Archive - April, 2008

Pending Reviews: Soon to Come

I am really behind in some reviews, but here is what is on deck:

Sex, Sushi, & Salvation: Thoughts on Intimacy, Community, & Eternity by Christian George.

  • I am almost done with this book and will have a review shortly.  But so far, I really like what I see.  George has a very “Donald Milleresque” style of writing about him.  Which I love.  When I first got the book I chuckled at the title because sex and sushi are really popular in Los Angeles.  That is what sells in this town.  Not so much salvation, though I think that’s what many are unknowingly looking for.  Good combination of words that speak to so many people’s needs, desires and wants.  As I said, I will post that review shortly.

The Vision Deck: 52 Exercises to Inspire Visionary Teams by auxano.

  • This is taking me a little while to review, since I’m trying to take all 52 cards in, and actually use them, rather than just read through them.  So I will have a full review soon.  But what lies at heart in this deck is what I’m passionate about (i.e. team building, collaboration, vision casting, ministry, etc.)

Sexless in the City: A Memoir of Reluctant Chastity by Anna Broadway.

  • Very popular blogger’s blog writings become a book.  I have known her for about 15 years or so, so I’m excited to see her writing published.  This is a fascinating topic for many people, and Broadway is a great writer.  A review will follow soon.

A Leader Becomes A Leader: Inspirational Stories of Leadership For A New Generation by J. Kevin Sheehan.

  • This book just came in the mail today and I’m very excited about.  Very good looking book.  Great photography, stories, anedotes, thoughts, etc., from some of the greatest leaders in a number of distinct fields.  I think the influence of these multiple voices on various topics of leadership should be a great read.

Collaborative Resources

I think most of you know by now, I have become a huge fan of the New Media and Web 2.0. But there is one aspect of it that I am most excited about: collaboration. With immediate access to amazing and simple tools we are able to collaborate more rapidly and effectively with one another than before. Collaboration is not only taking place amongst friends and co-workers in the same office, but is happening on larger scales both locally and globally.

To get some perspective on this aspect of the New Media and Web 2.0 there are a few books that I have been reading, and that I highly recommend. They are all varied to some degree, but they are saying essentially the same thing: people are now able to collaborate on a mass scale like never before.

Check Them Out

The Starfish and the Spider: The Unstoppable Power of Leaderless Organizations by Ori Brafman and Rod A. Beckstrom.

  • Amazing book on the power of mass collaboration, and how it is creating and sustaining organizations that are leaderless. They give good examples of leaderless organizations, as well as looking at hybrid organizations that have some structure in place, but are pretty much led by the leaderless communities that support them.

Here Comes Everybody: The Power of Organizing Without Organizations by Clay Shirky.

  • This book I’m still working on. But I’m particularly intrigued by his chapter “Publish, Then Filter.” In an instant world with mediums such as blogging, people publish first then go back to filter and edit, but through the help of the community. In the collaborative conversation, the community does the filtering, editing, and correcting. This is so upside down from the old media which only publishes after tons of edits, corrections, etc., if it publishes at all. Many are uncomfortable with this new mentality, but in the new media, what were once perceived as big mistakes are no longer big mistakes, but are easily dialogued about…and if needed, forgiven by the public (some of this is my own commentary).

Wikinomics: How Mass Collaboration Changes Everything by Dan Tapscott and Anthony D. Williams.

  • Great book. Very in depth. This really gets technical about mass collaboration and explores many aspects from economics to science, and how mass collaboration is revolutionizing these fields and others.

Facebook for Pastors: How To Build Relationships And Connect With People Using The Most Popular Social Network On The Internet by Chris Forbes

  • I love Facebook, I am a pastor, and I love ministry. So this book is a must read. Very quick and free. How can you beat that. My chapter in The New Media Frontier: Blogging, Vlogging, and Podcasting for Christ is “Navigating the Evolving World of Youth Ministry in the Facebook-MySpace Generation.” I didn’t really touch on collaboration which was sort of new to me when I wrote it. Now if I could go back, I would talk on this more.

Getting Real: The smarter, faster, easier way to build a successful web application by 37 Signals.

  • Awesome, awesome book. Really a manifesto. Short and is free online. This really changed my views about the necessity for simplicity and less is more attitude in the onslaught of new media and design. They are some real nuggets in there.

Shepherding vs. Ranching: Part 2

Shepherding vs. Ranching: Part 1

In the last post I looked at these two definitions:

Dictionary Definitions:

Shepherding: To herd, guard, tend, or guide as or in the manner of a shepherd.

Ranching: To manage or work on a ranch.

I like the words used in shepherding: herd, guard, tend and guide. Where as a rancher manages or works.

So when I’m asked the question, “Are you a rancher or a shepherd?”, the implication for me is whether or not I want to manage people, or guide them. Managing people is indicative of larger groups, more of a hands off model of leadership and overseeing. Where as guiding and tending reminds me of a very personal hands on experience of walking through life and mentoring people. Because of this, ranchers oversee larger spaces of land and people, and shepherds tend to smaller areas and less people.

