The future of magazines?

February 15, 2011 in SmallGroups,Social Media with 3 Comments

I made fun of myself in my last promotion (HERE) of the Small Groups Digizine. I’ll not do that again, thank you very much.

But I will heartily recommend the new edition! Partly because it’s free (you can snag your copy HERE)…mainly because it’s awesome.

Sam O’Neal and the SmallGroups.com team have done a phenomenal job compiling a great resource for small group leaders and pastors. I really think that this format (the digital magazine, a.k.a. the ‘digizine’) could be the future for many magazines, because of the speed of distribution and the low cost of production. In addition, the interactivity is so much greater than reading a traditional magazine. Instead of reading Sam’s editorial intro…you can watch it. Instead of a mere reference to worship songs…you can listen to them right there in your browser while reading the rest of the content. It’s heaven for a multi-tasking, multi-sensory generation.

But I’d like to offer a couple of suggestions for improving the digizine in the future.

Room for improvement

1. Social media – give me a chance to interact with my online community while I’m reading. I’d love the chance to link to direct

2. iPhone/iPad app – I tried viewing this on my phone, and, yes you can pull it up…but it’s tiny. If you try to zoom in, things get wonky. If you try to view it in landscape mode, it shows 2 micropages at once. I’d love to be able to read this more easily on my iPhone…maybe even in an app (I don’t think there’s another small groups app out there). And I could definitely see something like that driving the reader count through the roof, even for archived content on SmallGroups.com, as the app links to “suggested resources.”

3. Publish it more often! You guys are onto something big here…capitalize on it! Twice/year isn’t enough.

4. Add more hyperlinks. Make this digizine even more interactive, providing links back to SmallGroups.com and outside sites. You’re being incredibly generous in offering this resource for free…but providing links for other resources, sites, and ideas is a way to take generosity to the next level.

Have you grabbed your free copy yet?

Building Biblical Community

February 7, 2011 in Book Review,Church,SmallGroups with 16 Comments

Congrats to Tiffany Malloy for winning this prize pack!

I review small group curriculum. A lot. Some of it’s good. Some of it I wish I had never wasted my time looking over.

But I’ve just stumbled on a great study from Lifway. Which, to be honest, is shocking to me. Lifeway has been putting out Sunday School curriculum for years in the form of quarterly material that you subscribe to. And I had no interest in figuring out how to fit Sunday School curricula into our small groups system. They’ve found a format that works for small groups, and brought together a couple of small group veterans (Steve Gladen and Bill Donahue) to help facilitate the DVD portion of the material.

If you want a chance to win a free copy of the material, keep reading!

What I like about Building Biblical Community

It starts by encouraging everybody to share their story. I believe that this is foundational to healthy, biblical community. Without knowing people’s stories, it takes much longer to build authentic relationships. Without sharing your own, it’s easy to hide. Sharing your story, and understanding what expectations you (and the group as a whole) are bringing to the table help launch the group on the right foot.
There’s real interaction with Scripture. There’s no question that this is truly a Bible study. Discussion is encouraged around the meaning of the text, both historically and practically. And there is a distinct push for you to incorporate Scripture into your everyday life, asking questions that prompt you to integrate the Gospel into the normal flow of your day. And I agree with Spence Shelton, that a Building Biblical Community, vol II focusing further on applying the Gospel to community life could be a great follow-up resource.
There are short, daily devotionals for in-between the week’s meetings. And these are built on the previous week’s discussions, which means that they’re not vital to the following week’s discussion. So the homework is important, but if you don’t get to finish it, you won’t be lost in the following week’s discussion.
It’s simple. It’s often easier to say more, citing more Scriptures, and asking more questions than it is to say less. Thankfully, Lifeway didn’t take the easy way out.
It’s short. It’s only 4 weeks. I’ve found that longer studies seem to grow stale because they take so long to finish. And, like I said HERE, change (even when it’s something as small as your group’s curriculum) feels like progress.
It’s a great overview of group life. It hits on each of the major areas of healthy small groups without spending too much time on any one category. Here are the 4 sessions: Becoming a Celebrating Community, Becoming a Learning Community, Becoming a Loving Community, Becoming a Serving Community.
The leader notes are in the back. It saves money from having to buy another book. Last time I checked…that was a good thing. And leader notes give the group facilitator hints on how to continue the discussion, helping them feel even more comfortable in the role God has called them to.

How I’m going to use the study

New small groups.
Small groups that are restarting.

I don’t quickly put a curriculum into our regular flow of recommended curricula at Grace Community Church, where I’m on staff. But this one’s going in the rotation immediately.

