speaker-0: This week was my first time trying a true Hawaiian pizza. So I had pineapple and pizza for the first time. If you think about the pineapple is just sweetening the sauce. So if you have that going into it and you eat it, it's very enjoyable. I think it's my new favorite pizza too.

speaker-1: I would say the key thing is done is better than perfect. Better you start and fail than fail to start. Don't try to be perfect. Start simple. Learn as much as you can. Surround yourself with the best people. Don't think you know it all. Keep your expectation low. Go for quick wins and you're gonna start to see momentum. The most important thing as leaders, you cannot help other leaders or the people you serve if you do not allow God to address the brokenness in your heart. Cannot run ministry like you would do a job. Remember it is a ministry. The ministry part is being able to navigate the brokenness of people and the dirtiness of life. The Bible really emphasizes that help is always on the way. He tell to start something and you have all of these ideas of it wouldn't work, I'm not qualified. Think about Moses. God tell him go. And he's like, no, I have a speech, I kinda do this, they wouldn't believe me. But when he made the move, God set the help. All right, Ellie, welcome to the Fluid Ministry Show. How are you doing today?

speaker-0: Good, how are you doing today?

speaker-1: Excellent. Well, this is what, episode zero, right? Yes. We've been talking about this, doing this and now we are here. So I'm excited to get going.

speaker-0: Very exciting, yes. So a quick introduction of me. My name is Ellie. I have been a part of Fluid Ministry for a total of over two years. It's been on and off, but I've always really appreciated working with Jason and everything he's doing. So I'm excited to start this new project.

speaker-1: I'm so excited to be joining Ellie. She took a break for a while, but she came back and I'm like, man, this is a blessing. Perfect opportunity. And I love what she's doing with her own time. She's working on some cool projects. I think God is aligning us to work. But those who don't know, I actually worked with her mom for eight plus years. And it's just such a beautiful thing to continue working with such a great family. So, Ellie, look, I'm really excited. And may God bless our efforts. And for those who are listening, thank you. Join us for this ride. ⁓ By the way, for those who don't know, my name is Jason Alexis. I am the founder of Fluid Ministry. And Fluid Ministry, it's about ministry, our tagline. I've been doing this over 15 years, where I build tools, I develop resources, and I help churches reach more people for Christ using technology. It's all about digital evangelism, which is just evangelism or outreach using digital tools. Remember, people do not want to stay in technology. They don't want to stay online. They do want to connect with you, but digital tools makes that easier. So that has been my calling and I'm excited to begin sharing some of the things that I've learned along the way, some of the best practice, some of the things we're working on. So let's get started.

speaker-0: Yes. So quick icebreaker to start, what was the best thing that you ate this week?

speaker-1: Best thing that I ate this week. That's interesting. Yesterday, a friend of mine had a surprise birthday party. His daughters actually organized it for him. And that was fun. And he is from East Africa, specifically Kenya. And in Kenya, they do traditional foods, which I actually really enjoy. It's something called ugali. But then they had lots of meats, all kinds of African meats. So I really look forward to that food. It's a different taste, but it's an enjoyable taste. It's something I don't cook. So I think there's the food, but more importantly the fellowship. So how about you? What's the best thing you ate this week so far?

speaker-0: So actually this week was my first time trying a true Hawaiian pizza. So I had pineapple on pizza for the first time and going into was so good. Going into it, I was told you have to think about it in a certain way. Having fruit on pizza is definitely different, but if you think about the pineapple is just sweetening the sauce. So if you have that going into it and you eat it, it's very enjoyable. I think it's my new favorite pizza too, so it was great.

speaker-1: We have another convert. Pineapple do deserve to go on pizza. But I think that's the key what you said. It's about perspective. When you hear something pineapple and pizza, if you never grew up doing that, it sounds completely crazy. But I think that is actually really a helpful t tip in life. Sometimes it's not the thing that is wrong, it's just a perspective on it. I grew up in Trinidad and Tobago and pineapple and pizza was always a thing. So pineapple and pizza has always been a favorite of mine. So I'm glad that you tried it.

