::Leading With A Limp::

New Media Primer: Twitter

Now we're getting into some pretty good stuff.  If a blog is like a roundtable discussion and Facebook is like a scrapbooking party, then Twitter is a cocktail party for text messaging!  Twitter is by far my favorite social networking tool right now for several reasons that I will get into.  I love the premise that conversations can be had with my friends, but they are limited in their size.  Do you know anybody that takes 4 minutes to ask a really simple question that can be summarized in 10 seconds?  I do.  Twitter is the nemesis of these people because you cannot exceed the 140 character character limit.  I love it!  That's even shorter than the standard 160 characters for text messaging!  Before we look at the nuances of Twitter, let's get you signed up.

Step 1: Create an Account

Go to www.twitter.com and click the green box near the bottom of the screen in the center that says "Get Started-Join".  You will be asked for some basic information, like your username, password, email address and verification of a captcha.  This is the trickiest captcha I've ever seen, it took me a handful of tries before I got it right.  Grrrrr.  Regarding your username, some people (like myself) just use a real name.  My username is 'mattsingley'.  Some people get cute with their usernames and go for anagrams and other odd usernames.  Just use whatever you are comfortable with.

Step 2: Personalize Your Account

Once you are set up, go to the "Settings" tab, located at the top of your screen. This will open a window that will contain several tabs.  We'll go through each one quickly, with notes.

ACCOUNT

• Account: Do the world a favor and make your full name your real name, and make sure you have a space between your first and last name.  If you don't do this, you are going to be hard to find via searching.
• Username: You have already set this up, it should be in place.  You can change it if you want, but don't make a habit of this.
• Email:  Already in place.  Change it now if you have an email address you would rather use than the one you signed up with.
• Time Zone: Hopefully you know where you live.
• More Info URL: Put your blog address, MySpace or other domain page here
• One Line Bio: Keep it short!  Only 160 characters.
• Location: Again, I'm hoping that you know where you are.
• Language: I'm tempted to use Japanese, but since I don't know it at all, I'll stick with English.
• Protect my Updates:  WARNING: if you choose this option you have to approve people to see your updates.  I have many friends that do this, but I prefer to remain on the public timeline.
• Make sure you Save your Preferences.  On to the next tab.

PASSWORD

• You can change your password if you want, but you just set up your account, so no need to do that now.

DEVICES

• This is very cool.  You can set up your cell phone so that you can send and receive updates to and from Twitter via text messaging.  If you don't have a good text plan with your carrier you probably shouldn't activate this option.  I have unlimited texting through Cingular, so I do most of my updates via cell phone.  I also have selected to not receive text updates between 10pm and 6am, which is a good thing I think.
• You may also set up options within Instant Messenger.  I'm personally happy with updates going to my phone and via the web only, so I have not activated this.
• Save your preferences and we'll move along.

NOTICES

• Auto Nudge:  This is annoying, don't turn it on.  If you don't realize that you haven't updated in 24 hours then you probably don't have anything good to say anyway.
• @Replies:  Semi-self explanatory.  I have only get @replies from people I am following, you can do more or less.  Twitter has a good explanation here.
• New Follower Email:  Check this
• Direct Text Emails: you get emailed when somebody sends you a direct message.  Check this too.
• Email Newsletter: If you want info from Twitter, check this.
• Save and move on.

PICTURE

• Please, please, please upload a picture so we don't all have to look at the generic brown smiley face.  It can be a picture of you, or as in my case, a picture of an object like the apple I use on my blog.

DESIGN

• This allows you to customize the look of your Twitter home page.  If you look at this page and it seems scary to you, then don't do anything to it.  However, if you want to play around with colors and pictures, go for it!  You can always choose "Use the Twitter default style" to bring you back to square one.
• That's it!  You are now personalized.

Step 3: Post updates

Twitter is very simple in that it asks just one question, "What are you doing right now?"  To answer that question, click on the "home" link at the top of the page and type something into the text box near the top.  Remember, you are limited to 140 characters, so get creative in what you have to say.  In other words, instead of saying, "Since I am an unemployed bum I think I'll stay home with Jack (my three year old) this morning and watch Playhouse Disney on TV with him until my wife gets back from the gym, at which point I will go to the gym myself" (77 characters too long),  you would say "hanging with Jack my 3yo watching playhouse disney, then off to the gym!"  Go ahead and try it, post an update.  What's funny is that most people's first update is something like, "Just trying to figure out this Twitter thing".

