WARNING...This is one of those posts I do periodically that will be longer than "normal"...it is a "list" of sorts...
I have accused myself or been acused by others of many things. Some of them true. One accusation is that I am a "serial reductionist"...while I have a college minor in philosophy and enjoy reading complicated things, I have a tendency because of my teaching gift to simplify and reduce complex material to simple presentation size chunks of material.
A second reality is that I am a voracious reader and constantly on the prowl for emerging leaders and great thinkers. So...in that vein, let me share some of my blog friends who I think write GREAT stuff for students of leadership and local church ministry:
http://www.tonymorganlive.com/tony_morgan_one_of_the_si/ Tony was formerly at Granger Church (www.gccwired.com) but he is now at NewSpring Church (www.newspring.cc) Tony's not only a great guy, but is co-author of the Simply Strategic series (you can see the books on his blog site).
http://www.evotional.com/ Mark Batterson is the Lead Pastor at National Community Church (www.theaterchurch.com) and the author of "In a Pit with a Lion on a Snowy Day". Mark is a fantastic writer, great guy, and has huge insights on leadership that I benefit from virtually every week!
http://daveferguson.typepad.com/daveferguson/ Dave Ferguson is the Lead Pastor at Community Christian Church (http://www.communitychristian.org/) and co-founder of the New Thing Network (http://www.newthing.org/). I consider Dave a shining light in the multi-site movement. He's also the co-author of The Big Idea. Smart guy. Great heart.
http://www.leadingsmart.com/leadingsmart/ Tim Stevens is the Executive Pastor of Granger Community Church (www.gccwired.com) and co-author (with Tony Morgan) of the Simply Strategic Series of resources. Granger is the best communicating church in the country, in my humble opinion. Tim models GREAT leadership insights. Granger practice synergy, live it, and model it for others. A huge HURRAH for Kem Meyer, their communications director (visit Visit Kem's blog here)...our own Laura Cotter of Direct Effect Marketing (Direct Effect Website) has benefitted from Kem's writing and their seminars
http://www.perrynoble.com/ Perry Noble is the Senior Pastor at NewSpring(www.newspring.cc) Sometimes irreverant (ahem..um..okay...sometimes NOT..most of the times, IS), but always passionate for Jesus. I've grown to love and appreciate Perry these past 2 years.
http://scotthodge.typepad.com/scott/ Scott Hodge is the Pastor at Orchard Valley Community Church and is the reason many of us started blogging. I recently was able to help find a solution to backing up your blog (See the post here) which Scott said actually helped him--which was fun for me! Scott and I got to talk a little in the hallways at Innovate 2006..and now he's speaking at Innovate 2007! (go here for information about Innovate 2007) I wonder if there is a connection? :-) Just kidding Scott..
http://swerve.lifechurch.tv/ Craig Groeschel and Bobby Gruenewald of LifeChurch (www.lifechurch.tv) have done a huge service to the Body of Christ by sharing here. The partnership between the two is great because you get great leadership and great tech insights from two top folks in one site
And finally, a newcomer to this list.
http://www.stevenfurtick.com/ Steven Furtick is the lead pastor of Elevation Church in Charlotte Elevation Website Here I found Steven through Perry, Tony, and Scott's blogs. That is one of the cool things that I like about blogs...good links to emerging leaders.
Visit the links...hope you enjoy!
