bible read thru…round 3
Today marks the start of the third “4 month Bible read thru” of 2010. This time we’re doing it chronologically. We’re using a chart put out by Back to the Bible. Here’s the link. It’s laid out for a year, so if you’re going to do join me you’ll want to average about three “days” each day. I actually recommend that you just pick an amount of time (somewhere between 35-60 minutes should do it) and then check off the boxes that you covered. If you only do three each day, you’ll end up falling behind the very first time you miss. (Of course, I’m sure I’m the only person who ever struggles with missing a day!)
The plan is simple.
- Read the whole Bible by the end of the year.
- Read with a pen in your hand and jot down the conversations you have with God as you read.
- Post your thoughts here as comments on things I write. (If you’re in the Seattle Eastside area and want to physically join us, let me know. We meet Tuesday mornings at 6:30am.)
Let me know if you’re joining the read thru. One guy in England started with me in January, told some friends, who told some friends, and about 320 people ended up doing it!
is your marketing sending the wrong message?
I read an article in the Seattle Times yesterday that had me thinking about marketing. Usually, I try to notice how others are doing it and how to do it better. This one got me wondering about the times when the amount – and type – of marketing we do actually takes away from the purpose of what we are marketing.
The article was about the Heisman Trophy . For any non-college-football-lovers out there, the Heisman Trophy is the honor given to the top college football player each year. At least that’s what it is supposed to be. Over the last several decades it has become all about which school will spend the most money to come up with the best marketing campaign for their particular player.
Here is the line that pointed out the essence of what made me scratch my head (and feel a little sick to my stomach):
Back in 1970, Notre Dame convinced a willing, young, talented quarterback named Joe Theismann (once pronounced Thees-man), an all-American and all-Academic All-American, to change his name so it rhymed with Heisman.
Seriously? All these years I – and the rest of the sports world – have been pronouncing a guy’s name incorrectly due to marketing for an award that is supposed to reward talent?!?! (Joe took 2nd by the way behind Jim Plunkett. So there.)
Of course, I also started wondering if any of the marketing I do actually takes away from what the purpose of That You May Know Ministries really is.
Don’t get me wrong. Marketing is vitally important. After all, if no one knows you exist, it’s hard to serve, train, or help them. But when the goal of the marketing is simply the promotion of self something has gone terribly awry. Here ends today’s rant.
What messages is your marketing sending?
Read full article here.
engaging students who already “know”
Yesterday I had an email exchange with a youth/children’s pastor from the Seattle area and as I replied to some of his questions I realized that I had never really shared what I was sharing with him here on the blog. So…here’s an excerpt from his email followed by my reply (editing for sharing):
From his email: I have a question for you regarding another group of students – our 3-6th graders. Many of our students already have an extensive knowledge of the Bible for their age, and they’ve gotten bored with the spoon-fed curriculum that they’ve grown up on. We’re looking for ways to get them into scripture, to allow them to discover the Bible and God for themselves. I know that your new book is all about this, but I’m wondering if you’d have any suggestions for us before it’s published.
From my response: I’ve got to say that I’m becoming more and more convinced that with elementary kids – and even into Jr. High – we focus a lot on figuring out new ways to get them “into” the Bible, without really helping them INTERACT with the Bible. At that age, I think Bible knowledge is all well and good, but the activity-based, interactive model of learning is going to help them grow up knowing that the Bible is alive, real, and relevant to actual life.
To that end, I think the way in which we read it and talk about it is more important at that age than the curriculum we’re using. Do they see us reading it with enthusiasm or is the “Bible reading” the boring part that we have to get thru so we can tell the story, do the activity, etc.? Do they talk about how to live it out in the everyday?
For example, just this morning I read the book of James . My two older kids (8 and 6 years old) came downstairs and I simply said,
I just read in the Bible about how the words that come out of our mouths praise God, pray, and sing worship songs…But they also put people down and say mean or angry things. James – Jesus’ brother – was telling people in his letter that this shouldn’t be happening. So…how can we use our words to make someone feel better today instead of worse?
That led to some brainstorming about things we can say to encourage people – friends in the neighborhood, kids on their soccer teams, etc. It wasn’t a formal “Bible Study” per se. It was more conversational. More relational. More this-is-the-Bible-being-lived-out-in-everyday-life.
