Bob Fuhs

Comm Lab Day 2

We just wrapped day 2 of the Comm Lab. Who knew communication would be so intense? I really need to get to bed, but here are some quotes from today:

From Tim Downs' first message:

-"How you say what you say is as important as what you say."

-"If all we have is content, we die."

-"The non-Christian world is happy for us [Christians] to exist as long as we are marginalized."

-"The church must be profane." (Profane-meaning "outside the church." In other words we must go to the people and not wait for the people to come to us.)

-"If Christ is not significant outside the church, He is not significant inside the church." RC Sproul as quoted by Tim Downs

-"Paul's model was to first persuade, then if that's not working to proclaim."

-"Public speaking is dying to yourself in front of a group of people."

-"Think of the spotlight as an x-ray...The longer you stay in it you'll get a deadly disease."

Tim Muehlhoff talked about "The Power of Human Communication."  Here are some quotes:

-"Most of us take communication for granted...I mean, we've been communicating our whole lives."

-"Dialog is to love what blood is to the body." (quoting another author)

-"Communication is God's gift to form connection."

Honestly, Muehlhoff talked about so much that it's hard to break it into some quotables.  He really drilled down into the theory of communication on a deep level, asking "what is communication?" The whole point being we need to understand how complex it is to actually communicate with another person. Like he said at the start, we've done it our whole lives that we just take it for granted. And that's why most of us stink at it.

He just published a new book called "Authentic Communication" that we all got that I am very excited to read and recommend. You can buy it here if you like.

We also spent time in our coaching groups working on eye contact and gestures. We want to teach communication like you would a sport, so we are doing lots of hands-on coaching and drills in speaking mechanics. My group really made me proud as they stepped out of their comfort zones and tried some new skills.

So far the Comm Lab has exceeded my expectations! I'm beat, so it's off to bed but there will be more to come tomorrow...

Comm Lab Day 1

I am in Westfield, Indiana for a training event for Campus Crusade staff called the Comm Lab and I'm hoping to post some of my learnings throughout the week. The Comm Lab grew out of a training program CCC used to offer for staff and students that I went through during the summer of 1991 in Colorado as a senior in college. I came out of that training with 2 talks I wrote designed to present the message of Christ in a relevant way to groups like a dorm floor or a fraternity. My last semester in college I spoke to groups in every dorm on campus and that training changed my life. Now I am part of the faculty and design team providing the training. Wow...how time has flown! Content will come mainly from Tim Downs, speaker and author as well as Dr. Tim Muehlhoff, a professor at Biola University and a popular speaker in his own right. I'm excited to share with you ove the next couple days some of the insights from these two stellar communicators. To be continued...

Book Review: The Ends of the Earth by Tim Downs

You should know that I've been a Tim Downs fan for a while now. Since even before he started writing fiction. Tim is actually on staff with Campus Crusade and is a very popular speaker now with our Family Life Ministry. A few years back Tim started writing a series of fiction books centered around Nick Polchack, a self-proclaimed "Bug Man" or forensic entymologist. Nick helps solve murders using the science of entymology. In this novel we find Nick trying to stop an agro-terrorist bent on crippling America's farming industry. I really enjoyed this book, like I have all the others. Tim develops his characters well so you feel sad at the end of each book knowing that you won't get to be involved in their lives until the next book. He is also very funny and each book is laced with the kind of humor that makes Tim such a great communicator. And, like any good work of fiction, plot twists keep you completely engaged in the story as it unfolds. I also like that Downs is subtle in the message or moral of his novels. You won't find any Peretti-esque angels and demons here, or characters who wear their faith on their sleeves. Each story will mak you think about importan issues of the day if you dig deep enough and are looking for it. Sort of reminds me of another Story Teller. So, if you like fiction and don't mind reading about bugs on dead people, check out Tim Downs' latest, published by Thomas Nelson.

