NeoSparks
Blog
AN IDEAL SUCCESSION PROCESS–How to Plan for the Strongest & Healthiest Pastoral Succession
Successions fail or succeed based on the amount of careful and prayerful planning that goes into shaping the process. But most church leadership teams simply don't know where to begin in crafting something as complicated as a senior leadership transition. After...
STRIKE A POSE–The 4 Primary Postures People Choose in a Succession
Every person in every church strikes a pose when it comes to how they respond to the next generation of leadership. I have now experienced 4 senior leadership successions in 20 years. And I know this: the pose you pick forges the future you...
BEYOND NORMAL//Ministry in a COVID Era
BEYOND NORMAL means… No More Fishing
50 Dinner Table Questions to Grow a Flourishing Family during the COVID-19 Quarantine
What I'm about to say may just make me the long-lost twin brother of Captain Obvious. This COVID-19 quarantine season is a really stretching time for every family. But if you're like our family, the extra time around the dinner table--between all the extra friction...
3 Gifts Amidst the Crisis//The Innovational Gift of COVID-19 for the Church
I foresee 3 BIG CHALLENGES that could become 3 HUGE GIFTS for the Church during the COVID-19 Crisis where physical, on-sight church gatherings are discouraged (or even prohibited) and driving churches to offer people a solely on-line experience: 1. INCREASE...
Nine Prayers for Innovation
DELIGHT & DESIRE PASSAGE: Delight yourself in the LORD, and He will give you the desires of your heart. Psalm 37:4 PRINCIPLE: Notice the order of these comments from King David. First comes the command to find your heart’s delight in God. Then comes the promise...
Move from Innovaphobia to Innovaphilia: EDIPT//A Process for Innovation
EDIPT image adapted from the Design Thinking Innovation Process from the Stanford d.school First and foremost, innovation is a process. It’s not a pill you pop or a wand you wave. Innovation is method, not magic. And making the time you need to master this method (by...
Experiments: Bullets Before Cannonballs
Experiments are the seeds of innovation. And while they are just one of a variety of factors in the formula for cultivating a culture of innovation, they may be the X factor. Here’s why: if innovation can be imagined as a funnel, experiments are the top of the funnel;...
Experiments: Enemies of Experimentation
The enemies of experimentation are legion. And taking the first step to simply name them is huge. What do you think gets in the way of you and your team or your organization experimenting? What are the top enemies of experimentation? Name them. Write them down. Doing...
Experiments: Can God Experiment?
Let’s tread water in the deep end of the innovation pool again and ask a question that will help further refine our theology of innovation, specifically, related to experiments. Here it is: Can God experiment? I really don’t think this is one of those trick questions...