Greg's shared items in Google Reader

Swingset Transportation Fail

2009-06-19T14:00:56Z

Picture by: jt. Submitted by: dunno source via Fail Uploader

Communicating Information vs. Building Community

2009-06-12T21:55:20Z

I’ve been going through several church clients communications and have noticed a trend: they tell info, but don’t add a lot of value. Even in a relatively small church, multiple ministries are all vying to get the attention of their volunteers and attenders. They all have something to say and, usually have a need which either requires volunteers to fill or people to attend. In both cases, it’s the church that’s trying to leverage communications to create an awareness and, usually, a call-to-action response. Whether it’s print, web, verbal, video or audio, there’s a question that needs to be asked before the communication is sent:

Do your church’s communications give info or build community?

Using the questions “Who?, What?, When?, Where?” we often cover the details sufficiently but sometimes fail to associate value with the information. Asking me to serve during an upcoming church festival? That’s OK. Telling me that by serving ,”x” people will be reached and/or briefly describe the expectations for my volunteer role? That’s much better!

When possible, we need to ask two more questions: “Why?” and “How?”

“Why is this important to our church?”

“How will this impact our community?”

We should be creating communication that is A) consistent between mediums; and B) is spread across mediums (verbal, print, web, email, Facebook, Twitter, video, mail, etc.) In doing so, we will help people remember to invite others and/or remember to serve. Beyond sharing the basic information, our church communications should create an opportunity for conversation. Instead of telling me about something, ask me to provide input or help spread the news. Instead of merely pushing information out, create ways and places for people to comment, add and share in the conversation. You’ve heard of that before: it’s called viral marketing.

Conversation leads to commitment; commitment leads to community.

When we share in a conversation, people buy in to the prospect of something that has value. When they’ve bought in, they’ve taken ownership, which is a commitment. That commitment will provide a chance for those invested to share in a goal, project, task, or need and serve in community together.

Here’s a test: Go look at a recent promotion or request that was sent by your church. Does it provide information or build community?

What were your results?

Going Global

2009-05-14T19:53:00Z

Mars Hill Church, (Mark Driscoll's church in Seattle) just released their Mars Hill Global site.

The purpose of this site to expand Mars Hill's reach to provide ministries and churches relevant and excellent content...it's all about resourcing Christ's church and giving it all away.

This trend, over the past couple of years, of churches willingly giving away their "intellectual property" is a wonderful example of a Kingdom mindset. This has been a great trend and has benefited not only the smaller churches who don't often have the resources to produce this kind of quality content...but it has also benefited greatly the churches who give it away.

Top Seven Reasons to Measure Results

2009-05-29T10:08:00Z

The need for measurements within any organization may seem obvious to many, however, more often than not, it's overlooked as being unnecessary by many leaders of churches.

Measurements of success, such as counting numbers and defining outcomes can be seen by some as being unspiritual...but I would argue that it is not!

Defining clear measurements and success criteria is being wise and actually will allow you to use the people, money and facilities God has given the church more effectively.

Let's look at the top 7 reasons why your organization needs to measure its results:

1. Measurement clarifies expectations.
2. Measurement increases objectivity.
3. Measurement focuses attention and allocation of resources.
4. Measurement promotes consistency.
5. Measurement facilitates feedback.
6. Measurement improves decision-making.
7. Measurement provides an opportunity to promote change.

Two Facts About Spiritual Warfare–Part Two

2009-06-10T11:22:05Z

Continuing from yesterday’s thought…

#2 - The Enemy Will Always Come After The Leaders Family

Once again, take a look at I Samuel 31:1-3…and notice that the enemy first killed Saul’s sons before they got to him!

DANG!

Church leader…here is a fact…the enemy IS coming after your marriage!

He wants you to take it for granted.
He wants you to believe that God will make up the difference if you will just keep on ignoring your family.
He wants you to have high expectation from them…but have them not expect anything from you.
He wants you be completely spiritual at the church…but never really mention Jesus at home.
He wants you to invest time in developing a great ministry…but invest ZERO time in establishing a great vision for your marriage.

AND…trust me…he WILL come after your spouse!

I can’t tell you the number of nights that Lucretia has had nighmares and cannot sleep. (Not to mention a variety of health issues she has dealt with in the past three years!) Your spouse is a target…and that is why we must LOVE THEM and LEAD THEM through this minefield! If we think our spouse is immune to this we are idiots! When we are married the two become one…period!

