The internet browser is one of the most basic pieces of computer software on any personal or buisness computer. Whether it’s Internet Explorer or Apple Safari or Mozilla Firefox, everyone uses a browser of some kind. The buzz right now is all about the newest browser that has been released. Google, the king of internet search, just realeased a browser yesterday known as Google Chrome. You can download it (in Beta form) at www.google.com/chrome. Along with it’s release, Google has also created a number of different videos explaining the various features of Google Chrome. You can find those videos here: Learn about Google Chrome.
If you want the summary version, check out the video that I made about it below.
Have you upgraded yet to PowerPoint 2007? Have you figured it out yet? If not, you’re in luck. Ray’s video post this week is a walk through of PowerPoint ‘07, and all the changes that have been made. Check it out!
The world is changing and that change is universal. It occurs in business, education, medicine, marketing, religion and politics. But what happens when the church tries to change and come into the 21st century? Gordon MacDonald, in his book Who Stole My Church?, answer this question in a most unique way.
MacDonald leads his readers through a fictional situation in which he addresses the changes of a church. He (MacDonald tells the story in first person) invites some of the older members of his church to discuss issues they were having with the idea of modernizing the sanctuary. The first meeting, one intended for them to voice their concerns, turns into several months of study in which MacDonald addresses change and church history in a powerful way.
Pros: MacDonald employs simple, easy-on-the-eyes reading style. Throughout the entire book he uses common terms and defines those words and concepts with which most readers are not familiar. This fact, coupled with his pastor’s heart, invites the reader as a silent witness and partaker in the discussion. To his credit, MacDonald does not spend all his time on an older audience, but brings in the youth group praise team to spend some time discussing music style and preference in relationship to changes occurring in church.
Cons: If you are looking for a study guide or church-help book, you’ll be disappointed. The first person fiction style of MacDonald’s book is not meant to be taken as “3 steps to helping your church step into the 21st century” book. Who Stole My Church? Primarily contains principles and concepts which were of use to the author. This characteristic may be labeled either “pro” or “con” depending upon what attitude or motive you bring to the reading.
The other negative/positive is the author’s frequent use of extra-biblical materials. Like the previous discussed characteristic, it hovers between “pro” and “con”. MacDonald begins his Discovery Group, as he affectionately calls them, with change as seen in the scriptures. Gradually, he makes his way out to survey changes in church history and business and the necessity of things to adapt (not in principle but in practice) during the years.
I have thoroughly enjoyed this book in the several months which I have spent reading it. I would recommend it, not as a church fix-all but as a book which contains concepts worth thinking about, regardless of age. I would warn the reader that MacDonald does impose his views on scripture in several places and caution you (as always!) to READ WITH AN OPEN BIBLE and critical eye.
Every man lives his life on a road. At his birth, he begins walking toward his destination. This is what will eventually come to be known as his destiny; his God-given purpose in life. While many have been distracted by wrong destinations and have swerved off-course, I am convinced that far more have merely stopped short of reaching God’s ultimate purpose for their life. Though this may seem the lesser evil, it is also a greater tragedy.
The world is full of those who began with vigor and determination and now lie still as their dreams crack and fade like an old photograph; colorless and lackluster. Content to merely exist, they have forgotten that existing is only a means to an end. But how can we reach that end? Our passion will take us there.
Keep Breathing Passion truly is what keeps us breathing. In the obvious sense, it gives us a reason to live. The will to start and finish each day must be derived from passion. God created us with desires and dreams and goals to be our fuel, and to be without that fuel is to sacrifice our desire for life itself.
In the deeper sense, just as we need air to live, one can never truly live aside from this thing called passion. What does it mean to live? Not to breath and eat and sleep, but to really live? The answer is written in the language of passion; we cannot tell the story of life without it. Howard Thurman advised, “Don’t ask yourself what the world needs; ask yourself what makes you come alive. And then go and do that. Because what the world needs are people who have come alive.”
It can be scary when waking up each morning becomes more about endurance than about excitement. But there is a prescription for such a life: it is passion.
Keep Moving
When thinking about purchasing a vehicle, the first thing we consider is the engine. Will this vehicle be able to get me where I want to go? We rarely consider the same thing when we are contemplating the direction of our lives. The world is well aware of the importance of using passion as a vehicle to get us through our lives. Donald Trump once said: “Without passion, you have no energy — and without energy, you have nothing.” They understand the way God made us. Though they do not acknowledge Him, they can see the system He created.
I fear that many in the church have missed this idea entirely. We are well-accustomed to altar calls begging for missionaries and ministers, Sunday school teachers and deacons. But when have we ever heard a call to go find our passion? God’s Word contains such a call:
For as in one body we have many members, and the members do not all have the same function, so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another. Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, in proportion to our faith; if service, in our serving; the one who teaches, in his teaching; the one who exhorts, in his exhortation; the one who contributes, in generosity; the one who leads, with zeal; the one who does acts of mercy, with cheerfulness. (Romans 12:4-8, ESV)
Paul does not give a general exhortation to any one kind of ministry. His point is that we are all created with different gifts, abilities, and desires. We’re not called to uniformity, we’re called to individuality. God wants us to discern our strengths and weaknesses and He wants us to figure out what gets us excited. Once we understand how He made us, we are to serve Him with passion and vigor. Whether we are are preachers, teachers, givers, or servants, God wants us to serve Him with passion.
If our God-given purpose is our destination, passion is the engine that will take us down the road of life until we get there. Sometimes ministries will die because people fall out of fellowship with God. More often, they die because their foundation was built on a perceived duty rather than a God-given passion.
Today’s post is from Guy Kawasaki, a forward thinking entrepreneur and blogger. You can look for 8-10 posts on PowerPoint and it’s ministry applications over the next two months.
I suffer from something called Ménière’s disease—don’t worry, you cannot get it from reading my blog. The symptoms of Ménière’s include hearing loss, tinnitus (a constant ringing sound), and vertigo. There are many medical theories about its cause: too much salt, caffeine, or alcohol in one’s diet, too much stress, and allergies. Thus, I’ve worked to control all these factors.
However, I have another theory. As a venture capitalist, I have to listen to hundreds of entrepreneurs pitch their companies. Most of these pitches are crap: sixty slides about a “patent pending”, “first mover advantage”, “all we have to do is get 1% of the people in China to buy our product” startup. These pitches are so lousy that I’m losing my hearing, there’s a constant ringing in my ear, and every once in a while the world starts spinning.
Before there is an epidemic of Ménière’s in the venture capital community, I am trying to evangelise the 10/20/30 Rule of PowerPoint. It’s quite simple: a PowerPoint presentation should have ten slides, last no more than twenty minutes, and contain no font smaller than thirty points. While I’m in the venture capital business, this rule is applicable for any presentation to reach agreement: for example, raising capital, making a sale, forming a partnership, etc.
Ten is the optimal number of slides in a PowerPoint presentation because a normal human being cannot comprehend more than ten concepts in a meeting—and venture capitalists are very normal. (The only difference between you and a venture capitalist is that he is getting paid to gamble with someone else’s money). If you must use more than ten slides to explain your business, you probably don’t have a business. The ten topics that a venture capitalist cares about are:
Problem
Your solution
Business model
Underlying magic/technology
Marketing and sales
Competition
Team
Projections and milestones
Status and timeline
Summary and call to action
You should give your ten slides in twenty minutes. Sure, you have an hour time slot, but you’re using a Windows laptop, so it will take forty minutes to make it work with the projector. Even if setup goes perfectly, people will arrive late and have to leave early. In a perfect world, you give your pitch in twenty minutes, and you have forty minutes left for discussion.
The majority of the presentations that I see have text in a ten point font. As much text as possible is jammed into the slide, and then the presenter reads it. However, as soon as the audience figures out that you’re reading the text, it reads ahead of you because it can read faster than you can speak. The result is that you and the audience are out of synch.
The reason people use a small font is twofold: first, they don’t know their material well enough; second, they think that more text is more convincing. Total bozosity. Force yourself to use no font smaller than thirty points. I guarantee it will make your presentations better because it requires you to find the most salient points and to know how to explain them well. If “thirty points” is too dogmatic, the I offer you an algorithm: find out the age of the oldest person in your audience and divide it by two. That’s your optimal font size.
So please observe the 10/20/30 Rule of PowerPoint. If nothing else, the next time someone in your audience complains of hearing loss, ringing, or vertigo, you’ll know what caused the problem. One last thing: to learn more about the zen of great presentations, check out a site called Presentation Zen by my buddy Garr Reynolds.
This article was written by Guy Kawasaki at Atherton, California. Guy is a managing director of Garage Technology Ventures, an early-stage venture capital firm and a columnist for Forbes.com. Previously, he was an Apple Fellow at Apple Computer, Inc. where he was one of the individuals responsible for the success of the Macintosh computer.
Guy is the author of eight books including The Art of the Start, Rules for Revolutionaries, How to Drive Your Competition Crazy, Selling the Dream, and The Macintosh Way.
Perhaps you’ve heard this story before. An evangelist was celebrating the response to an invitation he had given with a child and a few adults responding and trusting Christ. His assistant made a passing remark to the effect of “Well, we saw 3 ½ salvations today. Praise God.” The evangelist was rather puzzled by this statement and responded like this: “3 ½? If you’re referring to a child as half, you couldn’t be more mistaken. A child has their entire life to serve God.”
It is with this story in mind that I review Transforming Children into Spiritual Champions by George Barna. The thrust of George Barna’s book is centered around this statistic: “A child’s moral development is set by the age of nine.” Did you catch that? Age nine! How often does a church staff throw kids off to the side or babysit them with Veggie Tales in junior church? I have seen it myself too often. Barna devotes a whole chapter to the subject of “Why kids matter.” His primary reasoning is that kids matter to God. Here is a quote from Barna in that chapter. Barna says, “If we do a great job of training children to love God with all their heart, mind, strength and soul, then we will no longer have to invest time battling over moral and spiritual issues such as abortion, homosexuality, gambling and pornography.”
True, this book is probably most directed towards pastors, but to whom is it the most practical? To parents. Whether you are in full-time ministry or not, you have the God-given task to train your children in the things of God. I challenge everyone to read this book whether you have children, or not. The principles it includes could change your life and ministry. This transformed my view of children’s ministry.
There is a growing trend in Evangelical Churches today to use small groups as a replacement for a more traditional Sunday School or Wednesday evening service. There are tons of “discussion starters” popping up all over the Internet and in Christian bookstores. Some Christian publishers are even releasing Bible Study materials with the Small group concept in mind. This month, MinistryLIVE turns it’s attention to this Small Group phenomenon.
Tyler The Growing Trend of Small Groups in Church Ministry
Brandon The Benefit of Small Groups to your Ministry
Ray The balance between Preaching & unfettered Discussion
Nate Practical Small Group Ideas
To say that small groups are a growing trend is really not a fair statement. Small groups historically can be traced back to Jethro’s advice to Moses on how to organize the people (Genesis 18:14-23). Moses was starting to get burned out and Jethro advised him to separate the people into smaller groups with their own leaders that would report to Moses. The modern manifestation stems from a trend in society. People’s group of friends became smaller and smaller, and before long a small group of closely knit friends was all one needed in life. You can see the outworking of this philosophy in a popular show of the 90’s and early 00’s called “Friends.” In fact that was the basic premise of the show. As church leaders started to read this trend in society they wisely adapted their ministry to comply with the small group mentality. Why?
One, smaller groups are disarming and easier to infiltrate as a new person. Two, more personal interaction can be achieved and discussion can be laser focused. And three, a pastor or deacon doesn’t have to lead every small group, allowing for lay leaders to have a significant ministry. It can be hard to invite an unsaved friend to a “church” service with all the presuppositions about what goes on there. But a small meeting of friends who discuss “spiritual” issues may be an easier “sell.”
Despite the modern background of the small group movement I believe the success of this ministry is not found in any of the above explanations. Small groups are not growing quickly because they are practical, in-touch with society, or easier to invite people to. Their effectiveness lies much deeper below the surface. God designed human beings to be relational creatures. After declaring Adam “very good” God explains to us in Genesis that there was no one suitable to be a helper to Adam. Even before Eve came along there was a need inside of Adam for fellowship with other humans. God created this need and then created Eve to fulfill that need.
Looking at the ministry of Christ you can see that Jesus used this fundamental nature of the human soul to his gain. He ministered within three circles; first, the “congregational” circle. He spoke to the masses, and any crowd that would gather to hear His words. This is mass ministry, like your church every Sunday, or a gospel crusade. Secondly, Jesus ministered to a small group. In fact it was one of the first tasks He finished before starting His ministry. He chose a group of men to follow Him. Men he could minister to with a personal connection on a long term basis in a smaller setting. This is the dynamic of the small group.
