Church

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  The Digital Sanctuary

• Story Inspires Us To Become Historytellers

  Cynthia

  30 Oct 2009 | 8:48 am

  Special thanks to Tim Schraeder for his impressions / interpretations of some of the concepts / dialog / challenges our session raised at Story 09.  And thank you to the participants who came to our breakout.  Were you there?  You’ll see some of your comments and input here in Tim’s notes. Social Media Pulse What are churches current social media patterns? We are living in a world people dreamed of. There used to only be a computer at work… then it went home… then to your lap… now to your hand. Mobile ubiquity, where everyone has a phone, presents challenges and…

• Cultivate Conference This Week

  Cynthia

  26 Oct 2009 | 9:39 am

  This week I’m headed for Chicago and Cultivate 09.  Then on to Ben Arment’s Story Gathering. Cultivate will be streaming live and I’ll be doing the interviews with facilitators all day. Who do you wanna see? Kem Meyer Dawn Nicole Baldwin Matt Knisely Tim Schraeder Maurilio Amorim Blair Farley Drew Goodmanson Jon Acuff Phil Cooke Michael Buckingham Brad Abare Kent Shaffer JR Kerr Sarah Hatter Jeremy Scheller Terry Storch Carlos Whittaker Gabe Taviano Cynthia Ware Tony Steward Michael Forsberg Brad Ruggles Clint Runge Justin Wise Tiffani Barnes Bobby Gruenewald Katie Moon…

• SimChurch - Being the Church in a Virtual World

  Cynthia

  22 Oct 2009 | 7:27 am

  Since we are still evaluating the reality & potential of church online the question just keeps coming up: “Of course, [virtual church] is possible. But is it biblical?” The following is a response to me from Douglas Estes, author of SimChurch regarding his reflections on this post by Drew Goodmanson - Is Online Community real community; Questions about the virtual church? A virtual church is just as biblical as a Baptist church, a house church, a Lutheran church, a megachurch, a Pentecostal church, a contemporary rock church or a traditional American fundamentalist church. Why?

• Zondervan Launches the SimChurch Blog Tour

  Cynthia

  21 Oct 2009 | 6:35 am

  I get sent 4 or 5 books a week.  I have form letters both for authors & publishers saying “unfortunately, I cannot review your book because this space is reserved for discussions about the Church & media technologies”.   Sadly, there haven’t been many publications that fit well in this zone.   But recently, Zondervan sent me the book SimChurch by Douglas Estes.  I sped through it marking up every page, and realized how helpful it was to have a new set of observations about online church.   Now there’s a blog tour and a bit further into this post…

• Google Wave = The Death of Email?

  Cynthia

  15 Oct 2009 | 6:21 am

  Click here to view the embedded video. As you likely know, I have a particular aversion to just throwing up videos for the sake of “instant” blogging. Yet, for the first time, I’ve done it twice in a row.  Not really sure why.  I guess I’m more observing and absorbing rather than being in a place to provide any reflections.  I’ve only been a Google Wave participant for a week but, well to quote Fergie, “I’ve got a feeling….”  I think Google Wave could really be a communications game changer. I’m swimming in the newest…

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  Church Marketing Sucks

• Church Marketing Lab: Message Series, Winter Retreats & More

  6 Nov 2009 | 1:23 pm

  As Christmas approaches, the Church Marketing Lab is heating up. One of the busiest times of the year means lots of mailers, web sites and more as churches plan for Advent, Christmas outreaches and candlelight services. But not everyone is on track for Christmas yet. Plenty of churches are thinking about this weekend, not a holiday over a month away. Here are some of the pieces we've seen swirling through the Church Marketing Lab lately: Overcome is a graphic for an upcoming message series.

• Familiar Story

  5 Nov 2009 | 6:53 am

  The Covent Garden district in London traces its roots back to Roman times. For most of its history, Covent Garden has been a cultural center including shopping, dining and the arts. In the 1960s and 70s, the Greater London Council wanted to flatten and rebuild the district because it had become impractical for modern life. At first, it seemed the plan would happen until residents of the district came to their senses and began to seek historical classification for many of the buildings, ultimately thwarting the plan to raze and rebuild. Familiarity had caused residents to lose site of the…

• Church Logos: The Good, The Bad & The Ugly

  4 Nov 2009 | 1:44 pm

  COLLIDE magazine covers church logos and has a boat-load of good advice. We already mentioned it on Twitter, but it seemed worth the extra attention. Some of the advice is obvious, but it just needs to be said: "Your church’s logo doesn’t have to look like the typical church logo. You don’t have to include a cross, dove, steeple, or flame if you don’t want to." Amen. For more help on creating your logo, check out a logo project from start to finish, the top 33 church logos and our classic post, how to design a church logo. As always, you can venture over to the Church Marketing Lab…

• Consuming CMS Poll Results

  3 Nov 2009 | 8:44 am

  Last week we asked how you most frequently enjoy receiving Church Marketing Sucks content. We have a number of different delivery systems, and we were curious to see which ones are used the most. Of course there is a bit of bias, since the poll only shows up on one of those methods--and I think we see that in the results. The most popular way to get CMS is right here on the site. More than half of you do that, though it may have something to do with the fact that the poll is right here on the site. If the numbers aren't skewed, it's quite a statement that nearly half the audience of a web…

• Vision Correction

  2 Nov 2009 | 6:48 am

  On August 30, 2009, 79-year-old Jud McKinney was driving a white pickup truck along a rural road in Winterset, Iowa. Riding a bike on the same road was 54-year-old Mark Grgurich. In a tragic turn of events, McKinney steered his truck into Grgurich, killing him. McKinney suffered from a vision problem known as macular degeneration—a blind spot in someone’s central vision. I wonder how many of us are a wrong turn away from devastating consequences because of a vision problem? Vision is a picture of an unrealized future. It’s where or what you’re headed toward (how you get there is what…

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  Brad Lomenick

• Face in the Mud Leadership

  bradlomenick

  5 Nov 2009 | 8:31 am

  As leaders, many times we have to lay down, with our head face down, in the mud, in order for things to get done. What does this mean? 1. instead of standing up and leading forward, many times we have to lay down and get out of the way. 2. No one likes to step in the mud, much less lay down in it, much much less lay down with your face in it. But sometimes as leaders we are called to sacrifice. 3. Just because you may have to lay down in the mud, doesn’t mean everyone else on your team has to do the same. 4. Servant leadership sometimes means someone else walking over our back to get to…

• My interview with Charles Lee

  bradlomenick

  4 Nov 2009 | 4:47 am

  Head on over to Charles Lee’s blog and take a few minutes to watch my interview with him. We talk about Catalyst, getting things done, what I’ve learned over the years about leaders, and why collaboration is so important. Charles is a perfect example of what I would consider a true Catalyst- a risk-taker, a leader willing to follow God’s call, a pastor who is impacting his community, a Christ-follower intent on living out the Gospel through word and deed, and ultimately a visionary who is creating opportunities for influence to occur. Check out more of the great work he is…

• Producing Events, Part Three

  bradlomenick

  3 Nov 2009 | 10:04 pm

  Here is part three of the Producing Events Series. You can find Part One and Part Two below on the site. 7. Engage all of the senses. Taste, Touch, Smell, Seeing, Hearing. Hit all of them as much as possible. Most events or experiences only focus on Seeing and Hearing. Disney is the best I’ve seen at this. 8. Video/screens can be one of your greatest assets, or biggest barriers. Everyone thinks that they have to do IMAG screens and lots of video elements, but anymore, if it’s not HD quality and really well done, it can be a hindrance. The biggest lesson- if you are leveraging…

• Young Influencers List- October edition

  bradlomenick

  1 Nov 2009 | 5:07 pm

  The October edition of the Young Influencers List. You can see last month’s list, along with all the past editions, here. 1. Charles Jenkins- pastor of the Fellowship Missionary Baptist Church in Chicago, along with being a community leader, entrepreneur and songwriter. 2. Jessica Markowitz- 14 year old from Seattle who started an organization called IMPUWE, which helps Rwandan girls attend school. Jessica will receive the UNICEF World of Children Award this week. 3. Dude Perfect Squad- group of college students at Texas A&M whose crazy basketball shots have become the most recent…

• Pics from the Week

  bradlomenick

  31 Oct 2009 | 12:23 pm

  A few pics from the past week.

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  Greg Atkinson

• Top 10 Websites to Get Internet Usage Statistics

  Greg Atkinson

  5 Nov 2009 | 10:52 pm

  The following is an article by Daniel Scocco that I found on Daily Blog Tips. Sooner or later most of us need to collect some Internet statistics. Maybe it is for your homework, maybe it is for a market research you are doing for a project, maybe it is just out of curiosity. Over the years I came across several websites that provide these stats, and I decided to list the best ones in this post. 1. Pew Internet Project One of the best resources for people looking for Internet statistics. Their research cover social networking, web 2.0, broadbandand digital divide. Apart from detailed…

• Free Christmas Music From So Elated

  Greg Atkinson

  4 Nov 2009 | 10:52 pm

  For fans of WILCO, IRON AND WINE, DAVID BAZAN, SUFJAN STEVENS, DEREK WEBB – you might dig So Elated’s new Christmas album “The Bewildering Light”. You can get it for FREE by telling 5 friends or pay what you want. I’m always looking for fresh sounding Christmas music – especially stuff with a Sufjan Stevens flavor to it. Check it!

• What’s Your Sign?

  Greg Atkinson

  3 Nov 2009 | 11:42 pm

  Since the year 2000 I’ve kept my eye on Granger Community Church – after being introduced to them at the Purpose Driven Conference. I’ve respected their pastor and talented staff for their willingness to do whatever it takes to reach people and do it with a sense of excellence and innovation. I subscribe to their WiredChurches.com newsletter and hope you do, too. I’ve never blogged about one of their newsletters before, but this one got my attention. As a secret shopper/mystery worshiper, I can’t stress how important what Mark shares is. Read on… Excerpt…

• Headed to the National Outreach Convention

  Greg Atkinson

  2 Nov 2009 | 10:47 pm

  Tomorrow I leave for San Diego. I’ll be speaking for the first time at the National Outreach Convention. I’m really looking forward to it as I’ll be able to see many great friends, leaders I respect and hopefully meet some people for the first time. I’ll be speaking four times. Here’s where you can catch me if you’re attending: Innovation in the Church – Wed. at 3pm Church Next: A Panel of Innovators – Thurs. at 10:30 am featuring: Greg Ligon, Greg Surratt, Larry Osborne, Dave Ferguson, Dino Rizzo, Hugh Halter and myself. Church Planting…

• Brett Favre Triumphs in Green Bay

  Greg Atkinson

  1 Nov 2009 | 10:56 pm

  I was never really a Packers fan, but I have always been a Brett Favre fan. I think the Packers did him wrong and should have let him come back after all his years there – but that’s another story. It has been sweet this year to watch Brett (now playing for the Minnesota Vikings) beat the Green Bay Packers – first in Minnesota and yesterday in Green Bay. And we all know how tough it is to win at Lambeau Field. What a game and what a win. Something cool that I enjoyed during the game was a website with a Brett Favre cam – a camera that followed Brett’s every move…

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  churchrelevance.com

• Half of U.S. Kids Use Food Stamps Before Age 20

  Kent Shaffer

  4 Nov 2009 | 6:55 am

  Mark R. Rank of the George Warren Brown School of Social Work at Washington University in St. Louis co-authored a study analyzing the financial circumstances of U.S. kids (ages 1-20) over a period of 30 years. Key findings include: 49% of all U.S. kids will be in a household that uses food stamps at some point during their childhood. >> 90% of black kids >> 37% of white kids >> 91% of kids in single-parent homes >> 37% of kids in married homes Nearly 25% of all U.S. kids will be in households that use food stamps for 5+ years during childhood. 97% of U.S. kids by age…

• SimChurch by Douglas Estes

  Kent Shaffer

  21 Oct 2009 | 9:35 am

  SimChurch is a book by Douglas Estes of Western Seminary (San Jose, CA) and Berryessa Valley Church (San Jose, CA) that explores the answers to the question, “what does it mean to ‘do’ church in the virtual world?” I had an opportunity to ask Douglas Estes a question of my own: What are the main advantages that a virtual church has that a brick and mortar church doesn’t? Here is what Douglas said: The average Christian in our world today is only vaguely aware of the coming role of the internet in being and doing church, and many are stuck on the questions of whether…

• Andy Stanley on Creating a Healthy Work Culture

  Kent Shaffer

  9 Oct 2009 | 2:27 pm

  Andy Stanley of North Point Community Church (Alpharetta, GA) closed Catalyst Conference’s last and 10th session by discussing how to create a healthy work culture at your church.. Here is what he said: I think that your church and your church culture should be the healthiest organizational culture in your city. I think that business people in your city should stop by during the week and say, “Wow! I have never seen an organization run so well!” I am not talking about on Sunday. I am talking about your church’s weekly work culture. Think about this. In the local church…

• Louie Giglio on Everything is Jesus

  Kent Shaffer

  9 Oct 2009 | 12:30 pm

  Louie Giglio of Passion City Church (Atlanta, GA) discussed how everything in life is about Jesus during Catalyst Conference’s 9th session. Here is what he said: I don’t know much about leadership but I do know this: It is all about the person Jesus Christ. There is nothing going on that is not about the person Jesus Christ. Leadership is about knowing and following Jesus Christ. The only thing I had going for me in elementary school was that I was fast. So I wanted to race everybody. But before you race, you always have to ask a question: Where are we racing to? So if you are on…

• Chuck Swindoll’s 10 Ministry Lessons and 8 Bonus Nuggets

  Kent Shaffer

  9 Oct 2009 | 9:33 am

  Chuck Swindoll of Insight for Living discussed 10 things he has learned in almost 50 years of ministry during Catalyst Conference’s 8th session. Here is what he said: Fifty years ago, I was a first year student at Dallas Theological Seminary. I was scared, unsure of myself, and fresh out of the Marine Corp. I did not know much about seminary. I remember sitting in chapel, and a minister told me, “When God wants to do an impossible task, he takes an impossible person and crushes him.” I am so proud of everything you are dreaming of and doing that I hope that you remember to…

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  Evotional.com

• Off to Dallas

  Mark Batterson

  6 Nov 2009 | 7:00 am

  Headed to Dallas for the Lead Now conference. I'm a huge fan of rightnow.org and bluefish.tv. Excited to hang out with the crew. This is my last speaking trip of 2009. Looking forward to a little breather before 2010. The first half of next year is going to be crazy. Along with speaking at lots of conferences I'll hit ten cities on the Primal book tour.

• Free Book 4 Lead Pastors

  Mark Batterson

  5 Nov 2009 | 7:15 pm

  So far 500+ campus pastors and discipleship pastors have requested a free advanced copy of Primal. Might as well keep on keeping on. The next giveaway is for lead pastors. If you'd consider going through Primal with your staff or using it for a church-wide campaign, love to give you a free copy!Email tour@theaterchurch.com.Email name, church name, and address.FYI. Expecting advance copies first week of December. We'll ship them as soon as we get them.

• Do we need another Reformation?

  Mark Batterson

  5 Nov 2009 | 12:02 pm

  Every book has a back story.In a Pit with a Lion on a Snowy Day, for example, was inspired by a sermon I heard when I was 19 years-old. The preacher was Sam Farina. He preached from II Samuel 23:20 about a guy that chased a lion into a pit on a snowy day and killed it. I remember thinking: if I ever write a book I'd love to write a book about this story. It took fifteen years, but voila!Here's the back story behind Primal: A Quest for the Lost Soul of Christianity.One year ago I was part of a gathering of Christian leaders that gathered in Wittenberg, Germany to discuss the state of…

• Permissible vs. Beneficial

  Mark Batterson

  5 Nov 2009 | 4:55 am

  "Everything is permissible but not everything is beneficial."Your future is found in I Corinthians 10:23. It reveals two options: permissible or beneficial. And your destiny will be determined by which option you choose. Who we become is determined by whether we settle for what is permissible or strive for what is beneficial. It's so tempting to live down to what is required. It's so tempting to live in our comfort zone. It's so tempting to take the path of least resistance, but the path of least resistance never takes you where you really want to go! What am I getting at? Well, are you…

• 5th Printing

  Mark Batterson

  4 Nov 2009 | 4:46 am

  The fifth printing of Wild Goose Chase just came off the press. We're doing a special "fifth printing" discount. If you want a case (24 books) for Christmas gifts, small groups or a church-wide campaign we'll hook you up.Email resources@theaterchurch.com.

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  djchuang.com

• how a conflict played out in social media

  djchuang

  6 Nov 2009 | 7:21 am

  “Conflict is something that will always be. It is neither good nor bad, it simply is.” [cf. Sam Chand] The incident regarding Deadly Viper had set the online world ablaze, and very uncomfortable words of pain festered in the open space. My prayer was that the key leaders at the core of the conflict would resolve it privately, walking through their respective pains together with each other. This direct conversations has since happened offline in private, and an appropriate resolution is in the works. A public statement has been issued. I commend all involved for giving of their…

• How to raise up minority leaders

  djchuang

  5 Nov 2009 | 8:22 am

  Asian and Latino. Techie and Non-techie. Conference junkie and conference rock star. DJ Chuang and Rudy Carrasco. We’ve been friends online and offline. Now we’re thousands of miles apart. Web technology has kept us connected. And one of the burning issues we often banter about is raising up minority leaders. People and organizations say they want to collaborate and have more diversity in their leadership, but it’s so hard to find qualified leaders to work with. Why is that? We had a conversation about that in this wetoku-powered video. Watch it: I have a feeling this is…

• Impact matters more than intention

  djchuang

  3 Nov 2009 | 10:25 pm

  Wow. These blog post comment threads at here and here about unintentional racial stereotypes is blowing up. Big. Time. I think that discussing highly-emotionally charged issues in an asynchronous public forum like the online blogosphere is mostly ineffective. One party describes the pain of the impact from the (alleged) offense, while the other party tries to describe the original intent, all sincere and good. To quote Sam Chand, “The difference between reality and expectation is conflict.” Both sides have unmet expectations. Both sides have different perceptions of reality.

• How much leadership can a person have?

  djchuang

  2 Nov 2009 | 8:21 am

  Swimming in a sea of leadership books, blogs, and programs, I’m frankly quite conflicted about what exactly is leadership. Sure there are a ton of aspects to developing and being a leader: skills, competency, character, knowledge, attitude, chemistry, discipline, passion, vision, relating, motivating, persuading, deciding, planning, ad nauseum. In the pithy words of John Maxwell, “Leadership is influence, nothing more, nothing less.” Very good. Everyone has influence. Everyone can impact and influence another person or even a group of people, for good or for bad. But does…

• Finding resources for Church Planting

  djchuang

  30 Oct 2009 | 7:30 am

  Let’s take a look at my inbox and see what we find… Question: I am student, studying ministry. Am at the end of the third year and I would like to start my ministry after I graduate. How would you be of help to me — to find material about church planting ? My Answer: There has been a growing number of resources about church planting in recent years. A quick Google search has many links that’ll get you started. 3 of my favorites are www.churchplantingnetwork.com + www.church-planting.net + www.rcpc.com . As you can see, there’s lots of information online. The best…

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  Rhett Smith

• The Journey Continues…A Stage Along the Way

  Rhett Smith

  5 Nov 2009 | 11:02 am

  [image by Maria Keay] For those who choose to take the journey, it is lifelong. The longer the journey, the more nuances it takes on and the more it opens up to broader experiences. Yet, a journey must progress step by step. So it is with our spiritual journey. (pp. xvii, The Critical Journey: Stages in the Life of Faith by Janet O. Hagberg and Robert A. Guelich). I have been meditating on Exodus 17:1 for a good eight years now. The idea of journeying from “place to place” or from “stage to stage” as some translations state has always captivated me. In fact….it…

• Recap of our Cultivate Session

  Rhett Smith

  3 Nov 2009 | 12:45 pm

  Tony Steward and I had the opportunity to collaborate last week at the Cultivate Conference on the following topic: Title Finding Our End // Communicating in the social web brings relationships with it. How do we care for those relationships in our limitations while continuing to effectively communicate? Description As we work online, where do our social/pastoral responsibilities begin and end, while caring for ourselves and our families? This session was Tony and I’s “attempt” to formulate some of the things we have been learning online, some of which have occurred during…

• So You Have a Lot of “Friends” Online…Now What?

  Rhett Smith

  23 Oct 2009 | 2:40 pm

  Tony Steward and I are super excited to be facilitating a conversation at the Cultivate Conference this upcoming Tuesday in Chicago. Ever since we were asked to facilitate jointly at the conference we have been discussing what would be the most beneficial conversation we could be a part of. What experience and skills could we both bring to the table? In the end, this is what we have landed on… Title Finding Our End // Communicating in the social web brings relationships with it. How do we care for those relationships in our limitations while continuing to effectively communicate?

• Destigmatizing Mental Illness

  Rhett Smith

  21 Oct 2009 | 12:17 pm

  I came across Bring Change 2 Mind via DJ Chuang’s twitter stream. On Bring Change 2 Mind’s website it states the following: 1 in 6 adults and almost 1 in 10 children suffer from a diagnosable mental illness. Yet, for many, the stigma associated with the illness, can be as great a challenge as the disease itself. This is where the misconceptions stop. This is where bias comes to an end. This is where we change lives. Because this is where we Bring Change 2 Mind. I love the push to help bring awareness to mental illness, hopefully providing support, resources and relief for many who…

• Are You Truly Listening to Your Spouse

  Rhett Smith

  20 Oct 2009 | 8:41 am

  [image by ky_olsen] One of the things that was sort of a wake up call for me when I got married were the number of times that I thought I was really listening to my wife, but she would retort with “you aren’t listening to me.” Inside, my pride was telling me that she didn’t know what she was talking about. I mean, come on. I was a pastor and listened to people for a living (pastors can sometimes been notoriously bad listeners). And I was training to become a therapist…who listens more than a therapist?  And after all, were all those people wrong who would tell…

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  MondayMorningInsight

• The Best of Christian TV… all right here!

  toddrhoades@gmail.com

  6 Nov 2009 | 4:11 am

  You know... it's really no wonder the world laughs at us.  If this part of 'Christianity' wasn't so sad, it would be hilarious...

• Israel Intends to Bomb Lesbians?

  toddrhoades@gmail.com

  6 Nov 2009 | 4:06 am

  Well... I'm sure that this will make a certain segment of Christianity very happy indeed...

• The Megachurch MOVIE

  toddrhoades@gmail.com

  6 Nov 2009 | 3:59 am

  According to the Christian Today Movies Blog, Morgan Mead, a young Christian filmmaker from Indiana, wanted to know. Why are there so many megachurches, what's the phenomena all about, and just what is their role in American Christendom? Mead pursues answers to these questions, and more, in The Alpha and the Mega, now available on DVD. In a recent interview, Mead explained why he decided to look into the megachurch mythos . . . "My wife and I were in Kentucky, and we were looking for a church to go to," he told Metromix Indianapolis. "We went to this enormous church and it was unlike anything…

• Joyce Meyer May Have to Testify in Murder Trial

  toddrhoades@gmail.com

  6 Nov 2009 | 3:52 am

  Charismatic speaker Joyce Meyer and her son might be asked to testify in a murder trial involving their ministry’s former chief of security. According to the Christian Post, a lawyer representing the family of slain mother-of-two Sheri Coleman alleged that Meyer’s son, Dan Meyer, had traveled with the accused murderer, Christopher Coleman, and his girlfriend, Tara Lintz, prior to the May 5 slaying of Coleman’s wife and two sons. And, as Dan Meyer is the CEO of Joyce Meyer Ministries, attorneys Jack Carey and Enrico Mirabelli allege that the ministry knew that Coleman was…

• Ted Haggard Starting a New Church in His Colorado Springs Home

  toddrhoades@gmail.com

  5 Nov 2009 | 4:56 am

  It all starts November 12 at the Haggard residence, just blocks away from New Life Church. Haggard:  "We wanted to do something in our house to connect with friends." According to the Colorado Springs Gazette:   Haggard will hold his first gathering at 7 p.m. Nov. 12 at his house at 1865 Old Ranch Road. He referred to it as a "prayer meeting," but said it would also be correct to call it a church. The gathering will include music and an offering to New Life Church. Haggard also will give a talk about the power of prayer. Although Haggard said just recently he had no…

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  LifeChurch.tv : swerve

• Letting Go of What People Think

  Craig Groeschel

  5 Nov 2009 | 2:47 am

  Becoming obsessed with what people think about you is the fastest way to forget what God thinks about you. My mom taught me the common truth, “You can’t please everyone.” From my observation, ministers seem to be more vulnerable to people-pleasing than most professions. In reality, we should be the most resolved of all not to live for the applause of men but the approval of God. Don’t let anyone talk you out of following God’s voice. Don’t let anyone’s criticism distract you from your passion. Don’t long for affirmation before you move forward. Say what God prompts you to say.

