Howdy from Austin, Texas. This is God’s country. Last night I enjoyed some fantastic enchiladas at Trudy’s Texas Star Cafe with my old friend John Hand. Hard to believe we pledged a fraternity here 28 years ago. So much has changed as this classic college town has grown, no, exploded, from about 300,000 residents in 1980 to nearly 2 million today.
Local t-shirts on sale everywhere capture the emotion of people locked in constant change: Keep Austin Weird.
Each of us is living, loving and leading through constant change today. Here are four great links I came across in the past week that ignited my imagination and courage.
1. Stand up (or sit down) for what’s right. Fifty years ago today four black college students changed their world by sitting down for lunch at an all-white lunch counter. Their action stoked a movement that still lives on today. USA Today story here.
2. Relevant ministry is about meeting people’s real needs. Usually it begins by giving people what they are asking for now, not by continuing to offer them what worked for the last generation. The half-life of today’s student generation is about 9 months. Are we connecting? Read Russ Martin’s excellent blog post Student: I Want Video Clips.
3. Thots on Change, the Sense of Urgency and the Long Haul of Cultural Transformation. Jay Lorenzen’s recent post distills wisdom from John Kotter (Harvard professor) and Michael Hyatt (CEO of Thomas Nelson Publishers).
The big idea: Urgency is an essential asset that must be created and re-created in the organization…. More often than not, small companies have a sense of urgency. Why? Because their very survival is at stake. If they don’t move quickly, they get squashed by larger, more established competitors.
On the other hand, it is rare to find large companies that truly have a sense of urgency. Their circumstances rarely demand it. They can continue with business-as-usual and do pretty well. Nothing has to be done today or even this week. Nothing is really at stake—or so they think. Often, by the time they wake up, it’s too late.
4. Are you a Linchpin for your organization? You don’t have to be the president or CEO to initiate, create opportunities for others and solve problems that aren’t necessarily in your job description. Here’ s a great interview with Seth Godin talking about his new book, Linchpin. I highly recommend listening to Part 1 of the interview (about 9 minutes). Big idea: Linchpins are the essential building blocks of great organizations. And in today’s world, they get the best jobs and the most freedom.
Go for it!
Recently I had the opportunity to meet with some people who are totally serious about fulfilling the Great Commission in the next ten years. Yep, vision flowed. This was a gathering of the Lausanne Strategy Working Group who were preparing for Cape Town 2010, the Third Lausanne Congress on World Evangelization. My friend Paul Eshleman chaired the meeting and challenged each of us to write an article for the online journal www.lausanneworldpulse.com.
My article, Are Today’s Students On Your Radar?, just came out in the August edition. Take a peek.
Who can forget the grainy image of one courageous student staring down a column of tanks? Twenty years ago today the Chinese government chose lethal force to deal with a swelling student-led movement in Tiananmen Square. That fateful decision appears to have triggered one of the greatest spiritual awakenings in church history. The exponential growth of China’s church in the past two decades, particularly among the educated elite, is nothing short of miraculous.
The idea that students can change the world is not a new one. King Nebuchadnezzar understood this when he selected Daniel and his three Israelite friends to receive the best education Babylon had to offer 2,600 years ago. The king sought attractive, skilled, wise and competent youths to be educated for three years. At the end of that time they were to stand before the king. (Daniel 1:1-7) In the same way, today’s governments, corporations and advertisers invest millions of dollars each year attempting to influence students and the choices they will make for the rest of their lives.
Like it or not, today’s students will shape tomorrow’s culture.
Tagged as:
change the world,
student-led
Here’s an updated link to the Google Docs slides for m2M Antioch Movement presentations.
Tagged as:
m2M Antioch movements
What happened at Antioch? What movement-building principles can we apply today?
I’ve received numerous requests for the audio, slides, handout of this presentation and have posted links on Google Video and Docs.
Please use, copy and edit as needed.
ken
Tagged as:
m2M Antioch movements
“Where’s my screen?” blurted the middle-aged woman next to me while we waited for the Indiana Jones show to begin at Disney World. Her rummaging instantly produced a sleek iPhone. We still had 10 more minutes to blow, why not get a little bit of work done while waiting?
Over-35’s value smartphones as a means to greater effectiveness, efficiency and tech-cool. But many blogs I read, especially in ministry, continue to insist that an email inbox will always be the way to get real work done.
But what does this generation of Screenagers think? Did you know that email was last on the list of 8 preferred methods of communication – after DVDs and books?
“What Are Your Preferred Methods of Communication?”
