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My latest venture…A new food blog.
Times change. Passions grow. Hobbies morph.
I’ve recently started a new blog exploring my love of food and cooking. Have a look at A Knob of Butter.
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Asking better questions.
Do you ever feel like you’re working hard to provide solutions…to the wrong problem? Are you exhausting your energy to make small gains relative to small problems, while the bigger problem is the 800 pound gorilla that no one is acknowledging in the room?
As church leaders we spend so much time trying to figure out how to get more. How to get more volunteers. How to get more people to come to church. How to get more people to give financially. So often we’ve defined the problem incorrectly.
We don’t need more volunteers, but we may need to ask ourselves how can we help people recognize their potential kingdom impact through serving?
We don’t need more people to come to church, but we may need to ask how can we motivate people to become active participants in their relationship with God?
We don’t need more money, but we may need to ask how can we help people see the fruit of giving to God’s mission?
A good question creates value through empowerment.
Asking empowering questions opens people up to dig deep, define nuanced problems and provide accurate solutions. This is critical to successful meetings, successful strategic planning, and successful relationships built on trust. If we’re not asking the right questions, it’s more than likely we’re not going to arrive at the right solutions.
Judith Ross has a great article over at Harvard Business Review that will help leaders ask better questions…in hopes of reaching empowered solutions.
The most effective and empowering questions create value in one or more of the following ways:
- They create clarity: “Can you explain more about this situation?”
- They construct better working relations: Instead of “Did you make your sales goal?” ask, “How have sales been going?”
- They help people think analytically and critically: “What are the consequences of going this route?”
- They inspire people to reflect and see things in fresh, unpredictable ways: “Why did this work?”
- They encourage breakthrough thinking: “Can that be done in any other way?”
- They challenge assumptions: “What do you think you will lose if you start sharing responsibility for the implementation process?”
- They create ownership of solutions: “Based on your experience, what do you suggest we do here?”
Create a culture that embraces questions
Are your leaders asking you empowering questions? Are you asking empowering questions as a leader?
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Prefab and the slums.
Instead of slums of found objects, what if a simple recycled plastic solution could elevate the health and safety of the worlds large population of people “making a home” where they can?
http://inhabitat.com/portable-and-modular-prefabricated-slum-housing-concept/blocks-slum-housing-1/
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Thank you for allowing me to give.
This year was one of our best Christmas seasons ever. My wife has a beautiful heart and a compassionate soul. For the last two years, she has helped identify a family that we would help be a blessing to over the Christmas season.
We identified some immediate needs in a family who lives very near us. They have a total of 6 people (mom, dad +4 boys) living in a two room apartment with two beds. The boys were drastically under-prepared for the winter weather and the family just has some general needs as the mom recently had to spend some time in the hospital.
With the help of family and friends, we pulled together to make sure every member of the family had winter clothes (coat, hat, mittens and boots) as well as providing some household supplies that were much needed.
Helping to make this all happen was the decision to not exchange presents with the adults in my family, and a scaled back Christmas on my wife’s side. Also, we were fortunate to receive several gift cards before Christmas that we were able to turn around and use on for this family.
But we couldn’t do it alone. Awesome friends stepped up and supplied many of the needs. Other friends donated cash…and amazingly, it all came together. There was nothing left on the list left to buy.
I’m not saying all this to pat myself on the back…rather, the most amazing thing happened when we returned home from our family trip for Christmas in St. Louis.
We came home to 2 thank you cards.
Not from the family we helped…but from families who got to help. Literally, two people sent us thank you cards, thanking us for inviting them to help make Christmas special for somebody else.
That is Christmas.
That is what means to experience the joy of giving.
It is to be thankful for the opportunity to make a difference in someone’s life.
I hope our tradition of being a blessing to another family will continue for years to come.
Who is waiting to be asked?
I’m going to go out on a limb and guess that there is somebody in your life, in your ministry, in your circle of friends, who is sitting on the sidelines, waiting to be asked. They are simply waiting for someone to point at them and ask the question, “Can you help?”
Give people the option to participate in something bigger.
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Does the Communication Department support ministry, or is it a ministry unto itself?
This is a question that I’ve had to wrestle with in my role of leading communications at The Sanctuary over the years. I see many churches struggling with creating an integrated ministry environment, because the communication department is sitting on the sidelines, waiting for instructions from the “real ministries” of the church.
It often happens like this…
A pastor or ministry leader, gets an idea. The idea is talked about with other ministry leaders. The roadmap is written. A plan is put in motion. A few weeks before launch, the discussion arises of how are we going to get the word out….Now bring in the communications department so they can make the bulletin, create graphics, storyboard the video, etc.