• Letting Go of the Fear of Failure

  Craig Groeschel

  4 Nov 2009 | 2:45 am

  The fear of failure paralyzes too many people. I’ve found one of the best gifts God can give a leader is the gift of failure. Too many of us are not doing what we feel called to do because we’re afraid to fail. As I observe the people around me, it seems the most effective have failed far more times than the least effective. The people making the biggest impact seem to: 1)  Try something outlandish. 2)  Fail. 3)  Learn. 4)  Adjust. 5)  Try something that works better. Failure is never final. It is often the first step to success. If you haven’t failed in awhile, why don’t you try…

• Letting Go of Old Assumptions

  Craig Groeschel

  3 Nov 2009 | 2:43 am

  The world is changing faster every day. Too many Christian leaders are working off old assumptions rather than new revelations. When we assume that our way of doing ministry is best: We stop learning from others. We rarely try something new. We quickly see faults in new ideas rather than seeing opportunities. To reach people no one is reaching, we have to do things no one is doing. If you think the way everyone else is thinking, you’ll do what everyone is doing. It is time to let go of old assumptions about how to reach people. What assumptions about church and ministry are you shedding?

• New offline version for the Bible App

  Bobby Gruenewald

  2 Nov 2009 | 8:27 am

  When we first released the YouVersion Bible App for the iPhone, many of you asked if we could make translations available offline. Over the past year, we’ve been working with several different publishers who are making this possible. And I’m excited to let you know about the latest… The Message is now available offline! Now you can enjoy The Message when you’re in the air, on the subway, in remote areas, or anywhere else you don’t have a connection. If you need help downloading this translation for offline use, the YouVersion blog will walk you through the…

• Letting Go of Control

  Craig Groeschel

  2 Nov 2009 | 2:29 am

  To move forward, you often have to let go of something significant. Too often, what we hold tightly keeps us from following God’s promptings toward something new. This week I’ll write about a few things leaders need to let go. We’ll start with control. Too many leaders try to control too much. Our perceived need to control is one of the greatest limiting factors to what God wants to do. When we control everything: We train people to do what they are told rather than think. We build followers instead of leaders. We put a lid on our ministries. We put our faith in our abilities to manage…

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  Duo Digest

• I am second

  21 Oct 2009 | 9:10 pm

  Check out this simple, clear way to bring stories of following Jesus to your glocal neighbors. I hope to see it, and others like it across the map. www.iamsecond.com

• God's Word is Dangerous Entertainment

  18 Oct 2009 | 7:59 pm

  I know an unbeliever who while in the middle of a prolonged affair, oddly loved to listen to a local preacher who repeatedly scolded adulterers. This guy had a sense that the preacher was speaking God's Word, but he nonetheless made no effort to leave his life of sin. Then, one day, despite his fondness for him, he killed the preacher.I am, of course, talking about King Herod and John the Baptist. This old story is a relevant warning to all who come to church as religious consumers and listen to sermons as entertainment.Mark 6 tells us that John railed against Herod, telling him "It is not…

• Video of John Ortberg and Gary Hamel on Innovation and the Church

  28 Sep 2009 | 1:24 pm

  Gary Hamel was ranked #1 most influential business thinker in the world in 2009 by the Wall Street Journal. His talk at Willow Creek's Leadership Summit 2009 was touted by many as the highest impact and he's here sharing a lot of the same thoughts on what the church needs to come to grips with, and how it needs to innovate.It is equal parts disturbing and inspirational.Watch him being interviewed here by John Ortberg.Shifting Tides

• Corporate Culture as Spiritual Formation

  18 Sep 2009 | 5:42 pm

  Last weekend at my church, we heard Paul Ely, a 78-year-old former Vice-President at Hewlett-Packard share the events that led to his decision to follow Jesus in January of this year. You can hear him here.What struck me was this line: "HP's unique culture improved my character and made me a better person, like it did for many." Now, I know Paul, and I know this wasn't a veiled advertisement. Paul really believes that the corporate culture he lived within for decades had a positive shaping effect on his moral person - and I suspect that he is exactly right.Of course, this raises the question…

• Art is Holy Work

  8 Sep 2009 | 7:06 pm

  Art is a lie that makes us realize the truth.Pablo PicassoBasically there can be no categories such as “religious” art and“secular” art because all true art is incarnational, and therefore “religious.”Madeline L’EngleCreating art is holy work, simply because God is, in fact, an artist. God called his defining work adam, referring to the medium (earth, in Hebrew adama) from which he formed it. This work, was something of a self-portrait, being created ‘in God’s image.’ Like all art, God’s creative expression made visible what often goes unseen. In this case, God brought…

• 
  Church 2.0 - the blog

• Guru's Tutorial...

  15 Oct 2009 | 6:33 am

  One of the most creative designers I've crossed paths with is Barton Damer (Alreadybeenchewed.net) At Guru's conference Barton did some fabulous tutorials that are now online. Motion Graphics using After Effects and Cinema 4D Graphic Design using Photoshop and Illustrator Here is a tutorial he did at the Echo conference... BartonDamer-Tutorial 1 from Echo Conference on Vimeo.

• The Nines Archived

  12 Oct 2009 | 12:18 pm

  For those of you who missed the Nines online conference on 9.9.09 check out all of the archived videos... Which speaker impacted you most and why?

• Worship House Kids Launches!

  7 Oct 2009 | 8:36 am

  It's basically your one stop media shop for children's ministry. Check it out!

• Experience Catalyst Right Where You Are

  5 Oct 2009 | 10:14 am

  Can't go to Catalyst?  Don't have the money?  Missed purchasing your tickets before they sold out? Check out Catalyst Backstage the day of the conference for interviews.

• GCC Exposes Themselves

  3 Oct 2009 | 4:03 pm

  Just kidding.  But Granger Community Church (GCC) is offering their Exposed Conference online to watch for free.  If you missed the event you should check it out.  Also check out the film festival.  Very cool.

• 
  Jesus Hates Papyrus

• Shock & Awe at Holy Cow! Creative.

  Michael Buckingham

  6 Nov 2009 | 7:11 am

  It’s a big day for Holy Cow Creative. We’re moving to an office. Up until now our office has been Starbucks, a pizza joint downtown, my home office, but now God has opened up an opportunity that gives us our own space and an “official” office. It’s a part of the MidMichigan Innovation Center, an incubator that looks for companies that are pushing the limits and doing a new thing. This gives me not just an office but access to conference rooms, administrative staff, the whole works. I am truly grateful and in awe as I see the favor of God. Scripture says that when…

• Jesus Hates Papyrus iPhone Wallpaper

  Michael Buckingham

  4 Nov 2009 | 5:23 am

  I received a DM on twitter Monday: @daniellsuzanne: u should turn the back of ur business card into an iPhone wallpaper – i’d use it! Made my day. How could I resist a request like that? So here they are for you to enjoy. Feel free to spread the word, but will you please link to here so that I can see how many of you are downloading the wallpaper and see if I should make some more down the road?

• Creativity breeds creativity.

  Michael Buckingham

  2 Nov 2009 | 5:58 am

  It was already an honor to have designed the logo for Cultivate, certainly a highlight to be involved with so many great people to put the conference together. Then I arrived on Monday to Park Community Church and was given the news “we’re putting your logo in lights” As Dawn Nicole put it, “it was like watching my kids faces on Christmas.” I was thrilled and excited to see that come together. I was even more excited that my creativity led to someone else pouring out their creativity. And it didn’t stop there…it was also drawn out in chalk in the…

• A lesson from Microsoft.

  Michael Buckingham

  23 Oct 2009 | 6:17 am

  Microsoft shows an example of what happens when you only focus on “effective”. Microsoft launched a store. The store looks nice. In fact it even looks cool. People are talking about their store. Sounds like everything is a big win. All the requirements have been met. But wait…they left out creative and original, and ended up creating a store that looks like they, like everyone else, wants to be just like Apple. The new commercial should be “Hi I’m a PC…and I want to be a Mac.” The lesson: Don’t discount creativity and originality. Embrace…

• This was a name changer.

  Michael Buckingham

  20 Oct 2009 | 7:39 pm

  Hopefully your cache has been shaken loose and you can now see that the blog has a new name. JesusHatesPapyrus.com I wrote awhile ago about the tone of the blog, what to write, balancing my writing here with my involvement at ChurchMarketingSucks…and I think this is a nice step in that direction. Of course, a name change alone doesn’t change things, but it gets the ball rolling. I also hope the new name will bring more people, and more importantly, more conversation. I go through the many of the same things you go through. I wrestle with a new logo, have dry spells when all I can…

• 
  bedeviant.com

• Why Everyone Should Wear a Priest’s Collar

  Justin Wise

  5 Nov 2009 | 5:08 am

  Read this passage from Body Politics by John Howard Yoder: Sometimes the early Christians said they were all priests; sometimes they said that the priesthood was done away with. The concrete social meanings of the two statements, though verbally opposite, were the same. All members of the body a like are Spirit-empowered. The monopoly of the sacrificial celebration that enables and delimits human access to the divine is swept away. The priestly person as the primary agent of access to the divine is swept away with the special ceremonies. Jesus was the last sacrifice and thus he was also the…

• Here’s a Quick Way to Make Money on Amazon

  Justin Wise

  4 Nov 2009 | 2:47 pm

  I’ve been using the Amazon Affiliates program when linking products on this site for a year or so. Basically, every time you link to a product on Amazon they give you a percentage of the sales if someone ends up buying a product you referred. It’s not going to pay your bills, but it gives you some coin for doing something most bloggers do all the time: Link products. Amazon just took their affiliate program to another level by adding Twitter integration. Yes. Now you can share links from products you find useful with your tweeps and make a little coin on the side. It’s a…

• Work Like a Young Entrepreneur

  Justin Wise

  3 Nov 2009 | 12:22 pm

  Some people get hijacked by Scripture. I get hijacked by people describing their workflows. In particular, Jason Fried’s. Fried founded 37signals.com, a web-based software development company. In an interview in Inc., here’s how he describes a part of his workday: I usually get to work between 10 a.m. and 11 a.m. Of the 16 people at the company, eight of us live here in Chicago. Employees come to the office if and when they feel like it, or else they work from home. I don’t believe in the 40-hour workweek, so we cut all that BS about being somewhere for a certain number of…

• My First Piece of Hate Mail

  Justin Wise

  2 Nov 2009 | 8:18 am

  A few days ago, I received this comment on the blog: At first, I laughed. I mean, how can you not appreciate the subtle nuance of “yousuck@hotmail.com”? Then I thought, “Wow, this person was upset enough by something I said to leave a comment that forcefully told me stop speaking.” Then, it stung a little bit. As any person who creates knows, you put something of yourself into that which you create. I create on this blog. I create thoughts and ideas and hopefully a new type of reality that we can step into together. So as a creator, when someone says, overtly or…

• Down the Aisle, Disbelief, and a Bag of Weed

  Justin Wise

  31 Oct 2009 | 7:09 am

  Cultivate/STORY were a lot of fun. I even have proof. Below are a few videos I collected from the week. They roll as follows: A walk from the back of the Paramount Theatre to the front during the opening session of STORY. This is short clip from the session I facilitated. I prayed that three people would show up. They did … And then some. We found a bag of weed. Yes, that weed. Enjoy. Other Posts You May Enjoy:Cultivate 09 and Story 09 Wrap-Up BonanzaStory Chicago 09 | Cynthia Ware & Drew GoodmansonStory Chicago 09 | Ron Martoia

• 
  Eric Bryant - Blog

• Amazing Example of Artistry and Creativity

  Eric Bryant

  6 Nov 2009 | 5:56 am

• “Business As Mission” by Rudy Carrasco

  Eric Bryant

  5 Nov 2009 | 5:07 am

  Rudy Carrasco, a Christian Community Development Association Advisory Board member who served for 19 years at Harambee Christian Family Center in Pasadena, Calif., and is currently an associate director at Partners Worldwide in Grand Rapids, MI) recently made a presentation at the CCDA conference on Business as Mission (also known “business as ministry” or “business as calling”).  His presentation included a local model and an international model. He has made the entire presentation available for free here.

• We Need Each Other! (Erwin’s Thoughts on the Church)

  Eric Bryant

  3 Nov 2009 | 5:53 am

  Some thoughts Erwin McManus shared during the “Concrete: The Stuff You Build On” series: “Jesus didn’t die on the cross to give us more information about God but connect us directly to God.” “The church needs a new marketing team. The church is doing so much good in the world and has done so much good. Too often we are only known for what we’ve done wrong because those who are doing good aren’t trying to make a name for themselves. ” “We need to move from observer to an active participant.” “One of the greatest of…

• This Week: Rick McKinley, Dan Kimball, and More!

  Eric Bryant

  2 Nov 2009 | 5:05 am

  TUESDAY, NOV. 3RD Our next LIVE, free teleseminar  will be on Tuesday, November 3rd at 2:00pm Pacific (5:00pm Eastern) with Rick McKinley, the founding pastor of Imago Dei Community in Portland, an author, speaker, guest professor across the nation, and part of the creative team of The Origins Project. Sign Up Here! Rick’s newest book was written with Chris Seay and Greg Holder & called Advent Conspiracy. WEDNESDAY, NOV. 4TH In the Origins Pre-session at NOC09, we will discover how to use the ancient text in our present context with future textures. Pastors and practitioners Dan…

• Fall Festival 2009

  Eric Bryant

  1 Nov 2009 | 8:39 am

  We hosted our annual Fall Festival at our house last night and had a great time! Halloween is big in our area. We have met more people in our neighborhood on October 31st than any other day of the year! I have to be honest, Halloween isn’t my favorite holiday. For example, some of the more popular costumes at Trevi’s elementary school included a dead prom date, zombies, Michael Jackson, and a dead terrorist. We used to go help with our church’s Fall Festival, but in doing so we realized we were missing a great opportunity to connect with new friends and get to know our…

• 
  ThePewView.com

• Trading Shoes.

  Milan Ford

  6 Nov 2009 | 5:07 am

  It is far more necessary to protect the vision of an organization, than the feet of a leader.

• Your Thoughts.

  Milan Ford

  4 Nov 2009 | 5:27 am

  I have so many I don't know where to begin.

• Setting.

  Milan Ford

  3 Nov 2009 | 4:48 am

  As a former Disney Cast Member, I am convinced that messages rarely change people.

• Filling In The Gaps.

  Milan Ford

  29 Oct 2009 | 5:35 am

  I challenge you today to do what most married folk won't do.

• Einstein.

  Milan Ford

  26 Oct 2009 | 11:52 pm

  And we wonder why we can't reach this generation?

• 
  reyes-chow :: FAITH

• Top 10 etiquette tips for tweeting a meeting, class or worship service

  Bruce Reyes-Chow

  28 Oct 2009 | 8:28 am

  [image: jonesing1]More and more we are seeing tweeting become part our everyday life.  From sharing information about disasters and revolutions to informing followers of your breakfast menu or latest crush, like it or not, some form of micro-blogging is probably here to stay. One of the ways that tweeting is seeping into our day-to-day is through the live-tweeting of meetings, classes and church worship services.  Now I am not talking about live-tweeting a conference or some other event that WANTS you to help get the word out, but smaller types of gatherings where there is an expectation…

• Friends are Friends Forever . . .

  Bruce Reyes-Chow

  24 Oct 2009 | 6:30 pm

  You all remember that Micheal W. Smith song, Friends are Friends Forever? Oh sure you do and admit it, you like it.  You may mock those who get all teary and sway back-and-forth at conference good-byes, but you and I both know that if not for those BFF's - yeah I just used "BFF" - you would not have survived middle school with as little damage to your psyche as you did.Over the past few months, I have had some meaningful interactions with some close friends where I have needed to do some leaning and others where I have had to do the propping up.  As I reflect on these things I am reminded…

• www.reyes-chow.com is on hiatus

  Bruce Reyes-Chow

  24 Oct 2009 | 6:14 pm

  In an attempt to focus, focus, focus, unless really moved to post something non-book-writing related, this blog will go on hiatus until sometime in 2010.  Would love to have you join me in the adventure of writing, Embracing the Gray: Musings on Family, Faith and the Pursuit of an American Dream.E. the G. blog | @embracingtheG on Twitter | E. the G. FB Fan Page

• The book writing begins in earnest, come along?

  Bruce Reyes-Chow

  20 Oct 2009 | 7:21 pm

  It has been a while since I have blogged anything of substance lately - no offense to those who think facebook quizzes are of substance - but life has been pretty wild as of late.  Travel during the summer/fall have taken a toll on all involved, we just added two new staff at the church I serve and, slowly but surely, I can feel the denomination beginning to shift in their relationship to me as moderator.  So . . . that does begin to beg the question, "what then after I am done being moderator."  With just over eight months left to go in my term, questions have…

• Bruce Reyes-Chow according to Facebook

  Bruce Reyes-Chow

  13 Sep 2009 | 8:48 pm

  A ways back on The God Complex radio show, Carol Howard Merritt and I interviewed Eric Elnes of the Phoenix Affirmations.  Never one to miss and chance to "liberate" a good idea, Eric introduced himself using only Facebook Quizzes.  So, with a few moments free this weekend, I went ahead and took 10 quizzes to help me get to know . . . well . . . me ;-)Below are the 10 quizzes that I too along with the link to the original FB postings with my comments and others' witty repartee ;-) Feel free to leave some more if you so choose.Which mighty woman of the Bible are you most like?Ruth[FB…

• 
  Kindle Prayers

• Tough Times

  6 Nov 2009 | 10:52 pm

  Im praying for all of my loved ones during these tough times. May God Bless us one and all.

• for my nephew to come home to stay

  5 Nov 2009 | 9:10 pm

  for my nephew to come back home to stay I believe god will bring him home

• That God can cure my family, my heart and my spirit

  5 Nov 2009 | 12:13 pm

  My family is falling apart and my spirit is crushed. I dont feel pain I feel numb. I am praying that God will give me strength, guidance, grace, joy, peace, courage, and ultimately happiness in a marriage that has failed, teenagers using drugs, out of a job, feeling lonely, feeling weak and unimportant. I just need Jesus to hold me up. I want to feel again. I want to cry out, I want to be able to praise or curse God but I feel nothing. I sit in church twice on the weekend and feel nothing. I eel as if God has left me and I have nothing left out there.

• Steady employment

  4 Nov 2009 | 8:20 am

  Praying for steady employment so that I can better support my family. I do want to at the same time praise God. He has brought us through on almost nothing for the past year. Every month, our bills get paid even when I couldn't see a way.

• my ex to get the strength to stop his substance abuse and become the awesome guy he used to be

  4 Nov 2009 | 7:03 am

  Hi, My ex, who has always been very into alcohol and marijuana, has now started taking cocaine heavily and I'm truly worried. He has an addictive personality and has changed from a chilled, sweet, awesome guy to an impatient, selfish one that can be plain mean. Please can you all pray for him to have the strength to see that he is ruining his life and be able to turn it around and stop the substance abuse. That he can see that life is worth living and that he doesn't need drugs or alcohol, there are people, like me, who love him and want him to get better and help him. I'm just terrified he…

• 
  Tony Steward

• Our kids going to what they call "church online" - it is lifekids.tv ;)

  6 Nov 2009 | 5:38 pm

  Permalink | Leave a comment  »

• happy birthday @ddemoss

  1 Nov 2009 | 8:05 am

  (18718 KB) Watch on posterous Permalink | Leave a comment  »

• HUGE PENGUIN!!

  30 Oct 2009 | 5:01 pm

  Permalink | Leave a comment  »

• At the Rhema halloween bash with bro and family.

  30 Oct 2009 | 4:56 pm

  via tweetie Permalink | Leave a comment  »

• the new glasses are in...

  29 Oct 2009 | 12:52 pm

  Permalink | Leave a comment  »

• 
  Church Forward

• One of the Biggest Reasons Why Churches Decline

  Sam Rainer

  5 Nov 2009 | 3:59 pm

  My wife and I are in San Diego this week at the National Outreach Convention. It’s been a great convention thus far. I had the opportunity to lead a discussion group this morning …at 7:15AM! I think most of the attendees were on central or eastern time . A person in our group asked a great question: How do you define and assess church health? We spent the next hour discussing this issue, but let me share with you one point of our discussion that is perhaps one of the most neglected church health metrics: attendance frequency. Most churches track how many people attend, but few churches…

• The Amiable Autocrat

  Sam Rainer

  25 Oct 2009 | 5:01 pm

  I found myself last week in a friendly exchange with a ministry team leader about one line item in their budget. Then I realized I was micro-managing. Even though my intentions were good, and my tone pleasant, I was still acting like an autocrat. Nice dictators exist, at least in the leadership sense. I refer to these types of leaders in the church as amiable autocrats. Friendly church dictators rule from their positional authority. They order everyone around because their title enables them to do so, and they do it with a smile. Amiable autocrats are typically well-liked by the general…

• How Different Generations View the Bible

  Sam Rainer

  22 Oct 2009 | 7:45 am

  The Barna Group recently released research that reveals how attitudes about Bible usage are changing across generations. They interviewed over 1,000 people in five separate studies. They defined each generation in the study: the Mosaic generation (ages 18 to 25), the Busters (ages 26 to 44), Boomers (ages 45 to 63), and Elders (ages 64-plus). You can read the full report here, but below are some of the differences they found between generations: Less Sacred – While most Americans of all ages identify the Bible as sacred, the drop-off among the youngest adults is striking: 9 out of 10…

• Avoiding the Awkward Wedding Question

  Sam Rainer

  19 Oct 2009 | 8:06 pm

  Perhaps nothing is both joyous and awkward like being asked to perform the wedding ceremony of a couple you do not know well. If you’re a pastor and like me, you want to rejoice with the couple, but you can’t commit on the spot without asking personal questions. In order to prevent the inevitable uncomfortable questions, I’ve written a form letter to give to every couple that asks me to perform the ceremony. The purpose of the letter is to provide a filter for me and also to keep me consistent with which ceremonies I will perform. I’ve provided a modified version of the letter below…

• Church Inertia

  Sam Rainer

  12 Oct 2009 | 2:28 pm

  In a recent WSJ blog, Gary Hamel posted about the killer of organizational inertia. His thoughts on the forms of change are well-stated: In most organizations, change comes in only two flavors: trivial and traumatic. Review the history of the average organization and you’ll discover long periods of incremental fiddling punctuated by occasional bouts of frantic, crisis-driven change. The dynamic is not unlike that of arteriosclerosis: after years of relative inactivity, the slow accretion of arterial plaque is suddenly revealed by the business equivalent of a myocardial infarction. The only…

• 
  Confessions of a Small-Church Pastor

• Notes from NOC09: Lots of small church focus

  Chuck Warnock

  5 Nov 2009 | 8:40 pm

  The National Outreach Convention is a great event for small churches.   On Wednesday I led the Small Church Discussion group and we had about 50+ participants with great ideas and opportunities for ministry.  Today I led the Small Church Idea Forum where we walked through the process of designing, conducting, and evaluating small church outreach events. Small churches continue to do great things to become indispensable to their communities.  Some of the ideas shared on Wednesday and today are: Jobless ministry. One church in New Jersey identified those who had lost jobs or were out of…

• Sermon: I Believe in the Church

  Chuck Warnock

  31 Oct 2009 | 1:09 pm

  Here’s the sermon I’m preaching tomorrow as I continue the 13-week series on The Apostles’ Creed.  Tomorrow we come to the phrase, “I Believe in the Church.”  I hope your Sunday is a great one! I Believe In The Church 13When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say the Son of Man is?” 14They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” 15“But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?” 16Simon…

• Sermon: I Believe in the Holy Spirit

  Chuck Warnock

  24 Oct 2009 | 5:21 pm

  Here’s the sermon I’m preaching tomorrow, Sunday, October 25, 2009.  This is the eighth in a 13-week series titled “Why We Need The Apostles’ Creed.” Today we look at the Holy Spirit. I Believe in The Holy Spirit 25“All this I have spoken while still with you. 26But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you. 27Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be…

• A New Model Merges Pastoral Care and Social Action

  Chuck Warnock

  21 Oct 2009 | 6:30 pm

  I am speaking tomorrow at Duke Divinity School to students in the Rural Ministry Colloquia, a monthly gathering of students involved in, or interested in, rural church ministry.  I have been asked to tell our story of how we started a community center, community music school, and several other projects here in our small town of 1300 people. In addition to telling our story, I’m also going to share some very quick thoughts about the role of small churches in rural areas.  I’ve been thinking a lot lately about the theology and practice of pastoral care in a missional church, and…

• Prayer for the Opening of Court on October 19, 2009

  Chuck Warnock

  18 Oct 2009 | 7:42 pm

  I have been asked to offer the prayer for a new session of court, which opens Monday, October 19.  The courtroom and anterooms of our 156-year old courthouse have also been renovated, and this is the first day court sessions will be held in the refreshed space.  Here’s the prayer I will offer: Almighty God and Heavenly Father, We invite your presence here in this room today, but not because this is a place of worship.  These antique pews could hold an assembled congregation, but those who gather in this room regularly do not gather here for devotions.  We invite your presence today,…

• 
  Prodigal Magazine

• Christian Tech Conference Toolbelt – 8 things to bring

  admin

  5 Nov 2009 | 2:56 pm

  1.  Twittonary – twitter dictionary You better have your twitter lingo down as you will be attending tweetups, asked about your twaffic and surrounded by other tweeples. 2.  Moleskin – the notebook for hipsters ‘Losing my passport was the least of my worries, losing a notebook was a catastrophe.’ — Bruce Chatwin 3.  Flip Mini HD – you know….for your vlog. Also use to video guys walking into walls, signage or other barriers as they are checking their twitter account. 4.  SCL – The Book Jon Acuff breaks down Christian antics in a humorous way…

• Men of God Spotlight: Scott Brosius

  aclapp

  19 Oct 2009 | 1:47 pm

  At the end of the 1997 season, Scott Brosius wondered where his career was going.  He had just completed his worst season in Oakland and now, he was hearing the trade rumors and contemplating where he would be next.  God opened a door, one that Scott could not have imagined being opened before that time, reviving his career and providing Scott with a new platform and a new audience.  His faith would grow as the Lord moved in so many ways. Scott Brosius is now the head baseball coach at his alma mater.  He is in our Men of God spotlight this week and we recently caught up with Scott over…

• The Extraordinary Man

  Dgill

  15 Oct 2009 | 9:41 am

  I was thinking about some things I learned a few years ago, back to February of 2005 to be exact.  It was then I had the opportunity to hear a particular message from Rick Godwin. Rick’s message was about taking risks and how important it is to be willing to take risks in your life.  There was one statement he made that hit me so hard, it still impacts me today.  He said, “you can change the world…start with yourself, by becoming extraordinary”. One thing I have learned over the years is it is very difficult to become something unless you understand what it is.

