Egoless Clarity [A Tyro's Mindset]

Are you good at what you do? Chances are, unless you are completely new at what you are doing you have gotten good, perhaps you have even became an expert in your field. In one recent conversation with a client, he told me that after an average of 2 months most of his sales guys are 'great' at what they do and at that point are creating their own desired income. He says that it only takes a little time to learn their clients, their computer system and organizational expectations. Typically in my professional past experiences, I would say it was a 2-6 month time frame before I felt comfortable and in some cases good at what I was doing. Of course if there was previous experience in that industry then that 2-6 months could be mere weeks.

On one hand it is good… it's even great when a leader gets good at what they do or who they are. However, this can have an equal and opposite reaction that may not be beneficial to their personal leadership or their organization. When new directions and decisions need to be made the expert may be blind to new possibilities because they are an expert at what they have done. Notice the use of 'have done' as past tense. This can be the biggest setback for many seasoned veteran leaders as well as the novice leader due to the 'book knowledge' and previous wins that he has championed into his portfolio as another point on the scoreboard.

Often times the expert leader is bound to the the previous successes, she is bound to the past, and many times not open to the new and different ideas; the (un)tried.

Do you have an expert mind? Are you limited to the small closed world of an expert? Are you buckled down from the less concrete world of spacial creativity? Perhaps you need to think like a 'tyro', a beginner in learning. Tyro's have that child-like outlook on things. A child looks at a problem and thinks that some markers, mud, and G.I. Joes will fix it. They don't always think rationally. Think about a new hire, some young fresh college kid who has no experience. If you were to ask him an executive question that is too much for him to entertain you may get an answer that is not the status quo. Remember as an expert you might find yourself where the status quo only makes sense because that is what has always worked, so why shouldn't it now? Could the perception of his sub-par status quo thought actually be a new viable option, something (un)tried?

Here is the complication; your expert mind says, "this can't be done" or " this shouldn't be done." This is not beneficial to any situation. However when you begin to think like a tyro your beginner mind says, "How can this be done?" or "I wonder if this can be done?" What might you need to change in order to get your mind youth-enized? How might you get your thoughts in control so that you can think like a young tyro, a fresh college kid, child-like mindset, with new ideas and perspectives, yet maintain balance keeping your measurables and goals in perspective? Will your ego stand in the way, the ego that tells others that your success comes form your knowledge and your knowledge comes from your experience? Our ego treats us like a crooked accountant that shows a modest profit while lining his own pockets with wealth. This ego says, "because of who I am and what I have done proves that my ideas are superior." The need here is an egoless clarity.

Now the question to begin to reframe your thinking is, "How can this be done?" Can you perhaps gain an egoless clarity to the unseen?

Also be sure to read this post that deals with an egoless clarity.

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Renderings Anew - Design Leadership

Well it has been nearly 4-5 years since I worked at an architectural field and a good 2-3 years since I have done any architecture on the side. I recently picked up a consulting gig for a church in the West Valley to help them with their site development and building project. They are looking at doing a 5-7 year building project consisting of 5-7 buildings, outdoor sporting complex with football/soccer field, gymnasium, and perhaps some other great ideas. They want to do this in about three Phases all spaced 2-3 years apart.

I love working with clients that have great vision yet take a realistic approach. With my architectural background I have no problem designing the dreamsical unrealistic art but the reality is that designing things within budgets, constraints, taking into consideration other architectural design elements within the project's locale, area demographics, etc. can often paralyze clients. When sitting down at a blank piece of paper many people have a tough time conceptualizing their dreams... or facing the reality of what is doable.

I enjoy leadership that can be modest in their approach to the doable, respecting the fundamentals however allowing the 'fun' of creativity and exploration. Those leaders that understand this and 'get it' typically dream bigger, run faster, climb higher and have an unmatched aptitude for success. Their leadership is addictive and permeates those around them.

Are you dreaming today? Are you running faster than those that have held you back? Are you climbing higher? Do you have an unmatched aptitude for success? I hope the answer in the forefront of your mind is a resounding yes! If not, begin... NOW!

Attached are a couple renderings I decided to put up. Comment your thoughts, be advised these are very preliminary.

From Architecture

From Architecture

From Architecture

From Architecture

From Architecture

From Architecture

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Within Reason

Leader: "Hey guys did you finish the way I wanted?"
Them: "Well, 'within reason'!"

I get this from time to time. As a leader that is such a scary reaction phrase when assessing completion. As a worker/volunteer/intern who doesn't have a strong grasp of excellence, this creates a large gray area of unfulfilled duties, a sort of sick justification. The toughest project for a team leader is to produce the culture in which the hands have a degree or sense of self-responsibility, self-motivation. When they lack this it slowly forces the leader to micro-manage, which any good leader dreads and never wants to walk in that role, at least the good ones. There are some manager/leaders that thrive on the micro-management philosophies. Scary land.

'Within reason' could be defined as 'within the bounds of good sense or practicality'. However within bounds is still missing the mark. Later we can debunk the difference between perfection and excellence but for now lets tackle the issue of settling for mediocrity, which happens to be the lack of excellence. When 'within reason' is good enough then all of our hard work and efforts become wasted time. Now don't get me wrong, some progress could have been made, no doubt, but typically it leaves the work still to be done by someone else. This is basically the Pareto Principle, the law of the vital few. It is based off the principle of factor sparsity, basically 80% of consequences build from 20% of the causes, the vice versa is true. 80% of greatness is created by the 20%. This should help us in our future decision making in all aspects of life and ministry. It should be used by everyone of you reading this, the simple fact that you are taking time to read this implies your desire to grow as a leader or simply your boredom or infatuation of my character (that's a joke).

If you would consider yourself any sort of leader and have any sense of intelligence the Pareto Principle should be part of your daily decisions making, if it isn't yet, then this should be the next immediate change in your life. It can multiply the efficiency of your work force or ministry team(s) and your own personal life in it's effectiveness individually or corporately. The value should not be ignored but leveraged for it's powers and abilities.

The value for you as a leader is that it works as a reminder for you to focus where your efforts where it has it's greatest return, the 20%. Of all the choices you make during your day, only 20% really matters, that does 1 of 2 things for me, makes me feel like I waste a lot of time, but as a pastor/leader/creative/etc it helps me to produce more energy to the GREAT choices that are made through the 20%. I must IDENTIFY then FOCUS then MOVE, process then repeat. Leaders/pastors/creatives, hear me... when the day begins, emails, txts, phone calls, stuff, begin IDENTIFY the 20%, FOCUS on the 20%, MOVE forward on the 20%. If something has to to be skipped, slipped, ignored or not get done by all means make sure it is not of the 20%.

Jesus modeled this greatly. He spent time with the 20% that would make the most changes in a world that was new to the thought of a Messiah that would not rule as others had expected in legal authority and power. The truth is his circle of 12 was probably much smaller than 20% of his regulars.

