openswitch

24. out yourself. tell your secrets. you can always delete them later. – Tony Pierce

I’m depressed today. I’m not really sure why I’m depressed, I’m not out of Prozac or anything, I’ve just been down in the dumps today. But I’m sure that my mood is somewhat driving this post, oh well. Hey, if you want to read about my crappy mood keep reading, if not click away. I won’t take it personally. I hate reading about other people’s crappy days. Especially when they’re really long winded about them. Heh.

I deleted my design page. I’ve realized over the past couple of days that I’m really not a designer. Don’t think I’m mad or anything, Natalie, but when I’m convicted, I’m convicted. I mean, I enjoy tinkering with Photoshop and code and stuff but I’m not a real designer, I’m a tinkerer. Real designers are people like Natalie, Nathan, and many others; but not me. And hey, you know what? I’m OK with that, I’m a minister and a darn good one at that. I don’t know why I’ve been on this “designing” kick lately. I feel like I’ve been trying to be someone I’m not. Maybe it’s because I see those web designers as the “cool kids” and I’m just one of the plain guys. Why do I see designers as if they’re on this whole other echelon than me? Really if I think about it, it’s not that they’re better people than I am, it’s just that they’re better than me at one thing.

Wow, this is a really whiny post. But I’m not going to apologize for that, everyone needs a whiny post once in a while. I think I did one last month too. This post can be summed up with, “I’m not cool, I want to be one of the cool kids.” But hey, if that’s how I feel it’s best that I just own the feeling and move on. I am one with my wanna-be-ness. And you know, forget what everyone says about “not whining in your posts” and stuff. It’s my blog, I’ll whine if I want to whine. But yes, some cheese would be nice right now.

Recently Dennis Bullock (great guy, read his blog) posted an article in which he listed the nine rules of the 9rules community. Here they are, for your edification:

1. Love what you do.
2. Never stop learning.
3. Form works with function.
4. Simple is beautiful.
5. Work hard, play hard.
6. You get what you pay for.
7. When you talk, we listen.
8. Must constantly improve.
9. Respect your inspiration.

Dennis goes on to explain what the 9rules community is:

9rules is a blogging community that is made up of a whole gaggle of sites on all kinds of different topics. They have one on Religion, Technology, Apple, Design, Entertainment; the list goes on and on and never seems to stop … 9rules functions as a community where the basic purpose is for its members to basically feed off of each other to provide the best service to each sites readers and the community as a whole. 9rules doesn?t own the blogs that are part of the community; but instead the blogger does, as they should, and I think that is really what makes them different. … You don?t have to be some problogger to join in either; they have people from every facet of blogging.

Well said. 9rules really is a great community. I’d even love to be part of it at some point. But that’s not what I’m here to write about today. Looking over those nine rules got me thinking, isn’t this a fairly good summation of how my ministry should look? I think so, let me explain by going through the rules one at a time and applying each to ministry.

1. Love what you do. This almost goes without saying, but if you don’t love ministry then you probably better not be doing it. There are some jobs you can do, even do well, without loving them. Ministry isn’t like that. You’ve gotta love it otherwise you’ll burn out.

2. Never stop learning. In ministry we always need to be reading and learning. If you’re looking for some good reviews on Christian books here’s the latest from Tim Challies. He’s got tons of great reviews on Christian books, and he’s smart to boot. Read a lot.? If you can go back to school and work towards a higher degree than the one you have now that’s even better.

3. Form works with Function. In blogging the form is largely the design of the blog. The function is the message you communicate. Both need to work well together to have a blog that effectively conveys your message. The same holds true for ministry. In ministry the form is the programs you have, the events, the music, the games. The function is sharing the love of Christ. If you don’t have a form that people like you won’t get any students into the building which is kind of necessary to share the Love of Christ with them.

4. Simple is beautiful. K.I.S.S. applies as much to ministry as anything else. A well organized, clean ministry in inherently going to function better than one that is unorganized and messy.