If you’d like a chance to win a free copy of this material (I’ll be giving it away on Friday, 2-11-2011), all you have to do is

1. ReTweet (or share on Facebook) this post.

2. Leave a comment below, telling us why you’d like to win.

The Shallow Small Group

February 3, 2011 in SmallGroups,Videos with 7 Comments

My good friends at Blue Fish TV put this video together. It’s awesome.

Enjoy!

Have you ever been a part of a shallow small group?

What are you doing to avoid your small group being shallow?

Time to cut bait

February 1, 2011 in Church,Leadership,SmallGroups with 4 Comments

I’m not a fisherman, but I’ve been fishing. Which makes me an expert, right?

Sometimes there are times when you just need to cut bait and move on. Maybe you’ve snagged some driftwood. Maybe the fish isn’t worth it. Maybe your hook is stuck in the mud. And you could fight and fight and fight…but you’re not going to drag in the bottom of the lake. If you’re stuck, cut bait and move on.

Let it go

We often need to do this with our ideas, too…even the good ones. We get so personally invested in them that we hold on as if our lives are at stake. We need to know what’s worth fighting for, what ideas are so valuable that we will reel them in at all costs. And what ideas can be released.

There comes a time when holding on to that idea, that project, that program…that it begins to drag you into the water with it. Your idea has lost traction, the program isn’t accomplishing what you wanted it to, and the project is sapping all of your effort with very little result to show for it.

We need to remember that it’s okay to cut bait sometimes. Cutting bait means you’re done with that line. With that area of the pond. With that fish.

But it doesn’t mean that you’re done fishing.

What ‘good idea’ have you held on to for too long?

Is there one you can let go of today?

Is there a program that you can let sink?

Say less, listen more, 11s on the 1s

January 30, 2011 in 11s on the 1s,Church,Leadership,SmallGroups with 1 Comment

If you’d like to catch up on this series of 11-word posts, click HERE.

Say less, listen more

Saying more is much easier than saying less. Start by listening.

Yours to tell

January 27, 2011 in SmallGroups,Theology with 3 Comments

image by Rob Gros

The beauty of your story isn’t that it’s

clean

pretty

tidy

extravagant

shocking

intriguing.

The beauty of your story is that it’s

messy

raw

confusing

chaotic

unfinished

unpolished.

**The beauty of your story may be that it’s**

normal

tame

boring

expected

small

lame.

The beauty of your story is that God

redeems

reconciles

magnifies

deepens

clarifies

forgives.

The beauty of your story is that

it’s yours.

It’s time to tell it.

You’ve got a smell…

December 28, 2010 in Church,SmallGroups,Theology with 2 Comments

…and you probably don’t even know it.

Your house smells a certain way. So do your clothes. Your car. Your dog. And your shoes.

But you’ve gotten used to it.

And you have no idea whether that smell is sweet or sour.

Over time, our sense of smell dulls when we enter our own home because it becomes “normal.” Routine. Habitual.

Which can be incredibly dangerous.

Whether it’s a good smell or a bad smell is irrelevant. It’s our smell, so we don’t notice it.

And it’s the same way in our spiritual lives.

We get into routines, we find our niche, and we get comfortable. And growing comfort lends itself to a lack of introspection. And a growing sense that “normal” is good, whether it is or not.

Why not invite someone you trust to help you see (and smell) where things aren’t lining up? Because other people see things you don’t.

Is there someone you can ask to come alongside you in 2011?

Good small groups…

December 4, 2010 in Church,Leadership,SmallGroups with 1 Comment

I haven’t run into many people who say, “I want my small group to tank. I want to lead my folks off of a spiritual cliff so that they’re further from God than they were before they even met me.”

Quite the contrary.

Most people want their group to succeed. They want to grow spiritually, and help others grow as well. They want to have vibrant meetings that challenge people’s faith and encourage them to love God and others more. They want to help foster healthy marriages and strong, God-honoring parenting. They don’t want the group meeting to be a drag on anyone. Rather, they long for everyone in the group to look forward to the meeting because they’re building healthy relationships with those in the group.

These people are willing to do what it takes to craft a successful group…they’re just not always sure what they should be doing to make that happen.

This week on Twitter and Facebook, I’ve been talking about what good small groups (and good small group leaders) should be in the business of doing. Here are my thoughts.

Good small groups

Communicate with each other more than once/week
Are filled with admittedly broken people
Embrace those far from Christ
Don’t just talk about the Gospel. They apply it.
Serve their community as much as they serve one another.
Don’t avoid difficult relational issues. They work through them.
Looks a lot like a healthy church.