Step 4: Find Friends to Interact With

As of this writing I am "following" 131 people and 140 people are "followers" of mine.   Unless updates are protected (as explained above), anyone can follow you, and you can follow anyone. So how do you find them?  First, if the person that you want to follow is a blogger, they probably have a link on their blog page to their Twitter account.  Another way is to go to a person's Twitter page (here is a link to mine) and look at the people they follow.  If you see somebody you know or would be interesting to follow, click on their picture, which will take you to their home page.  If you want to follow that person, click the "Follow" button directly below their picture.  Once you see that you are following them, you can click the box again to expand it's selections.  You can now turn your Device Updates to "on" if you want their updates to go to your phone via text messaging (assuming you signed up for that earlier).  If you don't want that, leave the default "off".

Two other ways to find people on Twitter.  First, at the top of the screen is a small search box.  Just put a name in there and his "search".  You may or may not come up with results.  I find that it's actually quite useful, and I've found more people this way than I thought I would.  The other way is to click the "Find & Follow"button at the top (highlighted in yellow) where you can search based upon email address, or actually send invitation to people.  I got several people to start on Twitter by sending them an email invitation, so don't be shy about sending them out.

Step 5: Enjoy the Cocktail Party!

  Now that you are signed up and you have friends on Twitter, just have fun!  Beyond the fun side of Twitter is a very practical side as well.  There are many large companies (e.g., Jet Blue) that use Twitter to keep in touch with different departments.  For me personally, it's a lot easier to send a Twitter message out than to send several text messages or phone calls.  Of course nothing will ever replace face to face conversation, IMHO, but Twitter does a fine job of keeping me in touch with my friends.  If you run an organization, you can set up a Twitter account for that too!  Before my departure from Bel Air Pres I set up an account so we could send out quick updates about church life. Other people are creative in their use of it, like the LA Weather or even CNN.

As you become more familiar with Twitter I think you'll discover a couple of things: first, it's not just a silly little app that the "young kids" use.  It's an incredibly powerful form of communication that is used across all demographics.  Second, it's somewhat addicting.  There are scores of websites dedicated to all things Twitter, like Twitterholics.  You can go there and find all kinds of different uses for Twitter.

Whatever you use it for...enjoy!  And don't forget to add me as a friend.

New Media Primer: Facebook

**UPDATE TO THIS POST: If you want to see the amazing power of a strong social network in action, check out this group and this group on Facebook.  A young lady at our church got rushed to the hospital a couple of days ago with cranial bleeding.  These pages show how prayer and information can move around very quickly in the new media.  Please pray for Katherine and her family.**

The last couple of posts have been dedicated to starting a blog and following others that blog. We're going to move past blogging now to another platform that is even more interactive than blogging: Facebook.

Most of you have probably heard of Facebook, many of you actually use it.  So what is this medium of communication all about?  Well, if blogging is a roundtable discussion after a lecture, Facebook is like a scrapbooking party with friends and family.  With Facebook you can share pictures, videos, links to blogs and play games.  It's more interactive in the way that you can see and interact with what your friends are doing, but it's also a semi-private venture. Unlike blogging, not everybody can see your information on Facebook.  For that to happen, you must become "friends".  Here is what you need to do to get setup with Facebook.

Step 1: Create an Account

Go to www.facebook.com and set up your account.  This may take a little more time than setting up your blog because it's going to ask you for more information. You don't have to fill out everything right now, but you should put down information that will help others find you, like where you went to high school and college.  The more info you fill out, the happier your new "friends" will be.  You will notice that I keep putting "friends" in quotation marks...I'll stop doing that now, but you may find that eventually people will add you as a friend on Facebook that you do not even know!  These are usually friends of friends.

Step 2: Upload Content

Before you go public with your new profile by letting people know you have it, you need to add some content.  One of the key things is your profile picture.  It drives me crazy when somebody has an FB account but doesn't put a profile pic into it.  You can see from the screenshot of my FB page that you can have some fun with your picture...I have opted for the Matt Singley bobblehead to represent me. A striking likeness, I must say! You can also create photo and video albums for sharing these things with your friends, just look in your left navigation bar for an icon called "photos".  Once you click that you can find the area that will allow you to upload pics and videos.

