chadkello

To Many CHIEFS & Not Enough CHIEFS ???

2009-06-23T06:23:00.000-07:00

I'll keep this short because I really would like your input.

Everywhere I look I am constantly reading about making Leaders (Chiefs) in Ministry. Don't get me wrong I think it is very important and vital that every organization builds good leaders within their organization. But are your team members all made to be Leaders?

We have all heard the phrase too many Chiefs and not enough Indians.

So heres the question, are all Indians made to be Chiefs or Leaders? Do you think it would be easier to fight a battle with all Chiefs or Chiefs and Indians?

Would Love Your Input.

Is it God or Time ?

2009-06-15T05:23:00.000-07:00

Recently I have been part of many discussions regarding TIME. The small group that my wife and I are in is talking about time and how it relates to our marriages. But I think that when you really start getting into the discipline of time and the lack there of, you start revealing a lot of other things. In fact I believe that it directly relates to church attendance.

First let me ask you a few questions.

God?
- Do you think that most people in America have ridden by a church in their car etc.?

- When they ride by a church do you think that many, maybe even if it’s just for a split second, they think about Jesus? (As in they know His name)

- If you were around a group of people in the middle of no where and you said the name Jesus, do you think most people would know who you are talking about?

Time.
- Do you know any young families where both adults work?

- Do you know any young families that not only do both adults work but at least one of them may have two jobs or go to school?

- Do you know any families that have children?

- Do you know any families where both parents work?

- Do you know any adults whose children play organized sports?

I will stop there because I think you already see my point.

Many People know the name of Jesus, but they just simply don’t have enough time.

Many churches today are spending tons of money on advertising and trying to make people aware of Jesus. Mean while many people that they are reaching, have already heard about Him many years ago. We live in 2009. Thanks to technology, I get told things and hear things quicker than ever before. In fact, many times I hear about things and before I can even completely mentally and emotionally relate to the situation, I hear about something else that is “better” or “more current”.

I would encourage you to start up some conversations with neighbors and friends and listen to when they speak and the tone they use we they are talking. Much of their tone and demeanor will be relative to time or lack there of.

We no longer live in a world where the people haven’t heard the news. Instead we live in a world where a husband has to email a wife to plan a dinner date. As a church, we have to wise up. Satan has infiltrated our homes little by little each day by placing materialistic culture and in sensitive process to where many feel there is no other way.

I can only imagine the pleasure the Devil gets out of seeing people that absolutely know about Jesus, in some manner, but because of time and responsibilities and the (keeping up with the joneses of today’s culture) they make a conscious decision to put Him last in line.

You know all those churches you passed on your way to work today… Your neighbors passed them too. Do you really think they haven’t heard the name Jesus? Or are we all just avoiding a bigger issue?

Would love to read your comments.

I’m Thinking About Giving Up.

2009-06-11T06:46:00.000-07:00

I’m thinking about giving up.

Yep, that’s it. No catch. I really am thinking about giving up. God has used my heart and broke me down more than ever in my life and my relationship with Him has never been better.

I decided this week to make myself a project. I decided that this week I would participate and do everything (short of sin) that the “world” (culture) says I am suppose to do. Everything. Went to work, tennis practice, mowed the yard, went grocery shopping, watched my favorite show, watched someone else’s favorite show, played video games, went out to dinner with friends, gossiped, chased my tail, ran silly errands, etc. and now its Thursday. I did this because I wanted to. See I am usually the weirdo that says no that’s ok, you guys go ahead. I am usually the guy that begs you to sit down with me and watch Francis Chans' latest podcast. But not this week, I decided to “really live” this week.

However, now it’s Thursday morning and I am preparing my mind to worship this weekend and I feel like a total hypocrite. Sure I could use the Grace card and find scriptures in the Bible that supports that God is forgiving and Loves me just the way I am, and although I do understand and believe that, I also know that this would just make it worse.

God is changing my heart and in doing so I am realizing that “We are the body.”

IF WE ARE THE BODY. It’s not about your building, it’s about YOU. If you are reading this right now, that means YOU.

