mayo-moyle

Category: Godin

  • this week’s round-up (june 30)

    Donald Miller is working on a series of podcasts with Chase Reeves that look interesting. Information about the the podcasts can be found here.

    Andrew Conrad asks an important question about clergy friendships with congregants. The comments are good there, as well. It’s a complex issue, because it gets into areas of professionalism and boundaries, but also into the very nature of what it means to be in pastoral ministry. It is easy to make bad analogies – I don’t expect to be friends with my lawyer, doctor, or mechanic, or therapist but (hopefully) pastoral ministry is something more than that; it is more intimate, more personal, and clergy should be able to be more fully themselves. At the same time, developing friendships has the potential to disrupt the nature of the work when a professional role needs to be asserted, can create at least the appearance of playing “favorites” with congregants (leading the jealousy, etc.), and impact the itinerant nature of pastoral ministry in the United Methodist Church. I think it can be done, it just has to be carefully navigated; but this complexity is also a cause for supporting greater clergy-to-clergy interactions, relationships and friendships – so that needed network of support can happen in other systems; this is why I love things like Clergy Family Camp.

    Speaking of friends from Clergy Family Camp – powerful poem from my friend, Jeff Nelson: Thanksgiving Ride.

    Another friend, Bri Desotel, posted a great sermon on the Trinity. One of my favorite bits:

    “See, whenever you think you’ve got the Trinity figured out,

      you need to stop and be very careful… 
     because, chances are, you just became a heretic. 
    Whenever God makes sense, then we’ve made God far too small.”

    One more friend, from my days in the Wesley Foundation, Amy Valdez Baker provides a helpful analysis around the “vital congregation” discussion surrounding the UMC.

    Really interesting post from Taylor Burton-Edwards on Ordination, Orders and Rule of Life – I think it was a couple years ago I was wondering to myself how monastic orders and rules might translate into the United Methodist Order of Elders as a way of developing identity, support and accountability. Burton-Edwards really develops this idea well beyond my initial questioning.

    Church Warnock – Changing Demographics to Impact Small Churches. Just this evening, over dinner, I was reading the chapter in Generation Rising: A Future with Hope for the United Methodist Church on “Race: Grace and Unity in the Post-Civil Rights Era” that address the underlying issue in a United Methodist context, which talks about applying the means of grace to shape how congregations identify and be in ministry with our neighbors, with the challenge that we move from “multi-ethnic” (where we still expect “one size fits all”) to truly “multi-cultural” (where we appreciate diversity as a sign of God’s greatness).

    David Fitch – STOP FUNDING CHURCH PLANTS, Start Funding Missionaries. This would require a major shift in thinking for United Methodists, but I think there are some really good points in there. I’ve wondered about how bi-vocational pastoral ministry might work before, and I think Fitch’s post is part of the answer.

    Seth Godin – Show me the meta-data.

    Fred Clark – Cut waste, create jobs, save money. Seems like a simple, but beneficial idea to me. Also, check out Fred’s post on the use and abuse of credit scores.

    Prince won’t record new music until internet piracy is under control. So in other words, Prince is done making music. While I understand the desire for greater copyright protection and how Prince might wish it was 1984 again, the reality is the world has changed. The system that helped make Prince famous – massive record labels, top-40 radio, and the youth culture hegemon of MTV – are no longer in place to help guarantee success, but the trade-off of financial guarantees is the very thing Prince said he wanted throughout the 1990s – creative control.

    Prince now has the power to make any kind of music he wants, and he can distribute it, globally, without any kind of middle man to get in the way of how he might want to market it. Plus he is still in a far better position to do it than most artists still trying to make a living today – he still has name recognition AND the resources to create something people might be interested in. Yes, it means more work, with potentially greater risk, and lower returns, but if he is really interested in “the art” of music I’m sure he would still have enough of an audience wiling to pay that he could keep doing his thing.

