Evan Doyle

January 31 is a very, very important day. It’s Justin Timberlake’s 27th birthday! Aren’t you excited?

OK, so yes. It’s his birthday. But you could care less. However, I just so happen to share a birthday with Justin Timberlake. Yes, that’s right, today is Evan’s 17th birthday!

We’re just so excited, we wanted to share the birthday joy with you through the first-ever Way We See It Blog giveaway! Each of us here on the blog have something that we think is cool we’d like to give away.

All you have to do is send an email with your name, address, and a reason you love the blog to contests AT thewayweseeitblog DOT com. (You’ll need to change those ATs and DOTs to actual characters. Spam stinks.) You’ve got a week (3 PM 1/31 to 11:59 PM 2/6) to send us an email. Next Thursday, we’ll announce the randomly chosen winner here on the blog. You have to live in the 50 United States or District of Columbia. (My apologies to our international friends.) Other than that, no strings. No catches. Just free stuff. How cool is that?

That’s all well and good, but here’s what we’re sure you want to know: What do you actually win? Here it is:

From Evan:
a. A copy of unChristian, a revolutionary new book from Barna Research, the Fermi Project, and Baker Book House. Here’s what the book is all about: “Christians are supposed to represent Christ to the world. But according to the latest report card, something has gone terribly wrong. Using descriptions like ‘hypocritical’, ‘insensitive’, and ‘judgemental’, young Americans share an impression of Christianity that’s nothing short of … unChristian.”
This book will give you a terrifying yet motivating look into the minds of America’s kids and teens. Even if you don’t win, it’ll be a book you’ll want to check out!
b. A bag of Dale and Thomas Popcorn, which is only the best popcorn ever!

From Ryan:
One copy each of KidzMatter’s Home Run Sermons Volumes 1 and 2. Just need a quick lesson? Just grab these off the shelf, throw in some games and songs, and you’re ready to go! Volume 1 is all about the life of Christ and basic Christianity. Volume 2, MythBusters, covers 12 questions that every kid wants to know.

From Jim: 
a. A free MP3 membership to “The Club”, the monthly coaching and training subscription from Jim Wideman Ministries. Designed especially for children’s ministers and those who want to take advantage of over 30 years of children’s and family ministry experience without taking 30 years to learn it.
b. Two books: Volunteers That Stick and Children’s Ministry Leadership: the You Can Do It Guide, both by Jim Wideman. You can check these great books out by going to kidzmatter.com.

All in all, you’re receiving around $290 worth of free stuff to use in your ministry. So get to sending those emails. You don’t even have to pay any shipping.

Important stuff: Be sure to read the obligatory Official Rules. You can check them out here.

So, here I sit in the Indianapolis International Airport waiting for my very delayed plane to Orlando for CPC! (We were supposed to take off at 6, now it’s 9) I am so excited. The entire airport is blanketed in AT&T Wi-Fi, which is actually very expensive. But I have an advantage. I am an AT&T DSL subscriber, and therefore get free Wi-Fi. So therefore I am writing this here blog post to you. They’ve given me an advantage to choose them over another service.

That’s something important to remember in ministry. What advantages are you giving the members of your church? What reasons do your members have to continue attending your church? Do they see a church that is alive? Do they see a church that is giving them a reason to keep coming in each and every week?

Remember that the church is in the construction business, not the maintenance business. Keep the kids (and workers!) in your ministry not just alive, but growing! Always keep ministry in mind. And that’s the way I see it from IND.

Today is a very important day.  It’s the day Mac users from all around the world visit the veritable “Mecca” of Mac-dom (a.k.a. Moscone West Expo Center in San Francisco), and many more gather with them via text and video feeds online.  Today is the day of the Macworld keynote address by Apple CEO, Steve Jobs.

Yes, every single blogger here uses a Mac.  We’re totally sold.  Why has Apple been able to gain such rabidly fanatical users?  The answer comes in a quote from H.J. Heinz (the ketchup guy) many years ago: “To do a common thing uncommonly well brings success.“  That’s why.  Computers and MP3 players weren’t anything new when Apple released their versions of them, but they did them radically well.  They did something so well, that the users that stuck with them were fanatics.

In the past 25 years, personal computers have gone from a few thousand users to over 1 billion users.  There are almost as many computer users as Christians in the world.  Christians took 2000 years, PCs took 25.  Why the difference?  Because PCs were so revolutionary, they spread like wildfire.

What if you could get the kids and parents in your ministry to be just that fanatical?  Aim for it.  Tell your kids that their faith is nothing to be ashamed of, but is to be shared with everyone how absolutely amazing it is.   Push your kids to that level.  You might be surprised to see a sudden explosion of growth.  Kids are the church of today, and can spread God’s love now.  But childhood is so vitally important in faith formation, you may, as a childrens’ pastor, reach more people than you could ever imagine through one small child.

Keep pushing.  Keep proclaiming.  Keep praying.

I just got done reading a post over at the Center for Church Communication’s blog all about getting what you preach for. Go read it, then come back.

OK, good, you’re back now. What is your ministry preaching? What is its primary focus? Are you really preaching those things, or do you just think you are? Examine your ministry today. Look at what you think is your “big thing”. Maybe your ministry’s big thing is outreach. Or family ministry. Or loving kids. Then go and ask your volunteers and parents what they feel is being communicated. Do they feel that your “big thing” is flashy programs or cheesy 1950’s era picture books?

If your idea of your “big thing” lines up with what you’re actually communicating, great. If it doesn’t, look at where your downfalls are. Then go back, fix those things, then resurvey again in a few months. You may find out it’ll make life a whole lot easier.

No, Evan has not lost his mind.  OK, so maybe I have, but that’s beside the point.

Tonight our church had our Christmas program.  On January 6.  Not in December.  What happened, you ask?  Well, we had to cancel church due to a massive pile of snow that fell from the sky to the ground here in Indiana on the week (Dec. 16) we had intended to have it.  So we had a Christmas program in January.

I’ll admit, it was a little weird singing Christmas songs and looking at Christmas decorations in January.  There was just something about it, though, that made it special.  Like our pastor said at the end of the service, “Christmas is not about December 16.  Christmas is not about December 24.  Christmas is not about December 25.  Christmas is about the love of God.” (more…)