Issue No. 593 of Your Weekly Staff Meeting highlights a new book with, perhaps, the best subtitle of the year. And this reminder: read our new toe-tapping blog, Johnny Be Good, spotlighting 45 songs from yesteryear—with guest blogger Paul Palmer. Plus, click here to download free resources from the 20 management buckets (core competencies), and click here for almost 600 book reviews. Also, see last week's issue: read why our brains are hardwired for stories.
Dan Bolin shares “The Principle of Green-Grass” in his book, Jesus: Camp Director. I’ve always wanted to post this sign at camps and campuses: “Please walk ON the grass. We planted it for you!”
Me: “OK, now tell me about your high school and college summer jobs. Did you ever work at a camp?”
Job Applicant: “Yes. I served three summers at Camp Pine Tree as a counselor, an assistant chef, and as the program director. And—I met my spouse at camp!”
Me: “You’re hired!”
Welcome to the 2024 “camp issue” of Your Weekly Staff Meeting! My background is in Christian camping and (per above), whenever I was hiring in my association years, I always looked for applicants with camp experience. They're the best!
Urgent! Today is January 31 and now is the time you should:
• Register your kids or grandkids for a week of summer camp.
• Inspire your kids or grandkids to apply for a summer staff position at camp.
• Rouse your group out of the church basement and into God’s great outdoors for your next youth retreat, men’s get-away, or women’s retreat.
Dan Bolin, a former camp director (25 years at a Texas camp!), served 11 years as the international director of Christian Camping International. You’ll appreciate his new book—and it’s not just for camp and conference center leaders:
I had to chuckle at this creative title. (It will now show up in hundreds of sermons and talks!) And the chuckles continue in this book with 10 meaty principles—all applicable whether you’re orchestrating a camping program or organizing your next hoopla! event. I found this in Chapter 5, “The Principle of Chewable Bites.” Dan Bolin writes:
“While teaching a group of Christian camping leaders in Kenya, I asked the question, How do you eat an elephant? I expected the group to respond, One bite at a time! Instead, I saw blank stares and quizzical looks.
“After the seminar, a young man asked me, Why would anyone try to eat an elephant by themself? If you want to eat an elephant, you call the whole village!”
Bolin confesses, “My Western, individualistic approach told me to divide the task into bite-sized pieces, but to do the work myself. My African friend had a better idea, divide the work, and allow others to help accomplish the gigantic challenge.”
Throughout this book, Dan frequently and creatively returns to this stunning story when Jesus fed the 5,000. Now my confession: I’ve read these Scriptures hundreds of times—and highlighted this miracle in many talks. Yet! Bolin’s unique insights fleshed out nuances and truths that I had missed. I’m grateful!
Dan observes that one of the oldest maxims of Christian camping is “they will forgive you for bad theology, but never for bad food!” He adds, “People take their food seriously. They like to eat, and they need to eat, especially after a long hike into the countryside and a day-long seminar. Jesus provided his 5,000 unexpected campers with excellent theology, but now it was dinner time.”
And speaking of dinner time, this reminded me of the toe-tapping song, “Church,” by Lyle Lovett and His Large Band. Read the lyrics here and sing along: “And the moral of this story, Children, it is plain but true. God knows if a preacher preaches long enough, Even he'll get hungry too.”
Sing along to “Church” with Lyle Lovett and His Large Band (six toe-tapping minutes).
So what’s applicable for us? “Jesus didn’t begin to solve the problem by serving food, he started by organizing the hungry people. He didn’t begin by divvying the loaves and the fish, he began divvying the crowd.
“Any big challenge requires organizational management, and Jesus was a master of organization. He didn’t over-engineer his response, nor did he allow chaos to reign.” The disciples had a Plan A: send the people home! Jesus had a Plan B: The Principle of Chewable Bites.
You’ll love this book and Dan’s insights—written like he’s right there with Jesus!
• The complementary roles of churches and parachurch organizations. (This reminded me of Jerry White’s classic, The Church & the Parachurch: An Uneasy Marriage.)
• The discussion of the hierarchical versus the dynamic method of determining priorities. Bolin lists three elements—and three cheers for Dan! Few authors today understand the radical theology espoused in J. Grant Howard’s Balancing Life's Demands: A New Perspective on Priorities. (I included this contrarian classic as Book #45 of 100 in Mastering 100 Must-Read Books.)