Step 3: Add Friends

There are many ways to add friends to your Facebook account.  Unlike other things on the internet, nobody can see your profile unless you add them as a friend (unless they are in your network already), and you can't just add friends as you wish...you need to request them.  They will get the request and either approve or disapprove you as a friend. You can go to my profile and add me by clicking here. One way to find friends is to go to the Friend Finder page and submit their email address.  If they are on FB it will show their profile. You can also go to the general search page and search by high school or college (by year as well within these) or by company.  Just keep plugging away, you'll find your friends!

Step 4: Interact

The header (the top of the page) gives you several options.  If you click on "Facebook" in the upper left corner you will be taken to the public timeline.  This is the place where you can see what your friends are up to.  Facebook will pull events and actions from your friends and put them here for you to see.  Among other things, you will notice that your friend's birthdays are linked on the right side.  So when one of my FB friends is celebrating a birthday it's easy enough for me to go to their profile page and write on their wall.  Which brings us to interactivity with things like, "The Wall"

The Wall is a public area within each person's profile that allows you to write messages to each other.  I can go to my friends wall and write something like, "Hey, I missed you at the concert the other night, hope you are okay".  They (along with the rest of the people that are friends with my friend) can see this message.  He can then reply on my wall, or he can send me a private message.

Below each person's profile picture is an area that says "Send (your friend's name) a Message".  This is an area for private messages, they are only seen by the person you are sending them to.  This is a great feature for things that are a little more private in nature.

Step 5: Participate

Facebook has several different ways of connecting with other people in large or small groups. One way is an event page.  Events are usually one-time occurrences that you can be invited to, or if you are the one putting on the event, you can invite others. For example, my friend TJ is hosting a music gig next month, so he created this event page.  This way he can send us information, keep track of who is coming and who isn't, and market the event.  Another thing you can join is a group.  This page shows you what Bel Air Pres does for the church group.

Creating an event or a group is a great way to keep in touch and send information to many people quickly and easily.  For example, my friend Syd has set up a group to pray for a woman from our church that is really sick and in the hospital for brain surgery as I type this.  I appreciate that I can check in and get updates so easily, without expecting Syd to call everybody on the list.  In this way Facebook is making our church community feel smaller and very close to one another.

Step 6: Play

As great as Facebook is for keeping track of friends, it's also a good place to play with them!  I think the most popular application for gaming on Facebook is Scrabulous.  I know many Scrabulous addicts, they just can't seem to get enough.  You can start a Scrabulous game within your Facebook account, but I must warn you...once you start it's hard to stop. There are many other games and activites on Facebook that you can explore, but I tend not to pursue them a lot.  Can you say "productivity killer"?

That's about it!  Of course there is more to Facebook than what I have written here, but this should be enough to get you started.  Don't forget to add me as a friend! Oh, and if I'm leaving out anything that you think is worthy of mentioning, please put it in the comments section of this post so we can all see it.

The next New Media primer post that I write will be about one of my favorite social networks: Twitter!

New Media Primer: Following Other Bloggers

In the last post we talked about creating a blog, this post will talk about following other bloggers.

I currently follow just over 200 bloggers.  You may wonder how I keep up with all of them without spending all day clicking from one page to the next.  The answer is simple: I use a feed reader.

A "feed" is the name for a post that goes onto a blog that is supported by RSS (really simple syndication).  RSS allows people to dump their feeds into one place so they can neatly sort and read them.  Think of it like a newspaper: the blogosphere is the entire newspaper, made up of different sections and articles.  One blog post equals one article.  Just like you wouldn't expect the newpaper company to deliver one article to you at a time, likewise you should not expect to have to read one blog at a time.  Enter the feed reader (the newspaper), which help you collect them all.

While there are many choices of feed readers, I'm going to explain how to set this up through Google. 

Step 1: Set up an account with Google

Look in the upper right corner of the Google homepage.  You'll see an area that says "sign in".  Click that, then on the next screen, click "create an account now", which you can find on the right side of the page.  Your next screen will ask you for several pieces of information, but should be quick and easy to fill out.  Got it?  Great...sign in and move on to step 2

Step 2: Log into Google Reader

Google Reader will store and sort your blog feeds that you want to follow.  Go to www.google.com/reader to get started.  Once there, let's go find a blog to subscribe to!  Open a new tab or window and go to www.LeadingWithALimp.com

Step 3: Add a Feed

Once you have arrived at the blog you want to subscribe to there are a few ways to add this to your Google reader.  First, look for the universal RSS symbol, which is a orange square with white waves in it.  At Leading With A Limp you can see that it appears in two different places on the page...on the right column and in the address bar.  It appears in the address bar in Firefox, in Internet Explorer it's going to be in the menu bar that stretches across the screen right above the main viewing area.  When you click these they should give you an option to subscribe in Google or in a feed reader of your choice.