speaker-0: Yes, me too. We wanna do a Bible verse for every week and because this is episode zero, I think the perfect verse for this week is Zechariah four ten. It says, Do not despise these small beginnings, for the Lord rejoices to see the work begin. And I think that's just the perfect verse for starting a new project, a new journey, and to see God's blessings over this. So that's how I wanted to start it off for this week.

speaker-1: I think it's a very powerful verse for sure. I'll tell you this there was a period of time when I was doing business. I was convinced to read more books on business. And as much as I enjoyed those, and I think it's important to continue to learn more about your craft. What I recognized for a long time, and what I recognized then, a lot of those concepts or best practices all came from the Bible. It's all what I call the Jesus model. The Bible is such a packed book. not only for best practices and strategies, but also just for comfort and encouragement. But this verse is very powerful. I think the other thing the Bible really emphasizes that help is always on the way. He's gonna send help. Sometimes he tell you to start something and you have all of these ideas of it wouldn't work. I'm not qualified. Think about Moses. God tell him go and he's like, No, I have a speech problem, I kinda do this, they wouldn't believe me. But when he made the move, God sent the help. He sent the Aaron, he sent Miriam. He sent people to help him. He sent Jet through his father. So may God bless our new beginnings, our new podcast.

speaker-0: Yes, I agree. We had an interesting discussion before, so I wanted to ask the question that a lot of people may be wondering or interested in this perspective. So ⁓ I guess my question is why is perfectionism in ministry actually deterring people in need? And what is ministry truly about that some people may have lost the focus?

speaker-1: That's a good question. I actually had a discussion with someone yesterday and she is a ministry leader and she had been doing this for a long time, specifically with insurance ministry, specifically what we call club ministries. Club ministries is like the Boys and Girls Club, but for this specific denomination. She was well known for doing this club successfully with her kids. Her kids are now grown. So she's at a different stage in her life. And they moved or decided to take their services, which is great. To a smaller church in a different area. And in her mind, if you have kids' ministry, especially at a small growing church, the parents will come. So they're trying to grow the church. Her husband is elder, she's working in many other areas. And so far she had been very successful. But she told me she found herself being very upset with the kids when they went to a particular meeting. Now, these kids, I wouldn't say at risk, but they are not necessarily the typical kids maybe she were accustomed to. They weren't her kids. Some of the parents are not coming to church. And the only reason why they're coming to church because she insists and the kids want to come. So the parents are not fully invested. So you don't have the parental support. The other challenge she has is to get other members from church to volunteers. So she don't really have the full volunteer support. And in her mind, she wants but recreate this perfect thing, or at least this thing that she had more control when her kids were younger, when she was younger, when she was doing it all those years ago. And she admitted that the Holy Spirit spoke to her and said, She found herself being upset With a 10-year-old. She's like, Jason, why am I upset with a 10-year-old to this degree? And we began talking about ministry. What is ministry really about? And I think that's something that I had to learn as well. You cannot run ministry, you would do a job. Sometimes you have somebody who's works full time in that role. Most chitches cannot afford full-time employees. But even in that case, remember, it is a ministry. The ministry part is being able to navigate the brokenness of people. First, the kids. You weren't trying to create a perfect club with perfect attendance and winning awards and doing all the cab honors and all that stuff. That would be nice. The true intent was to minister to these kids who were coming from homes that didn't quite believe in God or didn't have that as a priority. If you can get them, let the Holy Spirit be planted in their hearts, the Holy Spirit will do the rest. So when you put that in perspective, you then adjust what your goals are for the club, which then relieves stress. Then when things don't work from a club perspective, you're not as angry because you said, You know what? These kids are likely gonna be closer to God or have an opportunity to be closer to him because we are continuing to bring them, we are continuing to have patience with them. So that's the first level. The second thing that in our discussion, the Holy Spirit spoke to both of us on that is the volunteers. A lot of times for those who are leaders and those who are creators and those who can do hard work, we create a proof perfect program. Then we delegate and then we think everything should run smooth. I have done all the work, I've made it easy for you. But again, we talk about the brokenness in your the people that you work with. We all are broken. And your staff and the volunteers or people that you're working with, your assistants, whoever is working with, they also have their own challenges. They may be older, but they have financial difficulties, they may have marital challenges, or if they're married, or they just have life challenges. And you have to recognize that as a leader, You need to understand that your ministry is supposed to bring them, plan the seed to bring them closer to Christ, even if things are not perfect. And I think part of that is adjusting your expectation or goals so that the people are not affected. But the final piece that we were all reminded about, that ministry, when God elects us to serve, is a transformative process for us. But because we have been elected to serve or we are serving in a leadership position means that we have it all figured out. Just as my friend saw. That she was getting angry with a 10-year-old and she recognized that even though she had been doing this thing for years, she was not fully there. There was something God was trying to work in her life still. And the ultimate thing is God wants to save us. Salvation is a personal thing. And a lot of times God elects us for positions to save us. She said she wanted to give up at times. It's really not about did I meet the goal that I set, but did God finish what started in me and through me to others. And the most important thing as leaders, You cannot help other leaders or the people you serve if you do not allow God to address the brokenness in your heart. The Holy Spirit multiplies your efforts, but I think that was a really good ⁓ reminder. So as we think about technology, ministry, businesses like me that build products or share best practices, it's all the same. We cannot forget the ministry aspect of what we do.

