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  • Bio

    Adam_teach







    Employment
    Pastor of Student Ministries, First Baptist Church of Romeo
    President, Youth Ministry Exchange, LLC

    Education
    B.A. in Youth Ministry, Moody Bible Institute
    M.A. in Youth Ministry Leadership, Huntington University (in progress)

    Sites under management
    www.ymexchange.com
    www.youthministryclassifieds.com
    www.youthministrytips.com

    Family
    Kristen (Wife-1997)
    Megan (Daughter- 2001)
    Paul (Son-2003)

  • Next Stop: Armada Fair

    I just got back from visiting the fairgrounds and getting a sneak peak of what is to come. I am now officially "super excited" about this opportunity at the Armada Fair.

    I think it was also the first time I drove through downtown Armada and realized just how close it is to Romeo. This is 100% within our "demographic" area. We ate at the Armada Roadhouse and it was quite good.

    Looking at the other merchants in our tent… we’re going to have fun. We are between the county health department and tastefully simple and across from a pampered chef booth. And just around the corner is something called "Magic Mushrooms" and some other very odd things. That’ll be super fun!

    I think our plan is simple, direct, and fun as we point everyone to KidsTown and MainStreet.

  • session five notes

    most helpful session so far.

    Session 5: Michael Porter Focusing on trying to do good in the community.

    Main idea: How do you do well at doing good? How do you serve effectively?

    The church is an institution that is a unique aspect about our country… We try to help transform society.

    Principles that add more impact. Assumtion is that most churches are not very effective in all that they try to do. Ultimately, the church gets poor results.

    Most churches don’t think strategically. The effective ones do and provide measurements .

    Most of our doing good is about the do gooders and not the recipient… We must not fall into that trap. We must focus on results. Some philanthropic efforts actually do more harm than good.

    Questions for leadership groups: How does your organiAtion set goals? What are we trying to achieve? What area will we serve? Too many, less is better for results. How will we deliver value to the recipients? How do we align the people?

    Points about goals: Define value: social benefits per dollar value. If you can’t so it better than someone else, just give them the money to do it. You have a societal responsibility as we all pay for that tax deduction

    You must measure to guarantee effectiveness.

    How to decide where to serve your community -worthiness of the cause is a trap… That isn’t something your able to argue… All issues are important. -Partly… This comes from your passion. -chosing must be based on Where can I add the most social benefit? -this can be determined by assessing your community to discover the most pressing needs of you community. What other organizations are there? Reinventing the wheel with your name on it is a tragedy. OUTSOURCE!

    Internal question: What type of human resources do we have? This helps us know what we can actually do.

    Where can we add more than just unskilled labor? Where can we do more than give money? Where can we use our skills for social good?

  • The Summit, Day 1

    Well, day 1 was pretty much what I expected. A couple good sessions and one that was a sleeper. (Who decides to put the boring one after lunch?) Anyway… here are my notes. These are super raw and will provide perhaps far too much insight to how my brain works.

    Session 1
    Bill Hybels: John 10 casting vision.

    The most compelling vision is worthless without corporate ownership. Are people willing to
    die for the vision of the church? Its all about process.

    Mt Sinai vision casting vs. Team vision casting. Lead by the question
    of where do you see our organization in the next 5 years?

    Subsequent vision process: ask people what they think of your first
    vision draft. What excites you? What scares you? What are your secret
    concerns? Then adjust!
    Vision declaration: people have lives… You need to remind them of
    the vision consistently and often because they forget the vision.
    Would you be willing to die for your own vision? Are you an owner or
    an employee? Acts 21 Paul was willing to be bound and killed for God’s
    vision for Jerusalem… Are you willing to pay the price? It is the
    difference between your people following the vision and not.
    Bill closes with an example of how he sacrificed for the WCA vision.
    You have to own the vision… Be an owner and not a hireling.

    I thought Hybels did a fine job. He set the pace for the rest of the sessions to come. Jason said when he was done, "OK, I heard what I needed to hear." That’s worth the price of admission right there.