Some thoughts:

• Have a win range. Have a look at how much win comes from each aspect of your business or ministry. Put your efforts into the 20% that give you 80% of your wins - repeatables.
• Have a product of value. Take a look at the 80% of your success and what is the 20% that is creating it. Do you have a loss leader? - sellables. (Many pastors fear the word product, this can be saved for another post, but you have a product, quit fearing the simple obvious that is helping others be intentionally successful and causing you to sit back and make excuses for your lack of)
• Team leaders. Take a look at your work force, your ministry team. How much profit comes from each leader. Reward, retain and pour into the 20% that are your top winners not your top 20% whiners, yeah I said it! - loveables. (These are your "disciples")
• Have an affiliate program. Find the top 5-20% of those who support you, or give you 80% of your support/income. Support, encourage, affirm and reward your givers - supportables.
• Advertisements. Where does your wins come from, what 20% is it that gets 80% of your word out? People, Internet, twitter, email, etc? Refine your winning processes then re-run them where you can capitalize on them - winnables.

Your biggest rational fear is those in your network, in your area where you are doing things 'within reason'. If you are a pastor admit it... admit that there is an underlying fear of competition. Then if they are tearing it up and making it work you get jealous and begin to explain how it is not of God and it's not going to succeed. The reason they are winning is because they are unreasonably focusing on their 20%. "Oh, but we don't have 20%." Bull, you do, but you are focusing all your efforts on making the 80% happy and pretty and making sure they are comfortable and have nothing to complain about. IS there a balance? SURE, everything is permissible but not everything is beneficial. You are not benefiting because your focused efforts are in the wrong place.

It is always the unreasonable entity that establishes a new benchmark or new niche. They then get the opportunity to redefine success and redefine what 'within reason' means. It is also the 'within reason' entity that reestablishes the status quo of minimization and mediocrity!

As Seth Godin says,

"I guess the only choice is to be unreasonable."

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Selling the Sellable

This guy named Jesse at Buckle introduced himself to me. We talked about professionalism in the market place and taking pride in our job. He told me how once he went to P.F. Changs in Scottsdale and ordered food, a plate that he orders custom, half shrimp and half scallions, however this time it was horrible. He then ordered another plate and it was horrible too, two in a row.

He payed and left and went to the P.F. Changs in Tempe and ordered the same meal. He payed twice to get what he expected, in order to get the best that the restaurant had. He explained to them what happened and they gave him a lot of gift cards because of his efforts and how they were honored in his dedication to them and how he was willing to pay twice for what he wanted.

When he was at Buckle he stood for 15 minutes before anyone helped him then when he asked for help the girl didn't know anything about the products. A few days prior I was at Pac-Sun and they didn't know that a jacket I bought had sleeves that zipped off. The first girl was stunned and asked how did I know the sleeves zipped off, I said, "I looked at it", while I was pointing at it. She yelled to another girl and asked her if she knew that and the other girl was as shocked as the first girl.

People do not have pride in their product, in their jobs. How come?

When I worked in retail as a young guy people would always ask me if I got payed commission because I would push products. I prided myself in becoming an expert at our products. They would be confused that I would push one thing over another and not be getting commission. I told them there are some products we sell that I believe in and some that I don't. Based off their needs, wants, desires, comfort level and money they were willing to spend I would give them the best product that met THEIR needs, not the item that paid me based off my selling skills. It should not take commission selling in order for you to want to know about your products. Just like this picture illustrates, we must make people aware of what we know and want them to know before they are willing to make a decision.
Commission sells vs. non-commission sells changes the attitude and commitment of salesmen. Most people will become experts if they get paid based off their ability to make a sell for a given product. When I was 18 I worked in direct sales for a couple years and my pay was 100% based off my ability to move product. I made $700 in a matter of two days but then could go 2 weeks without anything. In a matter of my first week working there I became an expert in product knowledge of our product. Most people learn the power of product knowledge when their lives and income depend on it.

I am not even talking about methods of selling, how to be a salesman, how to move product or anything, I am simply talking about knowing your product!

So how does this apply to pastors/creatives/leaders? What is your product? What is it that you are pushing? Are you a professional, an expert in your product? If not, why? What is your plan to get someone to be aware of what you believe then move to the decision step?

...read more on "Selling the Sellable"!

Mind The Gap

In one of my recent grad projects we had to identify several gaps within our organization. Once identified came the task of trying to figure out the root cause. After knowing the cause the next process was to lay out a plan on how to fix the initiatives. Then the final task of the project was to point out any resistance to the initiatives.

What is tough is not identifying the gaps. We are good at that. We are great at looking at the flaws of a system, item, or process, and sometimes we are even good at exploiting those gaps to help out our own cause. However most of the times we do not inventory the root cause. If we do, typically it is in a cynical approach in which we attack the cause instead of simply identifying it. The difference is simple identification is only a step to better the situation, a cynical approach helps us look better by exploiting the weaknesses or flaws, a very ego-centric approach.

Laying out a plan is difficult for most people because they are not willing to cope with, or admit that the plan may include improving themselves or to point out personal weaknesses. When the plan is laid out the follow through can be a bear. Take for instance an organization that must go through downsizing. Having a plan to cut peoples jobs that you know will largely affect the families is a tough decision that is not made lightly. But because you have the bigger picture of an organization at risk of bankruptcy the plan becomes easier to follow through.

Then doing a little risk assessment and seeing who or what will become a resistance to the follow through of the plan can be pain staking. This becomes one of those conversions of, if it needs to be done then it must get done.

In London the tube has the words, "Mind The Gap" on the ground in front of all the ledges. They understand that not paying attention to the gaps can be fatal. Organizations understand that if they do not mind the gap it can be fatal as well. The bigger question and the personal application is going through the same process for your own personal life. Lets try it.

Step 1
Take a minute and try to identify some gaps in your own life. If you are serious about this you may even ask some friends that are close to you or family members to give you honest feedback. Don’t try to disagree with it, remember perspective is reality in the minds of others!

Step 2
Write these down. Now begin to try and figure out the root causes, there maybe multiple root causes. If it is others perspective then start there. Ask, ‘How might others view me?’ and see why they feel that way.

Step 3
Now make these gaps initiatives to change yourself. Begin to lay out a plan on how you can change these attributes. Remember you can’t change others, but you can change yourself. Changing yourself changes others perceptions. Make the plan simple and goal oriented so that you can measure your progress. Asking someone to hold you accountable is a great way to continue progressing forward.

Step 4
Now identify any thing that can be a resistance to your success of fulfilling the initiative (s). What are the pitfalls that can stop forward continual progress. The only difference between a stepping stone and a stumbling block is the position of your foot. Identify what could be possible stumbling blocks and then figure out how to make sure it doesn’t trip you up but instead help you by being a stepping stone to the next level.

Step 5
Repeat, repeat, repeat. Every few months repeat this whole process. Getting into the habit of personal reflection, measurement and analysis can be on of the best habits to get into. Remember habits are easier to form than to break.

Be changed and different! Mind The Gap!