    The real problem, I suspect, isn’t that people aren’t stealing his music, but that no one really cares about his music anymore. He hasn’t made anything that connects with a wide audience and gets people excited. I’m sure that’s frustrating for him, but instead of being frustrated he has a choice – keep making music for that small group of fans that will always support him, or do something so good that it connects with a wide audience again. Until last Sunday I’d found myself feeling pretty burnt out around the music of U2 – I hadn’t bought the last couple of albums, and wasn’t really even listening to the old stuff anymore. Then I had a chance to see them live and they got me excited again. They knew how to play to the crowd, they kept their focus on their older music, slipping in only a couple of their more recent songs, but in was enough to get me interested in checking out those newer albums. I think there are still a significant number of people who would be interested in something new from Prince, he just has to connect with them and give them a reason to care. (Really I was thinking about Prince and changes in the music industry, but there is probably a lesson for the church somewhere in there as well).

    Actually, Prince, should just check out this video with Seth Godin and Michael Hyatt, which pretty much explains what I was trying to say – the quote Seth Godin refers to “The enemy is not piracy, it’s obscurity” really says it all:

    Backstage with Seth Godin from Michael Hyatt on Vimeo.

    From BikeHacks – How to Upholster your Bike Saddle – I actually need to do this on my old bike the old covering has become un-stapeled/un-glued… or I could probably save myself a lot of hassle and just buy a new one.

    How $200 Million Changed Poetry (via Jordon Cooper)

    Interesting infographic from Guy Kawasaki – How to Increase Your Likability:
    Enchantment - Increase Likability

    Might as well put up some U2 for today’s music selection – this is from the 2000 album All That You Can’t Leave Behind; I still want to learn bass guitar so I can seem as cool as Adam, and on Sunday, found myself wondering if I could ever pull off the “black stocking cap and goatee” look, like the Edge.

  • this week’s round-up (march 7)

    Should churches compare attendance numbers? Interesting take from a non-UMC perspective, where we are so focused on numbers; make sure you read the comments there – I find myself wanting to answer, “Yes number (tracking attendance, visitors, etc.) is important, but it’s the comparing part that can get you into trouble, by inviting in feelings of pride or failure that can distract us from the real issues of each congregation’s unique DNA, and place on the life-cycle.

    The Un-fit Pastor. Important reminder for me.

    Seth Godin’s latest endeavor is The Domino Project and they’ve recently released the book Poke the Box. I haven’t read it yet, but they’ve also released a free PDF worksheet to accompany it that has some good questions, check it out here.

    From Jesus Needs New PR – fantastic retelling/personal interpretation of Ecclesiastes 3:1-8.

    Roger Olsen on N.T. Wright, Richard Bauckham and British Evangelicals.

    Brilliant, convicting, short little video from Alan Hirsch on why Christians avoid risk-taking. (via)

    Alan Hirsch – Are You Stuck In A Rut? from Verge Network on Vimeo.

    Back to the ’90s for today’s music selection – great song, outstanding video:

  • this week’s round-up (january 31)

    Malcolm Gladwell – “Speaking is not an act of extroversion”

    Jay Voorheess points to a blog by Roger E Olson who does a really great job of explaining and unpacking Arminian theology (which is the primary theological viewpoint behind Methodism).  I’ve just started skimming through Olson’s blog, but there is some really great stuff in there. Even though I think I do a pretty good job of being able to “think Methodist” and have a Methodist theology, I’ll admit that I never really got into many of the issues of how and why Arminianism is distinct from Calvinism (I’m not sure if this wasn’t really covered in my seminary classes, or if I just wasn’t paying attention when it was). Looking at this stuff, plus reading Will Willimon’s book United Methodist Beliefs has me wondering if we do need some sort of revival in reclaiming our theological heritage, and letting that guide us into the future.

    Lifehacker: Everything You Need to Know About the Verizon iPhone and Making the Switch. I’m still under contact with T-Mobile for about 60 days (not that I’m counting), but need to switch because they don’t have coverage in the town where I work. I’m not sure if going with the iPhone (either on AT&T or Verizon) makes much sense financially, but I’m exploring my options.

    Jeremy Smith points to a small controversy surrounding an  article in Marie Claire about a United Methodist Pastor’s struggle around being single and in ministry. Jeremy makes some great points, and there good discussion in the comments section, too. As I read it, I was reminded of the Donald Miller article I posted last week on the Wisdom of Honesty and how some people have a gift for just being able to tell it like it is, regardless of consequences, and others hold their tongue when they feel the raw truth do more harm than good. While I certainly wouldn’t have made the choice to be quite so bold about my relationship struggles in a national magazine (I frequently censor and second-guess myself even on this blog), I can’t condemn Rev. Miller’s candor and honesty; I hope her words will help others understand that pastor’s struggle with work and relationships just like everyone else.