While this certainly can be an effective approach, it assumes that the communication department is in a supporting role only. But in my mind, there are only two ministries of the church: Show & Tell. We’re here to Show God’s love and Tell people how they can experience and show it too.
When the Communication department is recognized as a vital ministry area, it can be empowered to both show and tell the story of Jesus in such a way that it inspires and motivates change in people’s lives.
To draw upon another vital kindergarten skill, excellent communicators are simply people who are able to connect the dots for people. As we draw a line from one dot to the next, we begin to see a picture take shape. The story becomes clear. The end result apparent. Great communicators are able to connect a big picture message to a small dot in people’s lives. They connect moments and ideas, to round out the message.
Right after the day of pentecost in Chapter 2 of the book of Acts, we see the first ministry of communication take shape. This unexplainable and perplexing moment happens when men of all languages are speaking in the same tongue. People standby perplexed, wondering if the men are drunk.
Peter steps in to connect the dots. He connects this unexplainable event to the story of scripture. He points people to an understanding of Jesus. And in verse 38 of chapter 2, we find the audience ready to take their next steps, “Brothers, what should we do?” the crowd asks…
Peter was an ordinary man. A fisherman. And now a man with a newfound gift as a communicator. As he retold the story and connected the dots, people became inspired to want more. The audience was ready for life-change. Thousands were motivated to seek Christ that day.
Communications is a forefront ministry in the modern church.
With touch-points reaching into the web and social media networks. Into advertising and marketing strategies. Into the hands of ordinary people with the tools to share the message themselves.
So I wonder where the leverage of communication falls at your church? Is communication in a supporting role only, or is it recognized as a vital and necessary ministry area?
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Dream first, Create Later.
DREAMING of trying to move on to orbital, and then, DREAMING about maybe having hotels in space one day, DREAMING about maybe one day having intercontinental flights…and if you don’t dream, you don’t achieve anything, so from our DREAMS we try to inspire engineers and technicians to make our dreams become realities.
– Richard Branson at the opening of Spaceport America.
Did you know Virgin Galactic is planning commercial flights into space next year? My kids’ generation will be the first to experience travel to space as a form of leisure travel. This is the stuff you dream about when you’re a kid looking up at the stars…and you eventually lose sight of because people expect you to grow up someday.
Richard Branson never stops dreaming. He’s a big dreaming kid in a stale grown up world…and he continues to be one of the most innovative entrepreneurial minds of our time.
Because one man dreams. Because of an attitude that says, dream first, create later.
Too often, we create things out of necessity. You know the old saying, “Necessity is the mother of invention.”
Perhaps Dreams are the mother of innovation. The way we will change the world is by dreaming of what could be, then creating the means to achieve.
As a designer, I so often rush into the creating process. No plan, no foresight, no dreams about the end product. The work I’ve done that has really made an impact has been birthed from a dream first, followed by the execution later.
Take time to dream first and create later.
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WORD
Jim Lepage is an artist and graphic designer just across the river from me working at Woodland Hills Church in St. Paul, MN (Hey, I used to be a volunteer graphic designer there before Sanctuary).
Recently, he’s embarked on a quest called Word.
Word is a series where I create original designs for each book of the Bible. Before each design, I spend time researching the book, finding out the themes, historical context, weirdest stories, etc. I also scan through parts of the book looking for a passage or story that could translate into a cool design. -Jim Lepage
Check out a few of the prints and support his work by picking up a print or two…
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Dream To Do List.
Have you ever felt like you spend so much time doing the little things, that you never have to for the big picture or better yet, don’t have time to dream?
I’ve started something recently to help me not loose site of all things bigger than the immediate.
So I’ve got a new To-Do List with 3 columns that I’ve been using for a bit now and here’s how it works:
Column 1 – Tasks
Just being realistic, this is stuff that I’ve got to get done every week. Either me or a volunteer needs to pull this stuff off and there’s no getting around it. I want to spend as little time as possible performing “tasks.”
Column 2 – Big Picture
It doesn’t have to get done this week, but thinking through strategies for where we’re going in the long run is essential part of organizational growth. I can’t afford to let a week go by where I’m not thinking about a corner we want to turnaround, a new tool that needs to be implemented to make us more efficient or a new process that can help us better achieve our goals. These things take time to chart out, document and plan.
