Holy crap. Jon Acuff and the Stuff Christians Like blog community totally hijacked my day. Here’s the recap:

• Jon Acuff of StuffChristiansLike.net is inspired by his 6 year old daughter’s sense of injustice that there are hungry children around the world;
• Jon, still reeling from how many people have come to enjoy and support SCL gets an idea: leverage the power of the community to do something big for a charity;
• Jon reaches out to the community for inspiration as to what charity to work with;
• Jon settles on Samaritan’s Purse and works with them to coordinate the building of a kindergarten in rural Vietnam… all Jon needs is to raise $30,000.

Which brings us to today. This morning Jon shares his idea, asks the readers to support the project and raise the $30,000. Jon sets a goal of raising the funds by December 31 of this year.

Throughout the day, we watched as the donations came pouring in. No one expected to raise this much money so quickly.

This evening, sometime around 10:30 pm Eastern timezone, the total donations given in support of this project surpassed $30,000.

The Stuff Christians Like blog community raised over $30,000 for charity in 18 hours.

I’m am so excited to process this, synthesize what happened and share any insights. But for right now, I’m just going to sit back and enjoy the power of what Christ has done and how God has been and will continue to be glorified through it.

[Update:] We’re not done. The tremendous momentum built up yesterday can’t be just cut off, so Jon and Samaritan’s Purse are asking everyone to continue their support and raise another $30,000! That’s right, the goal is now to build two kindergartens for the people of Vietnam. Let’s do it!

Read the updated post here: http://stuffchristianslike.net/2009/11/lets-build-a-2nd-kindergarten/

Click here to donate: https://www.firstgiving.com/scl

And be sure to follow the #SCLVIETNAM conversations on Twitter.

I’ve often thought that if you compare Christian culture to a high school, then the Christian blogosphere is the hallways of that high school. It’s where you congregate with your friends. You get to see who likes who. People goof off, talk about inane things. The jocks beat up on the nerds. The nerds talk in secret about how when Jesus comes back those jocks will get theirs.

For me, high school was the first time I ever witnessed a fight. I’d seen fights on TV and in movies but in high school I actually experienced a number of fights close up. I remember vividly how I felt every time I witnessed a fight. I felt scared. I felt kind of sick. I’ve talked before how violence is unnatural and it affects us profoundly whenever we are exposed to it. That is what I experienced those times I was around when a fight would break out.

I say all this because in the past week, I’ve witnessed in the Christian blogosphere a number of “fights,” examples of Christians trash-talking other Christians. And just like in high school, the commenters on those blogs crowd around yelling (in essence) “Fight! Fight! Fight!” I’m not going to link to any examples because I don’t want to perpetuate these fights. But if you read Christian blogs you know what I’m talking about.

What I witnessed this week left me with that same sick feeling I felt in high school. I honestly thought to myself, “How can you write such things and still proclaim to love Jesus?” I know deep down that all Christians are flawed and left to our own devices our sinful nature will inevitably screw everything up, even the profound blessing that God’s Kingdom. But still…

So this morning when I read about the kindergarten project on Stuff Christians Like my spirit was immediately lifted. “Yes! This is what it means to be a Christian!” I thought (mental fist pumping and everything). So I immediately blogged about it, added my support via the comments (made a few jokes as well; it’s a satire blog after all.) and have been tracking the status of the fundraising all day.

As of the time this post is published, the Stuff Christians Like community has raised $18,486.79 dollars to build a kindergarten in Vietnam. $18,486.79 dollars!!!Now you have to realize something, this has only been going on for six or so hours. That’s $3,081 per hour!!! We’re already at over 60 percent of our goal! On the first day!

This is what it means to be a Christian!

This is the immeasurable, incomprehensible, incomparable power of Jesus Christ at work redeeming this world.

If you haven’t already (I say as if I have readers), please please PLEASE go to the donation page and help. Be encouraged by your Christian brothers and sisters actually loving others and not just talking about loving others. This is a chance to love and serve the poor, to bless the children of Vietnam and to proclaim the glory of God before the nations. Please be a part!

The link for the donation page is here: http://www.firstgiving.com/SCL

The project on Stuff Christians Like is here: http://stuffchristianslike.net/2009/11/this-cant-be-real/

And some additional details of the project can be found here: http://twentytwowords.com/2009/11/09/22-questions-to-jon-acuff-about-raising-30k-to-build-a-school-in-vietnam/

Go!