• Simple Love

  Csmyth

  8 Oct 2009 | 8:45 pm

  Everything sorted for a four and a half hour flight? Yesterday I boarded my plane at Gatwick, London, heading for two weeks in Pathos, Cyprus. I had everything sorted, an aisle seat, flip flops, coffee, a Bill Hybels book on leadership, the latest Soul Survivor worship album plugged into my ears, and an ipod freshly updated with pod-cast’s and sermons I was eagerly waiting to listen to. So there I was sitting in an Easy-Jet 747, flight number EZZE12, looking painfully like the perfect stereotype of a young middle class Christian leader. I think I even had a highlighter in my bag ready…

• Ministry Spotlight – Upper 90 Ministry

  aclapp

  29 Sep 2009 | 7:11 am

  The way that Jesus reached people always took on a different form.  For some, He reached them through healing.  For others, He reached them through a parable that revolved around where they were in life.  He told parables about fishing when He came into contact with fishermen.  He told parables about various walks of life, hoping to tie in the lessons of God to something that they could understand.  Upper 90 Ministry is seeking to do the same thing, using the most global sport in the world to open the door for the message of Jesus. Upper 90 Ministry was founded by Chris and Stephanie…

• 
  Reaching The Online Generation

• Eight Questions for Starting an Online Ministry

  Paul

  22 Oct 2009 | 6:56 am

  What if? The ‘What if?’ question sparks possibility thinking and promotes creativity.  Unfortunately, people spend so much time on ‘What if?’ that they never move on to actually doing anything with their vision. What if we could engage the lost with online ministry? Should? ‘Should?’ is an evaluative question.  We need to evaluate things, but we need clear time limits and trigger points on the evaluation process.  I’ve seen too many discussion bogged down by people asking the ‘Should’ question without any intention of letting the process move on. Should we engage in…

• More Than Notches on My Bible

  Paul

  19 Oct 2009 | 7:41 am

  I worry that some followers of Christ share the Gospel out of insecurity. If we convince someone that we are right, does that make us feel better about our decision in the first place?  I worry that, for some, evangelism is an act of convincing people so they can feel good about the decision they made to follow Christ.  They don’t love the lost; they just want to feel better about themselves. I worry that some followers of Christ share the Gospel out of a desire to win. I’ve been watching some young seminary students lately.  Sometimes I think they get into it with non-Christians…

• Are You Listening for Persons of Peace?

  Paul

  14 Oct 2009 | 6:03 am

  Here is another excerpt from my book.  Let me know what you think. In Luke 10, Jesus sent the disciples into villages and towns He is about to visit.  In verses five through seven, He gave them some interesting directions, “Whatever household you enter, first say, ‘Peace to this household.’  If a son of peace is there, your peace will rest on him; but if not, it will return to you.  Remain in the same house, eating and drinking whatever they offer, for the worker is worthy of his wages.  Don’t be moving from house to house.” These verses raise five questions. Who is the Person…

• Are You Listening to God?

  Paul

  13 Oct 2009 | 10:45 am

  The last few weeks I’ve been on the road.  I find it hard to write as I travel, so the frequency of posts goes down.  I’m home for the next few weeks, so you should hear (read?) more from me. I’m working on a book about starting an online ministry.  The post below is an excerpt from the first chapter.  I wasn’t going to post it here, but something weird happened.  I was part of a church planter training and, to my shock and surprise, only a handful of the participants brought Bibles – digital or otherwise – to the training! What does it say about modern church planting and…

• Church Online and Getting Hit by a Bus

  Paul

  25 Sep 2009 | 7:55 am

  Last week ten of our church planters in a restricted access country were martyred. They knew the risks, and they discipled people to such a level that the Gospel would spread in their country in spite of the death of the church planter. You and I may not live in countries where we face the daily reality of martyrdom, but I don’t think that should keep us from adopting the same approach to discipleship. What if you were hit by a bus? What if you lost all your funding? What if your church burned down? What if the FCC created new regulations? Can you say that you say that you are making…

• 
  FredMcKinnon.Com

• Exploring the Lyrics of “Glorious Impossible” by Carl Cartee

  Fred McKinnon

  5 Nov 2009 | 10:42 am

  I think it’s a wonderful thing when somebody stops long enough to consider the lyrics of a song we sing in church.  That tells me they are “getting it”.  They are aware of the importance of singing songs that have good theology and that express Scriptural truth. I recently received an email from a person in our church who had some questions about one of my favorite new songs, “Glorious Impossible” by Carl Cartee.  She basically said “if with God ALL things ARE POSSIBLE”, the lyrics don’t make sense .. what did I miss, please explain”.

• Join Me for Worship + Web 2.0 Webinar

  Fred McKinnon

  4 Nov 2009 | 4:09 am

  Hey Gang, Worship Leader magazine has invited me to teach my “Worship + Web 2.0″ class on their live “webinar” next week.  Here’s the details – please consider tweeting this, sharing it on Facebook, etc.  It’s basically the same class that I’ve taught the last two years at the National Worship Leader Conference.  To register, click here. Worship + Web 2.0 taught by Fred McKinnon Monday, November 9, 2009 11:00 a.m. Pacific Daylight Time (duration 1 hour) (that’s 2:00 PM EST) Facebook, Twitter, Blogs – can all these web-based…

• The Sabbath – Do We Keep It?

  Fred McKinnon

  2 Nov 2009 | 4:04 am

  I’m being challenged every day as I read through the Book of Mark.  This morning I encountered the story in Mark 2 where the religious leaders challenged Jesus and His disciples because they “plucked heads of grain” on the Sabbath.  Jesus responded by saying “27 And he said to them, The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath.28 So the Son of Man is lord even of the Sabbath.”  (Mark 2: 27-28, ESV – YouVersion.Com) It seems that Jesus’ response wasn’t challenging the existence of the “sabbath” so much; rather, He was…

• Sunday Setlists #67 – Worship Service Recaps #sundaysetlists

  Fred McKinnon

  1 Nov 2009 | 3:24 pm

  Hey Everybody, Here we are – the 67th consecutive week of “Sunday Setlists” – the blog carnival where we share our songs, creative elements, sermons, and recaps of our worship services. For more details on the “Sunday Setlists” program, click here. To receive a reminder email each week to post your setlist, click here. Here’s a recap on how to participate: 1.  Blog about your worship services this week.  (Don’t have a blog, just leave it in the comments below) 2.  In your blog or worship service recap, please mention that you are…

• Redneck Worship Leader – Deer 3 vs Fred 0

  Fred McKinnon

  31 Oct 2009 | 1:13 pm

  You probably can’t hear me whispering in this video … but what you CAN see is a beautiful spot in Telfair County that I hunted this weekend. I didn’t see any deer at all … not even a single wild hog, and there are tons of them out there. I enjoyed some incredible times of solitude and beauty, though! Tweet This Post Related posts:Redneck Worship Leader – Gone Fishin’Redneck Worship Leader: True Story Tuesday?Thank God I’m A Country Boy

• 
  Christian Web Trends Blog by OurChurch.Com

• Trust Agents 6a: Human Artist

  PhillipGibb

  6 Nov 2009 | 5:50 am

  Who remembers the movie Jerry Maguire? Jerry, a Sports Agent, has an encounter with his conscience which results in a life altering mission statement. He arrives at the conclusion that more personal attention is required - that it is more about the people they represent than the money that that can get from them. On the web it may be a bit more difficult to maintain a personal touch because you can’t always look each other in the eye and watch for non verbal cues. Yet, more than ever before, the Web is far more ‘humanized’ - we are able to express ourselves better and engage…

• Trust Agents 5b: Agent Zero

  Graham Brenna

  4 Nov 2009 | 6:14 am

  “First, you must build awareness of who you are, … Next, you try to grab their attention… [by being] entertaining, informative, and/or useful. Then you develop that awareness across several groups until you are considered an authority in as many of these groups as possible.” In order to be an affective ‘Agent Zero’ we must follow 5 simple, yet very important steps. Many Agent Zeros will naturally do these steps without realizing it. That’s what makes them so good at what they do. As you read through my explanations of these steps think about your own…

• Thank God for These Websites #Gratituesday

  Paul Steinbrueck

  3 Nov 2009 | 8:49 am

  Attitude is everything.  An attitude of gratitude changes everything. It’s so easy to complain about what we don’t have, to get frustrated when our expectations are not met, and just see the glass as half empty.  But when we take stock of how blessed we are, the disappointments and frustrations really pale in comparison and we can truly live each day with a joyful heart. My friend Deana Kistner (aka Organized Artist) started the #Gratituesday Twitter hashtag a few weeks ago after deciding she was going to designate Tuesday each week to blog about something she’s thankful for.  With…

• Trust Agents 5a: Agent Zero

  GregAtkinson

  2 Nov 2009 | 5:50 am

  “No matter where they go, trust agents have a desire to connect good people together. We refer to this as being Agent Zero; being in the center of a network and being able to spread ideas.” As one who is known as a networker and what Brogan and Smith call “Agent Zero”, this chapter was kind of freaky to read. It was almost as if they had been reading my mail. This description of what I do naturally was kind of weird to read about until I read where they said that “trust agents are naturals at finding other connector types in other groups. They are able to…

• Trust Agents 4b: Leverage

  Jan Cox

  30 Oct 2009 | 5:50 am

  And I don’t just mean a really cool TV series starring Timothy Hutton. Leverage is where Chris Brogan and Julien Smith take us throughout the second half of chapter four.  Leveraging while building trust with your community, leveraging social media, tools we use in order to leverage better, etc.  But it was one sentence toward the middle of chapter four that’s been swirling around in my brain for the last few days… “Don’t ever sell to your audience.  Instead, be their gatekeeper.” Wow.  I think we should all take a moment of silence to let this sink in.

• 
  L2 Foundation

• interview with Pastor John Lo of Epicentre Church

  djchuang

  4 Nov 2009 | 7:32 pm

  We’re continuing our series of interviews with pastors who are a part of the Asian American Pastors Leadership Community. Each of these pastors are leading their own respective multi-Asian/ Multi-ethnic churches, and they show an effective way to reaching the next generations. This is a video interview with Pastor John Lo and Epicentre Church in Pasadena, California. John shared a quick overview of the Asian American immigration history, how Epicentre started, and the window of opportunity for Asian Americans in the world today. Watch this interview ::

• 10 Funding Models for Non-profit Organizations

  djchuang

  19 Oct 2009 | 9:13 am

  Sustainability is the one issue that comes up time and again in operating a non-profit organization or ministry organization. While it is not easy to discuss funding and finances especially in faith-based endeavors, they are very much a real world necessity. The Stanford Social Innovation Review (Spring 2009) published this very valuable article, Ten Nonprofit Funding Models, by William Foster, Peter Kim, Barbara Christiansen. Thanks to The Bridgespan Group for linking to it as a blog post. The original article is also available in PDF format. Here’s an excerpt that introduces the…

• video channel for Korean American Christians

  djchuang

  12 Oct 2009 | 9:08 am

  KAC Media (Korean American Christian Media) is a full serviced and free online networking community focused on the 1.5, 2nd, and 3rd generations of Korean Americans. With a vision of “Redefining Culture Through Faith and Media,” Korean American Christian Media launched in April 2008 as a division of JSTV (a Korean Christian television station) and has grown to a staff of 40 through an Intern and Volunteer Department. The mission of KAC Media is outlined as follows: to create content that is edgy, relevant, and compelling to the 1.5, 2nd, and 3rd generation of Korean Americans…

• interview with Joseph Tsang of Vision Church

  djchuang

  7 Oct 2009 | 8:39 am

  We’re continuing our series of interviews with pastors who are a part of the Asian American Pastors Leadership Community. Each of these pastors are leading their own respective multi-Asian/ Multi-ethnic churches, and they show an effective way to reaching the next generations. This is a video interview with Pastor Joseph Tsang of Vision Church in the heart of New York City, New York. Watch this interview :: (more…)

• Weekend conference for 2nd Generation, October 16-18

  djchuang

  5 Oct 2009 | 9:37 am

  Here’s an upcoming conference for 2nd generation Asian Americans in the Southern California area called GodFest ‘09. Read below for an interview with Pastor Ben Shin, who is one of the speakers for this conference. Godfest ‘09: “Celebrating God and His Church” (Link to Facebook event page) Speakers: Sam Park, Ben Shin, and Michael Lee Dates: October 16-18, 2009 Location: L.A. Open Door (1925 Wilshire Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90057) (more…)

• 
  Church Tech Matters

• My Catalyst Experience

  Chase Livingston

  21 Oct 2009 | 10:36 am

  I was so happy to be able to attend Catalyst this year. I had heard about the conference several times, and always wanted to go, but never really had the money. Thanks to Jim’s prompting and Wayne and Elaine’s generosity, I was able to go. It was great being able to stay in a house with 14 other people, because you got to know everyone else really well. Fortunately, we all had a comfortable place to sleep, although I doubt anyone got much sleep, because we were too busy talking, or laughing, or just hanging out.The conference itself was very exciting. I’m obviously very…

• The “Why” of Live Video – Part 1

  Kirk Longhofer

  14 Oct 2009 | 4:04 pm

  Over the past several years, the use of video in a church setting has exploded. The use of video projection was common in the church by the early part of this decade. Most of that use was limited to outlines of sermons and the occasional movie clip or still illustration. Today, even the smallest of churches haul out a portable projector to project song lyrics and announcements on a screen, or in some cases, on a wall. In the past few years, congregations in larger churches have suddenly been treated to (or assaulted with) the giant smiling face of the teaching pastor, and videos produced…

• Why a Mac in Church?

  Chase Livingston

  12 Oct 2009 | 9:44 am

  Well, I’m glad you asked. Up until about a year and a half ago when I bought my first Mac, I was very against the whole idea. I thought Macs were just overpriced, hard to use, and incompatible with the rest of the world. But then, after playing with a few of my friend’s Macs, I decided I was going to get one, and I’ve loved every minute of it. But I digress, the reason we’re here is to find out why someone would want to use a Mac in church rather than a PC. First of all, I believe that Macs are much better suited for multimedia. They come with many programs that out of…

• New CTM Writer – Chase Livingston

  Jim Walton

  21 Sep 2009 | 9:04 pm

  I am really excited to introduce to you someone I have followed on Twitter for a few months.  He is a tech volunteer at his church and has been for quite some time and he struck me as someone who has a story to tell.  To begin this story, I thought I would interview him, so here goes! What is your name? Chase Livingston, aka @chaselivingston I realize you are a tech volunteer at your church, as many of us are, what do you do fulltime? I’m a college student at Clemson University, studying Electrical Engineering. That basically means I study all the time, and tweet about how boring or…

• EasyWorship 2009: Display Foldback Overview

  Daniel Meyer

  20 Sep 2009 | 8:40 pm

  If you’re an EasyWorship user, there’s a new version available for you. EasyWorship 2009 was released recently, and it has several new features. One of the features that is causing some interest and even confusion is Display Foldback. I’ve been using EasyWorship 2009 at our church for a few months now in its beta form, and it has been rock-solid. Our worship team really likes the Display Foldback capabilities, and has made it clear that this feature alone is worth the upgrade fee. So, what is Display Foldback? Basically, it’s support for a third output from the computer that is…

• 
  Ron Edmondson

• My Personal History of Leadership Development

  Ron

  6 Nov 2009 | 4:08 am

  I was honored this week when Jesse Phillips with CatalystSpace blog called me a “seasoned leader”. I feel I still have more to learn than I have learned, but it did cause me to reflect on some of the experiences I have had and people that have influenced me in my leadership ability. Here are a few of those experiences and people that quickly come to my mind: When I was in high school I served as student body president of a large, new school. My principal gave me freedom to do things most students never get to do. We wrote the student government constitution, organized clubs, hosted…

• Considering The Afterlife…Questions of the Unknown

  Ron

  5 Nov 2009 | 6:13 pm

  In our series “Hot Topics”, where our people were able to text in their greatest questions about God, the Bible, life, etc., one of the biggest areas of questions centered around the issue of the afterlife.  Apparently people want to know what’s next….imagine that.  There is a lot of fear associated with this topic, mostly because of the unknowns. In this message I tried to address some of the most repeated questions we received. (Unfortunately it makes you go to the Truthcasting site after 10 minutes.)

• Tribute To A Great Man (Father-in-Law)

  Ron

  5 Nov 2009 | 4:00 am

  Dr. J F Burney (1929 to 2009) My father-in-law was one of the strongest men I know. Into his late 70’s he could outwork most men in their 20’s.  He learned to work hard the old fashioned way.  He had to in order to survive.  He is truly a rags-to-riches kind of story, rising from the poverty of a single mother’s home to the prominence of President of Civitan International and the Dean of Business and Professional Studies at Austin Peay State University. Dr. Burney was a true southern gentleman whose name is his honor.  Throughout the community he is remembered for the life he lived…

• False Assumptions About Our Church

  Ron

  4 Nov 2009 | 3:09 am

  In the four years Grace Community Church has been a church we have received much praise from people that love what we do.  Hundreds of lost, hurting people have chosen to unite with us.  We have had some previously churched people join us who felt we were a better fit for them or their family, but mostly we have reached people who previously did not attend church.  Most exciting to us is that we have baptized more adults than children in our four years, indicating to us that we are truly evangelizing and not just helping people swap churches.  It has been a wild, exciting, thrilling time…

• New Property For Grace Community Church

  Ron

  3 Nov 2009 | 7:18 am

  As we announced Sunday, Grace Community Church has purchased 58 acres of land on Dunlop Lane, just a couple miles from our current meeting location and down the road from our community’s new hospital. We are excited about the future. To answer some of the questions we did not have time to share Sunday, I wanted to share some details about this process. Grace was only six months old when a member in our church heard about an incredible deal on 79 acres of land one day and called me on the phone immediately. (Interestingly, a member of another church in town called him about the land.)…

• 
  faithmaps blog

• Mark Oestreicher is...

  Stephen

  6 Nov 2009 | 4:50 pm

  ...blogging again!

• Free Tim Keller Sermons!

  Stephen

  22 Oct 2009 | 12:00 am

  Justin Taylor reports:"Redeemer’s Sermon Ministry has been faithfully recording, cataloging and reproducing all of our sermons for the past 20 years. To celebrate all 20 years of our history, and to meet the growing demand for our church’s teaching in New York City and around the world, we have created this resource of 150 sermons and lectures covering a broad array of topics, completely free to download and share. The recordings chosen for the Free Sermon Resource were culled from classic sermon series as well as lectures and seminar addresses delivered to various Redeemer ministry…

• Mark Oestreicher is Leaving Youth Specialities

  Stephen

  21 Oct 2009 | 8:35 pm

  Read the Zondervan Press Release here.Mark's a friend and I was sad to hear this. However, I feel confident that he will soon find a new platform for his kingdom service.

• Toward More Effective Leadership Teams: The Necessity of Open Disagreement

  Stephen

  18 Oct 2009 | 11:05 am

  Cross posting a link here to something I just posted on OrgImpact on this subject.

• The Objective and Subjective Nature of Morality

  Stephen

  8 Aug 2009 | 7:22 am

  Author Joseph Myers asks:"Morality is relative. It is seen as a circumstantial stewardship of good instead of a constant set of settled rules...good or bad...thoughts?"I definitely believe in moral absolutes (e.g. adultery is always wrong) but there's a particular scenario that I've been thinking about that makes me think sometimes there might be relatives. I would love to hear responses to this:If I find a Salmon P. Chase $10,000 bill (which has not been printed since 1946) then I think it's morally incumbent on me to make some attempt to find the rare bill's owner.But if I see a penny on…

• 
  EdStetzer.com

• Moving to Health, Part 3

  6 Nov 2009 | 7:38 am

  I've shared a bit about my journey toward health here on the blog (here and here), mostly because many of you asked me to. Even since then I am frequently asked to post more on the subject. I've been slow to do this, but as I came across a recent study that showed a link between obesity and brain shrinkage, I thought I would jump in again. Many of you already know that obesity (excess body fat that creates a significant health hazzard) is on the increase in our country. The Center for Disease Control explains, During the past 20 years there has been a dramatic increase in obesity in the…

• Book Interview: Church Still Works

  5 Nov 2009 | 6:30 am

  As I recently mentioned, I am intrigued by the Independent Baptist Movement. It is often caricatured and frequently misunderstood, but definitely worth understanding. With that in mind, when I see research on this movement, it catches my attention. Paul Chappell and Clay Reed have written a book based upon an independent, nationwide survey of independent Baptist churches, and the result is Church Still Works, an insightful read that will prove surprising to some and encouraging to all. Paul is the senior pastor of Lancaster Baptist Church and president of West Coast Baptist College in…

• Planting / Pastoring in Your Head or Your Community?

  3 Nov 2009 | 8:09 am

  Do you remember the playground game Red Rover? You know, where school kids stand in two lines facing each other and take turns yelling out, "Red Rover, Red Rover, send Suzy right over!" Then little Suzy would have to leave her line and run as fast and hard as she could to break through the other line of kids holding hands. If successful, she would take one member from the other team back with her to her line. If unsuccessful, Suzy had to remain in the opposing team's line and then another child would be called to come over. The game has seemed to lose some steam in the last few years. Maybe…

• Fighting Twitter Spam

  2 Nov 2009 | 8:33 am

  O.K, I just went over the edge dealing with Twitter spam. Today, I am getting a bunch of Direct Messages from all the folks who got "phished" and did not protect their password. Then, there are the inappropriate followers. Today, I was going through my "followers" for the week and trying to eliminate inappropriate ones. Some people ask why I care. Well, I have my twitter account set up to follow everyone back. Why? Because too many people ask, "Why don't you follow me?" I could only follow the people I know, but just because I don't know you does not mean I find you unimportant. Most of my…

• Saturday is for Seminars, part 2 (posted Monday!)

  2 Nov 2009 | 3:22 am

  Here is my travel for the next couple of weeks. Thanks for praying for me and I hope to see you on the road. ______________________________________ The National Outreach Convention is this Wednesday - Friday in San Diego, CA. This isn't just a big conference (but it is crazy big), it also features a very diverse line up with some very solid guys. I know I'll see a number of you there. ______________________________________ On the 8th I'm preaching at Harpeth Community Church in Franklin. ______________________________________ On the 9th I'm joining some brothers at the TN Baptist Pastors…

• 
  daveferguson.org

• A Leader I Admire - Kirsten Strand

  Dave Ferguson

  25 Oct 2009 | 6:22 pm

  We have a very strong leadership culture at Community so I am fortunate to be surrounded by lots of very capable and highly competent leaders. And one of those amazing leaders is Kirsten Strand our Community 4:12 Director.  Over the last six years Kirsten has led a tremendous shift in the culture of Community making us more compassionate about justice, passionate about the poor and has created a longing in us to see under-resourced communities transformed.  In short, she has helped us become more like Jesus.  Kirsten is a leader that I really admire!  Today, the Naperville Sun had an…

• NewThing Launches Two More Churches Last Weekend!

