the green room:

kids + students + college

ok, so let me first off say i'm sorry.  i have grand hopes to be one of those people who blog everyday; but lately my life has been running from one meeting to the next.  all of this is due in part to my role shifting in June, when the leadership of mars hill asked me to join there executive team, oversee both kids + students, begin working to create a college ministry and continue teaching at the.element (our junior ministry at mars hill).  

On paper this feels like a lot; but deep down i feel good about all of this because when this transition happened, i quickly promoted Annie Oosting to be our kids pastor and Josh Bishop to be our student pastor.  these two are both young emerging leaders with so much to offer the church.  it has been a blast getting to delegate the weight of these ministries to them...

funds for the college ministry was just approved two weeks ago and my in-box is just flooded with people who have thoughts, dreams, and concerns about this.  i have so many thoughts on this, many i'll share here in the coming months; but right now the students team and i are just thrilled.

the junior high kicked off a few weeks ago and was just a blast.  these students are incredible!  last year we spent the whole year walking through the book of exodus and focussing on the places of egypt and sinai.  this year we will continue on in the new exodus motif by walking through life in Jerusalem starting with the israelites begging God for a king and then spend the season of advent in babylon.  

i'm pleased with how the fall has kicked off.  i continue to be overwhelmed with gratitufe for the team of staff and volunteers God has surrounded me with.  what a gift...

i'm getting a handle on all of the meetings and will make it a priority to begin posting at least three new blogs a week.  thanks for your patience.

The 50/50 rule

Yesterday I learned another important leadership nugget from Mike Volkema. When presenting in a setting that will invite questions (parent meeting, elder board meeting, lead team meeting or countless others) always respect the fifty fifty rule.

This is acknowledging the time it will take you to present and then adding that same amount on the backend for further dialogue. So if your presentation takes 15 minutes to give then you need to add 15 more minutes at the end to answer questions. This was a totally new concept for me.

I often come with a list of things and do my best to charge through it with not wasting my teams time. But as I think about it, when I pack everything in so tight I do not allow my audience the privilege to interact with the material.

It will slow things down; but it is worth it to have total buy in...

junior high camp.

a few years ago, Corrie Boyle (the.element lead pastor) and i began talking about trying to put together a summer camp for our students to go to.  we started looking around and found a number of great camps; but the majority charged 400+ for a week of camp.  we couldn't justify that with the economy the way it was; so we continued looking for an alternative site to host a camp.

we looked at heading to chicago or detroit, we looked into renting out a camp or even heading off to a college campus; but nothing seemed to be the right fit.  then one day, i was talking with a friend of mine who suggested looking into the Michigan state parks because many of them have what they call an "org site" for non profit large groups.  so we called them and found an unbelievable campground that is less than a 1/4 mile from lake michigan.  they charge only 3 bucks a night per student which is just a steal. 

we spend 4 days, 3 nights not showering, playing in the water, eating amazing food over the fire, eating smores, going to the bathroom in outhouses, sleeping in tents, spending one day at Michigan's adventure - an amusement and water park, spending time in God's creation, playing a ton of games, getting to learn together about the best kind of life and building some incredible relationships that can only get stronger as the year goes on for under 120 bucks.  it was a great week, i'm so grateful to Corrie (who led the whole thing), Moose (who was a master of the games and who every students just adores), Tim (one of the greatest new leaders...), Nicole (the girls just love you) and Jill (welcome to the.element, your energy was amazing!) and Matt (who taught and just loved our students so well) for all the ways they poured into, helped, led and showed our students what it means to live the life God created you to live.

with the economy the way it is, what are some ways that you've been able to stretch the dollar and it still be a success in the students eyes?

PJ Hoffmaster.

off to PJ hoffmaster state park on lake michigan for our junior high summer camp.  tents, fires, smores, lake michigan, mosquito's...so fun.

walk score...

have you ever been to www.walkscore.com ? 

walk score helps people find walkable places to live.  it calculates the walkability of an address by locating nearby stores, restaurants, schools, parks, etc. walk score measures how easy it is to live a car-lite lifestyle—not how pretty the area is for walking.  real estate agents are using this as a tool to help new homebuyers discern what kind of lifestyle they truly want.  they're finding that many people are opting for a slower paced life and builders have recognized this as well and are beginning to even create neighborhoods with this in mind...

walkability is a valued characteristic of the slow movement.  the slow movement is a revolution against the notion that faster is always better.  Carl Honre, the author of "in praise of slowness" describes the slow movement mission as "seeking to do everything at the right speed. savoring the hours and minutes rather than just counting them. doing everything as well as possible, instead of as fast as possible. it’s about quality over quantity in everything from work to food to parenting."

that sounds so compelling and in many ways so unrealistic...which is probably a clear sign i need to stop doing so much and start being a litte more.  with walking you don't have a choice but to live life at a slower pace.

what's your walk score? 

what if...

if...