Column 3 – Dream/Future
I could let this go, but why would I want to? I love thinking beyond my role and my immediate needs. Scheduled dreamtime allows you the opportunity to be creative, thought-provoking and challenging to the status quo. For me this may include time to think about broader ministry beyond communications. It might be about seeking out new ideas for tired ways of doing things. It might be simply about devoting time to a particular interest that may or may not be helpful to the here and now. It’s like a Liberal Arts education. I may not have an immediate use for the Art History Survey Class, but I’m more well-rounded for having learned a thing or two about the development of ancient art.
I get bored and burnt out when I’m nothing more than a taskmaster trying to get things done. Building in time to look beyond today invigorates me and propels me to live more excellently.
Here’s a sample of this week’s To Do List:
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On the origin of species.
I’ve been intrigued by some of the postings of @almightygod on twitter lately. While sometimes coming off critical of people, I think he also does a good job of highlighting the voice of people who genuinely don’t believe in God.
To be honest, I get fed up with the way many people who believe in God consider this to be a moral undertaking to make people convert to a belief in God. It’s lame.
The way I see it there are two camps:
- One camp believes, scientifically, that there is no evidence of a “God” that created matter. It’s simply about a scientific view that says, When we trace back the universe to the beginning, we don’t see evidence that there was a God that created matter.
- The other camp, believes that tracing back the universe to the beginning is impossible because no matter how far back you go, you can’t make matter without matter unless matter is created out of nothing.
Once you’re in one of the two camps (i.e., either matter created itself or some being created matter), the rest is all the narrative you wrap around your origin view to make life meaningful.
I for one think there is an origin that begins with something so completely outside of our ability to understand that we call it God. Others, think, if we keep working on it through string theory, nano particles, black holes and otherwise, we’ll be able to keep getting closer to knowing a natural origin.
Neither of those interferes with my desire to make the world a better place. Neither worldview interferes with my belief that we should love one another. Be truthful with one another. Give to one another. Live in peace with one another. Turn from hate against one another.
I find very little threatening to my person about atheism. What I find more threatening is religiosity. Bible thumping, Koran burning, terrorist plotting and war starting.
To the theist: You can’t love what you fear. Don’t fear the atheist. We all have a different starting point.
To the atheist: You can’t love what you hate. Theists have made egregious acts in the name of God. Hate stirs the pot.
Instead of trying to CONVERT your atheist neighbor, why not have a rational conversation? Enjoy coffee together. Treat each other nicely. Without motive.
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This Week in Prefab: Lamboo Bamboo
I love this nifty eco office previewed over at Inhabitat.
The Lamboo Solar Studio is a Curvy Eco Home Built from Bamboo
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Popping about.
The garden is off to a smashing green start.
We’ve already harvested the early strawberries. There’s plenty of greens to eat.
Other things popping about: red cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, bell peppers, beets, chili peppers, heirloom and other tomatoes, leeks, yellow and red onions, rosemary, thyme, basil, sage, zucchini, and cucumbers.
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Confessions of a Hipster.
Hilarity.
This young lady is talented. She’ll go far.
As seen at: http://twentytwowords.com
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This completes my life as a designer:
I received this email this morning:
Hi, my name is xxxxxxxxxx and I attend Sanctuary Covenant. I absolutely love the church and Mpls and I thought of getting the city-scape logo you guys have as a tattoo but I can’t figure out how to save it. Would I be able to get that e-mailed to me? Thank you!!
No, thank you. I can now close the book on my life as a designer. What’s next in this life?
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Foodie Week #3: My Treasured Trove of Cookbooks.
I WANT TO BE A CHEF.
My wife has agreed to go back to work full-time after all the kiddos are in school so I can go to culinary school, but that’s a few years off at this point.
I LOVE TO COOK.
But I have no real skills other than what I’ve learned watching the Food Network. (I can chop veggies with the best of them nowadays).
I DON’T MEAL PLAN TOO WELL.
I wish I did a better job of this, it would make a huge difference in my cooking…
This is how I cook:
I get home from work, pop open a cookbook, find a recipe that I clearly only have half the ingredients for, decide to make it anyway by modifying it, see how it turns out. It’s hit or miss, but we eat it anyway (in most cases).
This is going to look so nerdly. But, it’s unfortunately true. These are the cookbooks I regularly use for kitchen inspiration.
I’m a huge Jamie Oliver fan. If you’ve been to this blog before, you probably know that already. I use these every week. There’s lots of simple stuff, some with decidedly European flare to it, but all good.
My New Vegetarian Cookbook. It literally does tell you how to cook EVERYTHING vegetarian.
Brunch anyone. I just got this one. Hoping it will transform Saturday mid-morning feasts at our house…
This is what I’m getting next. Then I’m going Asian. Probably Thai and Indian before going Japanese.