That said, I understand that in the Sunday morning setting there needs to be some sort of structure that leads to those conversations. I’ve recently come across a group called Family Time Training that has some great activities tied to Scripture. While the site is geared toward family worship it’s certainly easily adaptable for groups of kids. If you’re looking for a more complete package type curriculum, I know some of the people behind Rio and Tru (from David C. Cook ) and they’re really doing some neat things.
This is certainly not a complete list. How would you have replied to his email?
water balloons + camera = creativity
I love it when people put their creative juices to work. I witnessed this in full bloom last month. My family was with me when I spoke for a week at Summit View Community Church just across the Columbia River from Portland, OR. One afternoon we all headed into Portland and found a fountain for the kids (and yes, their parents) to play in.
Pretty soon, I saw three guys (Ryan, Danny, and Brian) walk up with a camera and a cooler filled with water balloons. As a former youth pastor, I can sense the presence of water balloons. Combine water balloons with a camera and I’m all in.
These guys were trying to capture the moment of water explosion – most of the times as it was hitting one of them in the face! Again…I’m all in. So much so that before long I couldn’t help but join in the fun. They asked me to try my hand at throwing the water balloon directly into Ryan’s face. Seriously?!? Without having him punch me or throw one back? I jumped at the chance. In fact, in the picture below you can see my hands.
I asked his permission to share these pictures and he (Ryan) kindly agreed. They went on to take a ton of pictures of not only water balloons, but also themselves – jumping in the air, kicking, or just being silly. These guys were having a blast.
I walked away with a couple thoughts:
Thought 1: Most of us could use a lot more silliness. I think this world would be a lot better off if we saw silliness, fun, and laughter as necessities, instead of kids’ stuff.
Thought 2: Creativity is a beautiful thing. Several times since that day, I have thought back to how much fun these guys were having. Then it hit me…of course they were having fun! They were exploring the creative ability that was woven into them by the truly Creative One.
A friend of mine named C. McNair Wilson spent 10 years as a Disney Imagineer and teaches creativity workshops to corporations worldwide. He put it this way:
“To say you are ‘not creative’ is a lie. Everyone is creative. It just depends on whether – at any given moment – you are actively creative or inactively creative.”
Ryan, Danny, and Brian – Kudos for reminding me of the beauty of active creativity. And thanks for sharing your pics! (see more here)
How have you seen creativity bloom – in you and others?
the power of “thank you”
Had something happen today that doesn’t happen very often. I got a real, live thank you card. Seriously! When was the last time you got a hand-written – not just an email! – thank you card? Just to prove that it actually happened, I took a picture of it. Here you go:
As you can see, it was from a kid who is only nine years old! I just met him a couple weeks ago. I spoke at his church and was talking with him after the service. Came to find out it was his 9th birthday. Gave him a Gospel of John CD, he thanked me, we cracked a few jokes about how much cooler he was than his older brother (who was standing right there of course), and off he went.
Honestly, I haven’t given it much thought. Until today. I love kids. And I love thankful people. So…when I get to meet a thankful kid I guess that just makes for a great day.
Oh…and my favorite part was seeing the phrase “warm regards and best wishes” in a card from a nine-year-old. Outstanding!
reminded and renewed
I’m guessing she was about 16 years old. She was accompanied by a woman in her 40’s as she approached my product table after a presentation not too long ago. She was quiet, reserved – almost afraid. She wasn’t avoiding eye contact, but certainly not comfortable with it either.
The older of the two women started the conversation. Jane (not her real name) really wanted to come talk to you. She’s not a Christian. She was really touched by what you talked about and felt like she needed to talk to you. The she turned and walked away. (Truthfully – this surprised me a bit.)
The nearly-trembling, young lady finally spoke. I have only come to this church two times. The first time was last week. I was so afraid I just wanted to run out of there. But I came back. And what you said really made sense. The Bible made sense. I’m not afraid anymore. (Tears were slowly winding their way down her cheeks at this point.) I really want to find out how to know God more. I need to. And I just wanted you to know that and say ‘thank you.’
She hugged me. And then she left. I stood there, consumed with the beautiful, humbling, speech-stealing feeling that comes from knowing that the Holy Spirit has touched another person through you.
I am renewed. This is why I do what I do.
shedding the grave clothes
I’m preaching this Sunday at Discovery Church in Tacoma, WA. I’ll be wrapping up a sermon series on the story of Lazarus, focusing on “taking off the grave clothes.” I’m looking for stories about what “grave clothes” you’ve shed. How did you do it? What was the journey like? How have you helped someone else shed some of their own grave clothes?
