Going Silent ...

Hey everyone ...

I wanted to let you know that I will be going silent for the next few months here at the blog. I'm trying hard to focus my life and time with a laser precision on the things that are immediately in front of me ... namely my family and the ministry to students that God has invited us into here in Parksville, BC.

I will be writing articles and thoughts (as I frequently do), but they will be appearing only at www.pym.ca which is the website connected to the Parksville Youth Mission.

If you are the praying type, do keep asking the Lord to draw more and more youth and young adults to Himself through Jesus, his Son, in the next months. Much is moving and shaking here ... I am leaning into it more and more ...

Until the Spring comes ...

::dan::

lessons on spaghetti sauce and church growth ...

"Variety is the spice of life!" - William Cowper

One of the continual challenges that the church communities which I have been a part of over the last 15 years (six in total, ranging from a three-month stay in a city to a seven year stay in a city) have had is related to space. It seems that church communities are regularily found to be outgrowing their real-estate, which, in the words of that particluar community is, "a great problem to have".

sidenote: It's less-often a problem in youth ministry situations because of the age-restrictions placed upon those groups. Although youth ministry generally has more growth on any given year than the rest of the church community, because students graduate out of the ministry at the end of middle or high school, numbers don't race skyward for long.

As a response to growth, churches generally choose one of four options to deal with this "great problem" that they have:

1.) Add to an additional service at a new time (in the same room) ...
2.) Build an expansion (expand the meeting room) ...
3.) Start a new church in the surrounding area (often called a church-plant) ...
4.) Start an addition service off-site, in the surrounding area, using a live-feed of the sermon (a relatively new trend refer to as "adding a campus")

Each of the above has both postives and negatives associated with it. One of the big postives to each of them is that there is the potential of creating a church gathering that has distinctly different personalities involved in the leadership, and, as a result, is attractive to a different segment of the local population ... in other words, more people are attracted to explore faith because the man or woman "up front" doesn't turn them off because of their raspy voice or their style of preaching or the fact that they have really bad halitosis (can someone pass me a piece of gum?!?)

Having said this, it is amazing to me how many leaders don't grasp this fact and proclaim that their idea of what a church gathering should look like and feel like and be like, is the only way! They really do need to learn a bit about spaghetti sauce ...

Fortunately, Malcolm Gladwell (of "The Tipping Point", "Blink" and now "Outliers" fame) has brought the wisdom of the sauce out into the open for all of us to learn from ... take the next 20 minutes, watch this bit, and consider how the principles might translate into the "great problem" we've been exploring above ...

how rogers.com won my heart ...

Last night I was laying on the couch while listening to music. Our stereo is an old stereo - we've had it for years and years - and its functionality is declining more and more. It skips often, doesn't play burned CD's and the 5 disk tray often jams ... but it works and I am ok with that.

In this consumer driven culture we're told to constantly upgrade and get the next great gadget. I remember sitting there last night fighting the desire to spend way too much on what I 'want', but don't 'need'.

Well, this afternoon the mail arrived and it turns out I've won a new stereo in a Roger's Communication contest I entered online a few weeks ago! Ha! Go figure!

So I don't 'need' it, but I sure going to 'accept' it!

It won't arrive until March or so it seems, but in the mean time I'll let you take a peak HERE ... it's a bluetooth micro system and can stream tunes from my cell phone, our companies cell phone, or my laptop - sweet!!

analog is dead (in the usa) ...

If you are like me, you've heard that the US is cutting analog (ie traditional cable) channels this next year in favour of moving completely to digital signals. At least that is my understanding based on the PSA's I've seen. I assumed that it was a money grab to force expensive television and hardware upgrades and to push subscription prices higher.

Well, it turns out that it is actually about slimming down the system rather than beefing it up. Mark Cuban had this to say on his blog:

"The Cable industry has been doing exactly what every internet user in search of more bandwidth wants them to do, converting analog versions of channels to digital. Each analog channel takes up 38mbs of bandwidth. Thats right. CSPAN takes up more bandwidth than you have available to you for internet services. Crazy isnt it ?

