The Rebel

Here is a great post by Mark Batterson:

I was reading a Fast Company article about the way Microsoft is trying to re-image itself. They've hired an ad agency called Crispin Porter + Bogusky. Creative genius, Alex Bogusky, made one of those statements I can't get out of my mind: "Life conspires to beat the rebel out of you."

Click HERE to continue reading Mark's post.

Let me know your thoughts and experiences as a 'rebel'.

Should We Baptise An Openly Homosexual Man?

We have just concluded our 2 week focus on over sea's missions in our 6pm services. Our next series is called: NO! Its all about saying no to the good so that we can say yes to the best.
Did you know that every 'no' that we say contains a 'yes' to something else? We can often find it hard to say 'no' when we really know that we should... and this jeopardizes the very thing that we should be giving our 'yes' to!
Anyways... more of this in the coming weeks.

I have started going to gym again this past week. After not having done any exercise for the past 1 1/2 years... I felt PAIN... and it was so good! I already feel motivated to eat healthier and to snack less. So if you see my T's ripping as I flex ... you know why (just kidding) : )

I found a thought provoking article on weather or not the church should baptise an openly homosexual man. Click HERE to read it.
Although we have finnished with the communication posts for the next while... I really thought that the Pastors one on one communication with the homosexual man was brilliant. We can all learn from his wisdom.
By the way, I'd love to hear your thoughts and questions on this topic.

Until next time...
Godspeed & Kaizan

Growing Up

Hey all, what a fabulous week I've had. I've been able to connect with so many people... even with my mate Heather who is now living in Canada (go Skype!).
It is amazing how refreshing it is when one connects with good friends and family!

I have written a really great post on our church's blog (just click HERE to take a peek) called 'Growing Up.'

Well, till next time...

5 Questions To Ask When Preparing To Communicate

What a great week I've had. I got to see Iron Man with my wife on Monday (if you didn't realize it... I'm a bit of a super-hero's geek) [The movie was phenomenally well done by the way] and tonight I've had a turbo group (a 4 week life group which trains up potential life group leaders with practical skills and tips on life group leading). I just love hanging out with the crew from my church! I am so blessed to be in the position that I am.

We have been looking at communication over the last few posts... and I have one more link to send you on as we deal with the subject of communication. Click HERE to follow the link to Ps Mark Conner's blog post on communication.

Finally as I sign off, I have found a really cool word for you to throw in your conversations:
OMPHALOSKEPSIS
pronounced: om-fuh-loh-skep-sis (thanks to http://dictionary.reference.com)
It means navel-contemplation.
If you ask me churches have no shortage of omphaloskepsis going on!

Let me know what you thought : )

Same Old Same Old?

What an incredible weekend we had at Eastside! Ps Nick was just on fire as he spoke about the impact our church is having overseas. We have seen over 500 churches planted last year... or ten a week... or 1 new church planted every 16hours!
While these stats are wonderfully exciting... there was something else that caused our excitement to peak... and that Ps Nick's personal passion for what is going on overseas!

Passion for your subject is possibly one of the greatest elements that one can possess in your communication arsenal. If you're not squirming with passion then your audience certainly will be left cold... no matter how exciting your content!

On another communication subject, isn't it amazing how our packaging of a message can make all the difference in how it is recieved?
If I had several bags on a table which one of the following would you pick:

• A MacDonald's bag
• A Warehouse bag
• A Meccano bag (elite mens fashion shop)
• A KMart bag
• A $2 Dollar shop bag

Chances are that the choice would be a no-brainer!
But hang on now... we haven't even discussed what was in those bags!
Just the branding of those bags gave us some strong feelings.

How do we present the timeless message of the Gospel?
Outdated?
Conservative?
Boring?
Out of touch?

Check out this great video which has kept the same 'timeless' content but radicaly changed the delivery:



Let me know your thoughts : )

Christianise In Communication

For the first time in quite a while I've had a Saturday with the whole family. Tarryn usually works so it was a real treat.
Talking of treats I have a great video that really shows how sometimes we can frustrate people when we don't 'speak their language'. After you've been a Christian for a while we often don't even realize how much Christian jargon that we are actually using in our communication and marketing.

The Apostle Paul was actually quite masterful at speaking in 'the language of the people. Check out these versus:
Act 17:21-23 CEV
(21) More than anything else the people of Athens and the foreigners living there loved to hear and to talk about anything new.
(22) So Paul stood up in front of the council and said: People of Athens, I see that you are very religious.
(23) As I was going through your city and looking at the things you worship, I found an altar with the words, "To an Unknown God." You worship this God, but you don't really know him. So I want to tell you about him.
Act 17:28 CEV
(28) and he gives us the power to live, to move, and to be who we are. "We are his children," just as some of your poets have said.





What did you think of the Dunkin Donuts advert?
Let me know your thoughts : )

Who Say's You Can't Get Anything For Nothing?

While snooping around the web... I found this FREE book called Facebook For Pastors. If you're keen to check it out then Click HERE.

WOW... isn't it exciting when you can get your hands on a bargin : )

What have been your experiences in using technology to connect with people, share your story and your faith?
I look forward to hearing your stories.

How 333 Could Lift Your Communication!

Without meaning to at all... I seem to have had a few posts lately on the subject of communication.
For a leader I do feel that one's ability to communicate is fundamental. I believe the greater your position / responsibility, the greater your communication skill needs to be. After all... how can we influence without communication (that includes non-verbal communication)?