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Disciplined To Be The Best

George Rathman, a charismatic chemist, felt that the purpose of bureaucracy is to compensate for incompetence and lack of discipline. He also felt that problem largely goes away when you have the right people in the first place. George was the co-founder of Amgen from back in 1980 who brought the company to $1 billion by 1996.

Jim Collins says in his book, Good to Great,

Everyone would like to be the best, but most organizations lack the discipline to figure out with egoless clarity what they can be the best at and the will to do whatever it takes to turn the potential into reality.

If you have heard me speak or heard my life story you have heard the words resonate from my lips.... "Potential." I am often teased for the over-useage of that word in my vocabulary. However lacking to recognize potential can paralyze so many people from growth and excellence. What results is mediocrity and stagnation. Neither of those are traits that draws followers, they operate as repellents. A life without discipline equals a life of unatained potential. That life can also be represented by your church/ministry/business/organization.

Jim Collins calls out two areas for discipline. An egoless clarity and the will or determination, both of these to become the BEST. I have learned that many people are afraid of being the best. Not because it is unattainable but because of the dedication and discipline that it takes. Many times it is easier to wait for the other guy to plow through the land and pave the road then glide down it picking up hints and resources.

EGOLESS CLARITY to be the BEST.
It is not wrong to figure out what you can be the best at. Make sure to also figure out what you cannot be the best at. Simplify your goals. Don't wave those goals in others faces, remember this is egoless. Jeanne Mayo teaches that many times God gives vision that needs to be shelved until the proper time. There are vision destroyers. Guys who have self-esteem issues and will doubt you and in your heart that vision may be destroyed. Shelve it and trust that God in His proper time will unveil it.

WILL TO DO WHATEVER IT TAKES
This doesn't mean we try until there is a roadblock. Bud Leikvoll, an instructor at Western Bible College explains roadblocks and attacks of Satan as this. "It is either a stepping stone or stumbling block." It will either make you weaker or stronger. There has to be a tenacity and drive that makes you so relentless that nothing will stand in your way.

We need to stop giving reasons for bureaucracy to exist and be disciplined in our lives. Many times the reason for a micro-manger leaders is because either they lacked discipline and are overcompensating or they had someone fail them due to lack of discipline. Change the rules or change the game.

What, if you knew you would not fail at, would you do?

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Carpe Diem - What Does Your Life Mean?

Jeff, a disbarred lawyer, on a TV show called, Community, signs up for a class at a community college that he heard was an easy ‘A’. When Professor Whitman tells the class to throw their textbooks away and simply "seize the day and live in the moment" to get an 'A', Jeff thinks he has hit the jackpot. Jeff encourages his study group to take a class that is supposed to be a breeze. This class has no tests, quizzes, papers, and appears to be no homework in the modern sense, except to ‘Carpe Diem’, Seize the day.

Professor Whitman catches on to Jeff’s carelessness and freewill desire for an ‘A’ and tells him he must ‘live life’ or face an ‘F’. Jeff begins doing all kinds of acts in front of Whitman to get caught living the moment, flying kites, dressing funny, etc. However Whitman calls him out each time. Professor Whitman finally tells him that he must,

“Live for yourself and not anyone else.”

Jeff gets upset and challenges his professor saying, “Have you seen the amount of work I am putting into this?” as he is trying to live the moment that he is setting up. Whitman then asks him,

“What do you mean, what does your life mean? How long does it take you in the morning to make it look like you have bed head? How many sports jacket combos did it take you trying on to finally find the one that says, ‘I don’t care’? Seize that day, go running naked in a hail storm, kiss a girl in the middle of a day, go fly a kite, BUT DO IT FOR YOURSELF or you won’t just fail my class you will fail life.”

Jeff is so caught up with himself that he doesn’t know how to live the moment and seize the day. He is so preoccupied with his image and stature that he bypasses formalities to gain free opportunities. I know so many people like this in the professional business world as well as the church community and many times even myself. What is unfortunate are the people who follow these self-absorbed individuals blowing them up and puffing their small egos and in a sick way justifies their inability to live for the moment.

So how do you live the moment:

1. Be Authentic_ You can’t be a sell out. You have got to be the real deal. There are enough Guchi impostors out there and not enough Rembrandts. I remember back in the day my posse and me loved to sport ‘Folexs’, you remember, fake Rolex watches. We were big time because we had a $10 watch that looked like a couple grand. Zane Anderson said, “pumped up people always leak but built up people take the city.
2. Be Excellent_ Quit settling for mediocrity. There is more competition for mediocrity then for excellence. Don’t focus on perfection, focus on excellence. Matthew E. May said, “Imperfection drives innovation.” Don’t allow your imperfection to compete for your excellence.
3. Be Direct_ Don’t beat around the bush. Stop weaseling around people to get where you want. The chief cause of failure is exchanging what you want most for what you want at the moment. Soon everything you go through will be seen as nothing more than preparation for the next step. However, the more you scheme for opportunities the sooner you deflate.
4. Seize the Moment_ How sad it is when we devalue real life while gambling our energies on the facade of what could be. You must be focused because there is a point where talent is meaningless or at least minimized if not accompanied by concentration. Take the opportunity, seize it and don’t let go!

What do you mean, what does your life mean? Seize that day, BUT DO IT FOR YOURSELF or you will fail life.

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Sense of Overwhleming Remains Insurmounted

As I have eluded to in previous posts as well as particular Twitters I began my Masters this week in residency at Evangel University, Springfield, MO. I am realizing the difference between the work load and knowledge level when I received my AA in Architectural Design & CAD as well as my BA in Pastoral Ministries to a Masters level education. That coupled with the experience of being a hybrid experience, (Hybrid means, I fly out twice a year for a week of classes, professor introductions, class introductions, etc.) then the rest is distance study at home makes this a very overwhelming jump start.

Though this still is insurmountable in my mind I am very excited for what it will bring. When I look at the assignments, like the ones listed below, I see so many opportunities for growth as an individual but also for the organization that I am a part of.

Some of Term 1 Assignments:

• About a dozen or more books to read this term
• Forum discussions
  
• Assessments
  
• Projects
  
• Case Studies
• Presentations
• Empirical Journal Article Reviews
  

So what do I want out of it, why am I doing this?

My goals are that the abilities I gain will be directly reflective in the different organizations and followers that God will allow me to lead.
That both the individuals around me as well as the organization would practice proper 'kaizen' in every way, simply meaning continual improvement.

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MOL Take 1

This week begins the start of a two year intensive passage of a lifelong journey. A journey that I hope takes me to the depths of knowledge in an area that is close to my heart. Leadership. I know many enjoy this subject and seek out every book that talks about leadership, I do as well. I decided about two years ago to pursue a Masters degree in Leadership for many reasons. The main reason is to truly help identify at the core a subject that is in essence elusive, maybe like bigfoot. Leadership is in no means definitive, Stogdill (1974, p. 259) concluded that "there are almost as many definitions of leadership as there are persons who have attempted to define the concept" (Yukl 2010). Another main reason to seek this passage is to help others who struggle. I think there are enough people on the 'edge' of work/ministry/life as a leader and they have not a clue of their next step. One more negative moment and they are going to their boss/pastor/wife and throwing in the towel.