Tell me a story…
chris brogan on the digital church
One of the top bloggers on social media and online marketing is a guy named Chris Brogan. If you haven’t heard about him or read his stuff – start doing it now. Just click his logo and you’ll be taken to his site where you can read more, follow him on Twitter, etc.
Yesterday he wrote an article on Digital Church. The church he was talking about was LifeChurch.tv, which happens to be part of the Evangelical Covenant Church (where my family and I attend).
When someone who is read by thousands of people every day starts a post with the words I’m not religious, but… it’s worth a read.
What’s your take on the church going digital?
when a starbucks isn’t a starbucks
Heading home yesterday from vacation in California. Kari says, “Let’s look for the next Starbucks that’s close to the freeway.” Of course, any time Kari asks me to use a gadget, I’m all in.
Fire up the GPS on my HTC EVO and off we go. Exit right, turn left, turn right, right again…hmmm…something’s not right here. Of course, now we’re curious, so we drive until Electric Liz (that’s the name my kids have given to the lady who lives in my phone and tells me where to go [insert joke here]) says, “You have arrived at your destination” and switches to street view. Both on my phone (as you can see) and out my window, I see the same thing:
We were laughing so hard we thought about knocking on the door and asking if they had any public restrooms. And in case you think I’m crazy and don’t know how to use my GPS, I’ve also done a search for Starbucks in Salem, OR and here is a screen snip of Google Maps:
Nope. Not Starbucks.
Editor’s Note: For those of you who think Google can do no wrong and Microsoft can do no right – If you search for “starbucks in salem, or” in Bing Maps, you’ll find ten choices…none of which will get you arrested for trespassing, or breaking & entering.
So…what’s your best GPS story?
are you throwing money away
Yesterday I had polar opposite customer service experiences – all in the matter of a couple hours. I was appalled by one, and amazed by the other. I put out a tweet/facebook post about the first (the bad one) and got so much response I thought I’d tell a bit more of the story.
Started when I brought my car in to Toyota of Kirkland (you’ll see why I’m naming them later) for a repair of a door lock. A bit later I get this call, “Mr. Ferrin? Good news and bad news. The good news is the door is covered by the warranty. The bad news is that they’re saying your warranty expired 17 days ago.” (This was a 7-year warranty! Insert heavy sigh here.)
He gave me the number of the insurance company and the conversation on the phone went like this: (no exaggeration…truly)
Me: Toyota has told me that the warranty I bought from you guys expired a couple weeks ago and you won’t honor the repair.
Insurance Phone Guy: Correct. It expired on the 5th.
Me: It’s still the same calendar month. Any way you can honor it?
IPG: No.
Me: I’ve never even used – let alone abused! – the warranty for seven years.
IPG: Sorry. We can’t help you.
Me: So…you’re telling me you have no flexibility at all?!?
IPG: Let me ask you this? Let’s say your car broke down two weeks before the warranty was up. Would you like it if we called you and said, “I’m sorry, but we’d like some ’flexibility’ on our end, so we’ve cancelled your contract two weeks early”?
Me: Seriously?
IPG: Yeah. I’ve got no flexibility. If we gave you two weeks, we’d have to call every customer we have and let them know we’ve extended every contract.
Me: (borderline speechless at this point) I understand “letter of the law” decisions, but there are also “business” decisions. I’ve refunded people hundreds of dollars before simply because they weren’t happy with something. Did I do the job? Yes. Could I have charged them? Yes. Did I want them to see that people are more important to me than the letter of the law? Yes.
IPG: I don’t know about your business, but this is a contract, and we can’t be flexible.
Click.
I was dumbfounded. After getting a few more things done in my office, I went back to Toyota of Kirkland, where the scene was a little different. Mike said to me, “I’m so sorry about this. I wrote up the paperwork so that you’re not charged for the time our guy was inspecting your car and the other diagnostic testing. You can just go inside and pick up your paperwork. Oh…and by the way…I moved your car to the front of the line for a car wash and vacuum. It’ll be pulled around in about 10 minutes.”
Speechless again. But for a different reason. This guy had actually put some real time and work into this and charged me nothing. And washed my car!
How often do we make “letter of the law” decisions instead of “people” decisions? Don’t we realized that when it comes to business, rudeness sits squarely under the umbrella of the “Penny Wise…Pound Foolish” umbrella?
One guy made me want to tell everyone I know never to use that insurance company again. The other guy – sometime down the road – will probably end up seeing me hand him several thousand dollars the next time I need to buy a car.
What’s your best/worst customer experience story?
