These are quotes which stood out to me, possibly for use in a sermon someday. Their presence here does not mean I agree with them, it merely shows that I might want to reference them later. The default view is five random selections. Use the tag list on the right to view all quotes relevant to that theme.
A December 2000 Fast Company article by David Dorsey focused on a change agent named Jerry Sternin. His job with Save the Children was to the change the face of malnutrition in Vietnam. I will refer you to the excellent article available online to tell the rest of the story. See: http://www.fastcompany.com/online/41/sternin.html The approach claims that one can never bring a permanent solution from the outside. "In every community, organization or social group, there are individuals whose exceptional behaviors and practices enable them to get better results than their neighbors with the exact same resources." The approach is almost the opposite of the "best practice" model of change agentry. Here are the steps in the article. "1. Don't presume that you have the answer." I think this is the biggest one for a change agent to remember. We become almost jaded by hearing the same stories and thinking we have some solutions. The first task is to always listen and learn. Solutions must come up within the culture or social set addressed. "2. Don't think of it as a dinner party." While it is true that we can learn from diverse backgrounds and approaches, in the case of most churches, the practices or innovations needed must come from another church that is viewed as a peer. They must identify with the other organization. They must feel they are working with similar enough circumstances and resources. It is possible to be inspired by a church very dissimilar from another church, but very difficult to implement some of their practices. "3. Let them do it themselves." The article advises change agents to set up situations where people can learn on their own. Change agents should raise questions, highlight or platform some of the positive deviants but let the group of those that need to change take it from there. "4. Identify conventional wisdom." In some ways this means clarifying what the average church in the group is doing. Many times conventional wisdom was very productive in a previous era, but is no longer. In the case of the Vietnamese culture, certain foods were deemed low class, even though they were nutritious. By showing how the positive deviants used these foods to improve nutrition, others then could lay aside their previous bias. "5. Identify and analyze the deviants." As you look at a group of churches, you can identify those that are getting the results that you seek. If you have defined the group correctly, then the rest of the group can as well. This allows the group to investigate the deviants for different practices. Help the group identify those behaviors that are leading to success. "6.Let the deviants adopt deviations on their own." The task of change agents is not to transfer the knowledge but to design an intervention that enables the targets to practice the new behavior. In the case of the Vietnamese villagers, they were invited to a cooking class held at the home of the positive deviant where they cooked meals using the low class foods for the entire group. In the case of churches, a change agent would have to enable a team from one church to learn from the deviant and then try the new practice over a period of time. "7. Track results and publicize them." The results from each village were publicized. There was a communications effort. But then the task is to wait until other groups are interested enough to want to learn for themselves. Turning the process into a program does not help aid change. A target group has to be ready to change themselves, curious about what could help make the changes, and willing to invest themselves in studying those that are positive deviants. Then they have to practice applying the behaviors. "8. Repeat steps one through seven." Disseminate the best deviant behaviors across the system but help people go back and look for new behaviors constantly. The answers are different for each group but they can form new groups with different peers. This article further pushes me in the direction of teaching congregations that serve as positive deviants where other churches can learn. However they must feel enough like a group in order to learn. These churches would have to examine their own conventional wisdom about what should work but isn't working now to bring the changes they desire. I am reminded of the model that New Hope Church uses through their practicum program as well as the "Doing Church as a Team" program. Both programs allow visiting groups to look behind the scenes, ask questions and watch the behaviors of a variety of persons at the church. The conference is the conference they do for their new members and attenders, they merely allow outsiders to be a part as well. The practicum allows pastors to follow their pastors around for 5 days and learn as they go. Then, pastors can adopt or try certain behaviors for themselves. It is not a perfect fit to the situation, but it's getting there. I am sure that most of you can create and devise even more interesting and important ways to apply this idea. After you try one, send it in, I would like to hear what you have learned in the process. A lot of this information is found around the nutrition literature. Here are a few resources for you for further research. http://www.unu.edu/unupress/unupbooks/80697e/80697E00.htm#Contents http://www.unicef.org/pdeduc/education/pdf/vol1.2_nov98.pdf
