Reblogged from Kindling:

What might God do if 100’s of millions of his children joined together in praying?  And what if you were part of it?

The Global Day of Prayer, held on Pentecost Sunday since 2001, will be on May 27 this year.  It is an amazing coming together by believers around the world to beseech God to reach, heal, transform their lands.

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Knowing and mastering the rule of thirds is a  simple way to push your photography to a higher level. The rule of thirds is one of the basic rules of art design. It is taking our photo frame and mentally placing a tic-tac-toe screen over it. Where the lines intersect are the “sweet spots” in which to place the important elements of a photograph. We should always keep our horizon lines on or above the top third  of an image (mountain lake photo, below) or on or below the bottom third of an image (elk photo). The classic vacation sunset shot with the sun smack in the middle of the photograph is not good.

There are some dangers with using this rule. One danger is having the subject on one of the sweet spots in the photo and having the rest of the image filled with dead space. The only time you want empty space in a photo is if it adds to the story, as with the elk photo. The shaded black trees add time (sunrise) and place (a mountain valley) to the photo. The large negative space also gives a feeling of a vast wilderness.

So, don’t compromise the rest of the composition in an attempt to get something on a third. Filling the frame with the subject and possibly putting the most important part of the image—such as someone’s face or eye—on a sweet spot can avoid this.

Another mistake is having the subject too close to the edge of the frame and looking off of the photo. In most cases, when placed on one of the third lines, our subjects should be looking toward the middle of the image and not towards the edge.

Meet e4e author, and professional photographer, Pat Mingarelli and read Pat’s posts on e4e.

“Think of a time when you were most developed.  What was true of that situation?”  The group was quiet for a few moments, then eyes brightened with the memories, smiles grew, and laughter followed as one by one, they started to tell their stories.  This group of leaders were reliving formative moments as we discussed leadership development.

“Someone believed in me.”

“I had a chance to lead something I never thought I could do. I was on my own.  The decisions were mine and I felt that.”

“While I had the authority, my leader was also available to me if I needed help.”

“I had no support at all!  That’s what made me grow!”

“He kept telling me, ‘you can do it.’”

“I made some big mistakes, but I learned.”

These were the common responses, true in many of the stories.  These leaders grew when they were entrusted with responsibility for something they had never done by someone who believed in them.  Many leaders tell similar stories.

What prompted this discussion?  The lack of leaders!  As a leader, it’s easy to get focused on the task that you’re trying to accomplish.  But no enterprise grows unless the leader invests in his or her people. Often our best next generation leaders are sitting right under our noses, but we fail to give them the opportunities to stretch and develop.

Jesus did this a lot with His people.  In Luke 10, He sent out seventy two disciples to proclaim the Kingdom with only some simple instructions.  In fact, He has entrusted us with the greatest task, and says, “I will be with you always.”

Without some intentionality, we may find ourselves with no one to take up the baton when we’re ready to step aside.  To have sustaining work means investing in people to build their leadership.  Who is in your sphere of influence that needs to grow in faith and confidence?  What real work can be entrusted to them?  Give it away and let them soar!

Sometimes it's worth getting some egg on your face for the sake of a conversation.

“How much a company spends on innovation doesn’t matter, because what’s important is what the company spends on real breakthroughs rather than sustaining ideas.”–Better, Faster, Cheaper is Not Innovation

This quote referenced Kodak’s (and many other companies) investment in R&D that improves existing technology, rather than disruptive technology.

It also applies to why many efforts of ministries and non-profits to “innovate” on social or digital media fall flat. I’ve seen upwards of 100 iPhone apps designed by ministries or non-profits without a strategy or purpose other than to “be innovative.” I’ve also seen individual fundraisers create short, personal, and powerful YouTube videos for their donors that transform the relationship between them.

For some communication tactics there is a linear relationships where one can be substituted for the other: A text message can replace a phone call, a Facebook update can replace a verbal announcement at a large meeting, etc. The goal behind this is general awareness.

But when the goal becomes to empower more volunteers, raise significantly more money, recruit or train hundreds/thousands of more people than the year(s) before, there is not a linear relationship. Most of us have learned that creating a Facebook page will not suddenly give us access to 800 million people around the world, even though it’s technically possible.

When you start thinking about significantly changing your methods for accomplishing your goals and stop thinking about switching out traditional media solutions for digital, you will start getting close to significant breakthroughs.