Question…what steps are you taking to SHOW your spouse that they are important to you…and you will do whatever it takes to love and protect them. (Date nights, back rubs with NO strings attached, conversations about what they are reading in Scripture, etc.)

AND…church leaders…the enemy is coming after your kids…

UNFORTUNATELY many pastors kids become “wild as hell” because he spends all of his time looking after every kid in the church except his own. (And when his kid does go crazy the church fires him because he is not leading his family well!!!)

My NUMBER ONE discipleship responsibility is Charisse! Yet the enemy will tempt me with…

You’re tired…you can play with her tomorrow.
Vacation time is coming, you can spend time with her then.
You don’t understand her now…but when she gets older you will.

I could go on and on…but the reality is that she is a target…and I MUST do all that I can to protect her…not only as her pastor but as her father.

She’s only one (two on the 27th)…but we pray together every night! We have a date every Saturday morning. We read the Bible together (her favorite story is Jonah). I sing to her every night (her favorite song is “Amazing Grace!”)

Pastors…we MUST take our children seriously…the enemy does!!! He IS coming after them…and so we must raise them to love Jesus and walk in victory…and then they can grow up and kick satan in the nuts…just like we did!!!

Ed Young: The Cussing Pastor

2009-06-03T16:41:56Z

Fellowship Church's Ed Young sparked a conversation about pastors using profanity in this video. Before you get completely shocked, his definition of profanity is pretty broad, including words like "crap," "screwed," "hell" and presumably milder but still scatological (bathroom humor) words like "stinks" and "poopyhead." Oh, and of course, "sucks."

Now we've explained why we use "sucks" before and I've even offered my own personal philosophy of profanity (emphasis on personal--that's my own opinion, not CFCC's). I'm not sure it's helpful for us to rehash that debate. You can watch Ed Young, read our take and decide for yourself.

What I do think is interesting is that Ed starts the video by accusing pastors who "swear" of doing it because they're "chasing cool." They're swearing in order to be cool or relevant or hip. I find that hard to believe. I think it's more likely that younger pastors are using what Ed considers profanity because for their younger generation it's no longer considered profanity. That's my two cents.

But what's really important is this accusation of chasing cool. It's somewhat ironic that the pastor behind a seven-day sex challenge where the congregation was encouraged to have sex every day for a week is accusing others of trying to be cool. The fact is, one person's cool is another person's relevant. One person's relevant is another person's reality. One person's reality is another person's damnation.

So what's my point? I think we need to be careful when we start challenging other church leaders to do it the way we do it. Ed Young may think "sucks" is a swear word and be offended I use it. But my grandmother would be offended by a seven-day sex challenge. Taking offense at another Christian's actions doesn't automatically mean they're in the wrong. It also doesn't mean everything is admissible (this isn't relativism 101). It's a tough line to walk.

Perhaps the church needs to be less judgmental of one another and get worked up over more important issues. Getting mad over "sucks" or a sermon on sex seems kind of silly.

And, hey Ed? Drive safe.

Ten Ways to Stay On Top Of Your Work

2009-05-05T10:50:00Z

Do you ever feel like you’re drowning in work? Your inbox is overflowing, you have to move two stacks of papers to get to your keyboard, you have a constant nagging feeling that you’ve forgotten about something vital, and that major project you want to start work on still remains a pipe dream.

Some people say they “work well under stress”, but most of us are happier, healthier and more productive when we feel that we’re on top of things. With that in mind, here are ten tips to help you stay on top of your work.

Don’t Take On Too Much
If you’re overworked, is it because you’re not very efficient and waste time (be honest) or is it because you simply have too much work?

All the time management tips in the world won’t give you more than twenty-four hours in a day. When you’re offered an exciting new project to be part of, when a colleague asks for a favor, or when you’re thinking about sticking up your hand and volunteering in a meeting ... stop and think about your other priorities. Remember that if your day is currently full and you take on new work, something else is going to have to go.

Minimize Meetings
Many time-management writers, from Tim Ferriss to Mark Forster, advocate avoiding meetings if at all possible. How often have you sat in a meeting, bored out of your skull, wishing you could be getting on with your actual work?

If you’re obliged to be in regular meetings, try cutting the frequency (perhaps a team meeting every fortnight, not every week, would be just as effective) or the duration (it’s surprising how much can be accomplished in half-an-hour).

If you can possibly avoid meetings, do. That goes doubly for meetings which are off-site – there’s a lot of wasted time involved in getting there and back.

Make A To-Do List The Day Before
If you normally work on whatever catches your attention, you’re working ineffectively, and you’re likely to end up feeling overwhelmed. Each evening before you stop work for the day, make a “to do” list for the following day. This should cover the crucial things that you want to get done. Make sure that at least one of them is advancing a long-term project.

The next morning, start on your to-do list before doing anything else (checking email, gossiping round the water cooler, making a round of coffee).

“Big Rocks First”
There’s an oft-cited time management adage “Big Rocks First”. The analogy goes like this: if you had to fill a jar with sand and rocks, it’s hard (almost impossible) to do it by pouring in the sand first then trying to fit in the rocks. But if you fit all the rocks first, the sand can simply flow into the gaps.

Fit your “big rocks” – the major things you want to work on – into your day first. All the little jobs like checking email, tidying your desk and making phone calls can fit into small time-gaps in between the bigger tasks.

Work In Timed Bursts
No one can sustain their concentration for hours at a time. And all of us find that we can speed up and focus well when it’s three thirty on Friday, or when we’re off on vacation for a fortnight. Take advantage of this effect by working in timed bursts: for example, work on that big report that’s been hanging over you for thirty solid minutes (no checking emails, Twitter, Facebook...) You’ll be surprised how much you can get done in a short space of time.

It’s often useful to use this to do “big rocks” and then to relax your attention by attending to the “sand” tasks like answering emails.

Develop Good Systems
We often work inefficiently because we just haven’t taken the time to develop a good system for something. If a particular aspect of your job is always causing you headaches, chances are that you need to fix the system you use for dealing with it. (In many cases, this means consciously implementing a system!)

For example, if you find that you’re always forgetting to follow up on action points for meetings, develop a framework to help you do this. That might mean that you schedule yourself fifteen minutes after the meeting to go through your notes and put your action points onto your to-do list.

Limit Email Checking
Most of us spend far too much time on email – some companies have even started introducing “no email days”, where workers are encouraged to phone or talk face-to-face rather than use emails. Reading and replying to emails can often be a distraction from getting on with more important work.

Try “batching” your emails: instead of replying as soon as one arrives, set certain times of day (ideally, not before 10am) when you’ll read and reply to all your emails.

Set Your Own Deadlines
Wouldn’t it be nice if you could set your own deadlines? Well, you can, of course: just make your deadline before the one that management (or your client) has given you.

If you aim to get each project finished a few days in advance of the “real” deadline, you’ll feel considerably less stressed (you’re working to your own time, not to someone else’s) and you’ll also be able to cope with any genuine emergencies that crop up, without blowing the deadline.

Delegate
One great way to stay on top of your work is to pass on low-level tasks to someone else. If you’re in management, you’re wasting your time and your company’s time when you perform tasks that a junior colleague could have carried out.

(If, like many people, you’re not confident about delegating work, read Accomplish More Each Day: Four Steps To Easy Delegation)

If you’re self-employed, can you pay someone else to do tasks for you? For example, you might find a student willing to do some administrative tasks, and you could pay an accountant to help with your taxes.

Ask For Less
Depending on your job, you might be unable to delegate anything – in fact, you may be overwhelmed with other people delegating work to you!

If this is the problem, don’t be afraid to say that you're being given too much to do. Your line manager may not realise that you’re feeling swamped. Don’t moan about having too much work, but mention your concerns that some aspects of your work aren’t getting done (or are being rushed) because you have too much else on.

How do you stay on top of your work? Share your tips and ideas in the comments!

Written on 5/05/2009 by Ali Hale. Ali is a professional writer and blogger, and a part-time postgraduate student of creative writing. If you need a hand with any sort of written project, drop her a line (ali@aliventures.com) or check out her website at Aliventures.

Photo Credit: emborg

Tags: tim ferriss, mark forster, twenty four hours, management writers, time management tips

Hiring The Right Kind Of People

2009-05-28T14:14:30Z

Hire the wrong people and your church will pay for it in numerous ways for longer than you’d expect. Hire the right people and you’ll reap the rewards for years.

