What Republican said this...

Tuesday, April 27, 2010

You cannot help the poor by destroying the rich.
You cannot strengthen the weak by weakening the strong.
You cannot bring about prosperity by discouraging thrift.
You cannot lift the wage earner up by pulling the wage payer down.
You cannot further the brotherhood of man by inciting class hatred.
You cannot build character and courage by taking away people's initiative and independence.
You cannot help people permanently by doing for them, what they could and should do for themselves.


Answer tomorrow.

More Inspiring Short Speeches

Monday, April 26, 2010

I love great speeches, and the best are speeches that deliver an eloquent punch quickly. We offered a selection of inspiring short speeches almost six years ago. Here are more; some you’ll recognize. I’m sure others will be new to many:

Well Known

Blood, Toil, Tears, and Sweat
Sir Winston Churchill
May 13, 1940

On Friday evening last I received from His Majesty the mission to form a new administration. It was the evident will of' Parliament and the nation that this should be conceived on the broadest possible basis and that it should include all parties.

I have already completed the most important part of this task.

A war cabinet has been formed of five members, representing, with the Labour, Opposition, and Liberals, the unity of the nation. It was necessary that this should be done in one single day on account of the extreme urgency and rigor of events. Other key positions were filled yesterday. I am submitting a further list to the king tonight. I hope to complete the appointment of principal ministers during tomorrow.

The appointment of other ministers usually takes a little longer. I trust when Parliament meets again this part of my task will be completed and that the administration will be complete in all respects. I considered it in the public interest to suggest to the Speaker that the House should be summoned today. At the end of today's proceedings, the adjournment of the House will be proposed until May 21 with provision for earlier meeting if need be. Business for that will be notified to MPs at the earliest opportunity.

I now invite the House by a resolution to record its approval of the steps taken and declare its confidence in the new government.

The resolution:

"That this House welcomes the formation of a government representing the united and inflexible resolve of the nation to prosecute the war with Germany to a victorious conclusion."

To form an administration of this scale and complexity is a serious undertaking in itself. But we are in the preliminary phase of one of the greatest battles in history. We are in action at many other points-in Norway and in Holland-and we have to be prepared in the Mediterranean. The air battle is continuing, and many preparations have to be made here at home.

In this crisis I think I may be pardoned if 1 do not address the House at any length today, and I hope that any of my friends and colleagues or former colleagues who are affected by the political reconstruction will make all allowances for any lack of ceremony with which it has been necessary to act.

I say to the House as I said to ministers who have joined this government, I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears, and sweat. We have before us an ordeal of the most grievous kind. We have before us many, many months of struggle and suffering.

You ask, what is our policy? I say it is to wage war by land, sea, and air. War with all our might and with all the strength God has given us, and to wage war against a monstrous tyranny never surpassed in the dark and lamentable catalogue of human crime. That is our policy.

You ask, what is our aim? I can answer in one word. It is victory. Victory at all costs - Victory in spite of all terrors - Victory, however long and hard the road may be, for without victory there is no survival.

Let that be realized. No survival for the British Empire, no survival for all that the British Empire has stood for, no survival for the urge, the impulse of the ages, that mankind shall move forward toward his goal.

I take up my task in buoyancy and hope. I feel sure that our cause will not be suffered to fail among men. I feel entitled at this juncture, at this time, to claim the aid of all and to say, "Come then, let us go forward together with our united strength."


Ich bin ein Berliner
President John F. Kennedy
June 26, 1963

I am proud to come to this city as the guest of your distinguished Mayor, who has symbolized throughout the world the fighting spirit of West Berlin. And I am proud to visit the Federal Republic with your distinguished Chancellor who for so many years has committed Germany to democracy and freedom and progress, and to come here in the company of my fellow American, General Clay, who has been in this city during its great moments of crisis and will come again if ever needed.

Two thousand years ago the proudest boast was "civis Romanus sum." Today, in the world of freedom, the proudest boast is "Ich bin ein Berliner."

I appreciate my interpreter translating my German!

There are many people in the world who really don't understand, or say they don't, what is the great issue between the free world and the Communist world. Let them come to Berlin. There are some who say that communism is the wave of the future. Let them come to Berlin. And there are some who say in Europe and elsewhere we can work with the Communists. Let them come to Berlin. And there are even a few who say that it is true that communism is an evil system, but it permits us to make economic progress. Lass' sie nach Berlin kommen. Let them come to Berlin.

Freedom has many difficulties and democracy is not perfect, but we have never had to put a wall up to keep our people in, to prevent them from leaving us. I want to say, on behalf of my countrymen, who live many miles away on the other side of the Atlantic, who are far distant from you, that they take the greatest pride that they have been able to share with you, even from a distance, the story of the last 18 years. I know of no town, no city, that has been besieged for 18 years that still lives with the vitality and the force, and the hope and the determination of the city of West Berlin. While the wall is the most obvious and vivid demonstration of the failures of the Communist system, for all the world to see, we take no satisfaction in it, for it is, as your Mayor has said, an offense not only against history but an offense against humanity, separating families, dividing husbands and wives and brothers and sisters, and dividing a people who wish to be joined together.

