Big Is The New Small

I was recently reading through an old T.D. Jakes book from off the book shelf and ran across a couple of bullet points for us to ponder.

• When a child leads the way in commitment to a church, 3 1/2 percent of families follow.
• When a woman/mom leads the way in commitment to a church, 17 percent of families follow.
• When a man/dad leads the way in commitment to a church, 93 percent of families follow.

 Hmmmm, I know that last bullet point is how our family ended up at LifeChurch.tv and the rest is HIStory!

Thoughts?

Looking For a Few Good Men!  BigIsTheNewSmall

Many of you have heard of the 80/20 Principle as it relates to money, people and time. If you are unaware of this principle it is derived from an Italian Economist, Vilfredo Pareto who discovered this concept in the early 1900’s. The bottom line is that if we streamline and focus our attention/efforts on our highest priorities (that top 20%) then we will achieve 80% of the desired results. I would like to take this a step further, as it relates to ministry and people that you interact with/supervise in your profession.

There will generally be 10% of people that really love you or what you’re doing, 10% that really dislike you or what you are doing and this makes up that (20%). The other 80% are generally comfortable with you and your direction. In ministry, that 80% will return and support you each and every week. The wisdom in those numbers, is that you shouldn’t listen to your biggest naysayer’s nor your biggest fans. I have read different research that translates the 80/20 principle into modern life applications. Below, I have listed my top 10 of “The Good,” several of which are my personal thoughts.

1. Fishing- 20% of fisherman catch 80% of the fish.
2. College Football- 20% of the universities play in the championship game 80% of the time.
3. Time- 20% of employees perform 80% of the work.
4. Leaders- 20% of leaders make 80% of tough decisions.
5. Business- 20% of the businesses’ receives 80% of business.
6. Church Giving/Serving- 20% of the people give/serve 80% of the money/time.
7. Blogs- 20% of blogs receive 80% of blog readers.
8. Reading- 20% of the book provides 80% of the memorable content.
9. Sermons- 20% of the message provides 80% of the life application.
10. World Changers- 20% of Christ Followers do 80% the World Changing.

It seems as though this principle can be applied to almost anything.  A question that we should ask ourselves is; “Am I in that 20% of The Good?”

Any other 80/20 principle “The Good” thoughts that you would like to share?  Please don’t hesitate to comment, remember 20% of blog readers make 80% of the comments. BigIsTheNewSmall

I was having a conversation yesterday with another pastor and we somehow got on the topic of Church Attire and the current trend of dress, specifically for Pastors.  It seems a though the current look for  ”Contemporary Pastors,” for the lack of a better term is: expensive trendy jeans, trendy shirts un-tucked or half-tucked, the glasses, bald head… well you get the picture and the congregation generally tends to follow the trend of the pastor for the most part.

I recently noticed that Ed Young; who is one of the “Big Dawgs” of Creative Pastors in the country is now wearing suits.  Hmmm this got me to thinking that we may only be a few years from this current “Contemporary Look” moving towards the clean cool suits, french cuff shirts, tie or no tie, the glasses… again, you get the picture.   You are already seeing blazers/suit jackets as part of the repertoire, accompanied with the current casual jean look. 

Some of you may think that I’m kidding; however I am dead serious.  Just think about how your church and your pastor dressed about 7 years ago… I’m sure that it’s quite different than today.   Whether it’s intentional or not, I think Ed Young might just be on to something (They don’t call him Mr. Creative for nothing) and you better believe all of the “Creative Pastors” are taking note. 

Creative is defined as: Having the quality of something created rather than imitated; re-create.

Do you think the “Contemporary Church” dress/attire is going to re-create itself into suits?  Share your thoughts and opinions on this subject overall.

Don’t forget that “I Told You So!”  BigIsTheNewSmall

This post will fall in the randomness category as I just share a little about those people and that stuff:

Those People:

• This guy, this guy and this guy are some of my favorite bloggers that don’t allow comments.
• This guy and this guy consistently push the envelope and promote church diversity.
• This guy received a $350,000 book deal due to his blog, which receives nearly 1,000 comments daily.
• This guy basically came up with my blogs subtitle in this post.
• This lady is a master blogger, this lady’s blog cracks me up, this lady’s blog is unique, this lady is an amazing mom and has a great family, and I just started reading this lady’s blog. 

That Stuff:

• I am still waiting on this phone; it should be here by Thurs.
• This stuff is the best dog food on the market (seriously); find a store and treat your pet.
• In June I will be in this city, July in this city, and making stops in this place, this place, and this place on our cruise in August.
• These things save you money.
• Flying pigs, man these things are dangerous.