The conclusion to all of this is an important one that many leaders miss. The importance of small groups is not the “trend” or the “society” and connecting with it (not discounting these). It is not even the practicality and effectiveness of splitting a large group into more manageable smaller ones. The importance is within the heart of man. We were created by God to interact in a special way on this smaller group level. Some things that a small group accomplishes cannot be accomplished at the congregational level. They have their place and are a necessity not a trend. In the end, if our Lord utilized this ministry setting, how can we not to our best to recreate His methods?
There are a lot of benefits to including small groups in your ministry. Many would even argue that a ministry is incomplete without small groups. I recently heard about a church that turned their Sunday evening service into a time where the church’s small groups meet in different homes. Why are so many adding this kind of interaction to their ministry?
Multiply Ministry
During platform ministry, one person gets up and speaks or interacts with many people. This ministry can only go so deep since time does not allow the person up front to deal with individual situations or objections. Breaking into small groups means that more people are doing the ministering at the same time. This allows for much more in-depth communication to take place. I could continue on this idea, but I’ll save it for another time.
Encourage Discussion
It’s hard to get people to talk in front of crowds but you’d be surprised what they’ll share in a group of four. Also, segregating groups (men and women or by age or marital status) helps to loosen the lips of those you minister to.
Build Relationships
It’s easier to get to know less people. Small groups means that ministry leaders can focus on a manageable amount of people while ensuring that no one is left out.
Help with Discipline
Ever lean over in the middle of church and whisper something to someone next to you? We all do this. It’s easy to hide in a crowd, but when the number of people around drops to 3 or 7, it becomes much more difficult to let your focus wander.
You’re not Alone
I’ve been focusing on going from large group to small groups, but when working with an individual, there is also a benefit to having some time with a group of them. If you are discipling three men in your church, many would meet with them one-on-one in order to deal with individual issues. This is good, but try meeting with them all at the same time for a few weeks. This will help them realize that they are not alone in their struggles and will help them keep a broad perspective (many times we fail because we are so caught up with our struggles rather than the needs of those around us).
There is one final point to emphasize. Jesus also utilized a third setting for ministry; the one-on-one or two group. Out of that small group He chose three that He would become even closer with. Three that would share everything with Him, including a taste of His glory! The ultimate conclusion then is that man was created to interact with other humans on three levels; the congregation, the small group, and the one on one relationship. If we want to be totally affective as leaders we must utilize each group to its fullest extent, we must use each group to accomplish goals tailored to that group size. With the one-on-one group the focus is crystal clear. With the small group is becomes broader, and the congregation broader still. But the importance is that each level of ministry is utilized if one is missing the others suffer, and most of all the impact that a ministry can have in the life of an individual is hindered!
There is certainly a balance to be struck here. Along with the benefits of small groups does come some risk. The danger is that “discussion” and “conversation” will become the focal point rather than the truth. This post-modern culture has glorified the question to the point of making answers meaningless. Spirituality has become the ability to question everything and be comfortable with no answer. That is a very dangerous place to be. God’s Word is the answer.
I would make one simple observation: When dealing with small groups the truth must win out every time. The discussion is not king, the Word of God is. The discussions and conversations can be excellent, but truth must prevail every time. There can be no unanswered questions when God’s Word is concerned. If it is found clearly in scripture, we should not question it and we should not leave questions unanswered implying that small group members should find the answers on their own (which can very easily degrade to “create” their own answers).
I think there are very few people who would argue against a small group as being a vital tool in ministry. Let’s start this off with a few truth statements and then get to the practical tools.
Small groups are vital to ministry.
Small groups are effective.
Small groups can change the culture of your church.
For Leaders:
Situation: You’re the leader of your small group, but you don’t want to lord it over anyone or seem like you have arrived spiritually. How do you communicate humility to them?
Idea: Have a portion of your small group time devoted to a foot washing ceremony. Some churches do foot-washing regularly. Others don’t and may feel uncomfortable with it. In that case, maybe shining their shoes would be a better alternative.
John Maxwell said this: “If you want to lead on the highest level, be willing to serve on the lowest.” [21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership]
Situation: I’m moving away! Who is going to take my spot?
Idea: Identify a person in your group who you think has the potential to be its leader. Go out with them ever week/two times a month and pour your passion into them, teaching them to be what you are – a small group leader.
Paul said this: “And the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable men who will also be qualified to teach others.(NIV)” [2 Tim. 2:2]
Cultivating Unity:
Situation: Your small group is filled with individuals. Is there a way to develop unity together?
Idea(s):
Light a unity candle together. You usually see this in weddings, but turn the lights out and give each person a candle, then have them all light one candle together. Your small group is in it together. They’re a team. They are unified.
