Michael wasn’t strong enough to rip the strings from the table so he just stood there holding these two balloons tightly, giggling and happy to be holding such a prized possession. He had no idea that there was so much more to the party that he was missing out on. There was another whole world of slides, swings, tunnels, see-saws and wooden towers to explore right next to the pavilion where he stood with a tight grasp on his balloons.

I think at times we do this in our relationship with God. There is some area of our life we think we need, but we are afraid of letting go. We are scared to let go of that something that has got our attention and that distracts us from the awesome deep relational connection he desires us to have with him.

The funniest part of all this is Terri, one of my coworkers, cut the string and he still didn’t realize he was freed from the table! He stood there playing with his balloons never leaving to explore the rest of the party or the playground.

When we decide to do life God’s way (early Christianity was actually called “the way”) we are set free. Much like Michael was set free from the limitations placed on him by the string. We get so engrossed in our selfishness that we are blind to what God has for us in this existence. Sometimes the challenges we face seem insurmountable.  We ask ourselves, “How could God allow these things to happen?” Or our pride gets in the way and we wonder, “How could God let this happen to me? I don’t deserve this?”

When in fact, we really deserve nothing.  Our own selfishness keeps us tied down and blinded to the world God wants to open up for us in the future.  Hopefully I can stop acting like a two year old and open my eyes to the things God wants to show me.

At the Group Life Conference this year Andy Stanley shared five reasons that he will be in a small group for life.  Here they are:

1. It’s the easiest place to invite un-churched people to, especially if they are not ready for the whole Sunday morning experience.

2. It’s often one of the only contexts for pastors or church staff to engage in ministry with their spouse.

3. It’s the only environment where you get to engage others on their spiritual journey, where they are at.  You are often forced to connect with people that you would not normally connect with. We often are exposed to the grace of God in a new way when this happens.

4. Kids see a commitment to Christ and community in the church.

5. Life change happens in the context of structured relationships – something happens when we sit in circles and don’t sit in rows.

His last line of the talk, “Thank you for leading a group, it is difficult, but it is worth it.”

In our small groups or classes, it is always a challenge to keep the bible fresh as a leader or teacher.  At the Group Life Conference Bill Donahue shared a few different methods to help us do a better job at keeping the Bible fresh:

Guidelines to engage the text:

1. Study the bible for yourself, not by yourself – Acts 2:42 Devote yourself to the teaching
2. Never engage the text without encountering the author – you don’t need a backstage pass to encounter God in your study
3. Read the Bible for transformation, not just information – don’t just seek to know about something, seek to know something. Then we can use knowledge to provoke compassion instead of wielding power.

We Commit Biblical Malpractice…

• When we skim over the familiar
• When we trivialize something in the scripture
• When we take it out of context
• When the Bible is used for personal gain or agenda
• When it is more important to be right instead of righteous
• When we misuse the Bible it is Textual Abuse

Some Approaches to keep the Bible Fresh:

• Read and Reflect
  • Prepare your heart – some do this with silence, music, try to listen to God
  • Try using a spiritual reading or poetry
• Listen to the text
  • Ephesians 2:4-5 ⁴But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, ⁵made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved.
  • Pause, reflect, read in different speeds, stressing different words. Slow, fast, soft, loud.
  • Ask what people hear
  • Ask people in the group to reflect and journal privately in the group meeting
• Engage and Examine
  • Acts 17:11 Now the Bereans were of more noble character than the Thessalonians, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true.
  • Ask Questions like, “What does it say?” or “What does that mean?” or “What do you think is happening?”
  • Help your group bring some intellectual rigor to the meeting without being too academic.
• Observe and Obey
  • Is there a great truth coming from this text?
  • Ask and answer the question, “So what?”
  • Can you force this as a discipline in your group by trying ask, “How did you live this out last week?”
  • Once you’ve observed the truth you’ve got to ask, “How do we live?”
  • This approach moves us into the world

 Mix up your group to try all of these approaches so you keep your group fresh.

Create A Facebook Group

What’s great about facebook is that it is growing exponentially right now.  It is something that many people are already using in their daily routine to reconnect with old friends and stay connecting in current relationships.  If we can take advantage of social tools that people are already using in daily life, it only makes sense that we will have more success.  What’s great about creating a facbook group is it allows people to communicate to the entire group quickly, share photos from group activities, and even have discussions about what was shared at group that night.  Another convenient thing the facebook group can be utilized for is keeping a continuous prayer list.

Create A Group Twitter Profile

If you use twitter already you understand the networking value in a text message.  Since you may not want to bother all of your followers on twitter with details from your small group, I would suggest creating a separate twitter profile for your group.  Then have all your group members set up a twitter account.  Depending on their web skills you may have to help them with this task during a group meeting, but don’t forget to set them up as mobile users and to set your group profile “device updates.” This way when you update the twitter status it will hit their mobile phone as a text message.  Why is this helpful for a small group?  Here is a quick list of reasons:

• -Reminders to prepare or do homework from group that night
• -Last minute change of meeting location
• -Cancelation of your group due to weather or unforeseen circumstances
• -Messages of encouragement through the week
• -Reminder of daily bible reading that will be discussed on group night
• -Prayer requests through the week
• -Have some fun

Try Tokbox or Skype

What we thought was science fiction 20 or more years ago is reality today.  I can have a real-time conversation over the web with my brother in Hawaii and actually see him, hear him, and hold a great conversation on my computer in the comfort of my home.  Skype and other online video tools are allowing people to maintain long distance relationships like never before.  How can this enhance group life?  If you have a group member that has to travel out of town, but they don’t want to miss out on a great discussion, set up a laptop in the room and let them participate using the web!!! Or with other great tools like Tokbox, you can actually hold your entire group on the web, plus see and hear every person at the same time.  Sharing life experiences, reading the bible, asking engaging questions, and praying together can all be done via video conferencing online.  I must admit that I do prefer an “in person” group experience but these things can be done on the web and actually lead to a worthwhile experience.  If you’ve not tried something like this yet I’d encourage you to give it chance and have some fun with some friends as an experiment. 

If you’ve found some other forms of social media useful please share in the comments below.

And if you would like to connect with me using social media you can find my points of contact by CLICKING HERE

For more great info on small groups you’ll want to check out my blog at Small Group Help – http://www.smallgrouphelp.com/Blog/

The best part for you… no more listening to long voicemail messages!!!  Google Voice transcribes all your voicemail into an email.  I can’t even begin to tell you how much easier this had made things for me.  My voicemail hits my blackberry as an email and I can click through and call that number back if I need to return the call.  SOOOOOooooo convenient.  If your still now just beginning to catch on, watch the video below for a simple explanation:

Now here is where it gets better, If you’re smart your already thinking, “But my caller ID will still show up, they won’t see my new Google Voice number.”  That is where the nifty application comes in.  If you are using a Blackberry or Google Android phone, this app fixes everything.  Using the app you have access to your entire address book and you place calls through the application instead and PRESTO – your caller ID number that is displayed is your Google number.  Again, here is a video that explains it quite simply:

Click here to learn more about Google Voice

1 – Stick to the facts. Don’t over-sell, over-fluff, over-explain or over control. Just provide the information someone needs to self-sort and self-decide. People don’t need a page on the philosophy for every business, product, or event. They do need to know who it’s for, what it is, when it happens and how to get it.

2 – Stick to the point. Start with the end in mind before you take action. If you know the purpose behind your letter, brochure, or meeting, it makes it easier for you to stay on track and focused. Otherwise, it’s hard to recognize your own excess. Do you want people to show up, respond, or buy? What are you asking them to do? If you can’t answer that question easily, neither can they.

3 – Consider the crowd. Does your announcement (printed or verbal) apply to everyone or just a handful of people? If it doesn’t affect the masses, it’s going to land like dead weight. Don’t punish the crowd to keep a few people happy (even if they are the most vocal). Find a way to talk about the 20% that affects 80% of your audience.

4 – Don’t intrude. Unless they’ve asked for it, people welcome your mass emails as much as a salesman ringing the doorbell during family dinner. Respect personal space and put information in a place easy for people to find when they want or need it.

5 – Deflate your self-importance. Are you more attached to what you have to say than to who you are talking to? People are more inclined to read and respond when something is delivered from their point of view—not yours. Work hard to think like your audience to find ways to connect.

One thing we’ve done on Sunday mornings to try to make our announcements more interesting is to do them via video.  First we choose a select few that impact the largest groups or current ministry priorities and then we try to come up with a creative or visually interesting way to shoot them.

Here a funny one we did spoofing a TV commercial:

1 - Take Social Media Seriously – People that have gone far with social media and made a significant impact or useful for their effort are constantly connected.  Updating and using these social tools daily.  Some even consider it a major function of their full time job or an important part of their personal daily routine.  If you don’t take it seriously and invest the necessary time, you probably wont find using it rewarding or very effective to draw attention to your cause.

2 – Promote Others More Than Yourself – Some jump into social media to simply use it as a bull horn to self promote.  They completely forget about the SOCIAL in social media.  Unless you are a celebrity you wont get very far without this principle.  One great benefit to engaging in social media is new relationships.  If all you do is constantly self promote people will catch on and other leaders that have potential to help you spread your message are more likely to ignore you.

3 – Be Real – Life isn’t always bad and life isn’t always good.  If you are authentic on social media people will take notice.  Obviously you don’t want to be too transparent especially if you are in the public eye and constantly under a microscope.  However, it is important for people to get a glimpse into your life, your emotions, and your passions.  Let others celebrate your wins and mourn your losses with you.

4 - Say Thank You- Be appreciative of what others do for you.  When people RT on twitter, share things on facebook, encourage you with a quick note on your wall, promo your stuff, or mention you or what you do… thank them!  Don’t take it for granted because when people see that it is meaningful for you, it will be even more meaningful for them and they are likely to repeat the behavior.  People want to see that you care and a simple thank you can take you far.

5 - Keep It Simple – You don’t need to be a tech wizard or to buy fancy software to successfully engage others using social media.  Some handle millions of followers on twitter simply with the web interface and others communicate with thousands on facebook using only their cell phone.  If you are just getting started I’d recommend picking only one platform and doing it well before branching out onto others.  For churches, facebook is a great place to start.

If you need help with getting your church started click here to contact me.

That actually excites me because I’m constantly looking for ways to merge technology and ministry.  I honestly believe the more relevant we can make the gospel message, the more people will listen to what we have to say. However, to get them to listen the church must communicate in modern language with the current tools of our culture. 

Here are the posts that recieved the most pageviews last month:

1 – Five Reasons Pastors Should Use Twitter

2 – Guilty Prayers (Interview with Lindsay Spengler)

3 – Ten Reasons Your Church Should Be On Facebook

4 – How To Remember Everything (Evernote)

5 – Five Tips For A Great Church Website