Another way of subscribing, which a lot of people find even easier, is to copy and paste the address of the blog right into the Google reader.  It will magically find the feed and at it to your list! This is particularly effective when services like Feedburner mess up.  It happens, technology isn't perfect yet...but it's getting there!

Step 4: Sort

  Just like a newspaper has sections (sports, business, metro life) I like my feeds to be sorted into categories.  I have labeled mine things like "Pure Geek", "Marketing" and "Bel Air Blogs".  Using the settings found in Google Reader, I categorize and sometimes even rename the blogs that I subscribe to.   Since I follow so many blogs, this makes it easier for me to read what I want and when I want it.

Step 5: Start Reading!

You will naturally find blogs over time that you want to subscribe to, so don't worry about finding everything all at once.  Very often bloggers keep blogrolls on the sides of their main page, so if you find a blogger you like, browse through their blogroll since they likely subscribe to similar people.  Add away!  Here are some tips for the morning reading time:

• In Google Reader your bests friends are the "J" and the "K" keys.  Striking "J" moves you forward to the next unread entry, striking "K" sends you back one.  Very useful.
• If you find something that you want to read more in depth or refer to at a later date, just "star" the item! You can find "Add Star" at the bottom of each post you are reading.  Later you can go back to your starred items and go through it closely, or refer it to a friend.
• Speaking of referring to a friend...you should share the most interesting stories!  Right next to the "Add Star" button is the "Share" button. This will put it onto your shared blog (everyone in Google has one, here is mine), or if you are a geek like me, you can add a widget to your blog that will show all of your shared stories.  Another cool and recently-added feature is that your shared posts will go to friends of your that have gmail accounts and have agreed to see your shared items.  I love this...people that are similar to me recommending blog articles to read!

That's it!  Well, that is to say, that is it for this post.  You can explore Google Reader or another feed reader, they will have plenty of other options for customizing your reading experience.  If you follow more than a handful of blogs, I strongly recommend using the RSS technology to keep track of them.

You can start by subscribing to mine!

See you in the next post, where we will explore Facebook with a little bit of depth.

New Media Primer: Blogging

This is the first entry into a mini-series I am writing about the New Media.  To some, the NM is a way of life, to others it's a foreign concept and to still others it's a threat to the old way of communicating ideas and actions.  No matter where you fall in this, I think this series should be of some interest to you. Today I will cover blogging, how to set one up, and what to do once it is set up.

Blogging has been around for the better part of a decade, although it's really come into maturity in the last few years.  I actually missed my billion-dollar idea about eight years ago when I coded an entire blogging platform by hand, but then never pursued the commercial application.  I thought, "sure, I like to post up my thoughts and have others comment on them, but would this idea really take root in the real world"?  We all know the answer to that question now.  So instead of owning my own country, here I sit in front of my computer in SoCal, telling others about blogging and it's benefits. :) Me? Bitter?  Nah...

The word 'blog' is a shortened version of 'web log', in other words, an online journal.  Most people have kept a journal or diary of some sort at some point in their life, so think of a blog that way.  The difference?  Anybody can read your journal, and not just read it...but leave comments about what they think!  Yes, the New Media is about radical transparency and global information collaboration.

If you are comfortable with the idea of blogging and want to get your ideas out there for the world to see, I'm going to tell you how to get started now.  BTW, as a side note, most blogging platforms can let you set your page to 'private' so that only people you allow or invite can read your blog.  You'll have to figure that part out on your own however, I'm going to tell you how to share your information with the world.

Step 1: Select a Platform

There are many, many blogging platforms (services) that you can use.  I have been using TypePad for about 2.5 years and I love it.  This is a pay service, and it allows me a tremendous amount of control over content and code.  For about $15/month I can do what I want, when I want to my blog.  This may be overkill for the beginning blogger, I'll talk about free services in a moment.  If you want to get started on TypePad, just click here and you will be taken to a page where you can start a free trial.  It should take about 10 minutes to set up, and it's very intuitive, you just follow the prompts and fill in the information that it asks for.

Another very popular platform is WordPress.  This is a free or paid service, depending on which features you want.  I don't use WordPress, but I know a lot of people that do.  A lot.

My favorite totally free service is Tumblr.  It's a very simple platform without a lot of bells and whistles.  I like that!  I like it so much, I started a mini-blog over there a while ago, intended to be my floating thoughts.  I saw a Twitter stream the other day between Kem Meyer and others that involved Tumblr as a destination for some beginning bloggers.  I totally agree.  From sign-up to first post should take you about 2 minutes...if you're slow.

Google has a great blogging service called...well, blogger.  It's free and very popular.  This is also a great option for people to use, and signing up is simple.  You never know who you'll find there, people like my wife and my son. 

Now is the most important part...select one of those platforms (and this is far from an exhaustive list, but I don't want to overwhelm you with choices) and sign up!   Then on to step 2...

Step 2: Know Your Audience

Are you writing your blog for Uncle Floyd and Aunt Mildred in Kansas so they can keep track of the kids, or are you wanting to share your business knowledge with a broader audience?  If you want people to follow you...and keep following you...then you need to know the answer to this.

A personal blog, that is, one that is familial and very personal, can be done very well.  Take a look at my friend Alli McKenney's blog.  She takes approximately 6,430 pictures of her kids every day and then puts the best of the best online for her friends and family to see.  It's very well done! That's an example of a good personal blog. Cute kids, too!

Think you know a lot about your industry?  Then write about it!  Check out VC and marketing guru Guy Kawasaki's blog.  He gets a ton of traffic through here because he is an authority on many things, and people want to know what he has to say.  Same thing with Seth Godin's blog.  He's an author and speaker, and very well respected.  He's an authority, so he writes about what he knows.  That isn't to say that you have to be super popular to have a great blog. Perhaps you like to knit.  Hey, who doesn't? Make a blog about it and share your passion and knowledge with the world.

Step 3: Write, Baby, Write!

Want a lot of readers?  Keep your posts short.  I know, I am totally violating that right now.  Call it creative license.  But do write...and write often!  I lost 500+ regular readers over the last 8 months because I haven't been blogging with frequency or passion.  If you stay regular, and if you stay passionate, you will have people find you and follow you, it's just that simple.  I think if you are putting up posts (the name for an entry on your blog) 2-3 times per week, you'll be just fine.  Of course some people have to post every 15 minutes, but that is more of a spiritual gift than anything.

Step 4: Interact

At the bottom of most posts is an area for people to comment on what you just wrote.  There is a reason that is there...people want to interact with you!  A blog is a platform for you to get your ideas out to others (like a lecture of sermon), but the big difference is that it's also a place for people to respond.  So suddenly your thoughts have moved from a lecture to a roundtable discussion!  I've found that fewer than 10% of the number of people that come by and read actually comment, so if you only get one or two people leaving their thoughts, don't be discouraged!  Make sure you talk back to them!  Leave a comment in your own comment section in reply to them!  One blogger that does this just about better than anyone is Anne Jackson.  Reading through her comments feels like eavesdropping on a fireside chat...it's very conversational, and she often replies directly to those that say things about her posts.  Very cool. 

Of course some people don't want to have comments on, and that's fine.  Seth Godin, who I mentioned earlier, doesn't allow any comments on his post.  This works well for Seth, but probably not so well for start-up bloggers.

Step 5: Share The Love!

Once you start blogging, others are going to follow you (which I will explain in detail in the next post).  You will follow others as well.  When you find some bloggers you like, share the love with your readers!  Create a blogroll.  That's an area in the sidebar where you link to other blogs.  Some people have blogrolls as extensive as a phone book, others (like myself) believe that too much information just makes people ignore it.  On my blog I have a rotating blogroll, so every time you refresh the page it's a different group of people.  Three categories (soon to be four), five people in each category per page load.  Simple is better.  If you want to know how to create a rotating blogroll, check out my post here.

If you made it this far....God bless you for your persitence!  In the next post we'll look at how to follow other people's blogs without clicking through to each page one at a time.  It's easier than it sounds, I personally follow 201 blogs and it takes very little time or effort to do so.

What Is The "New Media"?

There is a lot of talking right now about the New Media.  Most people that are talking about it really have no idea what it is, and so I want to take some time to explain it, as best as it can be explained.  The perception that this new wave of social networking is something for young kids, digerati or geeks only is wrong...this is the new media, the new economy of attention and communication, and I'm pretty sure it's here to stay.

