It happened again a month or so ago when I received an email from Todd Rhoades asking me to be a part of The Nines conference. I can’t believe I’m on this list, it is “in my weakness He is strong” in action.

The theme this year is “Game Changer”.
I knew what I was going to talk about, it’s what I’m passionate about. I wanted to talk about the art of church, the art of preaching, my passion to get church leaders focused on HOW we are doing church.

As I prayed about it though I realized that’s not what I was going to talk about.

Heart’s passion isn’t the theme, it’s “Game Changer”. They’ve given me 6 minutes to talk about the Air Jordans of my work, my life, my ministry. I remember wanting those as a teenager, I knew that they would change everything! I would run faster, jump higher, hello slam dunk! They would make me a star athlete…in spite of the fact that I was a terrible basketball player.

And that’s my explanation to why they gave us 6 minutes (instead of 9), because it signifies what a game changer is all about. A turnaround, a change in direction, a change of perspective.

At least that’s what my game changer was about.

I took my 6 minutes and talk about that thing that changed everything, in spite of all my shortcomings. I believe it is the reason doors like this open, why Holy Cow! continues to grow, and a vital move that every one of us, whether you lead a church or not, needs to make. It’s simple, but something, at least for me, that doesn’t happen easily but is so freeing once you put it on.

Do be sure to tune into The Nines for a group of amazing people doing amazing things as they share the Air Jordan’s of their lives. It’s an astounding group to be a part of including
Seth Godin
Phil Cooke
Kem Meyer
Carlos Whitaker
Jenni Catron
Francis Chan
Jud Wilhite
Anne Jackson
Jon Acuff
Scott Williams
Shawn Wood
Leonard Sweet…the list goes on and on full of incredible people, including an appearance by:

This is gonna be good.

In it he concludes with this statement:

you determine the success of the campaign when you pick what you’re going to promote.

I didn’t choose working with the church to be a “success”, I work with the church because God got my attention, grabbed ahold of me and pointed me in that direction. (Think Eli going west in Book of Eli).

My job revolves around the “how” of church and preaching. But I believe that I’ve already won because of “what” I promote. I’ve worked in the exciting dot com world, I’ve promoted large corporations…but my greatest success came when I embraced promoting the church. There is no greater honor for me than to be a part of people and churches telling the amazing story of Christ and the incredible part that He wants to play in our lives.

We’ve had a lot of success, the campaigns we have built have been very effective. And I’m human, I’d love to take all the credit and call myself a creative genius. But that would be a lie. I believe at the heart of the success is on what we are communicating.

While the trend is to bash the church, and even other churches take part with their “we’re not like other churches” campaigns, and though there are plenty of holes we can point to in today’s church…I believe there is much hope to be found in the church.

I agree with Gabe Lyons, I don’t think the church is dying, I think the church is changing. This is a great opportunity to be a part of that change. And I’m glad to be on that team, I believe it is the winning team. And that’s true for everyone that works in/for the church; pastors, secretaries, communication directors, janitors, volunteers…you’re on the winning team.

photo: Frankly Richmond

My son is entering his senior year of high school, that means it’s time to start taking a serious look at colleges.

We’re looking at a bible college as he is going to be a pastor.

note: we gave him every chance to back out, change his mind, talk him out of it…I see too many that had an emotional experience, confused it with a call and end up falling flat. He’s not just called, he’s designed to be a pastor.

He’s grown up in an A/G church so he’s leaning towards an A/G school, but I don’t want to limit our search to just that. My preference is a school that is focused on the what and the how, a school that doesn’t just teach but give them an opportunity to do. I think the experience of the brotherhood of being on campus and journeying together is also important.

So…please, I’d love to get your recommendations, experiences, etc.

Thank you.

—–
I’m going to list the recommendations that are coming in from FB and Twitter here, in case anyone has thoughts, experience of these as well.

The Movement LA (at the LA Dream Center)
The Oaks School of Leadership
Bob Jones or Maranatha (I don’t really see that happening, but it was suggested)
Hillsong International Leadership College
Master’s Commission
Wheaton
North Park
Baylor
Evangel

growth happens when you promote others more than you promote yourself.

I knew I had to do something with that thought. I want to be someone that brings joy to others, that doesn’t just find joy in my own success but finds even more out of other people’s amazingness (it’s a word.) So from now on I will be on the lookout for people that make me say Holy Cow! and talk about them, promote them here. I believe it will bring growth in many ways. My hope is that these posts won’t just be me pumping these people up, I hope you also chime in about the amazing things these people are doing.

First up. Tim Schraeder.

If you follow his blog or twitter you immediately recognize him as THE conference note taker. Missed a conference? Go to his blog, he takes amazing notes…and that’s just a tiny part of what makes me say Holy Cow!

He’s the kind of person that when I see this
I look forward to see what he has cooking. [EDIT: I have since talked to Tim about what is cooking, and I'm really excited about it. Stay tuned.]

I met Tim for the first time about 4 years ago at ministryCOM. If I recall correctly he was young in his position at Park Community Church. This was before everyone knew and was talking about Park. I had the chance not too long after that to connect with Tim over a green omelet along with my son. By then Park had their building about 60% of the way complete, and I remember being impressed with Tim. His openness, his humble spirit…he was just a really really nice guy.

I was thrilled to hear he had been selected as one of the candidates to intern with Seth Godin. I mean, come on…that’s cool. I remember thinking to myself that that was going to be a marker of a lot of momentum for Tim. He may not have received the internship, but it really put some wind in his sails. It was as if it pulled back the curtains and showed us all his great potential.