I am starting off with three classes this semester, 3 credit hours each as well as a couple 1 hour projects. The classes and books are listed below (the 2-year program is divided up into four themes):

Theme 1: Foundations of Leadership
MOL 501 Foundations of Leadership:

• Leadership in Organizations (Yukl, 2010)
• Leadership Brand: Developing Customer-Focused Leaders to Driver Performance & Building Lasting Value (Ulrich & Smallwood, 2007)
• Leading At A Higher Level (Blanchard 2007)

MOL 527 Communications for Effective Leadership

• Management Communication: A Case Analysis Approach (O'Rourke 2007)

MOL 550 The Effective Organization

• Quality & Performance Excellence: Management, Organization, and Strategy (Evans 2008)
• 2009-2010 Baldridge National Quality Program Criteria for Performance Excellence (U.S. National Institute for Standards and Technology 2008)
• Good to Great (Collins 2001)
• How the Mighty Fall (Collins 2009)
  

...read more on "MOL Take 1"!

Digital Breathe - Living Simply Complicated

Wife's text response: "You could pick your bible and read it."

My thoughts: "How?!? The internet is down, so therefore crosswalk is not available, nor youversion, or any others, so how do I read the bible, dang it!"

I realize in life how digital I have become when even reading the bible or popular book becomes online reading or listening to an audio mp3. I grew up on a PC and now have been on a Mac for about 2 years and am quite the aficionado. I have always had this deep desire to learn as much as I can when it comes to technology. I would take apart my parents VCR just to see it then put it back together as a child, a slight affection towards tech stuff. Made magazines are a techies dream escape.

When it comes to ministry and technology and the digital life we as leaders/pastors/creatives strategize our efforts. The truth is things are a changin'. Therefore our strategies must change and adapt. I have realized that so much of my world is concentrated around the use of technology. If I got away from my alarm that sits on my nightstand and used my cell phone to wake me up then my entire world could be classified as mobile. Music, I got my old school 30gb iPod with as much movies as I do music and a few seasons of The Office. For calls, texts, tweets, light email and internet I got my Moto Q9C. For the rest of my brain I got my Macbook Pro, this helps me with EVERYTHING, literally my world is inside that or online. Here are a couple things I use:

• My calendar syncs from iCal to Google Calendars to Plaxo. It automatically updates all birthdays and anniversaries from Facebook and Plaxo updates to my iCal.
• All my contacts sync from my Address Book to phone to Google contacts to Plaxo to Linkedin, etc, etc.
• Every sermon I have every wrote over the last 8 years, every thought, two books in progress, and teaching, leadership lesson, etc are on my 120gb Macbook Pro that syncs to all my files on my work computer and many files synced to Google Documents.

I could keep going... my simply complicated life is wired! The internet and phone is down and I found myself sitting there dazed and confused. I would attempt to say most people, at least leaders/pastors/creatives are overly encompassed by their need of their tethered electronic world.

One thing to keep in mind is the people around us, your audience, the world around us is moving to a technologically attached mainframe. Many churches are looking at going to an internet campus. and looking at the internet as a viable asset to their churches.

The Denver Post wrote a great article on the role of technology in the church. Here is one important thought from the article that was very important:

“Church is not the Internet or a building — it’s people.” If the notion that a virtual community can be as real as a physical one seems crazy, you may be showing your age.

Thanks to online shopping, online dating, online social networking and online darn-near-everything-else, many young Americans don’t distinguish between their friends from school and those fromFacebook.

These youngsters just see them all as friends, said David Kinnaman, president of the Barna Group, a consulting firm that conducts survey research for churches and other religious groups.

In fact, Kinnaman’s firm predicts that by 2010, 10 percent of Americans will rely exclusively on the Internet for their religious experience.

10 percent! This is a moment that we must engage ourselves into our changing culture, we must ride the tide instead of chase the wave. That wave is understanding the language of the culture. A good friend of mine, Travis Clark defined culture in his blog as...

"...the "language" that people are currently speaking. And for us as leaders we must learn that "language" in order to engage the people."

If we do not begin to speak the language of our culture we become ignorant because we don't have the capacity to make intelligent conversation. The lanuguage is becoming more digital day by day.

Rhett Smith points out that the “front door” of churches is no longer a “physical” door:

Do we even realize that the physical building isn’t the front door anymore, but that the online world is the front door? If you don’t have a strong [online] presence, or aren’t telling a good story online, which is the front door–will you be able to bring people from the online world, to the physical front door of the church?

For the moment that we had no internet I realized that my "online" and "offline" are one in the same. As a matter of fact when it happend that for almost a whole day I was "offline" my life felt wierd. I belive for many that line will begin to blur more as more generations rise up with a connected lifestyle. Online and offline is simply becoming 'life', simple and functional.

As Justin Wise says, "If you (and your church) don’t begin to understand and learn to speak the language of this younger generation, no amount of catch-up and “digital cramming” will help in as little as five years."

One thing I have been thinking about and not really heard much buzz around it but guarantee if I searched hard enough over at churchmarketingsucks.com or beyondrelevance.com I could find a post on the topic of the difference between consumers that come to you/your church website versus the future of the consumer that is wanting you to feed them your information. We need to rethink how we are getting information to people, feeders and aggregates are the futures muscle for getting people information. Every person pretty much carries a cell phone, they are your mobile consumers, get them the information they want in their hands which is convenient. We need to begin to think smarter not harder.

So are you able to engage your culture in a whole new way? Does the digital language something you are willing to tackle? Are you willing to translate the previous language to the digital language?

So let me ask you, are these patterns happening in your local church? Does the ends justify the means?

...read more on "Digital Breathe - Living Simply Complicated"!

Twitteranked and Self-Branding

"Twitteranked? Sweet now I can see how good I am really doing. 14.47, what a loser!

(click on the picture to read the full story)

Notice how I got twitteranked 17 hours ago then low and behold my great friend, God, updated me 10 minutes ago that I was scammed! It coulda been worse than it really was, I guess that's why God was 16 hours and 50 minutes late, the guy likes teaching me lessons.

It is amazing how Twitter or Facebook or Myspace or any other aggregate feeds and social networks create such a desire of self-branding. I will rabbit trail for a moment on 3 studs of professional self-branders, for the simple point for you to realize that...

"Anyone doing anything better than you is providing you the resources, strategies, and ideas for you to be better than you already are." - Me

• Seth Godin, who is a business genius and has an amazing ability to see what many others don't. He made famous the idea of permission marketing, which is as simple as it sounds. He has three elements that is seen in most of his writings. First, he realizes that advertisers can't command the attention of anyone they choose (great thought for church leaders in a post-modern world, that is basically post-modern marketing). Second, consumers are gaining more power, which means more respect, truthfulness and less bias on the marketers (more here for the church leader, are we slow to teach and explain theology in a philosophical way, why are so many Christian college students leaving? They lack the ability to argue theology philosophically). And third, the only way a product or idea will be spread, is that it has earned a buzz by being remarkable. (church leaders please re-read that then repeat two more times. Are we making a buzz in our culture, making a buzz in our community, neighborhood?!?)
  