  Dave Ferguson

  14 Oct 2009 | 6:30 am

  We launched 2 NewThing Churches this past weekend – awesome stuff!Anthem Church:  Former NewThing/COMMUNITY Leadership Resident, Matt Larson (and wife Kristen) launched a NewThing Church near L.A., CA called Anthem Church.  They kicked off this weekend with 339 people!!!  We are super proud of Matt and the whole team at Anthem!IKON Christian Community:  Former NewThing/COMMUNITY Leadership Resident, Aaron Monts (and wife Tracy) launched a NewThing Church in downtown San Francisco, CA.  They kicked off this weekend with 100 people!!!  San Francisco’s average size for a church is 40…

• Eagles in Leadership Interview about Big Idea & More!

  Dave Ferguson

  13 Oct 2009 | 9:28 pm

  Dr. Matthew Lee Smith has received numerous acknowledgments for his contributions and podcasts at Eagles in Leadership.  A few weeks ago I did a telephone interview for a podcast with Matt.  We talked a lot about The BIG IDEA, NewThing and more.  If you are interested, you can check it out HERE.

• Interview: New Book & Church Planting in Europe

  Dave Ferguson

  12 Oct 2009 | 8:39 am

  After being in Europe the week before I was only able to be at Catalyst on Wednesday to host the Church Planting Lab.  But in between sessions I made a trip out to the Exponential RV and talked with Josh Jackaway.  Josh asked me about church planting in Europe and the new book that Jon and I just finished, Exponential:  How You And Your Friends Can Start A Missional Church Movement.  Check it out.

• Why So Many Community's Staff Use Twitter

  Dave Ferguson

  6 Oct 2009 | 3:33 pm

  This was sent to me by Doug Leddon who was sure this explained why so many of Community's staff are on twitter.  :)

• 
  tonymorganlive.com

• National Outreach Convention “LIVE”

  tony

  5 Nov 2009 | 7:00 am

  Advertise Here More Fun on TonyMorganLive.com:2006 Blog StatsMy Favorite Blackberry AppsLargest Organization Without an HR Department?Read the Fine PrintThis Week’s Cool Jobs

• 5 Cycles of Generosity

  tony

  3 Nov 2009 | 7:00 am

  Last time we talked, Casey Graham from my sponsorship partner The Change Group shared some common financial mistakes he sees in churches. This time around, I asked him to highlight some opportunities churches have to encourage financial health. The result is this list of the five cycles of generosity Casey has observed in healthy churches. The Change Group will be hosting two FREE conference calls for lead pastors and ministry leaders on Wednesday, November 11 at 2:00 pm EST and Thursday, November 12 at 3:30 pm EST that will equip your church to take advantage of each cycle next year.  If…

• Marcus Buckingham and I Talk About Women

  tony

  2 Nov 2009 | 12:49 pm

  Earlier this week, I had the opportunity to talk with Marcus Buckingham in a telephone interview. For those of you not familiar with Buckingham, he’s an author and a speaker who is primarily focused on helping individuals discover and capitalize on their personal strengths. His previous books include First, Break All the Rules (co-authored with Curt Coffman) and  Now, Discover Your Strengths (co-authored with Donald Clifton, 2001). In our conversation, we talked about women. Driving the conversation is research revealed by numerous studies indicating a drastic decline in female…

• Management Rewired

  tony

  31 Oct 2009 | 1:04 pm

  On my most recent trip, I wrapped up Management Rewired by Charles S. Jacobs. Jacobs takes a look at recent brain research to address some myths of leading people that leaders may have erroneously embraced in the past. As examples, he talks about emotions versus logic in decision-making. He addresses the failure of positive or negative reinforcement to improve performance. He addresses the lack of long-term effectivenes of the authoritarian-style of leadership, instead suggesting that leaders cast a compelling vision through the use of communication and stories to empower self-managed teams.

• How do we encourage busy people to serve?

  tony

  29 Oct 2009 | 3:19 pm

  Last week I started a series of posts on engaging volunteers in ministry. Let me conclude that series by offering this interview with Mark Waltz, the Pastor of Connections at Granger Community Church. Mark, among other things, champions ministry connections at Granger. What’s amazing about the ministry culture at Granger is that there are over 5,000 people attending the church and more than 45% of the church (including kids) is in a serving role. I was curious to learn more about how that has happened, so here’s the interview. TONY: Tell me about your role at Granger Community…

• 
  CatalystSpace | Catablog

• New Buildings & Ministry

  info@catalystspace.com

  6 Nov 2009 | 2:42 am

  There has been a lot of discussion about the new $130 Million building a church has decided to build and relocate to. Of course there are opinions on both sides. Without getting into who & why I'd like to ask a question about this idea in general. Some people uphold the idea to build a $130M building as a good investment (breaking eggs to make an omelet). Others think it's a bad investment (a waste of money). Actually, both groups are right ... from their perspective. One group believes (simplifying) that the money should be spent on helping the poor, or building 130 churches ($1 million…

• What Social Media Sites Do You Use?

  info@catalystspace.com

  5 Nov 2009 | 3:00 am

  There's a million Social Networking websites nowadays. Which ones do you like, and which ones are lame? We use: Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Vimeo & Flickr.Facebook seems to be the gold-standard in social networking. You can easily share everything and keep up w/ your friends. However, Twitter is my favorite b/c it's the most fun! It gives you a quick view of what everyone is doing and you can quickly share interesting links. Something about the constant updates gives Twitter a velocity & energy that is really fun. Also, recently interested in Tumblr, b/c it lets you easily share…

• Catalyst West Creative Meeting

  info@catalystspace.com

  4 Nov 2009 | 5:32 pm

  Catalyst West Coast is less than 6 months away (April 21-23)!  Yesterday we hosted our first creative meeting for Catalyst West 2010 at Mariners Church; Brad Lomenick and Jeff Shinabarger flew out from Atlanta to join a host of southern California leaders (plus a special guest from Las Vegas, Mr. Jud Wilhite!).  We had a blast...  Our theme for Catalyst West 2010 is Unusual Tomorrow - What's now?  What's next?  Imagine the future.  Envision what lies ahead.  One of the many fun questions we navigated during the afternoon was, "If you were thinking outside of…

• Join the Scouting the Divine Blog Tour

  info@catalystspace.com

  4 Nov 2009 | 5:00 am

  Over the last month, Margaret Feinberg has been busy organizing a month-long, 100-stop blog tour to celebrate the launch of Scouting the Divine: My Search for God in Wine, Wool, & Wild Honey. She traveled to spend time with a shepherd in Portland, a farmer in Nebraska, a beekeeper in Colorado and vintner in California. With each person, Margaret asked how they read passages of scripture’not as theologians’ but in light of what they did everyday. Their answers changed the way she reads scripture forever. Here are some of the bloggers taking part in the blog tour Mark Batterson,…

• WIN a CD SET from Catalyst 09

  info@catalystspace.com

  4 Nov 2009 | 4:41 am

  UPDATE: We've chosen a winner! #216, Jason Rogers, @indescribable13. Thanks everyone for playing! If you missed Catalyst, you can still experience it w/ CDs from Catalyst or the Experience Kit which includes the CDs, DVDs, LABS, FILTER & several other resources. Today we're giving away a Catalyst 2009 CD Set for FREE. Here's how to enter the contest: 1. tweet this phrase: WIN a Catalyst 09 CD Set at 4PM(EST) today! Comment here http://bit.ly/pl1GO & RT (via @CatalystLeader)2. Comment below (on this blog post, not on Facebook) with your twitter name & - just for fun - your favorite…

• 
  FlowerDust.net

• Drenched & Whole & Healed

  Anne Jackson

  4 Nov 2009 | 5:30 am

  I heard somewhere once that during Billy Graham’s crusades, after he finishes his message, he returns to a chair and closes his eyes and prays. From what I understand, he doesn’t want to see how many people were (or were not) coming forward, and just wanted to pray for the change that was happening. Granted, I’ve never been to a Billy Graham crusade and I am probably a terrible Christian for even admitting I don’t know that much about them to validate if this actually happens or not. However, as I’ve had the opportunity to speak at several churches in a variety…

• Big News about Summer 2010

  Anne Jackson

  3 Nov 2009 | 6:11 am

  Watch the video below for some big news about how I’m spending my summer vacation! *Even though the crazy-eyed freeze frame implies it, I will not eat you. Or, if you’re lazy and don’t watch videos… 3100 miles + 2 months in the Summer + Bike + Raising $$ for Water in Africa = Me on the Ride:Well 2010 Tour. Learn more or come on the trip with me. Related posts:community… I have heard the blogging community compared to a real...interconnected [through flesh & 0s and 1s] i’ve been officially blogging since early 2004, so, a good...Uganda or Bust so, who…

• It’s Cheap

  Anne Jackson

  2 Nov 2009 | 5:30 am

  I got word a couple days ago that Mad Church Disease is on its fourth printing. Especially considering it’s a niche book in a struggling economy, I am so thankful that the words are bringing hope and healing to many people. It’s not like it’s sold a billion copies, but I think it’s tracking well and really appreciate the stories you have shared with me as you have read it, or passed it on to friends. It is amazing to see how God can redeem our mistakes and brokenness so we can be a healthy hope for the world. To celebrate the fourth printing, I’d like to offer…

• The Sex and The City

  Anne Jackson

  26 Oct 2009 | 6:30 am

  I’ve been in New York City over the weekend…a last minute trip to meet with some amazing people and hopefully share a very powerful story in Permission to Speak Freely. It was a spur of the moment trip, sans The Hubs. Thankfully, we were just here a couple of weeks ago, so the subway maps and schedules were fresh in my mind. My flight got in after dark on Saturday night because of some delays, and being on my own plus the torrential rain storm that hit the Northeast, I decided that paying a little more for a cab instead of taking two trains and two subways would be a safer way to…

• The Boy Made of Post-Its

  Anne Jackson

  22 Oct 2009 | 6:30 am

  Sorry it’s been quiet here lately. Really quiet. The manuscript for Permission to Speak Freely is due in a couple of weeks, and I’m traveling to six cities (from San Diego to NYC and everything in between) and speaking while trying to finish writing the book…so…it’s been a bit hectic, but wonderful and stretching at the same time. I am looking forward to some much needed down time over the holidays! Last night I spoke at The Walk, which is the college & young adults ministry at Sevier Heights Baptist Church in Knoxville, TN. It was an honor to hang out with…

• 
  Ragamuffin Soul

• Online Evangelism…Is It Possible?

  loswhit

  6 Nov 2009 | 10:41 am

  Give me some meat for a section of my talk today at the NOC. Simple definition… evangelism |iˈvanjəˌlizəm| noun the spreading of the Christian gospel by public preaching or personal witness. • zealous advocacy of a cause. 2 questions for you… Is it possible online? Why or Why not? Los

• WINNERS OF GHETTO GANGSTA GIVEAWAY

  loswhit

  5 Nov 2009 | 10:31 pm

  Katy won on pull number one from the Random.org site.  The rest were… @FayZ @deWeb and @rebekahking Congrats guys. send me your address to loswhit@gmail.com Katy.  Now help me figure out how to get a few books across the world… See. I give back to the community… Los

• ghetto gangsta giveaway…

  loswhit

  4 Nov 2009 | 9:38 pm

  I just got 4 free books. They are 2 copies of 2 of my favorite books published this year. Problem is…I own them already. The Divine Commodity and The Monkey And The Fish I have 2 copies each. So I’m feeling generous. I’m gonna give them to you. Just a fun 3 hour contest for my West Coast homies or those of you up late in the ATL. I’ll give them away at midnight San Diego time. 1. Tweet this: My homie @loswhit wants 2 giv me 2 of his favorite books. Drop him a line hre http://tinyurl.com/yznncgn & U cn win 2. 2. Comment on this post and let me know your twitter name…

• Where Do You Need The Biggest Kick In The…

  loswhit

  3 Nov 2009 | 7:42 pm

  So right now it’s a tie. My fat arse needs to shrink. When someone is on stage jumping up and down pumping their fist the last thing you want to see is their belly hittin on the 2’s and 4’s. Since going solo on the work front, wife doing what she does best…taking care of me and the kids, and trying to start a business, my finances need some help in a major way. I hired PS20 to help with my business accounting but my home front needs some attention. Spiritually I am kicking right along. Thomas Merton and my daily Bible reading I think might be the only thing keeping me…

• Stayin’ Alive // You’re Favorite “Ordinary” Moment

  loswhit

  3 Nov 2009 | 1:20 pm

  When Heather leaves me and the kids alone for a night, or 5, the first thing that happens is usually the destruction of the sofa and the cushion jump of death. Hopefully my kids will remember that their dad was massively in love with them. What is one of your favorite “ordinary” moments with your dad or mom or parental figure growing up. One of mine is when my dad would let us get in polyester sleeping bags and slide head first down the carpeted stairs. I’m still bruised. Building a tree house? Building a fort of bed sheets? Stories in the closet? The rope swing? Or nothing…

• 
  Tall Skinny Kiwi

• My famous Christian Nude post makes the Erotic Library

  Andrew Jones

  6 Nov 2009 | 6:10 am

  The blogosphere is a funny place. A tiny post of mine entitled "Christian Nudes?" from back in 2004 has generated daily visitors on my site for 5 years. And today, since it got featured on a "Christianity and Sex Topic" page on the Erotic Library, it has generated a whole new crowd of sightseers to my blog. The post itself is not very interesting but there were some insightful comments that I guess were interesting reading. Cant remember what they were and I cant remember what the article that I was pointing to said either. Something about why nudes are OK in old Christian paintings but too…

• blogging from iPod touch

  Andrew Jones

  5 Nov 2009 | 12:11 pm

  Just testing out my new iblogger application for my iPod touch.Yes, I finally splashed out and bought an iPod, after all these years of not justifying the expense of a glorified music player. iPhone was out of my budget but the iPod touch graduated from a music player to something far more useful and so I got one. One of the biggest draws was language learning wis do much more convenient than my computer.Anyway, nice to blog from this thing. Hello future!Mobile Blogging from here.[Posted with iBlogger from my iPod touch]

• Rock on Christmas Festival (Dec 5-6)

  Andrew Jones

  5 Nov 2009 | 3:39 am

  We are busy preparing for a rock festival called Rock on Christmas, to be held in Portugal on Dec 5 and 6. LOTS and LOTS of work to do. Like . . . choosing a location . . preparing a campsite (my kids are doing this right now) . . . publicity, etc. Thats right - we don't yet have a location, And neither do any of us have any money. But that doesn't seem to be a problem right now. Festival organizer Denny Hurst has asked me to be the VJ [bless his heart] which was a WISE CHOICE! In fact, I really think the entire festival will be all about me and my out-of-this-world video jockeying abilities.

• Taking the Family on the Road

  Andrew Jones

  5 Nov 2009 | 2:36 am

  Big article yesterday called "Dad lost his job, so this family lives on the road." Its about families who have traded their houses for motorhomes in order to ride out (no pun intended) the recession. The article points to a great website called Families on the Road which, if you look carefully on the front page, mentions the Jones family of 7 that is traveling around Europe. Their website is called Jonesberries, because they remind people of the Thornberrys. Hey - wait a minute . . . thats us! This is me, waking up this morning in Portugal, in a pre-coffee state, standing next to our…

• The Starfish Manifesto Released

  Andrew Jones

  4 Nov 2009 | 5:05 am

  BIG ANNOUNCEMENT from Wolfgang Simson in today's email. We have been waiting a long time for this book. I suggest, despite Wolfgang's generous offer of posting it everywhere, that we all just point to the PDF at the starfish portal. "Dear friends, after a long time in the making I am happy to finally present the release of "The Starfish Manifesto", my latest book. We released it in Antioch this October.   You can download for free it as a pdf file at www.starfishportal.net Probably the largest reformation of all times in Church history is in full swing. It is the combination of a…

• 
  Dan Kimball: Vintage Faith

• The Year Of Living Like Jesus at Vintage Faith Church

  DanKimball

  2 Nov 2009 | 3:59 am

  I first heard of Ed Dobson back in the early 1990's when he was pastor at Calvary Church in Grand Rapids, Michigan. He was passionate about people outside of the church and was going against the grain of what normal...

• Origins at Outreach Convention in San Diego next week

  DanKimball

  28 Oct 2009 | 8:59 pm

  I rarely am getting time to blog or post things due to just being so full on this fun adventure of spending time with family, all that is happening with Vintage Faith Church, spending time with people outside of church,...

• "The Nines" video posted on-line to watch from Leadership Network

  DanKimball

  1 Oct 2009 | 1:53 pm

  Leadership Network put up the 9 minute video I did for "The Nines" which was shown on 9/9/09. You can watch it here. Mine was very raw, no script or pre-planned outlined message I was looking at. What you will...

• We need each other if we are on mission - this isn't the time to argue about non-essential things

  DanKimball

  29 Sep 2009 | 2:20 pm

  I just got back from another wonderful Youth Specialties Convention- I think I have spoken at them for the past 8 years in a row. They are experimenting with some new formats as part of the convention where they still...

• Deep Church: the best (and hopefully last?) book studying the emerging church

  DanKimball

  22 Sep 2009 | 3:52 pm

  I haven't been blog posting too much as I am working on wrapping up my next Zondervan book - as usual it is taking longer than I thought in the rewriting of a couple very difficult chapters to write about...

• 
  www.markdroberts.com

• Could Virtual Church Enhance Physical Church? Surprising Confirmation from the Pew Research Center

  Mark D. Roberts

  6 Nov 2009 | 12:01 am

  Part 8 of series: The Challenge and Opportunity of Virtual Church Permalink for this post / Permalink for this series The Pew Internet and American Life Project, a project of the Pew Research Center, has just released the results of a fascinating and timely study on the Internet and its effects on American social life. This study, called “Social Isolation and New Technology,” suggests that fears of the Internet taking away from face-to-face socializing are unfounded. In fact, according to the Pew press release: “People who use modern information and communication…

• Michael Lindsay at Laity Lodge

  Mark D. Roberts

  5 Nov 2009 | 12:01 am

  Laity Lodge was honored to have as Dr. Michael Lindsay as a speaker at our recent Leaders’ Retreat. Michael is a professor of sociology at Rice University and an award-winning author. His recent book, Faith in the Halls of Power, has been highly acclaimed as a groundbreaking study of Christians who are leaders in business, government, and education. Michael gave three stirring messages at the retreat: • The Kingdom, the Power, and the Glory: When Faith and Power Meet • Ties that Bind: Leadership and the Common Good • Faithful Leadership: The Perils and Possibilities of Privilege and…

• Is Virtual Church Enough? A Theological Response

  Mark D. Roberts

  4 Nov 2009 | 12:01 am

  Part 7 of series: The Challenge and Opportunity of Virtual Church Permalink for this post / Permalink for this series In my last post in this series I offered an existential response to the question: Is virtual church enough? I suggested that when you take away the physical aspect of church, something essential is missing. I supported this contention more intuitively and emotionally than theologically. Now I’d like to muster some theological support. I would begin by pointing to some of the most formative truths of the Christian faith. God created the physical world and called it good.

• Is Virtual Church Enough? An Existential Response, Section 2

  Mark D. Roberts

  3 Nov 2009 | 12:01 am

  Part 6 of series: The Challenge and Opportunity of Virtual Church Permalink for this post / Permalink for this series In my last post, I suggested that, though virtual church has many benefits, a personal cannot experience everything church is supposed to be without being physically present with other Christians. Thus the potential for church to be fully real is there for physical church, but not for virtual church. No matter how wonderful and authentic a virtual church experience might be, it is never able completely to be church. I’m not quite sure if Douglas Estes, who makes a strong,…

• Is Virtual Church Enough? An Existential Response, Section 1

  Mark D. Roberts

  2 Nov 2009 | 12:01 am

  Part 5 of series: The Challenge and Opportunity of Virtual Church Permalink for this post / Permalink for this series In my last post in this series I made what I consider to be the strongest case for virtual church. It is based on the fact that millions of people spend a substantial chunk of their lives in Internet-based virtual worlds. If Christians want to reach these people with the love and truth of Christ, then we need to be substantially present in these worlds. We need, in a nutshell, virtual church. Yet is virtual church enough? Can it satisfy the biblical and theological…

• 
  Church Communications Pro | Church Marketing | Church Web Design

• 6 Ways to Help Your Church Website Rank Better in Google

  Cory Miller

  3 Nov 2009 | 6:39 am

  Check out Chris Boyd’s article on Ministry Marketing Coach on 6 Ways to Organize Your Ministry or Church Web Site to Boost Your Rankings. Related posts:How States Rank in Religiosity Check out Modern Church Marketing Church Com

• Great New Christian Podcast: Messenger Insight

  Cory Miller

  27 Oct 2009 | 6:58 pm

  Check out this great new Christian podcasting site called Messenger Insight today at WebDesign.com. There are two great podcasts up … with some heavy hitters, including Charles Colson and Timothy George and another with my friends Micah Fries and Dr. Mark DeVine. Related posts:An Exhortation for Christian Bloggers I recentlyBaker’s ‘Starting for the Finish’ Editorial a Must Read for Southern Baptists Doug Baker

• 4 Keys to Effective Church Websites: Free Webinar

  James Dalman

  28 Sep 2009 | 10:52 am

  WebDesign.com co-founders Cory Miller and James Dalman hosted a special webinar titled 4 Keys to Effective Church Websites on Oct. 1. In this webinar, you’ll learn the essentials of highly effective church websites with two experienced church marketing professionals. Watch the Church Website Webinar here Related posts:Church Communications Pro Gets Refreshed. Church Com

• An Exhortation for Christian Bloggers

  Cory Miller

  22 Sep 2009 | 1:51 pm

  I recently have had the opportunity to meet and become great friends with Doug Baker, who is now the editor of Baptist Messenger, Oklahoma’s third largest newspaper …. He just wrote an editorial called On Baptist Blogging and it includes a great exhortation to all Christian bloggers, here’s a quote from it: The challenge for the Christian blogger is to both expose and edify in a manner that obeys Jesus’ process of log and speck (Matt. 7:5). Far too often blogging can be both anonymous and autonomous, tricking the writer into thinking that what they write and how they…

• Church Web Design, WordPress and New Services

  Cory Miller

  18 Sep 2009 | 4:15 pm

  Over two and a half years ago, I wrote a series called Using WordPress for Church Websites. At the time, I was the communications director at a large Southern Baptist church in Oklahoma City and sought an affordable way to get an attractive website for our church. You can read the whole series here …. WordPress was the answer I found … it was easy to use and had numerous benefits – like helping the church get found online via Google and other search engines. And after all this time, WordPress and one of our deigns is still powering the QSBC website today! But that experience…

• 
  WithoutWax.tv by Pete Wilson

• Broadcasting Volunteer Gala LIve!

  Pete Wilson

  6 Nov 2009 | 6:44 am

  I’ve got a BIG announcement this morning. We’ve decided to broadcast our annual Volunteer Gala which happens tonight LIVE. Trust me when I say you won’t want to miss watching how we celebrate our volunteers here at Cross Point. It’s one of the most unique celebrations I’ve ever been a part of. We’ll be going LIVE around 7:15 cst, so grab some popcorn and get ready as we pull out all the stops to honor the thousands of volunteers that make Cross Point so special. I’ve embedded the channel here so you can come back here and watch it. You can also go…

• How We Live

  Pete Wilson

  5 Nov 2009 | 7:42 pm

  Like so many of you I watched in horror as the news about the shooting at Ft. Hood started to spread. Apparently an Army psychiatrist allegedly opened fire at Fort Hood, Texas, killing 12 people and wounding 31 others. The event was a violent reminder that none of us get to choose how we die in this world, but we do get to choose how we live. Hope you’ll take some extra time to pray for the families impacted by the shootings.

• My Favorite Night Of The Year

  Pete Wilson

  5 Nov 2009 | 6:07 am

  There are many different events we put on as a church. My favorite, hands down, is our Volunteer Appreciation Banquet. Once a year we roll out the red carpet in an attempt to find a way to say thank you to the thousands of volunteers that make Cross Point Church the special place it is. I was blown away to hear that this year we mailed out invitations to 2000 households. I can’t tell you how humbled I am to get to serve alongside such an amazing group of people! Every year the gala is full of some unexpected moments which make the night. These unexpected moments usually include some…

• The Greatest Of All Illusions

  Pete Wilson

  4 Nov 2009 | 4:27 am

  We’re in a series entitled Faith, Hope & Love at Cross Point where we’ve been looking at how God uses our faith to increase our intimacy and trust with Him. As usual I’ve found myself in the middle of struggling with the very topic I’m in the midst of teaching about. I’ve got a situation that is driving me absolutely crazy. I want answers. I want explanations. I want guarantees. I want control. And yet what God wants is for me to simply trust Him. Over the past two days I’ve felt God saying, “Pete, take your hands off of this. Stop trying to…

• Should Churches Monitor Staff’s Twitter?