Movie Review: The Invention of Lying

Spoiler alert! Read no further if you don't want to know more about this film. Okay, consider yourself warned. Just saw "The Invention of Lying" on an airplane. It stars Ricky Gervaise (of the UK version of "The Office") in a world where everyone tells the truth. He becomes the first person to utter a lie. The key scene comes as Mike (Gervaise's character) sits with his dying mother. To help her feel better about dying he explains to her that you go to a very happy place when you die and everyone gets a mansion. Mike becomes an instant celebrity as the only one who knows anything about "The Man In The Sky." The point being: God is made up. It's all a lie told to help make us all feel better. This part of the film didn't come as a huge shock since I had read about Gervaise being an atheist before. Honestly, I think this film can be an incredible springboard for spiritual conversations. One scene even shows the folly of a works-based salvation. Mike is explaining what it takes to get to the good place after you dies and he says you need to do good things and not bad things. Someone in the crowd asks, "What if I do even one bad thing?" And then they start asking about specific behaviors. Mike takes the typical line of argument and says basically, "Be nice, don't kill others or steal." He neglects to say anything about lying of course. The scene does show how difficult it is to draw the line if our getting to Heaven is all about doing good things. For me, this is pretty much what I used to think about Christianity. I thought it was all made up. Then I learned more about things like the historicity of the Bible and other philosophical arguments for God. I think that's why this would make a great springboard to discuss spiritual things with a skeptical friend. It opens the door to ask, "Do you think it's all made up?" "Have you ever looked into some of the evidence for Jesus and the Bible?" If anyone has been able to use the film as a way to discuss God I'd love to hear about it. Post a comment and let me know your thoughts.

Movie Review: The Invention of Lying

Spoiler alert! Read no further if you don't want to know more about this film. Okay, consider yourself warned. Just saw "The Invention of Lying" on an airplane. It stars Ricky Gervaise (of the UK version of "The Office") in a world where everyone tells the truth. He becomes the first person to utter a lie. The key scene comes as Mike (Gervaise's character) sits with his dying mother. To help her feel better about dying he explains to her that you go to a very happy place when you die and everyone gets a mansion. Mike becomes an instant celebrity as the only one who knows anything about "The Man In The Sky." The point being: God is made up. It's all a lie told to help make us all feel better. This part of the film didn't come as a huge shock since I had read about Gervaise being an atheist before. Honestly, I think this film can be an incredible springboard for spiritual conversations. One scene even shows the folly of a works-based salvation. Mike is explaining what it takes to get to the good place after you dies and he says you need to do good things and not bad things. Someone in the crowd asks, "What if I do even one bad thing?" And then they start asking about specific behaviors. Mike takes the typical line of argument and says basically, "Be nice, don't kill others or steal." He neglects to say anything about lying of course. The scene does show how difficult it is to draw the line if our getting to Heaven is all about doing good things. For me, this is pretty much what I used to think about Christianity. I thought it was all made up. Then I learned more about things like the historicity of the Bible and other philosophical arguments for God. I think that's why this would make a great springboard to discuss spiritual things with a skeptical friend. It opens the door to ask, "Do you think it's all made up?" "Have you ever looked into some of the evidence for Jesus and the Bible?" If anyone has been able to use the film as a way to discuss God I'd love to hear about it. Post a comment and let me know your thoughts.

Outreach Idea: Pizza Discussions

A campus leader in the Upper Midwest Region was once asked what he needed by way of resources to reach more students on his campus.  He responded with one word, "Pizza."  While I'm sure he was being a little simplistic, it's amazing how the lure of free pizza still draws college students.

With that in mind, one of the outreach strategies we have used with some good success has been a "Pizza Discussion." (Come to think of it, I'm pretty sure it was that same ministry director who said the above quote who told me about Pizza Discussions).  The concept is pretty simple: Invite some friends over to have a discussion about your spiritual beliefs and you supply the pizza.  We know those kinds of discussions were going on at the wee hours of the night anyway, so why not offer an organized forum for those kinds of discussions?

At the end of this post there is a link for you to download a short Leader's Guide and Training Guide for having a Pizza Discussion.  I think you'll find it a very effective way to get students together to share their thoughts on God and spirituality.  Let me know how it goes if you end up trying one.