    Session 2:
    Carly Fiorina

    • Learning from various disciplines prepared her for leadership.
    • She quit law school because she didn’t love it. This was hard because she had to disappoint her parents.
    • Teamwork makes things fun. Its more fun to win together.
    • Since she was an anxious child, fear was a big part of her life. As a result she has learned to detect fear as well how to overcome it as a manager.
    • The complexity of being a female leader in a male world. She told a story about a meeting and confronting someone who wanted to close a deal at a strip club.
    • Her strategy for being a female in a male world. Any type of prejudice comes from fear. Next, it isn’t your problem… Instead find common ground and focus on your goal.
    • Motivation is the measurement of a leader. Leading is about new directions.
    • Give people a compelling reason to  believe that the vision is worth the pain.
    • Deal with the realities of the process.
    • Unlocking potential in people is a massived motivator… Take a chance on others.
    • Leadership development never ends… There is something to learn from everyone… Even bad experiences.
    • Put people outside their comfort zone to develop.
    • Dispassion is an important factor of a leader… Objectivity helps you see what needs to be done. It helps you make the right choice.
    • She talks about getting labeled the most powerful woman in business. She calls it a joke… But was flattered as well. She felt like that fame made her lonely. It killed her authenticity…
    • They started seeing a label instead.
    • The phrase the HP WAY became a hinderance instead of a motivator. It became an excuse to stop innovation.
    • Risk taking is part of the dna of an innovator.
    • When the end came… Chicago 2005.
    • Some internal business got leaked to the WSJ and that caused a major issue. When she confronted the parties… She was fired.
    • It was done in a back room meeting way.
    • She was asked to resign in a way similar to the ministry way… But she chose to not sell out and told the truth to the media. She said she wouldn’t sell out her character. At the end of the day integrity is more important than keeping her job. The truth was more important than saving face to the media.
    • "there is a gift in everything."
    • She is now experiencing freedom… Which she relishes.
    • Currently she is looking to find what’s next for her full time. In that sense she is waiting.
    • Bill closes by praying for Carly.

    I thought the interview was solid but I wondered if I had just read her book if I would have gotten more out of it.

    Session 3 was with Floyd Flake. I am sure he is a remarkable man. But he didn’t say anything I thought was remarkably applicable to my ministry or leadership development. I love the concept of community development and hope to one day unleash that concept in our town… because we desperately need it.

  • Wild Ride in the Bend

    This came from my hometown newspaper, The South Bend Tribune.

    PAW PAW, Mich. — A 21-year-old man was taken on a wild ride Wednesday
    afternoon when the wheelchair he was in became attached to the grille
    of a semi-truck and was taken four miles down a highway at about 50 mph.

    The
    man, whose name police did not release, was not injured. The driver was
    unaware he was pushing the man, according to a news release from the
    Michigan State Police.     Story

    Here’s my favorite quote of the article, "The man spilled his soda pop, but he wasn’t upset," Sgt. Kathy Morton of the Michigan State Police said."

    Best part of that story… no one was hurt or charged with a crime. Just a wildly fun accident.

  • step two

    we’ve had a safe and simple trip to JFK. in about 15 minutes we’ll be jumping on our plane and heading to dublin.

    we got an absolutrly remarkable look at new york city on the way in. we both made a mental note that we need to visit NYC sometime.

    it’s starting to set in that we are on vacation. everything in my brain is starting to slow down a tad.

    for those of us who went on the mission trip in 2005… exact same everything so far. same gates… and i think i even recognied the lady who was at the security checkpoint.

    why is it that planes fly at 33,000 feet and can’t manage air that feels fresh? sheesh… i’m sweating!

  • step one

    we are waiting our first stop… from detroit to JFK.

    i haven’t been to DTW in a while… they now have massive tv’s in the northwest terminal. very nice

  • An ustream experiment

    I’ve been watching a couple of people mess with ustream.tv. So, this is my experiment tonight. You can watch our event tonight, Married Street live… right here on my blog. Check it out starting at 7:00 PM.

    If think this makes me a complete and total dork, right?

  • 10 More Days

    Spring is totally here
    It’s sunny and beautiful here in Romeo with the weekend looking just as nice ahead. At the same time… I can’t stop thinking about our awesome vacation coming up. Kristen and I have a few plans but we are still "planning" to have no/little plan.

    I’m looking forward to Kristen and I reliving our adventurous times back "when we were single."     (Meaning, married with no kids) We would explore Illinois, Wisconsin, Indiana, and Michigan for no other reason than just to explore something new together. So… it’s a vacation… it’s a time of reconnecting (How do people who live in the same house not connect? Um, that’s how life is sometimes I guess.) … it’s exploring a gorgeous country together… it’s trying something new… it’s seeing a good friend… it’s making new friends and new memories.

    In the mean time… the next 10 days until departure are busy!     We’ve got an event tomorrow. We’ve got Megan’s birthday party. I’m going to Grand Rapids for a golf outing. We have a full compliment of ministry stuff next week. We have a training event next Saturday. I’m filling in for Bob next Sunday. And we have to start thinking about packing… along with all that normal pre-trip stuff.

    Work on vacation? Um… no. I am not planning on doing work on vacation. That said, I find vacations to be a tremendous time when God reveals Himself to me as I slow down and do different stuff. I know that after 2-3 days of "chillin’" my mind will start to race and I’ll get very industrious. And since there is a tiny turn around between the end of vacation and some other big stuff on my calendar… I am hoping that I can get a big portion of my preparation for the Youth Rally done.