I recently had a conversation about the importance of building rock-solid dynamics and culture for a new (or any church for that matter) church plant with Dave Ingland  — he’s on the frontlines doing kingdomwork on the “left coast”. As a church planter, he can identify with Craig Groeshel of LifeChurch.tv who has undoubtedly encountered this very same issue in his growing multi-site multi-state network of physical church sites (13 and counting?).

Groeshel’s recent book “IT” addresses the “IT” factor which determines whether a particular ministry is set for growth and vibrancy….or not.  So I asked Pastor Dave for his review of the “IT” book.  Enjoy!

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It: How Churches And Leaders Can Get It and Keep It is the first book from Craig Groeschel that I have read. If his other books are anything like It, then it is safe to say that if you appreciate Pastor Craig’s gift of preaching, you’ll appreciate his writing style as well—they are both very similar.

It is this essence of Groeschel’s delivery that really helps to connect people to his messages. It’s a very natural, humorous, and engaging form of communication.

The title suggests that a definition and answer of just what It is will be given. Forget about that happening!

Craig Groeschel shares something tangible in his description of what It is, yet never comes out and declares a definition. We learn what is not It, but have to find out for ourselves just what It is.  That is the beauty of the book!

The “ah-ha!” Moments come when Groeschel’s words connect with your own thoughts and cause sparks to fly and change to happen.

Not only does Pastor Craig share his experiences in his search for It, he also Read the rest of this entry »

As a parent, I’m always on the lookout for tips and reminders to help me be “on my toes” as a parent and work toward being the Super-Dad I want to be.

Today I received an email from Tumblon.com regarding developmental milestones of my 4 year old son.

The email from the parenting website that focuses on the 0-5 year old set shared some advice about the emotional development my son may be experiencing these days.

Here’s one segment of the email I received regarding moodiness of a 4 year old:

MOODINESS

Part of your child’s personality is moodiness. Even the most even-tempered child will experience moodiness at some time. Helping your child recognize what triggers his moodiness, learning how to control moodiness, and finding ways to overcome moodiness are essential to his development.

Part of managing moodiness is understanding the factors that trigger moodiness in your child. Some of the common factors are sleepiness, hunger, and frustration. Knowing what commonly triggers moodiness in your child and having him take ownership in avoiding situations that trigger it will help. For example, if hunger triggers it, remember to take a healthy snack when going out. Sometimes the type of diet your child has can affect his emotions. Paying attention to the way he reacts to different kinds of foods may help with some moodiness. . .

[exceprt from tumblon.com article]

In order to help my little guy in figuring out how to initiate, build, and manage his relationships over the next several months in particular I realize that the first step is to help him to self-inventory his own feelings at any given moment.

Being able to put a finger on how he feels right now will help him interact with his friends and sister (& mom and dad!) with much better results. Of course this is a classic win-win situation.

But then while I reflected upon this advice, it hit me Read the rest of this entry »

One of the most popular classic product marketing legends centers on 5 letters that incredibly turbo-charged sales.

By printing these six letters on the product label, sales had a significant and recurring boost.

It was a was a win-win situation.  The company’s products flew off the shelves.  Consumers used the product more, experienced more effective results, and felt better about it.

What were these incredible 5 letters? Read the rest of this entry »

Some of the world’s biggest marketing successes weren’t launched by $1 million/minute Superbowl commercials, loss-leader discount promotions or gimmicky jingle-heavy radio spots.

Instead, a product, service, or person catches on when the right things come into alignment.  And many times none of this costs any money at all.

Did you know there’s a formalized discipline to crafting “buzz”?  Yup, there is.

This is the part where the Church could get a little extra boost by taking notes from. . . Read the rest of this entry »

My name is Benjamin White. I study Theology and the Bible at Princeton Theological Seminary — and I am a coordinator and cell leader of Circle of Hope Church (www.circleofhope.net), a network of cells in the Philadelphia metro area.

Spurred by Kenny’s recent posts, I was just looking at the websites of a few of our nation’s major mega churches (hardly an exhaustive sampling I assure you).

I noticed that none of these churches posted any real information about the people who were the church (at least not anywhere I could readily access it). All of the pictures were professional and all of the contact info was part of the machine. Look, another excellently lit, joyful mother and child fading into a sweet shot of a padded teen doing a frontside nose grind! If you need help call the prayer line! If you need childcare take this ticket and follow the blinking lights to the proper pod!

There is no way to actually connect, human to human. Where is the mess? Read the rest of this entry »

Known for his church of 8,000 Strong & the “fastest growing church” according to ABC News, Pastor Mark Driscoll was featured on Nightline this week.

If you know him or know of him, you are sure to have a personal opinion about if what he’s doing at Mars Hill Church is “right” or “wrong”.  (BTW, Mars Hill Church is not to be confused with Mars Hill Bible Church where Pastor Rob Bell preaches — a personal favorite of mine with his Nooma series)

Mark Driscoll has written a bunch of book that are refreshing for anyone that thinks the Church needs some shaking up, while hanging onto its core beliefs.  I want to share his ministry because anyone that wants to get to Church 3.0 needs to be aware of the things that are being done NOW to mix it up for how we “do church”.  Mark Driscoll’s work at Mars Hill is one of those data points you need to understand in order to integrate, refute or augment in your own vision for religion and Christian living.

For those that missed the TV interview, here it is again for your viewing pleasure: Read the rest of this entry »

I found myself in line at the grocery store in a daze, waiting for my turn to empty the wallet again (Am I the only one noticing that food prices have skyrocketed lately?).

But I suddenly awoke in noticing that the 3 people ahead of me all had these big colorful containers…of Mr. Peanut Dry Roasted Peanuts!  How odd. . .that 3 in a row picked-up the same item.

So I quickly turned around and scanned the end-caps for a promotional display. I didn’t find one, but did see the aisle in which peanuts would be found.  I abandoned the line and went in search of Mr. Peanut. Why? Purely because of the packaging.

Sure enough, I found Mr. Peanut and he accompanied me back to the checkout line (yes, I got the same spot in line again).

This impulse buy kept me thinking as I snacked throughout the week. It seemed like just another classic success story in product marketing. “Who better to serve American’s favorite peanuts than Mr. Peanut himself?”

But what I’ve come to understand in my week long relationship with Mr. Peanut is that the Church has something to learn from him: Read the rest of this entry »

This week, I picked up on a topic that has been floating around Liquid Church’s iCampus which has been stuck in my mind.

So today, I wanted to start a conversation about the nuances in language we encounter so often in our conversations regarding church and faith.

Take a look at this video and join the conversation by leaving a comment below!

In the age of Facebook, Twitter, Digg and other digital modes of expression, the new Google generation is comfortable with blurring the lines between offline and online worlds.

“Doing church online” is not a big stretch for the up and coming digerati crowd. I’ve been attending the Internet Campus live worship experiences at LifeChurch.tv recently and feel connected to Pastor Brandon or some other brothers and sisters that I’ve met repeatedly during the iCampus worship experiences.

During the week, I trade Twitter tweets and post comments on blogs which explore tangential issues on a deeper level.

Just as in offline churches, the next step is building relationships that invest in each other’s lives based on trust, genuine love and fellowship. LifeChurch.tv is going about forming these LifeGroups amongst the hundreds and hundreds of worship experience participants who show up each week online.

Here’s one example of an Internet ministry that gets it right in reaching out. . . Read the rest of this entry »

One of the first thoughts people express when you talk about an online church or iCampus is how individualistic it might be. The first conclusions tend to head toward assuming technology doesn’t lend itself to connect people with each other.

But the true power of the Internet is aggregation of individuals. The real effect comes into play as more and more individuals who may normally never meet each other or even be aware of each other’s existence are brought together for common purposes. It’s a network after all, not billions of separated silos.

We are called to worship God together with the body of Christ, not alone in a corner. And if you take another look at the potential for using the Internet to bring together all who are yearning for greater purpose in their lives, to be encouraged by others and also encourage others as well, you’ll simply be amazed.

If you open your eyes and mind a little wider, you’ll hopefully be able to see both the “I” as well as the “US” in iCampus.

Liquid Church in NJ is taking this vision and putting it into action with the launch of their own official church iCampus in January.

Perfect for the New Year and new beginnings, why not try something new on January 11 and jump online to join in iWorship at the Liquid Church iCampus?

Current plans include digital hosts in each room, live prayer rooms where your personal spiritual needs can be met, and live video-based (multiple webcams) small group Bible study meetings online.

Pastor Dave Adamson heads up the iCampus at Liquid.  An example of the potential for this medium himself, he moved from Australia to New Jersey after connecting with Liquid from the other side of the planet!