speaker-0: I think that was honestly such a great perspective of things that I haven't even thought about. I've never heard it broken down in those three layers. And I can appreciate the last thing you said was it's not only are you serving others, but this is God's journey for our lives as well. And he is teaching us something through every moment that we decide to serve in and minister in. So I think realizing that it's also helping us and our journey growing closer to him is super important. And I can honestly take that into my own ministry and personal life that I am choosing to do. So I think that was a great perspective. I really appreciate that. ⁓

speaker-1: Thank God he has provided the Holy Spirit, He has provided help, He has died to save us, so we have hope. And I think with that hope we can proceed knowing that we are forgiven and we are re redeemable and we are redeemed if only do we accept his gift of salvation.

speaker-0: So getting into actually what we do at Fluid Ministry. So what is one product feature something that people may not have had the chance to explore yet?

speaker-1: Definitely. So Fluid Ministry creates products and one of the products is Display Church. Display Church allows churches to embed calendar widgets and forms that integrates with church management systems like Planning Center, Pushbase, C C B, Breeze, and Google into your website. We don't only allow you to embed it, we allow you to do tons of advanced filtering. So you don't show everything to everybody all at once. Our designs itself works really well, it's very flexible. No coding required and you can match it with your site. The end goal of these embeds is to get people to take action. And we really specialize in that. A lot of SEO optimization and the way how things are done, keep people on your website and get people to take action. So within Display Church, one of the things that we have recently added was the custom domain names. And the custom domain names allow you to now brand the hosted links. With Display Church, you can embed the different widgets, but you can also allow us to host it for you. So when you allow us to host it for you, that's where we have allowed you to put a branded subdomain name. So instead of having the default option, you can then put something like gracechurch.displayhost.com. And that's the new URL as well that we have added, making it a little more generic. Before it was hosted on our main domain name, display.church. Not everybody who uses our platform is a church. So we have some new domain names there. We are actually also have display show. We have been working with a lot of the Jewish. Community as well. So we're excited about that. But custom domain name does a couple of things, helps you be branded, and also helps with SEO. So we're pretty excited about that.

speaker-0: The reason we wanted to create this tool for churches is we wanted to give churches and ministries and organizations more ownership over how their events appear online. And then does this update set up the groundwork for any other exciting features in the works?

speaker-1: Yes, definitely. Definitely. We have custom domain name. So now we have gone from custom sub domain name that is on our URL to fully custom domain name. So you can create events.mychurch.com and host the events on there. And it's the same idea. It gives you even the most control, fully branded, good for SEO. A lot of times people are doing ads that link to these events. Facebook and these other platforms likes when it's the ad that you're doing is the same brand and the same domain name that it plays better. So Really excited about that.

speaker-0: Yes, so another thing that we love to do at Fluid Ministry is to actually check in on clients and their feedback and what they're doing with Display Church and any other brand that we are working with as well. So what good news has DisplayChurch had with recent client feedback?