This is what I believe is underneath the questions, and the observations of the two metaphors.

A few more questions:

  1. When you think of the tasks of being a pastor, which metaphor is best?
  2. Which metaphor do you prefer in your church leadership?
  3. Can a pastor be both a shepherd and rancher?  Or are they exclusive of one another?  Why or why not?

8 Ingredients In Storytelling

Drew Sams has written a great post at Collection of Crumbs.

The Power of Story in Youth Ministry (2 of 5)

Drew talks about the following 8 ingredients:

Ingredient #1 – Point of View
Ingredient #2 – Setting
Ingredient #3 – Characters
Ingredient #4 – Protagonists
Ingredient #5 – Antagonists
Ingredient #6 – Conflict
Ingredient #7 – Climax (Turning Point)
Ingredient #8 – Denoument (Resolution)

Twitter=Get Out of Jail

Student ‘Twitters’ way out of Egyptian jail.
HT: Billy Linnehan

MacGyver could have found ‘Twitter’ helpful on a few occassions probably.

Facebook

Just posted at Leadership Network on the new and free e-book, Facebook for Pastors.

Please check it out!

Facebook Wins: Katherine Wolf’s mom comments on earlier post about Facebook and prayer chains

  1. kim arnold Says:
    Hi,
    I’m Katherine’s mom. I haven’t really been able to get on the computer until last night,just before going to sleep. I was so blown away that I almost woke James up with my crying. This is beyond my wildest imagination. I have ranted about the evils of Facebook for the past several years, and I have seen it used (misused) for great harm. HOWEVER, I am now reminded of Joseph’s situation….what may be meant for evil can be used by God for great good. It is humbling and comforting to see His use of it in this way. Good triumphs! May the cry of my heart go out to the ends of the earth through this vehicle: “Talitha cum!”

    Kim Arnold

Shepherding vs. Ranching: Part 1

Listen carefully to the metaphors people use in regards to ministry. They can tell you a lot about a person’s style of leadership, belief about Church structure, evangelism, etc. They seem innocuous enough, but they speak volumes in many ways.

I have been involved in some interesting discussions recently and a certain question has been bantered about.

“Are you a shepherd or a rancher?”

This is a question that many of us have been struggling with.

What does that mean? We can go in a lot of different directions. But what we come up with I believe has many implications for what kind of leader we are and want to be, and what we believe about ministry and the congregation.

Dictionary Definitions:

Shepherding: To herd, guard, tend, or guide as or in the manner of a shepherd.

Ranching: To manage or work on a ranch.

I can tease this out more, but I’m going to be posting more extensively on this issue.

But let me ask you a few questions:

  1. What are your initial thoughts, observations on that question?
  2. Do you see yourself as a rancher or shepherd?
  3. Is one preferable over the other? Why or why not?

I will then pick up on this issue later in the week.

This Isn’t Your Parent’s Prayer Chain

I’ve witnessed some amazing examples of how social networking is being used to connect people in prayer.

Matt Singley has a great post with just one example happening in our church on Facebook. So check that out.

Here is what is happening. A young woman in our congregation went in for emergency brain surgery at the beginning of the week, and within a day or two her family and community rallied around her, not only in person, but also in prayer as people all over the country and here locally swarmed to Facebook to prayer for her, receive constant updates on her condition, as well as finding out ways how they could help the family. Simply amazing.

Praying for Katherine Wolf has 688 members

Pray for Katherine Arnold Wolf has 1,303 members

And everytime I log on the numbers are growing. It’s an amazing example of the power of prayer in someone’s life.

In the past and still today, people usually set up prayer chains via a phone or answering service, emails, etc. But the way Facebook is being used is awesome. And if you are on Facebook, you will see constant reminders of the need to pray for Katherine and her family.

I have a meeting with Robert of Kindle this Friday, and I know he is working on ways to build praying communities online. Kindle is another great tool, and I’m excited to see it expand and grow.

New Facebook for Pastors e-book (and it’s free)


It seems like Facebook has just really exploded over the last couple of months. When I got on Facebook a couple of years ago it was basically my college students who I was friends with. Which makes sense since it began as a college social network.

But recently I have been connecting more and more with others, especially those in ministry. That being said, Chris Forbes just released the free e-book:

Facebook for Pastors: How To Build Relationships And Connect With People Using The Most Popular Social Network On The Internet

Check it out. I just started reading and really like it. It gives a really great case for why pastors, church leaders, etc. need to be on Facebook, and Greg Atkinson does an awesome job in the foreward to the book.

Here is a little blurb about the book on Chris’s site:

How to build relationships and connect with people using the most popular social network on the Internet. This 32 page e-book will help Pastors and other ministry leaders make the most of this great networking tool.

* How to make the most of your profile information
* Tips for Networking with People in Facebook
* All about groups, messages, poking, etc
* Brand Your Ministry
* Meet prospects for your church
* Learn more about the members in your church
* Fine tune your communication skills
* Testimonies from Pastors who use FaceBook
* and much more!

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