The Great Designer

I was recently watching the documentary Objectified, which is all about the design of everyday objects throughout our culture.  Design is integrated into everything that we touch and see.  From everyday objects that we think little about to the objects that we look at and are blown away by their design.  Chairs, cooking tools, light switches, computers, phones, buildings, and so many more.  Each item was designed by somebody.  And the design of each item speaks to the one who designed it.

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"There's a story embedded in every object."

When you last picked up a fork and used it to eat your food, did you think about why it was designed that way?  What's the story behind the fork?  How did the fork end up the way it did and who decided that it should be the way it is?  No matter what object you pick up, there's some kind of story behind it.  There's a story of a designer, an object, and a problem to be solved.

"The object testifies to the people that conceived it, thought about it, developed it, manufactured it - ranging from issues of form, to material, to its architecture, to how it connects to you, how you touch it, how you hold it.  Every object, intentional or not, speaks to who put it there." - Jonathan Ive, Designer for Apple in Objectified

In the same way everyday objects testify to the stories and people who designed them, our world testifies to the Creator God who crafted it.  The universe testifies to the God who created everything.  Humanity testifies to a God who designed men and women in his own image.  In the Psalms scripture says, "The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands.  Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they reveal knowledge.  They have no speech, they use no words; no sound is heard from them.  Yet their voicegoes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world."

What kind of story does your life tell?

"Every object tells a story." - Henry Ford

If God is the great designer and every object tells a story, what is the story that your life tells?  As you live your life, make your choices, and do life with those around you, what kind of story is being told about the one who designed you.  Great design drives people to awe or even better it drives people to want what was designed.  When people encounter you, are they in awe of what God is doing?  Or better, do they want what you have?

Where do you see God's great design throughout our world?

Photo Credit: Alles-Schlumpf

Luther on Preaching

Throughout history God has used the spoken word to transform lives.  Preaching has been an avenue that the holy spirit has worked through for thousands of years.  Certainly over these years, many elements of preaching has changed.  The context of the preaching is significantly different than it once was, yet at the same time many elements of preaching have held true over time.

The great reformer, Martin Luther was not only a fan of preaching, but specifically of preahcing simple and clear sermons.  Luther commonly would not concern himself with spending time educating about Hebrew and Greek words, but instead explain the same words in everyday language.  In a time where the wealth of information that is accessible at the click of a button, I think we must be reminded that our goal shouldn't be to say everything we can about a subject, but to teach one thing in a clear, simple way.

"To preach plain and simple is a great art: Christ himself talks of tilling ground, of mustard seed, etc; he uses altogether homely anad similitudes.  Cursed are all preachers that in the church aim at high and hard things, and neglecting the saving health of the poor unlearned people, seek their own honor and praise...When I preach, I sink myself deep down.  I regard neither Doctors or Magistrates, of whom, are here in this church above forty; but I have my eye to the multitude of young people, children, and servants, of whome are more than 2000.  I preach to those."  - Martin Luther

The Art of Preaching

I love to preach.  I love standing in front of my whiteboard during the week and start writing and sketching out my ideas for the sermon that's in my head.  I love getting up in front of our students on a Sunday morning or one of our retreats and opening up the scripture together.  When Luther speaks of preaching in a plan and simple way, he describes it as great art.  Anybody can come up with something to say, but to say it simply... that's art.  Anybody can talk about the hypostatic union of Christ (well, maybe not anybody), but to do it in a way that doesn't put a twelve year old to sleep and instead engages him...that's art.

My hope as I continue to preach to our students is that I don't get caught up into try to spew out all the information that I can learn, but to craft messages that speak clearly and simply.  That I can like a great artist leave piles of great ideas behind for the sake of saying one thing really well.

What's the most difficult part  for you about preaching plain and simple?

