by Rhett Smith | Dec 15, 2009 | Leadership
Back in the early part of the fall I made a comment on Twitter about being exhausted from all the deep conversations I was involved in at a conference, and Adam McHugh wrote an @reply to me asking if I was an introvert. It was an interesting observation and comment,...
by Rhett Smith | Dec 2, 2009 | Marriage
At the Cultivate Conference in October I was really impressed with John Acuff’s thoughts on satire. He basically said (loosely paraphrased) that for him satire was blowing something up so big (larger than life), so that we can sort of step back and see ourselves...
by Rhett Smith | Nov 30, 2009 | Therapy Practice
[image by Ben Zvan] I’ve been thinking a lot about the topic of social media and the role of therapists (pastoral counselors) in the midst of it. There is a large percentage of therapists who thinks being online should be super limited, if online at all. And...
by Rhett Smith | Nov 23, 2009 | Therapy Practice
[image by dcfdelacruz] I made a comment on Twitter the other night that went something like this: Feel blog post coming on about how dangerous it is when pastors ignore serious mental health issues & blame it on spiritual problems And from that I received a lot of...
by Rhett Smith | Nov 12, 2009 | Parenting
[image by Jeremy] More and more recently I have been afforded some great opportunities to work with parents around the issue of their kids and technology. There have been some great conversations taking place in the context of therapy, church ministry and some...
by Rhett Smith | Oct 13, 2009 | Intentional Living
[image by Tamara Areshian] In my last post, When You Refuse To Take Care Of Yourself, You Are Refusing To Take Care Of Those Around You, I just briefly reflected on some comments by Rob Bell at the Catalyst Conference 2009 and how I felt they played into self-care....
by Rhett Smith | Sep 15, 2009 | Leadership
The Cultivate Conference in Chicago is getting closer every day. Two weeks ago I posted my interview with Carlos Whitaker [aka Ragamuffinsoul], and last week I posted my interview with Cynthia Ware of the Digital Sanctuary. Check it out. This week I’m talking...
by Rhett Smith | Sep 8, 2009 | Leadership
The Cultivate Conference in Chicago is only about 6 weeks away and I’m getting more and more excited everyday with the number of amazing people that are showing up to participate. Last week I posted my interview with Carlos Whitaker [aka Ragamuffinsoul], and he...
by Rhett Smith | Jul 29, 2009 | Leadership
Recently I have been very intrigued by the topic of burnout and depression in ministry, and I have been writing on the topic mainly because it seems to not only be so prevalent, but it’s rarely talked about. In fact, I would say that the symptoms (burnout...
by Rhett Smith | Jul 28, 2009 | Leadership
Yesterday I posted the first of two interviews I did with Anne Jackson back in January of 2009. Check out part of the interview below, and read the rest of it here. From your own perspective, what is at the root behind the stigma of counseling and therapy in the...
by Rhett Smith | Jul 26, 2009 | Leadership
A couple of different times this week people brought (thanks @justinwise and @witheringfig) this article to my attention, Can ‘Real’ Christians Be Depressed? And of course, I say EMPHATICALLY YES! (Plus, I’m not really sure what they mean by...
by Rhett Smith | Jul 25, 2009 | Leadership
Discernment As we talk and think about the issue of depression in ministry one of the most important factors that we have in helping us determine what exactly we are dealing with is discernment. the quality of being able to grasp and comprehend what is obscure...
by Rhett Smith | Jul 20, 2009 | Leadership
[image by Church Online] This week I have had the opportunity to share some thoughts around depression with LifeChurch.tv. You can watch the 4:34 minute video, An Anchor in the Journey-Exodus 17:1 as I talk about the importance of seeing our lives as a journey, and...
by Rhett Smith | Jul 14, 2009 | Technology
Before I continue on with my current series that I started here and here, I want to post an article I just wrote for Inspiren, which is the publication for the Christian Web Conference which I will be speaking at in September. I would love any feedback that you might...
by Rhett Smith | Jul 13, 2009 | Leadership
Today I drove the 3 hours from Dallas, TX to Edmonds, OK to film 4 video vignettes at LifeChurch.tv with the Online Church crew. The videos will most likely air sometime next week. But for now, here’s a little iPhone video Tony Steward shot with me.
by Rhett Smith | Jun 26, 2009 | Leadership
[image by jakeoneil] Last week I posted Exploring the Online Characteristics of Generation F/Y, and Their Implications-Part 1. This series was born out of my fascination with the great article, The Facebook Generation vs. the Fortune 500. And for the first post...
by Rhett Smith | Jun 24, 2009 | Faith
One of my favorite stories that Dr. Anderson used to tell his students (and is written in the book, Dancing with Wolves, While Feeding the Sheep), is the story that is told of the connection between his farming and ministry days. Ray wrote: “It happened only...
by Rhett Smith | Jun 19, 2009 | Leadership
[image by jblyberg] As I mentioned yesterday, I thought it might be a good idea to explore more thoroughly the “online characteristics” that come out of Gary Hamel’s article, The Facebook Generation vs. the Fortune 500. Now, anytime we try to...
by Rhett Smith | Jun 18, 2009 | Leadership
This world of social networking is a world of little to no hierarchy, and the leadership that exists is one that is centered within the groups in the online communities, and encourages a leadership style that is horizontally structured, striving to give equal voice to...
by Rhett Smith | Jun 16, 2009 | Technology
Great TED video interview with Clay Shirky at the TED@State event. Clay has been super influential in my thinking, especially after I read his book Here Comes Everybody last year. I highly, highly recommend this book. It is a must read for anyone in a leadership...