speaker-1: Road church, Nicole too, she has been somebody who really has helped push the churches. We have shared her before, but we're gonna play a clip of her and what she have done and why she did it and why it goes beyond just widgets and how it has it been impactful. So here is the video. ⁓

speaker-0: in Long Beach, California, and the church I'm working at, I actually grew up there. Yeah. So we are probably like a medium-sized church. And I've been now the creative director for a couple of years. ⁓ and that's kind of how I ⁓ got started using Display Church. So yeah. Yeah. ⁓ so feature events are the events that People come up to a pastor or someone who's volunteering, ⁓ just kind of thinking through like what are those big events that a lot of people are asking about. and so I wanted that right at the top so that the people who are coming there just to look for that specific event, they would find that right away at the top. ⁓ and then the weekly view would be what's happening this this week. ⁓ we have a lot of things that happen on Wednesdays, as you can see. So that's kind of like our biggest draw. on a weekly basis ⁓ other than Sunday. ⁓ and then this one I just updated ⁓ with the tabs. Just tried to like put buckets so that people can see if they're a parent, they're gonna look at the youth one. If they're an adult, you know, they can see all the adult ones or they can just see everything. and then yeah the fact that it's broken up by month, I think it's just better than like a s a full like endless scroll. so that was That was something I changed, I think like a month ago. yeah, and it's really helpful because we do plan things out ahead of time. So like vacation Bible school, that's something that people will ask us about in January. They'll they'll ask, when is it? What's happening? What are we doing? ⁓ and so that people will want to know that it's on the calendar. And even because I've broken it up on each page, like on each ministry page, as well as like Making a featured events calendar, making like what's happening this week, ⁓ and then ⁓ just kind of that like here's everything. I think that has helped because I know, I know when I come to someone's events page, I might come with different things in mind. I might either be looking for a specific event and I can't find it, or I want to see what's happening all like the whole month or the whole week. Or I might just want to look and see what's going on. ⁓ and so that's kind of like the thought process behind our events page. because we have it, it is interesting because I've seen other churches where they just post like their their like all church events, like they don't post their ministry events on their website, but we have always just posted everything so that anyone who wants to join can come. ⁓ as well as like our current ⁓ congregants use that calendar to see it. So it is kind of interesting. I feel like other churches use it. for just for visitors that that's the only people that look at it. So they're just coming to main events. ⁓ so I think that's probably like our unique problem that we were trying to solve. And I think we've we've solved it for the most part.

speaker-1: Did you know that you can turn this Google Calendar into this display.churchview? Aye. I understand how important it is for your church to communicate upcoming events quickly and effectively without putting a lot of effort into the process. Especially in churches where the event details change frequently. Let me show you how you can quickly turn a church Google Calendar into an engaging, inspiring display.church view that will get more people interested and involved. Bonus tip: your Google Calendar workflow will not change. Step 1. Sign up and integrate your Google Calendar with display.church for free. Step 2. Choose a design that matches your brand or easily tweak our default settings. No coding is required. Step 3. Publish and embed this exciting view on your website or mobile app, or share your unique events URL as a hosted page. Plus, with display.church, your calendar is always up to date and current automatically. You simply set it and forget it. Start free with no credit card required. See how a display.church integration can go a long way to reduce the communication friction while getting more people connected and growing with your ministry. Visit display.church today.

speaker-0: AI has been a big talk lately, obviously, and how it's gonna integrate into the church world. So do you have any good news with AI in the church world? Any tips that you'd like to share for people who are a little hesitant when branching out into this new

