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Gratefully,

Ken

Why Piper's Going to Tweet

If you can't beat 'em, join 'em?

So far I've been resisting Twitter. I have an account, and as of this afternoon, 11 followers. I signed up several weeks ago but until this afternoon had not posted a tweet.

When I invited pros and cons on a recent Facebook post, cons outweighed the pros by about 7:1. My schedule is pretty full and I'd rather build in some margin for my soul than follow hundreds of my friends' latest meal selection. I'm an early adopter, but tech still has to earn its way into my calendar.

Enter Pastor John Piper, who I know feels far more strongly and deeply about media intrusion than I do. Yet, Piper says he's going to Tweet:

I see two kinds of response to social Internet media like blogging, MySpace, Facebook, Twitter, and others.

One says: These media tend to shorten attention spans, weaken discursive reasoning, lure people away from Scripture and prayer, disembody relationships, feed the fires of narcissism, cater to the craving for attention, fill the world with drivel, shrink the soul’s capacity for greatness, and make us second-handers who comment on life when we ought to be living it. So boycott them and write books (not blogs) about the problem.

The other response says: Yes, there is truth in all of that, but instead of boycotting, try to fill these media with as much provocative, reasonable, Bible-saturated, prayerful, relational, Christ-exalting, truth-driven, serious, creative pointers to true greatness as you can. [more]

Still thinking about it. Convince me.

Twenty Years Ago Today...

Who can forget the grainy image of one courageous student staring down a column of tanks? Twenty years ago today the Chinese government chose lethal force to deal with a swelling student-led movement in Tiananmen Square. That fateful decision appears to have triggered one of the greatest spiritual awakenings in church history. The exponential growth of China’s church in the past two decades, particularly among the educated elite, is nothing short of miraculous.

The idea that students can change the world is not a new one. King Nebuchadnezzar understood this when he selected Daniel and his three Israelite friends to receive the best education Babylon had to offer 2,600 years ago. The king sought attractive, skilled, wise and competent youths to be educated for three years. At the end of that time they were to stand before the king. (Daniel 1:1-7) In the same way, today’s governments, corporations and advertisers invest millions of dollars each year attempting to influence students and the choices they will make for the rest of their lives.

Like it or not, today's students will shape tomorrow's culture.

How Do You Measure a Man?

Here's a pretty good plumb line:

The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stand at times of challenge and controversy. - Martin Luther King Jr.

Chase the Vision, Not the Path

Want to change the culture in an organization, business, church or institution? Ask "what should it look like around here?" then begin taking action in that direction. That's how the new growth at the fringes makes its way into the center. This is leadership at its raw essence.

I stumbled across some words of wisdom that support this idea:

Do not seek to follow the footsteps of men of old. Seek what they sought! - BASHO

Take from the altar of the past the fire, not the ashes! - JEAN JAURES

Remember your leaders, those who spoke to you the word of God. Consider the outcome of their way of life, and imitate their faith. - Author of Hebrews

Breakfast with Alan Hirsch & Matt Smay

Last week I enjoyed the privilege of an IHOP breakfast with Alan, Matt and Mike Tilley during the Exponential09:Art of Movements Conference. We affirmed God's amazing, expansive work in the world through normal people. I appreciate these humble and courageous brothers in Christ.

Alan's talk on communitas (not community) during the conference confirmed much of my own movement-planting experiences in the US and East Asia. As Alan says:

The most vigorous forms of community are those that come together in the context of a shared ordeal or, communities who define themselves as a group with a mission that lies beyond themselves—thus initiating a risky journey. Over-concern with safety and security, combined with comfort and convenience, have lulled us out of our true calling and purpose. Everyone loves an adventure. Or do we?

If you're wrestling with a burden for the unchurched post-everything generation, Matt's recent book The Tangible Kingdom: Creating Incarnational Community may help. I finished it this morning on my new Kindle.

Ask Whatever You Wish

Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing…. If you abide in me and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish and it shall be done for you. Jesus in John 15

I have a confession to make—we’re a Facebook family. Not that we’re online all the time, but that is one of many avenues we use (in addition to texting, Skype video calls, and — decreasingly — email) to stay connected, keep up with one other, share pictures and stay in touch. With Travis away in college and me frequently traveling, we long to share life as it happens.

Recently Ann and I took a weekend away to assess how we were doing at connecting with the Lord, with each other and with friends. Jesus impressed upon me, or shall I say invited me, to deepen my times with him through memorizing Scripture again and devoting myself more fully to prayer. Abiding is all about staying connected to the true Source. As a result I’m enjoying a renewed zeal for Christ and genuine, loving interest in others.

One of my specific requests was for new non-CCC friendships. Guys need time to do stuff together, shoulder to shoulder. Frequent travel and other responsibilities mitigate against this. Neither sitting in church nor sipping lattes provides the anvil upon which lifelong guy friendships are forged. But the Lord in his goodness has inundated me with new connections in the past four weeks: neighbors, businessmen in the city, visitors staying in our home, and a tightly knit men’s prayer group on Monday mornings. God answers prayer.