What is true of this city is true of Germany--real, lasting peace in Europe can never be assured as long as one German out of four is denied the elementary right of free men, and that is to make a free choice. In 18 years of peace and good faith, this generation of Germans has earned the right to be free, including the right to unite their families and their nation in lasting peace, with good will to all people. You live in a defended island of freedom, but your life is part of the main. So let me ask you as I close, to lift your eyes beyond the dangers of today, to the hopes of tomorrow, beyond the freedom merely of this city of Berlin, or your country of Germany, to the advance of freedom everywhere, beyond the wall to the day of peace with justice, beyond yourselves and ourselves to all mankind.

Freedom is indivisible, and when one man is enslaved, all are not free. When all are free, then we can look forward to that day when this city will be joined as one and this country and this great Continent of Europe in a peaceful and hopeful globe. When that day finally comes, as it will, the people of West Berlin can take sober satisfaction in the fact that they were in the front lines for almost two decades.
All free men, wherever they may live, are citizens of Berlin, and, therefore, as a free man, I take pride in the words "Ich bin ein Berliner."


New to Most


Sermon to the Birds
St. Francis of Assisi
Year 1220

My little sisters, the birds, much bounden are ye unto God, your Creator, and always in every place ought ye to praise Him, for that He hath given you liberty to fly about everywhere, and hath also given you double and triple raiment; moreover He preserved your seed in the ark of Noah, that your race might not perish out of the world; still more are ye beholden to Him for the element of the air which He hath appointed for you; beyond all this, ye sow not, neither do you reap; and God feedeth you, and giveth you the streams and fountains for your drink; the mountains and valleys for your refuge and the high trees whereon to make your nests; and because ye know not how to spin or sow, God clotheth you, you and your children; wherefore your Creator loveth you much, seeing that He hath bestowed on you so many benefits; and therefore, my little sisters, beware of the sin of ingratitude, and study always to give praises unto God.


1932 Royal Christmas Message
King George V, written by Rudyard Kipling

Through one of the marvels of modern Science, I am enabled, this Christmas Day, to speak to all my peoples throughout the Empire. I take it as a good omen that Wireless should have reached its present perfection at a time when the Empire has been linked in closer union. For it offers us immense possibilities to make that union closer still.

It may be that our future may lay upon us more than one stern test. Our past will have taught us how to meet it unshaken. For the present, the work to which we are all equally bound is to arrive at a reasoned tranquillity within our borders; to regain prosperity without self-seeking; and to carry with us those whom the burden of past years has disheartened or overborne.

My life's aim has been to serve as I might, towards those ends. Your loyalty, your confidence in me has been my abundant reward.

I speak now from my home and from my heart to you all. To men and women so cut off by the snows, the desert or the sea, that only voices out of the air can reach them; to those cut off from fuller life by blindness, sickness, or infirmity; and to those who are celebrating this day with their children and grand-children. To all - to each - I wish a Happy Christmas. God Bless You!


'Stay Hungry, Stay Foolish' Speech
Steve Jobs
Stanford Commencement, June 12, 2005

"I am honored to be with you today at your commencement from one of the finest universities in the world. I never graduated from college. Truth be told, this is the closest I've ever gotten to a college graduation. Today I want to tell you three stories from my life. That's it. No big deal. Just three stories... When I was young, there was an amazing publication called The Whole Earth Catalog, which was one of the bibles of my generation. It was created by a fellow named Stewart Brand not far from here in Menlo Park, and he brought it to life with his poetic touch. This was in the late 1960's, before personal computers and desktop publishing, so it was all made with typewriters, scissors, and Polaroid cameras. It was sort of like Google in paperback form, 35 years before Google came along: it was idealistic, and overflowing with neat tools and great notions.

Stewart and his team put out several issues of The Whole Earth Catalog, and then when it had run its course, they put out a final issue. It was the mid-1970s, and I was your age. On the back cover of their final issue was a photograph of an early morning country road, the kind you might find yourself hitchhiking on if you were so adventurous. Beneath it were the words: "Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish." It was their farewell message as they signed off. Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish. And I have always wished that for myself. And now, as you graduate to begin anew, I wish that for you.

Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish."


Find more short speeches at Famous Short Speech by Great Speakers and Writers and Famous Short Speeches by Americans in Times of Strife

PR Tip: Getting Your Research Results Noticed by Media

Releasing interesting research results, such as a compelling national poll, has always been a good way to get media coverage. The Spin Within offers three tips to get your research noticed and published by reporters. Top line:

1) A picture is worth a thousand words

2) Include your methodology

3) Timing is everything

I've found that timing in the release of research results is like location in real estate.

Earth Day. . .

Thursday, April 22, 2010

and the Christian life.

A balanced and wise piece on the Flourish blog, which concludes:

Instead of being optimistic, we–as Christians–are hopeful. And our hope is foundational to every day of our lives, not just Earth Day. So let us celebrate this day in recognition for what it means in the history of our relationship with God’s earth. But let us also celebrate Thanksgiving in gratitude for the bounty of God’s creation and the love that can occur between strangers. Let us celebrate Christmas in acknowledgment that not only is Christ our brother, savior, and redeemer, but he is also the One through whom all things were made. Let us celebrate–on each nameless day of our lives, on our birthdays, at family get-togethers, and at church–the goodness of God’s creation with hope, joy, and hard work.

We are hopeful because the earth is the Lord’s–a fact that remains unconstrained by holidays or public awareness or sin–and that is why we care for his creation every day.