I just want to have a relationship with God first and foremost. I want to lie in my backyard each day and spend time alone with Him. I want to sit on the beach and read to my kids about how God created this earth and that first and foremost He is our Father not I. And it pains me to know that an angry deacon or church member who doesn’t think I or my children should wear sandals, or bring coffee cups into “his” church could get in between that relationship. Many of you may read that and think man, he’s upset. But I am not. In fact this is not about me being upset; it’s about being in Love with Jesus Christ.

I am sure some people are reading this and thinking “I can’t believe he just said that” but just remember if I didn’t say it and I just smiled and then acted differently later, it would hurt you more. I am just being transparent. I am no where near perfect. I have sinned many times in my life and still battle with it daily. But I am not starting with you, I am starting with me. So I’m thinking about giving up on the things that are getting in between my relationship with God, even if that means the church.

Chad

Pastor or Leader or Both?

2009-03-27T06:14:00.000-07:00

Pastor or Leader or Both?

I hope I don’t get myself in to much trouble here but I wanted to ask you a question? If you are a Pastor, does that automatically make you a good leader?

I have met and worked for some incredible leaders and Pastors but I do not know why our culture automatically assumes that all Pastors are leaders. I think it is a major insult to Pastors. Seriously, please let me explain.

I am always amazed at how many Pastors I talk to that tell me what style of music they are going to have, what their website is going to look like, how many children programs they are starting, when the parking lot is getting resurfaced, how many volunteer meetings they are having, what’s being served at the BBQ this coming weekend, and on and on and on and oh BTW, here’s what the message is about this weekend. I wonder if any Pastors out there are reading this right now and feel like that?

It seems to me that once you find the right leader in each ministry, paid or volunteer, you should be out of the day to day and support your leader. Isn’t that what you are asking them to do for you? Support you.

Don’t get me wrong I think that communication and battles should be fought but when a Pastor starts telling me “we’re going to have a 3 piece band with a percussion dude that’s hitting all the downbeats, and an acoustic guitarist will be right here, and I don’t want a keyboardist but instead a DJ, etc. etc.” The first thing that comes to my mind is “So you did a poor job hiring a worship leader, huh?”

Pastors, Don’t get me wrong, I will never know your burden, and I deeply respect each and everyone of you, but that’s why I am writing this. I hope and pray that you hire leaders on your teams that you have full faith in and that you know there is some common thread between all of you. So, when we get a chance to have a cup of coffee or hang out and talk about church and our faith, you can talk to me about something I need more of, the Bible. Not about how to mic a Tom-Tom, I’m a worship leader and I should already know that.

thoughts?

Designing the UI for YouVersion

2009-02-05T05:39:00.000-08:00

Many people have asked me about the whole YouVersion design process. How did that happen, how did you design it etc. etc. etc. so.........

Here's the story.

After sending a couple of designs to Terry Storch and company at Lifechurch.tv I was extremely honored when asked to redesign the UI(user interface) for the BLACKBERRY version of YouVersion.

* If you have the latest version of youversion on your Blackberry then you are familiar with this design. If you don't, go get it here - http://www.youversion.com/bb/

Below is just a quick snapshot of the different design phases we went through while designing the UI.

One of the most beautiful parts about designing this with Lifechurch.tv and the Digerati team was that it was done completely through the internet and over the internet. No flights across country, No crazy meetings, No hotel rooms, just a few passion driven people with knowledge and internet connections.

If you want it to happen it can.

1. Black background.

2. Top Room Shading

3. Bottom Room Shading with Dock cutout.

4. Add Logo

5. Add Translation background shadowcasting bar

6. Add Top translation bar

7. Add drop down cue box

8. Add main search box

9. Add pull down arrow on translation cue box

10. Add inset search box over main search box

11. Add magnify cue box (This is the original green look that we later changed to a grayscale however I still love the green, sorry Terry, lol)

12. Add actual magnifying glass

13. Add shading to magnifying area

14. Additional Shading on search area boxes

15. Additional overall shading

16. Add right dock grill

17. Add left dock grill

18. Dock shading

19. Dock stroke divider and more shading

20. Add Menu Buttons (designing these were a major part of the look and feel however we won't go into this process in this blog).

21. Add Hover shading and shadows

22. Add rollover states to each menu button

IS YOUR CHURCH SELLING PIZZA LOAF ?

2009-01-28T06:08:00.000-08:00

We are different.

You still didn’t hear me. WE ARE DIFFERENT!