"If..." the conditions are met, ask whatever you wish. What are you asking for?

How Do We Learn? How Should We Lead?

If web 2.0 has taught us anything, it's that there are no limits to the amount of information out there. I hear 13 hours of video are uploaded onto youtube.com every minute, 346 million people around the world regularly read blogs, and 900,000 new blog posts surface each hour. (Thanks, Kelly.) More information doesn't necessarily make us smarter (take the current US banking/credit/economic crises for example) but it can intoxicate. The feed excites us temporarily until the next 140 character status update arrives. Then we move on. But how do we learn?

It's hard to keep up. For four years I lived in an remote East Asian village of 2 million where the closest English-language newspaper was an overnight train ride away. That's when my daily news diet shifted to VOA radio and web 1.0 news sites funneled through a VPN. That was ten years or five centuries ago. Now I read book summaries online, frequently on other people's blogs, for free. This morning I scanned multiple RSS feeds in Google Reader and MyYahoo, for free. Then I loaded my Morning Coffee into Firefox to get up to speed on world news from BBC, CNN, Stratfor and the NY Times. This process requires between 15-25 minutes depending on how many editorials I read. It's far more efficient than parking in front of a half-hour televised CNN update and waiting through the commericials, plus I can forward meaningful links to others. This week I've been intently following the Somalia pirate story and praying for my friends in Ethiopia who are seeking to send Christian students on prayer/mission trips into Somalia.

Printed news is dying. Fewer and fewer people under 30 read a daily printed newspaper. One recent study reveals that printing costs the NY Times twice as much as simply sending every subscriber a Kindle. Journalists have a few more years to decide whether they are in the printed paper business or the journalism business, then make adjustments. Ann and I take the printed Orlando Sentinel newspaper solely for the crossword and the coupons which pay for the recently doubled subscription price. (Today's Sentinel had a grand total of 43 column inches devoted to world news - the average page contains about 100 column-inches.) Neither of my very globally-aware children (ages 16 and 19) read the printed paper - they get almost all of their news online. We shop on Craigslist and Google the solutions to most of our home-renovation challenges.

But we digress...

Learning takes place when we figure out a way to convert data into knowledge (via filtered, thoughtful analysis) and knowledge into wisdom (applied skill in living). As followers of Jesus we're called to take it one more step - converting wisdom into love. Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up.

The great companies, churches and organizations today are the ones who have empowered their people to address increasingly complex challenges by failing fast, learning fast and sharing the wealth. These are places people love to work or serve. A sense of calling replaces the idea of a career as people get to do what they love. Work becomes more like play when we're surrounded by an expanding network of friends with a clear mission to go after together. Humility supplants hubris. Solutions become findable.

What would it take for CCC to remain one of the best avenues in the world for passionate, talented, risk-taking world-changers to live out their God-given calling?

I believe we'll need to keep shaping and reshaping our CCC culture in these final two areas:

4. Learning Environment
The world is constantly changing. What was effective last year may not be effective next year. We must be able to rapidly respond to those God-given opportunities to love our neighbors as ourselves and offer the love of Christ, on any scale- local or global. We need leaders with the spirit of Jonathan and his armor bearer who will take the initiative to “….go up and see what the Lord might do for us.”

We - you and me - must create an atmosphere where people are free to try new ideas and to adapt to changing local, regional or global realities. This learning environment means that

a. Everyone is energetically pursuing effectiveness, with the freedom to acknowledge what is not working and to seek new wineskins. Our sincere intention is to maximize our fruitfulness, so that “everyone knows someone….”

b. We will wrestle with the healthy tension between quality and quantity.

c. We establish channels of learning across countries, regions and the world to share best practices and to learn from each other.

d. We actively offer coaching and stretching assignments to individuals and teams.


5. Shared Leadership
To pursue even our part of movements everywhere, we must share the responsibility for the work. Leadership cannot be left to a few; it must be entrusted to others. The extent of “everywhere” requires an expanding leadership base. Shared leadership means that we execute the mission through effective ministry teams at every level.

a. Leadership teams are committed to a common goal, fully empowered to act within defined boundaries, focused on results, and growing in their effectiveness together.

b. Each team has a designated leader, and team members are clear about their roles. They fulfill their individual responsibilities, recognize their need for one another, demonstrate cooperation, and hold each other accountable to their goals.

c. Each member prioritizes the mission of the team first, and his strategic focus second.

d. To function together effectively on teams, we must be leaders who serve others with grace and humility. Rather than telling people what to do, we ask, “how can we help you accomplish what God has put on your heart?” This servant posture is also expressed in sharing and offering access to needed information. It is demonstrated as we allocate our people, money and other assistance toward local effectiveness.

What's one recent experience that either supports or undermines this type of culture?

What do you think CCC should look like?

Click here for a two-page summary of all five culture change elements.