He continues to show it. He was the first comm director that I knew of that tossed out the bulletin, he showed it speaking last year at ministryCOM, and in the part he played at Cultivate. His most recent Holy Cow! moment was when he opened his phone on Fridays from 12-2 to talk to people about communications. LOVE IT!

Way to go Tim, thanks for setting the bar high and continuing to make us all say Holy Cow! it’s Tim Schraeder.

Later in life I thought I might want to be a teacher. Then I realized I really just wanted the summers off.

I never really thought I’d be a designer. I never really thought of myself as a creative, and certainly not an artist.

But that’s what I’ve been doing and that’s what God has created me to be. And I love it.

The difference is in the doing.

It is easy to want to be something. We want to be great parents, great spouses. We want to excel in our career, we want to change the world.

It’s hard to do. It’s hard to stop working and and spend the day looking for a car for my oldest. It’s hard to put down the controller just as I wipe out the entire team in Call of Duty to play “you can’t get me” with my youngest. But by doing those things, I become a great dad.

It’s hard to push through easy ideas to find a great idea, an idea that will be even harder to develop but infinitely more effective in catching people’s attention. It’s hard to not settle on the obvious and dig deep for an original way to communicate that moves people. But by doing those things, we become great designers.

So many times we get pumped up and write out our lists of goals. We make them big enough to be dreams, but small enough to be attainable. But are those nothing but words and ink on paper without action? We need to dream. We need to say out loud “I want to be…” and then we need to take a deep breath, roll up our sleeves and do what it takes to be that which God has called us to be. It most likely will not be easy, but it will be rewarding.

You will love it.

Whenever we talk about originality, don’t just copy, stop basing every sermon on a tv show, etc. we’ve all heard the quick retort of

What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun. Ecclesiastes 1:9

It’s been talked about in the lab, Phil Cooke talks about it, as well as the old “talent imitates, but genius steals.” , it’s an old debate. One that will probably never find a conclusion.

Here’s my take in a nutshell…it’s a cop out to say we can’t be original. To pull a verse out of content to support or take one quote to excuse medicority, especially in the way we communicate The Creator, just lazy.

Nothing new? Here’s something that got me thinking about this. Ask these guys what they think:

My wife finally let me in on a secret: she wasn’t a big fan.

So off it went. My wifes response “mmmmm…” and a wink.

Exactly what I was looking for.

And everyone else…didn’t notice.

Really? I mean I looked in the mirror and it was a pretty big change.

No one. I expected my hairstylist to notice when I came in for my haircut. Not a word. Either of my sons. Nothing.

What do people do when you shave your beard?

The same is true when you launch a sermon series, promote an event, or even start to preach…people aren’t going to notice just because you do. And that’s okay. It’s just how we’re wired.

Some people will notice, take notice of them, they are your biggest fans, their emotions are connected to you. But most, won’t.

That means you might have to point it out if it’s important that people notice right away and give immediate feedback. Of course that might also mean you have to be okay without people pointing and noticing and just let it soak in.

If you want people to take notice it starts before you pick up the razor. My wife noticed because she was connected. It solved a “problem” for her (she wasn’t a fan of the beard). Create those connections, and people will not only take attention but it will mean something to them.

Of course maybe you don’t tell everyone you have an awesome [fill in the blank]. Afterall it’s easy to say, everyone says it. Let people experience it, let it soak in. And when you don’t hit everyone over the head with things right away, people will stop and look when you say “you really need to pay attention to this…”

I think the same thing is true for how we wear our christianity. Sometimes people should notice right away and sometimes the subtlety just rubs off little piece by little piece. I think the loudest testimony is that of a person who lives out their faith among those who don’t believe not the people who shout the loudest.

So…I’m looking for your input. Here are two drafts I’ve written up.

With the goal of once again making the church the most creative place on the planet Michael is the founder of Holy Cow Creative, the church’s creativity and design studio. He is also the Creative Director for the Center for Church Communication and Church Marketing Sucks. You can often find him speaking at many conferences including HOW, Echo, MinistryCOM as well his own blog Jesus Hates Papyrus as he continues to help the church reflect Christ in the way it communicates.

Michael Buckingham blah, blah, blah Holy Cow! Creative etc, etc, church’s creativity and design studio. [insert making the church the most creative place on the planet]. Creative Director at Center for Church Communication, yada, yada, speaks at a lot of conferences [plug HOW, Echo, Cultivate, MinistryCOM, Story, etc] don’t forget Jesus Hates Papyrus…as he continues to help the church reflect Christ in the way it communicates. (he’s more of a visual guy than a words guy…if you couldn’t tell)

First a poll (in a pop-up window):

And then any suggested changes?

Ty isn’t an illustrator so at first this seemed like a silly stage. You can even see him scribbling out “IDK!” as he gets frustrated with it not all coming together. The sketching phase is like exercising (okay, I imagine it’s a lot like exercising) you workout and immediately jump on the scale or flex your arms only to find nothing. It doesn’t work that way.

You don’t have to be an amazing artist to gain from the sketching phase. But you do have to keep at it. First sketch in one direction, then sketch with something else in mind. Trace if you need to. Don’t expect perfection. You’re looking for ideas.

That doesn’t mean you don’t need to continue to refine and work your ability to sketch and to draw…but now isn’t the time. Don’t skip this step, too often people jump to the computer and open up Illustrator (or worse Photoshop) and start pushing pixels around. Push through the frustration, get past the “I don’t know what else to sketch”.

Ty did and it paid off. The funny thing is is that as I was reviewing his sketches (which totaled I think 14 pages), what ended up as the strongest mark had been overlooked. But I saw something in that was great, not perfect on paper but a great starting point which turned into a great mark.

We’ll show that soon. Oh, and yes he thought he’d be clever with the fish mark in the lower corner.