Last month Greg Baty and I enrolled in a stand-up comedy class at the Lake Norman Comedy Zone. Over 6 weeks, we studied the craft of writing and delivering stand-up comedy. I’ll be honest, I’ve never been so nervous in my life. The pressure to be funny is crazy intense. (They wanted us to aim for 9 LPM or Laughs Per Minute…and that’s harder than you think)

I have to give props to our two instructors: Joel Pace, who books comics for the Comedy Zone franchise and Johnny Millwater a comedian with a genuine love for the art. (Johnny’s the real deal)

Last night I went to my first legit open mic night…and absolutely TANKED. So, I’m definitely not ready for that HBO special, but I’m improving. I’ll do better next time.

Here’s a bone they threw us one night at class:

TEN COMMANDMENTS OF COMEDY

1. Thou shalt not say “I’m not good at this” or “This is my first time”
2. Thou shalt sell the punchline (believe in your material and sell it)
3. Thou shalt dwell in brevity…GTTF (Get To The Funny)
4. Thou shalt put the punchline at the end of your sentence.
5. Thou shalt knowth thy audience.
6. Thou shalt only use an accent if you can nail it.
7. Thou shalt deliver your punchline clearly.
8. Thou shalt not laugh at your own joke.
9. Thou shalt not steal material
10. Thou shalt never cut off the laughter and applause
11. Thou shalt always record your act.

Me at the Comedy Class Graduation Night

The reality is that not every part-time employee dreams of a full-time job in your deal. Sometimes part-time employees actually love their part-time status. They enjoy getting out of the house, doing something significant and love the freedom of only working part-time.

Occasionally however, you’ll have a part-time employee who really wants to be promoted to full-time status within the ranks of your organization. To be honest, sometimes the part-time employee really needs the promotion and requires that the present gig evolve to meet their pressing financial demands.

This is a tricky one.

A couple of years ago, I decided to create a matrix of five simple questions by which I would evaluate every part-time employee seeking full-time status. Here’s how it works: if you can answer “yes” to all five questions, then it’s time to go full-time. Only one “no”…and you’ve got some work to do.

Whenever this question pops up in your organization, I recommend having a matrix meeting with your part-time employee to take him/her through this decision matrix; question by question. (it will help pin point areas for improvement or let you know it’s time to hire)

Enough build-up…here are those important five questions:

DAVE’S 5 QUESTIONS FOR PROMOTING: PART-TIME EMPLOYEE TO FULL-TIME STATUS

1. Are there currently resources available to promote the employee to Full-Time status? – Can the church actually afford to make this move? Even considering the additional costs of health insurance, benefits/allowances, Social Security, office space, computers, etc.

A follow-up question could also be: what could the employee do to help secure financial resource to be promoted? (dare I say the word…fund raise?) Keep in mind, hiring only occurs AFTER a predictable stream of funds have already been secured.

2. Has employee been able to successfully create and lead teams to accomplish the purpose of our organization? – In other words: “do I really want to super-size you?” Past performance is typically the best judge of future performance.  Full-time employees need to be leaders…not just doers. They multiply ministry. (if nothing is happening, do you really want to multiply nothing?) We need people with a proven track record of leadership. In addition it’s important to ask these questions: has this employee successfully created and led teams created for the purpose of making disciples? AND what life-change has occurred as a byproduct of these teams’ formation?

3. Will the increase in cost proportionately increase the overall effectiveness of the organization? – Does the organization get more by spending more? What exactly are we buying? You can’t make this call without doing quick cost vs. needs analysis.

4. Has the employee already made himself invaluable to the organization? – If the employee stopped working today, what would happen? Is this an employee that we simply cannot afford to lose?

5. Would the promotion be given to satisfy the immediate needs of the employee or the growing needs of the organization? – (Okay, so this isn’t a YES or NO question…get over it) As a pastor, you want your church to help everybody. On top of that, it’s easy to feel the pressing financial needs of your part-time employee. You’re a pastor after all.

As a leader, however, you must put the health of the organization first. Never jeopardize the long term well-being of the church for the immediate needs of one part-time employee.

I have. So, a couple of weeks ago, we decided to let a few of our members talk about the topic within the context of their own spiritual journey. Below is that video.

By the way, Jonathan Jackson’s mom died this past Friday. Please pray for his family. (He’s the first testimony in the video)

Wouldn’t it be great to be the one with the big idea for a change?

Maybe there’s another level of creative genius waiting to be discovered. Unfortunately, you’re the guy who has about as much creativity as a Treky tax accountant. (no offense to the tax accountants out there)

Maybe all you need is a few simple adjustment to your creative process. Maybe your best ideas are still trapped deep inside longing to be discovered.

Here are a couple of tips to help you expand your creative genius:

Aim for the bad idea
Let’s be honest, whenever you’re in brainstorming session, something cynical inside your head wants to Simon Cowell every idea before it comes out. (You don’t want to look stupid after all) The reality is too many brilliant ideas never make it to the white board; they’re aborted before they have the opportunity to breathe. So, let those bad ideas out!

Actually, you need as many bad ideas as possible. The bad always breeds the brilliant. So, get as many as you can, say them out loud, write them down and save the editing until later.

Keep in mind the best ideas sometimes start out looking pretty ugly at first. If you don’t kill it, you might be surprised to see that ugly duckling idea transform into something beautiful.

Make quantity your goal, not quality
Whenever you’re in a brainstorming session, set the timer and come up with as many ideas as possible. The goal is to have lots of ideas written down; good ideas, bad ideas, strange ideas…it doesn’t really matter. Just lots of ideas.