I met Jon Acuff at the Christian Web Conference earlier this year. I got to talk to him a bit, primarily about the tremendous responsibility that comes with being funny (I think that’s what we talked about, it’s all a blur now). I saw him again at the Cultivate conference in Chicago and got to spend a little more time with him. Jon Acuff is a good guy.

The one of the main things I like about Jon (other than his ability to pull off the “down-filled vest” look) is that he gets that the point of all of this is not just to have a blog, not just to be funny. The point is to use what God has given us to love and serve others all over the world and in doing so, proclaim Christ as King to the nations. We are to use our influence to glorify God and advance the Kingdom.

Jon gets that. (In case you’re thinking it’s not that big of a deal, go read his blog. The reasons Christians “like” all that “stuff” is because we don’t always get it.) So that’s why I like Jon. And the vest thing. And because he knows there’s more to books than just the content on the pages. But I digress.

While at Cultivate Jon mentioned that God has put something huge on his heart and that he was beginning to work on this new project and hoping to use the scale and reach of SCL to make it happen. Today Jon announced that the Stuff Christians Like blog community is building a school in Vietnam.

Cool, right?

Jon is asking his readers to join with him and Samaritan’s Purse to build a school in Vietnam. Kind of like this one:

If you want to be part of something big, bless the people of Vietnam, and have a few laughs along the way, head over to Stuff Christians Like, read about the project and add your support by either donating or sharing this with your friends. Thanks.

Link to Jon’s post on Stuff Christian’s Like: http://stuffchristianslike.net/2009/11/this-cant-be-real/

Update: The project has officially been named the Excellence in Online Ministry project. You can follow the progress of the research at the State of Ministry Online website. The results will be presented later this year at the Christian Leadership Alliance’s Ministry Internet and Technology Summit and later at the NRB’s Advanced Research Symposium.

If you are part of a ministry I encourage you to participate in our research by taking the following survey. Click here to launch the “Excellence in Online Ministry” Ministry Leader Survey.

Thanks, Kevin

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Earlier this year I had a number of conversations with Drew Goodmanson of Monk Development about how the Internet is changing the face of the church and ministry. Through our discussions it became apparent that we both recognize the power of the Internet to advance the Kingdom of God. But we also both believe that Christians need to develop strategic approaches for doing so and not get caught up in the ways that the rest of the world is engaging online.

As we discussed different ways to collaborate and help churches and ministries develop web strategies I got an idea that wouldn’t go away. “What if there was a model for ministries engaging online that took exception to the givens of worldly-wisdom? What would that look like?” The answer that I kept coming back to was:

Kingdom Excellence

It was like that thought popped into my head and suddenly by brain exploded with all these ideas about what Kingdom Excellence is, why it’s important, what it looks like, how to define it, how to assess performance against it… It became very clear (in my mind). But unfortunately (or fortunately), by it’s very nature, a definition of Excellence can not be defined by a single point of view. Rather, it is a standard that transcends any individual’s or group’s values, experience, beliefs. So in order that this idea of Kingdom Excellence not be limited by my personal limitations and weaknesses, I have been working with Drew for the past nine or so months to turn this idea into a reality.

And so I am pleased to announce the Online Kingdom Excellence Project, a collaborative research effort to define an approach to Internet strategy and activities for ministries that is centered on Kingdom principles, based on excellence, and aimed at long-term success through Kingdom advancement and benefits to the organization and to society.

The project will consist of three (3) phases:
Phase I - Concept Development: working with leading organizations and thought leaders in the areas of ministry and Internet strategy, we will identify guiding principles, core beliefs, and a strategic framework for evaluating online excellence. We will approach excellence from many different angles including theology, practical experience, best practices, intuition and insight, previous research to identify what constitutes Online Kingdom Excellence.

Phase II - Ministry Evaluation: based on the framework developed in Phase I, we will utilize a variety of research and analytic methodologies to evaluate a broad sample of ministries. We will look at the perceptions, practices and performance of these organizations in order to better understand what impact Online Kingdom Excellence can have for organizations.

Phase III - Publication: in order to help advance the mission of ministries, we plan to use an opportunity available to promote and share the outcomes from this research. The primary opportunity we currently have is to present the findings at the Christian Leadership Alliances 2010 conference which will be held in San Diego, CA in April.

