tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35514311.comments2012-02-20T21:06:17.718-05:00David Ruddhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12572780147564110421noreply@blogger.comBlogger23125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35514311.post-24539362989978314912012-02-20T21:06:17.718-05:002012-02-20T21:06:17.718-05:00The assessment above is quite good and takes the assumptions and guesswork out of knowing if your group is healthy or not. Check it out.Randall Neighbourhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15682886627547670154noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35514311.post-23312906699344752442012-02-20T19:36:20.762-05:002012-02-20T19:36:20.762-05:00Good stuff, David. I&#39;ve seen several different lists of small group health indicators. It&#39;s interesting to me that most lists have some areas of crossover, but also include some major differences. Some of that is simply a matter of perspective. For instance, I did not include &quot;prayer&quot; or &quot;worship&quot; on my 7 vital signs of a healthy small group, but I DO believe these are vitally important, of course. I include both in the very fist vital sign, which I called &quot;Christ-centered.&quot; But then I noted that prayer, for instance, is also a huge part of how the other vital signs work. <br /><br />My list of 7 vital signs of a healthy group are: <br />1. A healthy group is Christ-centered<br />2. A healthy group has a health, growing leader<br />3. A healthy group is team-led<br />4. A healthy group is proactive and had goals and plans<br />5. A healthy group lives in healthy, authentic community<br />6. A healthy group ministers to others<br />7. A healthy group is an intentional discipling environment<br /><br />You can take a free small group health assessment here: http://www.touchusa.org/free-small-group-health-assessment.Mike Mackhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00601918208664660180noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35514311.post-53369913165337167152011-07-06T21:42:45.495-04:002011-07-06T21:42:45.495-04:00Thank you. I needed this and felt HIS holy hand lead me here.Kemihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06503043821809770613noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35514311.post-46361000598248051882010-10-15T13:23:11.218-04:002010-10-15T13:23:11.218-04:00Great post, David! All great reminders of the &quot;why&quot; we do what we do, and some reasons we can share with those not engaged yet. Thanks for sharing these.Michael C. Mackhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00601918208664660180noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35514311.post-38981587779013302152010-10-04T20:50:59.483-04:002010-10-04T20:50:59.483-04:00Good article. I love your I&#39;s!Michael C. Mackhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00601918208664660180noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35514311.post-66381262440275904352010-05-09T20:46:36.982-04:002010-05-09T20:46:36.982-04:00Thank you for your practical insight for reading the Bible.<br /><br />Paul and Peggy<br />www.bible-study-lesson-plans.comPeggyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11171879886178036361noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35514311.post-37474160078857263572010-04-22T14:20:16.474-04:002010-04-22T14:20:16.474-04:00Thanks for sharing the article! We&#39;ve got some really good small group leaders around here. I enjoyed your recent post on Myer&#39;s Search to Belong as well. -- LarryStepUpToTheCallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05944519010466992235noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35514311.post-22905070546116792622009-12-02T16:58:02.384-05:002009-12-02T16:58:02.384-05:00I loved this book ... it reinforced my thinking on small groups while also setting me free from my thinking on small groups.rickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08761115460598252675noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35514311.post-44197644949182765152009-10-29T14:19:30.699-04:002009-10-29T14:19:30.699-04:00Hi, I created a website to allow you to do and track your soap style bible study on-line. I created it in hopes of benefiting someone like yourself. It&#39;s totally free. Check it out and let me know if you find it useful. http://soapstudy.comdroozehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01138699199558901122noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35514311.post-78203344442599428162008-10-02T12:55:00.000-04:002008-10-02T12:55:00.000-04:00Thanks for the resources...and btw, I like the new look.Bill Reicharthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15760818211029009936noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35514311.post-20298162717934319592008-09-17T13:27:00.000-04:002008-09-17T13:27:00.000-04:00I kind of like how I'm dealing with one of the newer difficult people in my life. My wife and I are using a three-pronged approach with this lady.<BR/><BR/>In our group meeting when she acts out, I simply cut her off with "that's inaccurate", "that's one perspective", "that's not relevant to the point", etc..<BR/><BR/>I then use email to challenge her with little thoughts her and there. I rarely reply back when she replies with all of the excuses, accuses me of being judgmental, etc..