"Reality Check" - Pt. 1

One of the points made by Kawasaki is that "good people need big projects."  This is a very interesting point--and it is so true!  It seems sometimes in ministry there are so many gifted people, but we are not properly utilizing their gifts.  It is important for me to keep this in mind as I enter into ministry. 

Oftentimes I have the tendency to want to do it all on my own--but it makes so much more sense to use "good people" for "big projects" particularly when they are skilled.  He also mentions that "if you aren't doing something worth while, you can't get anyone worthwhile to work on it."  This seems to be very wise advice--not that ministry isn't worthwhile, but really maximizing on the things that matter.

Written by:

Emily Lyden

How Important is Vision to You?

It was interesting to see how Andy Stanley outlined how a vision comes to fruition.  It is very true that a vision begins as a concern, and takes time to grow, not necessarily requiring immediate action.

More after the jump...

Vision is something that is very important for me, or so I thought.  Thinking of ideas is something that comes easy for me to do.  I like to dream big and think big.  However, I have discovered that my visions often do not progress beyond a concern.  I have a difficult time waiting, and allowing something to come to full fruition.  When I have a vision, I often think that I have to do something immediately, and if I don’t then it will never happen.  Rather, after seeing Stanley’s outline, it is apparent that a vision is much more than a fleeting thought or idea.  A vision especially from the lord is something that requires effort and putting ideas into actualization.  It is something that actually goes right along with Guy Kawasaki’s The Art of the Start.  Here, Kawasaki gives useful tips to help one begin putting ideas down on paper, networking with others and actualizing beyond vision.  However, Stanley’s visioneering is something that is necessary prior actually starting.  Indeed it is important to let a vision begin.  I have found this outline useful to show that my idea of visioneering ought to be something much, much, more than what I have done in the past.  Apparently my “visionneering” needs to be much more important in my life to acutally help ideas come into being.

Written By: Emily Lyden

"The Art of The Start" Pt. 2 - Rainmaking

One concept that Guy Kawasaki talks about is the art of Rainmaking. To those who don't know what this is, its simply a synonym for networking. Guy presents the following points that are helpful in considering how to spread your idea/product.

• Conduct small-scale seminars to introduce the product
• Give speeches
• Network and participate in industry organizations
• Find decisions makers to enable him/her to do job and not waste time
• Find customers willing to consider you
• Let sales prospects talk


Before I started participating in sports ministry, I did not understand how important it was to build a contact base. Forming such a base is the goal of Guy's rainmaking idea. The above model is for businesses, but can be applied to the sports ministry structure as well. Sending a representative to the CSRM conference is equivalent to networking and introducing your ministry to possibly its largest target audience in a matter of a week. There you will find people who are like minded and can offer suggestions as you try to find the most effective ways to use your new ministry. Furthermore, the CSRM conference is connected to the church, and since that is the case you know that your going to be staying close to the biblical plan for world evangelism and discipleship.

What other methods or "rainmaking" or networking have you found that work well?

"The Art of the Start" Discussion Pt. 1 - Causation

Recently a classmate of mine led a discussion on the book "The Art of the Start" by Guy Kawasaki. Guy has had much experience in the field of jump-starting businesses from the ground, up. I think it is very beneficial for us as Christians and sports ministers to read literature from people who are not necessarily christians, but have experience as an entrepreneur. I think many times we almost immediately discount any literature that is not written by christians because it is coming from a secular viewpoint. But I think there are many valuable lessons and principles that we can learn and apply to our ministries, as long as we run the principles and lessons through a Biblical grid.

With that in mind, I would like to review a couple points that I found most helpful and interesting in the discussion of this book.
More after the jump...

Guy talks about "Causation" in his book, and he lists 4 things that an entrepreneur must do at the beginning, before they do anything else.
These are:

1. Make Meaning: create something that makes the world a better place.
2. Make Mantra: a powerful statement including what the business model is about.
3. Define your business model: Target the customer, make it simple.
4. Weave a "MAT": Milestone, Assumptions, and Tasks.

I won't talk about each of these specifically, but I think many times when starting something new, ministry or not, we get too far ahead of ourselves. We start thinking about the small details of how we are going to do everything before we actually figure out why we are doing what we are doing. Specifically in sports ministry we might start worrying about where are resources are going to come from, and what facilities we are going to use before we even figure out who we are targeting.

Guy points out here that before we get bogged down with all the small details, we must first give meaning to our ministry. What does this look like?

This means writing a mission statement. It means thinking about who your target audience is. It means, laying out the big milestone goals of the ministry before worrying about how we are going to achieve those goals.

This is just one aspect of many that Guy discusses in order to start a successful business.

I think it is also important to remember that in many aspects our ministry is a business. While we shouldn't treat it exactly as we would a business, in many respects we have to, and causation is just one way in which we should treat our ministry as a business.