• Have you ever heard of “The Principle of Green-Grass?” (Me neither!) I loved this chapter! Bolin shares what he learned from Peter Drucker and Bob Buford—and admits to a common error among ministry leaders: not understanding the economic realities of the people they serve. (Many at his camp “were in the top income category!”)
• Did you know that there are four distinct styles of camp programming? What style might fit your family members, church, or group? Read more in “The Principle of Strategic Programming.” Learn more about the “experiential education” style by reading my review of these three books, including Bolin’s 2021 book, Blueprints.
With a foreword by Ed McDowell, this book will lead you deeper into how Jesus leveraged the out-of-doors for Kingdom purposes—and why camps and conference centers are much more than just “church-in-the-woods.”
To order from Amazon, click on the title for Jesus: Camp Director—5,000 Campers, 12 Interns, 0 Kitchen Staff, by Dan Bolin.
YOUR WEEKLY STAFF MEETING QUESTIONS:
1) In Jesus: Camp Director, Dan Bolin includes discussion questions and personal reflection questions at the end of each chapter. In Chapter 1, “The Principle of Intentionality,” Bolin asks, “What dynamic priorities should you embrace? What things in your life should you abandon?” (Read: “Sloughing Off Yesterday” in the Results Bucket chapter (download here) of Mastering the Management Buckets. See also Necessary Endings, by Henry Cloud, my 2011 book-of-the-year.)
2) Dan Bolin is also the author of the chapter, “A Board Prayer,” in Lessons From the Nonprofit Boardroom: 40 Insights for Better Board Meetings (2nd Edition), by Dan Busby and John Pearson. Read the blog. Read the chapter. Order the book. If you serve on a board—what role does prayer have both inside and outside of your board meetings?
Mastering 100 Must-Read Books - Part 11: Hall of Fame Sports Stories
Book #63 of 100: Before and After Babe Ruth
For your team meeting this week, inspire a team member to lead your “10 Minutes for Lifelong Learning” session by spotlighting Book #63 in Mastering 100 Must-Read Books.
Before and After Babe Ruth:
A Story of the New York Yankees
Told Through the Lens of Tickets and Passes
by Dan Busby
Books #61 through #65 spotlight five stunning sports stories with leadership and management lessons. Dan Busby (1941-2022) had a fascinating avocation. He called himself a baseball “ticketologist” and the Baseball Hall of Fame often asked him to research baseball ticket topics. This book is beyond fascinating! I titled my review, “Management Through the Lens of Baseball.”
• Read my review.
• Order from Amazon: Before and After Babe Ruth
• Download the 100 Must-Read Books list (from John and Jason Pearson).
1 COOKIE OR 2? I was reminded of the “One cookie or two cookies?” marketing lesson I gave my son, Jason (at age four), when I read Busby’s account of Babe Ruth’s salary negotiating skills when he was still with the Boston Red Sox. “Before the 1919 season began, Ruth gave [Owner Harry] Frazee a choice of two proposals: one year at $15,000, or three years at $10,000 each. Frazee reluctantly accepted the latter.” (Yikes! Compare that with today’s baseball salaries!)
Dan Busby wrote a second baseball book (402 pages!), published in 2022, Before and After Jackie Robinson, A Story of the Brooklyn Dodgers Told Through the Lens of Tickets and Passes. (Read my review noting 10 leadership principles from the book.)
Song #4 of 45
"Please Mr. Postman"
We launched a new blog in 2024, “Johnny Be Good,” and we're recruiting guest bloggers to write about the "45 Iconic Hits That Changed Rock, R&B and Pop," from the book by Marc Myers, The Anatomy of a Song. Read Blog #4 of 45, “Please Mr. Postman,” sung by The Marvelettes. And thanks to PAUL PALMER, today’s guest blogger. Reminder: Guest bloggers invited! More info here.
The Suit-Hoodie Divide!
What's the big difference between Silicon Valley and Washington, D.C.? It's suits and hoodies and "D" words and "C" words. Yet, here's a hopeful book: Venture Meets Mission: Aligning People, Purpose, and Profit to Innovate and Transform Society. Read my review. And for more book reviews, visit the Pails in Comparison Blog.
PEARPOD | TELLING YOUR STORY. Imagine that 10 years after the miracle story of the feeding of the 5,000, you’re hearing about it from a disciple who was there! What a story! Now, 2,000 years later, a multitude of miracle stories abound! Do your stories pack a punch? Are they stunning or sleep-inducing? Need help? ? Contact Jason Pearson at Pearpod (Design, Digital, Marketing, Social). And check out our new company, FiveHive Studios.
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