5. Work hard, play hard. Oh, how applicable this rule is to ministry. The harder you work before your event the more fun it is to play at the event. Also, both work and play are essential in ministry. In my opinion, the best ministers are the ones who are as good at having fun as they are at Bible study.

6. You get what you pay for. This isn’t a rule just about blogging, this one is about LIFE. In one sense you get what you pay for in ministry by ordering a $2.00 t-shirt and the screen printing wearing completely off after the first wash. In another sense, you reap what you sow. If you sow a quality program you’ll reap tangible rewards.

7. When you talk, we listen. Ministers need to be good at accepting feedback. Critique is part of ministry and as a minister you’re sure to get a lot of it. The key is listening to it all, and then gleaning what’s valuable and throwing out the rest.

8. You must constantly improve. I’ve heard it said that a ministry is either growing or dying; there is no stagnation because a stagnant ministry is dead. We as ministers must never be satisfied with where we are at spiritually, physically or mentally.

9. Respect your inspiration. Who inspires you as a minister? Do you let them know it? Moreover, when you photocopy that biblical timeline or use information from another source do you give them credit for it?

The nine rules, applicable to blogging, ministry and life.

For the past couple weeks I’ve been getting about 4-5 emails a week (not that many, I know) in which people are very kindly asking me to release my blog design as a theme or a K2 style. My response is always the same, “I don’t have it organized enough yet to do that…but feel free to view the page source code and use it however you can.”

I think a huge part of my hesitancy in releasing this design as a theme or style has to do with the fact that I don’t know how to release it. I’m really admitting my shortcomings here. Not only am I incapable of releasing this design as a theme, you know how there are other great styles for K2? I can’t figure out how to get them to work either. All my changes here have been made to the core K2 code. In other words, there’s no going back to a stock K2 style unless I delete my current install and replace it with a fresh one. It’s not the best of solutions but it works.

Anyway, what are your thoughts? Please raise your hand if you’d like me to release a K2 style similar to the one I’m currently running.

Being a minister to students myself I often wonder, “How in the world do these other youth pastors get their youth groups to be so freakin’ HUGE?” Well, after much thinking on the subject and asking my youth what attracts them to other youth group events I believe I finally have an answer. Well, it’s more a list of answers; it’s a list of how to get a bigger youth group. In no particular order:

1. Throw LOTS of money at the youth group … LOTS OF MONEY. This can take many forms, from literally throwing green backs at the students every Wednesday night to uber-expensive giveaways like iPods, Xboxs and PSPs.
2. Get a live band to play at each Wednesday night Bible study. This is very closely tied with throwing money at the youth group but is slightly different.
3. Be part of a freakin’ HUGE church. This almost goes without saying but most youth pastors don’t want to admit it. The fact of the matter is those freakin’ huge youth groups are always part of a freakin’ huge church. You never see a freakin’ huge youth group that’s part of a church with only 200 members.
4. Have a movie star personality, good looks or a combo of the two. This will be naturally magnetic to youth. Personalities or looks such as, but not limited to: Paris Hilton, Colin Farrell, or anyone on The O.C. will suffice.
5. If all of the above fail to get you a bigger youth group, throw more money at it.

Certain things are nice to include in a youth group but will by no means get you a bigger one. Things like great Bible study, genuine relationships and superb leadership are nice if you got ‘em, but don’t invest too much time in these endeavors. They are “icing on the cake” as it were. The real meat of your ministry should be throwing money at the students. That’s what will get you a “successful” youth ministry at your church.

It’s 11:00pm; do you know where your son is? I know where my two-year old is; he’s right behind me watching TV with my wife three hours after his normal bedtime. At 6:00pm he fell asleep on the stairs, it was the picture of cuteness. He was so tired, in fact, that he was asking us if he could go to bed. We obliged him and put him to bed two hours earlier than normal. Yeah, that was a bad idea because now he’s awake and ready to play. I mean, he’s wired. What’s a parent to do? Well, at present we’re just trying to tire him out. Next time, however, when he wants to be all rebellious and go to bed early he’s staying awake until 8:00 whether he likes it or not! I never thought I’d hear myself saying that. Weird.