A common mistake we can make when hiring is paying too much attention to the job description and not enough attention to the kind of person we’re looking for. If you want to hire the right person, you have to know the kind of person you’re looking for.

The NY Times recently interviewed Jim Collins. As I read the article, the attention he puts into the kind of people he hires for his research team caught my attention:

He prefers to learn as much as he can about them before he meets them. “Because if I meet them, I may like them, and then all the assessment of the person is going to be filtered by the fact that I like them, and what I really want to see is the quality of their work,” he says.

If they clear other hurdles, he will finally meet them in person. He’s looking for four intangibles: smart, curious, willing to death-march (“there has to be something in their background that indicates that they just will die before they would fail to complete something to perfection”) and some spark of irreverence (“because it’s in that fertile conversation of disagreement where the best ideas come, or at least the best ideas get tested”).

We know the kind of person we’re looking for here at Browns Bridge and at the other two campuses (North Point and Buckhead) and North Point Ministries. The job descriptions and job details may be different, but we’re looking for a certain kind of person to work here:

high capacity
value add
self directed

When you know the kind of person you’re looking for, it’s easier to spot them. And it’s easier to know when you have not found them.

If you’re interested in more on hiring, I wrote 1, 2, 3 other posts about hiring around the end of last year. And I’m pretty sure we will be spending some time at Drive 2010 in the Admin breakouts talking about hiring and “freeing” staff. Go register now!

Posted in Church, Leadership, Staff, Systems

Tribes: We Need You to Lead Us

2009-05-28T16:20:05Z

by Phil Prior, Guest Blogger

Maybe Tribes is the book that all of us involved in church marketing have been looking for, the book that acknowledges that we are trying to do more than just find people to keep the pews warm or the collection plates full. We want everyone to know about us, but more than that, we want everyone to know God.

Widely acclaimed marketing guru Seth Godin has written a manifesto for those people who are born to do more than influence. Tribes is a book for anyone who just has to lead.

According to Godin, tribes form around leaders, and the tribes that he’s most interested in are those that are on the move--those groups of people who are playing a part, forming a movement, going somewhere with purpose and desire to create change.

You could be the guy who has been put in charge of the woefully underfunded church web site that needs a major redesign if anyone is going to look at it again. Or you could be the girl who works with the youth group who is tolerated rather than loved, but you know that there’s a brilliant group just waiting to bust out and take your community by storm. Well, this book is for you. “Leadership is a choice,” Godin writes. “It’s the choice to not do nothing. Lean in, back off, but don’t do nothing.”

You don’t have to wait to be appointed to a position of authority to start making a change or starting a movement. Chances are, by the time you have that position of authority you’ve probably lost the energy or desire to make a difference. Instead, this is for those people, whatever their position, who just know that things need to change. For those who cannot put up with one more notice sheet with the pastor’s message on the front page because it’s the most boring 200 words ever written; or for those with the knowledge that at some point, someone, has to start working with the homeless guys who sleep outside the front door of the church every night.

Of course there are people who aren’t going to like change. Change is difficult, change hurts and it will probably hurt the leaders of these tribes more than most. Marketers have been aware of this for years and Godin reminds us of the marketers' mantra, “Change isn’t made by asking permission. Change is made by asking forgiveness, later.” But, let’s face it, if you’re really up for leading a tribe, you’re probably happier with the idea of failure than the idea of doing nothing.

Godin acknowledges that the real leaders won’t be put off by the idea of failure. True leaders, when their time has come and they just have to make the change, will step up to the plate and do everything they can to make a difference, “I think we have an obligation to change the rules,” he writes, “to raise the bar, to play a different game, and to play it better than anyone has any right to believe is possible.”

So if your idea of church marketing is to make a real difference to your church community, then this is the book for you. OK, it’s not going to tell you how to get your church to see things from an outsider's perspective or the details of how to run an effective advertising campaign, but it may just be the encouragement you need to take the lead on some of these things yourself.

So here’s my recommendation. Buy the book, read the book, read it again and maybe again, but don’t stop there. Call your friends, talk to people who can help you, work out where your gifts are--whether it's design, communication, copywriting, etc.--and start to lead your tribe forward in this area.