For a better understanding of this new way of spreading information, and for the sake of brevity each day, I'm going to break this up into a few parts, explaining each area with a decent amount of depth, but not so much that it is overwhelming.  I hope that by the time this is finished you will be one of the new tweets or FB users.  You'll understand what that means soon.

Simply put, the New Media is the description given to the flow of information via internet, email and cell phones.  Most of this information is very communal in that it's not a one way conversation...it's multiple venues of conversation, coming at your from every direction.  Overwhelming?  Well, it can be, if you don't factor in one very important thing: you control the information that you want, and you block the information that you don't want.  Some people have described the New Media as "drinking from the fire hose".  Those people clearly don't understand what it means.  Using the same water example, I would say that it's more like selecting a glass and then filling it with water from the tap.  The pressure in the main system is still the same...that is, there is just as much water flowing to a fire hydrant as there is to a neighborhood, but the difference is the control valve.  Cryptic, I know.  It will start making sense soon enough.

Tomorrow I will talk about blogs, the following day we'll look at Facebook and then we'll finish it off with a discussion about the SMS cocktail party called Twitter. 

By the way, some other people that talk about the New Media frequently are good ol' Angelenos like Rhett Smith and Cynthia Ware, go check them out.

Stay tuned...

FAQs: What is Next for Matt?

I can only say one word to summarize all of the love and support I have received in the last 48 hours after I announced my resignation as Executive Director from Bel Air Presbyterian Church...and that one word is "wow".  I am speechless.  I have received hundreds of emails, twits, Facebook messages, text messages and phone calls.  Wow.  Thank you for your love and prayers.

Several questions have come up that seem to be common to many people.  I'm going to pull out the top contenders and put them into an FAQ.  These are not verbatim questions, but they are a summary of what you all are asking.

FAQ #1: What are you going to do next for work?

Unknown.  This is probably the most asked question right now.  Let me start by telling you what I will not be doing: MLM or start-ups.  Sorry folks, I'm just too old and I have too many kids to pursue either of those.  I have been approached by a dozen or so people in the last 8 months to do one or the other, and I have said no to all of them.  I have plenty of friends that are quite successful in these type of ventures, but again, I don't think I'm at a point in my life where I am going to do that.

I have received a handful of "if you're interested, perhaps we can look at this together" kinds of emails, which is great and encouraging.  For my time line though, I'm not going to make a decision immediately.  I am spending the next week with my family, because frankly I think I have been spending far too little time with them since we moved to Los Angeles.  My kids have really been robbed of time with their dad, and that's a shame.  So we're hanging out in the park, looking at clouds and laughing a lot while we consider the future.

FAQ #2: Are you going to stay in Los Angeles?

Unknown.  Being totally honest with you, we love it here.  I feel like God brought us to LA for a reason, and I'm having a hard time digesting that the reason could have been an 8 month stint.  However, God is in charge of this one, not us, and so we are willing to look around.  Scores of people have reminded us that our house in Oregon still hasn't sold.  They don't need to remind us...I pay the stupid mortgage every 30 days on a house that is vacant, so I know all too well that it's still there. If you are interested in a lovely house that looks over the valley, send me an email.

FAQ #3: Are you going to stay in ministry?

Unknown (do you see a pattern developing here?).  I love working for the church, and I think I'm fairly decent at what I do.  I also miss being on the front lines out in the world.  While I explore possibilities I am probably going to dabble in a few side projects.  For one I am finally pursuing some Voice Over work.  It is ridiculous how many people ask me if I do VO for a living.  Ridiculous.  So I'm doing some work around town with that.  Also, I have some good friends that have some pretty amazing music projects that they could use some help developing business wise, so I think I'll lend a hand to that.  Of course nothing is out of bounds, perhaps I will go to professional stunt man school.

FAQ #4:  Where did you get your devilish good looks?

Okay, I made that one up.  Nobody asked that.  But the answer is from my strong Scottish genes.

FAQ #5:  Are you mad at God?

This one is NOT unknown, and the answer is a resounding no.  I'm not mad at God...nor am I mad at anybody else.  Many people have said something like, "you moved your entire family 1,000 miles and you were only in your job for 8 months. Doesn't that make you mad?"  No,  it doesn't.  This is where the rubber hits the road.  It's easy to talk about faith when times are easy, much more difficult when you get thrown a curve ball...and believe me, I've had more curve balls thrown than a Dodgers vs. Giants game.  I feel that we are centered perfectly in God's will, and I know that He loves me as one of His children.  That's a pretty good feeling.