  Pete Wilson

  3 Nov 2009 | 5:12 am

  Kansas City Chiefs running back Larry Johnson has been suspended and banned from all team activities while NFL is investigating his shameful use of gay slur when he questioned coach Todd Haley’s football credentials in an exchange with one of his followers on his Twitter account on Monday (October 26).  The NFL commissioner, Roger Goodell, said his twitter comments violated the league’s personal conduct policy Johnson’s agent Peter Schaffer alleges the game check and other lost revenue would amount to a penalty of about $600,000 for the former two-time Pro Bowl player. Ouch!

• 
  Perry Noble | Leadership, Vision & CreativityPerry Noble | Leadership, Vision & Creativity

• 10 Signs Of A Secure Leader

  perry

  5 Nov 2009 | 6:31 am

  #1 – Realizes he has nothing to prove! #2 – Works for the applause of heaven and not for the applause of men. #3 – Seeks God for direction instead of merely asking Him for permission. #4 – Doesn’t pretend that he has all the answers. #5 – Seeks to submit to the Spirit instead of constantly grieving Him. #6 – Understands that he will go insane if his goal is for everyone to understand him. #7 – Is willing to repent when he is wrong…and do whatever it takes to make things right. #8 – Puts personal preferences aside when making…

• 15 Signs That A Church Is In Trouble

  perry

  4 Nov 2009 | 4:04 am

  #1 – When excuses are made about the way things are instead of embracing a willingness to roll up the sleeves and fix the problem. #2 – When the church becomes content with merely receiving people that come rather than actually going out and finding them…in other words, they lose their passion for evangelism! #3 – The focus of the church is to build a great church (complete with the pastors picture…and his wife’s…on everything) and not the Kingdom of God. #4 – The leadership begins to settle for the natural rather than rely on the supernatural.

• Disturbed!

  perry

  3 Nov 2009 | 6:09 am

  I tweeted this yesterday… “Being filled with vision doesn’t always mean that God is inspiring us…but rather that He’s disturbing us!” AND…I can’t get that thought out of my mind. My fear for those of us in ministry is that we don’t want to be disturbed…we want things to come easy, for the dots to always connect and for the story to always have a happy ending. BUT…the more I read the Scriptures the more I see that the visions that resulted in the biggest impact were the ones that were the most disturbing to the people who…

• NewSpring Ghost sighting?

  admin

  2 Nov 2009 | 8:49 am

  So…this past Saturday was Halloween… Normally I don’t get into weird things like ghost stories and such…but when I arrived at church yesterday morning our security team that reviews footage were FREAKED OUT because of what they saw and heard that our camera’s revealed! This is actual security footage from Saturday night…not really sure what to make of it…but about 10 seconds or so into the video you can see AND hear something that, well, I can’t really explain it…see what you think. (Look and listen closely when the camera begins to focus…

• Sunday Night Reflections

  perry

  1 Nov 2009 | 6:00 pm

  Haven’t preached in a couple of weeks…and I’m feeling it!  :-)  Here’a a few thoughts on the day… We launched our singles series entitled, “Don’t Get Married Until…” today…and it was a BLAST! My prayer for this series is that singles will view being single NOT as a sickness, but rather as a season that needs to be embraced in order to learn all that God desires to teach them. We have A LOT of singles at our church…and I have a heart for them, that Jesus would be EXALTED in their lives and that they would view marriage as…

• 
  MoreThanDodgeball.com

• SCL: The Youth Group Rules

  Josh

  6 Nov 2009 | 3:39 am

  Enjoyed this post on Stuff Christians Like about youth group rules. Hilarious! Here’s a clip, lots more goodness if you hit up the link: 1. The youth group bus or van will not be purchased from a dealership named, “Vans that like to catch on fire & buses that break down in the middle of the night on the side of the road on the way to New Hampshire ski retreats.” 2. Only one “dude with an acoustic guitar” will be allowed per youth group. 3. If you go on a retreat and you’re boyfriend/girlfriend doesn’t go, they should expect to get dumped when you return home. Cause…

• POLL: Working Hours in The Fall

  Josh

  6 Nov 2009 | 2:49 am

  How many hours a week do you work in the fall?(surveys) HSM is coming out of what is maybe the busiest season of the year: Fall. The school year has officially been kicked off, our big campaign is over, small group leaders are trained, small groups have been launched and everything else is really starting to roll. Of course, that meant work … and lots of it. I find the Fall fits into an extra category of busyness, sometimes with serious hours. How about you? Vote in this week’s poll now! JG Related posts:POLL: How Many Hours a Week Do You WorkPOLL DAY: What fall TV show are you…

• Kingdom Assignment: Student Edition

  Josh

  6 Nov 2009 | 2:42 am

  T3 is a cool new resource that is new this week at Simply Youth Ministry. If you’ve ever heard of Kingdom Assignment, this is the student version of that awesome adult series. We’ve done some work before with Denni and Leesa at our PDYM Student Leadership Conference this summer, and had a blast seeing what God could do with $1 and an afternoon. Here’s more details about the pack: What would happen if your students took the Parable of the Talents literally for 9 weeks? What would they do if you put money in their hands and told them to exercise some creative stewardship?

• Mountain Bikes and Discipleship

  Josh

  6 Nov 2009 | 2:25 am

  Doug Fields has a great new article about mountain bike-riding and discipleship. I like his connection to help students “grow on their own” but walk with them down the path first. Here’s a clip, I think it’ll bring up some interesting conversations in your head today: As I was riding and wishing for a safe and caring riding partner/coach I began to think about the teenagers in our ministries. What are we doing with all their questions? Do we even know the questions they’re asking? Or do we assume they’ll catch everything about Jesus as they begin their ride with…

• Simply Youth Ministry Podcast: Episode 115

  Josh

  6 Nov 2009 | 2:21 am

  Episode 115 of the Simply Youth Ministry Podcast hit the web this week, we just recorded a really fun Episode 116 live yesterday, too. Just enough youth ministry to say that you’re working! JG Related posts:Simply Youth Ministry Podcast: Episode 100Simply Youth Ministry Podcast Episode 13Podcast 72 is in the Can

• 
  History in the Making

• Savoring Criticism

  Ben Arment

  5 Nov 2009 | 9:18 am

  Something happens when you leave the world of pastoring, where people feel it's their God-given right to criticize the church... You have to dig really hard for constructive feedback.When it comes to non-church endeavors, people don't readily offer their thoughts. They simply don't shop there anymore... go there anymore... return there anymore. At STORY, I was monitoring the #Story09 feed on Twitter for constructive comments. There were a ton of great things being said. But it was the few "I wish" or "If only" nuggets that grabbed my attention.Like, the wi-fi…

• Selling Out

  Ben Arment

  5 Nov 2009 | 7:45 am

  Yesterday, I was talking with a friend who described an opportunity like this:"It fit my economic statement, but it didn't fit my mission statement."What a statement of clarity.I've gone through life hearing people say, "Well, you've got to pay the bills," as a resignation from their calling. But I wonder if what they're really saying is, "I don't want to sacrifice my standard of living for my God-given purpose."Just thinking out loud.

• Movements Happen Through Friends

  Ben Arment

  4 Nov 2009 | 7:02 am

  I'm in awe of CS Lewis, JRR Tolkien, Charles Williams, and the others who met at the Eagle & Child Pub to write great literature...The friends who sat around Henrietta Mears' kitchen table in California - Bill Bright, Dawson Trotman, and Billy Graham...The childhood friendship of Andy Stanley and Louie Giglio...The long-time friendship of Perry Noble, Steven Furtick, Clayton King...Dino Rizzo, Chris Hodges, and Rick Bezet...When God creates movements, he seems to work through leaders who are friends. I don't spend enough time cultivating my friendships, but I am indeed in the…

• Wednesday Morning Run-Down

  Ben Arment

  4 Nov 2009 | 5:27 am

  I'm starting to interview church planters for a free PDF I'm releasing in January called "How They Started." Talked to Michael Lukaszewski yesterday. Amazing story. Much to learn from it. Read this remarkably story from Janet Oberholter. Such an inspiring gal. Really wish I could have met her at STORY. Next time. =) About 40 leaders are gathering this week in NYC for the exclusive, $7,000-a-pop Exchange event. My friend David Hoyt runs it... If you live in Atlanta and haven't taken David to lunch, your quality of life is less than it could be. My 3 year old and my 5 year…

• Mike & Jud in the Man-Cave Tonight

  Ben Arment

  3 Nov 2009 | 8:38 am

  Tonight at 6:00p and 9:00p PST! On Mike's new Media Social site... which is amazing in its own right.

• 
  eugene cho

• never give up. never give up. never give up.

  Eugene Cho

  6 Nov 2009 | 11:01 pm

  Read this story of Sa-Soon Cha, a 68 year old woman who finally passed her written driver’s test on the 950th attempt. At first, I was laughing but then when you consider how much work, time, commitment,heart, and even finances she invested, it’s an incredible story of perseverance. Actually, i’ts pretty inspiring. My favorite quote: “I believe you [...]

• harvard professor donates engagement party?

  Eugene Cho

  5 Nov 2009 | 11:01 pm

  I can’t tell you how much this story encourages me. I met Dr. Josephine Kim, a Harvard professor in their graduate school of education, this past summer when we spoke at a leadership conference. Check out what she and her fiance are doing to celebrate their engagement (or click image above). Beautiful stuff. [...]

• we’ve blogged about it. now, let’s get together…

  Eugene Cho

  4 Nov 2009 | 11:05 pm

  I want to follow up on yesterday’s post which I believe has broken the record for the longest title in history: “deadly vipers, mike foster, jud wilhite, soong-chan rah, chuck norris, joyluck club, angry asian man, wanna be ninjas and everyone else.” Yo, that’s how I roll. I had some good dialogue with Mike Foster yesterday [...]

• the ultimate closet sale for a cause

  Eugene Cho

  4 Nov 2009 | 11:01 pm

  Until recently, I had never met Bob & Eunice or their kids. Eunice was a blog stalker, heard about the vision of One Day’s Wages, and wanted to show her support. She also happens to be a local independent fashion designer. When she first emailed me, I thought she needed me to model her clothes [...]

• relationships: god the creator is pursuing you

  Eugene Cho

  3 Nov 2009 | 11:10 pm

  We launched a new teaching series at Quest this past Sunday entitled “Relationships: ___________.”  We’ll likely spend the next 4-5 months on all things relationships: God, Jesus, Spirit, self, parents, children, enemies, marriage, dating, and so on. One of our other pastors was supposed to launch the series but had to bail last minute with a [...]

• 
  Church Matters: The 9Marks Blog

• Machen on Preaching by Aaron Menikoff

  Aaron Menikoff

  6 Nov 2009 | 2:08 pm

  I'm re-reading J. Gresham Machen's Christianity & Liberalism with my friend and co-worker, Jacob Hall. Machen wrote this book in 1923 as a response to the doctrineless preaching of Harry Fosdick. It rings true today--and I'm not just talking about what others are preaching. I'm talking about the temptation I face to avoid saying hard things. I'm surprised how often I have an inner conversation as I prepare a sermon. It goes something like this: "Aaron, that's true. It's in the Bible. It needs to be said even though it may offend some." In spite of…

• Does Multi-site = Increasing Growth Potential? by Jonathan Leeman

  Jonathan Leeman

  6 Nov 2009 | 8:08 am

  Thabiti, I'd like to follow up on a point you made and make it a little stronger. You write, "Some seem to presume that if you're growing and you're not interested in multi-site then you just may be limiting the growth potential of the kingdom.  And conversely, if you are a practitioner of multi-site you're increasing the growth potential of the kingdom." You suggest this is "spurious." I would also say it's short-sighted. If God does in fact mean for local churches to consist of one congregation, then we can trust that such a congregation…

• Evangelical Scuffles by Thabiti Anyabwile

  Thabiti Anyabwile

  5 Nov 2009 | 11:17 pm

  Greg, Thanks for alerting us to your participation in Southern's panel discussion on multi-site churches.  I not only appreciate the link, but appreciated how you represented the "opposed" position and how all the men engaged one another charitably.  It was a good Christian "scuffle."  Which is to say, nobody got hurt and there was love for all.  Thanks for modeling that, brothers. I have to say, though, the multi-site church issue feels like it's in that category with emergent churches for me--something receiving a lot of attention…

• Would the Apostles Endorse Multi-site Churches? by Ryan Townsend

  Ryan Townsend

  5 Nov 2009 | 6:52 am

  John Meade, a dear Brother from Clifton Baptist Church here in Louisville, KY, gives a thoughtful, biblical, succinct, and helpful answer here.Here's some of John's highlights and conclusion from the post:"My basic assumption going into this issue is simple: the view that remains faithful to the clear Scriptural directives and can obey those directives practically should be adopted.  Thus any view of the church which would necessarily lead to the disobedience of clear Scriptural directives because of the church’s structure itself should be abandoned....What are these…

• Video: Multi-perspectives on Multi-sites by Jonathan Leeman

  Jonathan Leeman

  4 Nov 2009 | 7:05 am

  Good conversation here between Greg and several folks affiliated with Southern Seminary who are all pro-multi-site. I love the heart for evangelism which runs across the board. As you'll see, there's some disagreement about what we're to learn from some Scriptural examples. The examples seem more prescriptive to some (like us) because they tie in so well with the responsibilities not only of the leadership (as Daniel said) but of the congregation.  

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  Human3rror

• EPIC Holiday Lighting Win!

  John

  6 Nov 2009 | 3:49 pm

  I’m almost tempted to do this because we’ve got some neighbors who live for this time of year.

• Husband Fail Friday

  John

  6 Nov 2009 | 4:11 am

  It’s Friday! Time for another Husband Fail! This is your opportunity to share silly stories of how your husband pretty much failed you this past week! Or, if you want to be honest (Mr. Husband) then go ahead and admit what you did and how it was so lame of you to do whatever you did before your wife shows up and does it for you! Please try not to take yourself (or this post) too seriously… Me First: I’m awesome at hearing you but I’m not awesome at actually listening to you. I’m awesome at knowing that you said something but I’m not awesome at knowing specifically…

• At What Age Should My Kid Have a Cell Phone?

  John

  5 Nov 2009 | 3:38 am

  This is serious. I read this article here that says 1 out of 5 kids have a cellphone by the time they are 8 years old. Wow. My daughter started actually using my iPhone (not just banging things on it) before she was 2. And even before that she was using one (pic taken above is from January 1, 2008). She’s 3 now and can do almost anything on it, including call my mom and my brother, browse movies to watch or browse music to listen to, and play every game on there. She also knows how to re-arrange the icons on the phone as well as delete stuff (sad…). But, it’s Appa’s…

• Psalm 23 for the Working Man

  John

  4 Nov 2009 | 2:47 am

  The Lord is my real boss, and I shall not want. He gives me peace, when chaos is all around me. He gently reminds me to pray and do all things without murmuring and complaining. He reminds me that He is my source and not my job. He restores my sanity every day and guides my decisions that I might honor Him in all that I do. Even though I face absurd amounts of e-mails, system crashes, unrealistic deadlines, budget cutbacks, gossiping co-workers, discriminating supervisors and an aging body that doesn’t cooperate every morning, I still will not stop – for He is with me! His presence, His…

• Personal Counseling: A Fresh Perspective

  John

  3 Nov 2009 | 5:21 am

  We are so messed up. Let’s be honest for a sec. In fact, nevermind. You can’t. You can’t possibly know everything that’s messed up in your life without another person looking in. (An added benefit to marriage… and community I might add!) We are simply blind to our blind spots (duh). Some recent marriage counseling helped me realize that I have some personal issues that need some significant attention. So, back to the plush offices with comfortable chairs, soothing music, and men with silky voices with an uncanny ability to ask tough personal questions without…

• 
  Life on Life

• Broken People

  5 Nov 2009 | 9:49 am

  My heart has been broken for people in need lately. I thank God for that. My prayer is that we, as church leaders, never forget the broken. That we actually see (and respond) to people in need. I spend a lot of time praying for these folks. In the Church today I think we sometimes get so far removed from where people are. We are living life in our little church bubble.I was reading the blog of a pastor yesterday who had an affair months ago and has been removed from the world of church leadership and has transitioned to what he calls "the real world." After reading his post it further…

• 15 Signs a Church is in Trouble

  4 Nov 2009 | 2:39 pm

  Perry Noble has a great post today titled "15 Signs a Church is in Trouble." I can't help but agree with his list. I'll include a few highlights and you can click [here] to read the rest.#1 – When excuses are made about the way things are instead of embracing a willingness to roll up the sleeves and fix the problem.#2 – When the church becomes content with merely receiving people that come rather than actually going out and finding them…in other words, they lose their passion for evangelism!#6 – The leaders within the church cease to be coachable.#10 – The people in the church lose…

• Invite to the Man-Cave

  3 Nov 2009 | 11:57 am

  A long time ago someone told me about Deadly Viper. It's an online community that was created by Mike Foster and Jud Wilhite for the purpose of candid conversations about radical integrity and grace among church leaders. They've grown their audience online to thousands and have recently launched something new their calling "the Man-Cave Online: Leadership Manswers with Mike and Jud." I love it! You can check out their live experience tonight [online] at 6PM PST.

• Manic Monday Minute

  2 Nov 2009 | 8:46 pm

  Manic Monday Minute is a serious mind-dump that will probably take you one minute to read. Here are some thoughts going through my head right now...This is the Manic Monday MinuteWeather stunk it up for most of today. Actually yesterday wasn't much better.We experienced all 4 seasons over the course of the weekend here.This weekend was bizee. How was yours?Didn't really do anything special for Halloween.Actually, I only saw 2 people in costumes the entire day! It definitely didn't feel like Halloween.I got to see This is It. Thought the movie was very good. Just noticed Jackson's guitarist,…

• 5 Key Ingredients in Great Managers

  2 Nov 2009 | 11:58 am

  I've been thinking a lot lately about management. Mostly likely its on the brain because I actually did a sermon recently on the subject. Over the years I've been managed by a diverse group of men and women and I've come to the conclusion that its been a good thing for me. I've learned "how to do it" but mostly, how "not to do it" when it comes to managing others. One thing you must realize as a manager: you are mentoring your staff - mostly indirectly - at ALL times. I'll share a few snippets here from my own experiences:I recall one boss that was a bit of a control freak. She never let me…

• 
  The bob.blog feed!

• Review: Sim Church pt 1

  bobhyatt

  5 Nov 2009 | 11:15 am

  It's really difficult for me not to come out swinging when a book I've been promised deals with real questions in an even handed manner begins with breathless statements like "Today a new community of the people of God has begun... A change is occurring in the Christian church the likes of which has not happened in centuries...This type of church is unlike any church the world has ever seen. It has the power to break down social barriers , unite believers from all over the world, and build the kingdom of God with a widow's mite of financing . It is a completely different type…

• I don't know what the Christian Post is...

  bobhyatt

  3 Nov 2009 | 8:19 am

  ... but I'm in it. Brick-and-Mortar Pastor Defends Virtual Church as RealBy Lillian KwonChristian Post Reporter E-mail  Print  RSS Share   Text  The Christian church is engaging far less than 1 percent of the 70 million people who are active in the virtual world. This means the virtual world is by far the largest unreached people group on planet Earth, says one pastor.RelatedChristians Bring Jesus into Virtual 'Second Life' Portland Church Goes Multi-Site, Rejects Video Venues Survey Measures Effectiveness of Church Expansion…

• I'm on a date!!

  bobhyatt

  30 Oct 2009 | 5:37 pm

  Uploaded by www.cellspin.net

• I *REALLY* hope she said yes....

  bobhyatt

  28 Oct 2009 | 9:45 am

• Dust Up at UR over Virtual Chruch!

  bobhyatt

  28 Oct 2009 | 9:00 am

  Last week, Doug Estes, the writer of a new book called Sim Church posted on Out of Ur what was essentially a response to my thoughts in previous Ur articles regarding the idea of Virtual Church. He wanted to avoid responding to me by name, but there were too many pointed comments to avoid the conclusion. You can check in out here: "In Defense of Virtual Church."I wrote and sent a response that was pretty quickly made superfluous by the (now) 87 (and counting!) comments on the original post. I reproduce some of it here. I hope you'll read it (and the original article…

• 
  TheWorshipCommunity.Com - Worship Leader Resources, Articles, Forums

• Letters to Leaders, Vol. 2

  Mandy Thompson

  4 Nov 2009 | 5:50 am

  Today we bring another installment of our series written by everyday church goers. As you read the words of these letters, I pray that you receive in your heart what is being communicated. That you listen as if someone from your own congregation is writing. And that you consider their words. We may not all agree with what is being expressed at times, just as we don’t agree with our own congregants at times. Setting aside debate and disagreement, may we have hearts to serve them. ~mandy thompson Dear worship leader, Thanks for your presence on stage. Thanks for taking us to deeper places…

• Worship + Web 2.0 Webinar

  Fred McKinnon

  4 Nov 2009 | 4:57 am

  Attention, Members and Guests of TheWorshipCommunity.Com (TWC) TWC Founder, Fred McKinnon (blog | twitter), will be teaching a live “webinar” next Monday, Nov. 9 for Worship Leader Magazine called “Worship + Web 2.0″.  We’ll be talking about some of the online tools and resources we use as worship leaders and technicians.  Of course, TWC will be highlighted as well!  It’s basically the same class that Fred taught the last two years at the National Worship Leader Conference. To register, click here. Worship + Web 2.0 taught by Fred McKinnon Monday,…

• Laura Hackett Interview with Misty Edwards

  Brooke Sellers

  3 Nov 2009 | 5:54 am

  Laura Hackett Interview with Misty Edwards from Forerunner Music on Vimeo. Get a free track from the new album here. Share and Enjoy: Related posts:Forerunner Media Group Presents Cory AsburyMike Guglielmucchi InterviewJesus Saves - Carlos Whittaker, Jason Ingram, and Mia Fields

• Imagine That by Manuel Luz

  Sarah Markley

  2 Nov 2009 | 5:11 pm

  In Imagine That: Discovering your Unique Role as a Christian Artist, Manuel Luz, the Creative Arts Pastor for Oak Hills Church in Folsom, California, compares Jazz music to Biblical community, claims that the Levites of the Old Testament had the “ultimate gig” and makes a convincing case for art as a spiritual discipline. Luz’ unique personal history (he’s been both a Jazz musician and a rocket scientist and now is a Pastor) makes me want to sit across the Starbucks table from him and just ask him to talk about his life.  This and the fact that he really doesn’t like the…

• Father Forgive Me, For I Have Sinned: One Man’s Journey to Restoration (Part 1)

  Ben Harrell

  2 Nov 2009 | 7:44 am

  (Publisher’s Note: Dear readers, I’m excited about this series, “Forgive Me Father, For I Have Sinned”. It’s written from the painful experience of a true brother who has walked the road of sin, shame, and restoration. When “TheWorshipCommunity.Com” launched, Ben Harrell (aka “el ben”) was one of our most active participants. I had the honor of being in the same church with him, sharing a place on staff with him, and calling him a friend. Though not as closely as I could have been, I’ve walked with him through the last year, always…

• 
  TechnoPraxis™

• “They Turned Life Into a Musical”

  20 Oct 2009 | 7:16 pm

  I am a huge fan of the folks at Improv Everywhere.  Keep watching through to the end of the video!   In the end, it’s all about creating experience and telling a story.

• Why Live Video?

  14 Oct 2009 | 9:30 am

  Over the past several years, the use of video in a church setting has exploded. The use of video projection was common in the church by the early part of this decade. Most of that use was limited to outlines of sermons and the occasional movie clip or still illustration. Today, even the smallest of churches haul out a portable projector to project song lyrics and announcements on a screen, or in some cases, on a wall. In the past few years, congregations in larger churches have suddenly been treated to (or assaulted with) the giant smiling face of the teaching pastor, and videos produced…

• Life Equals Risk

  1 Oct 2009 | 11:32 am

  Here’s a very good thing to remember, particularly for anyone who's been knocked down or kicked to the curb recently. Thanks to BlueFishTV.com and HT to Cher Floria Nelson.

• Excellent Idiocy or Idiotic Excellence?

  28 Sep 2009 | 9:08 am

  From Ben Arment: “Excellence can be obtained if you: - care more than others think is wise; - risk more than others think is safe; - dream more than others think is practical; - expect more than others think is possible. That describes an idiot.” Hope we all get there someday. P.S.  Ben is the brains behind “Story” coming up next month.  You should go!

