This past weekend Tracy and I had the privilege of doing a photo shoot for the guys at Selfless Tee, a start up (and winner of the Pepsi Refresh Challenge) that is working to help fund causes that make a difference around the world by selling T-Shirts. (Is that a brilliant idea or what?!)
So far they’ve supported the causes of Blood:Water Mision, Vermont Flood Relief (I Am Vermont Strong), and several others in only a few short months after launch! We really love these guys and what they’re doing to make a difference in the world, and the breadth of their reach could be limitless.
This time around we (Tracy + I) got to be a part of the Feel Good campaign, an organization that is working to “end world hunger one grilled cheese (cheese toastie) at a time.” They have a great video on the site that explains exactly how they are working to do this through non-profit gourmet deli’s on college campuses and to date they’ve already raised over one million dollars (since 2005) to help eradicate hunger and poverty around the world.
I’m always amazed at the creativity and ingenuity of people who come together to create positive and lasting change around the world through simple but effective ideation. I’m looking forward to following each of their stories more–thankfully it’s not that hard since I get to see them pretty regularly around the office. Take a moment and stop by the Selfless Tee site and support a cause with a T-Shirt. It’s amazing what a little can do, if we all do it together.
Yesterday was a huge new step in the life of our community as we launched our partnership with The Common. This technological partnership will help us facilitate a greater sense of care within our Families, meet needs throughout our community, and help us tackle larger needs within the city of San Francisco and beyond. The Common will help us to not only communicate needs but facilitate ways in which we can unleash our community to meet those needs!
I can’t believe how simple this whole site is and how easy it will be to mobilize our community to truly make a greater difference in people’s lives. I’m truly stoked about the possibilities and tremendously thankful for our team of facilitators and administrators who have made this all possible! If you’re a part of IKON make sure you sign up at one of our Sunday Gatherings in the next couple of weeks and get in on the action!
I’m looking forward to this movement of generosity that is budding within our community, and I couldn’t be more proud to be a part of it!
The past three weeks I’ve been doing something a little out of the ordinary… I’ve been growing a ‘stache. Over the past week it finally moved from the creepy stache phase into something a little more respectable (thank goodness… I was getting weird looks on the street.) Many people have asked me, “so what’s the deal with the ‘stache man?” To which I get to tell people about an amazing organization called Donor’s Choose. Donor’s Choose is an organization that utilizes the concept of micro-finance to help fund teachers and education around the country, especially in the most underfunded areas of Music and Art.
The past three weeks I’ve attempted to raise some awareness as well as get some people to fund some projects around Northern California and the Bay Area through My Giving Page, which has an up to date picture of me sporting my amazing stache.
Unfortunately, I haven’t been able to raise much of what I’d like to help these teachers and students and the 4 weeks are almost up (ends on Tuesday.) So, I thought I’d throw out a little challenge… I hate my mustache… it’s itchy, weird looking, and it’s starting to become a food-trap… in short, I want to shave it off and am very much looking forward to Tuesday’s shave! However, if between now and Saturday my giving page sees an increase of $200 and we’re able to make a difference in the lives of 200+ more students I’ll keep my ‘stache and sport that sucker at the Old Navy Christmas Party in front of all of Tracy’s co-workers (December 17th)… embarrassing? Yes… but more for me than her for sure!
So, I leave this in your hands. You decide when the ‘stache goes… sooner or later!
(Before you press play, please note that if you’re easily offended, you will probably be offended by this video–you were warned.)
Sarah Silverman, the tremendously sarcastic provocateur has once again given us something profound to ponder as we continually stare at and shed tears but ultimately refuse to respond to the issue of extreme poverty and world hunger. Our refusal, I hope/believe, isn’t so much because we’re a heartless people but rather because of the enormity of the problem standing in front of us. The shear magnitude is enough to render us completely useless as we sit totally overwhelmed by the shadow it casts over us. With that said, I think she’s on to something… let’s sell the Vatican! It’s the perfect solution, isn’t it? It’s really rather useless in the grand scheme of things, so incredibly ornate and enormous in size that it puts everything else around it to shame. It’s the perfect solution to an instant gratification, someone-else-should-take-care-of-the-problem-because-I-have-enough-problems-of-my-own society that we’ve become.
And although therein lies the greatest problem, our “someone else will/should do it” mentality, there is also a large sliver of truth that we should pay careful attention to… as well as a big question for us to ask: Why hasn’t the church taken a greater responsibility in contributing to the end of this problem? Don’t get me wrong, I’m proud of what the church has accomplished, the amazing acts of generosity that have gone on all around the world as communities have stepped up to make a difference with what they have, but this is more the exception rather than the rule. And even though I don’t think the point of Silverman’s genius is to get the church to do something, I think we should take it that way.