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Bing Travel makes searches easier in order to help you for that upcoming trip, including a currency converter, finding the best prices for airlines and hotels, maps, and more.  After you go to bing.com, click on Travel in the links across the top.  You can choose flights or hotels to quickly find what you’re looking for.  The indicators even let you know if the prices are going up or down. (Or, here’s their link for Destinations which also includes flights and hotels for specific cities.)

Check out these recommended travel sites from Bing’s editors:

• Trip planning sites
• Road trips
• Budget travel advice
• Volunteer vacations*

*Of course, Campus Crusade for Christ also has mission trips to recommend:

• The JESUS Film Mission trips
• GAiN

What do you use for your trip-planning?

Related Posts:

• Bing.com for Your Travel Needs
• Google Your Trip to find motels and other destinations using Google Maps
• The Road Less Traveled about the “Traffic” feature on Google Maps
• Map Your Donor Team make an online map of your destination with locations for your motel, rental car, appointments, and more.

CCC staff, so we can better serve you, please subscribe here to receive weekly emails of e4e posts, notifications of training, and more.

Early in May I started a training tour with my colleague Chris Sleath. Our aim was to train staff members and students to start Virtually Led Movements in Uganda, Zimbabwe and Zambia,  to reach their countries using the internet and cell phones. We started in Uganda and trained more than 30 people. A highlight was that I met my virtual friend Adams Guscan face-to-face. He has been serving with me online for the last three years. Read his story below.

Adams Guscan

“I became a Christian  in 1993.  I began to pray to God through the name of Jesus Christ and I could see God answering my prayers.  I devoted myself to knowing Jesus Christ more.  Fortunately He came closer to me.

I received a  bachelor’s degree in Foods Science, Nutrition  and Technology. When I was exposed to computers and the  internet in 2008 at my first job, I quickly began searching for information about faith  in Jesus Christ and what the internet tells about God. I fortunately came across a website,  www.gmovolunteers.com with an option for those willing to volunteer in spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ as online missionaries. I saw my dream coming true.  I saw an opportunity to serve Jesus and preach to thousands of people. Quickly I applied and was accepted. I underwent a two week training course and started  preaching the Gospel to hundreds of people online. Today I am a community Leader Shepherd.  And I love it.

During the training

My online ministry at the beginning was not encouraging. I wrote to people and the majority would not reply back to me. I began wondering whether I was really preaching to real people. After a few months, I began receiving replies from many people I had written to. Today, the number of replies I get is almost equal to the number of contacts I have written to. I am pleased to touch souls . I have been encouraged in many ways. I have shared conversations online with people passing through hard times, and some planning to commit suicide and after a series of exchange of information and prayer, God rescues them. It is encouraging. I have made many friends through online ministry.

I pray that I will serve God completely, to be where He wants me to be, to go where He wants me to go, to do what He wants me to do, and to be what He wants me to be. This is my biggest prayer request this year. I also want to continue my house-to-house evangelistic visits in villages.

I am very excited about meeting Miheret in Uganda after serving with him online for the past three years. I invite you to join us in prayer as we trust God that the online ministry will grow in Uganda and beyond.”

Click here to know how to start online ministry.

Staff members After VLM Training

Beth Booram, who has written a really good book called Awaken Your Senses, posted this quote from Irenaeus on Facebook today.

“It is not you who shapes God, it is God who shapes you.
If then you are the work of God, await the hand of the artist
Who does all things in due season.
Offer God your heart, soft and tractable,
And keep the form in which the artist has fashioned you.
Let your clay be moist,
Lest you grow hard and lose the imprint of God’s fingers.”

      As I read this, I realized keeping my heart soft is a challenge in the midst of lots to do, and in the midst of leading others.  At times, I can shut off my heart in order to plow through things that must be done.  By the time I’m ready to let down and respond to Him, I can be too weathered, or hardened to re-capture the moment of need.

How would you finish this post?   What steps do you take in order to keep your heart“soft and tractable” in His hands?

Have you ever thought of praying for the unreached with others from around the world on Skype?

Check out Unreached Prayer Initiative.

Could be a great way to cast vision for your team and join one of these times.

Do you know any other internet-telephone based prayer groups?

Meet e4e author Russ Martin and read Russ’s posts on e4e.