    Seth Godin on The Shell Game of Delight – create environments where people feel appreciated, valued, have have a chance to “win”. Seth also writes (via the Domino Project), about the broken pricing model of e-books in Compared to What? I haven’t gotten on the e-book bandwagon, in part, because I want the tactile experience of holding a real book and turning pages, but also (as Seth points out) because the price seems way to high for what I’m getting.

    David Crumm talks with Jay Bakker. I frequently listen to Jay’s podcast from Revolution Church and continue to be fascinated about his transition from the son of two of the most prominent televanelists, through his personal struggles, to this guy who’s reading Borg and Tillich and doing interesting ministry in New York.

    Donald Miller – A Creator Must Believe He Has the Authority to Create. Good reminder to “take thou authority”. Also from Miller: Commit to the Work, Not the Goals.

    Wil Wheaton says Librarians are Awesome. I agree. In addition, last week, Wil shared some thoughts on the anniversary of the Challenger explosion. I, too, was home sick that day and remember it well.

    I’ve posted a live version of this song before, but I just found an official video on MTV’s website. It’s a little “poppy” for my own personal taste, but it has a good message, and it’s really interesting that it’s getting mainstream attention from a place like MTV.

  • this week’s round-up (january 23)

    A couple clergy friends have taken to blogging, both starting off strong, check out Bri and Mike. 
    Inspired by my friend, Eric, I’ve also started a photo-a-day blog thing (and added a tab at the top of this blog to take you there).

    Great video from Steven Furtick on how you’re not Francis Chan; I think I even gave a sermon in the summer that made some reference to how cool I thought Chan was for making this leap of faith, and I can confess that all too often I evaluate my calling by what others have done or are doing, instead of just trusting, celebrating, and finding contentment in where God has called me:

    Wil Wheaton has a wonderful reminder on how technology makes us stupid.

    Rick Dake reminds us of the importance of the Wesley Questions for evaluating and centering our spiritual lives. (I like the idea of making them into a sermon series, too).

    TED talks throughout history. The link is humor, so if you are unfamiliar what what TED Talks are it won’t make much sense; but if you are unfamiliar with what TED talks are, I’d encourage you to get familiar – there are some really interesting presentations out there. Just go to www.ted.com and start exploring. As I remember, J.J. Abrams’ talk on the Mystery Box is pretty good, as is Malcolm Gladwell’s talk on spaghetti sauce.

    Nadia Bolz-Weber on How To Say Defiantly, “I am Baptized”. I love this part at the end:

    “And when the forces that seek to defy God whisper if in your ear — “If God really loved you you wouldn’t feel like this; If you really are beloved then you should have everything you want” — remember that you, all of you, have been marked with the cross of Christ and sealed by the Holy Spirit. God has named you and claimed you as God’s own in the waters of your baptism. You, like our Lord, have been given identity and purpose, so when what seems to be depression orcompulsive eating or narcissism or despair or discouragement or resentment or isolation takes over, try picturing it as a vulnerable and desperate force seeking to defy God’s grace and mercy in your life, and then tell it to piss off, and say defiantly to it, “I am baptized!” Because the water that covered you in God’s promises in your baptism is simply the only thing that gets to tell you who you are.

    And this is not a matter of having high self-esteem. This is about nothing less than God’s redeeming purpose in the world, and that purpose will prevail. Indeed it has already prevailed.”

     Donald Miller writes on the Wisdom of Honesty asking us to wrestle with the question of when to speak and when to turn the other cheek.

    Will Willimon takes at look at the recent comment by Governor Bentley on being brothers and sisters in Christ:

    “Christians don’t regard others as our brothers and sisters because they are members of our church, they affirm our creed, or because they are nice people. We relate to others as Jesus has related to us – making us brothers and sisters, not by virtue of who we are but on the basis of who he is.”

    Seth Godin on the Reassurance of New Words. He puts it so simply:

    “It’s a lot easier for an organization to adopt new words than it is to actually change anything.

    “Real change is uncomfortable. If it’s not feeling that way, you’ve probably just adopted new words.”

