Series: Jim Tune

July 6, 2016

Christian Standard

Ministry Success

By Jim Tune “I experienced success in ministry,” the speaker said, “but it wasn”t worth it.” I was attending a church planting conference. The speaker had served as pastor and as a leader of two national church planting networks. He had written books. At one point, he worked 364 days a year. (He took most of Christmas off.) This guy is, and was, a big deal. In hindsight, he said, it wasn”t worth it. He wanted us to learn from his mistakes. In the years I”ve served as pastor and leader, I”ve seen many rise to the top. They are

June 29, 2016

Christian Standard

An Enemy at the Gate

By Jim Tune Paul Kalanithi, a nonsmoking neurosurgeon, was diagnosed with late-stage lung cancer at the age of 36. He chronicled his experiences in his memoir, When Breath Becomes Air. Kalanithi wrote: Death, so familiar to me in my work, was now paying a personal visit. . . . Standing at the crossroads where I should have been able to see and follow the footprints of countless patients I had treated over the years, I saw instead only a blank, a harsh, vacant, gleaming white desert, as if a sandstorm had erased all trace of familiarity. Death makes life seem

June 22, 2016

Christian Standard

A Better Story

By Jim Tune In just a few weeks Claudia and I will be on our way to Anaheim, California, for the 2016 North American Christian Convention. President Dave Stone has put together a great program, and the theme, “A Better Story,” is especially appropriate considering the convention is happening in Walt Disney”s backyard. Walt Disney loved a good story and devoted his life to helping people imagine a better world and a magical future. He was tireless in his optimistic vision of a better tomorrow. The creation of Tomorrowland at Disneyland (and later at Walt Disney World) was the realized

June 15, 2016

Christian Standard

Number 100!

By Jim Tune Just over two years ago Mark Taylor asked if I would write for Christian Standard regularly. He offered me the back page and the opportunity to write on a weekly basis online and once a month for the print edition. That”s 450 words, 52 times a year. Occasionally I sail up over the 500-word mark. Brevity is always a tough challenge for me. Mark and I kicked around a couple of possible titles for my column. I submitted four or five suggestions, but we ended up going with Mark”s title: “A Different Tune.” It really is a

June 8, 2016

Christian Standard

“˜American Idol” Comes to Church

By Jim Tune The tension was almost unbearable. Fourteen anxious people awaited their turn to perform. The audition would be rigorous. Most of them had been through tryouts before. Nearly all of them were young, fit, and attractive. Every single one of them could sing or play an instrument proficiently, but only one would make the cut. After all, this was the church and only the exceptionally gifted would be chosen to perform on Sundays with the worship team. I think our contemporary culture has developed an unhealthy obsession with discovering talent. From youth sports to spectacular TV shows like

June 1, 2016

Christian Standard

Perfectly Executing the Wrong Vision

By Jim Tune In his acclaimed book Why Smart Executives Fail, Sydney Finkelstein describes a fictional situation about a meticulously planned military operation. In his scenario, a special forces unit moves in with devastating efficiency and successfully accomplishes every objective; the forces kill or capture everyone in the base they were attacking. The unit suffered very few casualties. There was only one problem. The target they had attacked and captured belonged to friendly forces. Central command launched a massive investigation to figure out what went wrong. Several missteps were eventually identified. Operational protocols were reviewed, changed, and corrected. The only

May 25, 2016

Christian Standard

Memo to the Blessed

By Jim Tune It”s staggering. We can buy Bible software that contains 2,000 Bible resources. We can read and search blogs of today”s top Christian leaders. We can attend conferences and hear the best speakers, or plug in our earbuds and listen to them preach. We can direct-message great leaders on Twitter. The resources at our fingertips are amazing. Not only that, but we can write and publish whatever we want. A few years ago we could read only those fortunate enough to be published. Now anyone can start a blog, post a video on YouTube, or publish a book.

May 18, 2016

Christian Standard

The Edge of Fear

By Jim Tune A great power is unleashed when a person confronts her worst fears and steps out in faith anyway. As an example, consider Katharine Graham. She ran the Washington Post during the Watergate era, taking on President Richard Nixon and the White House at considerable professional risk. Long before Watergate, Graham was a 46-year-old housewife when her husband, Phil, committed suicide in 1963. Though grieving, she took control of the family company at a time when there were few women in senior positions anywhere in the corporate world. She was, in a word, terrified. She had no female

May 11, 2016

Christian Standard

Creating Culture

By Jim Tune Pixar founder Ed Catmull had always dreamed of using computers to create a great animated movie. He achieved this with the release of Toy Story. “We”d been the first to make a movie with computers,” he wrote in his book Creativity, Inc., “and””even better””audiences were touched, and touched deeply by the story we told.” The problem? “Now that this goal had been reached, I had what I can only describe as a hollow, lost feeling.” Running a company didn”t seem to be enough. Catmull began to scratch beneath the surface, and realized things weren”t as healthy at

May 4, 2016

Christian Standard

Habits of the Happy

By Jim Tune Do you have habits you swear by? A daily routine you adhere to that you”re confident boosts your productivity or well-being? I have a hard time making certain disciplines stick. In his autobiography, Ben Franklin famously outlined a daily routine to ensure productivity, efficiency, and “moral perfection.” The mornings began with a question: “What good shall I do this day?” The early morning hours (between 5 and 7 a.m.) consisted of rising, washing, and reciting a morning liturgy containing a now-famous prayer he had written: “O powerful Goodness! Bountiful Father! Merciful Guide! Increase in me that wisdom