Church Copycats

2009-05-13T17:34:42Z

Recently, I came across Godwitter.com via the xpirimental blog. My palms became sweaty, my heart sped up, my stomach twisted and my mind went back to the service formerly known as GodTube.

Then I thought of the 68 threads with "copyright" in their title in the Church Marketing Lab. Next was the 44% of churches who don't give a rip about copyright. After that, the proliferation of iGod series, Survivor retreats and logo ripoffs. Lastly was Joshua Blankenship's post from a few years ago with a hefty focus on creativity.

We do this under the guise of "redeeming our culture" or "being relevant." And I have nothing wrong with either of those things. But seriously, a Christian version of Twitter? 28.3 million search results for Christian social network?

We are the jealous friend. We see something that seems cool, and we have to have it. But rather than take the unthinkable risk of corruption or dirtying ourselves with those less holy than ourselves, we created a walled garden. In this walled garden, we can have all the "good stuff" of the world, but we can pretend the rest of the world doesn't exist.

And the cost is high. This isn't just about not being creative or about not reaching our full potential. Our copycat actions are both a failure to realize our full potential and an affront to those we are trying to reach.

People who live outside of the Christian bubble roll their eyes. You lose them forever. They see you as demeaning something they value, and they think less of you for it. You trade the entire mission of God for the comfort of a walled garden, and you chose your Christian social network over actually networking with non-Christians. It doesn't go unnoticed.

Your marketing is screaming, "I don't care about you or your things. I mock them."

So let's rename our GodPod series, turn off our GodTubes, shut down our Godwitters, log out of GodSpace, delete our Gracebook accounts and show the entire world that we care about them more than us.

Twitter101: What Are Hashtags All About?

2009-04-28T06:28:55Z

You finally jumped into the Twittersphere. Well, maybe "jumped" is a bit generous. Most likely you were hounded into it by a zealous friend or staffer. The pressure was on and you reluctantly caved. So now what?

You successfully loaded up a semi-presentable photo of yourself to your Twitter profile, added a few followers and even successfully updated your status into the glaring white space of the "What Are You Doing?" box.

Then you scan the updates of those folks you've deemed worthy of following.

"I ate a bagel" declares a tweet from a friend across the country. "Thank you for sharing" you think to yourself, questioning why again you're doing this.

Then you see what looks like a typo. Someone sends an update that contains the tic-tac-toe board of confusion. The pound sign. A hashtag.

What is it? And why do folks use it?

Simply put, a hashtag is a way to classify your tweet so that others who may be interested in that same topic can search for tweets relating to that topic. In the example above, the recent conference Catalyst West had a hashtag of #catwest. Anyone attending the conference or following the events via tweets can search on that hashtag and all the tweets related to that topic show up in a search.

Say you wanted to follow the tweets for an event. Where do you go to follow the conversations?

One place to search for a topic such as this conference called #catwest is at Twitter Search. You simply put in the hashtag you're looking for and up pops up the stream of tweets relating to that.

When searching for a hashtag, here are the most common questions I hear:

Who assigns the hashtag for an event or topic?

As far as this author knows, there is no "official" hashtag assigner. What I've observed is that if it is your event, you can make one up. Typically they are short because tweets have only 140 characters and real estate is precious. If you attend an event and no one has created one, you can just start using a hashtag of your making and hope it catches on.

But what if I don't know the official hashtag?

Because Twitter is still the wild west, there is no official naming convention that would make it easy to guess at a hashtag. If the event producer is Twitter-savvy, they will announce on their conference site what the "official hashtag" to follow is. If not, you guess.

That is until last week, when a new site called Twubs was launched. It says "Hashtags Made Useful" and I must say, I liked using it because of the imprecision of hashtag assignments.

Using the example above for Catalyst West, some may use #catwest while others search #catalystwest and still others #catalystwest09. The beauty of Twubs, I found, was that if I searched for my lame guess, it still brought up the others (along the right side of the screen) under Related Twubs.

I also found it handy to have the pictures for that same event brought together, regardless of who posted them. Many folks could upload photos and as long as they contained the hashtag for that event, they were included.

But hashtags aren't only for events. They can surround topics as broad as current events or as specific as #stumin (student ministries) or #kidmin (children's ministry). The power of Twitter to bring together God-followers across the country is amazing. A new site called Twibes tries to bring together all the many categories of hashtags out there.