“The earth is the Lord’s and all that is in it, the world, and those who live in it …”

- Psalm 24:1

Ben Arment Pens New Book on Church Planting

Church in the Making is a helpful new book by one of Christianity’s creative lights, Ben Arment. It's a down-to-earth book born of hard knocks that may change forever how church planters do their work.

Ben Arment is an innovator in the often sterile field of church planting who seems to spawn a new idea every day. After a stint as innovation and experience director at Catalyst, the largest community of next generation church leaders in the world, Arment has now launched three now projects: Dream Year, a year-long personal coaching program; The Whiteboard Sessions, a roll-up-your sleeves one-day conference about ideas in ministry; and STORY, a boutique conference with a focus on creatively telling the greatest story ever told--the gospel.

Arment’s personal blog has grown to more than 1,200 hits a day, with many more reading through feed readers, and is now rated as one of the top church blogs in the country.

Ben planted Reston Community Church in 2001 in a Virginia suburb of Washington, DC. He says he “lived through the experience of being a “parachute drop” church planter, but not without developing a strong passion and message for the struggling church planter.”

Arment has a strong ministry background (his father, grandfather and great-grandfather were all pastors), and a strong marketing and writing background. After working for a time in the business sector, he found his call to ministry “too much to resist,” and he moved to Lynchburg, Virginia, where he earned a Master’s Degree from Liberty Theological Seminary. He became a pastor three years later and served at a mega-church before starting the church in Virginia.

Ben and his wife Ainsley live in Virginia Beach and have three cowboys, Wyatt, Dylan & Cody.

More information on Church in the Making is available.

The Virtues of a Front Porch

Do you have a front porch? I mean a real front porch, where you can greet neighbors and sit with a friend who stops by for a visit. No, neither do I.

We need more porches to restore a more American and even biblical way of life, says architect Bill Randall writing at the Flourish Blog. He writes:

Porches also are a wonderful way to interact with our neighbors. To sit on the front porch in a chair or a swing, sipping iced tea or lemonade in our present “cool of the day” still holds an amazing appeal to us. To be able to greet our neighbors and have a short chat fosters that very spiritual concept called community.

While our connection to nature could be part of the first great commandment of loving God, our connection to those in our immediate community could be part of that second commandment to love our neighbor. Do we really love our neighbor? Do we even KNOW our neighbor? We’ve fallen out of touch with those around us as the “place” of our front porch has waned and one of our primary means of connecting with our neighbors has faded.

Three inventions in the mid 20th century had an almost fatal effect on the front porch and our connection to our neighbors: the automobile, the air conditioner, and the television.

50 Leaders of the Evangelical Generation: #39 Andy Miller. Happy Salvationist

Wednesday, April 21, 2010

[I am working on a project that may become a book on the most influential evangelicals leaders of our generation, since 1976, and the impact they've had on the church and their times. I will introduce them briefly on this blog from time to time. Who should be on this list?]

#39 Andy Miller. Happy Salvationist b.1923

Until a deck collapsed at a suburban Atlanta outing in 1995--injuring a number of Salvation Army leaders, including the man they still call Commissioner--Andrew S. Miller bounced with the exuberance and optimism of young man, belying his 80 plus years. Andy Miller is a renowned former leader of The Salvation Army in the U.S., a denomination best known for its quaint Christmastime bells and kettles, the sum of which—-together with other fundraising—-makes the “Army” among the nation’s largest and wealthiest charities. Its ubiquitous social services are highly respected in America and around the world and, while its tightly organized personnel live modestly and its use of funds is above board, the group raises more than $3 billion annually and has U.S. assets worth more than $10 billion, buoyed by its church buildings, community centers, and alcohol and drug rehabilitation centers.

Few people know that the Army is primarily and at its core an evangelical church in the holiness tradition, with 1,200 congregations (called corps) in the U.S. It is a deeply conservative expression of Methodism, begun by disaffected Methodist minister William Booth and his wife Catherine in 1865 as an evangelistic outreach to the down and out in English cities. Its uniformed leaders rarely rise to the level of public recognition because at every level, from most junior officer (minister) to the international general, its leaders are rotated every few years. It’s a discipline introduced by Booth to guard against complacency. U.S. leaders (called national commanders) are no different, but in the modern era one national commander, Miller, stands above others because of his effervescent personality and his uncanny ability to connect “Sallies” to the outside world.

Andy Miller’s two strongest contributions to the evangelical movement: He is part of the leadership that has pursued a seamless connection of the church’s evangelistic and social service heritage. And he bucked the separatist impulse of the most conservative churches and reached out to secular leaders--at the same time he stroked the hair and provided food and shelter for the poorest of the poor.

Miller, who held many positions during his 47-year career and served as the national commander from 1986-89, made it a priority to maintain the church’s historic connection of evangelism and social service. He resisted bifurcation of the church and insisted that its social ministry must be evangelistic and its evangelism must include a social service delivery system. “When we do it right,” Miller said, “you can’t tell the difference.”

This breadth was captured in The Salvation Army’s longtime slogan: “Soup, Soap, and Salvation. There is ongoing concern that the social will eclipse the spiritual, and today some in the church are concerned that the national command’s recent approval of the more secular slogan “Doing the Most Good,” may signal that slide. That worry is magnified because the social service effort is so large and the church body that meets in worship each week is relatively small in the U.S.