• Wireless Microphone And DTV Update

  26 Sep 2009 | 8:14 am

  Studio Daily has a nice rundown of the current state of wireless. A few things I took away from the article. First, it confirms what we already know. The FCC has not yet acted to make it illegal to operate wireless in this band. But it’s going to happen, and when it does, operating these units will be illegal. Second, there are already lots of public safety systems using this spectrum. The specific frequencies are noted, and they quote a couple of very smart guys who line out scenarios where wireless microphone use actually could cause a real life and safety issue. The article also points…

• 
  partoftheglue.com

• stealing ideas

  radiantfirst

  2 Nov 2009 | 6:50 pm

  I recently created a video where we took the script from a skit guys script.  The script was originally designed to be a drama, however with the time crunch we deal with in our services we decided to video the skit and condense it down to two minutes. Most of the time the videos we create are pretty original, however this time we decided it was okay to steal the general idea and make it our own.  Below is the video Run in such a way from LYF on Vimeo. Tweet This Post 

• Facebook ads for your youth group

  radiantfirst

  29 Oct 2009 | 5:01 pm

  I recently launched a new ad campaign for our youth group through facebook.  Once you have a facebook fan page setup you can go to your fan page and click promote with an ad.  The great thing about these ads is that you can target them to 13-18 year old students that live within a certain mile radius of your city.  You can also decide how much you want to spend and choose between clicks or impressions.  Creating a facebook ad campaign for your youth group may help get exposure in your community due to the high volume of students that are on facebook.  Visit facebook.com/ads for more…

• Vote for our film

  radiantfirst

  22 Oct 2009 | 8:37 am

  A couple of months ago our student media team at my church entered the 24 hour film race.  We had to write, shoot and edit a short film in 24 hours. Our film has gone on to the national competitions and we need your help. Vote for our film “the choice” HERE and spread the word. Tweet This Post 

• Using voice-overs in videos

  radiantfirst

  4 Oct 2009 | 12:41 pm

  The truth is most students in your ministry are not actors and the few that can act probably still aren’t incredible.  We recently did a series on evangelism in our youth ministry called ASK.  The concept was to thread a series of videos together that show students being afraid to ask something.  The last video focuses on asking your friends about God, while the first three are other real life situations.  These videos were actually easy to shoot because we didn’t have to record audio on site.  After filming each video we would go into our studio and record the voice over…

• Practices for unleashing student artists

  radiantfirst

  29 Sep 2009 | 6:30 pm

  Last week I had the opportunity to participate in a podcast as a guest with Tim Schmoyer.  I spoke about unleashing student artists and gave some practical ideas on how to do just that. In reality unleashing student artists can be a pretty time consuming thing.  One of the things Tim mentioned on the podcast was that it would be a lot of work to have students helping with the production of his videos.  This is probably one of the biggest hurdles I have had to overcome is knowing that involving students on almost every task is nine times out of ten more work.  Despite knowing this the…

• 
  Branded With Love

• I’m Torn…

  Jason

  2 Nov 2009 | 3:26 pm

  My wife and I are picking one thing only to get each other for Christmas and giving the rest of our resources towards other people for Christmas (with a couple small things for Chloe to open for fun too). So, my watch is pretty beat up and run it’s course & I’ve been eyeballin’ these two. There is something about bright colors that are really sticking with me lately. Leaning towards the green. What do you think? Maybe my wife wants me to get a watch so I’ll be on time coming home. Definitely need to get better about that. Also, with the resources we’re using…

• Who Is Getting Unloaded On?

  Jason

  29 Oct 2009 | 10:47 am

  No matter what you do in life, you probably have things you don’t like about your job. Maybe it’s little, maybe it’s huge. But at the end of the day, when work, relationships, people, and circumstances are getting too much to bare… who do you unload on? Who do you let hear all your frustrations so they can help you process it in a healthy, Godly way? If you’re in ministry, some things seem to be tough to share with your spouse, because you want to keep things confidential… and it could have a negative effect on how your spouse views the church. Check out…

• Dreams In Color

  Jason

  27 Oct 2009 | 5:08 am

  I don’t not have the means, know how, or time to do something like this… But I will note that I think about ridiculous ideas & concepts like this all the time. Waiting for a private donor to show up and explain all my ideas. The church would be turned on it’s head (in a good way). What have you been dreaming that needs to come to reality? Tweet This Post

• Don’t Be Cruel To Me Bobby

  Jason

  26 Oct 2009 | 9:06 am

  About six months ago I was cleaning out some boxes and found a regrettable disc buried deep in the clutter. I’m sorry Bobby Brown, but I’ve now since thrown away your CD, “Don’t Be Cruel.” It wasn’t cruel to me back then, but now- my ears just can’t take it. I’ve grown, my music catalog has grown. I’m not the same love drunk teenager I once was. I had to lay you to rest (and I’m better for it). I brought this unfortunate incident up to some friends and began the dialog of “If our personal music changes, evolves, and gets…

• Jesus, Protect Our Wireless Connection

  Jason

  21 Oct 2009 | 10:50 am

  When all else fails… Tweet This Post

• 
  The bob.blog feed!

• Review: Sim Church pt 1

  bobhyatt

  5 Nov 2009 | 11:15 am

  It's really difficult for me not to come out swinging when a book I've been promised deals with real questions in an even handed manner begins with breathless statements like "Today a new community of the people of God has begun... A change is occurring in the Christian church the likes of which has not happened in centuries...This type of church is unlike any church the world has ever seen. It has the power to break down social barriers , unite believers from all over the world, and build the kingdom of God with a widow's mite of financing . It is a completely different type…

• I don't know what the Christian Post is...

  bobhyatt

  3 Nov 2009 | 8:19 am

  ... but I'm in it. Brick-and-Mortar Pastor Defends Virtual Church as RealBy Lillian KwonChristian Post Reporter E-mail  Print  RSS Share   Text  The Christian church is engaging far less than 1 percent of the 70 million people who are active in the virtual world. This means the virtual world is by far the largest unreached people group on planet Earth, says one pastor.RelatedChristians Bring Jesus into Virtual 'Second Life' Portland Church Goes Multi-Site, Rejects Video Venues Survey Measures Effectiveness of Church Expansion…

• I'm on a date!!

  bobhyatt

  30 Oct 2009 | 5:37 pm

  Uploaded by www.cellspin.net

• I *REALLY* hope she said yes....

  bobhyatt

  28 Oct 2009 | 9:45 am

• Dust Up at UR over Virtual Chruch!

  bobhyatt

  28 Oct 2009 | 9:00 am

  Last week, Doug Estes, the writer of a new book called Sim Church posted on Out of Ur what was essentially a response to my thoughts in previous Ur articles regarding the idea of Virtual Church. He wanted to avoid responding to me by name, but there were too many pointed comments to avoid the conclusion. You can check in out here: "In Defense of Virtual Church."I wrote and sent a response that was pretty quickly made superfluous by the (now) 87 (and counting!) comments on the original post. I reproduce some of it here. I hope you'll read it (and the original article…

• 
  Levite Chronicles

• Susan Murphy on making excellent video

  Jon Swanson

  6 Nov 2009 | 1:46 pm

  I suppose we are supposed to start everything positive we say these days with disclaimers. Susan Murphy let me look at a free early edition of her free ebook. Susan Murphy has encouraged my video production Susan Murphy has given me Tim Hortons coffee. Susan and Greg at lunch with Nancy and I once. So now you know that my thinking could be colored by friendship. But I still love the new ebook that Susan just published. Creating video for the web is available today. This ebook takes an approach to video that is for people who know how to record video and now want to tell stories with moving…

• A year ago

  Jon Swanson

  5 Nov 2009 | 5:11 am

  A year ago, George Johnson didn’t have a job. I’m not sure he as a job yet. He looked, I know that. But when you live in rural Indiana and the thing you know best is how to shoot video, there aren’t lots of jobs. And when you have four kids and family around, moving to the coast isn’t exactly an option. On the other hand, George has a feature-length movie which, a year ago, wasn’t even on his mind. It wasn’t on his mind while the weather got colder last fall. Other movies were on his mind, movies close to financing, movies that fell apart when the economy…

• take an extension cord

  Jon Swanson

  1 Nov 2009 | 4:52 pm

  I work at a church. Today, a bunch of people set up displays to talk about what they do and to invite other people to support them. As I was providing tech support, I realized that I needed to offer some suggestions for those of you who might be working in similar environments, places where non-tech people are trying to tell stories with technology. If you are going to set up a display somewhere, take an extension cord. And maybe a block plug so you can share power. If you are going to have someone show a presentation for you, clearly explain (in writing) what is on the disk. If you say that…

• you gotta practice to sing in the choir

  Jon Swanson

  30 Oct 2009 | 6:05 am

  A parable for Friday morning Nancy and I were talking about a choir friend. He directs a college-level choir. A singer has missed 20 rehearsals. He wants to sing at the concert. His claim? “I know the music better than anyone else.” He won’t be singing in the concert. It got me thinking: what counts for singing in a choir? Knowing the music as it is on the page is an important part. Others things matter, too. Knowing how the director interprets those notes. Knowing how your voice sounds when you are in the middle of 16 or 80 or 300 other voices. Knowing how to hold your part…

• 8 ways to give an audience a kit.

  Jon Swanson

  28 Oct 2009 | 2:00 pm

  This is the first in an occasional series expanding on the 8 ways to get invited back post. I talked about several things to give audiences that will let you have another chance to speak. Lots of people really like Ikea. Good design. Functional products. When people buy from Ikea, they often get boxes. Several boxes. These boxes don’t look like what they see in the store. They look like boxes full of boards and bags.You get a kit. A very simple kit. Many of us grew up building cars. Small cars. From Revell. We could never afford a real Mustang, but we could build one. Paint it. Keep it…

• 
  LeadingSmart

• Change...Scary? Or Exciting?

  Tim Stevens

  6 Nov 2009 | 3:25 am

  Twenty years ago I got my first modem. I was an early adopter (none of my friends had one), it was a cutting-edge dial-up blazing fast at 300 bits per second. Today I'm using a modem that is 8 megabits per second--literally 26,000 times faster than my original modem.In 1984, my first PC had two floppy drives and no hard-drive. I used one floppy for my software and the other for data.Five years ago I had one computer hooked up to my internet connection. Today, there are 15 "machines" in my house connected to the outside world (4 computers, 2 iPhones, 4 VOIP phones, 1 iPod Touch, 1 TV, 1 Xbox,…

• A Crowd is Not a Church

  Tim Stevens

  4 Nov 2009 | 4:14 am

  Here is how the conversation typically goes:Life-long Church Attendee: "Your church is pretty shallow. Felt like it was a show. I need something deeper."Me: "Really? That surprises me, cuz' I've been here for twenty years and that's not my experience. How long have you been attending?"Life-long Church Attendee: "I've been to three weekend services."Me: "Then you haven't experienced our church yet. You've just scratched the surface."For some reason, people who have attended church for many years will come to a weekend service and believe they have visited our church. I tell people all the…

• Hey North Carolina...I'll See You Next Week!

  Tim Stevens

  2 Nov 2009 | 2:33 am

  If you live anywhere in or near North Carolina...you should join me next week. I will be in Raleigh next Tuesday, November 10th, for an all-day workshop. And here's the good news--there is still room for you! Here's what's happening... Mark Beeson will be talking about leading teams. Mark Waltz will teach about creating WOW experiences at your church (have you read this?) Kem Meyer will be delivering a talk straight out of her book about church communications. Tim Stevens (that would be me) will be teaching creative ideas from Pop Goes the Church. It is going to be a packed day where we will…

• Don Miller at Story

  Tim Stevens

  28 Oct 2009 | 3:32 pm

  Don Miller gave a talk about the power of story. It was similar to a great talk I heard him give last year...but it didn't bother me to hear it again. Some quotes that really connected with me... Story = "A character that wants something and overturns conflict to get it." What is meaningful in a story is meaningful...only because it is meaningful in life. We have a relationship with Scripture that is really strange. We sit down and say, "What's in this for me?" What if it's just a story about God? What if He just wants us to get to know Him? You can have a greatly flawed character, and that's…

• Dave Gibbons at Story

  Tim Stevens

  28 Oct 2009 | 9:22 am

  Dave Gibbons is the pastor of Newsong Church in southern California. Here are some of my takeaways from his talk at Story Chicago... Everyone has a desire to connect. Every culture has to figure out, "How do we recommunicate the gospel?" We've defined success for churches by size and strength (the size of our church budgets). Most churches, about 80% of budget is in staff and buildings. I propose we turn that around. What if 80% went to the city and only 20% to operations? When there is personal revelation of your weakness--it more fully releases the power of the Spirit. Do you think everyone…

• 
  Rich Kirkpatrick's Weblog

• Worship Video: November 1, 2009

  rkweblog@gmail.com (Rich Kirkpatrick)

  4 Nov 2009 | 9:52 am

  Here is the Worship Video from Sunday worship at Sunridge: Share and Enjoy:

• 5 ways ENTITLEMENT kills ministry

  rkweblog@gmail.com (Rich Kirkpatrick)

  4 Nov 2009 | 7:37 am

  The death of vocational ministry’s effectiveness is summed up in one word: entitlement. Entitlement is when those of who serve the local church as professional ministers operate for either goals that are not the mission of the Church or use methods and means that are not the way of the Church. Here are five ways I think this plays out. It is use of quid pro quo over ideals, people and process. It is demanding comfort, favors or status over mission. It is putting pride in position over loving people. It is narcissism setting in when a group of believers loves you. It is getting tired from…

• Worship Recap & Set List: November 1, 2009

  rkweblog@gmail.com (Rich Kirkpatrick)

  2 Nov 2009 | 8:33 pm

  Recap: This past Sunday was an interesting challenge. It was the first Sunday after announcing the departure of our pastor Greg Sidders. The emotions with such an occasion are hard to read. but I felt our song selection was appropriate. It was quite impressive and healthy how our elders announced the news upfront and were available to talk with people at the close of service. The transparency of this and other things they are doing really are helping our people process the change. My daughter helped me lead worship once again this past Sunday. (I will post the video when it becomes available…

• Worship CD GIVEAWAY: Get Paul Baloche’s latest CD

  rkweblog@gmail.com (Rich Kirkpatrick)

  2 Nov 2009 | 7:41 am

  Paul Baloche has been writing worship anthems for the church for years and his new CD “Glorious” releases tomorrow, November 3. Our friends at Integrity Music have put together a pretty cool giveaway for FIVE people out in blogworld. This Release Day Giveaway is a little different – there are five blogs all running the same giveaway and each site will have a winner who will receive a copy of the new CD as well as the worship leader digital songbook. Here’s a video of Paul Baloche and his band playing the title track from this CD, “Glorious” - How do you…

• A fruitful 14 years… Sunridge and Greg Sidders

  rkweblog@gmail.com (Rich Kirkpatrick)

  28 Oct 2009 | 10:26 pm

  An end to a very fruitful era was announced this week and shared by Greg Sidders to our church family tonight. Greg has been pastor of Sunridge Community Church for 14 years and much fruit through his amazing communication gifts are to be noted. Thousands of people have been blessed in the Temecula Valley by his teaching and the ministry of Sunridge which as a church has broad impact in social ministries locally, missions projects abroad and many stories of real lives being led to find and follow Jesus. I am sad to see Greg go even as I recall my own transition just two years ago from Redding…

• 
  Ministry Best Practices

• 5 Objectives of Using Social Media

  Bill Reichart

  29 Oct 2009 | 8:05 pm

  If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting! You may be working or volunteering at a church thinking about finally taking the plunge into social media.  Now what? The first thing you should do as you begin this new venture is to be very clear about your objectives, If you don't the "gee-whiz" factor will quickly wear off and your venture into social media will be short lived. In my experience, I think that there are five general objectives that can be pursued in the use of any social media (Twitter, Facebook, etc...) 1. Listening.  Social Media…

• How to Care for Those Who Do the Caring

  Bill Reichart

  29 Oct 2009 | 7:39 am

  If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting! We are at the end of the month of October which has been designated as Clergy Appreciation Month.  And although we set aside a month to focus on appreciating and caring for those called to shepherd the church, care for the pastor needs to go well beyond one month out of the year. Pastors are at high risk - depression, addictions and divorce. An estimated 18% to 25% of all ministers are depressed at any one time. The pain and suffering that pastors silently suffer through can turn tragic. From an article at…

• 5 Warning Signs that your Church is Sinking

  Bill Reichart

  28 Oct 2009 | 7:14 pm

  If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting! Thom Rainer shares five warning signs that the health of your church may be deteriorating. Do any of the below signs apply to your church? 1. The church has few outwardly focused ministries. Most of the budget dollars in the church are spent on the desires and comforts of church members. The ministry staff spends most of its time taking care of members, with little time to reach out and minister to the community the church is supposed to serve. 2. The dropout rate is increasing. Members are leaving for other…

• Ministry Metrics

  Bill Reichart

  21 Oct 2009 | 7:27 am

  If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting! My friend and ministry collegue, Tony Stiff has given me permission to repost a big portion of his incredible post on ministry metrics. If you click here you can download a PDF entitled “Ministry Metrics” it will explain how to measure ministry flow in metric terms. From Tony- "This PDF is the outcome of a conversation that begin with another pastor friend of mine regarding how we could become better stewards of our ministries. Ministry metrics are becoming more popular among larger churches that are…

• Church Sign Fail

  Bill Reichart

  20 Oct 2009 | 10:36 am

  If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting! (ht: Failblog) Please support Ministry Best Practices by Visiting our Advertisers

• 
  Joel Klampert

• Steven Curtis Chapman LIVE NOV3rd 10EST!!

  Joel Klampert

  3 Nov 2009 | 3:02 pm

  The brilliant Steven Curtis Chapman is doing a live broadcast tonight about his new CD. It’s live on facebook. Make sure you check it out. UPDATE: I tried to post the live feed on the site here as well, but had trouble with it so go to the facebook link above. I will be tuning in too.

• Justin Mcroberts: Bullhorn Theory

  Joel Klampert

  29 Sep 2009 | 6:08 am

  This past sunday we had Recording artist and compassion speaker Justin McRoberts. It was an awesome time on Sunday morning. He also did a brilliant concert that evening as well. The man is a truly gifted songwriter with a sound that I remember from the 90’s and have missed. This song is brilliant. ENJOY!!

• Katy Hudson aka Katy Perry: Search Me

  Joel Klampert

  25 Sep 2009 | 7:40 pm

  We all know that Katy Perry was signed with a Christian label with the name Katy Hudson before she “kissed a girl”. What we didn’t realize was how stinkin talented she is. I really wonder what happened. There have been many great Christian artists that ended up going secular and walking aaway from their faith. I find this sad. I have no clue why she made the move, but I wonder if maybe we as consumers feed this or if it’s just personal walks in life. Either way this song “search me” is amazing. It starts at 2:20. Enjoy!

• The Joint: David Crowder Band Church Music REVIEW

  Joel Klampert

  22 Sep 2009 | 6:31 am

  Today, the new, long-awaited album from the David Crowder* Band, Church Music, hits the streets. It’s a good CD and a few of us differ on our opinions on it. Go read the review before you buy the CD! The Joint brings you another multiple viewpoint review of this fantastic record. Check it out here. DONT FORGET TO ADD THE JOINT TO YOUR FAVORITE RSS READER!!!

• Skeleton Bones

  Joel Klampert

  17 Sep 2009 | 9:24 pm

  Below is my new favorite song. It’s from John Mark McMillan (writer of How He Loves). I can’t wait to do this one in a church service. John Mark McMillan – Skeleton Bones from john mark mcmillan on Vimeo.

• 
  BrianAyers.net

• Book Review: A Million Miles in a Thousand Years

  What if you had the opportunity to edit your life? What parts would end-up on the cutting room floor?  What parts would you feel the need to embellish?  What parts would you want to gloss-over or play down? Donald Miller had the opportunity answer those questions while working to turn  his ...

• Book Review: Fearless

  To be honest, I'm not exactly a big Max Lucado fan.  While I'd never read one of his books cover-to-cover, I always figured that his writing was the standard Family Christian Bookstore feel-good fluff that I normally try to avoid.  So when I received an email telling me that an ...

• Something’s Gotta Give

  You may have noticed (or maybe you haven't) that this blog has been gathering a little dust as of late... and I've also been a little less active on Twitter and other places online lately too.  This is mostly due to the fact that life has been moving at a ...

• Mid Course Correction

  If you've been a Christian for long at all it's likely you've found yourself in a situation where you've thought, prayed, planned, and even felt a peace about your decision... only to find-out once you start to move forward that God has seemingly changed His mind.  You were convinced that ...

• Don’t Eat Everything They Hand You

  I don't think I'm alone it this, but I'll confess: I like to be complemented. I like to be told I've done a great job or to feel that sense of approval from others. I've learned more and more though that there are some complements that you shouldn't listen to! Here's a few ...

• 
  Shaun In The City

• Atlanta Santa :-) (YouTube Video)

  Shaun

  5 Nov 2009 | 10:34 am

  500toys.org Last year 100s & 100s of people from 25 states and several countries came together and raised over $20,000 to purchase every single student at an award-winning inner city Atlanta elementary school brand new school uniforms and a new toy of their choosing!  It was amazing! This year we are doing it again AND we are also going to give hundreds of kids who lost all of their toys in the Atlanta floods a great new toy (or two) too :-) If 900 people gave $25 a piece we could knock this out!  Or if about 225 people gave $100 we could do it!  Whatever you can give, be it $1 or…

• What Do You Say & Do When You Accidentally Offend a Billion People?

  Shaun

  4 Nov 2009 | 6:03 am

  I hope you see that the question in the title of this post is rhetorical.  If you ever happen to offend a billion people…or ONE person on accident – I have 3 simple tips for you. 1. Accept that you did indeed offend them (if you meant to offend them or not should be temporarily irrelevant). 2. Say you are sorry from the heart and don’t say something like “I’m sorry IF I offended…” but say “I’m sorry THAT I offended…” 3. Change the offensive behavior.  If you don’t, #1 & #2 mean nothing. Why am I saying this? My good…

• A Day in the Life of Courageous Church

  Shaun

  3 Nov 2009 | 7:09 pm

  On Sunday, November 1st we gave every volunteer the day off @ Courageous Church!  We filmed this video the previous Sunday to really show all of the attendees what it takes to pull one “simple” Sunday off!  Shout out to DJDust for the great video!

• Subscribe

  Shaun

  3 Nov 2009 | 10:46 am

  Judging from the stats, hundreds (maybe thousands) of you visit here regularly, but you don’t subscribe.  Maybe you don’t know how to subscribe to blogs or don’t know how to subscribe to mine.  I read dozens of blogs daily through subscriptions and they keep me sharp and encouraged!  Here are two ways you can subscribe today: USE A READER. Most if not all blogs use RSS (Real Simple Syndication) “feeds” which can be aggregated and displayed by what’s known as an RSS or Feed Reader. Some examples of free readers are Bloglines, Google Reader, Yahoo, or most of the…

• Volunteer Revenge @ Courageous Church

  Shaun

  2 Nov 2009 | 1:34 pm

  Yesterday we gave every volunteer @ Courageous Church the day off…without telling anyone else.  No set up.  No breakfast.  No music.  No parking crew.  No Courageous Kids.  No signage.  No sound system.  Nothing!  It was a mess…just like we wanted it :-) Our goal was to show everyone what a Sunday without volunteers looks like!  It pretty much sucks. We got this idea from our friends @ Elevation Church and it really worked! We had a ton of people commit to being a part of our Sunday team and we can’t wait to see how next Sunday goes!

• 
  Christian Personal Finance

• 10 famous motivational quotes to stay motivated!

  Bob

  6 Nov 2009 | 8:31 am

  It’s no secret that I like quotes. I am one of those guys who can get really motivated by the right words. And while some of the best encouraging quotes are in the Bible, there have been a lot of brilliant minds who have said some pretty inspiring words that still help me when I read them. So I decided to gather up the 10 best motivation quotes (in my opinion, of course!). If any of them resonate with you, I encourage you to write them down and tape them to your fridge or computer screen. I have been greatly helped by having a constant reminder of a scripture or a quote to help keep me…

• What is Ebates and why you should care

  Bob

  5 Nov 2009 | 7:03 am

  I have now been using Ebates for a while and with it being completely FREE and incredibly simple, I am still surprised how few of people are taking advantage of it. In an attempt to show how simple it is, I created a short little video to explain the process… Basically, merchants pay Ebates to refer customers to them. Ebates then pays a chunk of that back to the shoppers themselves. Win, win, win. That’s it. It is completely free, only takes a minute or so to sign up and then you can start earning money. I have now received 3 checks from Ebates and while I wish they paid monthly,…

• There is no such thing as a free lunch – or is there?

