Earlier this week, I received this email from a Good Shepherd friend: In our class on groups, we discussed mission statements. We discussed how some were too long, not memorable. I volunteered Good Shepherd's as an example of a memorable, concise mission statement...
Earlier this week, I ran into a guy at the Y who upon seeing me said brightly, "hi Talbot." Busted. Because while remembering something of his STORY, I didn't remember his name. Turns out it's Joe. The STORY I remembered about Joe is that he is a writer for a Muscle...
It's been just over two years ago when, in the euphoria of Roger Federer's sixth Australian Open and 20th grand slam overall, I wrote this piece that essentially declared the era of Djokovic & Nadal to be dead, gone, and buried. It might have been pretty good...
Yesterday's message ... Contrasted our needs and our wants; Reminded people that God defines love and not the reverse; Suggested that we don't have a "happy problem" or a "money problem" or a "potential" problem, but ultimately a "sin problem"; Landed at this bottom...
I'm a little embarrassed to admit it. This week's sermon is named after a Foreigner song. A bad one at that (though, c'mon, "good Foreigner song" is a bit of an oxymoron). "I Want To Know What Love Is." Bad song. Yet I think it's a good message. Because I John is...
This past weekend, over 200 Good Shepherd students and volunteers ventured to nearby Crowder's Ridge Camp for their annual Winter Retreat. The theme was "Called." One of the most significant moments of the weekend included a guided journey through the Prayer Chapel in...
Can I tell you about a sermon in which I recovered my voice? There was a season in the life of Good Shepherd, stretching from, say 2007 – 2010, in which I had learned the technique of a one point sermon. So that was progress. However, during that same time I had...
Last Tuesday, the book Simplify The Message; Multiply The Impact officially "dropped." Then this Tuesday -- otherwise known as today -- the website www.simplifythemessage.com goes "live." For the last several years, that space had been www.talbotdavis.com. But with...
Yesterday was a good day. First, Simplify The Message; Multiply The Impact had its official release. Second, I was able to celebrate that release by leading a Simplify The Message Workshop in Asheboro, North Carolina, for thirty-one United Methodist pastors eager to...
Today is the day. Simplify The Message; Multiply The Impact officially releases. Drops. Debuts. Sells. Whatever the verb, today is the day it goes official. I've had my "author copies" for a couple of weeks and this is the day for wider distribution. Here are five...