Although the The Salvation Army’s work can be found in nearly every region of the country and in communities large and small, its people—particularly its staff and clergy--are relatively insulated from both secular culture and the larger evangelical church. Salvationists have traditionally found their worship, social interaction, church conferences, even summer camping and recreation within the denomination, and adherents have traditionally found their marriage partners within the group. These trends have shifted in recent years and the U.S. membership is stagnant, even as giving has increased—bucking national trends.

In the midst of this insular subculture, Miller had an expansive tenure that introduced the church to the powerful and influential of his time. He had a commitment to bear witness about Christ with at least one person every day. After telling President Reagan about this in a meeting, Miller was called back to the White House several weeks later. The President wanted to tell the Salvationist leader that he had taken the opportunity to witness to Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev in a face-to-face meeting. In private, Gorbachev told Reagan that his grandmother had him baptized as a young boy and that she had told him about Jesus.

Miller found ways to befriend powerful men as easily as others. He was an usher at Robert Kennedy’s funeral because he met and formed a friendship with the former U.S. Attorney General while jogging on the streets of New York City.

“He is a Salvation Army original,” his biography reads,” and at the same time a symbol of the Army, keeping the Army true to the Army, to its birthright and mission. His life story is the miracle of a bush that burned with fire and yet was not consumed.”

--Jim Jewell

The Earth is God's Week

Tuesday, April 20, 2010

An Alternative Observation of Earth Day

As parts of the nation prepare to observe Earth Day, it has occurred to me that we may be observing The Earth is Mine Week. With a well-placed volcanic eruption, God may be accomplishing three things:


1. In the face of slow action by humankind, God temporarily addresses global warming with volcanic ash that may lower worldwide temperatures for a time.

2. To provide an example of how people can slow down for a few days, God closes European airspace, dramatically reducing consumption (and the burning of fossil fuel) and helping people observe the Sabbath.

3. Makes a dramatic statement: The Earth is the Lord’s and everything in it” Psalm 24:1.

:)

Jim Jewell

(Photo credits: AP Photo/Icelandic Coastguard; Halldor Kolbeins/AFP/Getty Images)

50 Leaders of the Evangelical Generation: #10 Jerry Falwell. Fundamentalist

Tuesday, April 13, 2010

[I am working on a project that may become a book on the most influential evangelicals leaders of our generation, since 1976, and the impact they've had on the church and their times. I will introduce them briefly on this blog from time to time. Who should be on this list?]

# 10 Jerry Falwell. Fundamentalist 1933-2007

The most visible evangelical for most of last 35 years was the ample, amplified preacher from Lynchburg, Virginia, who the media turned to for the predictable fundamentalist voice on every possible issue. Jerry Falwell was a larger than life figure who couldn’t say ‘no’ to a television camera, and took liberals to task in every possible forum. A pastor at heart, he built Thomas Road Baptist church and its ministries into one of the largest churches in the country (now pastored by his son). Falwell was beloved by his friends, family, and even many of the foes who had the opportunity to meet him. He was difficult to hate up close; many ideological opponents found it easy to despise him from a distance.

Rev. Falwell lived life large and he was well-loved by many and much-maligned by most. For several years I served as one of his public relations counselors—though certainly not his primary one—during some of his best and worst moments. I remember him fondly and I honor his faithfulness, even as I recognize—more than most—the flaws that taint his memory and embolden his critics to dishonor him.

Falwell’s greatest accomplishment was his leadership of a large and expansive church, Thomas Road Baptist Church, where many are saved and served. The church’s outreach extends to diverse people in need, such as unwed mothers and the down and out; these are people that those who saw the familiar visage of this stalwart fundamentalist only on talk shows would never believe he had any care for at all.

His message of unwavering fundamentalism became unpopular and easily criticized in modern America, but Falwell never changed. That served him well as a bellwether of the Christian right. His downfall was his more than occasional public carelessness, and his inability to stay away from a microphone or a camera when he could do no good for himself, his cause, or the God he served.

Unfortunately, by the late 1990s it was nearly impossible for any moderation or substance to penetrate his caricature as a southern, overstuffed, intolerant buffoon. I remember Rev. Falwell as a kind and generous man with an easy laugh and a better vision for America than the nation seemed to have for itself. I was never his primary counselor or a close friend, but I was nearby and involved when media relished reports in one of his publications on Tinky Winky, the gay Teletubbie (blown out of context, but he deserved the firestorm because he refused our counsel to ignore media requests for comment).

And I helped him write his late apology for his callous comments following the attacks of 9/11, when he failed to see that it was time for a pastor’s voice, not a prophet’s rage.

I remember his willingness to reach out to Mel White, his former ghostwriter who began an organization to extend the voice of gay Christians. It was hard for him to stretch toward this natural adversary, but he did so when many others would not.

While I disagreed with the reverend on many things, I appreciated his faithful engagement and the substance behind the bluster. He was an American original and an important voice in our times.

--Jim Jewell

50 Leaders of the Evangelical Generation: #5 Jimmy Carter. Born Again President

Friday, April 09, 2010

[I am working on a project that may become a book on the most influential evangelicals leaders of our generation, since 1976, and the impact they've had on the church and their times. I will introduce them briefly on this blog from time to time. Who should be on this list?]

