Rich Kao

Small group idea:  Not "Research & Development" groups but "Read & Discuss" groups; in essence it's like a facilitated book club, except in our case it will be for spiritual growth.  I'll be leading one soon, and there's a few things I like upfront about this format. 

One, it involves accountability because everyone has to read. 

Two, it's interactive, as there will be lotsa open questions and dialog, thus high participant involvement. 

Three, it allows us to capitalize on great books, classics or recently released. 

Four, it takes a load off of having to prepare materials, when better stuff is already out there. 

Five, it's facilitated, so quality control is there, and wonky conclusions are not propogated. 

Six, it's a great vehicle for me to deepen people's devotion and discipleship through critically acclaimed writings. 

Seven, it's a great way to increase knowledge that people can go back to; they have to buy the books. Prov. 23:23. (With sermon listening, they may not take notes, and if they do, they may not go back to them). 

Eight, it forces people to just read (a great life skill). 

Nine, expands people's teaching diet; not just having to listen to me on Sunday's.

Ten, they can turn around and "teach" others - multiplication!

Our first round of reading will be Mark Driscoll's trilogy series entitled "A Book You'll Actually Read"...1) On the New Testament, 2) On the Old Testament, and 3) On Who is God?

Great interview with my 2nd favorite CEO (Steve Jobs is first; although Bezos is close to overtaking Jobs in my ranking; much better EQ).  (I know, he also looks like Seth Godin).  Application & commentary in underline are mind.

Since founding Amazon in 1994, he has revolutionized retailing. Now he's out to transform how we read.

No one has been more surprised by the success of the Kindle than Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos. The electronic book reader has become the online retailer's bestselling product. Bezos spoke to NEWSWEEK'S Daniel Lyons about the device, how the Apple tablet might affect it, and the next phase of digital distribution.

Excerpts:

Lyons: Amazon had an amazing year despite the bad economy. How did you do it?
Bezos: It is the basics. It is focusing on selection, low prices, and reliable, convenient, fast delivery. It's the cumulative effect of having this approach for 14 years. I always tell people, if we have a good quarter it's because of the work we did three, four, and five years ago. It's not because we did a good job this quarter. (Gotta put in the hard work of sowing, and the reaping will come. Gal. 6:9. When the farmer plants the seed, it comes up in due season, not instantly - Jas 5:7; important mind set for church planters.)

Amazon started off as a retailer. Now you're also selling computing services, and you're in the consumer-electronics business with the Kindle. How do you define what Amazon is today?
We start with the customer and we work backward. (Laser focus baby; knowing your audience, your target, whom you serve maximizes success & impact; no confusion.  Big debate:  Does the church start with God or the seeker and "work backwards."  I've been in this debate 20 years.  My answer:  It's both, but you start with God.) We learn whatever skills we need to service the customer. We build whatever technology we need to service the customer. The second thing is, we are inventors, so you won't see us focusing on "me too" areas. We like to go down unexplored alleys and see what's at the end. Sometimes they're dead ends. Sometimes they open up into broad avenues and we find something really exciting. (Don't be afraid to fail; Prov. 24:16; creativity is contagioius.) And then the third thing is, we're willing to be long-term-oriented, which I think is one of the rarest characteristics. If you look at the corporate world, a genuine focus on the long term is not that common. But a lot of the most important things we've done have taken a long time. (Amen! Invest for the long haul; exponential effect takes hold in the back half of the curve, not 1st half; Jesus spent 30 years in training, 3 years in ministry; no short cuts, trust your investments to create unstoppable momentum down the road.)

Continued here....

Number #2 operating principle of the incubator church is Excellence.  In "What Matter's Now" famed author Tom Peters riffs on the 19 E's of excellence.  Great expansion of what it means to pursue excellence.