Make the box bigger
As much as we want our team to think outside of the box, for many it’s just impossible. So your job as the leader is to make the box as huge as possible. You can give people non-verbal permission to come up with the bad, by suggesting the ridiculous. For example, you could say something like, “What if we had 50 gerbils, 10 trampolines and a black light?” Stupid, huh? Well, you have just given your team permission to be stupid with their ideas. (and there is brilliance hidden in stupid)

Save the commentary
Editorial comments during a brainstorm session always hinder the creative process. Even comments like “great idea” or “I love that” dry up the creative juice. You see, those comments communicate to your team that, “I’m evaluating every idea right now.” When your team discovers it’s being evaluated, they’ll quickly slide out of creative mode and into editing mode. (and that’s a bad thing)

Let your team know what you’re doing
Start acting like a Pre-School teacher and begin clearly community with your team exactly what you’re doing…EVERY TIME. You are their tour-guide throughout the creative process. Don’t assume they know what to do.

You could say something like, “Okay guys, for the next 5 minutes we want to come up with as many bad, ridiculous and realistic ideas as possible on the topic of _________. The goal is quantity not quality. Here are the rules: 1)editorial comments during a brainstorm session will cost you a dollar, 2) you must say your ideas out loud 3)every idea must be written down on a post-it note (one idea per note). 4) stick your ideas on the wall after you’ve written them. Are you ready…go!”

Or, “We are editing ideas now. So constructive editorial comment are welcome. Negative comments cost a dollar.”

The best creativity occurs in an environment of true acceptance. Lead your team to produce lots of bad ideas, and with just a little practice you could become a creative Yoda. Who knows, maybe you’ll get lucky and be the guy with the big idea for a change.

I was shocked to discover that these snakes are common to the North Carolina region. So, it’s not uncommon to come across them every once in a while.

Just so you know, this post lovingly is dedicated to my snake fearing friend, Dr. Perkins.

Nothing’s free anymore? Well, here’s a extremely generous guy who decided to offer “free beats” to the entire city of New York. You know that this guy had to be completely exhausted at the end of this day of filming.

Anyway, enjoy!

I’ll admit, I’ve never surfed. But I do like the beach, so I guess I qualify to make the comparison.

Here’s what I’ve noticed: skilled surfers have developed the skill that enables them to surf longer and catch bigger waves than their novice counterpart. They have learned the art of identifying the big wave and catching it.  They don’t fight the small swells and don’t paddle feverishly when there is no wave. Instead, they wait patiently; conserving their energy for the epic whitecap.

That seems like a smart strategy to me, dude.

Traditionally, Sunday morning attendance becomes erratic at best each summer. It is the surfing equivalent of “mush.” We cannot create the waves, we simply ride them. God creates the waves.

When waves become tiny ripples, a pro-surfer knows to chill and wait.

This summer at Kinetic, we have chosen to follow that example and patiently wait for the heavy wave coming this fall. That’s why small groups have taken a break this summer. It’s why we have reduced Frontline Ministry to sodas and communion. It’s why student ministry is not meeting weekly. We are conserving our energy for the big wave.

The wave is coming and I want our leadership to be well rested so we can paddle hard this fall.

Take a second and watch this video and think about what it would take to produce it.

If you think you have it figured out, then I have a project for you.

Just let me know. I might pay well.

I wonder if your curiosity forced you to their website. Did it?

I love the post-it art genre and would like to give it a shot one day. Maybe  that’s why this video intrigued me.

Anyway, when I first saw this video, I thought somebody must have done some serious After Effects work then pawned it off as a stop-animation piece. But after watching the “making of” follow-up video, I realized that this was the real deal. It looks like somebody might have a little too much time on their hands.

Here’s the “making of” video that legitimizes the entire deal…impressive!

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Sometimes I struggle with being a mom. I have had to give up so much to take care of these four little children. I gave up my career as a teacher and coach. I gave up control of my body when I got pregnant…again and again and again. Most days I give up eating a peaceful meal at any of the three meal times. I have given up sleep, food (it gets nibbled right off my plate), money, peace of mind, time to myself, the hopes of ever having an hour to blow dry and straighten my hair without bloodshed, and the list goes on and on. Sometimes I feel like I have given up my very life for these kids! My whole entire life! Who I am, what I want, what I will be, all for these little ones growing in my home.

You know, believe it or not, I wouldn’t have it any other way. I love giving these things up for them (most of the time). Actually, in giving all these things up for my family, I have found my truest self. There will be other jobs in the future, but the most important one, the one that created my defining moment of self, was motherhood. My highest calling in life is to be a godly wife and mother who will raise up godly men and women for this next generation. This is my one job that I know is of an eternal nature. My sole prayer, above all others, is that my kids will love the Lord, their God, with all their heart, soul and strength. Nothing else really matters if they can do that. Nothing I have given up even comes close.

Sunday David started a new series called “Prodigal God.” His talk was about the parable of the prodigal son and what it meant exactly to have been the father of that son. I have heard that story many times growing up, but I never fully realized that when the son asked for his inheritance, the father gave him his “life.” It is interesting that Jesus used that word. In light of scripture it fits perfectly, but because my translation did not translate the word “life,” I never got the full understanding of what the father gave. That father gave up his land, his livelihood, his reputation, his future, his honor, his LIFE, to allow his son to exercise his freewill. I imagine the father did it willingly.

I am so grateful God does the same thing for us. He gives us his LIFE: His only begotten son, so that we might have eternal life through Christ (John 3:16). He allows us to choose, to have freewill, with the hopes that we too will realize we have it far better with Him, than anywhere we can go on our own. Thank you Lord, for giving your Life, your Son, for us!