Big Is The New Small

Nearly 50 years ago Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. said, “We must face the sad fact that at the 11 o’clock hour on Sunday Morning, when we stand to sing, we stand in the most segregated hour in America.” Unfortunately, Dr. King’s quote still rings true today.

One of the many efforts to elevate the conversation of the lack of ethnic diversity in the church and to promote a more unified Body Of Christ is “Church Diversity Week.”  Again, as we seek to continue this conversation and begin to truly see the sign on the doors of our churches read, “Everyone Welcome,” we wanted to provide a platform for churches to become a part of the movement.  Church Diversity Week is a globally recognized week to encourage and promote unity within the local church.

This week happens to fall on the calendar beginning the Friday prior to Martin Luther King Jr. Day (MLK Day) and lasts the entire week. There are many different ways to celebrate Church Diversity Week; however, at its core it’s about encouraging and promoting unity and diversity in the church.  You can go to ChurchDiversity.com and check out some of the ides or you can grab a copy of my book, “Church Diversity – Sunday The Most Segregated Say Of The Week” which outlines various strategies including Church Diversity Week.

Without any promotion and simply word of mouth, we have well over 100 churches representing half of the U.S. States, in addition to Ghana, Kenya, South Africa, Peru, Australia and the Czech Republic who have identified themselves as participants.  You can add your church here:

I am happy to announce that last week the Governor of Oklahoma, Mary Fallin signed a proclamation which officially recognizes January 13 – January 20 as “Church Diversity Week” in the State Of Oklahoma. I’m proud of our State leadership and I’m looking forward to continued momentum around the country.  At it’s core Church Diversity is about reaching more people for Christ.

It’s important that our churches have a genuine heart to do as Jesus calls us to in the Great Commission and that’s to make disciples of “all nations.”  It’s also important in the U.S. to be aware of the fact that minorities make up nearly half the children born in the U.S., part of a historic trend in which minorities are expected to become the U.S. majority over the next 40 years. A great reminder of Galatians 3:28, “There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.”

The “tipping point” is imminent when the number of babies born to minorities outnumbers that of babies born to whites.  ”Census projections suggest America may become a minority-majority country by the middle of the century. For America’s children, the future is now,” said Kenneth Johnson, a sociology professor at the University of New Hampshire who researched many of the racial trends.  These trends are representative of our zip codes, our communities, our city, our nation, the world and the church.

There are already plans in the works for next year to possibly implement an entire Church Diversity Month, with a month long small group/Bible study curriculum for the entire church. Some of these materials are available this year, with more to come (click here).  Check out ChurchDiversity.com for more info. or follow @ChurchDiversity on Twitter.

Again, I want to thank Governor Fallin for her leadership and signing the “Church Diversity Week” proclamation.  If you or your church is not involved, jump in and be a part of changing the future of the church.

Is your church participating in Church Diversity Week?  Share any thoughts or ideas that you may have.

Prayer Donor from Matthew Sloop on Vimeo.

I wanted to share this video with you about an organization, whose sole purpose is to unite and connect the world and the church in prayer.  The organization is Prayer Donor, you can check out their site at PrayerDonor.org.  I personally know the founder @MatthewSloop who is the real deal and they have been great supporters of BigIsTheNewSmall.com.

They have developed a site where you can basically share prayers and pray for others, all around the globe. It’s a great daily reminder and opportunity for us to pray for others and tool to remind us the power of prayer.  Check out the site, post a prayer, donate some prayers (pray for others.)

“Prayer is of transcendent importance. Prayer is the mightiest agent to advance God’s work. Praying hearts and hands only can do God’s work. Prayer succeeds when all else fails.” ~E.M. Bounds

Do you take the time to pray for others?  Are you guilty of saying I’ll pray for you and moving right along without even taking a second to pray?

