the Monday Morning Debrief: Dealing with Social Media Hack
Have you ever had one of your social media accounts hacked? I have...yesterday in fact. Well, it wasn't quite "hacked" as my Facebook account was left logged on while I was at church (my computer was in my office). Two students thought it would be fun if they changed my profile picture to a piece of poop in a toilet. Then, they tagged a few others and posted it. I didn't even notice it until I got a few texts and my Facebook messenger went off with a person who said they were offended by my pic and asked me to take it down. Thank goodness for their very rude message to me. 
So, I was hacked and although I changed it quickly I was really mad. In fact, I was livid and confronted the student immediately (it was pretty obvious who the primary offender was). I told him that it was completely inappropriate for him to do that and that I was going to tell his parents about it. That scared the living daylights out of him and he apologized left and right. Now, I ended up not telling his students but about an hour after the incident I went and processed it with him, letting him know I still liked him but, as I do with my girls, processed through why what he did was wrong.
Can't I take a joke? Why was it wrong? Yes, I can take a joke, but considering I am a Pastor, people look at me and my actions differently than others. So whether or not, it was funny or not, having something like this posted on my Facebook wall and as my profile picture crossed the line in my eyes.
But maybe I was wrong. Have you ever had this happen to you? What did you do? If this hasn't happened to you, how would you have responded and done? Post your thoughts or experiences so that we can all benefit and learn from each other. After all, I'm sure I haven't been the only one
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- Chowtime – 5/18
- Real Dinner + Conversations = Win
- the Monday Morning Debrief: Changes gone array
- Chowtime – 5/11
the Monday Morning Debrief: Making the most out of an opportunity
Last summer, MySocialCloud.com had the opportunity of a lifetime. Because they responded to a tweet from Richard Branson, Virgin Mobile CEO and entrepreneur, they went from an unknown company to being invested in by Branson for $1 million. How did this happen, might you ask?
Because they saw an opportunity and responded. The opportunity was an invitation on Twitter by Branson that whoever donates $2,000 a charity of his backing, they would have the opportunity to meet him for cocktails. So the MySocialCloud.com founders Stacey and Scott responded, donated, met Branson and in returned ended up having him invest in their company to the tune of $1 million dollars. Now their company has been propelled in further ahead of their plan. Not to shabby for responding to a tweet.
So how does this apply to ministry?
Simple. Stacey and Scott saw an opportunity and jumped on it. What opportunities are right in front of you that you need to respond to? What is God doing right in front of you, ready for the taking, just ready for you to see it and respond?
In January, I started a youth event called "the Hangout" every Friday night where middle and high school students would come and hangout, play games and have a safe place to go on a Friday night that didn't involve drinking and recklessness. Well, one thing that started happening was that after our nZone Grand Opening event, some lower income families from the local neighborhood started hearing about "the Hangout" and began dropping off their elementary aged children on Friday nights. They thought "the Hangout" was for them too.
Now, having elementary aged students coming out to a middle and high school event wasn't exactly what I had in mind, but more and more of these students started coming out. They were really loving it. Then some of the staff from New Life and I started hearing from local teachers how these students kept on talking about it at school. The teachers would tell us that if these children weren't coming to "the Hangout" on Friday nights they would be stealing bikes and getting in all sorts of mischief.
So what do we do? You can't mix high school teens with elementary aged kids? We should just turn these kids away until we can program and plan for something, right?
Wrong. Through others at New Life starting to see an opportunity, we were able to formulate a plan to keep drawing these students to the nZone on Friday night AND, even better, a group of us have developed a modified VBS every M, W, F this summer specificically for these lower income children. It has been amazing so far with over 30 children each time.
So here's the point. Opportunities are all around us. The question is are we seeing them? Are we looking for them? Are we acting on them?
This ministry to lower income children and their families was not what I intended when I started this Friday night deal. But God used it as a starting point for something bigger. And, because of the blessing of many great people at New Life, we are now able to reach a new group of people, a group we never thought we were going to reach like this. It just shows that God is great and can do so much.
So what about you? TAKE A MINUTE right now and think through what are the opportunities that God may have rich in front of you that you need to act on now. As Guns N Roses used to sing, "Nothing last forever in the cold November rain". Well, it's July, but still, opportunities are there, possibly waiting for you to take that step and do something about it. Will you? Or will you just let is slip away because of this or that reason?
Share your thoughts or experience about opportunities so that we can all benefit.
Possibly Related Posts:
- the Monday Morning Debrief: Overcoming Dark Times
- Chowtime – 5/18
- Real Dinner + Conversations = Win
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- Chowtime – 5/11
What I’m hitting up for the OC12 Pre-conference
The OC12 Pre-conference begins this morning at 9:30 am!! I'm really excited to be here after the great meet and greet. By the way, check out my new friend...