speaker-1: No, definitely. I'm surprised that churches are not as apprehensive of AI as I thought they would have been when it was becoming a thing. That's a big surprise. There's still a lot of apprehensions, but not as much as people were apprehensive when came to social media. I think post COVID have changed this a lot where churches recognize they cannot be anti-technology because should something happen where your church is shut down and you cannot meet or do things traditionally. what are the ways that you have to connect. I also think that a lot of people have been using AI as the fun memes and cool things like that. So they're seeing the fun part of it and hence they don't have as much apprehension on the challenge. Now there are churches that are still concerned about it. I think the biggest challenge you see when it comes to the apprehension, before we share the good news, is that churches, and this is more of a proclamation, AI, artificial intelligence, the large learning models, These are technologies and these are tools. I believe that God has created everything. Satan corrupts. There isn't anything that man has created that has only been used for good. But I believe God has allowed this for a time like this so that the church could push the message to all the world in this generation. AI has allowed many churches to do more. You can literally speak in tongues through AI, and God has allowed this method for that. One challenge I can highlight is pastors or people who are using the powerful text generation to generate sermons or generate thoughts without input. That is wrong. We know that most of these models are trained on data that are not really friendly towards Christianity or the Bible beliefs. So pastors, leaders should not generate biblical theology and concepts and ask AI to do that for you. However, what I do, sometimes I would preach at my church as a lay preacher. After I do my Bible study, I would share my story. I would dictate it. And then I'll ask it to clean it up for me and bring my rambling, my thoughts into points. I think that's a good way. So lots of things we have highlighted too. Definitely the ability to take your content and maybe help you organize it into an easy to read flow, but you shouldn't ask it to generate from a blank canvas of some theology topic. The second thing is how useful it has been where you can produce some sort of content. Let's say it's an audio content and you can translate that whether it's text, audio, into multiple language. I actually have been doing this personally. When I make my TikTok videos, sharing my personal testimony, I noticed that when I add a second translation, it's captions. But when I add a second translation in Spanish, the video is actually shared more and it reaches more people. Even though I'm speaking in English, the captions are both in English and Spanish. Most of these things you could have done before, but AI just makes it easier. You can do audio as well. that matches your voice. If that's something that you would like to do, you can do that as well. So really excited. I think anything that is good is because of God. Satan corrupts. We should not give him the credit for what God has allowed, but we should continue to see how we can use tools to further the gospel.

speaker-0: Jason, you've been doing this for a while, creating businesses, feeling led to minister in this way. Have you ever hesitated when starting a new idea and what was the biggest reason that you were holding off?

speaker-1: I really love this topic and I've been wanting to share some of the things that I've been doing for a number of years. And the reason before I answer the question that I haven't shared, there is this imposter syndrome you feel. Like you know a lot and you feel like you don't know. You feel that the knowledge you have is not going to be valuable. But having done this for fifteen years and having successfully launched several six and seven figure business, there's some things that I've learned, even in ministry. And I would love to share whatever I have learned. But in terms of starting a new idea, it's one thing to start something is are you able to grow it? Have I ever hesitated to start something? Yeah. I think it's natural. I think you fail, you're afraid to fail. But for somebody who has started many initiatives, it's great. And it's easier for me. I enjoy it. I think the hardest part is knowing that when you start something, you have to grow it. So I think that has been the biggest obstacle when starting. And as of recent, starting this podcast, right? has been a big challenge because if it's something that you're not comfortable doing, do hesitate. It's easy to do something that's easy for you. Starting my new project, Churchby, actually promoting that, we are working on some AI tools. We have been working on it for two years. In between time, we had sold one of my businesses, the largest piece. I'm happy that I was able to sell a business. Not every business is sellable. So I'm grateful for that. But starting over, I think it's one of the hardest things that I've faced. I think we all have that challenge when you have to start over and grind again. I have had many resats, but they have been minor. But having done this again close to 15 years at this stage in my life, that has been a big challenge. But I think the Bible reminds us that a lot of people had to start over. Abraham, they were living with Lot and their servants, and he had to start over. He had to move multiple times. Joseph had to start over and he had to move multiple times when he was sold into Egypt. When he established a life and then he was put into prison and then he established a new regiment and then he was elevated. So I think the idea of starting over or starting something new is natural. And in business, I would say the key thing is done is better than perfect. Better you start and fail than fail to start. Don't try to be perfect. Start simple. Learn as much as you can. Surround yourself with the best people. Don't think you know it all. Keep your expectation low. Go for quick wins. And you're gonna start to see momentum.

speaker-0: Alright, so now for a fun little break. I have a quick question for us. Jason, if you were stranded on a desert island and you could only pick one item, whether it's a book, song, show, app, what would it be?

speaker-1: It's very tough to answer that on the spot, honestly. But I'll be cliche. I'm gonna take my Bible. Honestly, that answer may change depending on how I feel that day. Sometimes you just want to be entertained. It's like you would get bored of the Bible. But trust me, you'll get bored of most other things. But when you spend time in the Word of God, it's so beautiful. And again, it's cliche. But I think that's the only book that you can learn about horrors and laughter and joy. And hope and there's storytelling and there's songs and there's everything. When I do study the Bible, especially when I'm preparing for my sermons and everything like that, it's such a refreshing, beautiful experience. So many ideas, not just spiritual, comes out of it. I I get ideas for business. I get ideas for my life, for my my family. So it's cliche and I type the best answer I know, but I think the Bible hands down.

