Monthly Archives: September 2011

20 Kidmin Social Media Tips

As I mentioned here my team and I went to the Orange Tour here last week. I attended a great breakout led by social media guru, guiding light, and geek Matt McKee. Here are the highlights:

Regardless of the medium, context is everything.

We have to get past the media and get to the social.

Kindergarteners are learning on iPads, not chalkboards.

The goal of a business isn’t to be good at Facebook, but to be good at business because of Facebook.

98% of text messages are read.

Over 600,000 apps on the app store

Your message needs to be meaningful and 140 characters or less.

Chances are you are going to leave your church in 3-5yrs. Make sure families are more connected to your church then just you.

Facebook is like a lake. Twitter is like a river.

Facebook can suck your time. Schedule your social media time like a meeting so it doesn’t consume you.

Use social media to interact, not just dispense information.

Social media can help your church impact people who will never walk through your doors.

People remember what they experience, not what they hear.

Don’t just send out press releases.

Create worship experiences outside the church walls.

Move past a weekend mentality.

If it doesn’t build into people then don’t build it.

Technology is not the problem. It’s merely the vehicle. What makes it good or bad is the driver.

Facebook has surpassed MySpace is their willingness to change.

Our job as pastors is to meet people where they’re at regardless of the medium.

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Orange Tour 2011 Highlights

Last week the Orange Tour came to California. My team and I had a blast hanging out and soaking in all the Orange awesomeness. Here are some of the highlights:

Nothing is more important than someone’s relationship with God because everyone will be somewhere forever.

Parents are the biggest influencers in their child’s life, but every child needs more influencers than just their parents.

An Orange Leader is anyone who influences parents and leaders to work together to impact the next generation for Christ.

Every ministry needs a plan of action (strategy) to get people from where they are to where they need to be.

Knowing your end in mind will simplify what you do.

Anyone can kill a program that is dead. It takes true leadership to kill something alive so something more important can thrive.

Showing people you love God is all about loving the people God loves.

You are instinctively drawn to what is supernatural, miraculous, or spiritual.

You don’t need great faith in God but faith in a great God.

Whatever you talk a kid into, one day somebody will talk them out of.

It’s not you who is supposed to be changing a kid. It’s the Holy Spirit.

If you don’t create opportunities for kids to do ministry with you them they probably won’t make time to do ministry without you.

We’re not inviting kids to go to something but to go out and BE something.

When you really see what God is up to in the world, you will be moved to live out a better story.

The average tenure in the US for a Children’s and Student pastor is 2-3 years. Our kids need some adults with staying power.

Many kids don’t believe in God because they haven’t met any Godly adults.

Say less more often so everyone knows what matters. You either teach less for more impact or you teach more for less impact.

All Scripture is equally inspired, but not all Scripture is equally important. All scripture is not equally applicable for every stage of life.

Less of a scope and sequence and more of a scope and cycle.

Relevance is using what is cultural to say what is timeless.

HOW you say what you say is just as important as WHAT you say.

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What Having Dyslexia Taught Me About Loving God

As a child, I grew up with dyslexia.

One of my worst fears was being asked by the teacher to read. I hated to read, especially in front of people. I struggled with most words until I was diagnosed with dyslexia in the fourth grade (am I the only one who thinks it’s weird the name for a reading disorder is super hard to spell?).

I’ll never forget that year. I came home crying every day because the kids made fun of how I read. I was always in the “special group” (which my friends reminded me was a nice way of saying “slow group”). I practiced reading every night at home, often crying myself to sleep, but I couldn’t seem to get any better. When my parents reached their wit’s end they talked to my teacher. She had me tested, which confirmed her suspicions all along. I am dyslexic.

That summer before 5th grade I got help. I went to private classes. My parents hired a tutor. I did special reading exercises every day. By the time school started I was able to read like everyone else. We thought I was cured. We were wrong.

The thing about dyslexia is it can’t be cured. It’s not like having a cold, getting the flu, or contracting a disease. Your born with it and once you have it, you have it for life. You can learn to deal with it but it’ll never go away.

I’ll never forget what my teachers taught me that year. They taught me to read. They taught me perseverance. They taught me how to have confidence. Whenever I would get discouraged by a set-back they would repeat this phrase to me: You are not your grades. I can’t tell you how much I needed to hear that.

I think as adults we need to hear that to. You don’t need to have a learning disability to doubt your value. Life does that for you on its own. If someone hasn’t told you this please let me: You are more than your accomplishments.

Paul talks about this Colossians:

When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory. – Colossians 3:4 (NIV)

Did you catch the meaning in those four words? Christ is your life. Not your job, not your 401K, not your klout score, not how many people attend your church, not your VHS collection of all four seasons of The Gary Shandling Show, and not even your family. Christ is your life. No matter how big the things are that you’re trying to put in the center of your life, if they’re not Christ then they’re not big enough.

Your significance has nothing to do with the applause of others but the approval of God. Busyness does NOT equal importance.

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How to Be a Better Leader in 7 Words

Bill Maher gave me the best piece of leadership advice the other day.

That last sentence makes it sound like we met over a latte at Starbucks, followed by a bacon turkey sandwich at Panera Bread, and a trip to Kohl’s so I could use my buy-1-get-1-free coupon that recently turned up in my Gmail spam folder. This is not the case.

Despite what you may think of Bill Maher (I probably have more in common politically with The Noid then Mr. Maher) he did have a nugget of wisdom I’d like to share with you.

Are you ready? Here it comes:

Stop trying to make everyone like you.

These 7 words have layers folks.

A few weeks ago Maher went on Leno following the president’s speech and had this to say:

“It’s not the entrée they don’t like,” he argued, “it’s the waiter.” And so he proposed simple advice: “stop trying to make everyone like you– you can give all the money to the rich, they will still call you a socialist.” What it came down to Maher was President Obama “going half-in on their crappy ideas” and getting nothing in return.

Have you ever felt that way as a leader? No matter what you say or do it’ll just NEVER be good enough for some people. That’s because it won’t.

Sometimes, no matter how hard you try, you and that one staffer are never going to see eye to eye.

Sometimes, no matter how hard you try, that one parent is going to hate every change you make.

Sometimes, no matter how hard you try, that one kid is never going to think your jokes are funny.

Sometimes, no matter how hard you try, that one person is never going to see you as a real pastor.

Sometimes, no matter how hard you try, that one blogger is never going to like anything you post.

And that’s OK.

That doesn’t mean your should lace their pronto guacamole from Baja Fresh with the strongest laxative you can find (unless it’s April Fools Day and then it’s OK). That doesn’t mean you should pretend like you’re phone is on vibrate and you’re getting a call from your Great Aunt Ethel (who is so old you think she may have met Lincoln) whenever you pass them in the hall. That doesn’t even mean they’re a bad person. It just means they’re different then you and (news flash) that’s OK.

Don’t let the differences stop you from doing what God has called you to do. Don’t let the fear of not being liked lock you in a cage of fear and unfulfilled dreams. Don’t let the tension stop you from treating them the way you wish they treated you. Don’t let the potential conflict stop you from moving forward. No human being should ever have that kind of power over you.

Stop trying to make everyone like you. You’ll be glad you did (and like the people who do like you all the more).

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How Your iPhone Can Make You a Better Teacher

I love to use movie clips in my teaching. I came across this cool app a few months ago that was super helpful with this:

Here’s the description from iTunes:

Clips is all about helping people engage with the Bible by using scenes from great films. Pastors, small group leaders, and youth ministers can all benefit with the tools provided. Clips tells you exactly what scenes to use, what topics to teach, the verses you could use, and even some possible discussion questions. It gives you everything you need to easily find the scene you are teaching from, even linking to it in iTunes.

Click here to buy it on iTunes.

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