Anyways, here are the Pre-conference seminars I'm gonna hit up and will be posting the notes later if you want to follow my blog today:
- HOW TO: Intentionally Connect to Your Community Through Sports. I'm excited about this one because of the nZone back home and how New Life Christian Church can better use sports to minister our community.
- HOW TO: Prioritize Social Media in Your Ministry. I am always looking for ways to get more social with our students and how to produce a great social media product so we can keep getting the word out to them.
- HOW TO: Creatively Tell Stories to Preschoolers. Being the "Family Guy" at New Life (not just the Youth Guy), I have a vested interest in making sure ALL our students can hear about God and Christ in an effective way. So I'm really excited about learning how to better communicate with these young children.
- HOW TO: Implement 252 Basics Over Multiple Service Times. Having 3 services at New Life and being a new converter to 252 Basics, we are still learning so much. So going to this seminar will help me understand 252 more and bring home more info for our Children's Ministry Director as she works through it as well.
I'll be posting notes on all these later today.
Possibly Related Posts:
- the Monday Morning Debrief: Overcoming Dark Times
- Chowtime – 5/18
- Real Dinner + Conversations = Win
- the Monday Morning Debrief: Changes gone array
- Chowtime – 5/11
What are people seeing
I came across two interesting articles recently. The 1st one was a few weeks ago involving former NBA star Jamal Mashburn. In the article it highlighted how he has successfully made the jump from NBA player to the business world after his career was over (something many NBA players have failed to do). In the article, he said this, which really stuck out to me,
"For me, being in business is always something I wanted to do. When I was a kid riding on trains in New York, I saw older people carrying a briefcase. I was always curious what was in them. That's probably my original inspiration,"
From a very young age, Jamal was watching what others around him did and that inspired him to do more. Very impressive.
The second article was something I came across very recently. It involves a young football Prep star, Yuri Wright, who is being recruited by several major college football programs. It ended up that he was just recently expelled from his high school for things that he wrote on his Twitter account. You might be shocked at first hearing this but if you read his tweets (that have now been deleted) and realize that he goes to a Catholic High School, it isn't that shocking. Because of his expulsion, a lot of the football programs recruiting him have dropped him from consideration.
In addition to this, the sad thing is that he has over 1600 followers on Twitter, many whom are younger and probably look up to him in some way. This young man had a great opportunity to be a model to others something positive and greater than himself. But instead he promoted a lifestyle and way that wasn't very positive or healthy.
So the question is for all of us - what are we modeling? What are we modeling with what we post on Facebook, Twitter or any other social media platform? What are we modeling when we are with our friends and family? What are we modeling when we feel like no one is looking?
Our ability to impact and our sphere of influence is great. Especially for the next generation. Students don't need another jerk showing them the ways of life. They can see that on any TMZ or news show. They need someone they can look up to. They need someone who will show them by example how to love their spouce and children. They needs someone who will show them how to be nice or friendly or giving. They need positive influences.
TAKE A MINUTE right now and think through your recent tweets or Facebook posts. What did you communicate by the way you communicated to others? Same with interactions with your spouse, children, superiors or co-workers. Christ calls us in Matthew 5:16 to "let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven."
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- Chowtime – 5/18
- Real Dinner + Conversations = Win
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- Chowtime – 5/11
Always on Display
Recently, the University of Southern California (USC) football team suspended projected starting RB Marc Tyler for making innappropriate comments to TMZ. To read the article from ESPN detailing what was said and the reaction that followed, click here.
This is just yet another example of how our lives, as believers and ministers, are always public. No matter where you are or what you are doing; whether it is on Facebook, Twitter or Google +, what you think could be/is private is never really private. Things you say and do can always come back to haunt you. That is why you have always be on your guard at all times.
I had a policy when I was a Youth Director and now I have it as a Family Minister for all my Staff and Volunteers that nothing questionable can be on their Facebook or Twitter page. For instance, I don't want to see pictures of the leaders with beer in their hands or at a questionable party. Now I don't care if they have a beer and they are over 21 - it is their legal right. However, I don't want to have our students and parents we are ministering to see those pictures. I hold the same policy for inappropriate language as well. The reason is simple - it gives people an excuse to drink and do inappropriate things in their own life.
Because we are always on display, it is vitally important that we are cautious in the image we project. I'm not saying we have to project that we are perfect and have no struggles. That's not real, authentic or accurate. However, there are things that we can control that will either paint us in a godly, Christlike light or in a light that distracts from Christ's example. In everything we do we will either draw people closer to Christ and drive them further away.
So TAKE A MINUTE and think through what image you are projecting to people. Is it an example that, while real and authentic, drives people towards Christ or away from him? As Christ says in Matthew 5:16, "let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven."
Agree? Disagree? Thoughts, comments and questions are always welcome
Possibly Related Posts:
- the Monday Morning Debrief: Overcoming Dark Times
- Chowtime – 5/18
- Real Dinner + Conversations = Win
- the Monday Morning Debrief: Changes gone array
- Chowtime – 5/11
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