The News Today

Pretty much sums up the day's news.

(thanks to Hugh at GapingVoid)

What does the iPhone really cost?

Apple Matter says that the total cost of owning an iPhone will be about $3,000 over the next two years.

I can't get over a couple things when it comes to the iPhone.
1. The price is crazy high
2. The network is crazy slow compared to Sprint.
3. The fact that they don't subsidize the phone, but still will charge $150 or $200 to cancel your two year contract.

Link

How Nerdy are You?

Marko scored an 11.

Just a thought

The difference between a man's wallet and a boy's wallet is the number of receipts.

Cell Phone on our Mind- and church planting

The next 2-4 weeks will provide a fish bowl for us all to observe and learn something that only happens every few years.

The iPhone buzz apple is creating will benefit all cell phone companies. Big time. The iPhone has put cell phones in the minds of people. Many will not buy an iPhone, but a lot will buy a blackberry, a treo, or another new cell phone.

iPhone means business for everyone in the cell phone business, because people are thinking about cell phones. They've had a date in the mind.

June 29th.

Some are on the fence about a first generation phone.
Some are on the fence about an Apple phone.
Some are on the fence about AT&T/Cingular.
Some are on the fence about the price.

There are a lot of people on the fence and they are waiting.

They are waiting to see if people like their iPhone.
How the battery life is.
Some will want to touch and use one before buying.

Other will not buy an iPhone, but they will buy a cell phone.
The iPhone is an opportunity for all cell phone companies. I'm not sure all the cell companies are ready. If you are Sprint, June 29th, you should double your staff. Be ready, because they will be coming.

This happened 10 years ago when Krispy Kreme came to Tulsa. Opening week, you couldn't find a donut in any store anywhere in tulsa. People had donuts on their mind.

There is a similar phenomenon that occurs with church planting. New churches create energy and they get people thinking about church who haven't been in a long time or ever.

They might attend the new church, but land somewhere else.

This is why most churches should embrace church planting in their communities and not see them as competition. Church plants get people thinking about being a part of a church and it's an opportunity for every church in the area. Sadly, few churches are ready.

Router battles

I'm battling my router. right now it's working.
in a moment... i don't know.

YouVersion - My thoughts

Here's a few thoughts on the new YouVersion of the Bible.

I really don't like the name. I think this will be a hang up for anyone who is a church leader who thinks the world and the church is already self-centered enough. The name may lead them toward the worst case scenarios of what a Bible like this could be.


I really like the potential something like this has for good.
I consider myself to be a technorealist and understand that technology is not neutral. Each new technology brings within it the potential for good and bad. It generally delivers both.

First the Good I think it will bring: I will do what Bobby mentions in his blog post. It will bring a personal narrative to the scripture that has immense potential. Though it will likely draw criticism from those even outside the church as more people suggest their wild interpretations of various texts.

I think more importantly it will give people an opportunity to level the playing field a bit for armchair theologians to engage with experts on what God is telling us. This then provides a platform by which folks from various walks of life can converge to discuss theology.

The Bad: Scripture was written in a particular context with a particular intent. YouVersion will further contribute to the problem of making scripture say what I want it to say to me, because God spoke to me in this verse and told me he wanted to give me a big hug. Frankly, the printing press has already taken done this, which is why I hear more and more pastor saying, we need to take the Bible's away from some people for a while.

It will likely contribute to people taking particular verses out of context with the rest of the text.

I think it's a grand experiment. We'll see if the good outweighs the bad.

I am hopeful that it will.

YouVersion

A week or so ago I had coffee with Bobby Gruenwald of Lifechurch.tv and he told me about what is now named "YouVersion"

This is the Bible with Web 2.0 capabilities.

He explains more here

Here's some of what he says:

"Johann Gutenberg invented the printing press in 1450. Four years later, he printed the first copy of the Bible using this new moveable type system. This accomplishment began what is known as “The Age of the Printed Book.” Over the following centuries, this technological advancement revolutionized the surrounding culture by making it possible for the Bible to be accessible to nearly everyone.

Currently, we are in the beginning of another revolution that is defined by the ability for almost anyone to publish content and quickly distribute it worldwide using the Internet. This revolution is at the center of what is called “Web 2.0.”

At LifeChurch.tv, we are working on several initiatives to leverage this revolution in our effort to lead people to become fully devoted followers of Christ. Today, we are revealing one of the most significant and far reaching of those projects:

We’d like to introduce you to YouVersion.

YouVersion is a free online Bible that allows users to associate video, audio, images, text, tags, and links to other websites with any verse or series of verses in the Bible. Each piece of contributed content can be labeled as public or private, so the application can be used both as a personal study tool and a public expression of user-generated commentary. In addition to contributing content, Scripture can be organized by assigning user-defined “tags” to any verse of the Bible.