#5 Jimmy Carter. Born again President b. 1924

America had never had a presidential candidate, at least in the nation’s collective memory, utter the words: “I am a born-again Christian,” like the Georgia peanut farmer and Baptist Sunday school teacher Jimmy Carter did as he plied the towns of Iowa and the nation in an unlikely quest that resulted in his election as president. As a result of this bold declaration and public witness and the publication of Chuck Colson’s biographical account of his conversion, Born Again, Newsweek magazine declared 1976 the Year of the Evangelical.”

Jimmy Carter was different, and observers of his 1976 bid for the presidency readily recognized it. As a candidate, Carter spoke very openly and candidly about his faith, his commitment to Christ, his love for Scripture, and his desire to bring "a new spirit" to government. He quickly became a symbol of the rekindled religious and political vigor of American evangelicalism.

Carter said: "I'm a father and I'm a Christian; I'm a businessman and I'm a Christian; I'm a farmer and I'm a Christian; I'm a politician and I'm a Christian. The most important thing in my life beyond all else is Jesus Christ."
Based on his Christian testimony and toothy optimism, I—like many other Christian belivers--supported Jimmy Carter in 1976 and delayed my final college work to become part of his Iowa campaign staff. I considered his election a harbinger of good will and healing for our nation, and marveled that such an outspoken Christian was sitting in the Oval Office.

As president, he continued to teach Sunday school, found occasions to share his faith with foreign leaders, readily admits in his post-presidential works that religion was an indispensable guide for his presidential behavior, and believes that Americans "have a responsibility to try to shape government so that it does exemplify the will of God."

Regarding his frequent public displays of faith, church historian Martin Marty explained that Carter knows no other way to be. "Jimmy Carter is a public Christian.... It's O.K. to be a private Christian in America, but he doesn't know how to be a private Christian. Religion for him goes right to the streets, and he successfully relates his Sunday faith to his Monday world."

My enthusiasm and optimism waned in the next four years, not because of any failure of presidential faith or moral fidelity, but because of a malaise that gripped the nation, Carter’s weakness during the Iran hostage crisis, and the fact that he never seemed to grasp the art of pulling the right levers of presidential power.

[After the campaign, the next time I was with Carter personally was during a Habitat for Humanity build in Chicago in the early 1990’s, when the odd couple of Democrat Jimmy Carter and Republican Chuck Colson swung hammers together to build homes for four poor but worthy Chicago families. On the first day of the build, Carter and Colson appeared together on the Today show in a live feed from the construction site. When Jane Pauley asked Colson what it was like to team up with Carter, Colson responded (with his remarkable ability to produce on the moment quips): “The last time I worked with a President I got one-to-three years [his prison sentence for Watergate]; this time I just got hard labor.”]

Although Carter failed to retain his early support of many evangelicals and was defeated by Ronald Reagan in 1980, the transparency of his Christian testimony—regardless of his politics—further emboldened evangelicals who were moving deliberately toward a greater role in public life and political action. Carter's race for the nomination and his election to the presidency established for many the arrival of evangelicals as a new force on the American scene.

--Jim Jewell

Down-to-earth Book Born of Hard Knocks May Change Forever How Church Planters Do Their Work

Tuesday, April 06, 2010

CHURCH IN THE MAKING
A new book by one of Christianity’s creative lights, Ben Arment, from B&H Publishing Group

The majority of all new churches fail, which leaves thousands of dazed and discouraged church planters wondering what hit them. Ben Arment felt like he’d talked to half of them, and he identified with and anguished over their plight. Church in the Making is the result of Arment’s search for answers.

After eight years as a church planter and his research of scores of church stories, Arment identifies three conditions that make for a successful church plant even before it gets off the ground. “The truth is that we can’t plant a successful church on our own initiative,” Arment says. “God must bring together the critical factors long before we arrive. Our job is to identify where there’s already a church in the making.”

Arment adds: “Great faith is not enough. Clear vision is not enough. Passion and money aren't enough. There's a mysterious X-factor that eludes most church planters... and I'm convinced this is it.”

The “X factor” in Church in the Making includes:

• We must gauge the spiritual fertility of our community before we can plant a church. If they’re not open to the Gospel, our job is not to plant a church, but to cultivate people’s hearts.

• If God truly builds his church, then our job is not to initiate the work of God, but rather to identify where he’s already bringing a new church together.

• Whenever there’s a church in the making, God provides a group of leaders who can fulfill the mission. Lone planters have a slim chance of succeeding, let alone surviving.

Released by B&H Publishing Group April, Church in the Making has been written primarily for church planters, denominational and church planting leaders, strategy-minded ministers, and established pastors who want to reproduce their own churches.

Ben Arment is an innovator in the often sterile field of church planting who seems to spawn a new idea every day. After a stint as innovation and experience director at Catalyst, the largest community of next generation church leaders in the world, Arment has now launched three new projects: Dream Year, a year-long personal coaching program; The Whiteboard Sessions, a roll-up-your sleeves one-day session about ideas in ministry; and STORY, a boutique conference with a focus on creatively telling the greatest story ever told--the gospel.

Media Notes: Ben Arment is available for interviews beginning in April. To schedule an interview, please email Jim Jewell at jjewell03@msn.com, or call (678) 458-9837. Additional media materials are available.

50 Leaders of the Evangelical Generation: #40 Russ Reid. Fundraiser

Wednesday, March 31, 2010

[I am working on a project that may become a book on the most influential evangelicals leaders of our generation, since 1976, and the impact they've had on the church and their times. I will introduce them briefly on this blog from time to time. Who should be on this list?]