Photo Credit: John14:6

Thoughts on the Middle School Ministry Campference

This past weekend I got to be a part of the Middle School Ministry Campference put on by the Youth Cartel.  This event was unlike any other youth ministry conference that I've been to.  The main reason for this was that it took place at Spring Hill Camps, allowing it to take the best elements of a conference and mix it with the best elements of camp.  Because of the camp environment, the conference was less about listening to keynotes, although that was important, and more about spending time with the middle school ministry tribe.  I loved to be able to go to breakout discussions, play dodgeball in the gym, hang out throwing pizza boxes into the fire, or just hang out talking about life and ministry, all with other people who love middle school students.  Being at camp, all of the speakers hung out with us, which gave us a great opportunity to not only learn from them as they led breakouts or keynotes, but also to learn from them personally and get to know them as friends.

I'm Not Alone

There aren't a lot of people that I know who not only feel called to youth ministry but also specifically students in junior high.  In fact, before this event, I couldn't have told you anyone that I knew (at least personally) that is specifically in middle school ministry.  Coming to this event allowed me to get to sit down with a ton of different people and get to know stories, passions, and dreams.  It was fun to meet other people who are fired up about junior high ministry.  It was like getting a bunch of people together who all understand why each other is crazy enough to spend so much time with this age group.

Middle School Ministry Matters

In the last keynote session, Marko briefly touched on something that was really interesting.  He talked about the fact that in adolescent years that brain is forming tons of new neural pathways and also shortly later winnowing those down.  When this happens, studies have shown that the way the brain decides which connections to eliminate is by getting rid of the ones that aren't used.  In middle school, students brains are being hard-wired for how they will think the rest of their life.  That is an incredible calling; to help students learn to thing biblically in a time where there brain is being hard-wired for how the will thing for their entire adult life.

Here's a short video highlighting some of the event put together by Tom Roepke.

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More Than Words (With Friends)

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HT: Adam Reed

iPhone 4S and Siri

Imagine all the fun questions you could ask, just to see how Siri responds?

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How To Get Middle Schoolers To Worship

Worship is an abstract concept.  Worship is anything that we do in response to God for who he is and what we've done.  While simple in statement, the reality is it can be a difficult thing to grasp.  Despite it being difficult, not only do I think middle school students can grasp this, I think that often they understand worship better than many adults.  In middle school ministry one of our primary goals is to lead our students in the worship of Christ.  All our students are worshippers, so as leaders we try to guide them to worship Jesus, not just in song, but with all of their life.  We want our students to worship Him in their homes, as they go to school, and as they gather together with the Church.

But beause of the place that we find middle school students, how can we teach something as abstract as worship?  When it comes to corporate worship, how can we teach them how to worship in that environment?  When it comes to our personal life, how can we teach them how to worship in all that they say and do?

Show Middle Students How to Worship

During one of our retreats, there was an interesting moment when I looked around the room as students were worshipping through song.  I noticed that as we transitioned from the jump-around, "undignified," style of singing many of our students were still engaged in singing to God as we sung an ancient hymn.  This is not typically what I'd expect in a room full of junior high students, but then again, why should I expect anything different.

Why did these students seemingly get it?  What I noticed about this time was that the way many of our students worshipped publicly was an imitation of the way our leaders worshipped through song.  And I'm not talking just about the leaders on stage.  But as I looked around the room at our leaders scattered throughout the room, I saw students looking to them for leadership.  It was an important reminder to me that we are all worship leaders.

If you lead middle school school students, how are you modeling worship when you are gathered to worship corporately?  If you parent middle school students, how to you model a life of worship in all of your life?  When you are in conversations and spending time with middle school students you serve, how are you modeling what a life of worship looks like?  The best way to teach middle school students how to worship is not from the stage, but having people who demonstrate the worship of Christ in all that they say and do.

Photo Credit: Elaine A

Ministry Lessons from Apple

Apple is one of my favorite companies that exists, and Steve Jobs is one of my heroes.  I think that Apple is able to continually push their software and hardware far beyond what anybody else is able to do.  They continually deliver amazing products and because of the success of their organization and innovations, I think there is a lot we can learn from them that applies to leading in the both the ministry realm and the business realm.

People Don't Know What They Need

Apple is known for not looking to their customers to figure out what they need to do.  They do what they think is going to be the best product for the end user and they are usually right.  When the iPhone first came out, people complained that it didn't have a keyboard; now, people don't care that there is no keyboard.