FAQ #6: Are you finally going to start blogging again?

This could actually be moved up the list, because it was asked almost as much as what I'm going to do for a job.  Here is an excerpt from one email:

Your Blogs have been fewer and different since you went down there. Often (not always) less thought provoking for me.  I used to forward your posts to people in my sphere, and in particular my pastor(s) due to their content and thought provoking, ‘edge’ that they had.  I felt challenged in the expression of my own faith as well as “how” we do church.  I have felt this less in the last months.

It's true that I haven't blogged much since I've been in L.A. and there are a number of reasons why.  I am putting all of those reasons behind me and firing up the machine again.  Post on!  As it always used to be, I will write with authenticity, transparency and will try to connect this crazy world to the world that God would have for us.

Blogging is in my DNA...I feel that the internet can be used for very bad or very good purposes.  I like to think that some of what I write is good, and that it can have a positive influence on this dark world.  So my friends, I am back in the saddle!  Please respond in kind by commenting as you feel lead.  This blog is a conversation, not a one way intercom system.

Of course, I have lost about 50% of my readership over time as I have posted far less, and honestly I can't blame people for bailing.  But the drought is over...come back friends!  Subscribe via RSS!

 

That's it!  Six is enough, and this post is entirely too long as it is.  Comment away, and if you have more questions I would love to hear them.  Thank you, friends, for supporting me and my family during this time of change.

Grace and peace to you!

My Resignation from Bel Air Presbyterian Church

Yesterday at 3 o'clock in the afternoon I met with Pastor Mark Brewer, my boss at Bel Air Presbyterian Church in Los Angeles, and told him that I was resigning from Bel Air Presbyterian Church.

Since August 2007 I have been serving as the Executive Director.  People always asked me what my job entailed, and my answer was "to keep the church healthy".  That pretty wells sums it up, that included everything from day-to-day operations to personnel matters, and everything in between.

Over the last several months I have been talking with Pastor Mark about a variety of issues, things that have caused us mutual concern.  Throughout the course of our conversations it became increasingly clear that I was not a good fit for the position of Executive Director as the environment currently exists. My talks with Mark came to a point where last Friday it was mutually agreed that I would step down from my position as Executive Director of the church.  Mark offered two choices to me beyond my role of xDir, to either accept an amazing position that was created for me that would involve planting churches all around Los Angeles under the model of Bel Air, or to accept a separation agreement that was generous.  After a weekend of prayer, discussion and more than a little begging of God for His will to be shown to me, I have opted for the latter.

I met with Mark yesterday to discuss my decision.  He told me he was surprised, and I think it is fair to say that we were both disappointed and sad that we will be parting ways in our work relationship.  I told him that I came to Los Angeles to follow him, to serve The Lord and to grow His church, and so this was a very difficult decision for  Jen and me to make. For the record, I love Mark and am a better person because of the time that I worked with him.

Over the course of the last several weeks, when it was becoming critical for me to make a decision to stay or to go, I poured into scripture and surrounded myself with prayer warriors.  The last several weekends have been spent with my wife and some very close friends, praying, laughing, crying, discussing, objecting, concluding and praising.  Making a big decision like this should come with the blessing of your closest advisers and with the knowledge and promise of scripture.  In his letter to the Ephesians Paul tells us that's it's okay to be angry, but not to sin.  Colossians let's us know that we should work at everything with all of our heart, but to remember that we are working for God, not for men.  We looked at the very interesting path of Mordecai in the book of Esther, and we studied and considered Nehemiah.  After we all concluded that my departure was best, we spent time in deep and intimate prayer, and I am sure that God heard us and was pleased.

A friend of mine sent me a link to a podcast a couple of weeks ago that shook me to my core.  One of the lines that I cannot get out of my head is, "keep living in the integrity of your conscience".  Read that a few times and consider it.  I felt that this decision allowed me to do just that.

 

At 9 o'clock this morning Pastor Mark is sharing this information with the staff at the weekly staff chapel meeting.  I will spend that time praying for him and for the staff, that they understand and accept this decision.  There is a lot of work to be done in Los Angeles, this is a crazy town, and there are so many people that need to hear the saving gospel of Jesus Christ.  As long as Bel Air Pres is continuing to do everything she can for the city, and as long as her halls are filled with righteous and God-loving people...those that love Him and love each other without condition...then the hand of the Lord will be upon her. I wish nothing but success and blessings for Mark, the staff and the congregation of Bel Air Presbyterian Church!

