Mark Clement

Church Coffee Shop/Cafe' Names

Yesterday, for no other reason than sheer morbid curiosity, I asked the world to share some of the best and worst church coffee shop/cafe names with me. I got tons of feedback on every platform. My contributors were diverse but unfortunately the names were not. Apparently, caffeine kills creativity.

The names that were way too common and way too predictable were:

He-Brews (by far the most common)

Common Grounds (a close second)

Jehovah Java (third among my contributors)

Higher Grounds

Holy Grounds (btw, to the dude that felt the need to explain the multiple meanings of this title, um, thanks, I got it)

Heavenly Roast

Heavenly Brew

Java With Jesus (a Baptist, seminary trained pastor, no doubt)

Holy Aroma

Cafe' Divine

The most unusual and creative name I heard today (and my personal fav) was 'The Angry Lama' from Journey Church in Conifer, CO. There's a story there and I want to hear it @knockover711. Wouldn't mind perusing your new book either (hint, hint). Looks really interesting.

So anyway, there you go. Read 'em and weep. I know I did.

This list is by no means exhaustive. Would LOVE to hear some more, good or bad. Get on it.

 

Leading Worship

These days I'm mostly known as a communications guy, creating marketing and branding campaigns, writing and directing films, producing videos, web sites, printed materials, etc... But once upon a time, for about 18 years at least, I was known as a worship leader. There were a lot of years since then when I didn't really do much of that at all, but over the last couple of years God has been giving me more and more opportuniites in that arena. One of my favorite places to lead is at my home church, Oak Mountain Church in B'ham. Our worship pastor, and one of my closest friends Jason Sears, has been incredibly gracious to invite me to lead every once in awhile when he's out of town. Here's a couple of clips from a Sunday in April. Really proud of the worship team and band here, they did a great job. Mom, enjoy :)

By the way, in the shot here is Josh Vignelle on lead, Chris Forrest on drums, Jim Merk on bass, and Brian Wright singing next to me.

The Friday List

• MacUpdate is offering a sweet bundle of apps worth over $500 for only $49.99. Some real nice stuff in here. 
• As a creative I love every form of artistic expression. I have experienced incredible worship moments using music, film and other media, painting, spoken word, etc... But I have never, and I mean not one single time, ever seen dance effectively used inside the church. It always comes across as less than, forced, unprofessional, wannabe. This includes a couple of worship conferences at Willow Creek where you would think... I know it could work, should work, but have yet to see it. What are we missing here?
• Evernote has finally released the desktop version for Mac. EN has to be one of my favorite cross-platform apps putting notes, pdfs, pix, web clippings, etc...right at my fingertips at all times. Incredibly powerful.
• The Hollywood Black List of the hottest unproduced scripts of 2010 came out this week. Past years lists include Juno, Lars & The Real Girl and The Social Network. 
• One of my best friends, Bryan & Shannon Miles have launched an amazing new company called Miles Advisory Group (MAG) offering innovative outsourcing for church staffs. Churches are signing up like crazy. Should yours? 
• Our yet to be named short film is coming along in post-production but taking longer than I had hoped. Really pushing to make some major headway over the holidays.
• I can't fathom why anyone would not use Hootsuite to manage their social media workflow. Don't be an idiot. Use Hootsuite.
• I'm thinking about going on a very serious TV diet for at least a few weeks after the holidays. I know I'm spending too much time there, but it's a hard habit to break.
• My Dreamyear with Ben Arment is over and I'm totally bummed about that. Hooking up with Ben has been one of the best professional decisions I have ever made. 
• Give or get the gift of Dream Year this Christmas with a special $50-off registration for the Nashville weekend on Jan 21-23. Enter discount code FALALA by Dec 25.
• 2 weeks out and 90% of our Christmas shopping was done, no small feat. One key reason: we drastically reduced our list this year, cut out all the fluff, simplified everything, did as much on line as we could. Not going to lie to you. It feels good. Real good. 
• Another 'Christian' movie is about to hit theatres in late February of 2011. I won't name any names because it would be mean and because it's totally unnecessary. You will see it coming a mile away. I've only seen the trailer but I can already tell you the entire plot and pretty much how it ends. Most church folk will like it and I guess that's all that matters because they are the only ones who will ever see it. I'll never understand why people want to make an 'evangelistic' movie that has absolutely no hope of being seen by any significant number of people who need to be 'evangelized'.
• I hate all derivatives of the word 'evangel'. Technically it means 'gospel' which is beautiful and life changing. But the modern church has ruined it, practically changing the definition to be something more akin to judgemental, brow beating, holier than thou, out of touch, irrelevant. Pastors, if you often use these 'evangel...' words in your messages I can pretty much guarantee you that you're talking to the wrong crowd.