For some reason many people have a problem with this. Stop for a second and ask yourself, “Do I know anyone who is different?” There is probably at least one person that sticks out in your head. How do you think that same person would answer that same question? Their answer might be you. The point is we are all different.

Question for you?
- If you invited a 60 year old person over for dinner what would you prepare?
- If you invited a 20 year old person over for dinner what would you prepare?

Are they different? Why are they different?

Have you ever had a 60 year old over for dinner and then proceeded to order pizza? Don’t get me wrong I personally know a lot of 60 year old people who love pizza. However, after they ate the pizza, did they get on the phone and tell their friends? Did they go around town saying what a wonderful dinner they had? Did they long for the opportunity to come over again because of the pizza?

Did they eat? Yes. Were they feed? Yes. Are they selling it to others? Um.

Have you ever had some 20 to 30 year old people over for dinner and served them a formal meal? Meatloaf, Broccoli, Beets, Strawberry Shortcake, and maybe some after dinner coffee. Again, don’t get me wrong I personally enjoy many of these foods but oh, wait a minute, it’s not about me. Anyhow, after they ate the dinner, did they get on the phone and tell their friends? Did they go around town saying what a wonderful dinner they had? Did they long for the opportunity to come over again because of the food?

Did they eat? Yes. Were they feed? Yes. Are they selling it to others? Um.

Do you think the answer is to invite everyone over and make PIZZALOAF?

Quick Notes:
- Many people like Meatloaf and Pizza.

- Don’t make Pizza loaf and try to convince people it’s good.

- If you make Meatloaf, take it to a whole nutha level.

- If you make Pizza, take it to a whole nutha level.

- If you make Pizza loaf, your not really pleasing anyone.

- Neither party is wrong. But you can make them resent each other when serving Pizza loaf.

- Don’t think because you love Pizza or Meatloaf that everyone else does.

- If you aren’t eating it, stop trying to sell it.

- Please, please, please remember that people today have too many options and most see facing conflict as a waste of time. If people don’t like it, they are not going to take the time to tell you, they just won’t come back.

How many of you read Pizza loaf and thought it sounded disgusting?

I agree, so stop serving it.

OUT!

YOU ARE FAT

2009-01-27T04:32:00.000-08:00

Force Feeding Words, Is Just Force.

You are Fat!

Have you ever been told by someone “YOU ARE FAT?”

When they walked away did you say to yourself, “AH, HE REALLY CARES ABOUT ME?”

Chances are you very seldom walk up to someone in the store and say, hey, “I know your fat, but I can help you.” Regardless of how you say that, most people are going to react with anger and stay far from you. In fact they may even decide to FIGHT BACK.

Most people who are overweight or fat already know it. Telling them that their fat is not only insulting them but also questioning their mental state.

Many that are far from the church and a relationship with Christ already know this. Approaching them by pointing this out to them is insulting and just adds fuel to the fire. Your delivery could be the difference between being the light and the final nail in the coffin.

Many times the delivery of your words is as important as the words themselves. Especially when your teaching a Foreign language.

OUT!

EXPECTATIONS

2009-01-23T04:53:00.000-08:00

You have them don’t you?

Many people do not know that I spent years working in the Hotel/Resort business prior to working in ministry. It is a very unique industry that demands many long hours and many crazy demands. Many people, even celebrities, have made public comments about everyone should have to work as a waiter or a waitress but I often catch myself wishing that everyone could work in the Hospitality industry for just a few months.

Sure there are the customers, and their endless pursuit of happiness, but the real lessons and value is in working with the employees and the many different levels of staff.

When I first started working for a resort I spent 8 hours a day on a golf cart picking up cigarette butts. That’s it, all day. Look happy, find cigarettes, and dispose of them. Here’s the funny part, I Loved It! After doing that for about 6 months I started working my way through management and within about 3 years I was getting myself into upper management positions within the resort. A position that was “above the reception desk” as many in the resort business refer to it.

