I won! I won! I won!

Yes ladies and gentlemen you are now reading a winner. Up to this point I was not sure but now I can say that I am indeed a winner. What did I win? I won a signed copy of Seth Godin's "The Dip" book. How did this happen? One of the blogs that is in my Google Reader is called Church of the Customer. This is another Marketing blog in which I highly reccommend. The authors of this blog also wrote the book Citizen Marketers. Which is an incredible point of view in terms of volunteers at church. Anyway, they posted last week that if you commented on their blog then you would have a chance to win 1 of 5 signed copies of Seth Godin's new book. I quickly got on their site and posted a comment. Then, lo and behold I opened my G-mail and saw that I won. So thank you to Jackie and Ben for writing a great blog that we all can learn from and for picking my name out of the hat. I will give a book review of the The Dip when I finish reading it. If you couldn't tell I am probably to excited about this but I can't wait to see if I should stick or if I should quit.

Here is your Sign Wednesday

I had another sign I was going to do for this week but came across this and found it way to funny. Enjoy.

Choosing to Cheat

I had a great question asked of me this past Sunday by a guy who goes by the name Juggler for Jesus. He holds 8 or 9 world records for juggling and we had him in to do stuff for our adult worship services. The series they are doing right now is called "Family Circus". The stage looks like a big top and the music is great but that is not the point of this post. The point is to answer the question of how many hours a week should a Children's Pastor be expected to work. He is looking at taking a position at a local church and they have told him that they expect him to work 60 hrs per week. This is a great question for all of us not just Children's pastors, or ministers. How many hours a week should you work? To answer this question you have to read the book, "Choosing to Cheat" by Andy Stanley. This is one of my top 10 books that I recommend to everyone. So if you haven't read this yet go get it. Here is what the cover looks like:

This book focuses on priorities. Believe it or not but work is not at the top of that list. Andy makes the case that we are going to cheat some part of our life. We have too. There is not enough time not to cheat something and if we are going to cheat something then it should be work and not family or any other relationship for that matter. So here is what I told the Juggler for Jesus when he asked me if working 60 hrs per week was reasonable... First read the book...Second give the pastor and everyone at your church the book...Then if they still want you to work 60 hrs a week, DON"T TAKE THE JOB! By the way, I work Sunday through Thursday and get Friday and Saturday off every week. That's right... You can be jealous... Am I lazy? No. I am finally healthy and my church agrees. Thank you Horizon for letting me have family as a top priority and for still paying me like someone who knows what he is doing. How much you should get paid will be a later post. That was his follow up question.

Terry Storch looks like Apola Ohno

Congrats Terry on winning Dancing with the Stars. I always knew you had great footwork.

Seriously, if you are not reading Terry Storch's blog, you should be. He is the best technology person at any church anywhere. He is a big idea guy who challenges me all the time. He now works for LifeChurch.tv and use to work at Fellowship Church. By the way, Terry and I could beat anyone at a hand of spades. I believe our record is 64-0-1. Don't ask about the tie, it is a long story that happened in Brazil.

Last thing...Terry...You should shave your beard and go with just the chin hair.

Sign Wednesday: ClustrMaps

Yes, it is Sign Wednesday. The sign I want to highlight this week is the one that happens to be on my site. If you scroll down and look to the right then you will see a little sign called ClustrMaps. I love this little tool. Basically it is a web monitoring device that lets me know where people are located that check out my site. I just added this feature 2 weeks ago and I am already in 11 countries and know that most of my readers are in the Dallas/Fort Worth area and in California. Don't worry I haven't forgotten about the rest of you but it is a great sign. Why is this helpful? It is information that is constantly changing, accurate, and even uses a great visual of a map. Now I could have used many other monitoring sites but I think this one has the best sign to put on the site. So here is what you can learn from this sign. Make sure that your information is current, accurate, and has great visuals. Here is a larger view of the smaller button:

Birthdays are like Boogers

I turned 29 yesterday. Yes I know, next year is a big one but I have a whole year before I get to where most of you are, so HA! Anyway, my brother gave me a card yesterday that said, "Birthdays are like Boogers, they more you have the harder it is to breathe." I will have to say that I really enjoyed the card. Here is a picture of the front:

When I woke up this morning it hit me that leadership by committee is the same way. So here is my card today, it says, "Leadership by committee is like boogers, the more people you have on the committee the harder it is to breathe." I guess that is why I really like working at a church that lets me lead and not by committee.