For users who are skeptical about whether the Bible has application for their lives, YouVersion provides a platform to learn from the experiences and perspectives of others from around the world in a non-threatening and easily navigated environment."


My thoughts in the next post

Why Digging Jesus bugs me a bit

This is not a jab at my friend who have invited me to participate in the "5 things I dig about Jesus" meme. I responded a few days ago when my friend Doug invited me, and recently I got another invitation from my buddy Dino.

Here's what I like. It's people talking about Jesus and how he's connected with them.
Here's what gets under my skin about it and I'm assuming my friends would totally agree.

There aren't even close to just 5 things I like about Jesus... it's way more.
Jesus isn't really someone I dig, rather he is someone who is an all-encompassing figure in my life. Someone who's impact on me or the world can not be measured, quantified, or calculated.

How can I dig 5 things about someone who is referred to as the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end?

I can't help but think that my 5 things would be anything but self-referencing minutia that seem meaningless in the expanse of who God is.

This Jesus is so intimate and so mysterious to me and the people I know and the people I don't know and all of creation.. how can I really just contribute 5 things I dig?

so I humbly submit on behalf of myself and my friends (those who'll let me) that 5 things I dig about Jesus is only a speck about what we love about Jesus. And what we love about Jesus is only a speck about who Jesus may actually be.

A Letter I wrote to Mike Yaconelli

I was looking through my old PC today for a few emails that I want to use in my book and I stumbled upon an email I wrote to Mike Yaconelli almost exactly 4 years ago. Mike responded and we exchange a phone call or two about it. Here is the original email I sent him.



"Mike. thanks for your love for youth workers. thanks for your huge heart. Your voice has been a strong encouragement to me in my life and ministry. My soul was in danger in a big mega position a few years back. You wrote an article that said, "Run for your soul". God used those words. I needed to run. so i did. i left ministry. or i should say. I left employment within a church. God has used you to minister to other's on journey's similar to mine. they don't believe in youth ministry anymore. Don't let that phrase lead you to believe that these brothers and sisters are not called to make sure students are ministered to. No these are folks who resonate with your words. Words that I think are strangely intuitive to you. Words I'm not sure you fully comprehend the magnitude of. Regardless there is a dangerous group of people out here.... committed to reaching students... and doing it in a way that will not ultimately hurt them. we are out here. Many of us have one foot out the door. We are contemplating working at Best Buy so we can be fully faithful. Many of us have found a local congregation that is allowing us to reimagine youth ministry. A growing majority are leaving ministry alltogether. These are people you've seen at conferences years ago. you've shaken our hands. You've received our emails. We are finding that there is not a bridge to this new kind of ministry with students.
Emergent is not it. though it is a part of it. There is not really any new thinking about youth ministry coming from this movement. It is a bridge for people to step into church planting. but many of us are not called to plant churches. What emergent will provide in years to come is an environment to rethink ym. This is all good.

Mike. We think youth ministry as an experiment is a failure. You had it right the first time. Your hunch was right. Youth ministry is not working. However, It is possible to encourage youth workers and affirm them in their calling and simultaneously say that ym is failing. To challenge them to rethink this ministry is not only a good idea, it is essential.
Let me challenge you to continue to rethink ym, or find ways of giving a voice to those who are. At least find ways of building a bridge to the future...of youth ministry for the growing number of us who are leaving traditional situations.
Let me assure you that I know this is not your responsability. It is not your job (or Youth Specialties) to provide these "ministers in the margins of ym" resources and encouragement as they are on their journey. your company sells books. mostly based on the idea of encouragement. you are a clearing house for youth ministry resources. You do this well. People put to many things on you and YS that do not belong there. If this email is simply another youth pastor whining to you about wanting YS to do something for them, please ignore it. But if you feel there might be something to this, then I would encourage you to find ways to immediately start engaging people in the conversation. If you desire, I would be willing to help. My involvement is not neccesary. But there is a need.

thanks again mike!

mark riddle"


It's interesting to reread this 4 years later. So much has changed in youth ministry. what I referred to in the letter about Youth Ministers in the margins are become more mainstream today. Though not mainstream enough if you ask me.

Long Listening

We all want quick answers. We want to know what we need to do now, not later. I find this true in consulting as well.

Most relationships The Riddle Group begins with churches begins with an Assessment. Generally myself and one other consultant visit the church. It's basically 2 or 3 solid days of listening to people in various parts of the church tell the perspective on why things are the way they are, good, bad or neutral. They get to tell their story and it always fits into the big picture. A real joy of doing an assessment is is listening to a community tell it's story and seeing all the pieces come together. Each story leans on another's story and though they may be saying very different things, each is dependent upon each other. It's really cool to be a part of.
After the 2-3 days of listening (and taking a ton of notes) we spend the next day writing. All day. Then we tell what we've heard and what we think needs to happen.

I was thinking about this tonight. The wisdom these churches show in having someone listen for a long time to them (and paying them to do it) and waiting for a response when most people want quick solutions and quick answers.

Without long listening advice often rings shallow. Coaching is often way off based. Help isn't really helpful.

Most leaders want advice or insight now. Wise leaders are willing to wait for someone to actually understand their story.

How willing are you, to let someone listen to your story?
How much do you depend on the insight and direction of people who don't know your story?

Long listening may often be a barrier to people seeking the help of the Riddle Group, but we believe in partnering with the churches we work with, and that starts with us doing a lot of listening.

Elwood the 2007 World's Ugliest Dog

Questioning the Value of People

My brother gave me a magazine subscription to I.D. magazine for Christmas. It's a design mag. A moment ago I read an ad on the back cover for BMW. One of the things it said was, "People - Our most prized asset"

It's an interesting thing for a company to say and I immediately thought about how many churches say they value people. For some it's a core value. I know a lot of churches who have a core value that says, "People matter to God and therefore they matter to us." Which is an odd thing to say really, now that I think about it.

These are often the churches who talk a leadership a lot too. They might say something like, "If you have to say, "I'm the leader, follow me." You aren't a leader. (Ever heard that before?) They might also say, "If you have to say, "I'm the boss" then you probably aren't the boss."

Let me take that a bit further.

If you have to say that you value people, then you probably don't really value people.

People who really value people don't have to talk about it. BMW could learn from this, I think. BMW should just treat their people better and let them tell the world.

Starbucks get this I think. Starbucks seems to value people without haveing to say so. The fact that I can tell you all about the benefits package for Starbucks employees, full or part time and when they kick in might be evidence to that.

Church who value people don't have to tell anyone that... they just do it.

Assumptions on Motives

In a recent post on Priorities an anonymous commenter said,

"One should never assume he knows the questioner's motive by the content of the question."

To which i replied in the next comment, "Fair enough."

After some additional thought I'm adding a bit to my response.

Fair enough. However it's good to keep in mind that Everyone Always assumes he knows the questioners motive, not matter the content of the question.

There is always an assumption. It might be more or less correct. It might be way off-base. But there is always an assumption.

We may assume the motives of someone speaking to us are benign, or we may assume that the speaker is "on our side", but there is always an assumption.

Assumptions aren't absolutely evil and neither are those who make them. We make assumptions to survive. For better or for worse, assumptions are always with us.

Today's Links while I'm at Scout Camp today

If you've never heard of the Simple Way, you need to visit their site. It's community of people who live simply among the poor to minister to them in philly. Yesterday there was a 7 alarm fire that destroyed most of their spaces for ministry and homes. visit their Website for Details


Do you know someone who is Always Late?

A great site for technology for educators and the rest of us.

Technology Thought

To almost quote from a previous post, here's a thought.

The technology and change you work so hard to lead people into, tomorrow will be the status quo you are trying to lead them out of.

Every Church is Purpose Driven

Your church is the way it is for a reason.
You might not like it, you might not really know why, but there is a reason.

Raising Kids Part 1: Beyond the Church

Over the past few years a few conversations with people I encounter regularly have impacted me in what I would consider important ways in the way I parent and how I help others raise their kids. All of these have occurred outside the church walls, church programs and church relationships.

As someone who has spent their entire life trying to organize peoples lives around the activities of the church through small groups, youth programs, volunteering etc, I'm finding myself open to a new sphere of relationships that are way more fuzzy, predefined, predetermined or organized. I'm not saying that there isn't value in church activities, but I'm finding my family connecting with people who may or may not hold similar values to me, but we are still partnering in raising our kids together.

Last week I received Joe Myers new book in the mail from the book folks at Baker. I'll be reviewing it soon after I read it (which will be in the next week or so) and I guessing what I'm talking about is the kind of thing Joe writes about.

As a parent, I'm intrigued by the number of relationships my kids bring me into via their activities. Actually not through all of them, mostly through cub scouting.

More to come on this...

Local TV Church Broadcast

The Local TV Church Service broadcast will die in the next few years. It would die today, if it weren't for elderly people who will never move forward to a new technology and for church leaders who believe that it is cutting edge.

In town I have a least one friend who does this. He's a great guy, who inherited a tv program in a mainline church. they record the service this week and broadcast the next. I've never really watched, even though I really like this guy, but I can't because of the camera angles and poor production.


The day of AppleTV and similiar technologies has brought a new day.

If these churches stopped paying for airtime on tv and put the money into higher quality video it would go a long way.

this is the new technologies for tomorrows nursing homes.

A Youth Pastor's Story

One year ago today Jeff's wife and kids were in a car accident.
Here are pictures of the car. Everyone lived, but it was a long recovery. Here's the story. Say a prayer for Jeff and his family.