The Friday List

As you read this I'm on the beach for a LONG overdue getaway with the family.

• Check out some of my fellow Dream Year participants and what they are up to. Very cool to be part of such a unique and diverse movement.
• Speaking of Dream Year, @benarment is accepting applications for DY2011 now. Deadline is December 3. If you have a dream, do yourself a favor and do everything you can to work with Ben. It's totally worth it. CLICK HERE to see all the details. If you want to talk with me about the experience, I'd love to hook up. DM or email me and we'll hook up.
• Really great article re: the 'TRUTH' about Facebook compared to the movie. Check it here: http://ow.ly/2Pq2t
• The couple of months leading up to November elections make watching TV almost unbearable. Sick of all the negative ads. I have no idea what any of the candidates in my area actually stand for, only how bad they think the other person is. I don't want to know why I SHOULDN'T vote for them. I want to know why I SHOULD vote for you. 
• Currently re-reading A Million Miles... by Donald Miller. Third time. For anyone creating in the world of 'story', this is a must read. I have pages of notes. 
• Speaking of Don, amazing last minute campaign has raised the money needed to get Blue Like Jazz The Movie off the ground. Great post from Don HERE.
• Entering final stages of pre-production for our film 'One'. Extremely excited.

The Friday List

In an effort to create a space for all the random thoughts and interactions that don't really fit anywhere else, I'm going to start a weekly post appearing each Friday and just throw it all out there. In no particular order:

• Check out this amazing interactive infographic created by @stamen that chronicled in real time all the social media interaction surrounding the VMA's. Really cool idea and looks awesome as well.

• Twitter has created a new interface to compete with third party apps like Hootsuite and Tweetdeck. It's very well done. Check it here.
• Today is my birthday. I'm 42 and dreaming bigger than ever.
• Next week is the Story conference in Chicago. It's sold out and looks to be amazing. I'm in town working with a client, but will be popping in and out as much as possible. Let's hook up! If you haven't already seen their website, do yourself a favor and be amazed.
• Saw 'Going The Distance' last week. Viewer warning, it's pretty rough in the language dept. But I have to say, 2 of the funniest scenes I've seen in a long time. Literally could not catch my breath for laughing. If you can get past the ridiculously coarse language, it's a pretty good story.
• If you missed it the last couple of weeks, our blog series 'What People Wish Their Pastors Knew About Church' has straight blown up. Check it out and let us know what you think.
• Check out Fast Companie's 2010 Masters of Design. Creatives knocking it out in the real world.
• Unless you're living under a rock you have had to of heard about @shaunking's latest venture TwitChange. Great use of social media to bring about change. Check out his CNN interview here.
• I'm sick and tired of hearing people say they got divorced because they married too young. As someone who got married at age 19, let me be the first to say that marriage is hard enough, and marrying that young did in fact make it exponentially harder. But so what. Married is married. Two wrongs don't make it right. They just make it more wrong. Suck it up, stick it out, and find the incredible satisfaction and reward that comes from honoring a commitment.
• If you're a Seth Godin fan, check out this talk called 'This Is Broken'. Classic Godin.
• If you are a church looking to build anytime soon, when you look for an architect do yourself a favor and check out LIVE Design Group. You will be blown away by how they can start designing your building on the screen right in front of you as you describe what you want. It is amazing. And Michael Trent (aka @churchbartender) works there now so you know they've got to be cool.
• Played around with Tumblr a little over the weekend. I so badly want to use that as my blog platform, but just can't quite get my hands around it as a practical daily tool. What am I missing?

MLK: Through The Eyes Of A Child

Celebrating MLK today, I was reminded of this post that I originally published in January of 2008. Nothing like seeing the world through the eyes of a child.

Today is of course Martin Luther King Jr. Day.  Being somewhat of a writer I have always believed in the power of words and as I have listened to many of his speeches throughout the years I have been profoundly moved by his. 

The iconic centerpiece of all of his speeches has always been the 'I Have A Dream' proclamation that he boldly shared in front of hundreds of thousands of marchers in Washington D.C. and millions watching around the world.  In that speech he described part of this dream as seeing people of all different colors, races and backgrounds living and working together in peace and harmony.  A beautiful picture.