During those years in management I learned about something that was amazing. I learned about expectations. Before leaving the hospitality industry I was managing 65 people on a daily basis and was responsible for over 120 staff member’s monthly incentive program. In other words, they either got their money or didn’t because of my recommendations. I don’t tell you this to boost about me, but to instead show you the pressures that I (as their leader) was under. What I realized in this process was that most people truly like attention. No matter if they are an introvert or and extrovert, they like attention. They like going home at night knowing that they helped someone, or made someone’s day and they got recognized for it. What I learned however is that many people go to work each day and their boss or their leader robs them of this opportunity. How do Leaders rob them of this you ask? Easy, they never 100%, specifically let their teams and staff know what their expectations are as their leader. Many leaders have this way of not talking about the basics because they think “they should know that” when referring to their staff. Or even worse, you hear comments like “what are they stupid” etc. Unfortunately, this all comes back to YOU, their leader.

LEADERS please hear me, most people want to BEAT your expectations, the problem is, YOU, haven’t clearly defined those expectations to them.

You don’t think so?

Question?
Remember being a little kid, on Christmas Eve?

What you were selling in your speech and in your actions in the weeks and days before Christmas, were your expectations to your Parents.

Parents. Remember Christmas Eve? Many of you probably sit and talked it over with your spouse about what all each one of your children got and at some point either on Christmas Eve or weeks or days before that, you asked yourself, “Is this going to meet his or her expectations?”

Now you may have not said that exact line, but at some point, you thought about it.

The only way you even knew it was going to meet his or her expectations or not meet his or her expectations was because they clearly made you aware of their expectations before Christmas.

What happens when you clearly know what someone’s expectations are of you?

Yep, you got it, you try to not only meet them, but you try to beat them.

Leaders please, clearly and lovingly make sure you tell your teams your expectations, because most of your people (despite what you might think), want to beat them!

Imagine that!

I Have ...

2008-12-29T06:14:00.000-08:00

I have a growing relationship with God
I have a wife
I have 2 kids
I have 2 jobs
I have email
I have cell phone
I have twitter
I have a blog
I have a mortgage
I have 2 cars
I have friends
I have enemies
I have 4 brothers
I have 1 sister
I have bills
I have neighbors
I have feelings
I have a mother
I have a father
I have to eat
I have to sleep
I have stress
I have guitars
I have computers

Guess what I don't have ?

Making it more about Yourself ? Really ?

2008-12-03T21:00:00.000-08:00

“Worship Musicians - Rehearsals and Worship Services are a celebration of each person’s private investment throughout the week. Not a time to start thinking about investing.”

I typed that one night after having a very lengthy praise and worship rehearsal at our church. I realized during that rehearsal that many people feel as if they do not need to learn the songs before actually showing up to rehearse or play. Funny enough many of these people will use terms like "I'm a professional" and "I've played these chords for many years." I have come to the conclusion that there are many reasons for these attitudes and statements but I am always amazed by the people that I meet who will say to me “someone who wants to constantly rehearse or practice is making it more about themselves then about God!”

Really? Is that really the case?

Below are a couple of examples, I would love to hear your thoughts on.

a. You hear a worship song and then decide that you are going to learn and play the song to the best of your ability so that the song sounds exactly like the original song. You download chord charts, transpose keys, learn all the guitar licks, practice the vocal harmonies and then produce some backing tracks for the day of worship.

or

b. You have heard the song before, you really don’t practice with it but you know the general structure of the song. When it comes to specific notes you will play something similar in the right key but from there you’ll improvise.

Just curious, who do you think in the above examples is making the Worship Service more about themselves ?

I would love to hear your answer and the reason why.

Me + Lifechurch.tv = YouVersion Project !

2008-11-26T06:43:00.001-08:00

And then there was Lifechurch.tv

Well, I left a message up on twitter the other day and a few people have asked me what I meant by saying “I have been working with some of the largest churches in the world.”

Here’s one example God has blessed me.

Lifechurch.tv has many campuses that include Arizona, Florida, New York, Oklahoma, Tennessee and Texas as well as Internet campuses. They reach over 40,000 people each week through these various venues and net campuses. They truly are setting the standard and in many cases redefining how the church does church. Recently at Drive 08 Andy Stanley expressed how he felt that Craig Groeschel (head pastor at Lifechurch.tv) was redefining the way church is being done. In fact this was a quote that Andy made from that conference.

“To reach people no one else is reaching, we must do things no one else is doing.” Craig Groeschel

Through Lifechurch.tv and their “Digerati Team” that is led by Terry Storch they produce what is known as YouVersion. YouVersion (www.youversion.com) is an online Bible application that has redefined the ability to access and research Bible scriptures online. Recently YouVersion went a step further and decided to take this revolutionary bible application and turn it into a mobile application. They currently have over 500,000 users on the iPhone version.

Lifechurch.tv / YouVersion recently put out a challenge to see if anyone would be interested in redesigning the mobile device application. Because I am so incredibly encouraged and inspired by Lifechurch.tv and the Digerati team I thought I would take a shot at the challenge in redesigning the application.

Here comes God Blessings.

After sending Terry Storch and team some concept ideas, they informed me that they loved the designs and that I was to move full steam ahead on the redesign of the Blackberry application. I have to tell you that I was shocked and totally beside myself. I have worked in design for many years but very few projects have ever meant as much as this one has to me.

Terry Storch is the co-author of “Blogging Church” and has worked at Fellowship Church with Ed Young and is now currently a leading member of Lifechurch.tv. If you have not in the past, I would encourage you to read about him here, www.terrystorch.com. He is truly a mastermind and pure inspiration to me.

I will soon be sharing screenshots of the upcoming designs however until it is released by Lifechurch and YouVersion I will keep those to myself and the Digerati Team. The new design really does rock and will be out soon for your Blackberry Device. Stay tuned at www.youversion.com for the release. Although I cannot share any of these screenshots yet, Terry has given a sneak peak of the design on this video around the 9 to 10 minute mark.

Live Broadcasting by Ustream

I am very honored even to include my name with this team and the peeps from Lifechurch.tv. They are truly the real deal and are passionate about glorifying the Kingdom of God. Hopefully, I will soon be able to head out to Oklahoma and meet the Digerati Team and get a behind the scenes of www.Lifechurch.tv.

Most Important
The main reason I share this whole experience with you is because God has shown me more than ever in my life that we need to reach out. We need to drop our pride and reach out. Regardless of denomination, sex, race, age, etc. We need to look up not around.

God has placed several other projects/churches in my path since this project has begun that I quite honestly cannot believe I will be part of. I am VERY excited about working with these churches and doing everything I can to help grow His Kingdom.

Sure we all have favs. Whats yours?

2008-11-18T09:01:00.000-08:00

So, Whats cranking in your car right now? I'D LOVE TO KNOW. Seriously, please tell.

Here's mine.

Tattoo

2008-11-16T20:26:00.000-08:00

I always wonder...

If I did get a Tattoo, what would I get and where would it be?

How about you?

Please share, that way if I ever do get one, we won't have the same one. lol.

On a Scale of 1 to 10 ?

2008-11-10T08:25:00.000-08:00

I need your help! On a scale of 1 to 10 (ten being the highest), how important is the music/worship part of the service at your church? and why?

Why Twitter Heads Should HOLA

2008-11-06T07:59:00.000-08:00

Ok, so I get asked this all the time. Why do you Twitter?

Well it's a funny thing. Although I have never used Myspace of Facebook or anything like that I would like to share with you one of the many reasons why I am a Twitterholic.

Last week on Twitter I was looking at some comments from some people I follow and I clicked from a person I follow to a person I don't follow.

When I did this I was viewing a person whose name is Shaun King aka @shaunking.

He is the lead pastor of Courageous Church in Atlanta.(www.courageous.tv) After reading a few tweets and clicking on some links I noticed that his church was putting together an effort to raise school uniforms and toys for children in Atlanta this Christmas. They needed a quick website. I Direct Messaged him and told him I was the man let's get started. 4 days later www.500uniforms.org is up and running.

Shaun King and I have never met in person, Have no idea what we have in common, Know nothing about our past, Have no idea about the future, but because of a little thing called WWW.TWITTER.COM life's will be changed in Atlanta.

Church, please stop bickering about change and traditions and start reaching out. The technology we have today to impact peoples lives is incredible in yet we use it mostly for all the wrong reasons.

I wish Shaun King all the luck. If you would like to help him in his cause please goto www.500uniforms.org or search shaunking on you guessed it, www.twitter.com.

To GOD be all the Glory!

Please share your twitter stories or thoughts !

“Why is he happy, it’s a vacuum.”

2008-11-05T05:01:00.000-08:00

I was recently in a conversation with someone who was telling me about a $300 vacuum that they had bought and all I could think was, “Why is he happy, it’s a vacuum.” And it made me wonder “can this really be making him happy?”

