Bryan Dunagan http://bryandunagan.com Most recent posts at Bryan Dunagan posterous.com Sun, 20 May 2012 15:12:00 -0700 Tarp Surfing In Gulu http://bryandunagan.com/tarp-surfing-in-gulu http://bryandunagan.com/tarp-surfing-in-gulu From Bob Goff, author of a new book, "Love Does"-- this is a sweet video of students from Restore International getting their first shot at surfing...

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]]> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/1714843/Twitter_pic.jpg http://posterous.com/users/eiXj9A4jFJgBc Bryan Dunagan bhdunagan Bryan Dunagan Mon, 12 Mar 2012 08:14:00 -0700 Blue Like Jazz http://bryandunagan.com/blue-like-jazz http://bryandunagan.com/blue-like-jazz

Looking forward to see how well this translates from page to screen.

 

 

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]]> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/1714843/Twitter_pic.jpg http://posterous.com/users/eiXj9A4jFJgBc Bryan Dunagan bhdunagan Bryan Dunagan Wed, 28 Dec 2011 07:27:00 -0800 Great Together. http://bryandunagan.com/great-together http://bryandunagan.com/great-together

My wife and I are really excited about this couples experience that we'll be doing in the new year called Great Together. It's an integration of leadership development and marriage enrichment that we're hoping will give us renewed vision for our marriage and future family in the coming years.

 

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]]> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/1714843/Twitter_pic.jpg http://posterous.com/users/eiXj9A4jFJgBc Bryan Dunagan bhdunagan Bryan Dunagan Fri, 23 Dec 2011 08:48:00 -0800 Need Some Inspiration? http://bryandunagan.com/need-some-inspiration http://bryandunagan.com/need-some-inspiration

In case you were needing a little extra inspiration this time of year, it's hard to beat this.

 

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]]> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/1714843/Twitter_pic.jpg http://posterous.com/users/eiXj9A4jFJgBc Bryan Dunagan bhdunagan Bryan Dunagan Thu, 01 Sep 2011 14:41:54 -0700 Shallow Small Group http://bryandunagan.com/shallow-small-group http://bryandunagan.com/shallow-small-group Tired of having to "unpack this" and "do life together" in community? Apparently you're not alone.

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]]> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/1714843/Twitter_pic.jpg http://posterous.com/users/eiXj9A4jFJgBc Bryan Dunagan bhdunagan Bryan Dunagan Tue, 16 Aug 2011 12:40:59 -0700 Teachable Moments http://bryandunagan.com/teachable-moments http://bryandunagan.com/teachable-moments In this video from Willow Creek's Global Leadership Summit, Bill Hybels faces into a difficult situation, and turns it into a dynamic teaching moment. Starbucks founder and CEO, Howard Schultz, cancelled his appearance at the Summit due to pressure from a gay advocacy group. I'm very impressed with Hybels' response.

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]]> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/1714843/Twitter_pic.jpg http://posterous.com/users/eiXj9A4jFJgBc Bryan Dunagan bhdunagan Bryan Dunagan Tue, 28 Jun 2011 14:17:02 -0700 A Dad's Life http://bryandunagan.com/a-dads-life http://bryandunagan.com/a-dads-life We launched our worship services last week with this video, and have gotten a ton of feedback. Thank you, Church on the Move, for your creativity!

Dad Life from Church on the Move on Vimeo.

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]]> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/1714843/Twitter_pic.jpg http://posterous.com/users/eiXj9A4jFJgBc Bryan Dunagan bhdunagan Bryan Dunagan Wed, 06 Apr 2011 19:41:50 -0700 Summer School http://bryandunagan.com/summer-school http://bryandunagan.com/summer-school I can't think of a better place to spend a few weeks this summer than the most beautiful city in North America. While most seminaries are quietly preparing for fall semester, Regent College lights up with the energy of hundreds of visitors coming from all over the world to experience a dynamic learning and worshipping community. Scroll down the list of classes, and you'll find some of the most inspiring professors and thinkers in the world converging for eight weeks together at Regent.

Summer School 2011 from Regent College on Vimeo.

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]]> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/1714843/Twitter_pic.jpg http://posterous.com/users/eiXj9A4jFJgBc Bryan Dunagan bhdunagan Bryan Dunagan Mon, 07 Mar 2011 14:26:02 -0800 Elderbrotherosity http://bryandunagan.com/elderbrotherosity http://bryandunagan.com/elderbrotherosity For the past few weeks, my church has been doing a series on the parable of the lost sons. It’s often referred to as the prodigal son story, but that misses the point. It’s really about two lost sons, and their prodigal father.
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The two resources that I relied on most heavily for this teaching series are Tim Keller’s “Prodigal God”, and Ken Bailey’s “The Cross and the Prodigal”. Keller’s book, in particular, opens up the significance of Jesus’ elder brother, especially for the contemporary evangelical church.   Here’s an excerpt from Keller’s chapter, ‘Redefining Sin’: “The elder brother is not losing the father’s love in spite of his goodness, but because of it. It is not his sins that create the barrier between him and his father, it’s the pride he has in his moral record; it’s not his wrongdoing but his righteousness that is keeping him from sharing in the feast of the father.”   I find that so true, in my life, and often in the church. It’s a funny thing, the word ‘elder in this parable, is the greek word ‘presbuteros’. Anybody know another word that comes from presbuteros? I’m not sure what to make of the fact that my denomination is named after the crotchety older brother. Maybe we need to spend a little less time focused on our moral record, and more time welcoming home wayward sinners, and sharing in the feast of our prodigal father.

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]]> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/1714843/Twitter_pic.jpg http://posterous.com/users/eiXj9A4jFJgBc Bryan Dunagan bhdunagan Bryan Dunagan Thu, 06 Jan 2011 14:43:28 -0800 New Year, New Pick Up Lines (for the Calvinist) http://bryandunagan.com/new-year-new-pick-up-lines-for-the-calvinist http://bryandunagan.com/new-year-new-pick-up-lines-for-the-calvinist

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]]> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/1714843/Twitter_pic.jpg http://posterous.com/users/eiXj9A4jFJgBc Bryan Dunagan bhdunagan Bryan Dunagan Wed, 29 Dec 2010 14:45:18 -0800 Worst Gift Ever http://bryandunagan.com/worst-gift-ever http://bryandunagan.com/worst-gift-ever

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]]> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/1714843/Twitter_pic.jpg http://posterous.com/users/eiXj9A4jFJgBc Bryan Dunagan bhdunagan Bryan Dunagan Wed, 24 Nov 2010 15:12:45 -0800 Storms http://bryandunagan.com/storms http://bryandunagan.com/storms

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A few years ago, over the holidays, my family went on a sailing trip off the Florida Keys.  On the second day of our journey, we sailed straight through the center of an unbelievable storm.  For three days we battled rolling waves and massive winds.  I went on a three day dramamine trip, and woke up in the Bahamas.  To this day, the song "I'm On A Boat" gives me traumatic flashbacks.

The holidays have a way of stirring up storms.  Whether it's overspending, overcommitting, or awkward family dynamics, this time of year tends to be the stormiest of all. Here are a few things I've learned about the storms: 1.  Storms reveal what we're made of...they have a way of peeling back the surface level stuff to show the character level qualities of our inner life. 2.  Storms reveal our gods. When life is disrupted and comfort is threatened, we tend to cling to what we depend on most.  What do you run to, and look to for meaning and comfort, when everything else is taken away? 3.  We think we need to be rescued from storms, but storms are often what rescue us (via Rob Bell).  They rescue us from our smallness, from a narrow, hollow, self-centered way of life.  Storms can awaken us to what God is doing in our pain, and enlarge our lives as we begin to participate in God's work of restoring and renewing people and communities. 4.  Sometimes the most courageous thing we can do is give thanks in the middle of a storm. It takes courage to remember and hold onto the goodness of God in hard times.  But this kind of gratitude is contagious, and has the power to encourage the people around us.

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]]> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/1714843/Twitter_pic.jpg http://posterous.com/users/eiXj9A4jFJgBc Bryan Dunagan bhdunagan Bryan Dunagan Fri, 01 Oct 2010 15:58:50 -0700 The Action Method http://bryandunagan.com/the-action-method http://bryandunagan.com/the-action-method
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How do you help people who live in the world of creativity and ideas move toward execution and action? That's the win that Scott Belsky and the people at Behance have set out to achieve. Their primary platform is called 'The Action Method', and I first came across this last month at a gathering of creatives and social entrepreneurs here in Atlanta. Since then, I've read the book which lays it all out - 'Making Ideas Happen', and started using the online version of the Action Method. After about a month using the Action Method, I'd say that my productivity, both at work in in my personal life has increased, and in particular my ability to follow through on the wide range of peripheral responsibilities that come with my job as a pastor.  The power of this methodology is its relentless commitment to action- everything revolves around Action Steps that need to be addressed by certain deadlines.  Plus, I've always been a to-do list maker, but the ability to consolidate all my tasks and notes on a platform that I can use on both my iPhone and laptop has helped me actually follow through on things that used to die on my to-do lists.