“Make them love the kingdom, not the king. The best $$ I ever made was when other people thought it was their idea.” @chrisbrogan #MRUshift

— Alexandra Rutley (@AlexandraRutley) May 10, 2012

I discovered this tweet yesterday and it resonated with a key shift that many ministries need to make. Many ministries have a top down structure, and communicate from a “me first, you second” position. The King is the starting and ending point, and communications seek to make him stand out amongst the rest.

I’ve noticed that the most innovative and powerful communications happening on social media between ministries and their audiences are ones that invert this paradigm to “you first, me second.” The kingdom–the staff, volunteers, and the interested but not yet empowered are the focus, and the King releases people and resources in ways that make them more famous than him.

If your ministry is the hero of the story chances the content you are sharing is not resonating as powerfully as it could if the volunteers and new people were the hero.

Some words to watch for that signal a “me first” paradigm: 

• Come
• I/I’m/We
• Our
• Join
• Check out
• Don’t forget

Consider replacing or integrating words such as these into your online conversations:

• Thank you
• Hope you/your
• Any chance
• Good luck
• Your
• What/why/how
• Great job/idea/question/link

I looked through @redbull’s Tweets and found they do a fantastic job of balancing their content and making their fans/the kingdom feel unique, heard, and encouraged. It could be a great place to compare your current content with their and finds some new ways to engage your audience.

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“Overwhelmed…”

…is the word I hear most when talking to ministry leaders about social media. Many ministries and non-profits have less than one full-time person assigned to leading their social media efforts (by that I mean most do something else besides social media). Or if there is a full-time position, that person often reports to multiple people, making it difficult to see significant progress in any area.

The Non-Profit Life Raft is a weekly email to help you keep your head above water. It’s not everything that’s going on, but the key trends, reports, infographics, and blog posts related to using social media effectively for ministries and non-profits.

My goal is to save you time and provide you with just enough information to be empowered and lead the changes you know need to happen for your ministry to stay relevant.

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M29 is our weekly Leadership and Training time at the University of Arkansas.

M29 is short for Matthew 29 which is not written in the Bible. As you probably know Matthew 28 ends with Jesus issuing His Great Commission to “Go and make disciples of all the nations”

M29 is our response to the Jesus’ Commission and a desire to write the next chapter of the Great Commission with our lives on the college campus.

M29 is the primary way we equip and train students in evangelism, leading Bible studies, and multiplying their lives

Eventually the M29 material will be on CruPressGreen but I wanted to make it available sooner so you can make use of it in the fall.

We created all of the material and tried to attribute to original sources whenever possible (since very little of this content is original to us).

Feel free to adapt the content for your purposes!

Click the Title to view files for that class (where you can download each file individually if so desired).

Or click on the Zip file to download the whole folder all at once.

• How to Share Your Faith  - zip
• Relational Evangelism - zip
• How to Disciple - zip
• How to Lead a Bible Study -  zip
• Apologetics - zip
• Foundations - zip
• Leadership Development - zip

- the last two classes are probably the weakest content. The other 5 are really good imho : )

 Here’s what our year of M29 training looks like over the course of a year:

We offer 3 classes at the same time and do 2 6-week sessions each semester.

Details on what our M29 time looks like:

• We meet weekly on Tuesdays from 6-8 (at a local church)
• The First Hour is called Leadership and is invite-only (which we’ve actually started doing every other week)
• We eat together for the first 20 minutes (bring in food from local restaurants or have donors in the community bring food)
• We rotate through several things in that first hour over the semester but it includes:
• Vision for reaching the campus
• Students sharing what God is doing around campus
• Prayer in small groups
• Time in the Word (devotional in nature)
• Celebrating what God is doing
• Movement-wide alignment/training

• Second hour is our training/equipping time and we usually have 3 “tracks”/classes going on at the same time (with about 25 people in each)
• Students can pick whichever track they want to go to
• We ask all Leadership students (from first hour) to go to 2nd hour
• We start up tracks about 3 weeks into the semester so we can promote them at Cru

For those that are interested, here’s our thoughts on why we do the tracks when we do them:

The best way of thinking about this is thinking about a potential sharp freshman coming in. They hear about Foundations (which starts the third week of class) at Cru. They get involved, and are grounded in the basics of walking by faith. They then move into Apologetics, as they wrestle with encountering many different worldviews in college and dealing with their own tough questions.