speaker-0: Honestly I I couldn't pick anything different now. I also learned that

speaker-1: Yeah, I it's difficult, right? If you said something like, I'll call you a pagan, right? It'll be kind of tough to beat that. I would say this if I have to pick something else, it has to be something that is stimulating that isn't related to technology. I think I was actually thinking about this today, that the most stimulating things that we experience as human beings is what God has made, the natural things. A well done movie is stimulating, is captivating, but once you finish that movie an hour or two. You feel empty. It doesn't feel like it sustains itself. But I find that if you spend time in nature, then maybe you go to the beach or you go on a nice hike, you go and see something that is interesting, and you can work with your hands. To me, that's the most interesting. So I think I would take something that is not technology, something that will stimulate my brain. If not the Bible, I'll take something that will allow me to think and to experience life in 3D.

speaker-0: Immediately that just makes me think of gardening. I'd take a thing of seeds to nourish and grow and see life created. So I think that would be my pick.

speaker-1: What's funny about that? I grew up seeing my mom gardening. And I always thought that was like an old person activity. But we have seen a shift. More and more people were taking up gardening at a younger age. But I think people are recognizing just growing things. It's such a beautiful thing, man. And in fact, there's something called the blue zones, the areas where people live the longest. And one of the things that they do is gardening. One of the things gardening is a full body workout. I don't know how much people have ever gardened. You have to bend down and you have to stand up. You have to stretch. Sometimes you have to lift things and you have to move things. Then you work in the sun to so the good thing is you get the sunshine, you get the fresh ear. There's research that talks about our body needing minerals from dirt. That's when you have it your own vegetables. There's more minerals that is transferred. There's also research that talks about being barefooted, touching the soil. There's something that it does to your body. So I think gardening is a really good one. I think you'll be entertained. You'll be stimulated because it's almost better than a movie. You can see something that is seeded, it can grow, you have to fight off the bugs. So that's the thriller, that's the action. And then eventually when there's fruits, it is such a joyful feeling. Whether it's a fruit or you can eat the leaves or harvest the provisions, it's such a beautiful feeling.

speaker-0: So for this upcoming week, do you have any tips or call to actions that you'd suggest for anyone listening today?

speaker-1: ⁓ man, that's a good one. I think Don is better than perfect. In fact, perfect could be is a saying about perfection be the enemy of creativity. I'm not sure if I'm saying it correctly, but perfection sometimes really stresses people out. ⁓ it makes you focus on the goal of achieving something in your mind and the way it should be. And it sometimes steps on and forgets that people are involved. So I think Don is better than perfect when it's ministry. Whether it's in business or whether it's in life, it's better you get it done than procrastinate or try to make everything's aligned where it's going to be perfect. Which means as you do ministry this week, as you live your life, sometimes be okay to lower the standard because getting it done might actually help create that momentum, which would eventually lead to perfection. So as you think about anything that you're stressed this week, just remember done is better than perfect. God will do the rest. Go baby steps and you will get there eventually.

speaker-0: That is the perfect takeaway from today. I am very excited to continue to do this and offer advice and updates about what we're working on and just reaching into the church ministry aspect of things. So to anyone listening, is there any current bundle or offer that they should be aware of to start today?

speaker-1: Definitely we have a bundle website, which is fmbundle dot com that bundles most of these services. That gives you up to fifty percent off when you combine. So if you're interested in any of these services, we definitely recommend that you check out our bundle. We appreciate it.

speaker-0: Awesome, super exciting.

speaker-1: This concludes episodes right episode zero of our Fluid Ministry It's About Ministry podcast. Thank you for joining us. We are going to take our own advice and say, Don is better than perfect. Episode zero. Hopefully we can look back at episode 100 and say, Well, my home, we have come a long way. How horrible we sounded, right? But that's the part. I hope so, right? Let's keep getting better. Ellie, it was a pleasure chatting with you. Bye, everyone. Thank you.

speaker-0: Thank you, Jason. Hi.