The standard def digital version of the same channel takes up less than 3mbs. The typical HD version takes up about 8mbs or less. So, every time a channel is converted from analog to digital a MINIMUM of 28mbs is freed up."

Read the entire article HERE ...

My Sneakers and My Soul ...

"They are incredibly cool,
dangerously attractive, on the inside ...
On the outside they hardly care ...
They wear costumes to communicate,
and to celebrate, but never to hide"
-The Vision, Pete Greig

Is what's on the outside - what you wear and how you comb your hair - that counts, or what's on the inside? If you believe what your mom might have said, it's the inside. On the other hand, fashion holds heavy swing over the masses ...

The Wall Street Journal had something to say about all this last week, but they added a second dynamic: my soul ... sort of. They ran an article on "the new business suit", tracking it right down to the new dress shoe, which would be sneakers (nice!). The logic behind it was that what you wear should be a continuation of who you are at your core ... an extension of your soul.

As someone who works in an office for a church community where up until three years ago, so I am told I am told, there was a dress code and an expectation of "proper attire", the article caught my eye. What could I tell about my soul based on what I wear?? Is a dress code somehow equal to a sin?!? Is who I am defined by the way others think I should dress?

Here are some outtakes:

"When Derek Johnson was interviewing candidates for a marketing job at his tech company, one applicant arrived in a business suit. "It put us on edge," says Mr. Johnson, founder and CEO of Tatango.com. Mr. Johnson believed the job candidate was presenting a false image of himself. The suit, he felt, was tantamount to a lie.

Established companies have long hired employees whose clothing suggested they would toe the corporate line. Today, many young managers believe office attire should do pretty much the opposite: express a person's inner soul.

Young workers are replacing traditional business dress with their own complex sets of rules and subliminal messages. Their choices among brand-name items are meant to communicate substance. Rather than Gucci versus Allen Edmonds, for instance, the choice may involve Nike Air Force versus Chuck Taylors. (Read: urban vs. surfer.)"

In the end, as it turns out, the "soul" angle was more or a eye-grabber for the articles title, but I did find some sort of solace in the fact that my choice of clothing is my own and, in doing that, my integrity is still intact.

Read the whole article HERE ...

Another Glimpse ...

Since the spring, I've been putting together a number of videos highlighting students from the local church community sharing about faith, God and life.

This lastest one contains reflections from Raymond and Brenda on mission trips: why they went and what happened in their own lives as a result. I'm hoping to release a couple more in the next weeks on the same topic.

Enjoy ...

Cockroach Herding and Marketing ...

I often read articles and books on marketing. Below is an item that I read in Adbusters this week. When marketers convince us to follow their trends, the difference between humans and insects gets a little blurrier ...

Cockroach
A group of researchers at the Free University of Brussels have recently figured out how to influence the behavior of one of the world’s most resilient creatures: the cockroach. Combining elements of entomology and robotics, the group created an experiment that involved mingling light sensitive, cockroach-scented robots with the real deal.

Within a constructed social arena, the researchers set up two separate shaded areas, one area being darker than the other. Upon being released into the arena, the 16 organic roaches, which have a natural distaste for light, chose to socialize in the darker of the two spaces. The researchers then placed four of the robot roaches into the arena and allowed the two groups to mingle and become acquainted.

After the living roaches warmed up and befriended their artificial counterparts, the group then programmed the robots to graze in the area with more light. Although cockroaches are instinctively drawn to the darker of the two areas, they were unable to resist the impulse to imitate, and ultimately follow their cockroach-smelling robotic friends into the light.

Herding
A team of marketing specialists have recently figured out how to effectively influence the social patterns of Manhattan’s most trend-savvy demographic: the hipster. Utilizing elements of guerrilla methodology in conjunction with a strong understanding of cultural capital, the team successfully interloped the Lower East Side’s vibrant nightlife and established an intimate venue where they could easily manipulate young consumers.

The team engineered a recurring, premeditated “non-event” in which they would hang out on a street bench located in front of New York’s most prominent American Apparel branch. Initially, they were able to attract the interest of passing youths because of their status as minor celebrities within the city’s taste-making elite, but over time “The Bench” (also known as the “anti-scene”) grew to become a hyper-local social phenomenon and quickly developed a reputation as a cool alternative to neighborhood bars and clubs.