<BR/><BR/>Finally, we ask her to hang out a lot. We went for bike rides, dinner, watched TV, went to a movie, etc.. In those settings I never initiate anything and I rarely confront her. I just give her space to do whatever. Sometimes she doesn't bring up the obvious issues and neither do we. We just share our life with her. Other time she talks about her pains, justifies why she is as she is, etc. and we just listen. I think she understands that we care about her and because of this I can get away with cutting her off in group and challenging her from time to time.rickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08761115460598252675noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35514311.post-33595664011225696782008-06-27T01:04:00.000-04:002008-06-27T01:04:00.000-04:00Thanks for linking to my blog.<BR/><BR/>You have created an incredible site of small group resources!!! Mind if I use some? <BR/><BR/>Thank you so much for such a great site!!!<BR/><BR/>-Kim MartinezKim Martinez Staying Focusedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06565134814674729667noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35514311.post-81598888804650726352008-05-27T18:28:00.000-04:002008-05-27T18:28:00.000-04:00Hey David, I read your RSS and so I don't always click through to the site. Noticed the new look...Bill Reicharthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15760818211029009936noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35514311.post-11002386811397976712008-04-16T11:13:00.000-04:002008-04-16T11:13:00.000-04:00Creativity is so very lacking in our churches. I love to see people writing about it. It's an interesting perspective: Christ's death opened the door for creativity... I will ponder this.<BR/><BR/>I write at: <BR/><BR/>www.ministrylive.orgRay Deck IIIhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09350042108174958167noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35514311.post-57047160017733599442007-05-29T01:54:00.000-04:002007-05-29T01:54:00.000-04:00David, great post. Our Care Group has done an amazing job of doing life together. We have our regular meetings, although they aren't always "regular." We are all busy and travel a lot, so although we all consider attendance important, we aren't compulsive about it. We have regular pot lucks and catch up evenings between studies, or sometimes right in the middle. We're involved at different levels with the aging parents and kidults of one another. We've become friends and various couples in the group will meet for dinner and a movie. When we're traveling we keep in touch by phone and email, and we help one another out with airport rides and just about anything else we need. And we affirm our group by telling everyone that we have "the best care group." We have a lot of fun doing life together. You can read more about our group at http://whydidntyouwarnme.com/2007/03/09/bearing-fruit/Pathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12105041530687619979noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35514311.post-89011953756584996802007-05-10T13:34:00.000-04:002007-05-10T13:34:00.000-04:00David, what a great reminder! I'm going to link to this on my blog at www.whydidntyouwarnme.com.Pathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12105041530687619979noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35514311.post-69956969807013667602007-05-08T15:44:00.000-04:002007-05-08T15:44:00.000-04:00Try<BR/><BR/>http://www.family-to-family.org/Missional Jerryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03496760677134661370noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35514311.post-1166093738029710422006-12-14T05:55:00.000-05:002006-12-14T05:55:00.000-05:00Hi, i was looking over your blog and didn't<BR/>quite find what I was looking for. I'm looking for<BR/>different ways to earn money... I did find this though...<BR/> a place where you can make some nice extra cash secret shopping. <BR/>I made over $900 last month having fun!<BR/><A HREF="http://www.take-surveys-4-cash.info" REL="nofollow">make extra money now</A>Askinstoohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11441898079939101534noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35514311.post-1165972519052364682006-12-12T20:15:00.000-05:002006-12-12T20:15:00.000-05:00So much easier and faster.<BR/>thanks David<BR/>Keep up the good work<BR/>KirkAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35514311.post-1162524279961634652006-11-02T22:24:00.000-05:002006-11-02T22:24:00.000-05:00As the "Missional Director of a yet-to-be-named LIFEGroup," I appreciate this list. <BR/><BR/>P.S. I think I'll be writing in Rudd on Tuesday. I don't want to vote for Mr. Tax Fraud or Ms. Sunday School Teacher.Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04372665959648534793noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35514311.post-1162354543056070352006-10-31T23:15:00.000-05:002006-10-31T23:15:00.000-05:00great ideasMissional Jerryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03496760677134661370noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35514311.post-1161199622068440242006-10-18T15:27:00.000-04:002006-10-18T15:27:00.000-04:00Love the new site! Hope it's a great resource for your group leaders!<BR/><BR/>HZ from NCCHeather Zhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08022329972512468764noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35514311.post-1160147414476012022006-10-06T11:10:00.000-04:002006-10-06T11:10:00.000-04:00great site and helpful ideas for our LGBill Ruddhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09935462854646890046noreply@blogger.com