Good small group leaders

Embrace the messiness of relationships
Are quick to offer grace because they’ve been given so much [grace]
Ask for help
Look a lot like good pastors.
Are patient with group members who are difficult to love.

What else do you think good small groups should be doing?

What else do you think good small group leaders should be doing?

Somebody’s getting fired

December 1, 2010 in Church,SmallGroups with 26 Comments

When you get a call from somebody telling you they want to be a small group leader…

be worried.

When you get a call like this…

quit your job.

Here’s the voicemail that was left on my office phone today: click HERE to listen.

*I’ve got my suspicions on who the mystery caller is. And I’m working to get him fired right now.

UPDATE

Estavon Williams left another voicemail today. Looks like I may be out of a job now.

Click HERE to listen to the second voicemail.

Parenting and community

November 16, 2010 in Book Review,SmallGroups with 3 Comments

If you’re a parent, I need you to repeat this after me.

I don’t have it all figured out.

And for those of you who feel awkward talking to your computer screen, here’s your second chance.

I don’t have it all figured out.

If you do feel like you have the role of parenting completely under control, please repeat this after me:

I am a liar.

And, finally, all together, please repeat this after me:

I can’t do this parenting thing on my own.

Author Donald Miller (Blue Like Jazz) and Dr. John Townsend (Boundaries) walk through a series of discussions on a new small group curriculum that’s been released, Convergence: Where Life and Faith Meet. This particular study is about parenting and what the Bible has to say about raising kids, exploring how God designed parenting, the challenges we face, and the rewards that come helping kids grow up.

I particularly liked the discussion on parents being careful to not make idols out of their children (or even making idols out of the thought of having children). Viewing children as a means to be happy and fulfilled will ultimately leave you empty. And the pressure that we put on ourselves (and that society puts on us) to be the “perfect” parents can be spiritually and emotionally damaging when we find ourselves not living up.

But that’s where the beauty of “community” comes in. Because we can’t do this on our own. And it’s cool if you think you can just wing it ‘just-me-and-God’ style. But God’s given you a community (the Church) to live life with. Grow with. Receive help from. Learn from. Watch. Don’t neglect that gift.

These DVDs were intended to be worked through in the context of a small group. I see no better environment to implement these deep, life-altering, biblical parenting principles.

Still not convinced that this is a good curriculum? Consider this:

1. The videos are only 20 minutes long. When DVD-based curriculum gets longer than that, it begins to infringe on discussion time. 20 minutes works. It gives enough information to communicate an idea, but not so much that the group leader feels the need to squeeze discussion time.

2. There’s no cost to the group member. The only cost incurred is the DVD itself (which is a mere $15).

3. Both the leader’s guide and the participant’s discussion guide can be found online for each study (by clicking HERE). All you have to do is print it off, and you’re good to go.

4. There’s no real homework to be done from week to week. Instead of needing to spend hours pouring over the specific material (which can, by some, be seen as busy work), group members can show up and immediately jump into the conversation. Don’t take this to mean that the studies aren’t challenging, or don’t require any work. It just means that you won’t feel like an outsider in the discussion if you haven’t “done your homework.” And though a homework-heavy study may be the right call for your group in some seasons, a homework-light study can be incredibly refreshing.

5. The questions are short, and elicit discussion. Some curriculum writers feel the need to control the answers of group members. Their goal is not necessarily group discussion. Rather, they want group members to parrot back a certain answer, which makes group discussion much cleaner and simpler. But not necessarily more helpful. Phrasing questions in a way that spurs discussion is incredibly difficult, and often leads to messier discussions, but I’ve had much greater fruit in those types of discussions than in the ones in which, realistically, there was only one “right” answer.

6. Don Miller is really good at interviewing/conversing. He represents the “everyday Christian” really well, and seems to ask the “right” questions to spur the dialog with the person(s) he’s interviewing.

7. There’s a specific Scripture connected with each lesson that your group can wrestle through.

Still not convinced? Then allow me to give you a free copy. The first 25 people that visit AllThingsConverge.com and use my last name, Reed, in the checkout, will get 1 free video download. Come on…you can’t beat that, can you?

Be sure to check out the next stop on this blog tour, a good friend of mine, Will Johnston. He’s reviewed the curriculum, too, HERE. And while you’re at it, go ahead and subscribe to his blog (his RSS feed is right HERE)…you won’t be disappointed.

Check out this promo video from the parenting DVD I’ve reviewed here:

Parenting: Helping Your Kids to Become Adults Trailer from All Things Converge on Vimeo.