change | dodging traffic

23Mar 2014 by scott

Whirlwind

updates

[caption id="attachment_2800" align="alignright" width="300"] mongolian whirlwind. photo credit: wikipedia[/caption] Back January, I took a team to Spain to lead worship for a conference of international missionaries serving in dozens of other countries (the previous post featured some lessons learned from that trip). One of my favorite things was that, several times, people told us “Thanks for coming to serve us – we never get to do this in ___________ (whatever country they’re serving in).” Getting to worship publicly, in community, and in your heart language is something we can do each week – but it’s just one of many things they’ve given up to follow their call. It’s a privilege to serve them. That trip also helps to expand the relationship with Cru’s Global Missions division, which leads to opportunities…

11Jun 2013 by scott

10 years in the rear-view mirror: An update to our ministry partners

missions and ministry

Ten years, this month. It’s been an entire decade since we responded to God’s call to leave behind our ‘normal’ lives to go into vocational missions with Cru and Keynote. 10 years since walking away from Scott’s career in Information Technology, and Jennifer’s career in Social Work. Our jobs were among the first things we were asked to sacrifice for our new calling. They would not be the last. In 2003, a lot of people thought we were nuts. (Some still do.) People have said this was a ‘phase’. People have told us I (Scott) was being reckless with our family’s security. Perhaps. But for what? In the last decade, I have travelled hundreds of thousands of miles, played hundreds of shows, shared the gospel with tens of thousands of…

31May 2012 by scott

creating a new ‘normal’

artistry and excellence

Leading through a season of change is one of the hardest things I've ever had to do. Change can be hard on people. I have no magic bullet, but here are some things I'm trying to remember whenever I have to help establish a new sense of 'normal': 1) Over-communicate vision, mission and values. In a season of change, it's often hard to connect the dots between what's getting done and why. Make sure everyone knows where you are going, how you're going to get there, and who you want to be on the way. 2) Acknowledge the negative, accentuate the positive. Casting vision for some new bit of vision or strategy without acknowledging the hardships or challenges at hand can come across as out of touch with reality. It's important…

10May 2011 by scott

The times, they are a-changin’…

missions and ministry

Before the crush of Keynote's Summer Project erases all the extra time in my life, I wanted to shoot an update. blue sky nine, the band I've been leading and touring with for the last 3 and a half years, is coming to something of an end. Our lead singer Laura is getting married and will move to Michigan, and we're going to take some downtime to evaluate our touring strategies to make sure we're being the best trustees of all the resources it takes to do our work. We see God move in incredible ways through our concerts, but that doesn't mean we can't find ways to improve, expand, and become more effective. And that sort of thinking is what leads to the latest change, which is that I have been asked to…