• Josh Spear, is a youth specialist, trendsetter who saw the blog-phenomenon as a major thread in credible form of media. He, via his blog, has set out to be a "source of inspiration for marketers, brand managers, advertising executives, and a wide range of everyday people from around the world who love to stay ahead of the curve." (What could the church leader be looking into as the next main thread of getting into people's minds and hearts? Are you looking or are you doing tomorrow what you did yesterday?)
  
• Brian Shaler, this guy is one of my favorites, he's a jumper! He's a web developer, marketer, writer, speaker and photographer. He banks the term self-brander, probably one of the best in the field.

Now back to the original post before the rabbit grabbed my attention. In our personal seeking to be self-promoters which by all means we should be. Every human has something to market. The professional business person, themselves, their resume, their accolades, their education. The homeless, their loss, their story, their history. The Christian, their purpose, their life, their hope, their calling.

Our postmodern world leads us to be self-marketers, people want to know you, what you think and what you identify with. What is your brand? Your brand highly dictates your audience, your audience highly dictates your success. Many people get in the wrong arenas and begin to self-promote and fail because they had the wrong audience. You must sell your GENIUS, the Geenie-in-us. What is it in you that is special, that is magical, that sets you apart. Make your story and begin to sell it. Every person has an audience, a circle of people that are influenced by you. One general question I ask is who is your mentor and who are you mentoring?

Your audience was created because of your brand, now learn to market to that audience to hear the best message they have ever heard. For you Christians, be real, authentic, take off the mask regardless how ugly it is beneath the whitewash, then allow your audience to hear the best spoken message God has given voice to. Be an eikon, be the representation of God into your world not just in word but in action and deed too.

...read more on "Twitteranked and Self-Branding"!

AZ Youth Workers Conference Session 3 of 3

Speaker: Doug Reed

The Greatest Responsibility

Reading this generation, this generation looks bored, they weren't made to be captive and caged up.

1 Samuel 16

Like a custodian makes sure ever door is locked, we need to access the corridors of our life and make sure every door is OPEN for God to move in.

My thoughts:
Success is when someone has let their guard down and I get to go inside and mess some things up that makes them think differently for the positive, getting the backstage pass into their life. When a student gives that access they are letting you into their life to penetrate and find the hurts, brokenness and bring healing. Through the authenticity, creativity, and hard works and the kid is standing their defenselessness and they cry out for help.

We should have 3 responses:

1. A prophetic response - Samuel knew there was someone else
- 1 Samuel 16:1
- 4 Elements of prophetic response
1. We must see the Big Picture
2. Be willing to take a Risk
3. Do not deny the moment
- We can't deny the moment just because the moment is controversial.
4. There must be follow through

2. A Parenting Response - Jesse left David in the field
- So many of your students have had parents, that instead of speaking life to them, they have spoken death to them.
- What happens to the kid when their protector becomes their predator?
- Ephesians is a good book that speaks of self-worth
- Part of our redemptive process was not only the beating that was for our healing, not only the salvation from his death, but as they hurled insults he redeems every negative attack that has been said about us, every word that has broken us down.

3. A Prepared Voice - Samuel went off to Rama after anointing David
- Use your hurt to help someone in life instead of using your hurt to hate and have an excuse to never help anyone. As if a girls who was raped to ask how would God let that happen, did God see that happen? The truth is God says He would never leave us nor forsake us, so yes God was there.
- John Wayne movie, The Cowboy, John teaches a bunch of boys how to be men, being a father to them.
- When you awake the man inside a boy you can expect a war every time.
- Come out of your cage to fight for a generation.

...read more on "AZ Youth Workers Conference Session 3 of 3"!

AZ Youth Workers Conference Session 2 of 3

Speaker: Garland Owensby

Topic: Postmodern Church/Emerging Church
Postmodern is a philosophy

Postmodern Youth Ministry

Book: Soul Tsunami - Leonard Sweets

Modern world says I don't need proof, post-modern says prove it.

Postmodernism is the reaction to the unfulfilled process of modernism

Science, education and rationalism were supposed to end war poverty and sickness.

Modernism:

• Learn truth
• Reality is out there to be discovered
• Individual emphasis
• Progress undeniable
• Logic is convincing

Postmodernism:

• We make truth
• Reality is simply to be constructed
• Team emphasis
• process is highly questionable
• stories are convincing

Earl Creps AGTS July 2003

1. Objectivity is out

• The FBI would not ask for your son if there was a bomb to go off if the bad guys ordered for him OR a box of chocolates and a case of beer. There is either another option or there is only ONE way.
• Postmodernists do believe in truth, their truth is 't'ruth, ours is 'T'ruth.
• Any time we see certainty they see arrogance, hard to be a win-win.
• Feelings are subjective, truth is objective, postmodernism basically stands on subjective source over objective truth.
• Mandy Moore Seventeen 2003 p187, "Truth is discovered from passion."
• We should discover Truth then become passionate about it.
• We must proclaim truth in Love, if we feel guilty then we must search our heart for subjective thoughts.

2. Question everything/Try anything

3. You will know me if you know mt story. (Experience)

• When we read the epistles, every rule is about a real life situation.
• Every dumb rule in life is about a real situation.

4. Tolerance is a necessity

• No absolutism, we must be tolerant

5. Multi-culturism and Pluralism

• Many faiths all competing together.
• Greg Steir about Starbucks Christianity quote, this is a generation that embraces a "Starbucks spirituality. Teens today are used to customizing every aspect of life, so why wouldn't this spill over into the areas of their spiritual lives...

Modernism: Facts - influence - belief - influence - behavior
Postmodernism: Experience - influence - belief - influence - behaviors

Modern truth affects relationships experiences and feelings, postmodern affects the others.

How do we reach the Postmodern World.
1. Invite them into the body of Christ, ecclesia
2. Invite them to experience God
3. Use authentic Language
4. Speak Love before Judgment
5. Relationships
A. What's it like to be ______________?
6. Build Community - small groups
7. Train students to share their testimony
8. Emphasize Dialogue

My thoughts:
There are emergent theology and emerging praxology. One has rebuilt it's foundation while the building is standing, the other is always making sure the building will continue to stand shoring up any areas of question. Emergent theology saw the postmodern movement and changed it's foundation of theology, the emerging praxology saw the postmodern movement and changed it's ways of teaching it's theology, these are big differences to be noted. When we have exchanged our core theologies to match the desire of our culture we risk huge losses when we cash in our stock, however when we realize that the culture has changed and we begin to chase it and adapt our inadequacies to meet the demand blessing ensues and the one being chased recognizes the relevancy or at least the futile attempts and realizes the status quo has changed. The average, typical person that has set his mind against the church has perfectly adequate reason, we have met every doubt in his mind, as I always say, the worst of us (the radical rights) represent the best of us. Paul said it best, follow him as he follows Christ. Case in point, it was also Paul who recognized this when he was in Athens in Acts 17. He recognized that the culture had changed, not that culture changed literally but his surroundings had changed. He picks up right from their belief system and applied biblical theology to their pagan praxology. The theology stayed the same that he had instilled but his praxology changed to using Greek mythology and an altar that had some writing on it. This is one of the most beautiful chapters in the bible for cross-cultural communications. The bigger admittance is realizing that we live in a cross-cultural nation, no longer do we need to go over seas to recognize this. And I don't say this due to the many languages in America nor the skin tones, but the modern thought versus the post-modern thought.

