Josh Hunt's blog

Do you know what a mystery shopper is? The idea is this. A retailer pays someone to shop. (My wife would love this job!) They shop and then report to management about their experience--how helpful and courteous the staff, how clean the restrooms, and so forth. Of course, at the time they are shopping, no one knows that they are actually an employee of the company. They pose as a regular shopper. It is a mystery who these people are. When Jim Henderson was a pastor he used to do this regularly as a means of improving his church. He wanted to get a feel for what it was like to visit his church, so he hired "mystery worshippers" to  visit and then report to him on their findings--how friendly the people are, how clean the rest rooms are, and what is an outsider's perspective on the music and preaching. Maybe you should do the same. Maybe you should hire people to come to your church and give you feedback on how you could improve.

My favorite magazine is called Outreach . Recently, they published their fourth annual Outreach Resource of the Year Award. This year's winner: Bill Hybels' book Just Walk Across the Room Why I love Bill Hybels I quote Bill Hybels occasionally and occasionally someone has come up to me afterwards and said, "I appreciated everything you had to say except one thing. You quoted Bill Hybels. I was a part of a church once and the pastor went to Willowcreek and came home and terrible things happened." I don't doubt that it is true. I just doubt that it is Bill Hybels's fault. I think it is a little unfair to blame Bill Hybels for every bad thing that someone who comes home from a Willowcreek conference does. But still, I am not a fan of Bill Hybels for the reasons most people are, or the reason you might think. I am not actually a big fan of the seeker service or the W

Skilled communicators know that telling stories is one of the most effective ways to communicate. Story telling is modeled for us by the Master-Teacher and is widely used by effective communicators. But, ever heard a story that didn't work? Ever heard a story that left you yawning and wondering when it would ever end? Ever heard a sermon and found yourself reading through the bulletin because you were not that engaged? Ever heard a lesson that found you continually checking your watch? (Is it stopped?) Ever hear a story that didn't work? What makes a story work? What makes a story fall flat? How can stories be used to communicate truth effectively? And, how can we keep stories from being boring? One of the best ways to answer this question is to look at movies. Movies tell a story. Good movies tell a story effectively. What does a good love story, a good action film, or a good comedy have in common with all other good love stories, a