“Apple market research” is an oxymoron. The Apple focus group was the right hemisphere of Steve’s brain talking to the left one. If you ask customers what they want, they will tell you, “Better, faster, and cheaper”—that is, better sameness, not revolutionary change. They can only describe their desires in terms of what they are already using—around the time of the introduction of Macintosh, all people said they wanted was better, faster, and cheaper MS-DOS machines. - Guy Kawaski on Steve Jobs

In ministry, it would be a shame if we didn't listen to the people in our ministries, but that being said, a lot of the things that our students need to hear, they don't realize they need to hear.  Where I see this practice of Apple, really applying to our ministry, is when it comes to these unfelt needs.  What do you know your students need to hear or experience that they don't realize they need?  Apple figures out what they think that people need and they deliver a life-changing piece of technology.  When your ministry figures out an unfelt need and is able to help a student see the importance of it, they can give a life-changing message.

All the Details Matter

Apple is known for paying attention to every little detail.  The images that you see as soon as you launch an app, the placement of screws on a macbook, or even the design of internal parts of a machine that you may never open.  Apple pays close attention to the small details because they believe that the little things matter.  In your ministry are you paying attention to the little things?  How does somebody feel when they walk into the room?  How do guests feel when it's their first time checking out the church?  How well are parents informed about the details of an upcoming trip?  Are all the students feeling like somebody cares about them?

Be the Best, Not the First

Believe it or not, Apple didn't invent the smartphone, they revolutionized it.  Apple was not the first to create a phone that could run apps, but they did it better than anybody else.  They weren't the first company to allow apps to run in the background or change the way notifications worked, but they do it the best.

"[Researchers] found that only 9 percent of pioneers end up as the final winners in a market.  Gillette didn't pioneer the safety razor; Star did.  Polaroid didn't pioneer the instant camera; Dubroni did.  Microsoft didn't pioneer the personal computer spreadsheet; VisiCorp did. Amazon didn't pioneer online bookselling and AOL didn't pioneer online Internet service...It seems that pioneering innovation is good for society but statistically lethal for the individual pioneer!" - Jim Collins in Great by Choice

What Apple realizes is an important reality, that it is not nearly as important to be the first to do something, as it is to be the best at doing something.  Find what other youth workers are creating and make it your own.  Read about good ideas that would fit in your minsitry and adapt them for your context.  You don't have to be the innovator of a new model for ministry or creative idea, just be the best in the context of you ministry enviornment.

Photo Credit: Ruben Bos

How To Make a 3D Video

Everywhere you look, somebody is using 3D to promote something.  DVD players are 3D capable, television sets tout their 3D features, and even old movies are re-released as new 3D movies.  3D may be simply a fad, but regardless it is fun to have the capabilities to shoot a 3D video to show off.  When we recently filmed some short 3D videos to help with our winter retreat theme, we had to learn how to shoot and edit a video that would actually appear in 3D.  We weren't interested in buying expensive equipment to create the effect, so we worked out how to make a 3D video using two iPhones and Final Cut.

How To Make a 3D Video

1.Use Two of the Same Cameras

3D works like our eyes; the goal is to get two of the cameras (preferably identical) set up as though they were two eyes looking at the subject.  In order to do this, we used two identical iPhones set up on a Gorilla Tripod.  The Gorilla tripods are extremely flexible, which allowed us to line up our phones so they were nearly in perfect position for the shoot.

2. Layer the Videos in Your Video Editor

Once you've shot your video, import the clips into your computer.  It's important to keep track of which footage was taken from the left device and which was from the right. In order to edit the 3D video, you'll need a video editor that can handle multiple layers of video, such as Final Cut or Adobe Premiere.

Set both videos up in the timeline layered one on top of each other.  You'll want to make sure that your videos are perfectly in sync and mute whichever audio is not needed.

3. Change the Overlays

To get the 3D effect working, you need to get the red/cyan double-vision look in place.  Change the opacity of the videos to 50% so that the video appears like double-vision.  If you filmed properly, the goal would be for the images to be slightly different with each camera.  Make the left video have a red overlay (RGB: 255, 0, 0) and the right video should have a cyan overlay (RGB: 0, 255, 255).  These colors will allow the video work for a Red/Cyan 3D effect.