Positive media publicity further popularized “The Bench” and soon enough the surrounding sidewalk was packed with thronging youths eager to hang out at New York’s newest and freshest night spot. Although youth are supposed to be resistant to social control, they were unable to resist the impulse to imitate, and ultimately follow their marketing-savvy friends into the light of American Apparel.

Faith, Media and the BBC ...

I've been following a blog called, "24-7 Parliament" for a bit now. It's described as a space to share stories, ask questions and explore ideas relating to engaging in politics as a follower of Jesus. It's written by Phil Anderson, author of "Lord of the Ring: In Search of Count Von Zinzendorf", a book which I've read a couple of times and really enjoy (find it and read it too!)

Last week Phil commented on a lecture he attended where the Director-General of the BBC address the subject of 'faith, morality, and the media'. Here's a sample of his post:

It appears that the head of our most influential media institution refuses to even contemplate the idea that the contents of our airwaves could have any effect on the moral character of our society. His formula for making editorial judgments was 'the benefits of a programme weighed against the potential offense'. This again abdicates any form of cultural leadership; the only moral failing the BBC now officially recognises is a failure to get away with it. It is also an open invitation to a culture of offense-taking, as it is clear that our national broadcaster chooses to be swayed by brute force of opposition rather than quality of argument.

Read the whole article and check the blog out HERE

and on to Seoul ...

Well, a dozen of us made our way over to Vancouver last night to take in latest stop on the Passion World Tour. We joined about 7000 others between the ages of 18 and 25 for an night of focusing on Jesus Christ and being inspired by the story of grace (no, not a person, but the action). We returned on the 5.15am ferry this morning ... what a great roadtrip!



I was really humbled to be able to join these university-aged students (see the photo of the stadium above). There was actually an age restriction on the night, so I felt lucky to be there ...

In short, what made this a standout night was that it was solid, not hyped. I've been at dozens of conferences and heard probably over a hundred 'passionate' sermons that walked the line (or crossed it) between inspiring people and stirring up students to "take on the world for Jesus" using nothing but motivational hype. This night was not that.

Louie Giglio, the speaker, simply spoke. He read and explained some Scripture, told an awe-inspiring story, and called people to care for their friends. (I noticed that his talk will be released on DVD soon (?!?) so if you couldn't get to Vancouver, you might grab it sometime.)

I liked that. Simple and solid. No post-conference emotional let-down. No desire to dwell in the past and go back to the "amazing night". The night was great, but not hyped. Here's to more of those!

From Vancouver, the tour heads to Seoul, Korea. The last thing that we did during the evening was to donate toward the gathering there this weekend. Mexico donated toward us, and we gave to underwrite Korean. And so on, and so on ... and the wave continues.

from Mexico to Vancouver ...

I'm heading to Vancouver today with a dozen young adults to take in the Passion Conference at GM Place tonight. The cool thing is that this is a free event for us locals - it's been paid for by those attending the last Passion Conference World Tour event in Mexico City. Amazing.

Here are 7000 or so Mexicans who are so interested in young Canadian lives being transformed by Jesus Christ that they give 150,000 Pesos (about 15K) to rent GM Place so that we can gather for one night to focus on the challenge of being a light in the darkest corners of our world.

Good use of money? I'm not sure. What I am sure of though, is that their giving in-and-of itself has inspired me.



PASSION VANCOUVER is a gathering for UNIVERSITY-AGED young people throughout Canada. Believing in the university moment, and what God longs to do in this strategic window of time, the entire event will focus on the bigness of God, calling students to PRAYER, WORSHIP and ACTION, and a Story so much bigger than their own.

The heartbeat of PASSION VANCOUVER is to:
ENCOURAGE the CHURCH
Foster UNITY among those who love JESUS
Spark VISION for the UNIVERSITIES of Vancouver and the nation
Tell the STORY of REDEMPTION in compelling ways
INSPIRE students to EMBRACE their part in God's global plan for the NATIONS.

I'll let you know how it goes ...