The shear magnitude of the epidemic of extreme poverty is so great that the “exception churches” won’t be able to make a sizable dent in the near future. That is why the entire church must begin to come together to eradicate poverty together. This should be a movement of unification, of churches far and wide coming together with the single mission to do something like never before. And through this, the greatest act of love, people will know that we are His disciples. But it all starts with unity… of one church coming together with another church, and working with a third and a fourth until a movement is birthed and villages, towns, cities, metropolises, regions, and countries are pulled from the depths of economic despair and senseless deaths from the ravages of extreme poverty are a thing of the past.
So, any churches want to partner with IKON to start something new?
It’s no doubt that in today’s economic environment many people are struggling financially, struggling with unemployment and wishing they were debt free. I know I certainly do! Well, a few weeks ago a friend told me about a website called mint.com, an intuitive personal budgeting web application that helps take all the guesswork out of your budgeting. (We all know how hard it is to guess correctly, right?!) Well, this application shows you your spending trends and helps you in your budgeting process instead of pulling numbers out of thin air. Not only that, it’s a stark reminder every time you open the page of just how far in debt you actually are in addition to showing where you spending the majority of your money. For us, living in San Francisco, it’s also a stark reality to just how high our rent is and how much of our monthly budget goes into our living expenses!
Basically, this web application aggregates all of your online banking into one place (credit cards, bank statements, debit card usage, car loans, student loans, investments, etc) and creates pie charts, and other helpful tools to give you a stand-out visual of your actual financial situation–in real time. There’s a section for budgeting that allows you to set numbers and follow your trends of spending over the months so that you can be more accurate. And here’s a feature that I’m most excited about–whenever you go over your budget in an area, you get an email alert indicating you’re over budget and by how much! It’s a great way to stay on top of your finance!
This tool has some pretty amazing potential, and honestly, could really help a lot of people who are looking to be debt free. It’s something that many churches should seriously look into and consider adding as a resource into their Financial Courses (Good$ense, Financial Peace University, etc.) for helping people get a better handle on and understanding of their spending and their debt. And maybe even best of all… it’s free!
If the biggest barrier to generosity in our churches today is the saddle of debt that we carry around, then this simple web application can certainly go a long way to helping us rid ourselves of debt and walk forward in a new and unparalleled generosity that the world hasn’t seen from us in a long, long time!
Last weekend Tracy and I were able to visit some dear friends in the San Diego area who four months ago planted Momentum Christian Church in the city of Chula Vista. On Sunday morning we were able to share with the entire church about our endeavor in the city of San Francisco to plant a new, reproducing church that will help people find their way back to God.
I’ve been able to travel around the country quite a bit the past several months and share about this new church and it’s always a thrill to be in front of new crowds and see their eyes light up as we share what’s possible in this amazing city. A couple of times we’ve been bowled over with generosity from these churches as they’ve presented us with checks and gifts of varying amounts and types, but nothing prepared me for what we experienced at Momentum.
As Chris wrapped up his interview of me he told the church of his desire to partner with us in making this new church in San Francisco a reality but was uncertain of what exactly that would look like. (Understandably so, they’re a four month old church still being supported from churches from around the country.) “However,” he said, “we’ve been keeping a secret from you all weekend long. Three weeks ago we decided as a church that we wanted to give you our entire weekend offering and use it to help you start this new church…” Immediately, I began to tear up absolutely astounded by this community’s generosity and commitment to helping people find their way back to God not only in Chula Vista but up the coast in San Francisco as well. Chris went on to tell the church that three weekends ago, the offering they took up was $5,100 (a huge offering for a four-month-old church) and since that weekend their offerings have skyrocketed!”
As a new church plant we’re extremely excited to be partnering with a church of this caliber, a church that is this focused on mission, that is so entrepreneurial they’re willing to take a huge step of faith and commit to us in such a major way. I’ve heard stories like this before, but never thought we’d have a story like this to share with our church community. God has provided for us in ways that we never before could have dreamed and churches around this country have stepped up in major ways despite the economic situations they find themselves in. It is our dream to emulate these churches, to follow their example and be as generous to others as they have been with us. It’s that sort of generosity that not only propels the Kingdom forward but enables movements to be birthed!
Thank you Momentum for your amazing example. The tales of your generosity will be legendary!