That Question:

• Which side of this debate are you on?  Share your thoughts!

Free Drinks:

First of all I want to thank everyone who put in their drink order; unfortunately with 55 comments and a Pastor’s salary, I won’t be able to treat everyone.  I think we might have come up with a new concept for Monday posts; I’ll take your order and then announce/deliver it on Friday.  Maybe we will do something like Panera, Jason’s Deli, Jersey Mikes, Quiznos, Subway… on Monday. I will probably only take care of one or two (unless of course we have sponsors).  BTW- I have had a few people inquire about add space, maybe we will see some of that in the future. 

Drink Order Deliveries: (No Method to The Madness)

1. Cindy Beall- She was the first person to comment and her husband is my boss (enough said!)
2. Anne Jackson- She was the second person to comment and she’s Anne Jackson.
3. Dusty Takle- She was in the top three commenters and she is friends w/ my accountability partner.  Dusty maybe you can join Lance and I; we have Starbucks meeting every other week.
4. Chilly- He’s the man & his gravatar image is a coffee mug! (your gift card will be in the mail)
5. @rogers.com">Hope- She’s from Canada, I have never mailed anything to Canada… (first time for everything)

For those of you who live locally, I will treat you to Starbuck’s or Sonic anytime… if you are of the opposite sex we would have to have someone accompany us because it’s one of those “Things You Should Not do!”

Free Thoughts:

Feel free to share anything that you want to; it’s Free Friday and it won’t cost you a penny.  You can write your own post, talk about your kids, share some news, ask some questions, pimp your blog…

Should a Pastor travel alone on an overnight trip?

Should Pastors be involved in the political process to the level of endorsing candidates, financially supporting campaigns, volunteering with candidate campaigns, identifying with a particular political party… 

I am going to pose a series of questions for the next three days relative to Pastors and whether or not they should do ____blank____.   I welcome your thoughts, comments, responses and one word answers.

Should Pastors fly first class?

Personal Ramblings:

• We had a track meet in Norman yesterday; My 5yr. old Jayden got 1st.  place in the 25-meter dash for (5-6 yr. olds) and third place in the 50-meter dash.  Wesley my 9 yr. old got 1st place in the 50-meter  dash and 3rd. place in the 100-meter dash (9-10 yr. olds).
• My wife and I are trying to eat healthier and get back in the gym… (I’m like 11 lbs.)  My wife goes to the boot camp at the YMCA on Mon., Wed. and Fri.
• I am ready for the summer!

Church Ramblings:

• We are in the 2nd. week of Fanatic this week and the Campus Pastors will be preaching!
• One Prayer is going to be off the chart.
• We are having a lot of new first-time visitors each weekend.

Blog Ramblings: 

• I offered to by people a drink on Friday in a post entitled “Can I Buy You a Drink?” and the post almost had more comments than the highest ever commented post “The First Black President.”  If you didn’t get a chance to get your drink order in go-ahead; I’m not selecting winners until this Friday.
• I added a few more people to my blogroll; If you have linked BigIsTheNewSmall, let me know so that I can show you some LinkLuv.  Be sure you subscribe to my blog by clicking the subscribe button at the top right.

Random Ramblings:

• Subway took some of their sandwiches off of the $5 footlong list; I paid $7.82 for a foot long turkey sub!  (I was not happy)

Follow Me or Friend Me:

• Facebook (Let’s be friends… click here)
• Twitter (Follow me… click here)

Your Ramblings:

• Anything that you want to sound off about this Monday Morning, Afternoon or Evening? Feel Free!

Questions:

• Share a thought, lesson or concept you received from this past weekends message/sermon.  Share the Pastor’s Name, Church and blog or website if available.
• Who do you think is going to win American Idol? 

In case you guys and gals didn’t know, my blog can be very random, controversial, family friendly, confrontational, special, educational, spiritual, enlightening…. well you get the picture.  This morning I had another one of those random moments and it comes in the form of a question for everyone to answer.  Here it goes:

“Can I Buy You a Drink?”  You only have two Locations to choose from Sonic or Starbucks; go ahead and give me your drink order.  I am going to select a couple of random drink order comments and send you either a Starbucks or Sonic Gift Card.  Don’t forget it’s half price drink “Happy Hour” at Sonic everyday from 2:00-4:00.   I am curious as to whether we have more Starbucks or Sonic orders.

Drink On!

I’ll go first and treat myself to a Sonic drink!