    I think there is a little more nuance in reality – sometimes changing language can play a part in creating change, but often we do get caught up with just changing a few words and being satisfied with that, instead of making any real change.

    Oldie, but a goodie, R.E.M. “Talk About the Passion”

  • this week’s round-up (december 12)

    Another catch-up week, further delayed by yesterday’s snowstorm:

    The question every church must honestly answer: Do You Want to Get Well?

    When it’s raining, enjoy the rain – Joe Trippi’s reflection on Elizabeth Edwards.

    Making Membership Mean Something. (via CTG) I’ve struggled with this idea – do you go with the “high expectation” membership standards of Ginghamsburg and others with multi-week membership classes, or with the Resurrection model (2-3 hour introduction in one afternoon). (Note: Resurrection’s membership is also “high expectation” they make very clear the expectation that membership is about responsibility, not privilege and members are expected to attend every week, give proportionally, engage in service and learning opportunities, they just present it in a different package – “belong before believe”).

    20 Questions for Reviewing 2010. I haven’t sat down and answered these, but it is a great set of questions to really get you to think about the year and help clarify your values, accomplishments, and expectations.
    Also from Levite Chronicles: I Hate Communication. Great reminder that the oft used phrase, “we need more communication” is fundamentally mis-communication for “we need more explanation”, “we need more affirmation”, “we need more persuasion”, “we need more confession”, etc.
    On a slightly different tangent – Seth Godin writes how You Will Be Misunderstood. Also worth reading from Seth, Everyone and No One.
    A must read for introverts and extroverts alike: Advent for the Intorvert.
    What the mayo-moyle.com empire runs on: Why You Should Use Google Apps with a Personal Domain.
    Jeremy Smith with more on the UMC Call to Action Report. I get his concerns, but so far I’m not too worried about them; I’d like to believe there is a way to maintain Methodist accountability while easing up on some of the administrative rules. I was speaking with a friend last week, who brought up a greater point of how does the Call to Action report speak to the UMC as a global church – the material is clearly focused on North American congregations; how might we learn from our sisters and brothers in regions where the church is dramatically growing (ie Africa), and might we use that to become a truly global connection, letting go of the traditional US hegemony*?
    *Yeah, I was a debate nerd in high school, so from time-to-time I like to bust out words like hegemony.

    Another one from my favorite hasidic reggae singer celebrating the miracle of the Maccabee revolt.

    Admittedly I enjoy this way more than I probably should, but it’s got to be done:

    And for something a little more serious – Sufjan Stevens “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel” (because it IS still advent).

  • this week’s round-up (october 10)

    Craig Groeshel on Generational Differences in the Church. I came upon this at an interesting time in that I’m starting to notice some slight hints of generational differences in the church I’m currently serving. Good advice for both ends of the spectrum in that we need more conversation and understanding to move into the future.

    Google Apps for church use. Google Apps is what I use for my domain, blog, and e-mail; I’ve considered moving the church over to it as well – because of recent improvements in blogger I think it is possible to create a very simple, decent looking church website with it (I’m early in the process of tinkering with this, and may change my mind), the e-mail and calendar applications are easy to use. If you need a simple, low-cost solution it is definitely one to examine.

    Cory Doctorow on The Real Cost of Free.

    Douglas Coupland on A radical pessimist’s guide to the next 10 years. Like it says, it’s pretty pessimistic, but there are some hard truths in there to consider like “The future is going to happen no matter what we do. The future will feel even faster than it does now.”

    Seth Godin on demonstrating strength by risking the appearance of weakness.

    Spreading the word offline by the Church of the Customer blog. I know we try to affirm the idea that every member of a church is a minister, I really like the idea of taking it a step further and giving everyone business cards that not only affirm this, but could be used to create memorable positive interactions with people outside the church.

    David Crumm interviews Kenda Creasy Dean, author of Almost Christian. There’s some good stuff in there, I especially liked David’s question about how this new buzzword of “Moralistic Therapeutic Deism” might end up simply being used as a verbal weapon for Christians to continue to exclude, harass, and condemn each other.

    Julie Clawson on Citizens or Neighbors? some good thoughts on that problems that arise when we focus on the letter of the law and forget the spirit of the law.