Try a prayer walk together. Walk down the sidewalks of your community and pray for each house on your street. At the stop sign, join together in a circle, praying together again for that street.
Go out and do open air evangelism. Do a missions trip together. Work in a soup kitchen or in other areas of community service. Put on a dinner or special event for other small groups in your church.
Go to a play, movie, ball game, or whatever as a small group.
Do a ropes course, or canoe together, or whatever. This helps cultivate teamwork.
Use a devotional together to use for discussion during your small group time.
I hope this was very helpful and practical for you. God bless you in your small group endeavors for His glory and the advancement of His kingdom!
Sometimes when I’m trying to describe ice-breakers and games to you I struggle to describe exactly what’s going on. That becomes a problem if you take them back to your children’s ministry or teen group to try. Just like a joke with confused details, an ice-breaker with missing rules is no fun.
I do my best every episode to spell out exactly what to do, but sometimes it takes a lot of thought. To save on time and ensure clarity, the game this week is accompanied by a video. They do a pretty good job, but keep in mind that this game can work with an audience that is seated. Also, be creative with the items you ask for.
Pocket Treasure - This game is possibly the simplest I’ve shared with you so far. One person holds out their hand and announces an item that someone in the audience must bring them. The first person to do it either wins points for their team or (if there are no teams) a prize. For larger crowds, position two people at different points around the group to make it fair for all.
Item Suggestions: wallet, $20 bill, out of state license, hair-tie, dirty sock, fingernail clipping.
Prize Suggestions: candy bars, tee shirts, gift certificates, or something else that is cheap but will motivate people to come forward.
When we think about sin, what first comes to mind are the ‘big sins’ like murder, adultery, and theft. And we can pat ourselves on the back, because we aren’t committing crimes or publicly hurting other people, right? This may be true, but inwardly we often hide great sins as well, often time without even realizing it.
In this book, Jerry Bridges discusses what he calls the ‘respectable’ or ‘acceptable sins’. He talks about the behavior characteristics in our lives that we have learned to justify and excuse.
The first six chapters go into detail discussing how we’ve grown to tolerate sins, and the reality of their malignancy in our lives. He explains the power of the Holy Spirit to help us overcome sin in our lives and the steps for dealing with these sins. And this is all before we even talk about specific sins!
He then devotes the next 14 chapters to specific sins that we daily encounter in our own lives. And concludes with a chapter titled: Where do we go from here?
Hands down, this is the most convicting, challenging and practical book I have read in a long time. If you are stuck in rut in your spiritual life, or feel apathetic in your walk with God, this book will snap you out of it. It motivated me to see my sin for what it really is, and is helping me overcome, with the power of God, some sin struggles I encounter in my own life.
He communicates simply and clearly, and his personal writing style and illustrations will make you feel as if you are talking with a good friend about what God has been teaching you.
It’s a great book to read for group study, one-on-one with a friend, or simply on your own. To find out more about it, click here.
Featured Article
The world is changing and that change is universal. It occurs in business, education, medicine, marketing, religion and politics. But what happens when the church tries to change and come into the 21st century? Gordon MacDonald, in his book 
I have thoroughly enjoyed this book in the several months which I have spent reading it. I would recommend it, not as a church fix-all but as a book which contains concepts worth thinking about, regardless of age. I would warn the reader that MacDonald does impose his views on scripture in several places and caution you (as always!) to 
Before there is an epidemic of Ménière’s in the venture capital community, I am trying to evangelise the 10/20/30 Rule of PowerPoint. It’s quite simple: a PowerPoint presentation should have ten slides, last no more than twenty minutes, and contain no font smaller than thirty points. While I’m in the venture capital business, this rule is applicable for any presentation to reach agreement: for example, raising capital, making a sale, forming a partnership, etc.
There are a lot of benefits to including small groups in your ministry. Many would even argue that a ministry is incomplete without small groups. I recently heard about a church that turned their Sunday evening service into a time where the church’s small groups meet in different homes. Why are so many adding this kind of interaction to their ministry?
There is certainly a balance to be struck here. Along with the benefits of small groups does come some risk. The danger is that “discussion” and “conversation” will become the focal point rather than the truth. This post-modern culture has glorified the question to the point of making answers meaningless. Spirituality has become the ability to question everything and be comfortable with no answer. That is a very dangerous place to be. God’s Word is the answer.