I was looking at the Church Video Idea's blog and came across a post that contained a great video on communication called "PresenTired: 'The Voicemail" Click HERE to check the video out.

If you know of some great video's / illustrations / etc. on communication please do pass them on to me. It would be much appreciated!

I have also posted some more thoughts on our church blog giving 5 reasons why we should go to church... so if you're curious then click HERE.

Until next time...

Common Communication Mistakes

One of my personal passions is communicating... so to follow in the steps of the last post on How To Present Like Steve Jobs I want to send you to a really great post by the Church Marketing Sucks blog. Click HERE to check it out.

Let me know which of the 9 points spoke to you the most.
For me points 3 & 8 were particularly challenging.

Until next time : )

Presenting Like Steve Jobs

Wow what a day. I've been horribly sick. Tarryn my wife was at work and I usually have my 2 year old with me on mondays. My temptation was to think that I could handle it... I could push through and look after Laykin. But after Tarryn phoned me I had to give in to what was a wise decision... to get Laykin into child care so I could rest. And rest I did, for 5 hours straight I was in lala land.

What is it about ourselves that we never want to accept our weakness and look to others for help?
Overcoming this instinctual urge to be self sufficient / or in control is key to living the 'Christian life'.
Mat 5:3 CEV (3) God blesses those people who depend only on him. They belong to the kingdom of heaven!
It's a bit of a journey that I've been on over the past 6 months, so I'd love to hear your thoughts : )

But on to other things...I was reading Ps James Macphersons blog and came across this excellent youtube post on 'How To Present Like Steve Jobs' (Apple CEO). Click HERE for a great lesson in communication!

Well thats it for today, let me know your thoughts about the above and thanks for poping in to my blog.

Sweet Spot vs Comfort Zone

A very big happy Mothers day to all the moms reading the post today!!!

We had another phenomenal Sunday at church where we celebrated moms in all 4 of our weekend services. I love it that we take time out to celebrate!

Today I wanted to share with you a very challenging post by Ps Steve Furtick. His posts starts off with:
Don’t confuse being in your sweet spot with being in your comfort zone.
Click HERE to read the rest.

I look forward to your comments!

Kiss And Tell?

As we can all run the risk of being too serious... or even worse, taking ourselves too seriously, I'm sure you'll appreciate this youtube clip : )

Checklist For Plateauing Or Declining Growth

What an amazing time at the Foo Fighters concert on Tuesday night in Auckland's Vector Arena. As this was the last night of their tour they extended their already 2hr gig to 2hr 40mins! It was a slamming time.
The only thing was that we were planning on busing home and the concert finished after the 11:35pm bus. So we hung around waiting for the 1am bus... and at 1:15am we re-checked the fine print... you know where this is going don't you! Thankfully my brother and I are blessed with very gracious wives!

I thought that today I'd share some thoughts that Bill Hybels of Willow Creek Community Church shared with us in April when we had a Q&A day with him.
Bill was talking about growth... numerical growth specifically and he said that churches should be experiencing a gradual increase (continually) [over time].
But we all know that most churches aren't experiencing this... so what are we to do?

First off:
Don't blame Heaven or spiritual powers, etc. Heaven is NOT causing the plateau... we are!

Secondly:
Gather 5 theories of why this plateau / decline is happening (see the checklist below). Then systematically remove these obstacles.

Thirdly:
Beware the temptation to jump to wrong conclusions and therefore apply the wrong solutions. We too often apply spiritual solutions to management problems and vise versa.

So Here is that check list- Is there a problem with your:

• Vision
• Leadership
• Preaching
• Relevancy / style
• Facilities
• Structure
• Season (anything over a year is NOT a season)

It can be painful to have to confront these issues... but the pain of confrontation is no match for the pain of procrastination!
Besides that, the stakes are too high! We need to reach our communities with the Good News. May we never be satisfied knowing that there are 10 000's of 1 000's in our communities who still need to know of God's Grace!

I would be interested to hear your thoughts on this subject!

No Christianity Without The Scriptures

Today saw the launch of our new curch blog. our aim is to be able to create another channel for increased 2-way communication. Why not check it out HERE.

I must tell you that I am absolutly excited about my 30 day challenge to increase my word power while feeding starving and needy people in Africa. I can already feel my word power increasing.
And just by answering 5 words right (100 grains of rice) I provide 1 plate of rice. I am aiming to provide 500 grains (5 Plates) a night minimum.
If you haven't had a look at freerice yet... click HERE!

Let me leave you with a thought that is expanded somewhat on our church blog (eastsidechurch.blogspot.com):
There is no Christianity without the Scriptures!
To read more click HERE

Well I'm off to see the Foo Fighters in Auckland ... so i thought I'd leave you some advise from Rhys Lakes blog with a post entitled The Top 5 Essential Ingredients To Making A Rock Show Rock. Click HERE to check it out.


Until next time!

The Power of 30 Days

In our staff meeting the other day we were talking about the power of the 30 day challenge. Often we set long-term goals only to find the longevity of the goal causing us to loose motivation and hope which leads to us giving up on our goal.

30 days on the other hand... that is a manageable length of time.
I suppose its like running. Instead of thinking about the 5 / 10 kms that are still to be run, if you break it down into the next 3 / 4 blocks or the next km.
Mentally this is much easier to cope with and will much more likely result in you achieving your goals.

With this in mind we were all encouraged to take a 30 challenge.
My 30 day challenge is to play Freerice for 30 days improving my word power... and more importantly feeding some very needy people.

What 30 day challenge are ready to pick up?