"vision without implementation is daydreaming" 

then...

"implementation without vision is a nightmare." 

you can have all the systems in place but without a compelling vision your organization or ministry will not be sustainable.  vision is the attempt to be prophetic.  the sacred stirrings that force you to ask "what if..."  a visionary then must go on a deep dive looking for the answer to that nagging question.  great visionaries in my opinion have the ability to articulate their findings in a way that has little to no ambuguity and yet is still laced in the kind of mystery that propels the team, community, organization, investor or buyer to take the necessary risk.

for some reason when thinking about this, i keep coming back to when the world was believed to be flat.  until when one day someone began to believe otherwise.  the sacred stirrings within shouted louder and louder, "what if there is more to this world?  what if this world isn't flat...what if what we came to find could extend the boundaries of this kingdom?"  these ideas sounded ridiculous to those who listened and yet that stirring began to spread contagiously that it almost seemed foolish not to explore.  they already had the boats, the crew and the supplies to impliment such a pilgramage; they were just lacking the vision.

great visions will force people to take a risk.  

we must be responsible with this power and not force our people to take unnecessary risks that in actuality is a just a day dream.  great visions require implimentation.  when the "what if" and "how" are merged seemlessly together the results will be breathtaking.

if you're a visionary please find a great activator who can help you answer the how question. 

if you're an activator please find the visionaries of this world to enhance their prophetic attempt at realizing that sacred stirring.

how...

have you ever had one of those moments, when you heard someone say something so profound that you wanted to hear more; but they were already long gone onto the next topic.  well that happened today in our all staff meeting, Mike Volkema, who followed Max Depree (author of leadership is an art, leading without power, and leadership jazz) as ceo of herman miller dropped a quick quote as he answered a question that i can not stop thinking about...

"vision without implimentation is daydreaming."

it's fun to daydream isn't it?  the ideas might be so compelling; but if there aren't clear on ramps i think it can leave many people stranded, frustrated or even a bit cynical.  when creating an idea or vision, think specifically about how you want to see that idea actualized.  i think when leaders share ideas without ways to respond it gives the leader an out.  it's a way for them to detatch from the idea or vision and put all the pressure on the followers to make it a reality.  but if it is not clear, who really is to blame?  the people or the leader?  the students or the teacher?  people want to know one thing and that is...

how.

how they can make the compelling a reality.  how they can play a part in the larger story.  how they can actually love their neighbor.  how they can actually help bring order to the chaos.  how...how...how.  whether you're putting together a teaching, forum for leaders, or sharing a new idea make sure you can answer the how question. 

on a side note, it's fascinating what feelings the word "how" brings up in contrast to "ideas."  think about it, it feels similar to pc vs. mac; but it's interesting because apple has been able to time after time answer the how question which has only brought more glory to their vision and ideas.  they don't day dream...they make their vision happen.  i've heard many people who are wavering on who they will vote for in november say this about barak, they love his ideas; but aren't sure how he's planning on making it happen.  have people said similar things about you?  vision needs the how question to be answered and leaders who are deeply connected to their ideas will not ignore that truth.   

is the ministry or business you lead able to answer the how question or is it a daydream waiting to implode?

if you want more info on this, check out a good book by Dov Seidman called, "How: why how we do anything means everything..."

buy a meter

have you been to www.buyameter.org?

fascinating website on how a county in alabama doesn't have access to water.  for around 425 dollars you can help provide a family with a water meter.  sounds like a potentially good student fundraiser...

rosa loves...

everyone has a story.  this is the thought process behind one of my favorite clothing lines.  rosa loves was started in 2006 with the sheer intent to design for good.  check out the gear at www.rosaloves.com

it's like the clothing version of kiva.

your life in six words.

legend has it that Hemingway was once challenged to write a story in only six words. his response?
"for sale: baby shoes, never worn.”

the world's shortest story inspired writer Larry Smith who wondered what memoirs people might be able to concoct in just six words. so he began www.smithmag.net/sixwords/ which, to date, has received 30,000 contributions, the best of which have been published in a book. this experiment reminds me of postsecret in some ways.

i'm moved by how so many people today are longing to tell their stories.  whether on postcards or in really short stories...below are a few of the 6 word stories that range from raw, bittersweet, depressing and humorous:

"revenge is living well without you."

"was father. boys died. still sad."

"clever with numbers. not with men."

"met young. got married. still infatiuated."

"raised by lunatics. still in recovery."

"work in progress. come back later."

"i like big butts, can't lie."

what six words would you use to describe your life?