Environment Changes

Over the last 10 and maybe 15 years the environments of Children's Ministry spaces have really changed for the better. Churches have put major amounts of money into decorating these spaces to attract young families with kids and to show that they believe in Children's Ministry. First off, let me say that I am exceedingly glad that this change has occurred. I can't stand walking into a church and seeing beige walls with tiny signs and little to no effort put into the space for children, and then you go to the adult space it is all decked out with eye pleasing graphics and banners. If you are at a church like this you are basically telling everyone who walks in the door that you don't care about their kids. You are also probably wondering why more kids are not coming but that is not the point of this post. The point of this post is talk about what I think would be the best use of the environment and space that you have for your Children's Ministry. So here goes...

Roger Fields has put together a great list of churches who have very good environments for their kids. Here is the link. These churches have hired companies like Wacky World, Worlds of Wow, Creative for Kids, and others to do the decorating for them. I believe this was a good first step in the process but I don't believe this is the best use. Don't get me wrong. I think Bruce Barry is a genius and his animations and art are incredible, but I don't think it is the best use of $100,000 to $1,000,000 to decorate your space. No I didn't add to many zeros and I will explain why I think this later in the post.

The second step in the process came when churches like Fellowship and others decided to buy a large format printer or plotter and started creating their own environments. This step is much more cost effective and gives churches more flexibility, and I even have a HP5500 42 inch plotter downstairs in our office space as I type. In fact it is printing right now a piece for this weekend. By the way, I got this printer for $3,200 and use it like crazy. I print off all of my own sets, backdrops, signs, and props that change every 6 to 8 weeks and print off a new environment for our children's space at least twice a year. If you are at a church with neutral walls please at least look at buying a used plotter and start decorating your space. It doesn't take that long to learn how to use it and it will change your image overnight. It maybe the best change that you make in your ministry over the next year. After saying all of this, I don't think that having a plotter and doing everything yourself is the best use of resources. It maybe the best option right now but still not the best use.

Why don't I like the 2 things above? I don't like the second option because you have amateurs doing what professionals can do a lot better. You are also having your ministers take all of their time and are having them worry about the environment and less about people. Ministry is truly about people isn't it. It is also very taxing on the staff and very taxing on the volunteers who you con into joining you to spend the night at the church while you put your heart and soul into the space. I believe excellence is the key and having amateurs and ministers doing it is not the best option. It is a good option but not the best option.

I don't believe the first option works because our environments have to change at least once a year. I mean think about it this way. Grocery stores change where things are in their store so that you notice new stuff that they want you to buy. Billboards change advertisements on them not because someone new bought the space but because if it didn't change you would quit looking and not notice it anymore. Even Disney, Six Flags, and all other theme parks change rides, attractions, and shows every year so that you keep coming back. This is not to mention that our culture is going to change every 5 to 7 years and this means our kids are changing and our families are changing. Why in the world would you invest $500,000 into something that doesn't change. Believe me, if you paid Wacky World that kind of money and then went to your pastor in 4 years and said I think we need to change all of this and get a new environment because none of our people notice it anymore and we need another $500,000 to make that change, you would be shot, hung, and then fired. Think about it. People come to your church every week or every other week and don't notice the signs you do have up or the bulletin board that you changed because they have been their since 1950. Now the first option is the most professional way to get a great looking space but you have spent way to much up front and the upkeep is going to kill you to keep it looking fresh.

So what do I think would be the best use of our resources? So what is the solution? What is the challenge? If you couldn't tell, I have some passion on this subject. I believe the answer is this. Wacky World, Worlds of Wow, and others, I challenge you to come up with a way to make my space change every year. Come up with a system of decorations that churches could buy for a yearly fee and let those churches trade with one another. You basically need to develop 8-10 different themes that could be incorporated into many different spaces. Charge us like a company who says you pay for what you want and you get to pick and choose what fits your space. Instead of charging me $500,000 for a one time deal, charge me $25,000 a year and give me a new look every year. Come ON... Start letting the professionals do the work for the environments and the pastors minister to the families and have excellence in both areas. It shouldn't be an either/or but it should be a both/and. If you could figure this out then you would have 500 churches knocking on your door and I hope that would be enough profit to get the thing done. I do understand that professionals run businesses and it has to make money, but if I told you of a business plan that had 500 accounts off the bat and once you showed that you could be trusted and your product was excellent that the potential for 50,000. I would have many Venture Capitalist calling me wanting to know how to invest. I am not suggesting a hand out. I am suggesting that we work together for the best environment for our kids and the best relationship building for our families. Let's get this done.