Then they have Evangelism I (in Spring 1), when we get a big influx of people at the beginning of the Spring and from Leadership Retreat where they start to share their faith. As they are challenged to lead community groups, they go into the CG leading track to wrap up the year.

When that group of freshmen comes back in the fall for their sophomore year, Relational Evangelism would be great to sharpen their evangelism skills as they are meeting tons of freshmen and doing tons of follow up and gathering. As their community groups form, they start How to Disciple track, where they learn what to look for in who to disciple and learn how to initiate that process. Naturally, most will challenge people in their groups at the end of the fall before break to consider discipleship in the spring. When they come back in the spring, they would then do Leadership track. After Spring 1, the sophomores (rising juniors) would go into SERVANT TEAM, not Sent. They would come back to do Sent at the end of their senior year (when it is most relevant).

All of the above describes the ideal freshman leader that gets involved. The great thing about the whole structure is that it is completely adaptable to whenever a person gets involved while still having a progression. For example, if a freshmen does not get involved until Fall 2, they go into Apologetics and just continue right along the progression. They can choose at some point to go back to Foundations, or not. Their choice. OR, say a big group of freshmen start in Spring 1. They do Evangelism I, Leading a CG, and then when they come back their sophomore year, go into Foundations or Relational Evangelism.

“Successful social business leaders recognize that engagement at scale is only realized when the company is able to move beyond mere fan acquisition tactics and actually cultivate a core community of advocates.”–Advocacy, Dachis Group

A social media specialist or community manager are critical to a ministry’s social media strategy, but unleashing staff and volunteers to engage on social media on behalf of your ministry or non-profit will achieve greater results.

Strategy and tactics to capture fans and followers often come before training and educating staff. Sandy Carter, IBM’s VP of Social, notes that Germany is the global leader in deploying social media effectively. Their secret? Deploy a program for encouraging social media use internally among employees.

Although a dedicated team or community manager can set the strategy, provide the guidelines, and share best practices, the staff and volunteers have the potential to absorb the increasing demand to communicate personally with donors and constituents.

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We do one thing all year to raise money for our ministry – a Fellowship Dinner. And every year we see God provide abundantly ($50-$75k).

It is a lot of work but I am a firm believer that it is THE best way to fund your ministry (read how one ministry raises over $400k/year).

My hope is that more and more Cru movements around the country begin to have Fellowship Dinners so that they are abundantly funded.

Cru Staff: for more info on how to put on a Dinner email Jim Dempsey who is THE expert (or for details on what we do, leave a comment).

We’ve been blessed by professional Graphic Designers who have produced high quality materials for our last few Dinners and I wanted to share those with anyone that wants to use them:

  Designs are by an Arkansas Cru alum- Kelsea Walkley of petit4prints.com

@petit4prints on Twitter

Kelsea has generously donated her talents and design for our Fellowship Dinner and allowed me to share them with you!

From Kelsea:

“If a CRU movement interested in using these designs, they can email me and I will send them a link to download the editable files free of charge (they would have to have someone who knows how to navigate a design software such as illustrator).

If they would prefer that I customize these designs for them (edit text, colors, send them files for printing, etc.), they can contact me for a design estimate.

I am always interested in custom design projects!  Please contact me for a design estimate.”

If you use one of these designs, let me know and I can send you more content if it’s helpful – magnets, powerpoint templates, Silent Auction, name tags, and other assorted signage.

A nice looking Powerpoint template and magnet from 2010 made by John Robinson who works for Saatchi X (using a stock image originally from Penn State Cru).

PDF of magnet         Powerpoint Template

Below are my talks from the past few years.

You might be able glean some good quotes, illustrations or ways of structuring vision or “the ask”:

2012

2011

2010

Our Magnet from 2012

You want 5 quick things to make your blogging better?

1. Brevity. Cut posts to sub-500 words.
2. Structure. Write something others can USE.
3. Simplicity. Big words are pretty. Help people understand the point, instead.
4. Positivity. Writing angrily only works if you want to attract angry people.
5. Outward-facing. Write more about others than you ever do about yourself.

–via Chris Brogan

too much to do.

It’s an actor’s worst nightmare: he stands before a live audience, blanks out and can’t remember a single line. Only this wasn’t a nightmare; it was real. And soon it will be a short film titled (appropriately) “Blank.”