As for me and my family, our future is uncertain.  We do not have anything lined up, but we are confident that we are squarely in the center of God's will with this decision, so we will be taken care of.  Please pray for us as we forget what is behind and strain toward what is ahead.  Grace and peace to you!

The Visitor

This past Wednesday I was invited to attend a West Coast premiere screening of the movie The Visitor.  What made this viewing all the more special was that my good friend Kim Dorr had an actor in the movie.  Kim is an agent and one of her clients, Haaz Sleiman, was the supporting lead actor.  Did I mention that Kim is also a pastor?  I love L.A.!  Oh, did I also mention that Haaz was in 24, the greatest television show around?  Very nice.

I cruised down to Westwood with my buddy JT Taylor, and we got there just in time to see alot of our other friends...it felt less like a premiere and more like a dinner party with our friends and coworkers.  Awesome.

The movie: what an amazing work of art!  I certainly cannot ruin it for you, because you must see it.  The lead role was played by Richard Jenkins, and throughout the film he portrayed a widowed man struggling to find life again.  Everything he did was rote, and there was no joy to be found anywhere.

A series of unusual events brings him together with two immigrants. Although at first the gangly, middle aged white man doesn't seem to have much in common with the bohemian Middle Eastern and his talented black girlfriend, but as the movie develops we see lives become intertwined.  Parts of this movie made me cry (yeah, I'm a big baby) and there were certainly plenty of laughs.

It's my first time attending a movie with an audience that REALLY wanted to be there (artists, activists, film veterans) and it really created an amazing environment. 

The story of hope and change come through loud and clear, as do the realities of lost hope and desperation.  It's a very moving picture, I strongly encourage you to see it.

I want to give a big public "way to go!"to Kim and Cassie Boyd, who put together one heck of an event!  After the movie there was a live four person panel, moderated by Kim, who asked questions of Haaz Sleiman, Judy London (an immigrant's rights attorney) and Dr. Rev. Paul Pierson (Dean Emeritus and Senior Professor, School of Intercultural Studies, Fuller Theological Seminary).  The panel looked like the beginning of an off-color joke. "So a professor, a Jewish laywer, a Muslim actor and a pastor walk into a bar..."  The discussion was incredible, and many of the non-believing audience members asked some great questions, linking together faith in Christ with social justice.

An interesting point that really stood out at me: the attorney was trying to really drive home the point that this movie was about social justice and the cruelties of the American system on illegal immigrants.  When asked directly about it, Haaz (the actor in the movie) indicated that he didn't feel that was the point of the head writer at all, that it was a movie about relationships and connections that also happened to deal with immigration issues.

Friends, if this Indie film makes it to your neighborhood, I strongly encourage you to go see it.  I doubt you will be disappointed.

Young Prophets, Old Prophets

Every Tuesday our staff gets together to read, sing and pray.  Each week somebody from staff will teach something that they have been reading.  This week George shared a passage out of 1 Kings 13 that I don't really remember hearing before.

Here is the long and short of it, and I will invite you to read the verses for yourself and see what it says to you.  A young person (fresh in ministry?) is a man of God and goes into a new place.  There he shares some news with the king that the king doesn't like very much (change can be challenging).  After the young man leaves, he is stopped by an old prophet (late in his ministry years?) and is deceived.  What is interesting to me is that the old prophet uses what appears to be God's words to deceive the young man...he used the word of God against him in a deceptive way!

This is where the young man gets himself into trouble. Even though he was totally blindsided by a deceptive "man of God"...he ended up dying because he disobeyed God!  Wow.  When I heard that I thought, "how unfair!"

After the young man has died, the older man comes to his senses and regrets his actions.  In all of this, God is speaking through both men.

It's a confusing and hard-to-accept story for me.  How can the young man of God do what God has asked of him, and then get deceived by the old prophet, the guy that has been around the block once or twice?  Where is the morality in that? It seems like the veteran gets away with his deception, even though he is mournful.

I have no answers friends, only questions.  This story has been on my mind since Tuesday, so I thought I had better share it.  A lot of the other staff have been talking about it to.  I guess the question that came up the most is this: how does this apply to us today...are there any examples of this in modern church?