Sign Wednesday

Since I get complaints about not posting enough I thought I would set Wednesday as the day I like to call Sign Wednesday. What is Sign Wednesday you ask? Believe it or not, my wife calls me a sign geek. I will go up to signs and inspect them on how they are made, what they say, and give an overall assessment of the sign. So I thought I would let you into my world by taking pictures of signs that I find value in or signs in which I think are horrible. Why signs? Signs represent a message. A very concise piece of information that is important enough to display. One can use a sign for many different reasons and we see them all over the place. There was even an old country song called, "Here is your Sign." So here is my first sign for Sign Wednesday;

This restaurant has been around for a long time in Waco, TX. What a name for a burger joint, huh? I mean when I think of healthy food I think of super burgers and shakes. See, not only is the message not clear it is contridicting.

Don't worry, many more signs to come.

In Waco, TX

I am currently in Waco, TX where I have been for the last couple of days. We came down to go to Justin Tapp's graduation. Justin is Jessica's sister's husband and he has an excellent blog. So that I believe makes us friends. Justin is getting his master's in international economics which is very impressive. Anyway, we have been all over Waco doing all the tourist stuff. We just got back from the Dr. Pepper Museum and the Children's Museum. Yesterday we ate at a great barbecue place called Tony Demaria's. It is a very manly place that shuts down after they run out of meat. Get there early for lunch or they may be closed. Believe it or not but I am a little metro and had on a great Polo shirt. Here is a picture:

The guy behind the counter asks you 4 questions, there is no menu. What kind of meat? Do you want beans? Coleslaw or Potato Salad? And then the classic phrase came out of his mouth, "Hey man, you have some stains on your shirt?" The guy sitting at the picnic table behind us in a cowboy hard hat, yes it was a hard hat in the shape of a cowboy hat, just started laughing. I guess Tony's was not use to us city boys.

I am going to Highland Baptist Church tomorrow and then we will head back to Cincinnati. I look forward to seeing their children's area and doing a little worship of my own. The hardest part for me when going to other churches is not critiquing and enjoying my time. I am really going to focus on worship and not anything else.

If you are in Waco and you are reading this let me know where we should eat tomorrow for Mother's Day.

Baptism Perceptions

I have 2 sons, Patriot and Azlan. You can comment on the names if you would like but it is not the reason for the post. Patriot is currently 2 and a half years old and Azlan is 6 months old. This past weekend was their first experience with a baptism service. Up to this point they have been in the children's area when baptism was going on. Now this baptism service was a little different because the church was also doing child dedications and there was little music and no preaching. I am sure the Senior Pastor loves this day. Needless to say, we got to see baptism from the eyes of a 2 year old, and I believe his perceptions are those of many non Christ-followers. Here are 3 of the his perceptions:

1. Mom, why are people getting in the tub with their clothes on?

2. I'm scared. Why are people clapping and cheering?

3. I don't like this game.

Isn't it amazing when you get to see something with a fresh set of eyes. When you think about it, the act of baptism is a really strange thing. No wonder people have a hard time grasping it. No wonder churches set age limits for kids. No wonder God makes this the first act of obedience when becoming a Christian. It is interesting how our first act of obedience is something that is hard to understand, out of the ordinary, and takes just a little faith to go through with. Doesn't the whole act of baptism sum up the rest of our journey as a Christ-follower?

Vision @ 25%

Can you tell me what is wrong with this sign? It was hung straight, printed correctly, even has nice white space, but something is really wrong. Read the bottom quote very carefully. Did you know that their beans were not 100% organic? Did you know that they are failing at their goal by 75%? Why announce to the world that you are trying but failing? Wouldn't it be just as good not to say anything then to say something @ 25%? Seriously, I don't get it. This company has one of the best marketing firms in the world and they messed up badly. Am I suppose to be happy that 25% of my beans are good and the other 75% are junk? I understand that vision sells and motivates and is the key to many problems but don't sell your vision at 25%. Please if you learn nothing else from this post...Don't hang a sign outside of your nursery and say, "We only change 25% of the babies diapers because that is what we can afford. If you would tithe more than we could change all of their diapers and wouldn't have as much crying."