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Living Off The Land: Foodie Week #2 (hard to call it Foodie week when it’s now taken a month. Such is life as a dad, husband, entrepreneur, and employee. No more promises or schedules for this blogger.)
So, getting back to my Foodie posts, I want to take a few minutes of your time to encourage you to live off the land this summer. Well, not really, but what I would like you to do is to close the gap between the food on your table and the field it was grown in.
Last Spring, I surprised my wife (not in a good way, she was just surprised) by heading out in the backyard in the middle of the night and digging up a strip of grass to do some planting. It wasn’t huge, but neither is our city plot of land. A deal was struck! She got some room for flowers, I got some room for veggies.
I’ve been wanting to grow some of my own food for a while now. Here’s a few reasons why:
- To Close the Gap.
When you walk around the grocery store and see boxes and cans and microwavable trays, and each product has 50 ingredients in it, you get a very abstract picture of where food comes from. I wanted to close the gap between the field and the table. I wanted to cook with veggies and herbs that I could see their whole life cycle. - To Teach My Kids About Real Food.
Those products in the grocery store have dozens of ingredients that I can’t pronounce, much less tell you where they came from. One day my son who was 3 at the time asked me, “Where do Graham Crackers come from?” Not a clue. What does it say on the box? Well, clearly there’s pyrophosphates in there son. Eat up. – Got me thinking, do I really want to give my kids food that I can’t pronounce the ingredients? Or myself for that matter? - I like to cook and I want my food to taste better.
I’m not particularly that good at it, at least, not to where I’d hope to be…but I love to cook. The garden is inspiration. You can’t help but want to be a better cook when you’ve got access to fresh off the vine tomatoes, lush herbs and crunchy lettuce you just pulled out of the ground. When it comes out of the ground, gets washed and goes right into a meal, it tastes better. period. - Saving Money
I think this is possible. I didn’t run the numbers last year, but conceivably, with the right mix of veggies, the right planting schedule, eating what’s “in season,” it is conceivable that you could actually save money. It doesn’t really cost that much to get up and running. Last year we spent less than $100 and had a serious bounty. I plan to do it again this year with more intentionality.
So, that’s why I started and I want to encourage you to grow something. I’m not saying that you should give up your day job and become a farmer. I’m not saying rip up your whole yard and make the whole thing edible. Here’s a few ideas to get you going though:
- Grow Something. Anything.
Head to the bookstore and look at the magazines. There’s a ton of them out right now that give you ideas from a window box, to container vegetable gardens, to 3×6 raised beds, to the works. Buy some seeds and grow! - Start at a pace that makes sense for you.
Don’t rip up the whole yard if you’re not ready to deal with the ramifications of it. Not everyone is as crazy or impulsive as I am. Starting with a 5×20′ garden may not be right for you. But, there is a happy place between nothing and full-fledge farmer that is right for you. - Don’t be discouraged by some things not growing.
Truth be told, at least half the seeds I started last year died before I could plant them outdoors. That sucked. But the other half didn’t. That was awesome. Don’t be discouraged. It’s not all going to grow. - Start with plants from the garden store.
Starting from seed can be a lot more work and a lot more defeating. Start with 3-4″ or 12″ plants from the garden store can be a winning recipe. Most of those plants are bred to live in your local area. You’ll have a greater chance of early success. - If you’ve got kids, get them involved.
Everyday, my boy was out in the garden asking if there were any cucumbers or tomatoes to pick. It’s a great way to get them going in the process and even encourage them to eat more fruits and veggies. My boy loves Thyme. He says it’s his favorite herb. Does your kid have a favorite herb at age 5? They could.
I’d love to have some conversation about your successes and struggles.
A few garden shots from last year…
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Foodie Week: Books, Movies, Links, Resources…
As part of my personal, family and social food revolution, these are the resources that have changed the way relate to food.
THE OMNIVORE’S DILEMMA
Out of everything I’ve watched, read or listened to, this is by far the number 1 item on my list. I would recommend this book to everybody as a starting point to think about where our food comes from and the relationship we have with it. After this book, I became a Pollanaut. Nearly totally buying in to what Pollan says about the way in which we purchase and consume food.
You also can’t beat listening to this book rather than reading it. If you get the audible version, it’s read by Scott Brick who is one of the best readers around. He brings the book to life and I’d suggest there’s no better way to read this one.
OTHER BOOKS/COOKBOOKS
Food Rules – Easy digestible condensed version of Michael Pollan’s, “In Defense of Food.”
The Maker’s Diet – Interesting read about how a guy who was basically dying went back to the traditional, Biblical, kosher diet and it essentially saved his life.