Dr. Tim Elmore of http://www.growingleaders.com/ asked recent focus group of 16-24 year olds this question. This group’s top eight methods of communication are:
1. Text messaging 
2. Internet (i.e. MySpace or Facebook)
3. iPods and Podcasts
4. Instant messaging
5. Cell phone (actually speaking with someone)
6. DVD / CD
7. Books
8. Email
Dr. Elmore continues:* “I want you to notice a few things about this list. First, note that email is last on the list. One student described email as “a way to communicate with older people.” Second, with one exception, this list moves from more personal to less personal in nature. They want something customized not generic if they’re going to pay attention. Third, and most importantly, these students prefer a “screen” for six out of their top eight favorite methods of communication.
The Screen Age
Every generation shares common characteristics. However, each generation is defined by some shared elements in their developmental years. The primary elements that define a generation are:
1. Shared Music
2. Shared Experiences
3. Shared Crises
4. Shared Television Programs
5. Shared Celebrities (people of influence)
6. Shared Age and Era
Today, the delivery of almost every one of these elements share one thing in common–they are driven by a screen. Call me the master of the obvious, but students want to interact with a screen. In fact, we’ve begun to call students “screenagers” because they are more at home in front of a screen than watching a talking head on a stage. They want a personal message, but want to control how intimate and vulnerable they become. They like the option of signing off when they wish.
The fact that text messaging landed at number one on the list tells us a lot about students today. Bear with me as I venture some observations about why text messages are the preferred method of communication:
1. Text messages represent very current communication.
More so than voicemails, a text means I need to interact now about something relevant to you.
2. Text messages are generally sent from someone you know.
Unlike phones, you generally don’t get a “wrong number” or generic call on a text message.
3. Text messages are brief and to the point. [Unlike this lengthy blog post 
]
The person texting doesn’t waste words; in fact, they usually abbreviate the message.
4. Text messaging is in your control.
The receiver can stop when they want to.
This kind of control is attractive to students today. They want communication on their terms. Students today are inundated with messages, from every side. I believe they’re most likely to respond to a text message because it allows them fast, current, relevant communication with friends–but at a safe distance. They like intimacy without a lot of vulnerability. It sounds like a paradox and perhaps it is. I believe this is but one of several paradoxes that exist among Generation Y. Consider this. This is the first generation who does not need authorities to access information. Why? They have screens. However, they do need authorities, like you and I, to help them process that information. We can interpret it for them. This is our challenge.”
*Normally I would link to a post of this length, but I received this information by email and can’t locate it on Elmore’s site.
Leadership challenge: What communication methods do I need to develop in order to connect – life-on-life – with this generation?
Tagged as:
communication
“Be still, and know that I am God.
I will be exalted among the nations,
I will be exalted in the earth!” – God, Psalm 46:10
We are currently witnessing a resurgence of spiritually motivated student activism around the world. “God will accomplish His purposes,” our former pastor used to say, “with us if He may, without us if He must.” The longer Ann and I are involved in God’s global harvest, the easier it is to believe we are on the brink of seeing His Great Commission fulfilled.
One of my many lame excuses for few recent blog posts has been extensive travel over the past two months. From Cape Town to Cairo, from LA to Canada, and from Hungary to Thailand, dozens of conversations with field staff and student leaders confirm that God is accomplishing His work at a seemingly accelerated rate.
• Kristoff, a German student who attended the CM2007 missions conference in Korea last July, was convicted by those students sitting in the “no photos” section because they came from countries where they faced persecution. “We’re not risking anything,” he said. He has mobilized a prayer movement, calling fellow students to believe God together for gospel-resistant German campuses.
• I recently attended a gathering in Hungary of about 500 Christians who minister throughout 19 countries in Eastern Europe and Russia. A majority of these teams saw between 5-20 students indicate decisions to follow Jesus Christ just last semester. Several of these locations have been notoriously hard soil.
• In “closed” East Asia, one multinational team comprised of 4 staff members and 5 volunteers has seen God open up student-led ministries on 30 campuses in 4 cities. Please read that again and let it soak in. I asked Andy, the team leader, what his secret was. “Asking students to be in a prayer group or join a Bible study is not a challenge,” he replied. “We show them God’s big heart for the nations from day 1, then invite them to change their world. We’ve discovered that this way the students don’t think ‘Hey wait, I need a staff member to help me,’ or ‘I need permission to….’ They just go for it and start leading.”
Lesson for us: History is moving toward a very clear end which culminates in the God of the Bible being glorified in every nation. Students have always been the lever that moves the world. Let’s get everyone we can think of out of the bleachers and onto the field.
Tagged as:
fulfilled,
glory,
Great Commission,
student-led
