scotthodge.org

Orlando...Austin...Atlanta.....and next, Uganda.

Ok, I'm diving back in to the blog.  It's been way too long.  My lame excuse: I've been running 200MPH since a few weeks before Easter with writing, travel, etc... and blogging just hasn't been that high on my priority list.  Sorry faithful folks.

So anyway...  Rather than try to knock out a bunch of amazing blog posts, I thought I'd throw out a few random thoughts of what's been happening over these past few weeks.  Here we go:

• Easter.  This year's Easter weekend The Orchard was a record-breaking weekend!  Our teams did an amazing job and I think my head is still spinning after a HUGELY successful Helicopter Easter Egg Drop.  All I can say is WOW.  If you missed the video review, click here.
  
  
• Orlando.  Had a great time at Exponential in Orlando.  Exponential is sort of a like a big family reunion (but without the weird uncle and the funky potato salad).  This is actually the largest church planting conference in North America and one that I would definitely encourage all church planters to attend in 2010.  Had fun teaching a session with Gary Lamb (did he really say "wanker"??) and then participating in some great conversations in the Exponential Lounge with guys like Erwin McManus, Francis Chan, Dave Ferguson, Craig Groeschel, Matt Chandler, and others. 
  
  
• Austin. After a couple of days home I found myself in the amazing city of Austin, TX to be a part of Q.  Q is one of my favorite gatherings of the year.  It's small and all about influencing and changing culture.  Think TED format.  Loved connecting with a bunch of friends - both new and old.  People like Kem Meyer, Mike Foster, Jeff Shinabarger, Tim Stevens, Alan Hirsch, Kyle Zimmerman, John Burke, Rick McKinley, Chris Seay, Gabe Lyons, Mel McGowan, Charles Lee, and a bunch of other amazing people. Next year, Q will be here - in Chicago!
  
  
• Austin II.  All I can say is - what a cool city.  And with a slogan that's all about keeping it "weird" what do you expect??  Check out a few photos I posted in Facebook.
  
  
• Jackie Huba.  Writer, Author, Speaker, Blogger, Marketing Guru-ess, co-founder of the Society for Word of Mouth.  Forbes calls her work "the word of mouth gospel."  Anyway....  Had a chance to grab lunch with Jackie while in Austin.  That was worth the trip alone.  If you don't follow her twitter you need to. 
  
  
• Atlanta.  Orange.  It's THE premier and the BEST family ministry conference in the flippin' universe.  Loved being a part of this and having the opportunity to share The Orchard's story and some thoughts/ideas on the topic of navigating change with a room full of Lead Pastors and Senior Leaders.  Just wish I could have stuck around for more than a few hours, but was glad to be able to hang with a few of our staff who were attending and introduce them to some killer Korean BBQ. 
  
  
• Uganda.  In a couple of weeks.  More on this later, but looking forward to getting my heart messed up by this trip. 
  
  
• Study.  It's what I should be doing right now.  So I'm done.  Hopefully back in the groove of blogging.  We'll see.  Thanks for the encouragement folks.

All You Need is a Good Idea!

I'm excited to introduce to you a new author by the name of Jay Heyman!   Jay is the author of a  new book entitled, All You Need is a Good Idea!. 

I had a chance to read Jay's book flying back from Orange County a couple weeks ago and I couldn't stop underlining, scribbling, and making notes all over the margins.  It's a great book filled with lots of practical stories and advice from a guy who has actually done it!

With that said, I recently had a chance to shoot a few questions over to Jay about his book.  There's some great insight here and I really appreciate Jay taking the time to respond! 

Jay - first and foremost...  Mac or PC?

Mac. I work with art directors and historically they much prefer the graphic capabilities of Macs, although the two platforms are getting more similar, as they pluck off good ideas from each other. I still get a kick out of installing software and seeing three pages of instructions for the PC and only three sentences for the Mac.

Who did you write this book for?

According to the Small Business Administration, small businesses make up 99.7 per cent of all  employer firms. My book is written for theses small businesses, for what I call the lieutenants of industry, as opposed to the captains. Smaller businesses often don’t have the resources and large staff to develop their marketing ideas. All You Need Is A Good Idea! will help them learn to create the ideas they need to stand out in the marketplace, build market share, get publicity, appear larger than they really are and make their competition nervous…while actually having fun.

My book provides a (hopefully) comprehensive guide from generating the first fuzzy notion to creating the final good idea. In a phrase, it is designed to help small companies learn to make their business conspicuous.

Your book is entitled, All You Need is a Good Idea!  Why "good" and not "great" or better yet... "PERFECT"?

While you are waiting for the “world’s greatest” idea, you will stand frozen in apprehension, immobilized by anxiety. You will find yourself conscientiously discarding all the ideas you create, judging them as not being good enough, or a little trite, or not quite clever enough. You will never satisfy yourself sufficiently to actually use one of them. Even President Obama recently commented “We will not let the pursuit of perfection stand in the way of achievable goals.” And he may not even have read my book.

Jay, you make a great point about how a good idea doesn't necessarily require a large marketing budget.  In fact, you even take it a step further and suggest that having a good idea backed by a huge media budget could potentially be a problem.  Why is that?

Too often a hefty advertising budget means you may be tempted to settle for conservative and safe communications, in the hope that the weight of the media will help the message break through. A good idea backed by a huge media budget would actually be wonderful. It is the absence of an idea, the reliance on the clout of the media that is a waste of dollars. (And you can name your own Super Bowl commercials that unfortunately fit this description.)

What do we need to be very clear about before coming up with a good idea?

Being clever for the sake of being clever is never the right approach. You must first thoroughly analyze whom you want to be talking to (your target audience) and what you are trying to convince them of (your strategy). If you are not clear about your destination, how will you ever know you have gotten there?

What are some common enemies to coming up with a good idea?

Committees. Settling for your first idea. Falling in love with a headline. Left-brain management types with colorful charts and imposing graphs that use quantitative methods to make qualitative judgments. The fear that you do not have all the information you need. (Just relax and memorize the Albert Einstein quote I put in the front of my book. “Imagination is more important than knowledge.”)

Jay - thanks again for sharing some great insights with my readers!  

Buy the book here.

Visit Jay's blog here.

Meet Dave Gibbons!

I’ve gotta be honest... I am blown away at the caliber of people God has surrounded my life with.  I'm serious.  The leaders, pastors, entrepreneurs, creatives, artists, etc... who I've had the opportunity to get to know and become friends with over the years is something that I am so grateful for!

One of those people is a very new friend of mine by the name of Dave Gibbons.  Dave is....umm...let's  see.  Well let me just paste in what Zondervan says about him:

Last weekend I had the opportunity to meet and spend some time with Dave while at The Idea Camp in  Irvine, CA.  In fact, not only did I have the privilege of spending some time learning from Dave, but  SOMEHOW......I also found myself sitting between him and Eugene Cho during a Leadership Q&A  session at Idea Camp!  That was quite an honor... (even though he made me eat this.)

SO ANYWAY....with all that said, there’s two things I want to tell you about:

First...

DAVE'S BOOK.  The Monkey and the Fish.  I read a lot of books, but seldom do I read one twice.  I'm already half way through my second reading...

It’s hard to describe how much I have found myself resonating with Dave’s heart through his book.  Plus, watching how God is using him, not just in SoCal, but also in places like Bangkok, India, London, Mexico City, and multiple other cities, is stretching and challenging me in some unbelievable ways.  (You can read about my visit to NewSong Bangkok here.)

Second...

THE VIDEO.  The other thing I want you to know about is this video interview recorded last weekend by Eugune Cho (who you also need to get to know...).

On a side note, Dave will be speaking at this year’s Leadership Summit at Willowcreek. 

Lastly, here’s some linkage.

Dave’s Blog

Dave’s Twitter
NewSong Church
Buy the Book

Get to know Dave Gibbons folks.

The eyes are the window of the soul...

The old proverb, "The eyes are the windows of the soul," contains a powerful truth.  Our eyes reveal whether our souls are spacious or cramped, hospitable or critical, compassionate or judgmental.  The way we see other people is usually the way we see ourselves.  If we have made peace with our flawed humanity and embraced our ragamuffin identity, we are able to tolerate in others what was previously unacceptable in ourselves.

Brennan Manning, The Ragamuffin Gospel

My Friend Anne!

This is my friend Anne Jackson.  (And next to her is another friend, Jon Acuff - a.k.a. Stuff Christians Like)

Anne just wrote a new book.  It’s called Mad Church Disease.  And it’s one that I seriously predict is going to be one of the most influential books for church leaders this year and beyond.

I’ve gotten to know Anne personally over the past couple of years and here’s the bottom line:

Anne is willing to step out on a limb and talk about the **** that very few have the guts to talk about.

It’s that way when you hang out with her.  It’s that way on her blog.  It’s the same way when she speaks. 

And NOW...it’s most definitely the same with her new book as she writes very openly about a topic that most of us are familiar with (even if you don’t know it yet):

BURNOUT

Folks....burnout is a serious issue.  Especially in church work, where the lines between “work” and “personal  life” are constantly blurred. 

In chapter 5, Anne shares one of the most helpful tools I’ve seen on how to distinguish between “stress” and “burnout”.  She has also included some interviews on this topic with some great church leaders like Bill Hybels, Perry Noble, Mike Foster, Wayne Cordeiro, and others. 

But the best part of the book is where Anne offers hope for health - spiritual, physical, emotional, and relational health. 

Check it out here.

Pre-order it now.  In fact, do what I’m going to do and buy multiple copies for your staff.

Thank you Anne for pouring your heart and passion into this book!  You are a gift!

The World of Grace

So often we religious people walk amid the beauty and bounty of nature and we talk nonstop.  We miss the panorama of color and sound and smell. 

Nature's lessons are lost and the opportunity to be wrapped in silent wonder before the God of creation passes.  We fail to be stretched by the magnificence of the world saturated with grace.

We must rediscover the gospel of grace and the world of grace.

Brennan Manning, The Ragamuffin Gospel chapter five

Conversation with Craig Groeschel

Craig Groeschel has a new book out called, It: How Churches and Leaders Can Get It and Keep It.    

