10 Church Leaders I Would Love to Have Lunch With

Now, here are ten church leaders I would love to have lunch with.


10. Dee Duke. Dee Duke preaches for a church in a small town of 1,000 in the northwest, with an attendance of over 1,800! Prayer, he says, is the key! I would love to learn about prayer from this great prayer warrior! We would just skip lunch and pray!

9. Beth Moore. Love her passion. Love her story. She has touched the hearts of women everywhere. I would love the opportunity to meet the person behind the persona.

8. Rick Warren. Like him or hate him, the man has made a huge impact on the world!

7. John Maxwell. The father of the Christian leadership movement. Who better than to talk about Christian leadership with than John Maxwell?

6. Erwin McManus. The Mosiac Church in LA. Love his vision of doing church in a unique way. The Unstoppable Force is one of my favorite books on church. A real visionary.

5. Landon Saunders, Heartbeat radio ministry. Those not familiar with Landon, he has always been a prophetic voice among us who are in the “churches of Christ”. He is one of the deepest, wisest men I know.

4. Greg Groeschel. Livechurch tv. What an inivator! Love his use of media in worship. Love his book “Confessions of a Pastor”. What a lunch it would be discussing the proper use of media, plus getting tips!

3. Max Lucado. Love his storytelling. Would love to ask him how he came to his current views on baptism, salvation, etc.

2. Andy Stanley. Love his vision; his leadership. His book “Visioneering” is one of my all time favorite books. Love his book on preaching. This would be long lunch!

1. Bill Hybels. Love everything thing he says about leadership and vision.

More Snow!

It snowed a foot at my house on Wednesday night. Between my driveway and the church's sidewalks - I spent a good part of my Thursday shoveling the white stuff.

Have two books to recommend. First, "Between Sundays" by Karen Kingsbury. Using the NFL as the backdrop, Kingsbury reminds us it is what we do between "games" (i.e., assemblies) that matters. Second, "The Shack" is a book I'm currenlty reading. Great read. Both men and women would like both of these novels. Both will be read by our Southside book club.

I've been reading books on Powerpoint lately. One of my goals is the mark of excellence in everything I do - including powerpoint! It has increased the congregations attention to the sermon. Whether we like it or not, we live in a media driven world. You may have noticed the media focus even on this blog with the music in the background. I may be 50, but I'm trying!

I just heard that 50 is the new 40. Amen!

I hope and pray that you and your congregation are lights set on hills!

Top 10 Non Church LeadersTo Have Lunch With

10. Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, John McCain, -- one of these people will be our new president. Would love a chance to meet the real person and get to know what makes them tick – make a judgment about them for myself rather than getting in through the media.

9. John Wooden. I would love to discuss his views of leadership. Love his triangle of success. A legend of coaching, he would be a phenomenal person to have lunch with!

8. Earl Scruggs. Banjo legend. The stories he could share! Perhaps he could even work in a banjo lesson.

7. Eddie Sutton, Frank Broyles, Rick Schaffer, Houston Nutt, all Razorback heroes. Just think of the stories they could tell! You knew there had to be a Razorback somewhere on this list!

6. Truett Kathy, Founder, Chic-Fil-La. Talk about a guy who takes an idea, keeps it simple, values excellence; values the Lord’s Day – and is still successful! We’d have lunch at his place. Maybe his treat?

5. John Grisham, author. I love his stories. Would love to ask him questions about story telling.

4. Steve Jobs, CEO, Apple. Talk about a creative genius! His work with Pixar and Apple make him one of the most creative leaders on the planet.

3. Jim Collins, author of Good to Great. Good to Great is one of the best books I’ve ever read on creating vision. I just love the whole concept of not being satisfied with being “good”. Churches need that lesson!

2. Dick Winters. Winters is the central leader in “Band of Brothers”. Man, you talk about a man who understands leadership! What a lunch it would be hearing his stories.

1. Howard Schultz. (CEO, Starbucks). This guy knows how to dream! I love his view of the “third place”. I would love to discuss leadership and vision with this man.

Who would be on your list, and why?

sprucing up the ole blog

My thanks to Kevin (through his wife Elise) for helping me spruce up this old blog. He showed me how to play music for you to enjoy while visiting my humble space. Have any suggestions? The tunes will change from time to time.

I've also added a list of books I am currently reading and blogs I visit on a regular basis.

I also hope to add what I'm currently listening to and that kind of stuff.

Received my new Treo phone in the mail today. My old one was ran over about a year ago. And so, I've been saving. Got it with my birthday money. Found a good deal on eBay. I guess getting old does have its upside.

a 2nd mile attitude

I've been a part of a prayer accountability group for a few years now. A part of the covenant is that we pray for an hour a day. Recently, one of our guys has raised the bar. Here's what he is doing - and he challenged the rest of us to do the same. He has an hour of private prayer and day and is aiming for an hour of corporate prayer a day. (He is defining corporate prayer as praying with at least one person).

Beginning this week, I am taking on the challenge myself. It will be a challenge. I have a prayer time with my shepherds on Monday night. Wednesday mornings I pray with some men. Beginning last week, a few of us now pray on Thursdays. SO - I've got to find some people who will pray with me for at least one hour on Tuesdays, Fridays and Saturdays.

The early church met everyday -- why can't we?

I also go from walking a 1.5 miles to 2 miles a day!

What are you doing to "step up" your game this week?