Bart Campolo Letter

Last week I received a letter from Bart Campolo. I don't know Bart, other than a few email exchanges, we've never talked, but I really really like this letter. The guy can obviously write and has a heart for being with and ministering to people. Bart put this on his own blog today, so I'm posting the contents here. Such a great read.

Dear Friends,

By the time they reach my age, most inner-city missionaries are responsible for established ministries which require them to manage programs, supervise younger staff members, and raise lots of money.

Like it or not, they no longer have much time to delouse a mentally handicapped neighbor’s apartment, sit quietly with a now-destitute woman whose drug-dealing son was murdered the week before, wait in line to restore a kid’s library privileges, try to establish rapport with a twenty-something single mother of five who won’t stop watching daytime television long enough to look at you or change her babies’ diapers, taxi a few folks to the free clinic, talk gun control with a handful of young men who are armed and might be dangerous if they didn’t know you, and teach an innocent, malodorous and unparented ten year old how to successfully wipe his rear end.

I, on the other hand, had time to do all those things and more…just last week. None of it was planned very far in advance, either. In between emails, phone calls, and a few meetings about the abandoned church basement we want to renovate into our office and ministry space, all I had to do to make myself useful was walk out on the street with my eyes open. Marty doesn’t have to go even that far; kids just come to the front door looking for her to fix them a snack or watch them play in the backyard. For better and worse, our parishioners here – and their needs – are almost always available.

I will let you in on a secret: Most mornings I wake up feeling impossibly fortunate, like a man whose fondest dream has come true, because my primary job here is to creatively love my neighbors, and feeling sorry for everyone who has to punch a clock or answer to a boss. And most nights I lay in bed feeling physically exhausted and emotionally overwhelmed, my mind racing with too many people and their too many problems, and feeling envious of everyone whose job has more to do with clear expectations and less to do with love. Sounds crazy, no?

I will let you in on another secret: It may be a good thing that most older missionaries who have to raise lots of money don’t get to spend as much time with inner-city poor people as their younger staff members. Those youngsters, after all, are often so fortified by their certainty and so blinded by their guilt that they fail to understand how deeply – and sometimes permanently – other people can be broken. Their idealism makes it easier for them to be hopeful about changing lives, and their hopefulness makes it easier for their leaders to keep believing in their life-changing programs.

As genuinely transformative as some of those programs are – especially for those who serve – here again at street level my old eyes see past them, to people I know will never change in the ways we missionaries tend to value, whose lives are for the most part broken beyond repair, whose identities have been systematically drained of recognizably valuable characteristics. To invest yourself in someone with genuine potential is a joy, I think, especially in a place like Walnut Hills. Remove that potential, however, and the business of creatively loving your neighbor becomes less clear.

If I were still running a big evangelical organization, I might pretend I still see this-side-of-eternity potential in everybody, and I might not mention that my only real hope for some of my neighbors is God’s that-side-of-eternity grace for us all, which clearly will have more transformative work left to do on some of us than others, depending on how badly messed up by our own sins and the sins of others we still are when we get there.

Instead, I’ll just admit that right now I’m earnestly trying to figure out how to love my most brutal and hopeless neighbors here without mixing in judgment, cynicism, self-righteousness, contempt, or any requirement or expectation of change or appreciation, and I’ll mention that, contrary to the lovely writings of Henri Nouwen, Mother Theresa, or even my old buddy Shane Claiborne, the closer we are the harder it gets.

In case you think I’m complaining, I promise you just the opposite is true.

God, I’m so glad to be here, at this age, doing this kind of work along with my family, surrounded by dear friends and neighbors who can and are changing for the better, trying to change along with them, inspired by the enduring image of your love in Jesus, confident that you will forgive my evident (in this letter, for starters) failure to let your goodness guide me past my self, and buoyed by food, laughter, and other daily joys. Thank you for this second chance! Amen.

Thank you too for this second chance, and most especially thank you who have been sending notes or gifts or both to help and encourage us to do what we’re doing, do more of it, and do it better. You are dear indeed, and our little fellowship is really feeling your love and support, and happily sharing it around the neighborhood.

Sincerely,

Bart

5 things I dig about Jesus

Doug tagged me for a meme.

I'll start by saying, that Doug is borderline cheesy, but I'll do it for you bro.

1. I dig that if you made a list of things I dig about Jesus it would be an impossibly long list. Something akin to a list not being contained in all the books in the world.

2. Facial hair - I've been sporting the goat for about 15 years now.

3. Obedience to the Father - Jesus always did what God wanted which is pretty dang hard and very diggable.

4. Jesus enjoyed a good glass of wine with his meal. I personally don't drink wine because I think it tastes bad, but I've always been a bit jealous of folks who get to broaden their palette during a meal with an appropriate glass of wine.

5. Jesus was wicked smart and super quick with a response to folks. While I'm not sure where to draw the line between his human DNA contributing to his brainpower and his divinity, he was quick minded.

I'm not tagging anyone for this one though. sorry Doug.
Feel free to tag yourself in the comments and I'll add you here to the post.

Beauty from a Mobile Phone Salesman in the UK

Beauty is sometimes where you least expect it.
Check this out.




Thanks to Marko)

Tangler

I discover Tangler yesterday and started piloting it with one of the churches I'm working with. It seems pretty cool... and the leadership team is already using it.

www.tangler.com

Links to Friends

Rick Bennett posts about the Bead for Life Party

Mike Homan posts about Expectations

Dan Kimball worries about wearing black converse allstars on stage at Willow. I hope he did.

Michael Novelli pimps macs

Marko talks about the teen brain Here and here and a few other places I'll let you find.

On Speaking with Authority

I really like this quick routine from Taylor Mali.

(thanks to drew)

ClickComments

I've added a new feature to the blog and it comes with a story.

I know you are reader are busy and don't feel like giving a full blown comment, so with ClickComments you don't need to comment, but you can still give input by simply clicking on the icon that you think fits.

First Bobby started using this a few days ago and I thought it had potential so I thought I'd try it out.

Second, There's a story for it. I started to add this feature earlier in the week, but blogger made it hard on me, so after I registered with ClickComments and started the process I couldn't finish because of a blogger issue.

At that point I gave up.

Then yesterday I got an email from Postreach (the ClickComments people) telling me that they had noticed that I had tried to install ClickComments on my blog, but never activated it. Then they asked if I was having trouble, was unhappy or having second thoughts.

WOW! So I responded, why it didn't work.

Then I got another email with a piece of html written especially for my blog. Telling me exactly where to put it.

Very nice. It a world where you don't get surprised much anymore by people exceeding your expectations, Postreach exceeded mine.

Double Loop Learning and the Emerging Church

The emerging church's is a good start on Double Loop learning.
Folks associated with the conversation are often very good at questioning the Governing Values / Variables of the church. However, they are not as good about building action and strategy around those governing values.

Viewing from afar Doug Pagitt seems to have intuitively been able to connect a new set of Governing Values to New Action / Practices.

For example, his book on Preaching is a questioning of what most people consider a a standard normal practice in church. Then he takes something of a new action in it's place.

In my experience most churches who call themselves emerging are simply changing the strategy /action plan, by adding the infamous coffee and candles for their emergent service. this is fine, but it's very different from what Doug is doing.

I'm really curious if I'm making sense?
This is applicable to all organizations by the way, not just churches.
What's clear? What's fuzzy? Do you even care about such things?

Change in Organizations - Part 3

Here's a visual.

So our day to day decisions are born from governing values /variables that are things we take to be normal. These generally are not questioned. Personally or organizationally.

Some folks in the church implement change, but the only thing they really change is the strategy. This is single loop learning. When they change it assumes a certain foundation of understanding.

So a private high school is training teachers about how to create an environment conducive for learning. They might: teach teachers to greet students with a hand shake and eye contact rather than working at the teachers desk as students arrive. These actions are attempts at single loop changes. They may or may not work.

But when a teacher says, "Since we all know that studies show that high schoolers learn best after 9:30 in the morning, maybe we should arrange the schedule of the day?" That teacher is looked at funny because what he is voicing is in direct contradiction to the basic understanding of normal expectations. In other words, it goes against the governing values /variables of the people in leadership.

In a double loop learning environment, the question about the school day schedule can be questioned and even changed. Which in effect changes the action plan and strategy.

Is this making sense?

Change in Organizations - Part 2 Three Parts to Learning

There is a process we all go through every day, hundreds of times a day and the organizations we lead do this as well.

This process is often subconscious, just under our radar.
To simplify I'll make it into three parts.

1. Governing Values/Variables
2. Action Plan / Strategy
3. Results and Consequences

Below is a generic synopsis of how things might play out in the Traditiona, Single Loop and Double Loop Churches.


In the Traditional church described in the earlier post these three elements don't change.

Governing Values
Stability. Consistency. Comfort. Order.
How we have done things in the past, is the best way to do them in the future.
Maybe a few people are in charge and won't let new ideas happen.

Action Plan / Strategy
Our strategy stays the same. Same pot-luck dinners. Same worship services. Same youth fundraisers. Same people doing it all.

How do we decide who will lead VBS next year? whoever did it last year. How will we do VBS? How we have always done VBS.

Results and Consequences
Things stay the same. We reach the same people we connected with last year, unless they move away.

Summary:
In the traditional church, the results and consequnece rarely influence or change the strategy of how things are done. This can be frustrating for pastors.



The Single Loop church

Governing Values/Variables
A Commitment to excellence.
"Change is good."
Top Down Leadership structure.
Our particular interpretation of the Bible
Innovation is important
Leadership is a word used a lot.