    Fred Clark on Christine O’Donnell and why some evangelicals claim to have explored becoming a Hare Krishna even though they never did.

    Just watch and enjoy.

    Foxtrot cartoon on why blended isn’t always better.

  • this week’s round-up (september 12)

    Back again! Getting caught up after a week away.

    A few things all Leaders should have. It feels a little like “Hipster Pastor 101” – but I do have a Moleskine, use Google Reader, and have “played” with Evernote (never used it to it’s full potential, though).

    Peter Rollins at Mars Hill. It’s an mp3 file – very interesting listen.
    Here’s the opening blessing from his recent Insurrection tour, beautiful use of language – this is the kind of poetry I wish I could write:

    WTF Church. Apparently this made the rounds on Twitter a couple weeks ago, and everyone assumed it was just a case of a church being horribly out of touch in it’s use of language. Turns out they did it on purpose, and it’s a core part of their identity. I’m not quite sure where I fall on this one – I like the idea of turning a pop culture phrase on it’s head, but I’m not sure this is quite the way I’d go. In the words of Nigel Tufnel, “There’s such a fine line between stupid and clever.”

    Donald Miller – Knowing Where You’re Going will Keep You From Making Bad Decisions.

    Mike Slaughter and Jeremy Smith on the Qur’an Burning controversy.

    Seth Godin on Interpreting Criticism.

    Scot McKnight on fundamentalism and maintaining a public persona.

    David and Ben Crumm provide a nice summary of their recent trip across the US with the reminder that actual conversations (as opposed to shouting matches) still matter, and are needed more than ever.

    Great series on Detroit:
    Part 1

    Part 2

    Part 3

    I apologize for this, but it had to be posted:

  • this week’s round-up (august 15)

       Dancers protest church – seems like it should be a story from the Onion, sadly it’s not. Todd Rhoades has some great thoughts, and pretty much puts into words what I’d been thinking since I first heard about the story. To summarize the story: for the past few years a congregation in Ohio has been staging protests every weekend in front of a local strip club, which included taking photos of the license plates of the club’s patrons and posting the info on the web. This past weekend the strip club fought back by having some of the dancers plant themselves in front of the church, grilling burgers and holding signs like “Matthew 7:15: Beware of false prophets who come to you in sheep’s clothing.”
       There are big issues surrounding the sex industry in this country, so I’m sympathetic to a congregation that is trying to do something about it, but at the same time, I can’t help but be amused at the dancer’s creative response.
       As I’ve been thinking about “what would I do if I found strippers on the front lawn on a Sunday morning”? I’d like to think that in my very best moments (after my initial panic) I’d announce that we’ll be having worship outside this morning with these ladies who have joined us, gotten some more hotdogs and hamburgers and turned the whole thing into a party. As I noted on facebook, “Somewhere along the line we’ve become allied with the Pharisees, instead of spending time with (as opposed to protesting) the people Jesus hung out with, AND we’ve forgotten that one of the key images Jesus uses again and again for the kingdom is that of a party! Sometimes we need to take a moral stand on issues, but maybe instead of a protest, we should offer a better party.”
       (Or you could try this).

    At EmergingUMC, Matt Kelly takes a slight tangent off the recent article about clergy health, and asks the question, who is responsible for fostering an environment of unhealthy expectations around church. Eugene Cho also offers his take on “Death By Ministry.” (In another tangent, one way to help foster personal happiness is to use your “extra” income towards memorial experiences rather than more stuff).

    Fred Clark looks to sewers and storm drains as a possible answer to the current economic problems.

    Seth Godin on “The Incredible Power of Slow Change.”

    Lifehacker suggests a list of foods that are cheaper to grow than buy. (I especially found the comments to be fascinating as one commentators suggest things like kiwi and shrimp (raised in a kiddie pool in the basement!?!) might also fall into this category).

    The Most Beautiful Churches in America

    Double-rainbow action in this week’s Fox Trot.

  • this week’s round-up (august 8)

    Playing catch-up from the past couple weeks, but here’s a few things that have caught my eye:

    This video is well worth your time – “A Thousand Questions” (via Jeremy Smith)

    From Cornel West:

    “We have a market-driven society so obsessed with buying and selling and obsessed with power and pleasure and property, it doesn’t leave a whole lot of time for non-market values and non-market activity so that love and trust and justice, concern for the poor, that’s being pushed to the margins, and you can see it.