Jamie at Home - Seriously, there are thousands of cookbooks in the world. The reason I love this cookbook is that I end up feeling gourmet, with simple fresh food. And it’s intended to be a resource to help you eat foods in-season.
Jamie’s Food Revolution – A simple cookbook to help you cook great simple meals from fresh ingredients. Same old same old from Jamie Oliver, but worth a look.
TALKS
A Few TED talks
Michael Pollan: A Plant’s Eye View of the World
New York Times Food Writer Mark Bittman on “What’s Wrong With What We Eat”
Ann Cooper “Talks School Lunches”
Again, Jamie Oliver’s TED Prize Talk
FILMS
I’ll let the trailer speak for itself.
Pollan’s other book, The Botany of Desire was made into a documentary that ran on PBS. It’s worth a watch even though it isn’t directly related to food issues.
Food Inc., A Participant Guide – This book expands on the stories and themes of the movie and takes them into a bit more detail.
A little Docu-drama following filmmaker Morgan Spurlock as he sets out to eat McDonald’s every meal for a month including super-sizing his meal every time he’s asked. Within a month his health deteriorates and he works to reveal the half-truths about the health claims of the fast-food industry. It’s an oldie but a goodie.
I just happened to be flipping through the channels one night and came across King Corn on PBS. Fantastic. Love the way this film dismantles the historical rise to prominence of corn as currency in America. If you eat anything in the middle isles of the grocery store, the stuff in boxes, you are undoubtedly consuming corn in some way.
Fresh is definitely interesting. Not quite as polished as some of the above films. Not as interested in the darkside of the industry, more interested in the upside of people and movements to get people eating real fresh food once again.
LINKS
Local Harvest.
This is the best site around to find locally grown food whether it’s locating farmer’s markets, stores that carry local foods, CSA Farms (Community Supported Agriculture). Go there end zero in on your area of the map to find out what is available in your neighborhood.
A Good Food Manifesto by Will Allen.
Short, Sweet and to the point. Growing real food can happen anywhere.
I’ve got so much more, but this list is getting exhaustive, and I’m getting exhausted. Just wanted to share some of the resources that have changed my perspective on food.
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Thoughts: Who Killed the Electric Car
So, I just got done watching “Who Killed the Electric Car?” and here’s my main thought…
All things being equal, I think most logical, coherent and breathing people can agree on 1 thing: No pollution is better than some pollution. End of argument. Smog=bad. Clean air=good. It’s only slightly above neanderthal in its comprehension quota.
I have little doubt, before or after watching this film that big business is self-intererested in serving the needs of its share price far beyond it’s responsibility to further the health and well-being of humanity. I have little doubt that our democracy has holes in it like swiss cheese where money is the filler that closes the gaps. I have little doubt that if these guys can make the Tesla Roadster run on electricity, then GM, Ford and Chrysler could come up with a long-term, viable, profitable solution to the problem of vehicle emissions.
Bottom line, I think most of us were told when we were kids to, “put it back the way you found it, or better.” There’s no excuse for demoralizing future generations by not solving problems that we can solve today. Electric car or no electric car, we should be interested in taking care of this world we’re here to steward. Zero emissions is a stewardship goal, not just an environmental freak movement.
If for no other reason than to be entertained and make you say, huh? add “Who Killed the Electric Car? to your netflix queue.
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Foodie Week. – No, for real this time.
So, last week I was going to have a foodie week. Turns out, I hit a wall with my workload and couldn’t muster up the energy to do any writing.
This week will be foodie week.
Here’s how I’m going to break it down.
Tuesday: Books, Movies, Links, Resources that have changed the way I think about food
Wednesday: Living off the land this summer
Thursday: Cookbooks that I use for inspiration (I rarely follow recipes, so they need to be inspiring…)
Friday: Two of my personal recipes that always get a warm welcome
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The Paradox of More.
More sounds better.
More resources.
More stuff.
More beautiful.
More productive.
More is the standard I have set for myself.
More outputs.
More accomplishments.
More pats on the back.
More results.
More is what I want and more is what I’m getting. In order to get more, I’m putting in
More time.
More stress.
More money.
More of my life.
In order to get more, my family is getting
Less daddy.
Less husband.
Less patience.
Less love.
I’m ready for
Less perfect.
Less outputs.
Less pride.
Less friction.
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Another Recent Identity Package from Redwire Creative.
My company Redwire Creative recently helped give a visual identity to the EnterChange, a consultancy that helps organizations learn about themselves and navigate into seasons of change.
Here’s the Visuals:
