Quite a few pastors use Post-it notes in their Bibles as preaching aids. If you are one of those pastors, you will probably enjoy 3M’s new Post-it Notes in sheer colors. They are transparent and allow you to make notes while still being able to read text underneath.

I could not find any online retailers who sell these transparent Post-it notes, so perhaps they are not yet available.

[via Cool Hunting]

The weakening value of the U.S. dollar and the rising global costs of food and oil are creating a money crisis for many on the mission field. Missionaries typically do not have big budgets. And as the dollar weakens, some are faced with the difficult decision of cutting something effective for survival’s sake.

If you had a 10% pay cut, that would be significant. Basically, that’s what those people are feeling right now.
George Salloum :: CFO :: Serving In Mission

Prayer and financial support for missionaries is always important but particularly so during times like these.

[via The Charlotte Observer]

IBM and the University of Southern California recently held an event discussing what life might be like in 2050. Among the scientists voicing their opinions was physicist Don Eigler, who spoke on embedding nanoscale technologies into humans.

By 2050, he foresees a future with parallel human processing that allows an individual through training or symbiant embedded devices to consciously think about two problems at once.

He also predicts a laptop that is 100,000 more powerful than today’s cutting-edge technology.

If these predictions are true, you have 42 years to prepare. How will these advances reshape culture? How could they be leveraged for ministry? Even if technology falls short of these predictions, it is still certain that there will be significant change. Keep a pulse on technology. It is advancing rapidly with a growing momentum.

[via CNET]

I spent part of my childhood as a missionary’s kid in Lima, Peru. I still have quite a few souvenirs from my time there, including some intis I have tucked away in a box in my closet. In 1990, intis were Peru’s currency.

What I like about intis is they come in big numbers. I have a bill for 50,000 intis and another for 10,000 intis. They even made a 5,000,000 intis bill. It is a neat feeling to hold millions of monies in your hand, especially if you are a kid.

But the problem with intis is they are worthless. They stopped using them in 1991. And even when they did have value, 5,000,000 intis was comparable to $2.50.

Sometimes big numbers are meaningless.

THE MINISTRY LESSON:
Sometimes big numbers are meaningless. Does it really matter how many ADDYs your church wins or how many eggs you hid at your Easter event? Not really.

But what about church attendance and membership? Do they matter? To some extent, yes. Membership and attendance can be great indicators of how effective your church is. But the perceived value of these numbers can also be falsely inflated.

While attendance and membership are important, we cannot lose focus on which numbers truly matter. We cannot forget that the most important numbers are those that measure spiritual gains for God’s Kingdom. How many people came to Christ? How many people came back to Christ? How many people are growing in their spiritual maturity? Lives changed are what matter.

Which is greater? An inward-focused, stagnate church of 5,000 or a passionately selfless Christian who reaches just one of society’s untouchables?

Living in a statistics-loving culture where “bigger is better,” it can be tough to shake the perceived importance of big numbers, even when they don’t really matter. It was thrilling to find obsolete inti coins in the dirt. Psychologically, the coins seemed valuable, but in the real world, they were just worthless big numbered intis.

Numbers are important. But some numbers are more important than others. Focus on the numbers that really count. Focus on the most important measurements – changed lives.

For Discussion:
- What “numbers” does your church measure, and how do you measure them?

[Photo Credit: José Félix Arias Ynche]

I spent part of my childhood as a missionary’s kid in Lima, Peru. It wasn’t the mud huts and jungle you see on National Geographic. Lima is actually an urban metropolis with 8 million residents.

THE STORY:
Less than a block from our house was a large park with grassy fields that were perfect for soccer. My brother and I went to play a game with some other boys from the neighborhood. There were German boys, an Asian boy, and a few Peruvians, and they all spoke Spanish.

Being new to Peru, my brother and I hardly spoke any Spanish. But despite the language barrier, we somehow found a way to interact and start a game. As we kicked the ball around the field, we quickly learned that they did know some English.

“F@%$ you!” one boy said, quite pleased with himself. And after that, a slew of other surprising words followed. They had nothing against us. In fact, they liked us because we were Americans. They wanted to impress us with their English cussing.

But as a nine-year-old boy, I was not impressed. I was shocked. And I did not interact with them much after that. They knew English, but they did not know the right words.

THE MINISTRY LESSON:
We live in an age with many cultures and subcultures. And effectively reaching them often requires learning how speak a culture’s language. But just because you can speak a few words of a culture’s language, does not mean you know how to effectively reach and communicate with them. In fact, you could do more harm than good.

For example, it is common for youth ministers to try to “speak” the language of youth culture by dressing like the teens they are trying to reach. Many youth pastors can pull this off. But there are some who end up looking like they are in a mid-life crisis. Authenticity speaks volumes to teenagers, and without it, a youth pastor just looks like a poser.

Knowing a culture’s language is useless if you do not have the right “words” to say.

And vice versa:

Having the right “words” to say is useless if you do not know a culture’s language.

I struggled to learn Spanish, and consequently, I got little value out of attending Spanish Sunday School. I’m sure it was good, but it was useless since I did not speak the language. Likewise, a ministry can say all the right things but still be ineffective if people do not understand the cultural language being used.

I do believe there are exceptions to these rules. But in most cases, effectively reaching a culture requires:

1. Knowing how to speak the culture’s language.
2. Knowing the right words to say.