Let us not change our belief to accommodate all thoughts. Yes it is true that all truth is God's truth, his inspired truth. Yes, this truth can run deep in the pagan practices and ruthless extremists, even they wouldn't approve of you raping and pillaging their families. We can't assume that morality leads to God if different religions all agree on common morals. All truths definitely share common thread but those threads eventually weave ropes of theology that are tied to anchors of religions... we can agree in the midst of truth but must not be ignorant to realize that they all lead to their own individual 'gods'/God. I love my fellow Jew and even the radical Islam, the Jewish person deep down inside might even find love for me and the Islam and same for the Islam, that doesn't mean our belief lands us all on the same cloud with the same harpist as be knock on heavens door, let us not be so arrogant/ignorant.

...read more on "AZ Youth Workers Conference Session 2 of 3"!

AZ Youth Workers Conference Session 1 of 3

Speaker: Doug Reed

Lack Of Passions

Colossians 2:3

We become great at methodology but lack the passion that goes beyond theology.
Their has to be a soulfulness to communication.

Sometimes we struggle with passion because we don't like the position God has put us in.

IQ - our intelligence quotience.
EQ - our emotional quotience.

God Is About Making Us Passionate About Him.

1 Corinthians 1:26-29 - (rephrased my me) God chose the nobodies to point out the shallowness of the somebody's.

5 Principles of those who are passionate:

1. Principle of Solitude

• Satan fights your personal time because he is so afraid of the value it brings.
• Passion grows in the dark, it has to settle into your heart
• Dr. Cho, said, "I have more to do, I guess I better spend another hour with my creator to get it all done."
• Ezekiel spent three years before God used him to kill the Baal prophets.
• Principals of greatness begin with principles of solitude.

2. Principle of Self Encouragement

• Passion will die if it is not encouraged by yourself.
• enCourage is when courage is put in, disCourage is when courage is stolen.
• "Shut up and drive, we have all been shot" - Black Hawk Down

3. Principle of Sacrifice

• Personal cost will build passion

4. Principle of Simplicity

• Passion is like an arrow, it must have a target.
• If you live without a vision you make life more difficult to live.
  

5. Principle of Spiritual Experience

• Jesus is the vine and we are the branches and apart from him we can do nothing.

Great One Liners:
The problem with the lack of passion is not what happened, it is what didn't happen.

You get tired when you live below your destiny.

All jobs have their own set of challenges.

...read more on "AZ Youth Workers Conference Session 1 of 3"!

@ The Leadership Summit // really fast

IT - Craig Groeschel

What is “it” in church that some have and some don’t?
• The “it” is the thing/essence/atmosphere/spirit that people feel @ church.
• Something so special of God that when people encounter “it” they would meet Christ.
• The Spir”it” of God.
• Someone can kill it, it is not a system, not a model, not a purpose deal or seeker deal, not an emergent deal, it can be found in all those types of places. Some can catch it, some can lose it.
• “it” happens, and sometimes it doesn’t.
• Dude falls out of a window when church is boring and dies, then they raise them from the dead, that is “it”.
• Acts 2:42-47 - 42 They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. 43 Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles. 44 All the believers were together and had everything in common. 45 Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need. 46 Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, 47 praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.
There are certain qualities that exist when “it” is present:
• Ministries has a Razor Focus.
o Don’t have 287 ministries, that is not better. Better ministries are better.
o To reach people that no ones is reaching then you have to do things that no one is doing. But in order to do things that no one is doing then we can’t do what everyone else is doing.
o What ministries are working and are producing maturing disciples?
o The 5 areas of focus of Lifechurch.tv
• Weekend Worship Experience, Small Group, Kids Ministry, Student Ministry, Missions.
o What are you doing that you need to stop doing?
• They see Obstacles as Opportunities
o You have everything that God needs in order for you to do everything he needs.
o God often guides by what He doesn’t provide.
• They are Willing to Fail.
o Failure is a Necessity.
o When you fail is when you see God.
• If Peter didn’t fail he wouldn’t have believed in Jesus in the way he did.
o God may want you to do something but there may be three steps of failure to get to what God has for you.
• They are lead by people that have “it”.
o Your ministry will not have it if you do not have it.
o We have to be careful to not lose it.
o “I had become a full time pastor and a part-time follower of Christ.”
o If you've lost IT- getting back to center/core is part of the process to get back
o You need to have IT for your ministry to get IT. Ministry can kill IT... when we focus on building our ministry rather than His Kingdom- we can start losing IT. Leaders that have IT seem to draw people because they want to be part of IT.

Mobile post sent by shaunMayfield using Utterz. Replies.

...read more on "@ The Leadership Summit // really fast"!

Conversations of LIfe - 1

This is a conversation of a good friend of mine, a student in Atlanta Masters Commission, RC. He is a great kid (a 21 year-old man), with an awesome heart, loves to bike freestyle and MTB, and even enjoys disc golf.

AIM IM with RC 7/3/08 4: 11PM

RC hey bud.
SM hey man
SM outta cali yet?
RC nahh
SM or stayin for the 4th
RC yea
RC how's the disc golf?
SM went good, nice to get out but a little warm, you ever play?
RC I'm jealous, of course, we have the third hardest course in the nation in my hometown
SM that is awesome

RC hey, I have a couple questions for you...
SM sure..
RC you're married, right?
SM yes
RC ok, How did you KNOW that your wife was the girl for you?
SM God, i know that was the answer u were expecting to hear
RC haha, well, I mean, what made it click in your head? like, there had to be something that just TOLD you that she was IT
SM i had made a vow that i would not date until it was the girl god wanted me to marry
and then when we wanted to date i prayed about it and knew that was what i was suppose to do
many said we were young and didnt know, but i knew
RC how old were you?
SM then, 19 when we started dating
RC not bad... yea...I'm just asking cuz, well, I met this girl... and I think she's perfect... well, more than perfect, if that makes sense
SM if there was one thing that you could change about her what would it be?
RC where she lives, lol, hmm... lets see... I'm really not sure... dang
just curious, what is the point that you are trying to make? cuz I think you have one...but I don't know what it is
SM haha, sometimes we look at people and wish we could change things about them. No matter how perfect she may seem now, sooner or later you will find something u wont like
RC mmk
SM you must be able to accept those things that you cant change
RC i was just about to ask how you handle that...
SM the truth is you cant change someone else, you can only change your perspective of that which you dont like
RC wow. thats good
SM that will help you not only in marriage but in every relationship you are in!
relationship/friendship/etc
RC yea... dang, thats good ;0 you're the freaking man...
SM in changing our perspective it allows them to keep their own personality and character
and be themselves and allows them to live more whole
RC wowww. yea, I need to get to AZ.
and chill with you for a while
SM when we try to change them we force them into our box of perfection then they always are trying to live UP to our standard and then they end up feeling like a failure
and in marriage that is not healthy, she then feels like she is hurting you then makes you go on a power trip and puts u in control and not in a healthy manner
RC wow.... i never would have thought of something like that
SM marriage isnt about power, its actually about submission, "wives submit to your husbands, husbands love your wives"
RC loving is submitting, yea?
SM in loving our wives we submit to their needs, they submit to our spiritual authority
two different kinds of submission
RC wow...
SM control authority and spiritual authority
RC yea
SM that will get u mileage in a relationship
RC it makes so much sense!!
SM good, and know that girls never make sense, haha
RC haha, yea, I got that one
SM dont ever tell them that, thats not good either, haha j/k
RC yea, that would be bad
wow... dang dude... how'd you get so smart? like, I'm still shocked. for lack of a better term.
SM ran to a wall a lot and too many drugs, lol, no idea
i dont see my self as smart as much as i would say i am an observer
learn to watch your world and learn from it
RC ahhhh
SM be experiential and allow everything to be a moment of Ahaa!
RC I like that.

SM i want to blog this conversation, is that cool with you?
RC I am down for that... whats your blog site?
SM www.shaunmayfield.com
RC haha...you have a blogger account with your own domain name! Awesome!
SM haha, i figured i better get it before someone else does
RC haha, yea. I don't know what I would do without friends like you.
SM awe, thanks man, that is very cool, im glad we got to know each other in ATL
RC haha...yea. I'm very glad for that. I'm gonna blog this convo too, just so ya know
SM sweet man.
RC You honestly don't know how much this meant to me... I honestly feel a whole lot better..cuz I was worried about so much...
SM that is so cool
RC yay for friends who are there for each other!!
SM haha, woot!

I shared this for a few reasons.

1. Take a good look at how you see people and understand the ability to change our perspective on someone else's 'lack of' and realize that we can either focus on the 90% negative of who they are to us or we can look at the 10% positive and focus on that and begin to change the only one we control... ourselves!

2. Marriage is about love and submission. Wives submit to the control authority, ultimate say so goes to the husband... HOWEVER, and a big however, before any one presumes I am chauvinistic. (Just ask my wife, I am not allowed to be chauvinistic ( that's a joke, get it?!?)) When husbands truly love our wives we then submit to there needs, emotionally, physically and mentally, there creating a balance.

3. I am not smart, as matter of fact, I consider myself to not learn as well as others and I am self-admitted learning disabled (no doctor proof as of yet). However I have learned to observe the world around me. This point deserves a blog on it's own and will quite likely lead to a blog/book/short story of some kind to show how my outlook on life is all from observing; it is what I have coined reasonable deduction (common sense+mathematical calculations+not allowing ignorance to blind me). Be a watcher, soak up your environment, breathe slowly and observe the motion, hear the dialect, watch the mannerisms, be a learner, be a CREATIVE!

...read more on "Conversations of LIfe - 1"!

Cultural Clarity de Peru: (Times) of the Culture

A really interesting observation that I made that I already talked about in my previous post I will expand a little more on is the time. Another funny thing with Peruvians is time is really just a philosophy or great idea but a poor invention. As the week started we would set times to be ready and be waiting for 20 minutes to an hour for them. Our leader, Doug, expressed his concern that we always be ready on time no matter what. Well by the end we were being pushed by them. So as we are getting more tired and slower and run down the local Pastors seemed to sense our eagerness to follow the clock so as we were beginning to slow they were there to push us.

By the end of the trip I heard “rapido” more times than I wanted. However I feel they were respecting us and our time consciousness. I began to think about the differences of culture. Are they wrong for being late all the time and not caring? Are we wrong for always holding the clock as a higher priority then relationships? I feel the root of this is true, there are differences of culture and that carries much of the weight however I feel a sense of blame and ownership. As two cultures collide, I believe our eyes are opened up to our shortcomings.

First off I will point the finger because there is less there to deal with, actually I truly want to focus on the American rush. If you are like my Peruvian friends, look at your watch, focus a little more, care a little more, be a little more courteous of others. If a car is about to run you over instead of forcing him to slow down pick up your pace, simply move.

So before I point the finger I am first to say, SLOW down America. Don’t shortsale relationships because of your over-exhausted time schedule. Don’t neglect your nature of relationship, we are relational by nature. Stop to say hello, slow down to have time to bless someone, don’t run so fast so that you can have a meaningful conversation of hope and purpose, don’t miss opportunities that are God appointed. Allow yourself to be in the moment and present for what God has intended instead of putting on the game face all the time and running. I realize that many times I speed when I drive and am not even in a hurry. I have accustomed myself to always be on ‘rush mode’. I seem to always be late for things even late for events that are not even scheduled, figure that one out. I want to sloooow down, I want to catch my breathe and breath a deep sigh of relief that the earth will still spin even if I’m not pedaling it. Did you hear that, our little planet will still keep spinning without you pedaling it and running on it.

Here’s the bottom line, you will always have more to do, more to finish, more work to do… set it down and relax, kick your legs up and enjoy the simple life all around you that is waiting to be explored. We make so much complication of God’s simplicity and make ourselves tired and God is saying rest in me my child.

...read more on "Cultural Clarity de Peru: (Times) of the Culture"!

Cultural Clarity de Peru: The Kiss of Innocence

After the first conference a young lady approached me with Oscar, my translator, and she had a question for me as well as a prayer request. Her prayer request was that her father was a pastor for eight years and he quit and walked away from God. I could tell in your heart she was hurt and broken. Her question was that she felt very shy but had a heart to share her faith and she didn’t what to do. I encouraged her that it is okay that she is shy but I shared with her that when we receive that baptism of the Holy Spirit we receive power to be witnesses and I encouraged her to seek God for everything that He has for her. I spoke life into her and told her that she is perfect in every way, that her life has purpose and that God has a destiny for her. I told her that she was wonderful and amazing. I told her that when she shares her faith with people and they reject her they are not really rejecting her; they are rejecting God. She seemed to be very encouraged and lifted up by those words.

Let me step you back to the moment of her approach, as she neared me with Oscar they seemed to be pretty close and as I stood it was very awkward so the only way to make it not awkward was to turn the stand into a standing hug. When I went to hug her she hugged me face to face and then I heard her kiss me. At first I was very nervous and couldn’t understand why she did that. Then I realized that I had been seeing that from different people throughout the previous day. As the rest of the week every woman or girl hugged me as well as any person with a kiss.