Producer/Director John Gaither drew from his own nerve-wracking experience to write the film’s script. Intended to stimulate discussion on the fears and rewards of taking healthy risks, “Blank” is a joint venture of Keynote and the Global Short Film Network. “Blank” is currently in post-production.

Be sure to check out these other short films from Keynote:
“The Audition” Makes Its Debut

Ongoing Effect of w[rec]k

Today I’m on overload– too much to do, not enough time to do it.

Albert Bridge [CC-BY-SA-2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

Thoughts of unfinished tasks, decisions to be made, come rushing through my head like a flash flood- unstoppable.  Capturing them on paper only seems to aggravate the feelings.  As I”m pausing to write this down, I’m reminded of two things.

A number of years ago,I watched a skit at a retreat.  It started out with a woman sitting across the table from someone representing Jesus.  They were having a conversation about her day when the phone rang.  Immediately you could tell that there was some crisis that she needed to address.  As she stood up and began pacing around the room, you could see a bag tied to her ankle.  Every step she took the bag just dragged along behind her.  At the same time, the Jesus character walked alongside her, trying to get her attention, tapping her shoulder.  “Not now!” she exclaimed.  “Can’t you see I have so much to do?”

The irony of that picture comes back to me.  The One person who could do something about the weight she was dragging along and the current crisis on the phone was right there- if she would only turn to Him.  “Come to Me, all you who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest,” He says  (Matt 11:28).   It’s the same reality for me and for you today.  Whatever is going on, weighty or not, He is right there and so willing and able.

The second thing is something that author Ney Bailey has said. “If Satan can’t get you to sin, he will drive you through busyness.”  It’s a temptation to think that I can actually get all this done in my own effort.  I would never say so out loud, but that’s the inward pressure, the temptation to believe that it all depends on me. Recognizing the temptation and calling on the Lord in the midst of it changes that inward rushing.  Bringing every concern to Him brings me to a still place, a place of rest.

He leads me besides still waters; He restores my soul. Psalm 23

Today, I need to rest on the fact that God is in control, He knows everything going on around me and in me, and He invites me to come and leave my burdens with Him, including the entire to do list!  I can trust Him with the timing and the pace of things. I think I will do that right now! “Cast your burden on Him, for He cares for you.”

As you’re facing life today, what’s on your list that needs to be on His list?

I personally have not yet taken the plunge into Pinterest, but I know many who have.  Perhaps busyness keeps me from jumping in head first, or maybe laziness keeps me from having one more log in screen to add to my daily regime.  So I admire the ladies who have not only made time to pin, but who also take time to pin with purpose.  Let’s take a look at three women in particular whose daily walk with Christ reflects in their online activities.

Amanda just completed her internship with CRU at USF.  As a local fellow staff, I had the opportunity to get to know her a little better during her time in Tampa.  When asked to describe how she pins with purpose, she explained it this way, “I would think the most ministry would be on my quotes board…I pin a lot of scripture, C.S. Lewis, etc. and then my followers see it.”  In addition to posting positive Christian messages to her personal site, Amanda has used ideas from Pinterest for party planning with CRU.  She also blesses the students she disciples with ideas she finds, “I’ve given gifts to my discipleship girls based off of my ‘pinspiration’ as I like to call it,” Amanda explained.

Allison also likes to gain inspiration from Pinterest.  After completing her internship and recently joining full-time staff with Athletes in Action, she shared how she finds creative ways to minster, “I find Pinterest helpful in my ministry to gain ideas for hosting and gift giving.  There are so many unique recipes that would be great for entertaining, whether for Bible study, Women’s night, etc.”  She and her husband are currently taking time to raise support, so finding creative gift giving ideas on a budget as a means to bless friends and supporters will serve her well thanks to Pinterest.

Renee is a friend of mine who builds up her sisters in Christ through her ministry of hospitality.  She has recently used Pinterest to host baby showers for her friends from church.  She pulls ideas ranging from food to decorations, making the most of her hostessing experience to bless others.  As a mother, she also finds great ideas to make simple homemade recipes and craft ideas that appeal to her family.

So no matter what your season in life, using Pinterest as a means of ministry is an effective way to bless people like Amanda does by posting scripture for others to read, or the way Allison does in gift giving, or in the way Renee reaches out to her friends and family.  What are some ways you have found to use Pinterest as a ministry?

Meet e4e author Leaha Shaikh and read Leaha’s posts on e4e.