This project is being led by myself, Drew Goodmanson (CEO of Monk Development and cofounder/pastor of Kaleo Church) and Dave Bourgeois, PhD (Associate Professor of Information Systems, Biola University). So far we have had a tremendous response from people about this project and are in talks to collaborate and partner with a number of well respected Christian organizations and leaders. I’m excited to promote these groups as they join the project so look for further announcements.

The primary home for information about this project will be a new site: The State Of Ministry www.stateofministryonline.com. I’ll be posting throughout the project both here and there. So head on over, bookmark it, add it to your RSS reader and stay tuned as we work together to define what Online Kingdom Excellence is.

If you’re interested in more information about the project or if you are with a ministry organization and would like to participate, please email me at research@unconventionalmethod.com.

You have enemies? Good. That means you’ve stood up for something, sometime in your life. –Winston Churchill

In an article in The New York Times Magazine from August, 2007 William Safire discusses how title “Strategist” is replacing “Adviser”  in American politics and the nuance behind the shift. What says it reveals a desire to differentiate oneself from the overused “campaign manager” and “political adviser” and while implying high status within the ranks of a staff.

I personally have been frustrated by how most business labels which describe my profession, skill set, or the value I offer are either so commonly used that they’ve become sterile and weak or carry some negative connotation (think: consultant). I have often struggled with how to succinctly and accurately describe myself (while trying to remain humble) and have routinely settled on “strategist” after much soul-searching and field testing (What word comes to mind when you hear the word: AWESOMESTAR?) (continue reading…)

Tony Steward posted some of his thoughts on the difference between an empire (large and vertical structure) versus a Kingdom (collaborative and horizontal structure).

Now is a time in the church when we need to ask ourselves if we are willing to sacrifice our empire to help strengthen the kingdom, what we call the global church – the body of Jesus.

It’s important to note that he is not devaluing the process of empire-building. I think Mr. Steward would agree that collaborative effort toward a common vision, group goals, authority structures, rules and procedures are not bad. Instead, he is making a key distinction which is has to do with our orientation. (continue reading…)

Cynthia Ware and Drew Goodmanson hosted a Webinar today reviewing findings from an exploratory survey we did on Church and Christian Social Networks. The slides from the presentation can be found here. Some key findings:

1. Facebook was the most used Church Web Media strategy.
2. Of the Christian Social Networking sites reviewed 82% of respondents had no awareness that they existed.

Number 1 is interesting given that Twitter has surpassed Facebook as the top social networking tool for business marketers. Especially because Twitter posted 76 percent growth (in unique visitors) last month compared to Facebook’s 23 percent. (Source: Compete)

Check out Twitter’s growth velocity compared to Facebook’s:

Just as valuable as the findings discussed in the Webinar was Cynthia’s introduction where she highlighted many of the characteristics of social media that have a significant impact on how the church can serve in this world. One thing that stands out to me when I look at those key findings is the overwhelming awareness in the church market of Facebook yet very little brand awareness of comparable tools designed specifically for churches. You might chalk this disconnect up to ineffective marketing strategies but I believe it points to a more crucial issue which is: churches aren’t approaching social media strategically.

(continue reading…)

I just received an email from David Skews of EDP in the UK describing an upcoming conference taking in the UK. The event is being coordinated by Pray4BaM both of which he described in his email -

Pray4BaM.org is part of a UK based charity that was set up to support Business as Mission in prayer, finance and marketing. We felt God calling us to organise a Prayer Conference for BaM. Rather than being a time of teaching about BaM, this is to be a Prayer Conference, supported by times of worship and testimony of what God is doing around the world through business.

Based on their description and from what I know of the group that’s involved, I am excited about what God is leading them to do. I think the conference will be a great opportunity for those who attend. As S.D. Gordon has said, “The greatest thing anyone can do for God or man is pray.”
Prayer is crucial to all endeavors whether they be overtly Christian or not. (continue reading…)

Hey Where’s My Conference?!?!

This is a good guest post over at ChurchCrunch.com by Eric Jones of Jonese.us.

Why aren’t there conferences for Joe the Churchgoer? Not a very easy question to answer. There’s good discussion in the comments of the original post. My response is too long to include there so I’m dedicating a post to it. Here I go:

First, there is a trend in business to move away from a centralized working environment, allowing workers to have flexibility in how and where they do their jobs. As the Church, I think there is also a need for decentralization particularly because all Christians are called to be Christian (minister, worship, be on mission, serve, evangelize, disciple, etc) all the time. (continue reading…)