    You can see it in terms of the obsession on Wall Street with not just profits but greed, more profit, more profit. You see it in our television culture that’s obsessed with superficial spectacle. You see it even in our educational systems, where the market model becomes central. It’s a matter of just gaining a skill or gaining access to a job to live in some vanilla suburb, as opposed to becoming a critical citizen concerned with public interest and common good.

    It’s a spiritual malnutrition tied to a moral constipation, where people have a sense of what’s right and what’s good. It’s just stuck, and they can’t get it out because there’s too much greed. There’s too much obsession with reputation and addiction to narrow conceptions of success.

    And when I talk about love, I’m talking about something that’s great, though, brother. I’m talking about something that will sustain you. It’s like an Aretha Franklin song, brother, or a Coltrane solo or Beethoven symphony, something that grabs you to the gut and gives you a sense of what it is to be human.

    That’s what we’re more and more lacking, and it’s very sad. It’s a sign of a decline of an empire, my brother.” (via Mike Todd)

    I love that line “It’s a spiritual malnutrition tied to a moral constipation” – don’t know how I’d ever work it into a sermon (or a poem), but it’s certainly an image that gets the point across. That quote also intersects with part of what I’ve been reading in Seth Godin’s latest book which talks about how that “market” undermines “art” and “community” – rather than delve into it right now, I’ll try to pick up more on that theme later. (Actually I have this idea of doing a Linchpin for pastors/churches series of blog posts that aim to apply the lessons of his book to the context of ministry; I don’t know if it will see the light of day, but it might).

    7 Reasons Leaders Quit Your Organization

    Scot McKnight points to an article on the erosion of the middle class. Also via McKnight’s blog this entertaining little cartoon on Twitter disciples.

    Among my circle of friends and colleagues the NY Times article on clergy burnout has been receiving (needed) attention this week. NPR’s Talk of the Nation also provides a discussion of it as well:

    Insightful, short article in Leading Ideas – The Promise and Peril of Conflict by David Brubaker.

    Fred Clark on why every AG in the country should be suing the credit rating agencies. Also check out this post which is a letter written by a former slave to his former slave owner; as Fred says, “The letter provides a valuable glimpse into the atrocious reality of our history, but it should also be studied and relished as one of the all time great examples of the cheerful and elaborately polite ‘Screw you.’“

    Donald Miller put this song by Andrew Peterson up on his blog a couple weeks ago; its a lovely little song about life and marriage:

    That does it for this week. I think I will probably be moving to a Sunday posting schedule, for the handful for people who actually follow this little thing.

  • this week’s round-up (june 18)

    More links, less commentary this week:

    Mike Todd offers some pretty hard hitting thoughts on WWJD About BP? with the reminder that we all have oil on our hands.

    Neighbors for Neighbors: Chalk it Up! Love this idea! (via Heif)

    Presentation lessons from Steve Jobs.

    Andrew Conrad explains the Internet #FAIL at Church of the Resurrection Online this week. Like the lesson from Jobs, transparency is good. If there is a problem, acknowledge it, solve it, and move on.

    Seth Godin explains how we’ve moved past “slick” and what matters now is transparency, reputation, and guts.

    More on clergy appointment guarantees. (via Steve)

    Justin Wise on Mormons, iPads, and a New Way. Good thoughts on evangelism – first rule, treat the person you’re dealing with like a human being.

    Small groups are the building block of small churches. The important reminder here for me is that small groups don’t always have to fit a certain model of a home “cell group” – sometimes just adding a new Sunday School class makes a difference.

    Establishing a culture of distributed leadership good read, written from a secular perspective, but very applicable to the church. I just finished reading Ultimately Responsible: When You’re in Charge of Igniting a Ministry by Sue Nilson Kibbey which really takes this idea and examines it in depth – all about finding and training the right people for the mission and task of the church, making sure they understand and support the vision, and giving them an environment to succeed.

    Jeff Nelson hits close to home this week’s offering – No Outlet.

    Crazy week ahead. Don’t expect a round-up (but who knows, maybe you’ll be pleasantly surprised).

    Another great video from OK Go

    If you like the music, check out the album: