It seems as though everywhere I look these days, the church is trying to compete visually with each other and the secular society. I’m all for having a nice identity and presenting ourselves in a proper manner to the community, but I do have a problem when the media becomes the message. It also is an issue when the ambiance becomes the apex of the congregation’s visit rather than the presence and the Word of God.

One of the largest churches in the New Testament was the church in Jerusalem. Scholars tell us that the total congregation measured upwards of 80,000 people. By today’s standards, this would be a mega-church, even though they had no formal cathedral or church building. There are those who say we cannot compare today’s church with the New Testament church since we are over 2000 years removed. I beg to differ. We might have a different cultural society than Paul or James ever dealt with, but the principles of their operation still maintain.

For the Jerusalem church, the Gospel was foremost. The pure power and Word of God was the driving force behind this enormous church growth. One miracle was all it took and the word of the Gospel was spread like wildfire. Paul was said to have turned the world upside down. He did not have Twitter, Facebook, fancy lights, or even a business card with a cool logo. His transportation and communication methods certainly were archaic compared to today’s conveniences, but he affected his world with the Message of the Gospel.

I’m not advocating in any wise that we start riding donkeys and turn off our electricity, I’m simply making a case for a purer presentation of the Gospel. The Bible tells us to whom much is given, much is required. We have the ability to communicate worldwide in seconds while the New Testament church sent message that took weeks and months to deliver. The impetus is heavy upon us to use technology and media to magnify the Message rather than take away from it.

I was recently in a prayer service where the power of God was moving among us mightily. The program called for a CD recording to play background music at a certain point. The moment the quiet music began to play, the people relaxed their thoughts from intensely seeking after God and began listening to the music. It was revelatory for me to see how even the slightest media in the wrong moment usurped a powerful move of God. I’ve been in many churches who have the most incredible lighting and video presentations, but yet I’ve missed out on what God was speaking to me because I was distracted by the media.

What then is the line where church media is too much?

• When media diminishes the Message
  • Media can be used as a filler routine during the preaching
  • Media can be used as a crutch for laziness in studying the Word
• When media usurps the Message
  • More time is spent on media during a service than the preaching of the Word
  • The congregation remembers the media after the fact, but can’t recall the message content
  • The altar is empty, but the foyer coffee shop is full
• When media distracts from the Message
  • The minds of the congregation are saturated with the movement of lights or video that God cannot adequately speak and the people cannot adequately listen.
  • When the personnel who produce the media begin backsliding.
• When media become the Message.
  • People come to the church solely for entertainment
  • People choose a church because it looks cool
  • People know more about the branding than the belief
  • Constantly having to out-do ourselves from the last production

Church marketing has its place. Advertising gets the unsaved through the doors. It’s good to get the word out about your local body of believers in any available medium possible. However, when media becomes the focus, it’s time for the church to take  a step back and recalculate their route and destination. The church was not founded in Acts 2 for entertainment, but for Christ to impact this world through us with His message of redemption and relationship.

Here are a few ways the church can balance their use of media:

• Have a consistent, conscious concern for the spiritual well-being of the media personnel
• Be sensitive to the Spirit of God through prayer as to the purity of the Message in your church
• Evaluate new convert retention and first-time visitor referral sources. More converts will become long-term members through genuine human connections than through advertising.
• Break up the routine of media productions so the congregation does not expect bigger and better every service
• Analyze whether or not the media will have an impact on the message positively or negatively before the media is produced

Let me know what you think about this issue. I’d love to hear your thoughts and ideas.

Church Marketing – Good or Bad? is a post from: Mister Nifty

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(via @kjhouk)

Church Marketing? is a post from: Mister Nifty

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Whether we like it or not, Google is everywhere. Every click leads to another Google application, widget, or urchin. They have figured out how to permeate every part of the Internet with their message and method. There are no boundaries. They aim to index and control how content is served and analyzed on the net, and they’re doing an incredible job at it.

I was thinking about how this translates to the message and method of the Church. Can it be said of us that anywhere you turn in the community we are there? Can we look at any given neighborhood and see the footprint of a Bible study group or a prayer meeting? Can we go to any park and see the Message being preached? Can we walk into the projects and see the footprint of the church? Do we see a global effort in our community or just a territorial boundary that defines our small finite local effort? Do we have influence with the leaders and officials of our city? Can we say that every part of our region has been permeated with the Gospel where no one in our community can take a step without feeling its impact whether visibly or invisibly?

If a company can saturate a global network with method and message, even more so, we should do the same with the Gospel of the Kingdom.

A Kingdom Lesson From Google is a post from: Mister Nifty

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How many times do we plan too small in our church structure only to find later that we should have increased our structure to match God’s vision and His harvest?

Listen to this interview explaining the IP shortage.

A Church Growth Lesson From Technology is a post from: Mister Nifty

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(via @stephenjudd)

The Science of Motivation is a post from: Mister Nifty

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1. Identify the problem

Have you ever sat in a meeting and everyone wants to talk about problems? I’ve enduring countless meetings where problems were identified, but nothing was ever done to solve the problem. It’s easy to be a critic. Everyone has the ability to identify that a problem exists.

For instance, I set up Google Apps for our church recently. The secretary was accessing her email from two different clients. Even though we left all the mail on the server, she was only receiving some mail in one, but not in the other. She knew what the problem was about, but she had no idea what the problem actually was technically.

Get a room full of intelligent people and you can get a list as long of problems as long as your arm in just a matter of moments. It’s in our nature to find what’s wrong with a process or a person. It take much more character and brain power to get beyond finding problems to understanding problems.

2. Understand the problem

We expend enormous amounts of energy over time worrying about issues and problems when we don’t understand. For example, many people worry about taxes because they’re afraid of the system and rightly so – the tax code is 78,000 pages long. It is impossible for one person to completely understand the tax code. This is one extreme situation.

When I’m presented with a problem of an unknown subject, the first thing I do is start researching. Self-education is my weapon against worry. If I don’t understand something, I learn about it. Learning about a problem helps you get a high ground vantage point of the problem. You cannot even begin to identify a solution until you grasp what the problem is about. Take time to learn by asking others who have encountered the same problem, stopping by Barnes and Nobles, searching the Internet, or whatever means you find to understanding. Understanding can only come through knowledge.

3. Identify solutions

Once you properly grasp the extremities of the problem, it’s time to get to work on solutions. Depending on the problem, much of this will be trial and error. I find it is most efficient when I make a list of possible solutions with pros and cons. Solutions can be gathered through research, debate, conversations, or just nitty gritty logical conclusions.

Like I said before, it’s easy for a group of people in a meeting to identify that there is a problem. It’s hard work to create solutions to fix the problems. It is my feeling that meetings should mandate a solution for every problem that is identified before its conclusion. Don’t just be “one of those people” that always find problems. Couple your problem finding skills with positive solutions.

4. Select the best solution

I find it’s best to make a contingency list of things that might go wrong and compare the solutions to my contingency list. With this approach, you can see which solution will solve the most aspects of the problem. Here is a simple chart I created to illustrate a comparison table to visualize the best solution.

5. Prepare a list of instructions

Finding the best solution is where a lot of people end the conversation. I remember a young man came to me and asked my advice on a problem he was having in his personal life. The issue was with anger and sudden outbursts when dealing with mean kids at school. We went through steps 1-4 after an hour of conversation. The most impacting thing we did was take out a piece of paper, cut it down to wallet size, and write a few simple steps to implement the solution.  The simple, elementary list of instructions was something similar to the following:

1. Quickly walk away from situation to somewhere private.
2. Take three deep breaths.
3. Close your eyes and ask God to give you peace.
4. Quote Philippians 4:13 out loud.
5. Don’t say a word to the kids who provoke you.

It sounds silly to some people, but not to this young man. It gave him an offensive plan of action and more importantly power over his situation. He didn’t feel helpless anymore because he could pull out his list and follow the simple steps. If this simple instruction sheet empowered a young man, imagine what an ordered list of implementation actions could do for you personally or for your team.

Simple instructions give direction. Proverbs 28:19 says “Where there is no vision (direction, instructions) the people perish.” Paralysis sets in quickly when people don’t have a plan of action. You can either make or break yourself or your team by creating/not creating simple attainable steps to solve your problems.

6. Evaluate the solution

A plan of action should never be cast in concrete. It should be a living document that constantly evolves until the problem is solved correctly. Rarely do we find solutions to complex problems that work the first time. Thomas Edison tried hundreds and hundreds of solutions until the problem was finally solved.

Don’t give up on the process, refine it as you go. Step back from your emotional investment and analyze the effectiveness of your solution. For pastors and youth ministers, this means intense followup after dealing with people situations. Without proper evaluation, we just create more problems than we started with in the first place.

Simple Steps to Problem Solving is a post from: Mister Nifty

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A few years ago I came up with an idea to help leaders stay connected with their congregations/leadership teams. This concept was birthed out of observation of many leaders only connecting with their congregation/leaders on a personal basis only during times of crisis or conflict.

We often view relationships as a time-consuming process that involves large chunks of our time. A leader who leads many people or leaders can feel overwhelmed with the burden of connecting. Many simply run from this burden and never make an effort to have any form of personal contact outside the functions of the church. Thus, the concept I call “2MPH” was birthed.

Two things about 2MPH

• The Premise – Two Miles Per Hour
  • Slow down from the busyness of life.
• The Application – Two Minutes Per Hour
  • Take two minutes out of every hour and connect with someone.

Get Your Calculator Out

I took this idea of two minutes per hour to the calculator and was amazed at the impact of these small time investments. Before I started my mad calculator skills, I factored in a 40-hour work week which equals 2,400 minutes of work time.

Here’s what I came up with:

• 2 minutes X 8 hours = 16 minutes / day
• 16 minutes X 5 work days = 80 minutes / week
• 80 minutes X 50 work weeks (minus Christmas and Thanksgiving) = 4,000 minutes / year (66 1/2 hours)
  

How It Works

These numbers really got my attention.  By taking 80 minutes out of a 2,400 minute work week, I could connect with 40-80 people in one week.  I realize what most people are thinking right now that one or two minute interactions are not truly connections, but I disagree. As I mentioned before, we tend to look at relationships in the large chunks of time that we spend with someone and discount the value of small consistent interactions.

The 2MPH concept means every hour you take two minutes to  do one of the following:

• Send a short text message to someone
  • Word of appreciation
  • Birthday/Anniversary wishes
  • Encouragement for someone who is hurting

• Make a quick phone call (I realize this is the most time consuming)
  • A call to a patient in the hospital sometimes means as much to them as a visit.
  • Call your kids and tell them you love them and are proud of them.
  • Call a guest that attended last weekend and let them know how glad you were they came.

• Send a quick email to someone
  • A quick note in a businessman’s email box from the pastor or leader can make them feel a part of the family
  • Share a thought from the Word with your leaders or a small group of friends/family
  • Send a note to your mayor or city officials letting them know you’re praying for them

• Write a personal note
  • Prepare  your desk with a box of pre-stamped envelopes and simple stationary to jot a note to someone.
  • For someone struggling, find a few relevant verses, write a quick note of encouragement and include the references.
  • Write a romantic note for your spouse and leave it for them to find.

• Personal contact
  • When grabbing a takeout meal, order an extra meal for a coworker without them asking and bring it to them.
  • If you’re in public, take time to ask a stranger you come in contact how they are doing today. A quick caring conversation can be a great witness

Keep a tally of your time. Your daily 16 minutes may yield sixteen communications, or maybe only two. Just commit to spend 16 minutes during the course of your day caring about someone other than yourself.

If you are employed in the secular workforce, I am not condoning stealing time from your boss to use this concept. Take time during your breaks to connect with others so you can be an honorable employee.

The Power of Small Consistency

The previous suggestions might not seem very impacting to you right now, but concerted, consistent, communication can reap huge rewards in the people around you over the course of a year. The purpose of taking time out of every hour is not only to keep ourselves from becoming self-absorbed, but also to create an awareness of others around us, and to extend the love of Jesus to others in two minute investments.

Certainly this concept is not a replacement for time well spent with those you love, but I see each of these small time investments as reinforcement for the relationship and friendship. These small snippets of time may not be the building blocks, but they are certainly rebar to strengthen the relationship over time.  Thousands of small interactions per year bring people closer to your inner circle and give you easier access to deal with conflict when it arises.

You cannot be everyone’s best friend, but if you’ve showed a party in conflict that you cared about them multiple times throughout the year, there is a built-in trust that accompanies those precious two minute investments.

Consistent communication and caring will open doors with people in your church and in the community that otherwise would have been shut. By taking 3% of your ministry work week and connecting with someone, you can impact up to 4,000 people per year.

Leaders, you will spend a minimum of 2,400 minutes this week working. Are you willing to give up 80 of those minutes to care for others? If you’re so wrapped up in your task list that you forgot ministry was about serving others, try using this concept to get out of the rut.

Make a Connection Plan and Prepare

Take some time and write down the relationships you wish to strengthen over the course of the next year. Use this as a master list that you carry in your wallet or purse. Make a weekly or daily connection plan. This involves who you are going to contact and what form of communication you will use to contact them. Making a plan helps you stick to your guns on the process. No planning means you probably won’t follow through at all.

Don’t devalue the impact of minute things. It’s not hard to start connecting. It just takes a small consistent two minute investment. It’s time to put the brakes on at least one time per hour, and give to others.

Slow down and connect!

2MPH – Slow Down and Connect is a post from: Mister Nifty

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I got poked fun at by some leaders in my district because of my date errors, however my pastor/boss was more than gracious enough to let me fail on his budget nickel.  The horror of not presenting perfection and having it sent across the US was better than any secular design school I could have attended. There were a few things that I decided to do following this dark beginning to my print design career.

1. I refused to make the same error twice by proof reading and checking printing specs
2. I committed to learn the process of commercial printing which led to many visits on my own time to tour local plants and interview production chiefs. This also found me spending hours in Barnes and Nobles reading up on design and printing.
3. I researched better printing solutions to save my church money rather than waste it on the most expensive options

These novice errors led to a continued self-education. My pastor did not get upset with me, but he invested in my mistakes. I cost him some dough at the beginning, but he didn’t stop me from continuing my job. In fact, he was very supportive and believed in me.

He taught me  that trusting those who are less experienced with important tasks in the church is scary, but necessary if we are to duplicate ourselves in ministry. This means we might give up some quality for a time, but with loving support and training, excellence will come in the long run. This doesn’t mean we should be unwise by placing unmotivated people in integral positions. It means we must search out people with initiative who want to learn. If they have a true heart for learning and passion for serving in their assigned ministry, the same process that happened to me will activate in them once they make mistakes.

In the years following, we made some awesome print pieces that reflected very well on our organization. Failure breeds awesome success. If you will have patience, support and train your novice volunteers even through their mistakes, you will have blissful excellence in the future. Don’t give up on someone who gets it wrong the first few tries, chances are they will take your place someday. Mistakes are more valuable than ten-fold success. Invest in your future by investing in your volunteer’s/emplyee’s mistakes.

Investing In Mistakes is a post from: Mister Nifty

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For those who get to experience inspiring and anointed preaching with no task other than being a hearer, it’s easy to be moved to a faith response to God. However, media team members are actively engaged throughout the services, and typically a wall or glass barrier is between them and the ministry going on from the stage. The response dynamic is sharply different between a media team worker and a member sitting in the audience. Media workers are usually not as engaged in the services as a normal attendee. This presents a problem.

We all need nourishment from the Word of God no matter where we are positioned in the church. It’s imperative that each person in the media team make a conscious decision to be engaged in the worship and the preaching, and not be consumed completely by the tasks they are assigned.  A continual disengagement from the preaching of the Word can mean spiritual malnutrition. If your media team is small, the negative effects of this can be even greater. I have seen strong followers of Christ brought to a place of spiritual stagnation serving in routine duties the church. Duties can easily become priority over relationship with Christ. Excellence is important, but not at the expense of the growth and maturity of the media team members.

The longer team members are disengaged from what’s happening in the service, the more exposure they have to bitterness and resentment toward the ministry of the Word. Their service is not producing growth or fulfillment and frustration ensues. We understand fulfillment comes through our interaction and relationship to Christ. It is vitally important that team leaders to not only care about the tasks needing to be accomplished, but also the spiritual atmosphere of the media room as well. Here are a few tips I’ve come up with to help guide leaders.

• Make sure your schedule accommodates team members to attend multiple services on a monthly basis. If your media team is not large enough to do so, start a training program to gain new team members. If your church is small and there isn’t anyone to volunteer, taper your media ministry down so it doesn’t burn out your team members.
• Build a relationship with each of your team members and communicate with them about their spiritual growth.
• Set the atmosphere in the media room. Pray before services as a team. Set a monthly prayer meeting with the team on a weeknight to pray for the ministry and those who need to come to Christ.
• Create guidelines in the media room that foster order and reverence for worship and the ministry of the Word. This should include some/all of the following:
  • No eating/drinking during services
  • Only essential staff in the room during services
  • No surfing Internet sites during down times
  • No personal conversations during services, this includes texting/mobile chatting
• Work with the pastor and worship leader to plan services so that your media team can respond to the Word through prayer and worship outside of the booth. This might mean a stationary image on the screens during this time, or no video recording during altar service.
• All team members should have a salvation experience.
• If you identify a spiritual need or malnourishment in a team member, allow them to take a break and sit in the congregation during services. This means you also need to build a strong team that can fill in during these times.
• Make it a habit to frequently pray for your team members

These are just a few tips to help your team keep a balance of service to the church and their personal relationship to Christ. Above all, we are striving to get to Heaven, and the last thing we want to be a stumbling block to the spiritual growth of our team is our media program. Take stock today and take action to ensure you have a not only a skilled team but a spiritually strong team.

Help Your Media Team Stay Sane and Saved is a post from: Mister Nifty

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Go To TokBox

TokBox Is Intensely Awesome Video Chat is a post from: Mister Nifty

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