  Guest

  4 Nov 2009 | 7:04 am

  This article was written by Lakita Humber who serves as the founder of Paneh – A ministry which exists to educate, impart and equip those called to worship arts on a variety of subjects, such as D.A.N.C.E. Out of Debt. Is There a Such Thing as a Free Lunch? One of the tenets of economics is “There is no such thing as a free lunch.” The underlying concept is you cannot get “something for nothing.” The phrase originates from 19th century American saloons attracting drinkers by offering them a free lunch. The catch was, in order to get the “free” meal, you had to…

• Learning how to be content

  Bob

  3 Nov 2009 | 7:19 am

  I have always had a feeling that contentment was a critical component of having joy in life. As I have been learning this lesson on a deeper level, I have written about it (here and here). But lately I have been seeing a new angle on a few verses in Philippians 4. 11Not that I speak from want, for I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am. 12I know how to get along with humble means, and I also know how to live in prosperity; in any and every circumstance I have learned the secret of being filled and going hungry, both of having abundance and suffering need. Philippians…

• Carnival of Money Stories

  Bob

  2 Nov 2009 | 7:22 am

  Happy Monday – it has been a busy weekend. Working on the new house – painting, cleaning, installing a sink in the basement, and installing a garage-door opener. The garage-door opener has been a bit of a challenge, but I always like a good challenge. Hopefully I will finish it today and get to take my victory lap – and the appliances are getting delivered today as well – and the internet will be installed – and I might paint another room… I am keeping myself busy, but it is FUN busy. So, hosting the Money Stories carnival today works out nicely. I…

• 
  JakeBouma.com

• The Age of the Informavore

  Jake

  6 Nov 2009 | 10:59 am

  The Age of the Informavore: A Talk With Frank Schirrmacher is currently featured in Edge, along with responses from thinkers like Nicholas Carr and Steven Pinker. “We are apparently now in a situation where modern technology is changing the way people behave, people talk, people react, people think, and people remember. And you encounter this not only in a theoretical way, but when you meet people, when suddenly people start forgetting things, when suddenly people depend on their gadgets, and other stuff, to remember certain things. This is the beginning, its just an experience. But if…

• Social Isolation and New Technology

  Jake

  4 Nov 2009 | 7:26 pm

  Here’s a new Pew report on Social Isolation and New Technology for your perusal. “Sociologists Miller McPherson, Lynn Smith-Lovin and Matthew Brashears suggest that new technologies, such as the internet and mobile phone, may play a role in advancing this trend [of becoming more socially isolated]. Specifically, they argue that the type of social ties supported by these technologies are relatively weak and geographically dispersed, not the strong, often locally-based ties that tend to be a part of peoples’ core discussion network.”

• Dead simple group texting for ministry with Tatango

  Jake

  4 Nov 2009 | 9:31 am

  A while back I wrote a gushing blog post about a company called Tatango, whose aim is to make it dead simple for anybody to harness the useful technology of mass or group text messaging. Those of us involved in youth ministry are undoubtedly aware that text messaging is an indispensable tool for effective communication with our students, so I wanted to give another push for Tatango and the services they offer. And because I love you so much, at the end of this post you will find a code for 15% off of any plan Tatango offers. Below is a short tutorial video that covers the basics of Tatango.

• Catalista iPhone app

  Jake

  25 Oct 2009 | 3:03 pm

  Catalista has released an iPhone app that connects volunteers with opportunities. “Even beyond the mobile access to volunteer opportunity listings, what seems especially compelling about Catalista is the possibility that it could facilitate spontaneous, ad-hoc volunteering, whereby people with a few hours of unscheduled time on their hands can find and participate in local opportunities that they might not have been able to plan for otherwise.”

• No Caribou October

  Jake

  1 Oct 2009 | 6:38 am

  Hi, my name is Jake and I’m a coffee addict. Here’s the deal: At least five days a week I spend $1.70 in the morning on a small dark roast coffee at Caribou. It’s enough to get me through the morning, but in the afternoons I’ll often spend $2-5 on a latte or double-shot on ice or some other sort of tasty pick-me-up. I don’t work on Friday or Saturday (usually), and sometimes I don’t buy coffee on those days — but lots of times I do. So let’s do some math. If we add the average the price of the afternoon coffee ($3.50) with the morning coffee…

• 
  Generate Life Blog

• What’s God’s Will?

  Tony

  6 Nov 2009 | 10:35 am

  I’ve had quite a few of you ask me this week  “what’s God’s will for me?” It’s a great question and seemingly spiritual but what if we were to change it a little? What if we simply asked “what’s God’s will?” (drop off the tiny last two words) If we drop off the “for me” then we realize that we’re simply a part of God’s story, God’s purpose and God’s big plan. The idea of it having much to do with my opinion or desire is limiting. Instead of asking what God may want from you ’someday’…

• Random Thoughts

  Tony

  5 Nov 2009 | 4:30 pm

  Random Highlights from my week and things I’m excited about! 1. Date night with Bre. We have a 60 day span right now with all of 3 days off (it’s only a season so marital counselors relax). Excited to do dinner and a movie with the hot lady who for some reason chose me! 2. Next two weeks Generate is talking “Beers, Bongs, and _____” (that’s text talk for censored). We’ll talk about the things you don’t hear much in churches but deal with every day… Ink, drink, smokes, and parties. I know it will be fun but also know it will get serious and…

• Vince/Ashley Proposal

  Tony

  5 Nov 2009 | 12:33 pm

  IN case you missed the Vince/Ashley proposal at the Masquerade ball here’s the extended version.

• Hope Today

  Tony

  5 Nov 2009 | 8:15 am

  Last night was incredible. Thanks to Brad, Jeff, Fotser for coming out and partnering with Generate to bring awareness to Catalyst, Gift Card Giver, and Mobile Homlessness. Do you ever hear or see things and cry? Right now it’s the song “You Hold Me Now” by Hillsong United that kind of keeps me in a constant state of focus on God and the Holy Spirits movement in my life. If you’re down today, anxious today, hoping today, passionate today, or seeking today this is for you: On that day when I see All that You have for me When I see You face to face There surrounded by…

• Phil Wickham backstage

  Tony

  4 Nov 2009 | 10:21 am

  We just got 5 pre-release copies of Phil Wickham’s new album. For the next couple of week we’ll be doing a giveaway for these records along with a special context for the opportunity to hang with Phil backstage to discuss Compassion, ministry, music, and other things! Excited to see you in a few hours. iHEART is here so we’re all praying. This is passionate world change: taking hope to those in your life who need it. So proud of you!

• 
  brent(inWorship)

• Paul Baloche – CD Giveaway!

  inWorship

  2 Nov 2009 | 10:24 am

  Paul Baloche has been writing worship anthems for the church for years and his new CD “Glorious” releases tomorrow, November 3. Our friends at Integrity Music have put together a pretty cool giveaway for FIVE people out in blogworld. This Release Day Giveaway is a little different – there are five blogs all running the same giveaway and each site will have a winner who will receive a copy of the new CD as well as the worship leader digital songbook. I’ve had this CD for a couple of weeks and I’m really enjoying it. This is classic Paul Baloche – singable…

• My office for the next 3 days.

  inWorship

  9 Oct 2009 | 9:05 am

  Posted via web from inworship’s posterous

• Oregon Coast – Day 4 “Rogue River Jet Boat Trip”

  inWorship

  26 Aug 2009 | 9:42 pm

  See and download the full gallery on posterous Posted via email from inworship’s posterous

• Oregon Coast – Day 3 “Some of my favorite Pics”

  inWorship

  25 Aug 2009 | 9:44 pm

  See and download the full gallery on posterous Posted via email from inworship’s posterous

• Oregon Coast – Day 2 “Some of my favorite Pics!”

  inWorship

  24 Aug 2009 | 9:22 pm

  See and download the full gallery on posterous Posted via email from inworship’s posterous

• 
  Collide Magazine

• Videos of the Week - 11/5/09

  Daniel Darnell

  5 Nov 2009 | 12:39 pm

  I’ve never heard of Nuru International, but this video makes me want to look into what they’re doing. (HT: Motionographer) Someone has too much time on their hands. What happens when you tape 10 cameras with projectors to your body and dance? This. A comical but powerful poem put to some more great typography animation. Remember LiteBrite? This video brings back some great childhood memories. (HT: shape+colour)

• Neutral On Neutrality

  Scott McClellan

  5 Nov 2009 | 8:29 am

  Here are two generally accepted ideas that I read and hear often: 1) Technology is neutral; it’s what we do with it that counts. In other words, Marshal McLuhan was wrong when he said, “The medium is the message.” The message of the Church — the gospel — doesn’t change when our media and methods do. The message stays the same whether it’s preached, printed, broadcast, blogged, or tweeted because technology is neutral. 2) To reach this media-saturated, ADD-riddled, MTV-raised generation, we’ve got to … In other words, media and technology…

• One Hundred-Thirty Million Dollars

  Scott McClellan

  2 Nov 2009 | 8:13 am

  First Baptist Church here in Dallas is planning a new capital campaign in support of a new worship center, religious education building and parking garage, glass concourse, and sky bridge to the tune of $130 million in construction costs (HT: Aaron Alexander). Why the new construction? The article quotes FBC Dallas pastor Rev. Robert Jefress as saying,“The finest facility in this area should be one that glorifies almighty God.” I’m under a massive deadline for our upcoming issue so please forgive my brevity. A couple quick thoughts: I’m really curious to see what $130…

• Upfront Week In Review - 10/30/09

  Daniel Darnell

  30 Oct 2009 | 2:07 pm

  This weekend maybe be the only one where it’s okay to play dress-up like a kid and eat yourself sick with candy, but before you do that, check out our Week In Review! ChurchRelevance talks with “Sim Church” author Douglas Estes about virtual church. GeoCities has officially shut down. Let’s have a moment of silence… See a church branding/identity process from start to finish. Google Voice now lets you use your existing cell phone number. John Dyer has a great post on philosophies of technology and their relation to Twitter. Mashable has some pretty sweet social…

• Videos of the Week - 10/29/09

  Daniel Darnell

  29 Oct 2009 | 8:22 am

  First there was Guitar Hero, then Rock Band, then DJ Hero. Now comes Football Hero. (HT:engadget) This intense little film combines stop-motion, stills, video, and 3D animation to partially blow our minds. (HT: motionographer) And now for some comedy: Abbott and Costello’s “Who’s On First” bit put to typography. (HT:abduzeedo) Someone has too much time on their hands. Tchaikovsky’s 1812 overture reconstructed from 1000 cellphones, 2000 text alerts. (HT: engadget) Ever wonder what kids pray about? Here are real prayers from real kids. (HT: Tim Stevens)

• 
  Live to Worship

• Set List – 11 Oct 2009 (Preview #2)

  Alastair Vance

  12 Oct 2009 | 10:38 am

  Service Notes It has happened again!  Story Church hosted it’s second public service at Spring Valley Elementary School in Durham, NC. How did we do against the points raised in our debrief meeting from Preview #1? We all had jobs assigned and setup seemed to be much faster. We had less obstacles this time – but this can always change! We agreed a time when everything should be complete, to give us time to pray as a team and take up our positions before everyone arrived. We had a better sized, and a way groovier screen this time. I think transitions worked a lot better this time…

• The Joint Review: Christy Nockels – Life Light Up

  Alastair Vance

  9 Oct 2009 | 9:42 am

  Christy Nockels is a female vocalist and worship leader who over the years has been involved in the passion movement.  This is her first solo album outside of that and it’s great (in my humble opinion). Her album contains a number of cover songs which has spawned a debate on The Joint on whether artists should record cover songs or not.  What do you think?  Head over there for the full review and participate in the conversation! “Don’t get me wrong its is well done, has some good cover songs and She can sing like an angel, but nothing on this CD is exciting.”…

• Set List – 07 Oct 2009

  Alastair Vance

  7 Oct 2009 | 7:39 pm

  Praise Is Rising – Paul Baloche / Brenton Brown From The Inside Out – Joel Houston Take All Of Me – Marty Sampson Surrender – Marc James I led worship for Refuge Student Ministries tonight.  I loved reviving some old songs that I haven’t played in ages.  “Praise Is Rising” is new for me, so I’m playing that everywhere right now.  “From the Inside Out” and “Take All Of Me” are absolute classics and “Surrender” is a great worship song that fitted great with tonight’s theme. Posted in Leading, Student…

• Eyes Open? Eyes Closed?

  Alastair Vance

  7 Oct 2009 | 9:30 am

  Yes, the age old argument.  I’ve never been too fussed either way whether a worship leader keeps their eyes open or closed.  A bit of both works for me usually. However last night I watched a video that made me think that the eyes OOpen thing can get a little weird.  Now, I like Chris as much as the next worship leader, but now I have his wee face burned into the back of my retinas after watching this.  In-flip-in-tense. Posted in Church, Leading, Video, Worship, YouTube Tagged: Chris Tomlin, Church, eyes closed, eyes open, holy is the lord, Worship

• Set List – 03 Oct 2009

  Alastair Vance

  3 Oct 2009 | 8:52 pm

  Praise Is Rising – Paul Baloche / Brenton Brown For Who You Are – Marty Sampson I introduced Praise Is Rising tonight.  I’ve been meaning to play it for ages and was reminded again recently when I reviewed the new Brenton Brown CD.  Everyone seemed to like the song, so it will definitely make the setlist for our 2nd preview service. There is only one week left now to Oct 11 and we still need a drummer!  No panic! Update Oct 05, 2009: We have a drummer. (story church) Posted in Church, church planting, Leading, New Music, Worship, Worship Confessional Tagged: Brenton…

• 
  Consuming Worship

• Random thoughts for your weekend

  Jeff M. Miller

  6 Nov 2009 | 10:30 am

  Hey everyone. I'm still alive and kicking. Just thought I'd give you an update about some things, and share some links and such that I've found interesting over the last week or so. As with many of you, I've been shocked and grieving over the news down in Ft. Hood from yesterday. Now there's news of another shooting in Orlando. More proof we live in a fallen, broken, hurting world in need of the love and grace of Jesus Christ. I'm participating in NaNoWriMo this year, and so far it's going very, very smoothly. I'm pretty excited about the story as it…

• Notes & Neurons

  Jeff M. Miller

  30 Oct 2009 | 6:16 pm

  As Janet Reid said, "The elegant simplicity of genius." Jeff M. Miller Consuming Worship email \ twitter \ tumblr \ chat \ facebook

• A tantalizing glimpse

  Jeff M. Miller

  28 Oct 2009 | 10:05 am

  Just for fun, I though I would create a Wordle from my manuscript's first draft. How's that for a VERY general idea of what the book's about? Jeff M. Miller Consuming Worship email \ twitter \ tumblr \ chat \ facebook

• Unanimity Unleashed

  Jeff M. Miller

  27 Oct 2009 | 8:04 am

  Many of you  have probably seen these videos before, but I want to challenge you to take the time to watch them again. This is the opener of the 2007 Hillsong Conference. (Sorry it's split in half. I can't find an uncut version on YouTube any longer.) Watching this still brings a tear to my eye. Why? Grace is amazing! Included too is what I think of in my head as the sound of heaven. Listen to how diverse the musical presentation has been made. Everything from a mainstream melody nearly everybody has heard (Bittersweet Symphony)—even if they can't name it—to multiple…

• Where does the time go?

  Jeff M. Miller

  21 Oct 2009 | 9:40 am

  Right. Just over a month ago I plunged back into blogging, promising you, my glorious readership, I would be better about getting posts up on a regular, timely basis. That worked for about a week, constituting a grand total of two fairly short posts. Can you say FAIL? I knew you could. I actually have some really good excuses. My wife and I decided we've just had enough with being slaves to our creditors, and have taken the plunge to try and sell our house. We love our house, and really don't want to give it up, but it's the right thing to do. It's an asset God has given…

• 
  Kingdom Ministry on the Net

• Christian Leadership: What Do You Expect From Your Church Members

  29 Oct 2009 | 4:30 pm

  Christian Leadership: What Do You Expect From Your Church Members I was struck by a recent article I read by...

• Pastors Salaries Face Downturn

  22 Oct 2009 | 9:12 pm

  Pastors Salaries Face DownturnSurvey shows average salary and benefits decline.About half the nation's full-time pastors report they received no salary...

• Music Legend Pastor Marvin Sapp files competing bid for African American Radio Station

  13 Oct 2009 | 12:24 am

  GRAND RAPIDS -- A battle for control of the city's only station geared toward the black community is getting uglier,...

• Young Southern Baptists Urged to Save the Denomination

  10 Oct 2009 | 2:26 am

  Prominent Southern Baptist theologian R. Albert Mohler, Jr., implored young seminary students to save the denomination. It is very important...

• Christian Leadership: 'Man Vs. Wild' Star Set to Lead Crusade in Orlando This Fall

  27 Jul 2009 | 6:52 pm

  'Man Vs. Wild' Star Set to Lead Crusade in Orlando This FallORLANDO, Fla., -- Followers of the Discovery Channel reality...

• 
  Small Group Help Blog

• Five Reasons To Be In A Small Group For Life

  25 Oct 2009 | 2:00 pm

  At the Group Life Conference this year Andy Stanley shared five reasons that he will be in a small group for life. Here they are: 1. It’s the easiest place to invite un-churched people to, especially if they are not ready for the whole Sunday morning experience. 2. It’s often one of the only contexts for pastors or church staff to enga [...]

• Group Life Conference - Henry Cloud - Saftey In Small Groups

  23 Oct 2009 | 2:00 pm

  The Uptight Church RequirementsYou have to be spiritualIf you show your flaws you've lost your walkIn this group you look good but your get worse over timeRecovery Group RequirementsYou have to be screwed upIf you show your flaws you're in denialIn this group you look a mess but heal over timeWays people grow in small groups1. By sufferinga. 1Peter 4 protect yourself by sufferingb. A safe group is not a comfortable group.2. By getting to the drivers underneath our li [...]

• Group Life - Heather Zempel - Messy Small Groups

  23 Oct 2009 | 2:00 pm

  Small groups are great until the people show up! Community is messyMesses of Biblical proportionsGod createsAdam and eve mess things upCain and Abel kill and messNoah drunk and naked messIsaac and JacobJacob and Joseph and BrothersMosesDavidThe list goes on and onThe church at Corintho Egoso Law suitso Incesto DrunkennessDespite all the mess, the gospel is a gospel of hope and redemption for the messy community we create in our churches.Pig Farms STINKHow do you stop [...]

• Group Life Conference - Mindy Caliguire

  22 Oct 2009 | 2:00 pm

  Matthew 16:24-26 - one of Jesus' provocative questions, What good would it be to gain the whole world but lose your own soul?The most critical quality of a group leader - leading from a healthy soul.Symptoms of a diminishing soul:IsolationApathyInsomniaSelfishnessAnger/bitternessBeing busySecret sinsCritical attitudeFearA healthy soul displays:JoyConfidenceSafetyPurpose< [...]

• Group Life Conference - David Johnson

  22 Oct 2009 | 2:00 pm

   Environments of Grace = Life TransformationThis is HUGE for our churches.  Especially for churches that want to reach people that are far from god.  We will often use this phrase in our church: NO PERFECT PEOPLE ALLOWED.We even had it on a sign at the front door for a couple of years.  When people know they are accepted for who they [...]

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  Pastor For Life

• Defining Success

  Paul

  5 Nov 2009 | 6:10 pm

  Success is such a vague concept in Pastoral life. For ages, we’ve defined it by numbers. Whatever numbers we could produce. Numbers of people Numbers of dollars Numbers of buildings Numbers of salvations Numbers of baptisms. You number it and we’ll count it in the final tally! For the last “number” of years, many well-known Pastors have tried to re-define success by saying that God cares more about faithfulness than He does “success”. Others have said that faithfulness IS “success”. I appreciate the comment Rick Warren had on his Ministry…

• Rest That Sleep Can’t Provide

  Paul

  4 Nov 2009 | 5:22 pm

  Josh Patterson, Executive Pastor at The Village Church in Highland Village, Texas, wrote this great post recently on the topic of real rest … I spent the last two weeks away from work and one of those weeks in Jamaica on vacation. I had no agenda and not a lot of responsibility. I didn’t have e-mails to return, no pressure to return calls or make meetings. My most pressing decision was which book to read. It really was a great couple of weeks. But, there is a kind of rest that sleep cannot provide. There is a kind of rest that a vacation or time away from work doesn’t produce.

• Pastors Packing Whose Power?

  Paul

  1 Oct 2009 | 11:15 pm

  Here’s one interesting take on whose power we’re preaching and how …. click here!

• Even The Contemplative Struggle With Burnout

  Paul

  30 Jul 2009 | 12:51 am

  You may or may not have heard of Father Peter Norden, founder of a large social justice agency in Australia called Jesuit Social Services and a well-known Prison Chaplain down under. He recently announced his resignation from the ministry after 40 years, citing burnout. Interesting juxtaposition, in that Jesuits are known to be practicing contemplative spirituality  in every way. You can click here to not only read some of his story, but listen to a radio interview done with him where he is very frank about recognizing the lack of self-care throughout his ministry career. Also interesting is…

• Creating a Culture of Balance

  Paul

  5 Jul 2009 | 10:33 pm

  I recently read a great paper available from Leadership Network on how Pastors in their 20’s and 30’s are dealing with the stress and strain of ministry life. It was an excellent read and encouraging to hear that these guys are thinking much differently than I was trained. It gives me hope for the future of the Pastor and the future of the Church. If you’d like your own copy to enjoy, click here. I’d be very interested in your thoughts and comments if you end up reading it. Post them here below.

• 
  Solar Crash... Where heaven and earth collide.

• A Million Miles in a Thousand Years

  Lon

  6 Nov 2009 | 8:39 am

  Donald Miller is back with a new one, and I’ve got to say as good as blue like jazz was, I like his latest musings even more. Miller explorers the power of stories as he journeys through making a movie based on his life. The primary premise of the book was that a story is ‘a character who wants something and overcomes conflict to get it’. The stories we believe or tell ourselves drastically change the world in which we live. This book would be great for anyone who’s a communicator and understanding the techniques that make a powerful story. But the most important take…

• Blogging for Dollars

  Lon

  5 Nov 2009 | 7:59 am

  Friends ask me all the time about making money blogging. First off I don’t blog in order to make money, it’s something I do anyways, much like using toilet paper. Second of all, I’m a far cry from an A-list blogger and suffer from bouts of inconsistency like the bulk of bloggers out there. I’ve been with Google Adsense for a number of years and I’m thankful that they’ve helped pay for my hosting bills but I’ll be transitioning from them soon. Adsense is great if you’re just starting out as it’s all automated and the ads are contextual…

• Short story time…

  Lon

  3 Nov 2009 | 6:20 am

  Deconstruct this. You’re in a large room hanging out with a bunch of people. They don’t appear familiar but you’re having a great time. Someone enters the room and begins the gathering. Everyone in the room takes turns sharing, mostly meandering about their past sins and tragic mistakes. This scene of friendly chatter followed by a time of confession seems to continue over and over and months seem to pass. And then during one of the ‘circle times’ you finally connect the dots, and it dawns on you that everyone in the room is either a murderer or a rapist.

• Strong Fathers, Strong Daughters

  Lon

  30 Oct 2009 | 12:24 pm

  I just finished reading the book “Strong Fathers, Strong Daughters“, and had to share it with more people. I’ve gathered a bunch of men raising daughters to group blog through the book chapter by chapter here in two weeks. Some awesome missions-oriented guys joining the ride: Marty Schmidt Tony Sheng Sam Radford Chris Marsden Alan Liu JD Heffern If you’re a dad with a daughter, and interested in joining us, let me know. It should be a really great experience for all.

• Faith and Battlestar Galactica

  Lon

  29 Oct 2009 | 8:51 am

  i am not a television watcher, but i just watched all four seasons of battlestar galactica over a span of two months earlier this year, and I’ve got to say the series rocked. There’s so much in there, I wish I blogged about it throughout each season. I don’t want to give away too much if you haven’t watched it, but it’s a sci-fi oriented post-apocalyptic drama – a bit like the explorations of noah’s ark in space. It sounds kooky but the characters and the questions it provokes are phenomenal. What I loved about the show: How humans have an incredible…

• 
  Behind Worship

• Good to Great: Onscreen Lyrics and Notes Part II

  This article was originally published on The Worship Community In Part 1 of this article we explored Contrast, Alignment, and Font Choice. You can start there and catch up. The Purpose of Backgrounds = Enhance ? Distract The whole purpose of backgrounds - loops or still graphics - is to add visual interest to the screens ...

• ProPresenter Overview II

  In ProPresenter Overview 1 we referenced some great features of ProPresenter. Here are a few more tools ProPresenter will offer you: Full HD support and beyond ProPresenter fully supports any resolution right out of the box. At no additional cost, you can playback Standard-Def, all forms of High-Def, as well as ultra-wide resolutions for ...