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]]> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/1714843/Twitter_pic.jpg http://posterous.com/users/eiXj9A4jFJgBc Bryan Dunagan bhdunagan Bryan Dunagan Mon, 30 Aug 2010 20:19:32 -0700 The Art of 'No' http://bryandunagan.com/the-art-of-no http://bryandunagan.com/the-art-of-no I am learning just how difficult it is to say 'no'. It's one of the hardest words for anyone in a helping profession.  Leaders in the church, in particular, are not often taught the art of 'no'. But our ability to master this word will determine the long term effectiveness and impact of our ministry.
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'No' requires courage, and it comes at a cost.  But the long term payoff will always trump the short term cost- what's at stake is protecting your family, and honoring your soul. The more I teach, the more I find that the art of 'no' is an essential discipline in the life of anyone who seeks to regularly communicate the Scriptures faithfully and effectively.  And considering that many pastors are generalists responsible for counseling, caring, leadership and management, it is critical that those who teach can create the margin necessary for creativity and study by saying 'no' to the urgent. In his book, "Making Ideas Happen" , Scott Belsky challenges anyone involved in creative pursuits that "it's only by saying no that you can concentrate on the things that are really important". Over time, cultivating the art of 'no' creates what Belsky calls the 'mental loyalty'  to address long term objectives.  For church communicators, the long term objective is life transformation.  It means saying no to the constant flow of urgent matters, so that  we can think long thoughts, roll up our sleeves, sweat over and wrestle through a message until we have a laser sharp focus on the one thing that God wants to communicate to His people. 'No', especially when it involves the real needs of broken people, is hard.  It will often be unpopular.  But when done for the sake of a larger goal, 'no' is always worth it.

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]]> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/1714843/Twitter_pic.jpg http://posterous.com/users/eiXj9A4jFJgBc Bryan Dunagan bhdunagan Bryan Dunagan Tue, 03 Aug 2010 21:29:17 -0700 Unsatisfied http://bryandunagan.com/unsatisfied http://bryandunagan.com/unsatisfied There’s a popular television show about the Advertising Industry on Madison Avenue in the early 1960s.  ‘Mad Men’ has become a kind of cultural phenomenon – something that Brooks Brothers, Banana Republic, and the New York Times all agree on. ‘Mad Men’ invites us into an industry whose goal is to convince all of us that we can’t be satisfied until we buy the next thing that they’re selling.  In fact, the entire show is built on this message, this idea that you are not satisfied with the life you’re living. Its characters are unsatisfied with their jobs, unsatisfied with their marriage, their kids, and their family history.  So they drink more, smoke more, work more, lust more, dress for more success, wear more makeup, make more money, anything they can do to fill that emptiness in their life.  Beneath the veneer of well-dressed success, attraction and power, beneath the plastic faces and half-drunk smiles, is a profoundly, sober commentary on the emptiness of more. Every day, in a thousand little ways, we are ambushed by this idea that we are not satisfied. Conventional wisdom is that we find contentment in our circumstances.   But what if contentment was not so much a result of circumstances, but a response to them?  What if contentment was a disciplined, learned response to the circumstances of life? That our contentment is no longer tied to how much we have, the awards we’ve racked up, a full bill of health, or a pain free life. What we’ll find is that we are no longer slaves to circumstance, but free to embrace the reality of God’s abiding presence, no matter what surrounds us. That is true contentment.

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]]> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/1714843/Twitter_pic.jpg http://posterous.com/users/eiXj9A4jFJgBc Bryan Dunagan bhdunagan Bryan Dunagan Wed, 31 Mar 2010 17:13:07 -0700 People of the Second Chance http://bryandunagan.com/people-of-the-second-chance http://bryandunagan.com/people-of-the-second-chance

WHAT IS PEOPLE OF THE SECOND CHANCE? from PEOPLE OF THE SECOND CHANCE on Vimeo.