So there you have it. More that you ever wanted to know about Hashtags.

Now that you know a little more than when you started, how about checking out some of these sites and playing around with the little pound signs yourself.

You may surprise yourself at who you connect with.

Create your Google Profile

2009-05-06T19:39:00Z

Posted by Peter Chane, Product Manager

We recently announced that Google profile results now appear at the bottom of U.S. name-query search pages. Creating a profile gives you greater control over what people find when they search for your name on Google. Your profile can include online photos, links to your blog or other online profiles, and ways for people to contact you -- and you can restrict contact information like your address and phone number to only the people and groups you choose.

When creating a profile, you have the option to use your Gmail username as a your profile URL (profiles.google.com/yourusername), so it's easier to remember and share. Some examples:
http://profiles.google.com/mattcutts
http://profiles.google.com/felicia.day

If you want people to be able to contact you, but don't want to reveal your email address to the world, you can hide your username and use a 24 digit number instead. Turn on the 'Send a message' feature, and anyone with a Google Account can send you a message through your profile, without having your email address revealed to them.

Don't have a profile? Go to www.google.com/profiles to get started.

My Google Profile

2009-05-14T15:30:06Z

Check out my new Google profile.

The New Traditional Church: Music

2009-05-07T02:51:36Z

A couple of months ago, I wrote about “The New Traditional Church.” That particular post focused on the discipleship strategy. I thought I’d pick up where I left off and share a few more characteristics of the new traditional church. Today, I’m going to focus on music.

Remember the days when the only worship music was hymns? We were stuck there because that was clearly the “sacred” style of worship music. Then the 80s hit and Willow Creek made it possible for us to use current music styles in worship services to connect with the unchurched.

Only it’s as if we got stuck in the 80s. While the church still leans on a mix of rock and pop music as the preferred worship genre, our culture has shifted once again. Now, according to iTunes, 1 in 3 of the top 100 songs in the country is either hip-hop/rap or R&B/soul. My guess, though, is that you can’t name a church in the country that’s using these genres of music for worship. Why is that?

Now, before you let your “it’s-not-our-culture” bias set in, consider this. Most of the hip-hop and R&B music has been recorded by black artists. 14% of the U.S. population is black. But, remember, nearly one-third of the music purchased on iTunes is one of these two genres. You do the math. White people like hip-hop.

What’s amazing, though, is that exactly 0% of the churches that responded to this survey indicated that they’re using hip-hop music in their worship services. I’m guessing there are several reasons for this:

The people making decisions about music choices in services don’t prefer this style of music. And, don’t we all know, preferences drive decisions in churches.
Churches are not hiring worship leaders (or raising up volunteers) who can authentically lead worship with these genres of music.
Christian artists aren’t recording music that reflects what our culture is listening to.
Churches don’t know the culture they’re trying to reach. If a third of the country is buying hip-hop or R&B music, you’d think at least one church would be trying to use that style of music to reach those people for Jesus.

Aside from all of that, I think the number one reason why rock and pop is the predominant genre of music in churches is this: our worship music has become the new “hymns” of the new traditional church. In other words, we grew up listening to that kind of worship music. Frankly, we’d rather play our “hymns” in our services than consider what style of music might more effectively connect with people who need Jesus.

So, the bottom line is this. Playing hip-hop or R&B music in our services would make us uncomfortable, and that’s another reason why we are “the new traditional church.”

Brand-building Foundations: Ministry Vision is Much More Than a Statement (Part 1)

2009-04-29T01:13:46Z

As a huge proponent of ministries paying the price to develop a vision statement, it may seem a bit odd that I would write about this. But, it’s been my observation that long is the line of ministries and churches that have great (or at least usable) vision statements, but short is the line of those who actually have vision. This highlights a significant distinction.

God-birthed and Spirit-led vision is contagious and inspiring. It can’t be manufactured or whipped up. It’s an intangible vibe that transcends age, gender, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, or any other demographic detail you can conjure. It inspires all who are touched by it’s mystical aura. Vision statements, however, can be rather dull and lifeless.

The kind of vision I’m speaking of arrests the hearts of people and propels ministries and churches forward. It empowers people and motivates them to perk up, join up and step up. True vision enables ministries to quantum leap in their purpose and effectiveness.

