When stereo sound was first introduced to radio, people had no idea what to do with it. Previously, everything had been broadcast in mono which provided only one channel to push music through. Stereo now provided to separate channels.

“How does this work?”

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Seth Godin is my pastor because no one cares for their congregation (tribe) more than he does.

Anne Lamott is my pastor because she receives grace better than anyone I’ve ever seen. (I’m sure she’s just as adept at giving out grace as well.)

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We’ve all seen them. Maybe you even have one. Or maybe you’re like me and someone else has one that you want.

I’m talking about a stale Twitter account.

Twitter pages with the last update coming some time between “Don’t taze me bro!” and George W. Bush’s last day in office.

What usually happens is that people sign up for Twitter at the suggestion of a friend or colleague (or Ashton Kutcher), update a few times “I’m going to eat a sandwich – LOL!”, fail to get the point of Twitter, and then never touch it again. Nothing’s worse, in my opinion. People who started out with good intentions but got bored before the fun could start.

This  leads to Twitter accounts with cobwebs all over them. Twitter pages with the generic avatar still staring back at you. Twitter pages that, most likely, will never be touched again.

If you’ve been wanting to dust off your Twitter presence and breath some life back into it, here are three steps you can take to rejuvenate your account.

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If you treat people like they are expendable (easily replaceable; dime-a-dozen; nothing special), don’t be surprised when they act expendable. Even at a subconscious level, people know when they’re not valued. This applies at work, at home, in all areas of life.

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I’m so excited to announce to you: The BeDeviant Social Media Summit.

This has been a long-time coming and it feels good to finally announce it to all of you. Here are the basics:
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Some people give blogging a bad name.

Yesterday I spent the better part of the afternoon listening to a podcast by a “blogging expert”. I was working on other stuff, so the show was playing in the background. The podcast promised to deliver:

• How to land guest posts on the “big blogs.”
• How to make a lot of dough blogging.
• E-book compilation and release strategy.
• Et cetera, et cetera.

I felt like when I was done listening to this podcast, I would be able to blog my way to the moon and back. YEEHAW!

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My father-in-law sent this to me. I happen to think it’s hilarious.

A little sacrilege, but who’s counting? Enjoy.

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In The Way We’re Working Isn’t Working, author Tony Schwartz states that:

How we feel profoundly influences how we perform. Feeling devalued pushes us into the Survival Zone–which increases our fear, distracts our attentions, drains our energy, and diminishes the value we’re capable of creating … Perhaps no human need is more neglected in the workplace than to feel valued.

Wow. That’s a statement. However, I’m guessing there are many people reading this post where this passage rings true. “Check. Check aaaaand check,” you said to yourself silently.

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I’m ankle-deep into Tony Schwartz’s book, The Way We’re Working Isn’t Working, and he drops this bomb on me:
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If you’ve been around the church for any length of time, you’ve heard of people leaving the marketplace to go into full-time ministry.

“God’s called me out of my full-time job as a banker/accountant/clown/baker/realtor to be a pastor.”

I don’t doubt these promptings by the Spirit. But why is it that we never hear of the opposite?

Why do we hardly ever hear of people being called out of full-time ministry into the marketplace? Surely they exist.