#40.Russ Reid. Fundraiser b.1935

Follow the money. When you do in the evangelical sector over the last generation, following the money that it took to launch and support many of the great ministries and missions and projects of the time, the trail would take you to and through the offices of a fast-talking Californian with a sparkle in his eyes and many new ideas for funding mission: Russ Reid.


For many today, Russ Reid is the name of the firm, with little notice that it is also the man who launched the firm and remains a fascinating study. Russ Reid is the founder and leader of the first of the large fund development agencies that became partners with Christian organizations, using direct response fundraising to find support for their work. Russ said: “There is no shortage of money, only a shortage of well-articulated causes.”

Russ Reid has helped articulate a lot of causes.

Originally he had trained for the ministry, but finally realized that he was more of a marketing guy than a pastor. In the late 1950s he went to work for Word Publishing in Waco, Texas. There he learned all about direct response through book-of-the-month clubs and by marketing books through direct mail. Along the way, he noticed some wonderful organizations doing great work to help others, but they didn’t know how to tell their own stories, or how to raise money.

Russ had a vision—to start a company that would help nonprofit organizations make a bigger difference in the world. He founded the Russ Reid Company in 1964, and Word Publishing became his first client. Later he moved the company to Park Ridge, Illinois, and worked with small ministries as he got up and running. In 1966, Russ was able to get a project from World Vision. At that time, World Vision was conducting projects around the world on an annual budget of about $5 million (today they’re approaching $2 billion in annual revenue).

In 1972, as his work with World Vision increased, Russ decided to move from Chicago to Arcadia, California, near World Vision’s Monrovia headquarters. At that time, the way World Vision acquired sponsors was by speaking at churches and showing a film about the plight of children in the developing world.

Russ had an idea. He approached World Vision EVP Ted Engstrom and proposed that they film Art Linkletter traveling around the world and meeting these children in need, bring that film back, and instead of going from church to church, put it on television.

Ted Engstrom got approval from the board for this expensive, risky project, and reportedly said to Russ afterwards, “What will we do if this doesn’t work?” Russ laughed and said, “Ted, we’ll have the most expensive church film in history.”

It did work, beyond expectations, and the World Vision television specials were born--the first major television fundraising of their kind. Many of followed, and Russ Reid has been involved with many of them.

Over the last 40 years, Russ Reid’s little company has grown from one guy with an idea about helping people who help people, to what is now the largest agency in the world exclusively devoted to helping nonprofit organizations grow.

Russ says: “Giving life and health and hope to children in poverty, to the homeless, to people with cancer is significant work. It’s life-changing work. For me, it’s part of what gets me up in the morning, excited about coming to work.”

50 Leaders of the Evangelical Generation: #46 Philip Yancey. Literary Plumb Line

Tuesday, March 30, 2010

[I am working on a project that may become a book on the most influential evangelicals leaders of our generation, since 1976, and the impact they've had on the church and their times. I will introduce them briefly on this blog from time to time. Who should be on this list?]

#46 Philip Yancey. Literary Plumb Line b.

One of the most popular evangelical writers of modern times, Philip Yancey is the product and victim of a hyper-fundamentalist upbringing. He considers himself a survivor of the church, and today he is a literary plumb line for believers being dragged to the abyss of legalism.

Yancey tackles the difficult questions of the Christian life and explores the richness of deep faith through his many books and as editor-at-large and regular contributor to Christianity Today magazine. Yancey’s books have won 12 Gold Medallion Awards from the Evangelical Christian Publishers’ Association and two Christian Book of the Year Awards--for The Jesus I Never Knew in 1996 and What's So Amazing About Grace in 1998.

Yancey was born in Atlanta and grew up in a strict, fundamentalist church. He viewed God as an abusive parent-—rigid, legalistic, angry, ready to bring the gavel down for one wrong misstep. His only window to a larger world as a young man was reading. So, he devoured books that opened his mind and challenged to teachings of his church, books such as 1984, Animal Farm, and To Kill a Mockingbird. The more he read, the more frustrated he became.

"I was an angry, wounded person emerging from a toxic church, and I've been in recovery ever since," says Yancey. "I went through a period of reacting against everything I was taught and even throwing my faith completely away at one point. I began my journey back to faith mainly by encountering a world that was quite different than I had been taught about; a world of beauty and goodness. As I experienced that, I realized maybe God had been misrepresented to me. So, I went back, warily circling around the faith."

"I write books to resolve things that are bothering me, things I don't have answers to,” Yancey says. “For those who struggle with my books, I just say, ‘Then you really shouldn't be reading them.' But some people do need the kinds of books I write. They've been burned by the church or they’re very upset about certain aspects of Christianity. I feel called to speak to those living in the borderlands of faith."

--Jim Jewell

Making Good Coffee Good for Everyone

Friday, March 26, 2010

My name is Jim and I am a coffeeholic. Yes I do love coffee, and although I enjoy the various combination drinks at Starbucks, I regularly enjoy a good, rich, dark roast.

Since I've begun working in environmental stewardship, I've been learning more about not just what makes good coffee, but what makes coffee good--as in fair and just, a positive impact on those who grow it, and gentle on the environment. But all of the labels--such as shade-grown, fair-trade, and bird-friendly--have been confusing to me, as they may be to you.