Action Plan / Strategy
Seeker Sensitive.
Staff Driven for quality assurance
High Quality production of worship services\


Results and Consequences
Positive Results:
Attendance rises.
People feel they are being taken care of.

This positive result encourages us to continue our Seeker Sensitive, Staff Driven high quality services. When results are less than negative, we question our strategy.

Imagine a loop that moves from RESULTS/CONSEQUENCES to ACTION PLAN.
In Single Loop Churches questioning is OKAY as long as you only question the strategy, not the Governing Values.

Make sense?

The Double Loop Church too, encourages questioning and change of their Action Plan and Strategy but also allows for change related to their Governing Values.

Imagine a loop from the Results to both the Action Plan AND the Governing Values.
(a double loop)

Change in Organizations - Part 1 - Some Groundwork

I'm pretty excited about this series. It might be a bit hard to wade thru in the beginning, but bare with me... I think it will be helpful.

While some churches aren't committed to change, there is a growing number of churches who are. Some folks have called these churches "traditional" churches. These are churches who, by and large, are committed to do things how they have always been done.

The past 40 years have seen churches who pride themselves on not saying, "I've always done it this way." These churches were more often than not, church plants, but we have all heard stories of "transitioned" churches. These churches are more self aware than their unchanging counterparts. There are two kinds of churches who fit this catagory and I'll delineate them first by their commitment and level of permission.

Since I'm sorta making this up as I go I don't have cool names for these two kinds of churches. At this point I'll use Chris Argyris's terminology, of "Single Loop" and "Double Loop."

Single Loop churches are committed to change and connecting to their culture, but there is a refusal to to permit those within the organization to question or change the terms on which they will do it.

Double Loop churches are committed to change and connecting to their culture, and they give permission to question the terms they hold to and even change them.

To Reach Youth Long Term

Consider this a map

X <--- Where the church is



X <--- What the church is currently doing to reach kids long term

X <--- Where the church is willing to go




























































X <--- What it takes to reach Youth Long Term in 2007

Dear Coffee Shop as an Office Guy

Dear Coffee Shop as an Office Guy,

I'm sure you are a good guy doing important things. You and I have the unique privilege of being able to work where and when we want to so when we find ourselves as the local coffee shop sitting across from each other in the comfy leather chairs we should do so knowing that there are a lot of others ways to work, that are not as easy going. I have a few things that I'd hope you would consider and I humbly suggest would make all of our experience a bit better.

You sit there i your cushy chair drinking your coffee with your headphones connected to the notebook in your lap. IBM... you must be in sales.

Here's are a few tip.

1. Putting your bare feet up on the chair you commendeared from the adjacent table is just plain nasty. If for some reason my eyes wander just north of my screen I see your feet, which I refuse to observe long enough to be able to write a description of. Keep your head down Mark. Keep your head down. Mr. Coffee Shop as an Office Guy put your flip-flops on or consider asking your primary care physician about a remedy for your athletes foot.

2. When you have headphones on and you cough I feel the ground shake.

3. When you have headphones on please turn your cell phone on vibrate, it's ringing every 20 minutes and you don't hear it. Oh and you have voice mail.

Just some suggestions to remind you that this isn't your living room, this is a public place where people eat. There are others here who are working too, or pretending to.

Your Officemate,

Mark

Does your Church have a Learning Disability?

Wikipedia definition:

Learning disability (U.S.) -- In the U.S., the term is used to refer to a learning difficulty that is unexpected given the general intelligence of the affected individual. That is, the academic performance of the affected person is much lower than the individual's general intelligence would predict.


For a variety of reasons church leaders tend to to think of themselves as static organizations with hard and fast rules not only for developing dogma in the minutia of life, but also in their organization.

The world is changing. How a Church engages it must change.

If this is so true, then why is it so hard to move your service time from 9:30am to 9:45 without their being an uproar?

Because change means we might lose something and church is the place people go to keep from grieving.

What I'm talking about here is the ability for the church organization (organism) to learn. Not only learning from successes and failures, but also identifying assumption your church holds to that were often solidified from past experiences.

Most churches simply do not learn about why they are they way they are. They do not look to see how their practices, behaviors, programs, communication, staff, expectations and theology all teach and move us toward action that generally doesn't work. But they still do it. over and over.

This is the essence of a learning disability in churches.

An Observation - Fully Devoted Followers of Christ

If you a pastor or teacher and you see consumerism, materialism, and self-centeredness as a problem within our culture then please stop teaching like the goal of Christianity is being a Christian and doing good the Christian things. Also, If you really aren't a fan of consumerism, please stop running your church like you are trying to make fully devoted followers of Christ. (i.e. a bunch of individuals seeking to attain a better personal relationship with God that has very little to do with the world they live in.)

I'm serious.