I am making an announcement about the new Season for The Williams’ Family.  Before I announce what that season is and where we are going, let me rewind almost 8 months ago.  I actually made the “Big Announcement #2″ that I was going to be transitioning out of my role at LifeChurch.tv into a new season of ministry for my family.

Fast forward 8 months and I have started a consulting company Nxt Level Solutions LLC.  The short and skinny of what we do is help organizations with both external and internal growth. We do this by helping with Leadership Development, Strategy, Diversity Consulting and New Media. In a short amount of time, God has blessed us with an amazing group of organizations and individuals to work with.  We are growing and at the same time helping others go farther faster. On top of this, more entrepreneurial adventures are around the corner and I’ve been blessed to continue sharing the message of Church Diversity around the country.

As far as the new season for the Williams’ family, we are going to be (give me another paragraph).   I have received many texts, DM’s & calls about what the new season is; let me explain a little further. When we made the decision to start a new season for our family 8 months ago, one of the goals was for us to continue to grow as a family.  As we prayed about what that would look like, LaKendria and I set one of our primary goals as her being able to stay home.  Years ago we thought this would have been important when our boys were young; however we are finding that it’s important really important at their current stage.

So the New Season For The Williams’ Family is not about us going to a new place physically, but rather LaKendria is going to be staying home.  Yep straight up Betty Crocker, Soccer Mom, Family Coordinator, Supporter, Teammate, Mother, Partner, Wife & making us a better family SAHM.  She put her notice in this week and her last day will be sometime in November.

This wasn’t simply a goal for us, but a step of faith and an act of listening to God’s Whispers. God is oh so many steps ahead of us, we are happy to follow his lead.  Ecclesiastes 3:1 NCV say’s it this way, “There is a time for everything, and everything on earth has its special season.”  I’m really looking forward to this special season.

What new seasons does God have for you and your family?   He’s whispering, are you listening?

LC Stories | Author of Life from Jonathan Meisner on Vimeo.

For those of you that have been around BigIsTheNewSmall.com or have connected with me on one of my Social Media Channels; you know that I go to the barbershop every Friday.  As a matter of fact I have went to the barbershop every week for as long as I can remember and it’s now a tradition for my boys and I. Every Friday after school we hit Sonic Happy Hour and then hit the Barbershop.

In my world the traditional “Black Barbershop” is one of those great places to debate, to learn, to connect, to develop relationship, to gain wisdom, to talk sports, to talk noise and to minister.  I remember several years ago I began developing a relationship with a guy named Adam who also got his haircut every Friday.  Week after week Adam and I would talk, and I could tell this guy really had some amazing potential.  I would invite him to church all the time, but in the barbershop it would generally take a lot of work to get people to church because in most people’s eyes, I went to “The White Church.”

I kept inviting Adam for probably about a year and one weekend when I was preaching he took me up on my invitation. The cool thing is that he began attending frequently. Next thing I know he was plugged in, serving, giving, attending a small group and growing in his relationship with Christ.  He is one of the guys that I personally mentor and I can’t wait to see what God does through his life and his witness.

I remember talking with Adam one day and he said that before he ever knew that I was a pastor he watched how I carried myself in the barbershop and how I interacted with my boys for a long time.  He said that was more of a reason to check out my church than the fact that I was a Pastor.

The reality is that our lives are our biggest outreach tool.  Who are you inviting, remember people are watching and they are looking for a reason to follow God or an excuse to follow the world.

God uses all stories to shape His story.  The above video is a piece that @Jmeisner14 from Lifechurch.tv put together and it features three stories and reminds of God’s hand on our lives. One of those stories is Adam’s story.  Parts are shot in my barbershop and yes that’s by barber. I keep saying “my” because the title of this post is “My Barbershop Ministry.”  It’s amazing how The Author Of Life uses our story and even weekly conversations in the barbershop to tell his story. It’s awesome to be a part of watching Adam help shape the stories of others and especially the next generation of World Changers.