Download Pizza discussion guide

Download Pizza discussion training

College Students & Money Part 1

In about an hour I will be speaking to the Cru group at Cal State Fullerton. They have been doing a series called "Jesus and Pop Culture" at their weekly meetings where they compare and contrast a popular song of the day with what the Bible teaches.
I'm going to be talking about money. While I don't know much about any music after the 80's, I have watched American Idol and I wonder what it would be like for any of us to have to sit in front of someone like Simon Cowell and have our financial life critiqued. For me, in college, that would not have been a fun experience. I was horrible at handling my finances in college. I took out a student loan one year that I did not need and bought a stereo. A couple years later, still in college, I needed some money so I sold that stereo to my brother. But, since I used loan money for it, I was paying it off for the next 5 years.
Did you know that the average college student has over $3,000 in credit card debt? Personal debt is the #2 reason we have to turn people down from joining CCC staff (sexual purity is #1, by the way).
I'm going to be telling them 4 things:
1. The way you approach money is directly related to your view of Security and satisfaction
2. Commit to living within your means and buying only what you need
3. Start giving and saving every month
4. get help if you're in too deep and kill the credit card monster

Bill Bright once said, "Satan aims to drive Christians into debt so he can drain them with worry or despair and keep them spiritually impotent and fruitless."

Book Review: Obstacles Welcome by Ralph de la Vega

Obstacles Welcome is part autobiography and part leadership wisdom.  Ralph de la Vega not only shares his story of escaping Fidel Castro’s Cuba as a 10 year old without his parents, but also the principles used to lead Cingular Wireless and now ATT Mobility as President and CEO.

I am a business-book junkie and, while it wasn’t in the top 5, I really enjoyed it.  I especially appreciated the visuals laced throughout the book.  Each chapter includes a diagram illustrating some business process or model, such as: “The Success Framework,” “The Learning Cycle,” and “Operating Plan Elements.”  Seeing these inspired me to diagram some of my own leadership challenges and thoughts.

I would have appreciated more details regarding the inner workings of Cingular and ATT.  Ralph seems to skim the surface of major decisions and certain business challenges.  More details would have helped better translate the principles to my work.  Also, the book doesn’t cover anything about Ralph’s faith or make connections between faith and leadership. I would have liked some of that.

Overall I’d recommend this book to anyone looking for practical management and leadership wisdom. I’d also recommend it for those looking for a compelling story about overcoming adversity as an immigrant and ethnic minority.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from Thomas Nelson Publishers as part of their BookSneeze.com <http://BookSneeze.com> book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 <http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/waisidx_03/16cfr255_03.html> : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.

Slow Is The New Fast

One of my mentors used to always say, "Time is your friend."  He said this to help me and other leaders value seeing change happen over time and to be patient as we led.  Young leaders want the whole enchilada now, but a smart leader is willing to plod along and do what's necessary to see change happen, even if it appears slow.

I heard it put a similar way when I was being trained as a new campus ministry leader.  My teachers there said, "Slow is fast and fast is slow."  Fast means charging ahead without your due diligence of strategic planning and working a decision-making process.  It's fast, but at some point it becomes slow either because you did not properly plan for issues that come up or you did not properly align your team.  So, the project comes to a screeching halt and might not ever get off the ground again because you've lost faith with your team.

The slow way means involving key stakeholders (students, other staff, etc.) in on the original planning and decision-making processes.  It takes time, but your buy-in curve will go way up.  And, when significant buy-in happens, everyone on your team starts to pull the weight and that "slow" becomes fast.  It also involves working a planning process.  "If you fail to plan, you plan to fail" as the old adage goes. 

So, before you as a leader go charging ahead with some new strategy or plan, consider taking the slow lane.  Slow down and take the time to make a plan, involve people, and do your due diligence.  You'll be amazed at how fast you end up going.

Adding Play to Your Work

You know what they say about all work and no play making Jack a dull boy, right? I say that all work and no play makes work dull as well.  So why not try adding some play to your next meeting?

I learned this from my friend Vicki Guinn who now works with Campus Crusade's music and arts ministry called Keynote.  To keep the creative juices flowing at meetings she would bring in things to play with like modeling clay, finger paint, markers, jacks, etc...  At one meeting she had someone craft a replica of a 1700's sailing ship out of popsicle sticks!  For the more creative people, instead of this being a distraction, this actually helps them stay engaged in the discussion.  And it sends a signal that says, "We don't want business as usual here.  We want you to think creatively and out of the box."  

If you're a CCC staff person or student reading this, odds are you have some lengthy planning meetings coming up here at the end of the semester or quarter.  Why not stop by the dollar store on your way to the meeting and pick up some play things?  Throw them out at various points in the meeting to stimulate fun and creativity.  Who knows, you might actually have people saying, "That all day meeting was fun!"

(If you are reading this on Facebook, this was taken from my blog at http://bobfuhs.typepad.com)