A post on coffee and community at the Flourish Blog is very helpful in sorting out how individuals and churches can make coffee hour a truly redemptive time.

On the church coffee hour, it reads:

The church coffee hour is already a ministry—a time of fellowship, connection, and service for people who need the love of God and the love of our brothers and sisters. Drinking conscientiously-produced coffee and tea simply extends that ministry to brothers and sisters we may not be able to meet and greet, but who are no less deserving of love and justice. When this service is viewed as a ministry, and not just a perk or an expectation, options open up for making it work

.

Check it out.

--Jim Jewell

50 Leaders of the Evangelical Generation: #29 Ron Sider. The Liberal

Wednesday, March 24, 2010

[I am working on a project that may become a book on the most influential evangelicals leaders of our generation, since 1976, and the impact they've had on the church and their times. I will introduce them briefly on this blog from time to time. Who should be on this list?]

Ron Sider. b. 1939

Since Ron Sider published Rich Christians in an Age of Hunger in 1977, he has provided direction and support for evangelicals focusing on poverty, social justice, pacifism, and the environment. Sider, both personally and through the small and lightly funded organizations he founded, has represented the northstar of the small group of evangelical liberals that from time to time prod the right-leaning community with a necessary nudge to include the last, least, and lost in the outreach of the church. One thing Sider has never done is deviate from both the core doctrines and the central cultural issues of the movement; he demonstrated this by signing the Manhattan Declaration in 2009. This was consistent with his lifelong pro-life stance. In fact, Sider’s Completely Pro-Life, published in the mid-1980s, calls on Christians to take a consistent stand opposing abortion, capital punishment, nuclear weapons, hunger, and other conditions that Sider sees as anti-life.

As Tim Stafford wrote in Christianity Today:

Ron Sider doesn't seem the type to upset people. A short, balding seminary professor with a quick smile and thick glasses, he talks in a relaxed, low-voltage way. Professionally he is a hybrid, a historian who teaches theology and talks and writes about politics and economics. His academic credentials are exemplary: a Ph.D. in Reformation history Yale; articles published in prestigious journals. Theologically he is a heartland evangelical, deeply committed to an inspired Bible, to a passionate communication of the gospel and to a transforming personal faith. Politically he is mainstream Democratic party except for conservative stances on homosexuality and abortion. In short, Sider is no flaming radical. Yet it would be hard to think of another evangelical who has been more ardently criticized for being "radical." In reality, Sider takes flak from both the Left and the Right, particularly when he upholds evangelical positions at ecumenical meetings. "I've been picketed twice," he says, "by theonomists [who believe in applying Old Testament law today] in Australia, and in Minnesota by gay-rights [advocates]."

Sider has published over 22 books and has written over 100 articles in both religious and secular magazines on a variety of topics including the importance of caring for creation as part of biblical discipleship. Sider's Rich Christians in an Age of Hunger was published In 1977. Hailed by Christianity Today as one of the one hundred most influential books in religion in the twentieth century, it went on to sell 350,000 copies. He is often identified by others with the Christian left, though he personally disclaims any political inclination. He is the founder of Evangelicals for Social Action, a think-tank which seeks to develop biblical solutions to social and economic problems.. He is also the Professor of Theology, Holistic Ministry and Public Policy at Palmer Theological Seminary in Wynnewood, Pennsylvania.

House of Democrats Passes Health Bill

Monday, March 22, 2010

The U.S. Congress did not pass the bill realigning the health care system: the Democratic caucus did.

As the NY times opines, until yesterday:

Never in modern memory has a major piece of legislation passed without a single Republican vote. Even President Lyndon B. Johnson got just shy of half of Republicans in the House to vote for Medicare in 1965, a piece of legislation that was denounced with many of the same words used to oppose this one. That may be the true measure of how much has changed in Washington in the ensuing 45 years, and how Mr. Obama’s own strategy is changing with the discovery that the approach to governing he had in mind simply will not work.

Partisanship is today the only game in town, but this is not at all surprising. We are a deeply polarized nation of opposed echo chambers diving deeper into ideological extremes, with little dialogue that advances compromise, cvility, or balanced policy. Our politicians are downstream from this cultural crisis, using it and feeding it, rather than providing moderation and statemanship.

--Jim Jewell

Brand Is What Brand Does

Sunday, March 21, 2010

Fascinating article on brand and brand consistency by Edward Boches at Creativity Unbound.

Boches writes:

"I’m not sure consistency – at least in terms of messages and a look – even matters anymore. It’s more important to be present, visible, searchable and useful. But what does matter is this: making sure that customers and prospects have a clear sense of a brand’s promise and what they can expect from it. Think Apple (elegant and creative), Target (affordable design), Volvo (safety), Zappos (service), Panera (breadness).*

The brands that prosper in a world of abundance all have something in common. They are not defined by their messages, but rather by their behavior and actions. On the other hand, brands whose actions fail to reinforce a singular promise (Comcast, United Airlines, Dominos) are all subject to being defined by content created by others. I think of Comcast as a cable giant that’s notorious for bad service; United as an airline with a hub in Chicago and a tendency to break guitars; and Dominos as an unhealthy fast food chain trying to improve the quality of its pizza after customers complained and disgusting employees did rude things to the pizza. Perhaps if they delivered consistently positive products, service, behavior and content we might think differently."