4. Put on 3D Glasses and Enjoy!

Get a pair of Red and Cyan 3D glasses and enjoy your creation!

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Photo Credit: Cog Log Lab & Lee Stranahan

Teaching Notes: Lion King

This Sunday we entered the third week of our sermon series for our middle school ministry called "Now Showing."  Each week we are taking scenes from movies and using those to point to Jesus and what it looks like to follow him.  Recently, Disney re-released Lion King and because of that I wanted to include that movie as a part of our series; the scene we used to teach was full of great lessons that are all throughout scripture.

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"You don't even know who you are."

When Rafiki is talking to Simba, Simba is at the point where he has no idea who he is supposed to be.  Simba is in the mddle of an identity crisis.  This is true of Simba in this scene, and it is often true of many of us as Christians.  We may at times look at ourself and see ourself based on the friends we have, the sports we play, or for parents, the jobs that we have.  Anytime that our identity is founded in something other than Jesus, we are in danger of not knowing who we are.  How often would we describe ourselves simply as a child of God?  By the love of Jesus, we have been adopted into the family of Christ and we can know exactly who we are, God's children.

"He's alive."

If Jesus did not rise from the dead, the whole Christian faith is dead.  Our faith is not based alone on the fact that Jesus died on the cross, but also that he rose again 3 days later.  The God we worship is a God that is alive.  He conquered not only sin, but death and the power of the devil.  Death couldn't stop Jesus!

"And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith." - 1 Corinthians 15:14

"He lives in you."

In Rafiki's amusing conversation with Simba, he mentions that Mufasa continues to live on in Simba.  As a Christian one of the things that I often take for granted is that God actually lives in me.  When is the last time you thought about the fact that God lives inside of you?  God is with you wherever you go, amidst the choices you make, and the things you say.  As we live our life as Christians, the presence of God is living inside of us.

"Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in your midst." - 1 Corinthians 3:16

How To Talk To Teenagers

[This post is a part of the Youth Ministry 101 Series]

Talking to teenagers can be intimidating.  They have their own styles of clothing and music and talk about things that you likely don't understand.  But for some reason you may feel like you need to talk to them.  Perhaps this is because it is your job to raise a teenager or perhaps it is because for some reason God put in you a desire to serve teenagers and help show them Jesus.  Regardless of what your situation is, having a conversation with a teenager can be a difficult thing at first.  But with some patience, you will hopefully be able to move beyond grunting (usually experienced with teenage boys) and get to something a little more meaningful.

What Should I Do?

Approach them. If you have an interest in talking to teenagers, show that interest.  Approach them and try to start a conversation.  It may seem awkward if you haven't done this before, but over time, once a relationship has been established, the conversation will flow more naturally.

Be yourself. One of the worst things you can do is feel like you have to be someone else.  It is certainly helpful to learn to understand dynamics of teenage culture, but don't pretend to be hip and understand everything.  Don't pretend you like to skateboard and go to rock concerts if you don't.  Authenticity will go much further than trendy clothes.

Ask questions. What's a relationship if you don't begin to get to know the other person?  Ask as many questions as possible?  Learn about school, sports, family, hobbies, and anything that you could think of.  These may be little things, but what relationship do you have that doesn't at least establish some interest in what the other person likes.  What's difficult about this, is that in certain situations asking questions may feel like pulling teeth.  Keep asking them.

Remember things. The best way to show that you are really interested is to remember what the teenager shared with you.  Remember their name.  The next week when you see them, ask about the basketball game they referenced was coming up.  Follow up on a prayer request that was made the following week.  The more you make a point to follow up on things that were previously brought up, the more that students will realize how much you care.

Photo Credit: SMcGarnigle

With Everything

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Catalyst 2011: Session 10 - Andy Stanley

[This post is part of a series of posts of notes from Catalyst 2011]

Andy Stanley closed the conference by walking us through the importance of apprenticing.  He challenged us to answer the question, "What is your strategy for developing leaders?"  Andy pushed that not only should apprenticing be happening, but that we should be intentional about taking steps to make that happen.  He defined apprenticing as selecting, modeling, and coaching for the purpose of replacing yourself.