In today’s culture when the church is struggling to keep members engaged, IMO, we need more focus on an authentic vision with less attention on developing well-written vision statements. Vision statements should follow vision, not vice versa.

To be sure, I am not advocating that we neglect to develop good vision statements, but rather, that we get serious about our vision being aligned with His vision. When we do that, everything else will fall into place and take care of itself.

This kind of vision—the kind that truly inspires others—is the essence of great leadership.

A few suggestions:

Distinguish between vision and vision statements.
Through prayer, scripture, discernment and wise counsel, ensure that your vision is God-birthed and Spirit-led.
Identify visionary leaders and learn from them.
Realize that no matter how large your vision, it is still puny compared to the greatness of God.
Communicate your vision (notice I didn’t say vision statement) in inspiring and authentic ways.
Communicate your vision through every medium available to you.
Lead bodaciously. Your vision vibe will be contagious and permeate everything.

YouVersion 2.0!

2009-04-24T22:46:36Z

After much anticipation YouVersion 2.0 has launched! Here’s a look at what’s new, as well as some things to look forward to in the coming months:

A new design: We have given YouVersion a facelift, making the Bible reader the first place you land. Anyone can browse Scripture immediately upon hitting the site, giving people direct access to the Bible with fewer clicks.
Widgetized: The right window pane now contains contribution, daily reading, and journal widgets that can be organized within the pane. See what you want, where you want it!
Tag, Bookmark, and Link: Now found in one area above the widgets, this new location gives you the ability to organize your thoughts and readings without ever having to leave the Bible Reader.
Parallel Readers: Want to see the what two different versions have to say about Matthew 5-7? Now you can compare NIV and The Message without having to grab two different Bibles. It can also be used to read two different languages - read in English on one side and Korean on the other. Or if you want to read the Sermon on the Mount in Mark and Matthew, you can un-sync the parallel readers and browse separately. [keyboard shortcut = control + option + p]
My Page: Take a look at the contributions of those you are following, and see your likes, bookmarks, contributions, and journal entries.
Community Page: A global view of YouVersion user activity, the community page is your place to engage with the YouVersion community. See what people are contributing, liking, and tagging!
Mobile Pages: Access the mobile apps (iPhone, BlackBerry and other mobile devices) through these specific mobile pages. Download instructions and compatibility specifics are found within these pages.

They say seven is a symbolic number… so we’ll stop there, but be on the lookout for much more to come as we turn our attention to mobile, tying in user interaction from mobile to web to give you seamless integration from your mobile device to your home computer or laptop. Also look for an updated <a href=”http://m.youversion.com”>m.youversion.com</a> in the coming weeks, with the ability to log-in and add journal entries from your phone.

We’re excited to get this update out the door and in your hands! It’s been an exciting few months here at LifeChurch.tv as we’ve spent many hours designing, tweaking and developing this release. YouVersion first launched in September 2007, promoting online Scripture engagement through a community of dedicated users. Our desire was to make the Bible accessible and spur users to engage with Scripture through their contributions of text, links, photos and videos. With the addition of the iPhone Bible app in July 2008 and the Blackberry app in October, it has become evident that YouVersion was experiencing momentum and plans to enhance YouVersion began to fall into place.

We want to take a moment and give praise to God for the awesome opportunity He has given us to further Biblical interaction using the Web! We also want to thank you for the valuable contributions you have made (and will continue to make) to YouVersion. With every contribution, you show that engagement with Scripture is valuable to your spiritual journey!

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Religion Has Become an Ugly Thing

2009-03-19T14:48:12Z

I just read an article (forwarded to me from Philip Shoffner) about a new study by the researchers at Trinity College of Hartford, Conn. The poll of over 54,000 American adults found the number of people who call themselves Christian is down 10 percentage points since 1990.

The article by Leonard Pitts of the Miami Herald was fascinating. You should read it in whole. Here is an excerpt…

Religion has become an ugly thing.

People of faith usually respond to that ugliness -- by which I mean a seemingly endless cycle of scandal, controversy, hypocrisy, violence and TV preachers saying idiot things -- in one of two ways. Either they defend it (making them part of the problem), or they regard it as a series of isolated, albeit unfortunate, episodes. But irreligious people do neither.