April 27, 2016

Christian Standard

Escape Eschatology

By Jim Tune Dispensationalists, especially modern dispensationalists, promote an eschatology that amounts to little more than “escapeatology.” Popular treatments of the Olivet Discourse (Mark 13; Mathew 24; Luke 21) and the book of Revelation present an eschatology that induces a mind-set of escapism. And many Christians are eating it up. Consider the popularity of the Left Behind series of books and movies with their view of eschatology as merely a means of future escape from this world, with a corresponding flight from any present responsibility to this world. Escapeatology views Revelation”s portrayal of the new heaven and earth as a reality in the distant

April 20, 2016

Christian Standard

Diworseification

By Jim Tune Peter Lynch is a legend on Wall Street. As the manager of Fidelity Investments” Magellan Fund between 1977 and 1990, Lynch averaged a 29.2 percent annual return. His fund consistently doubled and even tripled the S&P 500 index. He did this without the help of complicated algorithms or insider trading. Lynch takes a commonsense approach to portfolio management. His most famous investment principle is simply, “Invest in what you know.” In his best-selling book One Up on Wall Street, Lynch devotes a chapter to listing the kinds of companies he stays away from. He cautions readers to

April 13, 2016

Christian Standard

Hacking Ministry

By Jim Tune One Saturday in November, hundreds of programmers and designers arrived at George Brown College in Toronto. They were armed with laptops and sleeping bags, although few of them would sleep. For 30 hours, they worked nonstop on creating products to improve the lives of people living with dementia, a disease that affects 47.5 million worldwide. Their reward: the opportunity to change lives, $175,000 in cash prizes, and the chance to pitch their ideas to influencers. DementiaHack is one of many hackathons taking place around the world. There are even Christian versions, like Code for the Kingdom, “where

April 6, 2016

Christian Standard

Axioms for Leaders, Part 2

By Jim Tune In last week”s blog I posted an annotated list of five axioms for Christian leaders and promised five more for this week. I haven”t attempted to rank these axioms, as they are mostly situationally driven. They either apply to your current circumstance or they don”t. All of them have found application to my life and leadership””some of them very recently. Here are five more axioms for this week: 1. Become a lifelong learner. Read something. Harry S. Truman said, “Not all readers are leaders, but all leaders are readers.” Rick Warren insists that the moment you stop

March 30, 2016

Christian Standard

Axioms for Leaders, Part 1

By Jim Tune I”ve thought through ten axioms that are helpful for me as I try to lead others and myself responsibly. Here are five for this week, with five more to follow in next week”s blog: 1. It”s okay to ask for help. There are good people ready and willing to help you. You can”t do this job alone so get all the help you can. Ask for support and then be easy to support. 2. Make mistakes. Mistakes are a great educator when one is honest enough to admit them and willing to learn from them. Gretchin Rubin

March 23, 2016

Christian Standard

Ingenuity

By Jim Tune One of my favorite stories in the Bible is of the paralyzed man and his four friends. We aren”t told much about him, but we know he had four deeply compassionate friends who were determined to place him at the feet of Jesus (Mark 2:1-11). This man could do very little to help himself. He was completely dependent on others to feed him, bathe him, clothe him, and care for his other needs. Fortunately, the paralyzed man had friends who cared for him. Better yet, his friends also had initiative and ingenuity. They took him to the

March 16, 2016

Christian Standard

Don”t Worry about Wealth

By Jim Tune Back in 1966 the folk-rock duo Simon and Garfunkel released an album called Sounds of Silence. The album was a best-selling collection of reflective songs with contemplative lyrics. It has been preserved by the Library of Congress as a “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant” work of art. For that album, Paul Simon penned the words to a song about a much-admired philanthropist who was envied by all. “Richard Cory,” a poem by Edwin Arlington Robinson, was adapted by Simon into a song that ends with the startling news of the philanthropist committing suicide. My grandmother used to

March 9, 2016

Christian Standard

Soul Work Is Slow Work

By Jim Tune Paul Sparks, a cofounder of the Parish Collective, likes to refer to the reverse Prayer of Jabez. I find his twist on things refreshing: God, Shrink our territory, And narrow our boundaries That we might truly be a blessing to all. Yeah. Like that would be a best seller or catalyze a 40-day program for the typical Evangelical church. Most preachers and church planters struggle with impatience. We have goals to achieve, targets to hit. Wherever we are, it seems, we are itching to leave. Here and now is never enough. We want to get to some

March 2, 2016

Christian Standard

What Are the Odds?

By Jim Tune As I write this, the Zika virus is just beginning to make headlines. Claudia and I are only 10 days away from embarking on our first-ever cruise. Our seven-day, Western-Caribbean cruise was a surprise I arranged for my wife to celebrate our 25th wedding anniversary. One of our ports of call is in a country for which the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has already issued this midlevel travel alert: “Practice enhanced precautions.” Who knows what another 10 days will bring? This virus is spreading aggressively. The virus, which is spread mainly by mosquitoes, appears to

February 24, 2016

Christian Standard

Safety

By Jim Tune A word has been on my mind lately. I”ve been thinking about what it means for me personally, and as a preacher. The word: safety. I encountered the word in an excellent book, Crucial Conversations. “In order to speak honestly when honesty could easily offend others, we have to find a way to maintain safety,” the book says. “When it”s safe, you can say anything.” We often focus on the content of our conversations, but content isn”t usually what makes or breaks relationships. Safety is. Feeling safe allows us to talk about difficult things and to speak

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