In the New Testament we see apprenticing happening practically in the lives of the disciples.  Jesus began his ministry with succession in mind.  From the very beginning he had a plan in place to find disciples and coach them so they could lead the Church after he would be gone.  When Jesus went about apprenticing, he personally selected those who would lead his mission.  He didn't begin by asking for volunteers, but he handpicked those he wanted.  As Jesus lived, he modeled how the disciples should live.  The disciples were able to get firsthand experience of doing ministry because Jesus rarely did ministry alone and he even gave the disciples opportunities to do ministry on their own.

"But" Removal

There are two "buts" that often hold us back when we want to apprentice.  First, we say "but I'm not an expert." The problem with this is that if you wait, you will never do it.  You will never feel adaquately prepared to apprentice another leader, and if you do feel adaquately prepared you are probably not prepared.  You are not responsible for knowing everything about your field or knowing more than everyone else in your field.  You are responsible for passing along to someone else what you do know.  The second "but" we get held up on is, "But what will I do?" If you are in a healty organization, even if you replace yourself, you will always have a place.  If you aren't in a healthy organization...get out.

This session was probably my favorite session at the conference.  There were a lot more tips that Andy shared throughout the session, I'd highly recommend checking out the DVD and watching it.

Catalyst 2011: Session 7 - Mark Driscoll

[This post is part of a series of notes from Catalyst 2011]

Mark Driscoll, founding pastor of Mars Hill Church in Seattle, led session 7 at Catalyst.  He opened with a simple question that would shape much of what we would talk about over the next hour.  What are you afraid of?  Is it failure, conflict, criticism, money.  The truth is that fear in the mind causes stress in the body; fear taxes our bodies.  Not only what are you afraid of, but who are you fraid of?  Who do you need to please?  Whose opinion matters way to much?  Are you overly devestated by criticism?

Fear is...

• Fear is vision without hope.
• Fear is not rational, but it is powerful.
• Fear is not getting what you want.
• Fear preaches a false gospel.
• Fear turns us into false prophets.

And the Bible tells us more than any other commandment...fear not.  All throughout the Bible, repeatedly God tells us do not be afraid.  What do we have to fear?  God is with us.  The worst-case scenario for any Christian leader is death, which means Jesus comes sooner.  We need to reset our worst-case scenario because it isn't that bad.

Mark ended with a story about his son, who feared going on his family vacation at the time, because he had fear built up that he was going to be traveling in a foreign country alone.  How often do we fear that we our going through life alone?  How often are we looking at our stress and our circumstances and overwhelmed with fear because we don't realize that our dad is coming with us?

"Fear not your daddy's with you." - Mark Driscoll

Catalyst 2011: Session 6 - Judah Smith

[This post is a part of a series of notes on Catalyst 2011]

I had never heard Judah Smith preach before this week. The notes for the session were not extensive, but the message was powerful. Judah Smith has a very fun preaching style to listen to and he opened us to Exodus 33, retelling the encounter that Moses had with God as he got the chance to see God's back as he walked by.

What Moses saw made his face glow and we often wish we could see what Moses saw. But why wish to see what Moses saw when what we get to see in Christ is far better than what Moses ever saw. Moses only wishes that in his day he could have encountered the glory of God like we get to because of Jesus. Jesus is the glory of God, he is all we need. Judah Smith closed with the difficult question for all leaders, "Since when is Jesus not enough?"

Catalyst 2011: Session 5 - Francis Chan

[This post is a part of a series of posts of notes from Catalyst 2011]

Francis Chan spoke a challenging message as he opened up the Bible and challeged us to look at our lives and evaluate our presence with God. While even managing to get in an easy shot at Rob Bell, he walked us through what it looked liked for those in the Bible who saught the presence of God.

In 1 Samuel 30, in the midst of a disastrous situation, David went to the presence of God. Wives and kids were taken from their families and the crowds blamed it on David. And David, "strengthened himself in the Lord."

Some of Francis Chan's Challenging Questions:

• His presence matters. Does anything else matter?
• The Spirit gives life, not the flesh. Do you really believe the flesh is of no help?
• What kind of prayer life are you modeling?
• When was the last time you were completely present with God?