Thursday Three For All
It’s Thursday, kiddies: the day when I roll out a few things I’ve been reading over the past week. Three of ‘em, to be exact. Enjoy. (Remember: click on the big bold print to read the entire article.)
Why Your Assimilation Process is the Foundation to Visitor Retention
(via @ccbchurch) *Gasp.* They used the v-word. But there are still some good basic reminders here.
While most churches implement a number of systems to help them carry out their mission, assimilation can often get lost in the shuffle. But assimilation, the process through which we build relationships and connections, lays the foundation for a visitor’s meaningful immersion in the church, and subsequently, their intentional discipleship.
It begins with a visitor’s first visit to your church and ends when that person becomes connected to and engaged with your church. But it is possible, however, for someone to join your church without ever making a connection.
But you can’t steward someone without a relationship or a connection. And assimilation connects people to your church through relationships – so a church that does assimilation well will also create strong disciples.
Assimilation includes four basic processes:
I Didn’t Fall In Love With My Wife
(via @mattwalshblog) Whether or not you agree with all of Matt’s political persuasions, this content is rich. The “Can you fall out of love with your kids?” question is jarring.
It’s no surprise that we are so bad at marriage in this culture.
We’re bad at it because we don’t understand it, and we don’t understand it because we don’t understand love. You can’t forge a lasting marriage if all you know about love is what you learned from an Ed Sheeran song. It’s like trying to build a car when you think engines run on fairy dust. And that’s essentially how many of us approach marriage. We believe it’s fueled by some intense and mystical emotional force — a force we inaccurately call “love” — and as soon as we run out of this mysterious cosmic gasoline all we can do is send it to the scrap yard and find a new model.
“Spy in the Wild” Blooper Reel
(via @premiumfunny) Ain’t nothing not funny about monkey bloopers.
photo credit: Jason Mathis