BAD BAGPIPE JOKES Q. Why do pipers always walk when they play? A. Moving targets are harder to hit. Q. How do you get two bagpipes to play in perfect unison? A. Shoot one. Q. What's the difference between a bagpipe and an onion? A. No one cries when you chop up a bagpipe. Q. What's the difference between a bagpipe and a trampoline? A. You take off your shoes when you jump on a trampoline. Q. How can you tell a piper with perfect pitch? A. He can throw a set into the middle of a pond and not hit any of the ducks. Q. How is playing a bagpipe like throwing a javelin blindfolded? A. You don't have to be very good to get people's attention. Q. What's the difference between a lawn mower and a bagpipe? A. You can tune the lawn mower; and the owner's neighbors are upset if you borrow the lawn mower and don't return it. Q. How do you make a chain saw sound like a bagpipe? A. Add vibrato. Q. What's the difference between a dead piper in the road and a dead country singer in the road? A. The country singer may have been on the way to a recording session. Q. What's the range of a bagpipe? A. Twenty yards if you have a good arm. Q. Why are a piper's fingers like lightning? A. They rarely strike the same spot twice. Q. How can you tell if a bagpipe is out of tune? A. Someone is blowing into it. Q. Why is a bagpipe like a SCUD missile? A. Both are offensive and inaccurate. Q. ``Hey, Buddy. How late does the pipe band play?'' A. ``Oh, about a half beat behind the drummer.'' Q. Why do they call it a ``kilt''? A. Because a lot of people got kilt when they called it a skirt. Q. What's one thing you never hear people say? A. Oh, that's the pipe player's Porsche. Q. What's a piper's definition of ``optimism''? A. A piper with a beeper.
During the time of the twelve Caesars, the Roman army would conduct morning inspections. As the inspecting Centurion would come in front of each legionnaire, the soldier would strike with his right fist the armor breastplate that covered his heart. The armor had to be strongest there in order to protect the heart from the sword thrusts and from arrow strikes. As the soldier struck his armor, he would shout "integritas" [in-teg-ri-tas], which in Latin means material wholeness, completeness, and entirety. The inspecting Centurion would listen closely for this affirmation and also for the ring that well kept armor would give off. Satisfied that the armor was sound and that the soldier beneath it was protected, he would then move on to the next man. At about the same time, the Praetorians or imperial bodyguard were ascending into power and influence; drawn from the best "politically correct" soldiers of the legions, they received the finest equipment and armor. They no longer had to shout "integritas" to signify that their armor was sound. Instead, as they struck their breastplate, they would shout "Hail Caesar," to signify that their heart belonged to the imperial personage—not to their unit—not to an institution—not to a code of ideals. They armored themselves to serve the cause of a single man. A century passed and the rift between the legion and the imperial bodyguard and its excesses grew larger. To signify the difference between the two organizations, the legionnaire, upon striking his armor would no longer shout "integritas," but instead would shout "integer" [in-te-ger]. Integer means undiminished—complete—perfect. It not only indicated that the armor was sound, it also indicated that the soldier wearing the armor was sound of character. He was complete in his integrity…his heart was in the right place…his standards and morals were high. He was not associated with the immoral conduct that was rapidly becoming the signature of the Praetorian Guards. The armor of integrity continued to serve the legion well. For over four centuries they held the line against the marauding Goths and Vandals, but by 383 A.D., the social decline that infected the republic and the Praetorian Guard had its effects upon the legion. As a 4th century Roman general wrote, "When because of negligence and laziness, parade ground drills were abandoned, the customary armor began to feel heavy since the soldiers rarely, if ever, wore it. Therefore, they first asked the emperor to set aside the breastplates and mail and then the helmets. So our soldiers fought the Goths without any protection for the heart and head and were often beaten by archers. Although there were many disasters, which led to the loss of great cities, no one tried to restore the armor to the infantry. They took their armor off and when the armor came off—so too came their integrity." It was only a matter of a few years until the legion rotted from within and was unable to hold the frontiers. The barbarians were at the gates.
Children enter school as question marks and leave as periods.
Christ said, "Feed my sheep... feed my lambs." Some preachers, however, put the food so high that neither lambs nor sheep can reach it. They seem to have read the text, "Feed my giraffes."