So why do you think we buy STUFF? Does it really make you happy?

ONE SIMPLE QUESTION...

2008-10-31T05:54:00.000-07:00

Dream.
Take a deep breath.
And please answer this question.

"if we just had this innovation: _________, we could better reach the world.”

NO limitations. NONE!

Outreach Magazine - Church Innovations !

2008-10-29T09:47:00.000-07:00

Recently I was honored when asked by Outreach Magazine (http://www.outreachmagazine.com/) if I could help them on an upcoming story for their magazine. They are doing a cover story which will print in their Jan/Feb issue about change and how it has created a new dimension of performance in the Church.

Loading...

If others have figured out what works...

2008-10-29T04:43:00.000-07:00

If it's really about teaching the community about Jesus Christ and reaching those that are lost and we see other churches that are reaching thousands, then why wouldn't we scrap everything and use them as our BASE model immediately?

Andy Stanley once said at a conference I attended "If you were fired from your job and you knew there were several things that your replacement would come in and do, then why not walk out of your office, clear your head, turn around, and walk back in and do them."

Thoughts?

Question?

2008-10-28T08:47:00.000-07:00

With a simple yes or no answer, If I buy something for 7 dollars and then sell it for 20, am I wrong?

I am not interested in your answer to judge you, I promise!

Do you have the support staff?

2008-10-27T05:36:00.000-07:00

Recently I had a wonderful conversation with the Children’s Director at our church. Before walking out on stage to rehearse for our Sunday morning service, we found ourselves in this awesome topic of support staff and children.

Here I will share with you the first part of our conversation which was about those who are very successful and how although they are the ones successful, their supporters are probably as important if not more important then the actual person.

For example, take Tiger Woods; do you ever think about what his day was like when he was soaring into the PGA? Do you think he woke up, hung out with friends, played video games, maybe watched a movie and then oh it's Saturday I think I will go play some golf? I think not.

In fact I don't personally know Tiger but I would bet that everything, everything was second to Golf. Sure it’s hard for Tiger to constantly stay focused and to constantly try to improve but how about the loved ones in his life. What if you loved something so much, you were never home for dinner? Or that everything your family did was around Golf? What if you had to cancel field trips for your kids because of Golf, what if you only had 2 days a week together because of Golf. What if you never seen your loved ones on the weekends because every single weekend he or she was out of town in a golf tournament? What if your kids didn't see your spouse for days because of Golf?

Do you have the support staff?

Frankly, I don't know how this works. I think it's wonderful to let your kids see that you are passionate about something in your life but how do you explain to a 3 year old who is begging for attention, "Daddy, has to go golfing sweetheart" after you have already been golfing all week.

How about Michael Phelps? Dale Earnhardt Jr.? John Mayer? Andy Stanley? Sting? Dave Matthews? Or even better yet, the snow skier or bobsledder that absolutely no-one knows about that is training right now for the 2010 Winter Olympics. No matter what, these people have loved ones, loved ones who are sacrificing their time once again to support the one they love.

Can you succeed in your passion without a support staff?

I would love to hear your thoughts.

By the way, I have nothing against golf so please don’t send me hate emails!

I'm Going Deeper... Well no maybe not...

2008-10-24T08:00:00.000-07:00

So the other day I was talking to someone who I admire a whole lot and they expressed to me that ever since they became a Christian, they have left a lot of friends behind and that they really enjoyed many of those friends but because of the excessive use of drugs and alcohol she felt that it may put their faith in harms way. Most of all though it made those friends uncomfortable because she would no longer participate in drinking etc. .

Little did she know that the entire time she was talking, I was thinking about how that cycle never ends and that one of my struggles in ministry is that as I dive deeper and deeper into my faith, I find those who are on the same level and those who are not. It seems as though the deeper you swim the less people you find around you.

Therefore, our connections with people are always changing or being challenged.

Do you struggle with this?

Tomorrow...

2008-10-24T05:01:00.001-07:00

I have read alot about this subject and I love to read how others feel about this. Many people I know (including myself) talk about tomorrow as if it is going to be there. In fact as you read this you probably have plans tomorrow and not only that, probably plans for days or weeks out. Maybe if I didn't think about tomorrow I would LOVE and ENJOY today more, or maybe not . I would like to hear your thoughts about this. Comments?