The barbershop is one of my ministries…  What daily or weekly places are you ministering in that you didn’t even realize that it was a ministry.

I was one of the speakers for Leadership Network’s TheNines Conference again this year.  This year’s task was quite simple – shoot a 5 minute video answering one the 9 questions.  This is the video that we shot answering the question: How Do You Manage Your Time?

My man @SamsonVarughese brought the video to life for me with a little extra effects.

How do you manage your time?

It wasn’t long ago that I was having a conversation with a leader of a major Christian organization. Somewhere in our conversation the statement was made about a particular pastor truly being a “Good Guy.” We both kind of paused for a minute and I had this moment of realization that there seems to be this presupposition that maybe most are not “Good Guys.” This doesn’t only apply to pastors, but Christians in general.

I will hear people describe certain pastors, Christians, leaders etc. as seriously one of the “Good Guys.”  This doesn’t imply that everyone else is bad; however there is something to the pre-determined distinction of being one of the “Good Guys.”

Maybe you have never thought about it, but you have probably found yourself in a conversation or thought process of referring to some as: “A really good dude,” “The Real Deal,” “Seriously a good guy,” or “One of the good guys in ministry.”

Am I reading too much into this, or is there something a little off base when the assumption would be that christian leaders, leaders who are Christians and pastors are not the “Good Guys?” Or the fact that only a small percent seem to get the “Good Guy” disclaimer?

What happened to the Good Guys?

Have you ever thought about this?  Do you have an opinion as to why?  Share your thoughts.

This is the christian version of a drive by shooting, I think innocent bystanders may have been injured. Watch this video and share your thoughts!

I found this link from my man @holycowcreative and he got it form @jesusneedsnewpr. (HT: to those guys for the name and link)

• 1. Saddleback is developing ministry leaders. You don’t have to be seminary grads- people from all majors, all schools, and careers are key to building a pool large enough to plant the number of churches the world needs. They aren’t limiting the pool of leaders to only seminary grads.
• 2. Saddleback prepares leaders by letting them lead.
• 3. Saddleback is preparing Church planters, multi-site campus pastors, and ministry leaders through 1yr programs.
• 4. Academy participants learn from Saddleback pastors, staff and learn in the following areas: Adult Ministry, Children’s Ministry, Student Ministry, Student Ministry Worship, Adult Worship Arts & Church Administration.
• 5. There is always the intangibles of Southern California and Orange County.
• 6. The resources, scale, pace, credibility, culture, methods, strategies, and effectiveness of Saddleback Church
• 7. An awesome place to live – “The Ranch.”

I could go on and on with a lengthy post about the Academy; however Saddleback has put together a very detailed and descriptive program for you to read through.  I encourage you to take a look at all of the different areas, it might be an excellent opportunity for you, your friends or family.  Be sure to check out the different type of program areas: LAUNCH, ELEVATE, ACCELERATE, & DISCOVER.

Perspectives: John Ortberg and Scott Williams from Monvee Video on Vimeo.

It was great to sit down with one of the great authors and ministry leaders John Ortberg.  John asked me some candid questions about the state of the church and the state of Church Diversity.  I have always appreciated his wisdom, leadership, writing & influence from afar…  It was an honor to sit down and hear his heart and field a few questions.

Share your thoughts about anything we discussed in the interview, or feel free to share ask any additional questions that you may have.

I had the opportunity to hang out with my man Coach Christ Hogan from Gainesville Faith Academy (Gainesville, TX).   Last night we were both guests on TBN’s Praise The Lord Program.  I love his heart and this story.  What’s happening at Gainesville Faith Academy through his leadership is special and not just because of the video above.

Another example of how it’s the small things in life that matter.  It also poses a great question: “What are we doing to make a difference in the lives of others?”  This video was very touching to me, I used to be the Warden of a facility just like the one featured in this video.

Share your thoughts on the video, the story, the potential and examples of what we can do to be the hands and feet of Jesus.