Jonas Asher Baerg was born on Sunday

Hey Innovation @ Church Friends

We had a baby boy, Jonas Asher Baerg, on Sunday (2/17/08). Karol had a successful VBAC with a mid-wife at the hospital. It went very well. Since we didn't find out the gender of the baby, it was an exciting experience to tell Karol that it was a boy. I've posted some pictures. They found Strep B infection in Jonas so they are treating with 7 days of antibiotics. It's keeping us at the hospital a little longer than we expected but we are glad that it was caught before it became a serious problem. Jonas and Karol are doing great and we're excited to go home. Keep Jonas in your prayers that the infection gets taken care of quickly.

God Bless,
Lucas

Free Resources

Yes, you heard right. I’m going to tell you how to obtain free resources that can benefit your church and your life. It’s called WorldCat. It’s the world’s largest network of library content and services. It’s like Amazon with free books. Less than 2% of the US population takes advantage of their local library. An even smaller percentage of that group takes advantage of WorldCat. I’ve been using this for over a year now and I’ve received every resource that I have requested. I’ve also added the cool WorldCat search tool on my blog sidebar.

This could save you thousands of dollars in your church budget and hundreds of dollars in your personal budget. Not only will this save you money but it eliminates the cost barrier to leadership development. Anyone can grow as a leader regardless of how much money they have. Leadership development is crucial. The best way to grow your church is to grow your leadership. One more time: The best way to grow your church is to grow your leadership.

An additional note: Tony Morgan has also posted some links to churches that are offering their resources for free. Click here to find out more.

Innovative Social Responsibility

Maslow's hierarchy of needs would suggest that before you can educate someone or love someone, the most basic of needs like food and water must be provided for. I read about this organization called Play Pumps on Guy Kawasaki's blog that is providing the most basic of needs in a very innovative way. Play Pumps came up with a great idea to provide fresh supply of clean water for African villages. They combined 2 existing inventions to solve a problem: a water pump and a merry-go-round. As the kids play on the merry-go-round, it pumps water to the village. Now that's innovation!

Divorce Strategies

If you are looking to improve your chances of getting a divorce, I’ve found some truly effective strategies you can utilize. The statistical likelihood is astounding. Dr. John Gottman has been researching marriages for over 25 years. He has been able to predict with over 80% accuracy which couples are going to make it, and which couples are going to get a divorce. In his book, “The Seven Principles for Making Marriage Work,” he uncovers that it’s not conflict that destroys the marriage but how that conflict is handled. Gottman refers to these problems as the “Four Horseman of the Apocalypse.” So if you’re looking to say “hello” to the single life and “goodbye” to the married life, here are 4 techniques you can use to ensure your divorce papers are in the mail.

1. Criticism – Attacking the person’s character
2. Contempt – Putting down the other person
3. Defensiveness – Denying responsibility
4. Stonewalling – The “silent” treatment

This might be a wake up call for you. Do whatever you can to get rid of this cancer in your marriage. Valentine’s Day might be the perfect time to apologize and make a commitment not to resort to these communication pitfalls. If you’re looking for a quick summary of the book and some tips for improving your marriage, click here to read a secular summary of the book.

Our church started our annual marriage series last week. Timmy talks about it here. It is one of our highest attended message series every year. People in your community are looking for answers on how to make their marriage work. Incorporating a marriage series as you plan out this year will help your church be a light in your community.