Seemingly more than normal there were tons of TV specials dedicated to his memory and his incredible impact on not only our nation, but the world.  One night while I was away Tammy and my youngest daughter Emma were watching one of these tributes.  As the history of the civil rights movement was being laid out they of course showed many of the clips of African Americans being hosed and beaten, attacked by dogs, thrown in jail and even murdered.  Emma, 10, was deeply moved by what she saw and was moved to tears.  She turned to her mom and so innocently asked 'Why would they do that?  Why would people treat other people like this?' 

As a parent you hate to see the innocence of your children eroded, but as we all know over time it cannot be avoided.  But I love the fact that she didn't see any difference in the people being hurt and those doing the hurting.  To her they were all simply people.  Equals.  She could not comprehend viewing another person as less than and I love that. 

Overall we have come so far since that terrible time in the 60s.  Emma's expression of innocence is a testament not only to how she has been raised at home, but also a testament to the fact that in her school, church, community, etc...she has never been exposed to this type of ignorance and hatred.  That is a drastic shift from the things she would have been exposed to in this same Birmingham, Alabama community 40+ years ago. 

Many of us as believers will read this and be quick to nod in agreement.  But let us also be quick to examine our own hearts and minds and how we view and treat others around us.  Those who are poorer.  Those among us from south of the border.  Those who speak different languages or believe different things.  Let us each be challenged to see every individual exactly the same way that Jesus does, made in the image of His Father...just like you and me. 

6 Ways To Start The New Year Doing Instead of Dreaming

For many of us a new year represents an opportunity to start fresh, leaving bad habits behind and reinventing ourselves. But there's a reason why most new year's resolutions are never fulfilled - follow through. Talk is cheap. So what are some things we can do to help insure success? 

Check out these 2 posts to find some practical steps you can take including things like writing your goals down, going public with your ambitions, and getting started NOW.

The first is by Michael Hyatt, CEO of Thomas Neslson, called How To Make New Year's Resolutions Stick.

The second is by speaker and author Chris Elliot, called 6 Ways To Start The New Year Doing Instead of Dreaming.

Top 10 New Year's Resolutions for 2010

Ever wonder how your New Year's Resolutions stack up against the rest of us? The following is a quick compilation of multiple lists and surveys:

2010 Top 10 New Year’s Resolutions

1 Get into shape / go to the gym more

2 Save money

3 Go on a diet

4 Give up smoking

5 Assess work/life balance (spend more time with family)

6 Learn something new

7 Be kinder to myself

8 Give up/ cut alcohol intake

9 Get organized

10 Help others

Most Broken New Year’s Resolutions From Years Past

1 Give up smoking

2 Get into shape / go to the gym more

3 Get out of debt

4 Be kinder to myself

5 To go on a diet

6 Learn a new skill

7 To give something back to the community / help others

8 Give up or cut alcohol intake

9 Assess work/life balance

10 Save money

Christmas Traditions

This morning I was up kinda early and had the house to myself (and the dogs) for a bit. I turned on all the Christmas lights, the tree, etc..and sat in our den enjoying the moment. I started thinking about the things that make Christmas unique in our house and it got me wondering what unique or quirky things other people do. 

For starters at our house, every year we make monster cookies. No way to really describe how incredibly good these things are, but picture a cookie that is about 5" in diameter and 1/2" thick that is essentially a combination of oatmeal, peanut butter, chocolate chip, M&M and sugar cookies all rolled into one. You can add nuts too if you like. They are unbelievable. One batch is enough to feed a small army. My mom always made them and now Marcus has taken it on as his thing and does it every year when he comes home from school.

The Saturday before Christmas Eve we do my mom's extended family thing. This tradition started because me and my brothers, my dad, etc...all were on church staff somewhere and Christmas Eve was a work day. That's not the case for all but one of us now, but it stuck and we like it and it works.

Christmas morning is easy. Our kids are older now (youngest is almost 12) so we sleep in and take it nice and slow. Once fire is lit and presents are opened we head to the kitchen to make pigs in a blanket and mimosa's for the adults. No idea how or when this started, but we've been doing it as long as I can remember. Inevitably a nap follows.

Christmas night we enjoy our traditional feast of lasagna. Started when I was a kid, became a big thing for us, and we've been doing it ever since. 

So what do you and your family do? I would love to know. Comment below.

Buy One, GIVE One

Even though Tom's Shoes has received more exposure this last year than one can imagine, amazingly some folks still aren't familiar. In essence, Tom's Shoes is a company with an amazing business model: for every pair they sell, they give a pair away to a child in need. Tom's have been a favorite of our kids for years and we are more than doing our share to support the cause this year :)  You should see all the new styles and colors. So to all those who haven't heard of Tom's, check out this really creative little video, then click on any of these links and check out their web site.