Now the funny thing is I hate touching people’s hands, sure call me weird. To me it is gross and I wish we in America did not do the hand shake. Many times I will hit fists instead of shake hands. You know what also bugs me is holding hands to pray, call me unholy or what but I do not like it. Think about it for a second, the longer the prayer the hotter and more sweaty it gets, gross. To me the kiss is a little weird but in a strange sense beautiful. I remember our last night our bus on the way to the airport had to drive through the drive-thru and we sat there looking inside as three girls were finishing there meals and one had to leave and then she kissed her friends on the cheeks then left. Over and over I saw this happening and it brings the idea of trust and love as well as a personal relationship. I think it is a personal way of greeting inspiring love that a hand shake can’t do…. wait, wait, I guess we do have that, we have the clasp of the hands, snap the fingers, hit three times, hit the fists up then down, spin around, high five, then hug. We also have the gangster hands clasp, fist to fist, hug the side shoulder.

I must say that the love of the innocent kiss is beautiful and makes our hand shake quite pathetic. Here is my solution, I don’t think that we can ever change the culture of America to the kiss, at least not easily. However how can you show love more? How can you express the love that God has given you to the people in your world? God has given each of us our own circle of influence and our own world if you will. Are you able to affect your world in a positive way? I hear many times from people that would say, “I can’t change my world”. The truth is maybe you can’t, maybe that is too big of a task, but I believe in you. I believe that you can change your circle, your own ‘world’, your area of influence. So how will tomorrow be different than today? Will you begin to affect the destiny of others by loving more? Let’s see it.

...read more on "Cultural Clarity de Peru: The Kiss of Innocence"!

Reports From Peru

Peru is a beautiful country and I have cherished every moment here. After the dozen or so mission trips to Mexico I felt very comfortable in Peru. One of the funnest and scariest parts is the driving, much like Mexico. There are really no rules, well at least rules that are followed. Stop signs are optional, red lights are recommended and the horn works as a tool for communication. Yet in the midst of seeming chaos and almost complete traffic jams, Peruvians seem to still stay positive and there are also no accidents, at least not in the week we were there and believe me, after watching the driving for 5 minutes I expected to see at least a few accidents daily. Another funny thing with Peruvians is time is really just a philosophy or great idea but a poor invention. They do not seem to be too worried of the time. Many times we would wait a while for the different local pastors and leaders.

There was a couple interesting things that happened. The first night we were still in a state of euphoria with the idea of being in a new country and the excitation of the days ahead. We were given our room keys and go to our rooms. My room was on the side of a VERY busy road not to mention all the honking. I could not sleep at all and it was a very good thing I brought some Sleep MD. Chicken is the main staple food, more prevalent than good clean water, no joke. So we literally ate chicken for every meal, now my first point is the chicken is the best chicken I have eaten in my life. It is all rotisserie and amazing. However after the first nine times in a row it became out of control. Now I must mention that there was a Starbucks only a parking lot away that I frequented every morning to do my "vanille latte con hellado" as well as the most amazing cinnamon roll that cost about $0.80 US. So finally ten meals in, that is lunches and dinners we end up at a high end outdoor mall that was pretty cool. Finally a food court, anything you would want including American fast food, yessss! No, because all the meals were included in our trip and they paid for them all at once, so guess where we found ourselves? Pardo's chicken, 10th time in a row. It will be a good month of Chicken Sabbatical for me.

The leadership conferences were amazing. God always does the unexpected. We were expecting about 200 at the fist conference and about 300 or so at the second, totaling 500-600. I personally was expecting about 70-80 youth pastors and leaders total. The first conference totaled just about 500 and the second was 500+. So with a total of over a thousand combined, I had about 100 pastors/leaders at each conference. They were hungry for learning and philosophies on ministry. I really felt that God had given me some great leadership ideas and strategies to give to these amazing people. One of the neat things is a couple days later when we were doing a children’s program at a little village a lady came up and told me that she was at one of the conferences with me and that it was 'excellente'. It was amazing to see one of the people in their own area of influence and that they were blessed by the conference.

At the second conference there was a homosexual couple that came in to see what was going on and got convicted so they returned that night for the service and wept knowing they were living in sin. Pastor Larry who was on our team who had been a missionary to Ecuador for many years ministered to these two guys and through tears of shame found God and left new 'men' of God.

I have never been so stretched in my life. The two conferences were in two days in different city/states, the first one in Lima and the second in Ica. These were about 5 hours away. The first conference was Tuesday, it began at 8:30am and ended at about 7:30pm then we all went for dinner, chicken. Rode the cab to the bus terminal (like our Greyhounds) and left about 10pm. We arrived in Ica at about 2:30am and then found our hotel and got only a few hours of sleep to make it to the next conference that started at 8:30am. This same schedule repeated that day ending with the drive back to Lima. Then the next morning up at the same time around 7ish to head to do some street ministry with the team that was here doing ministry while we were at the conferences. That day lasted until 11pm with a couple chicken meals in there for our pleasure. So three days of about 4-5 hours and then standing and walking for about 13 hours and ministering is one of the most exhausting things I have done. I ran my body to fully empty relying on fumes then ran out of fumes by Saturday.

Then Saturday was a day to shop and eat and see the country, it was great and beautiful. Then Sunday I preached at a church in Lima with a couple hundred in attendance. On my way the Book of Hope leader in Peru told me that the mayor goes to this church and will be there, nothing like pressure, eh. God really moved on me and even though I felt too sick to minister I always depend on God in those times and as I approached the pulpit the sickness was not able to follow. I poured my heart out with a message that God gave me for this church talking about how the gift of God, His son, is effective in our life. Myself, the church and the pastor all seemed blessed. Prior to the service the pastor led us through the church introducing us to all the teachers and pastors and as we were entering the Sunday School class for the teenagers the Sr. Pastor told my translator that I would be teaching the class, again nothing like pressure. I had nothing prepared but God led and I followed. When we are sick and at the end or feel great and have high energy God always comes through.

This trip was amazing and everyone that supported us in prayer, thank you. I was invited back again next year and really hope to return. The burden of leadership burns in me to return again. So be praying about considering helping me get there next year monetarily and in prayer. Oh and an interesting bit of knowledge, where we stayed the last rumored time that it rained was about 10 years ago, other than that it hasn't rained for hundreds of years even though it is on the coast, it just mists a lot.

...read more on "Reports From Peru"!

Viva Peru

Well I am sitting here at IAH, the International Airport of Houston for a 3 hour layover and am getting excited to finish my next flight, 6.5 hours to Lima, Peru. I was invited by Doug Reed to join him and a team of about 10 pastors to go to Peru for a Pastors Leadership Conference. It will be a great trip, I will get to lead three sessions with about 70-80 youth pastors and leaders. I have entitled the three sessions I will be leading:

• Seven Keys to Growth: What causes your ministry to be a magnet for teenagers that need Christ.
• Why Inspirational Leadership? 10 Roles For An Inspirational Leader.
• Ten Great Ways to Lose A Volunteer: Ten missteps that can cost you new and old volunteers.
  

Please keep our team in your prayers and that God uses us in powerful ways in Peru. We need them and depend on God to make this week memorable for everyone.

...read more on "Viva Peru"!