1. High Giving.  Giving is worship.  Giving is "I love God."  Giving is "Jesus is my master, not money."  Giving is "God is my provider and source; my trust is in Him."  Giving is a sign someone understands the Lordship of Christ.  Giving leads to spiritual health, and when a church body understand the power of giving, it blesses God and enables the kingdom to advance through financing staff, missionaries and activities.  A church can't be healthy without being a generous, open-handed church.

2. High Excellence.  Exodus 31:1 Now the LORD spoke to Moses (regarding the building of the tabernacle), saying,  2 “See, I have called by name Bezalel...3 “And I have filled him with the Spirit of God in wisdom, in understanding, in knowledge, and in all kinds of craftsmanship, 4 to make artistic designs for work in gold, in silver, and in bronze, 5 and in the cutting of stones for settings, and in the carving of wood, that he may work in all kinds of craftsmanship.  6 “And behold, I Myself have appointed with him Oholiab... and in the hearts of all who are skillful I have put skill, that they may make all that I have commanded you.

1 Cor. 3:10 - continues the tradition of Bezalel and Oholiab as "craftsman," imbued with a passion for excellence.

Nothing frustrates me more than when people bring their all to their regular jobs, and their second best to God and service in the kingdom. 

God does all things well, and specifically calls out those that will do the job with skill, wisdom, knowledge and excellence.    Excellence is attractive.  God is beautiful because he has excellence.  Heaven will be breathtaking because it has brilliance.  The church must reflect God and heaven, and in so doing draw the world unto itself.

3. High Touch.  Part of the genius of the New Testament Acts church was that in the midst of revival, with mulitudes coming to Christ, they also had a strategy & structure for nurturing personal community and accountability.  Not only did they meet in the "temple" (big church experience - Acts 2:46, 5:42); they also had the "small church" experience (personal community - "house to house" - Acts 2:46, 5:42, 20:20).  This represents God's "high-touch" strategy to personalize the church and keep it intimate as it powers foward as a harvesting machine.  See also our 1 x 1 x 1 rule.

4. High Impact.  In reality, the church has been in the minority throughout history, but it's impact has been like a majority.  Our DNA is such that a little makes a big difference.  Mustard seed.  A band of 12.  Ester.  Hanging on a cross.  Potency changes the world.

Craigslist (18 employees) is the fourth most visited site according to some measures. They are partly owned by eBay (more than 4,000 employees) which hopes to stay in the same league, traffic-wise.

Boing Boing (four people) has a readership growing 100x faster than the New Yorker (hundreds of people).

Small is big. 

We put no limits on our growth as a church (which comes from God - 1 Cor. 3:6), but it's out of our control.  What we can control is our potency.  And out of potency comes impact. 

See A12 and 10 x 100 rule. 

5. High Tech. Technology has become an important part of our culture (ipod, iphone, powerpoints, twitter, podcasting, IM, etc), along side of fashion, movies, TV, etc.  When used correctly, technology is an accelerator of ministries and a servant to the gospel.  The use of technology communicates a cultural awareness that is important for people to relate to, and helps reach people for Jesus.  See also entry here. 

How to remember these five points:  Get-It  (giving/excellence/touch/impact/tech).

#1 - Incubate leaders and their ministries, known as the A12 rule or the Assignment of 12.  Specifically the senior pastor signs on to raising up and releasing up to 12 full-time ministers in his life time, in the tradition of Jesus himself who raised up 12 apostles.  This is the legacy mandate.

#2 - 10 x 100 rule.  Rather than raise up one church of 1000 people, raise up 10 churches of 100.  This is a multi-site city strategy to better penetrate and incarnate the gospel, while releasing more leaders to do the work of the ministry.  It's meant to facilitate a viral church multiplication model.   This is the impact mandate.

#3 - Boutique church - one pastor, one church, one purse.  This is the 1 x 1 x 1 rule.  The purpose of this rule is to keep the pastor close to the people for the purpose of shepherding them into the Lordship of Jesus.  This is the discipleship mandate.  Additionally, it's to raise up a congregation that can finance the livelihood of one full-time minister.

 * Being proto-typed in Vancouver, BC (5 Stones Church)