I'm guessing that this kind of individualistic personalized self improvement teaching is so ingrained in us, that we don't know what else we'd preach.

So, before you write a response, listen to a sermon or two at your church and think about what they say. What do you hear?

Sopranos

I would watch the Sopranos if I had HBO, or if in the past 10 years I had HBO. I've seen a few episodes.

Today the talk is about how the series will end and while I don't really know much about the series, I'm going to make prediction about how it will go down.

Tony will not die.
However, they will show that he will not live happily ever after.

Oklahoma Weather

In Michigan if you are under a Tornado Watch and you look at the radar and there is nothing, not a cloud in the sky, you ignore it. Shoot, you ignore if Tornado Sirens go off frankly. Ask me about the time they went off in northern Kent County with completely blue skies and I turned on the TV to hear the weather man say, and I kid you not this is a direct quote, "If you know something, call me!"

In Oklahoma, they put a Tornado Watch on the TV and there's not a cloud in the sky, anywhere in Northeastern Oklahoma, you pay attention. Weather is getting ready to occur. Soon on the radar there will appear big storms. I know this because like all Oklahomans I can read a radar.

In fact, I think living in Oklahoma for over 5 Springtimes actually certifies you to be a News Weatherperson anywhere else in the US. If not, it should.

Priorities

I heard a church recently ask this question to potential lead pastor candidates they were interviewing.

Rate the following in terms of priority: family, God, work, ministry.

I think this is a ridiculous question to ask in an interview. I could see it on the candidates face as they thought about their response. They thought this was a trick question. It was a trick question. But not on purpose. The individual asking the question didn't really know what she was asking.

When I was in youth ministry I would ask a question similar to this one. It seemed to make sense to me and the students.

This is a ridiculous question for a few reasons.

1. If you ask people this question enough they know how to answer it so that you will be happy with their answer.

2. The question is dumb because it creates false categories with well defined boundaries where there really aren't any. In other words, Ministry can somehow be separated from GOD (which it can't) You can't have God as a priority and not have ministry as a priority or family or work for that matter. These are not differenct catagories, they are different emphasis on the same issue.

3. Each of these words mean different things to different people, and if you assume what people mean when they say work or ministry you will very likely be wrong.

4. This kind of question may seem harmless (and maybe it is) but it re-enforces a compartmentalized faith and life in the average person or family. Which leads us to a theologically unhealthy way to live.

5. Everybody lies about their priorities. Mostly to themselves.

Perhaps instead of asking kids, or Lead Pastor candidates what order their priorities are in we should ask them what it means for them to have a relationship with God and how it impacts their life?

Why the iPhone will be big

Aside from the buzz created within Apple rumor circles that keep churning, the iPhone will be big for other reasons.

If it lives up to the hype.
It will be the first phone which actually delivers what people want in a phone. Nothing else till point has done this. Blackberry users like push and the email functions, but find other features lacking. Treo users have their issues too. Every other cell phone that plays MP3's is junk or lame attempts at combining the two mediums.

iphone actually meets expectations of the user.

or so they say.


this is the nature of radical innovation.

What I'm Currently Reading

Einstein - Walter Issaccson

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - Rowlings

Management of the Absurd - Richard Farson

Presence: An exploration of profound change in People, Organizations and Society - Peter Senge

Mavericks at Work - William Taylor and Polly LaBarre

The Missional Leader - Alan Roxburgh

Seeing What's Next - Christensen, Anthony and Roth


And Todd, one of the Riddle Group Consultants told me yesterday that I need to read Joe Myers' new book Organic Community. So I'm wondering if Joe or anyone from Baker ever reads this blog and if they'd like to send me a copy??? Joe or Baker Rep? I'll even review it.

Death by Suburbs

My friend Charlie is on the youth leadership team for St. Matthew's just outside Washington DC. I spent a weekend with St. Matthew's parents not long ago, urging them to slow down the pace of their lives. Today Charlie mentioned to me an article in the Washington Post named "Breaking Free of Suburbia's Stranglehold: Families Simplify Lifestyles in Quest for Meaning That Constant Hustle Obscured " You need to create an FREE account with the Post to read it in it's entirety. Washington Post Article

A few glimpses
"McNelley, a single mother of a 6-year-old, was feeling "overwhelmed and hopeless" when a flier appeared in her mailbox announcing a sermon series at her church called "Death by Suburb." The congregation would spend five weeks talking about the suburban lifestyle -- the consumerism and the overcaffeinated schedules, and how it all can choke the life out of you if you're not careful.

"That's how I feel . . . like we're squeezing in everything," said McNelley, 33. "My daughter has cried about it. She feels like we're always rushing. She asked me the other day, 'Mom, how come you never laugh anymore?' All I can think about is what needs to get done, laundry and everything else. It's affecting us hugely."


"Julie gave up her granite countertops. Steve gave up his library. Son Ryan, 14, gave up proximity to his best friends across the street, who shared his passion for music. Daughter Taryn, 15, endured quizzing from classmates about the sudden move.

" 'My parents wanted to downsize,' " she would tell them. "They didn't really understand. They'd just ask me again the next day and want a different answer. I was annoyed."

Skype

My friend Chris introduced me to Skype a few weeks ago. I really really like it. It useful for overseas phone calls, but I really like it's video conferencing features.
Now when I travel I can see Pam and the kiddos when we talk.

join and make me your buddy.

riddlegroup is my skype name.

Survival

For some in youth ministry change is a bad word. To these folks change is frustrating because there is a sense in which change must require more energy than I'm currently giving and these folks would like say something like, "I'm just trying to survive! How can I change when I don't have time?"

There are certainly a lot of folks out there trying to survive. Trying to get through the day without telling someone in the church off, or loosing their cool, or feeling completely victimized. I get that. I've been there more than once.

Talk about change in those moments seems extravagant and superfluous.

I talk about change a lot, but I want to recognize that there are some who are more concern with survival than change. I'm praying for you this morning.

The Future - I'm talking to you

You know those rules of thumb you've been working to accumulate over the years? The "wisdom" and "knowledge" you have from doing what you've done for years that make the day to day a bit easier. The base or foundation by which you might allow people to call you an expert.

These are the very things you need to rethink to be successful in the future.

The assumptions you've made about how things work no longer apply to what the task at hand requires.

Management of the Absurd

Chapter titles from Richard Farson's "Management of the Absurd"

Nothing is as invisible as the obvious

Once you find a management technique that works, give it up

The opposite of a profound truth is also true

Effective managers are not in control

We think we want creativity or change, but we really don't

The more we communicate, the less we communicate

The better things are, the worse they feel

Planning is an ineffective way to bring about change

Morale is unrelated to productivity

My advice is don't take my advice

The Youth Ministry Vacuum

It happens too often. I visit a local church or ministry and there is an issue that someone (or a group of someones) wants to deal with.


Inevitably someone says one of these things:

"I don't have any kids in the youth ministry, but I can tell it's struggling. Attendance is low and it needs to be like it was when my kids were teens. What is the youth pastor going to do about this?

or

"We have plenty of children in early elementary, why don't we have more kids in the youth group?"

or

"Our kids aren't committed to the church. How can we get the kids to be more committed to coming to youth group?"

or

"We need more adult leaders in the youth ministry. The youth pastor needs to do a better job of recruiting volunteers to take care of these kids. Why won't she do it?"

All questions (or varients of them) that I hear often.

Here are some questions I ask instead:
Is it possible the fact that the Pastor and Youth Pastor who left to start our church taking 80% of the families with teens has had an impact on our current situation and that it has little to do with our current youth pastor's performance?

How does this church show that it values teenagers?

Why would a youth want to come to this particular church?

Does the fact that the average age of the congregation and it's leadership is over 65 years of age have anything to do with the youth ministry? If so what?



Youth ministry doesn't exist in a vacuum. In fact, I'd suggest that in most cases it is a prime way gauge the temperature of a congregation.

Everything decision in the church has in impact on the Youth ministry in one way or another. It can never be a department on its own, youth ministry must be a concerted effort on behalf of the whole congregation. Often the problems that arise from within a youth ministry are symptoms of a church issue.

So the next time you point at a problem within your churches, take a step back and see if what might be a few of the contributing factors to making it that way.

By the way, this is not a ticket for youth pastors to whine or complain about why their church sucks and is keeping the youth pastor from accomplishing great things. Don't be a victim. As the youth pastor, your job is to lead the congregation to understand the impact of it's decisions upon the youth ministry.

When the Thunder doesn't Stop

A couple times a year we get a really noisy storm. Living in Oklahoma in the spring time can bring plenty of loud storms. It's not uncommon to hear a clap of thunder that not only wakes you up but shakes you to perfect clarity.

But there are storms here like last night that are very noisy storms. The storm that came thru Tulsa last night sustained 75 lightning strikes a minute as it blew across that state. 75 lightening strikes equates to more than one lightening strike and clap of thunder per second. The thunder literally never stops. Which is a bit unnerving if you don't have great weather people.

Here's the bummer. I was in OKC with Zach last night and I missed it. Pam however did not and let's just say she doesn't appreciate the storms as much as I do.

I'm hoping for another storm tonight.

Quote

"In most evangelical environments, including mine, we have been overwhelmed with models and programs that are designed for local churches to grow bigger. Unfortunately, most really don't work...Many have also come to define Christianity by a set of beliefs. Churches are concerned that people know a set amount of doctrinal truth, and there is nothing wrong with that. But that set of knowledge is not Christianity."

-Mike Breen serves at Community Church of Joy in Glendale, Arizona.

(thanks to Out of Ur)