend message? :-)

P.S. Check out Daniel 2 for next week's topic.

Working with Millennials

John Jacobs sent me the following video and asked if our six summer interns at Grace Church fall into the same "Millennials" category. 

That’s the topic of the excellent book Generation iY by Tim Elmore.  There is a shift going on in our culture today that's important to understand.  (Culture is like the wind.  You can either spit into it in frustration, or put a sail up and harness it.)

P.S. After watching this video "re-imag-uation", I feel the need to tell you how smart you are for just waking up today.  You are so smart!

 

The Power of Introverts

Tom Herzog shared an interesting video with me last week. It's a TED talk by Susan Cain who is speaking on "The Power of Introverts."

My wife has been reading her book, Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World that Can't Stop Talking.

Check it out:

 

The Credit Belongs To...

Our Staff Strategy Team (SST) is reading and discussing 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership by John C. Maxwell.  This book has a PROFOUND impact on me years ago when I, as a younger leader, was trying to develop my leadership skills.

While reading it this time, I found a great quote on "where the true credit lies" from President Teddy Roosevelt:

“It is not the critic who counts, not the man who points out how the strong man stumbled, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better.  The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena; whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs and comes short again and again; who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, and spends himself in a worthy cause; who, at best, knows in the end the triumph of high achievement; and who, at the worst, if he fails, at least fails with daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat.”  (Teddy Roosevelt)