What is it?  Good question. 

It isn't easy to define, but one thing is certain - everyone knows it when they see it.  From the book:

"When a church has it, everyone can tell.  And when one doesn't....everyone can tell.  The same is true for leaders.  Some leaders have it.  Some don't. 

I promise, if it has come to a ministry near you, people are talking about it.  When a ministry has it, the ground seems to rumble.  Everyone hears about it. 

I believe that God makes it available to anyone who wants it.  I believe it wants to give it to you and your ministry." 

As I mentioned the other day, Craig is doing some blog hopping this week to talk about it, and he's starting RIGHT HERE.  So without further ado....

Hey Craig - thanks for stopping by!  I know I'm only supposed to ask one question, but I have two. 

First, have you ever thought about packaging and selling it to smaller churches?  Or better yet, giving it away FREE on the OPEN site?

(No Answer)

Secondly, do you believe in the doctrine of once it - always it?  If not, what are some shifts, changes, or adjustments you've had to make in your personal leadership over the years to ensure not LOSING it? 

Do I believe in once-IT, always-IT?  I wish I did.  Some people who are totally surrendered to Christ, get IT and keep IT. Sadly though, many people don’t.  It is very clear that just because you have IT doesn’t mean you’ll keep IT. The good news is, if you don’t have IT you can get IT.

When I first experienced the grace and love of Christ, serving Him was all that mattered. I gladly left a future in the business world for full-time vocational ministry without any hesitations. Oddly though, in the coming years, I let ministry beat IT out of me. Some people were cruel. Some of my ideas bombed. Before long, I found myself caring more about what the people thought about me than what God thought about me. That dangerous shift caused me to lose IT.

You asked how to ensure that a leader doesn’t lose IT. I think the approach would vary from leader to leader. For me, developing relationships with people who not yet believers keeps me passionate to help them know Christ. Seeing God work internationally makes a huge difference. (In my opinion, our American perspective of God is way too small and limited.) I am also totally dependant on time in God’s word. When I neglect His word, I lose IT quickly.

On a side note, it seems that those who are off-the-charts passionate about Christ and His mission often lead fast growing churches. In the rush of growth years, it is easy to neglect the very One who brought all the growth. I am committed to do whatever it takes to keep Christ in the center of all I do.

Thanks for your leadership and awesome ministry!

Thanks Craig!  Appreciate your time.  

Pick up Craig's new book here.

FULL of.....IT.

Craig Groeschel is full of.......IT.   

The question is........Are YOU? 

I hope so! 

Of course, the "it" that I'm referring to is the title of Craig's new book: It: how churches and leaders can get it and keep it.  (Not to be confused with Stephen King's book by the same name.....even though some of Craig's humor is...um...................ok, I'm kidding.)

It's hard to explain "it", so instead, I'll let Craig do it himself right here on scotthodge.org!

That's right!  Craig is doing a book blog tour that will be stopping by here next Tuesday, September 16th.

Here are some of the other spots the Craig will be stopping by:

• September 15 – Swerve (Craig Groeschel & Bobby Gruenewald)
• September 16 – Scott Hodge
• September 17 – Catalyst blog and On the Journey (Brad Lomenick)
• September 18 - Velocity (Dave Ferguson)
• September 19 – Zondervan blog
• September 22 – Monday Morning Insight (Todd Rhoades)
• September 23 – Innovative Ministry Leader (Sean Lewis)
• September 24 – Tony Morgan Live
• September 25 – Leading Smart (Tim Stevens)
• September 26 – FlowerDust (Anne Jackson)

So.....come on back next Tuesday.  Can't wait because it's a GREAT BOOK that I've been diving into this past week.  Tons of underlines and lots of journal scribbling!

In the meantime, if you could ask Craig Groeschel one question, what would it be?

Substance, Sizzle, & Soul

Three basic assets of communication:

1. Substance - the content of WHAT you say (e.g., facts, ideas, formulas, directions, strategies, etc.)
2. Sizzle - HOW you engage people (e.g., your tone, pauses, volume, resonance, interaction); HOW you craft what you say (e.g., stories, metaphors, analogies)
3. Soul - WHO you are (e.g., your passions, desires aspirations, and values) and WHY your message is important to you.

Substance accounts for only about 7% of of why people will remember and believe what you say.  Sizzle and Soul.....93%.

From Change The Way You See Yourself.

The Resurrection

The message of the resurrection is that this world matters!  That the injustices and pains of this present world must now be addressed with the news that healing, justice, and love have won...

If Easter means Jesus Christ is only raised in a spiritual sense - [then] it is only about me, and finding a new dimension in my personal spiritual life.  But if Jesus Christ is truly risen from the dead, Christianity becomes good news for the whole world - news which warms our hearts precisely because it isn't just about warming hearts. 

Easter means that in a world where injustice, violence and degradation are endemic, God is not prepared to tolerate such things - and that we will work and plan, with all the energy of God, to implement victory of Jesus over them all.

N.T. Wright quoted on p. 212 of The Reason for God by Tim Keller.