And people of faith should ask themselves: What is the cumulative effect upon outside observers of Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker living like lords on the largess of the poor, multiplied by Jimmy Swaggart's pornography addiction, plus Eric Rudolph bombing Olympians and gays in the name of God, plus Muslims hijacking airplanes in the name of God, multiplied by the church that kicked out some members because they voted Democrat, divided by people caterwauling on courthouse steps as a rock bearing the Ten Commandments was removed, multiplied by the square root of Catholic priests preying on little boys while the church looked on and did nothing, multiplied by Muslims rioting over cartoons, plus the ongoing demonization of gay men and lesbians, divided by all those ''traditional values'' coalitions and ''family values'' councils that try to bully public schools into becoming worship houses, with morning prayers and science lessons from the book of Genesis? Then subtract selflessness, service, sacrifice, holiness and hope.

Do the math, and I bet you'll draw the same conclusion the researchers did.

Where does the author have it right?

Are We Fashioning a Golden Calf to Give the People What They Want?

2009-03-04T23:02:51Z

In response to our Sex for Sale series, Aaron commented...

"The Church is called to preach Christ and Him crucified for YOU. A topic on sex is nothing but a marketing scheme or gimmick to attract a crowd. If the forgiveness of sins is not preached, then the Church is preaching "another" Gospel, that is, a counterfeit Gospel. I'm convinced that Granger is fashioning a golden calf to give the people what they want instead of what they need. We sinners need Christ and Him crucified. If Christ isn't preached, then all of the pastors' work at Granger is worthless."

I replied...

"Preaching the forgiveness of sins to an empty auditorium isn't nearly as effective as to a room full of people. If we were talking about a poor village in India, you wouldn't go in and stand on a stump and 'preach Christ and Him crucified.' Why? They wouldn't hear you. They are hungry. They need medical attention. They need clean water. You would show them the love of Jesus by meeting their physical needs first. Then they would be open to your preaching, to this God of love you talk about.

"It is the same in our culture. We earn the right to be heard by helping people with their needs. They need help with their marriage, or their kids, or their money, or yes, even their sex life. The Bible says so much about all those areas. Once we help them with their felt needs--we have captured their attention and can 'preach Christ and Him crucified'."

What are your thoughts?

Imagine Fellowship Gets Mashable Love For Their Twitter Use

2009-02-23T03:50:10Z

What a nice deal. Imagine Fellowship, who’s been using Twitter as an integral part of their strategy for both during Sunday Worship and during the week, got a nice plug from Mashable in regards to their Twitter use.

Hope it builds them up big time!

Spending a few minutes on their site was encouraging though, and I’d recommend you check what they are doing and how they are using Twitter:

A Twitter projector displays the texts of anyone who is signed up for Twitter. It allows our service to be as interactive as it gets.
We live tweet our service every week for people who follow Imagine on Twitter but can’t make it to service. The live tweet gives a detailed “play by play” of everything that happens during service.
A verse of the day is sent everyday from our pastor through @imaginechurch
Twitter Bible Studies take place every so often and allows real time input from anyone following the Bible study.
Imagine sends out the latest news and upcoming events through @ifannouncer.
Imagine was recently recognized by Outreach Magazine for the way we us Twitter during service and to connect people. Imagine Fellowship has also been recognized by the San Antonio Express News and KLOVE radio for the innovative ways we use Twitter.

Has your church and/or ministry gone this far in regards to Twitter usage? What’s stopping you?

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Are we married to the mission or the methods?

2009-01-30T15:50:38Z

We operate in denominations and congregations, while the rest of the world is open source.

We listen to worship music, while the rest of the world listens to hip hop and pop.

We talk about history, while the rest of the world talks about reality.

We are local, while the rest of the world is global.

We need the church to connect us in groups, while the rest of the world finds their own friends.

We share our message at specified times on Sunday morning, while the rest of the world uses video on demand.

We use bulletins, while the rest of the world is on Facebook.

We are concerned about the structure and the rules, while the rest of the world is focused on the content.

We create everything, while the rest of the world lets everyone create.

We are centralized, while the rest of the world is organic.

We think the web is for sharing information, while the rest of the world thinks it’s for community.

We send direct mail, while the rest of the world is using text messages.

What do you think? Are we married to the mission or the methods?

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