"A brand isn’t what a brand says; a brand is what a brand does," Boches says

--Jim Jewell

Leaders of the Evangelical Generation #32. Congressman Frank Wolf

Friday, March 19, 2010

[I am working on a project that may become a book on the most influential evangelical leaders of our generation, since 1976, and the impact they've had on the church and their times. I will introduce them briefly on this blog from time to time. Who should be on this list?]

Frank Wolf. Gentle Congressman b.1939

When the topic of Christian politicians comes up in conversation, almost no one mentions Representative Frank Wolf of northern Virginia. That is not because his actions or words run contrary to Christian principles. It may be for just the opposite reason: Wolf is a humble 15-term Congressman who has worked unflaggingly but quietly on some of the most difficult issues for people of faith around the world. Wolf is a restrained and effective Christian statesman.

An unassuming champion of international human rights and religious liberty, Wolf won the first William Wilberforce Award in 1992, presented to Christians in public service by Chuck Colson and Prison Fellowship. Wilberforce is the driving force behind a group of congressmen from both sides of the aisle, including Wolf, who meet periodically to make their faith part of their politics. The most recent recipient of the award is former Democratic congressman Tony Hall of Ohio.

Wolf said: "There are only 435 members of the House of Representatives and only 100 members of the Senate. If we can get the word out about Wilberforce's life and legacy, we can change this country."

Wolf is not much at glad-handing, he shies away from the limelight, and he’s a bland public speaker. For his serene optimism, critics have labeled him naive. His travels are not the typical junkets to posh resorts or embassy parties but risky excursions to outposts ravaged by war and famine—especially to places where fellow Christians are persecuted for their faith.

On one journey took him to Tibet, where he posed as a tourist, eluded the tour guide by pretending to be ill, and then sneaked out to talk to Tibetans on the street for the real story of Chinese repression. Another expedition took him to Sudan, a nation that was waging a self-described religious war against its own citizens who are Christians or other non-Muslims through a campaign of torture, starvation, and murder. Sudanese soldiers were literally snatching children from their mothers' arms and selling them into slavery for the price of a few head of cattle. Girls were sold as concubines.

He has dodged bombs in Nagorno Karabakh. He has investigated conditions in El Salvador, Bosnia, and Ethiopia. Instead of enjoying the plush accommodations he could command as a government official, Wolf toughs it out with ordinary people for a first-hand sense of their plight.

Before the fall of the Iron Curtain, Wolf tramped throughout Eastern Europe championing for freedom. He was the first American official to bulldog his way into the notorious Perm Camp 35 in the Siberian gulag, where leading dissidents were imprisoned. Upon returning, he publicized the religious and political abuses they reported and arranged for me to join a second group visiting the camp. Due to Wolf's tenacity, the Soviets released many prisoners even before the USSR collapsed.

After the trial of the leadership of the Bahá'í community of Iran was announced in February 2009, Wolf was deeply disturbed over the "systematic persecution" of the Bahá'ís. He offered a resolution on the subject of the trial of the Iranian Bahá'í leadership co-sponsored by seven others--"Condemning the Government of Iran for its state-sponsored persecution of its Baha'i minority and its continued violation of the International Covenants on Human Rights.”

For his indefatigable efforts, Wolf has won respect even from people on the opposite side of his conservative politics. Former Washington Post columnist Mary McGrory called him "a watchman on the rampart of world freedom." Former Democratic congressman Lionel Van Deerlin described Wolf as one of "a special breed," who "seem attracted to public office to fulfill more than personal or political ends." Men like Wolf, he added, "sustain a flicker of hope in the elective process."

When Chuck Colson presented the first Wilberforce Award to Wolf, we prepared large red, white and blue vertical banners with Wilberforce’s picture to decorate the outdoor proceedings. Wolf asked if he could have one of the banners and we complied. The next time I visited Wolf’s congressional office, he had it hanging on the inside of the door to his personal office. The banner took up the entire door; a Wilberforce-like legacy seems to have consumed his entire life.

--Jim Jewell

7 Branding Mistakes to Avoid

Here are some good tips from Mickie Kennedy at eReleases on seven branding mistakes to avoid:

1. Trying to be all things to all people
2. Not giving the brand time to develop
3. Restricting your potential for growth
4. Not separating yourself from the competition
5. Being different just to be different
6. Ignoring attacks on your brand
7. Basing your brand on price

Found our Irish Roots in Time for St. Patrick's Day

Wednesday, March 17, 2010

Just heard from my sister Pamela, who is our family historian/genealogist, on this St. Patrick's Day, to establish our Irish roots.

On my mother's (Harriet Louise Speer Jewell) side, we can trace the lineage back to Thomas Speer, Irish, born 1681 Stewartstown, Co., Tyrone, Ulster, Northern Ireland; died 1779 in Stewartstown, Co., Tyrone, Ulster, Northern Ireland.

Two generations later, James Black Speer was born, married Frances Metzgar and came to America. James Black Speer was a blacksmith! Their son, James Metzgar Speer (married Mary Kirker--whose parents were Scottish, living in Ireland) had James Kirker Speer (my maternal grandfather) (married Alice Fulmer--Scottish) (my maternal grandmother).

And now 2 generations later, as Pamela puts it: "the Irish blood is thin, but the green eyes, a touch of red hair, and a fair bit of fiestiness still remains . . ."

--Jim Jewell