People of the Second Chance is a movement started by Mike Foster and Jud Wilhite. I first met Mike on a vision trip with Hope International in the Dominican Republic. He leads an innovative non profit group called Ethur, and has generated some incredible culture-shaping initiatives like XXXchurch.com, and the Junky Car Club. This latest project is a way of celebrating the scandalous grace of God, and acknowledging, in the words of Warren Buffet, that "every saint has a past and every sinner has a future".

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]]> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/1714843/Twitter_pic.jpg http://posterous.com/users/eiXj9A4jFJgBc Bryan Dunagan bhdunagan Bryan Dunagan Fri, 26 Mar 2010 16:01:51 -0700 The Waiting Room http://bryandunagan.com/the-waiting-room http://bryandunagan.com/the-waiting-room I walked into a fluorescent lit waiting room, found a seat, and turned my attention to the television blasting late night reruns of Jerry Springer. There was no one else in the waiting room, so I waited alone. I was tired, it was too early, or too late, and the thought of pre-dawn swim practice before school made me nauseous. Tonight my mother’s migraine headaches were too painful to bear—a week long migraine was enough to drive anyone mad. So on this night she asked to be taken to the emergency room, as she did a few times a year. My step father was angry and resentful, he refused to take her. He stayed in bed, struggling to accept the suffering that has slowly become his bride after all these years. Mom woke me up, asked that I drive her to Methodist, and wait while the doctor injected enough Phenergan and Demerol to deaden the pain of three patients. There is irony in a hospital waiting room: the place where I go to find comfort seems only to evoke a sense of coldness and fear. Waiting rooms don’t listen. They don’t understand. They surround you and stare at you and give you all the space and quiet you need so you can think of every possible horrible thing that could happen down the hall, where the docs and nurses walk around with clipboards clicking their pens. In this room, fear grows wild, weakness is all too real, and sorrow squeezes out hope. Sometimes all I know is the fear of that waiting room.

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]]> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/1714843/Twitter_pic.jpg http://posterous.com/users/eiXj9A4jFJgBc Bryan Dunagan bhdunagan Bryan Dunagan Sun, 07 Mar 2010 22:36:53 -0800 Birthright http://bryandunagan.com/birthright http://bryandunagan.com/birthright This is an inspiring story of a man who's found something worth doing every day, no matter what it takes. A beautifully done short film.

BIRTHRIGHT from Sean Mullens on Vimeo.

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]]> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/1714843/Twitter_pic.jpg http://posterous.com/users/eiXj9A4jFJgBc Bryan Dunagan bhdunagan Bryan Dunagan Tue, 23 Feb 2010 15:23:52 -0800 Leading Up http://bryandunagan.com/leading-up http://bryandunagan.com/leading-up Whether it's in a corporate culture, or in the church, one of the greatest challenges for any leader in an organization is the art of leading up.  Here are 6 keys to leading up, adapted from John Maxwell's book, 360 Leadership. 1.  Get the big picture.  Don't get too comfortable with your silo or area of expertise. 2.  Build a relationship with your supervisor.  Find common ground, learn their language, and do it with integrity.  Remember - lead up, don't suck up. 3.  Be considerate of time. When you set up a meeting with a supervisor or boss, don't go in having no idea what you're going to talk about.  A helpful rule of thumb in preparing for a meeting with your boss - spend at least an equal amount of time in preparation as you do in conversation. 4.  Choose your battles carefully. Know where you want to risk your capital, and always sleep on it! 5.  Become a go-to player. Identify what asset or expertise you bring to the organization that no one else has.  As a corollary, be quick to identify the gifts of other people - pay it forward, and over time your strengths will be recognized as well. 6.  Never stop learning.  Immerse yourself in literature related to your field, because you never know when you'll be asked to strategic insight.  A helpful saying - "The only difference between who we are now and who we'll be in 5 years is the people we meet and the books we read."

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]]> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/1714843/Twitter_pic.jpg http://posterous.com/users/eiXj9A4jFJgBc Bryan Dunagan bhdunagan Bryan Dunagan Mon, 15 Feb 2010 09:16:09 -0800 Maverick's Big Wave http://bryandunagan.com/mavericks-big-wave http://bryandunagan.com/mavericks-big-wave
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A friend of mine took this picture on Saturday at Mavericks.  That people let a jet ski tow them into something so fierce is beyond my understanding.

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]]> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/1714843/Twitter_pic.jpg http://posterous.com/users/eiXj9A4jFJgBc Bryan Dunagan bhdunagan Bryan Dunagan