• ProPresenter Overview I

  This information comes from ProPresenter's website. What is ProPresenter? ProPresenter has been the preferred lyric presentation system for churches and ministries around the world for years. Now with a fresh new look and incredible new video engine, ProPresenter has never been easier or more spectacular. ProPresenter 3 has been completely re-written from ...

• Introduction to Music Loops in Worship

  This article was originally published on The Worship Community. If you are part of the growing community of worship leaders, there is a good chance that you are at least mildly acquainted with loops. Loops have, to varying degrees, become an important tool to many modern worship leaders. From simple drum loops ...

• Good to Great: Onscreen Lyrics and Notes Part I

  This article was originally published on The Worship Community Open your software of choice. Add the lyrics. Play. So is the preparation of the typical church using lyrics presentation software. It works. The lyrics are on screen and God is sung to and about. But what if a few simple treatments could ...

• 
  My World

• Links of the Week

  Josh

  6 Nov 2009 | 9:41 am

  Scott Thomas on Is your church a religious cushion? Mark Driscoll answers the question “Why bad people do good things.” 18 things leaders need to do more and less of. Scott nails this post and so do all of his followers. Great thoughts for leaders. Ron Edmonson on 10 lessons it took me years to understand. This is a great list for all leaders. Wow. Love Paul’s thoughts on what God did through HalloWiin Revolution 2009. Perry Noble on 10 signs of a secure leader. Love this series on the Resurgence about the preacher and his voice. Really insightful if you are a communicator…

• This Weekend: Who’s on First?

  Josh

  5 Nov 2009 | 7:02 am

  I am so pumped about this Saturday at Revolution! The past month has been unbelievable at Revolution as we have seen God grow our church, we had an unbelievable time serving our city last Saturday with HalloWiin Revolution and this Saturday is going to continue that and take us even farther. We are starting a brand new series Saturday called How to be Rich. We will be looking specifically how to be rich, not how to get rich. So many people in our culture and in the church miss the whole concept of money, riches, reward, God’s blessings and so we end up missing out on so much of what God…

• A Million Miles in a Thousand Years: What I Learned While Editing my Life

  Josh

  4 Nov 2009 | 11:00 am

  Just finished A Million Miles in a Thousand Years:  What I Learned While Editing my Life by Donald Miller and I have to say right off the bat. This might be the best book I have read all year. Seriously, this book is that good and grabbed me that much. I couldn’t put it down. Donald Miller writes from the perspective of turning his book Blue Like Jazz which is a memoir into a movie. What comes in this book is a different look at purpose and meaning in life through the lens of a story. Miller points out that all of us are living a story, the question is whether or not we are living a…

• Day 30 (What did You Learn?)

  Josh

  3 Nov 2009 | 9:19 am

  Today is the last day of the 30 day sex challenge at Revolution Church. I’m curious about you learned during the experience. Any changes to your life? Did you make any changes in your thought process as you think about marriage and looking for a spouse? Any changes in your marriage or sex life? Posted in church, marriage, relationships, revolution church, sexuality Tagged: 30 day sex challenge, revolution church

• Posts on Marriage & Relationships

  Josh

  3 Nov 2009 | 8:57 am

  Over the last month during our I Want a New Marriage series I have been doing a lot of writing on marriage, dating, sex and relationships. Below are all of the posts in the order that they appeared on the blog. 15 Ways to Destroy Your Marriage 15 Ways to Improve Your Marriage Book Recommendations for Dealing with Baggage, Hurt and Relational Pain How You Know You are Slacking Off Book Recommendations for Dealing with Porn, Sexual Addiction, and Adultery What is the 30 Day Sex Challenge? Boundaries in Dating & Marriage Adultery Ladder “When we Get Married, He/She Will _______”…

• 
  Mister Nifty

• SEO Tips for Church Websites

  Brian Fegter

  29 Oct 2009 | 12:30 pm

  What is SEO? SEO simply means – Search Engine Optimization.  It’s a bit of science that deals with how search engines view your websites, and more importantly how they rank you in the search results.  Before we begin, let me just say that you create your website for people, not for search engines.  You might have the most optimized site, but is it user-friendly and pleasant to visit?  I’m not a self-proclaimed expert on the subject.  There are quite a few sites devoted to teaching about SEO.  If you want to really get your hands dirty, sign up for a Lynda.com account…

• Free Burnout Texture Set

  Brian Fegter

  21 Oct 2009 | 9:25 am

  I took some photos of a fire near my house out in the Canaveral Marshes yesterday.  I came up with some cool texture photos I wanted to share with everyone.  Feel free to use these in your designs to add some extra umph!   You could use some of these textures when talking about burnout or topics similar.  Overlay boring solid boxes with texture by adjusting the opacity and layer blend modes in Photoshop.  You can get the original files by right-clicking on the thumbs and saving the link, or you can click through and save the original image once it displays.  Enjoy!

• Set Up Your Own Twitter-like Communication Portal

  Brian Fegter

  12 Oct 2009 | 2:28 pm

  If you’ve read my posts, you know I’m a huge Wordpress fan.  For those who don’t know what Wordpress is, check it out at Wordpress.org. One of the latest themes that has caught my attention is the P2 theme that turns Wordpress into a Twitter-like interface.  It’s a great way for your team to communicate and post items of interest in real-time on the web.   When a user posts, it automatically updates on the post list of everyone who’s viewing the site.   Users can reply up to five levels depending on your configuration.  Here’s how I got my own…

• Connected – A Free Youth Series

  Brian Fegter

  10 Oct 2009 | 12:48 pm

  The guys over at Solid Youth Ministries have released a free graphic youth lesson series.  The series includes the following free files: Lessons in a Word document PDF Printouts PSD Design File Media Slide Thanks to David McGovern for making this available to everyone. Go To Solid Youth Ministries

• Setting up a print job in Photoshop.

  Brian Fegter

  9 Oct 2009 | 3:13 pm

  If you’re scared of messing up a commercial print job, use these basic principles to set up a document in any program. I used Photoshop to illustrate these rules-of-thumb. Part 1 – Setting up the document – Resolution – Bleed – Safe Area Click here to go to the original screencast for Part 1 Part 2 – Safe Image and text placement – Saving the file. Click here to go to the original screencast for Part 2

• 
  TheResurgence

• Invitation From God

  Charles Spurgeon

  6 Nov 2009 | 11:00 pm

  Invitation from God: Click | View Series Isaiah 1:18—"Come now, let us reason together, says the Lord: though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool." The sinful condition of men is terrible in the extreme. This is set forth vividly in previous verses of the chapter. They are altogether alienated from their God. God himself interposes to produce a change. The proposal of peace is always from his side. He urges that a conference be held at once, "Come, and let us reason together." That conference is to be held…

• Riches vs. Righteousness

  6 Nov 2009 | 9:00 am

  Riches do not profit in the day of wrath, but righteousness delivers from death. - Proverbs 11:4 Vintage Jesus A theological journey chasing Jesus through Scripture and pop culture. Timeless answers to timely questions about the most important man who has ever lived. Find out more. <!--break-->

• Ravi Zacharias on Postmodernism

  Resurgence

  6 Nov 2009 | 2:00 am

  Author and apologist Dr. Ravi Zacharias spoke at The Henry Center

• How Jesus Made Disciples: Sending & Praying

  Mike Anderson

  5 Nov 2009 | 9:00 am

  Jesus sends his disciples ahead of him Jesus is comfortable leading passively from a distance at times, and lets his disciples go out before him on their own. We don't have a clear description of what they are doing when they go out before him, but you can infer that they are living the life that Jesus is teaching them about outside of the structure of Jesus physically being present with them. When they are on the boat after the miraculous feast of 5,000, they were most certainly processing what just occurred. Jesus wasn't there to tell them explicitly, but he gave them a framework to…

• The Preacher’s Voice: Tension & Stress

  John Catanzaro

  4 Nov 2009 | 11:00 pm

  The Preacher's Voice: Click | View Series Stress Affects Your Message Preachers encounter stress and this can profoundly affect the delivery of a clear message. Unrelenting stress is called hyper-stress, which is considered a type of stress that the human body cannot adjust to very easily. An example of hyper-stress in the Bible is when Scripture tells of Jesus Christ sweating drops of blood. His spirit, mind, and body were beyond the point of fatigue and in a traumatized hyper-stress state. Extreme tension and hyper-stress can eventually saturate every aspect of the preacher’s message and…

• 
  Kem Meyer on Less Clutter & Noise

• Are you talking too much and saying very little?

  Kem Meyer

  6 Nov 2009 | 7:32 am

  Maybe you need to “Divorce the details that excite you but alienate your listeners.” Great post from Blog Decker about being in the weeds.

• Lets be frank

  Kem Meyer

  2 Nov 2009 | 5:09 am

  Love the original context here about online giving. This is fresh. It grows trust with unsterilized copy and refreshing honesty. I don’t feel like someone is talking AT me or wants anything FROM me. It engages me. You’ll find this tone throughout the entire site… although I highlighted online giving because it’s the hardest thing to talk about effectively. Well done, Knoxlife Church, well done.

• Are you looking for a vendor or a partner?

  Kem Meyer

  15 Oct 2009 | 4:35 am

  Sometimes you need to hire a job done. But, before hiring any outside professionals (e.g., consultants, vendors, firms, agencies, etc.), there are key things to consider in the selection process. Technical skills or industry knowledge alone does not make for a successful union. Too many consultants optimize their businesses for themselves - not their customers. It's the difference between a strategic partner and service provider. When we're looking for outside help, we need more than templates, products and a one-size fits all approach. We're looking for "A trusted advisor. A mental sparring…

• It's in your words...

  Kem Meyer

  14 Oct 2009 | 5:40 am

  This was one of those "forwards" from my mom. But, it's a good one. Thanks, mom! A blind boy sat on the steps of a building with a hat by his feet.  He held up a sign which said: "I am blind, please help."  There were only a few coins in the hat. A man was walking by.  He took a few coins from his pocket and dropped them into the hat.  He then took the sign, turned it around, and wrote some words.  He put the sign back so that everyone who walked by would see the new words. Soon the hat began to fill up.  A lot more people were giving money to the blind boy.  That afternoon the man who…

• Want to change people's behavior? Make it fun.

  Kem Meyer

  13 Oct 2009 | 5:47 am

  Want buy-in? Make it fun. It's been proven...thanks to the scientists at Volkswagen. (Thank Matt for the find.) How many more people will choose the stairs over the escalator -- if you make it fun to do? How many more people will actually throw their trash away -- if you make it fun to do? It's not that people hate change. They just hate the way you're trying to change them. (via Michael T. Kanazawa) If you're not getting the results you're looking for, change your approach. Want a more practical example? I snapped this photo at Christ Community Church. They get it. If you want more people to…

• 
  Frankly Speaking

• The odd hardcover book

  22 Oct 2009 | 8:00 am

  I grabbed my copy of William Barclay's commentary on Romans this morning to examine his thoughts on Romans 14. My Christian Doctrine professor, Mr. Fisher, frequently warned us against using Barclay as he denied the miracles of Jesus. Or at least that is what I recall him saying. Still, good ol' Bill has helped me understand the Jewish-ness of the New Testament, and I find that he adds to my

• Comet Marching Band

  8 Oct 2009 | 6:51 am

  My son's band, the Grand Ledge High School marching Comets, perform their field show at the 2009 Grand Ledge Exhibition, performing selections composed by Dmitri Dmitriyevich Shostakovich Wednesday, October 7, 2009. (The last several seconds are, regretably, cut off on this video as I ran out of memory on my video card.)

• Inspired play from the Junior Comets

  4 Oct 2009 | 8:03 pm

  Jonah's 8th-grade football team defeated a determined Dewitt squad earlier today with a last second goal line stand that will be remembered long after these boys stop dreaming of NFL glory. It was their second such defensive denial of the game.Previously, with the ball spotted at the Grand Ledge one yard line, the Dewitt boys lined up for a fourth and inches first-down try.All day long the

• Pennies, people, and things that matter . . .

  28 Sep 2009 | 8:57 pm

  My friend, Paul, took me for a spin in his new mini-van the other day. Aside from the fact that Paul surrendered and is now driving a grocery getter in anticipation of the imminent delivery of his firstborn child, I learned something else on the trip. Paul is frustrated by one of the vehicles accessories - or the lack thereof. Paul's vehicle, like many others, comes with a spot for coins. Just

• Take the next step

  9 Sep 2009 | 3:00 pm

  The thing is, spiritually, we never arrive. There is always something more. Some other challenge. Some "next step" that we are called to take.Take sanctification. ("Please!" some would say.) Just when the Holy Spirit cleans up one part of my life and I begin to think I am finally getting the hang of this faith thing, God reveals another area of my heart that needs swept clean. I'm reminded

• 
  Ipiphanist (Show + Tell)

• Digging SimChurch

  ipiphanist

  22 Oct 2009 | 7:21 am

  I’ve been excited about Doug Estes book SimChurch ever since I heard about it in the spring. I’ve been among a number of web pastors/bloggers who have been trying to break through the resistance to online church by explaining both what we are trying to do and not trying to do. But I’ve been looking forward to someone with credibility and maturity offering up a reasonable, respectable and theologically sound book-length case for why gathering as the church online can be powerful and God-honoring. (Books still seem to be the ultimate path to credibility, no?) If the Q&A…

• A tuneup for the NewSpring Web Service

  ipiphanist

  27 Aug 2009 | 7:19 am

  It doesn’t feel like 8 months since NewSpring launched Sunday worship services on the Web, and it’s hard to believe how much they have become a part of NewSpring life for nearly 800 people week after week who otherwise wouldn’t be able to be part of the NewSpring family. Everyone knew online services are a major opportunity to expand NewSpring’s mission to spread the word about Jesus and see people far from Christ come to know him as Lord and Savior. But we also knew that it was the kind of experiment that would lead us into territory whose theology and methodology was…

• “The local sermon is crumbling”

  ipiphanist

  31 Jul 2009 | 6:40 am

  A few months ago, I caused quite a stir with my post “The Rise of Net Campuses: Are Local Churches on the Ropes?” It picked up 903 page views, and dozens of comments, which in my opinion far outclassed the quality of my ideas. In a post that seems to take up where I left off, Matthew Anderson challenged evangelicals to “properly articulate why the Church gathers and hears the Word of God, and then shapes its churches accordingly, [or] we will continue to be co-opted by technologism.” I think Anderson is right to suggest that the “local sermon is crumbling”…

• The Big Question

  ipiphanist

  30 Jul 2009 | 11:42 am

  “Instead of asking, “Is virtual community real community?” Let’s spend more time considering “What is Biblical community?” Which leads us to consider “How can technology assist the life of a Biblical community?” — Drew Goodmanson, Is Online Community Real Community? Wisdom. Check out Matthew Lee Anderson’s response. Does an online community of believers function as the body of Christ is exactly the standard by which we should be testing church online. That’s why I’m increasingly more comfortable thinking about the web as a ministry tool, not an…

• Eavesdropping on the soul in the statussphere can help you fight for joy

  ipiphanist

  30 Jul 2009 | 7:15 am

  “When the Word of God, tailored to our need, comes to us in a per- son who gives us his very self, there is a great triumph of love that almost always leads to joy.” – John Piper, When I Don’t Desire God, p. 132. A lot is being written about the new social media age, but i think it’s easy to over-complicate the payoff for the church in leveraging web social tools for ministry to the church. Like never before, services like Twitter and Facebook and blogs give everyone an opportunity to walk alongside other Christians and listen to their hearts as they grapple with…

• 
  Church Crunch

• The Internet and Your Social Skills (Or Lack Thereof)

  John Saddington

  6 Nov 2009 | 4:30 am

  There have been a number of reports published within days of each other about technology and our ability to relate to others, both online and in the real. One report suggests that New Technology is Making us more Socially Isolated and yet we have another report saying that the Internet is Leading Us to Become more Diverse in our relationships. We have (somewhat dogmatic) reactions from Mashable titled, Myth Busted: Internet Doesn’t Lead to Isolation and then another from the NYTimes that would suggest the opposite, that people that use these technologies are more socially diverse. So,…

• The Waterproof Bible

  John Saddington

  5 Nov 2009 | 12:21 pm

  The waterproof Bible is almost a “duh” product. I can’t count how many times I’ve been frustrated after spilling something on my bible and then having to fan out the pages. Argh! Published by Bardin and Marsee, it’s available in both KJV and NIV versions and recently they’ve released a great campaign where you can “buy one and give one,” just like TOM Shoes: “We believe every consumer benefits from the increased lifespan and durability of the Waterproof Bible. However, we are especially passionate about getting this better designed Bible into…

• Why Chris Brogan Could Build a Church Better Than You

  John Saddington

  5 Nov 2009 | 3:59 am

  Many of us know Chris Brogan and his accomplishments as well as the authority that he brings to the social media landscape. His new book Trust Agents (affiliate link) is acclaimed already being named a Top 10 from Amazon. What’s fascinating is that he could probably build a “church” better than most of us. If we we’re to take out the spiritual-side of things, Chris has got it in the bag. And to a certain degree, he’s even said it himself. It’s because Chris has managed to discover what his true gifts are and then has also managed to use them effectively to…

• Faith, Children, and Church Online

  John Saddington

  4 Nov 2009 | 8:16 am

  Watch this great video (embedded above) by Dana Byers about how to “Engage Your Kids in Church Online.” I’ll tell you that I too was very skeptical with Church Online in general before diving deep into what and how it can be used for the Kingdom. Take it a step further and even today with my 3 year old daughter, would I be willing to have Church Online be a significant part of her faith journey? I’m thankful for people like Dana who is willing to experiment by faith with new technologies with her own children. Way to go. Sponsored By:Advertise Here

• 5 Wordpress Analytic and Metric Plugins I Trust

  John Saddington

  4 Nov 2009 | 3:41 am

  There are a lot of analytic programs and systems out there that are awesome but not many Wordpress Plugins for those systems that I trust to do a good job of, well, simply not breaking. The fact is that I’d much rather insert the code myself instead of banking on a plugin that may become old, outdated, or deprecated. Not a risk I’m typically willing to take! But, here are 5 Analytic Plugins that I’ve used historically that haven’t failed me (yet): 1. WP Stats Dashboard This is an oldy but goody. Used on Wordpress.com sites this is a standard for most self-hosted…

• 
  The Necessary Things

• Change Opportunity--Get the CCC Summer Project Videos on YouTube

  Brian Barela

  6 Nov 2009 | 7:39 am

  After receiving an email encouraging me to promote Campus Crusade Summer Projects (which are unbelievable awesome) through videos, I was eager to go to the site and share them. However I noticed that the videos are only available for download. I wondered...If these videos were on YouTube how many more times would they be viewed? Perhaps 16x more as suggested by my previous post? Rather than sit in wonder I wanted to do something about it. Here's the question I would love for you to answer in ONE WORD (yes or no) in the comment section of this post: Do you think that it posting the summer…

• Don't Hide Your Content--A Follow Up on Practicing Abundant Leadership

  Brian Barela

  5 Nov 2009 | 1:52 pm

  "Data suggests that unlocking content at AIIM means more than a sixteen-fold increase in the number of downloads."--from a recent blog post by David Merriman Scott What would happen if 16x the number of people had access to your ministry's best content (bible studies, leadership development articles, evangelistic resources, etc)? It literally could happen with the click of a button--or rather removing that extra click that people have to make to access information. David Merriman Scott posted an insightful analysis of whether or not to "gate" your content.  The concerns of giving away…

• Practicing Abundance--A Millenial Leadership Necessity

  Brian Barela

  3 Nov 2009 | 11:05 am

  "Today’s leader gets cooperation like never before – there is so much business out there waiting to be attracted in this Internet world that we now find ourselves without competition. Let’s all play together to make a better world!"--from a Duct Tape Marketing blog post The practice of abundant resource sharing represents one of the greatest opportunities for organizational transformation in my opinion, ESPECIALLY to those outside/partnered with CCC in some capacity. If you are in CCC, you know how many resources we have under lock and key, or with so much friction that it's frustrating…

• Gettting Specific About Alignment--What are Your Top 4 Characteristics?

  Brian Barela

  1 Nov 2009 | 4:40 pm

  Love for GodCommitment to Specific CommunityTransparencyLeadership Qualities The Heart of Campus Ministry blog shared these four characteristics as their filter for selecting student leaders. I remember a quote from one of my trainers at a CCC conference that impacted how I think about selection and most other leadership situations: "The problems you are trying to solve are rarely specific enough" I discuss alignment or the lack thereof often in various CCC cirlces. Those conversations do not become productive until we start talking specifically about what is broken in relation to alignment.

• Working Up and Down from the Middle--Leading Strategic Change

  Brian Barela

  29 Oct 2009 | 6:00 am

  I rarely use Chris Brogan's content on my blog because I'm assuming you already know about him. But if you do not, I HIGHLY recommend subscribing to his blog! He shared a gem in terms of how crucial the middle of an organization is in producing change. "Essentially, it’s this: someone in the middle tier of the organization comes to us and asks about a project, maybe something like content marketing or community management. We talk with them, discuss their goals, make sure there’s some kind of alignment, determine if we both see eye to eye on the loot it’ll take to get the job done, and…

• 
  FusionLife

• At Sea World Spooktacular with the fam

  Ben

  25 Oct 2009 | 11:29 am

  Posted via web from benboles’s posterous

• Word of Promise Next Generation New Testament MP3 Set – Review

  Ben

  9 Jun 2009 | 9:27 am

  The Word of Promise Next Generation New Testament MP3 Set is a great resource for any youth or children’s ministry but also for parents. This CD uses the voices of a Hollywood-level young cast (Cody Linley (Hanna Montana, Dancing with the Stars) as Jesus, AnnaSophia Robb (Charlie and the Chocolate Factory) as Mary Magdalene, Jordin Sparks (American Idol Winner) as Elizabeth, Cobin Bleu (High School Musical) as Peter, Alyson Stoner (Cheaper by the Dozen) as Martha, and narrated by Sean Astin (Lord of the Rings) to bring to life the Gospel in a way that will resonate with children and…

• Simple Student Ministry – Book Review

  Ben

  1 Jun 2009 | 8:02 am

  If you take a step back and look at student ministry from the prospective of all the ways to impact your ministry you know how much stuff there is out there. Conferences (for you, you and your volunteers and the teens in your ministry), one day events, retreats, camps, missions and service project opportunities, books, magazines, curriculum and the likes. With all this stuff it is easy to create a monster of complexity that keeps students busy and changed on the surface. But ask yourself: how many teens that graduate from our ministries graduate from church in college or after? If…

• Key Ingredients – Why do we miss these?

  Ben

  28 Apr 2009 | 9:06 pm

  You know when you read through a book you’ve read before and something jumps out at you that hasn’t before. I know I’m not alone, especially when reading the Bible. I’ve been reading Acts since Easter and trying to pay attention specifically to what was happening in and among the early church. As I got to Acts 9 and through Acts 11, the Holy Spirit made two verse jump out at me like never before. Acts 9:31 So the church throughout all Judea and Galilee and Samaria had peace and was being built up. And walking in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy…

• Twitter Popularity Contest and Social Justice

  Ben

  18 Apr 2009 | 9:11 am

  You couldn’t miss the Ashton Kutcher vs. CNN twitter race to 1,000,000 followers for a good cause. It was all over Twitter, CNN and digial billboards all across the country. While lots of money was raised for Malaria Nets for Africa some are questioning it’s effectiveness and whether or not this form of fundraising and giving is what the African continent needs. My good friend and Missions Innovator Tony Sheng twittered a link to a post on ProjectDiaspora.org about this very matter. Celebrity stunts of altruism are killing livelihoods in Africa is an interesting article (as are…

• 
  Zak White

• You Just…Don’t…Know

  Zak White

  6 Nov 2009 | 4:01 pm

  A simple lesson I’ve learned since becoming a church planter…you think you know but you just don’t. Here is what I mean. When I served as the Executive Pastor at The Connection Church in Kyle, I worked my tail off. I did things that caused stress, made mistakes, and dealt with every kind of issue you could name. And because of that, I thought I understood my lead Pastors job pretty well. WRONGO. Staff and team members, as a fresh pastor just out of a staff role let me say this: you might think you get it but you just don’t. Trust me. Your lead pastor experiences…

• God Works Through a Printing Company

  Zak White

  4 Nov 2009 | 8:13 pm

  We ordered a 20,000 piece mailer to advertise our December preview service last week. Yesterday it came in. It was beautiful. The best mailer I’ve ever seen come from a church…creative, slick, simple… But when I flipped it over I literally almost threw up all over the place. It had the wrong date on it. I immediately retraced my steps through email, etc and found out exactly what I initially thought – that this was 100% my fault. When you plant a church you have 10,000 times the info that any one person SHOULD  HAVE swimming around in your head. Dates, names, places,…

• What Goes Through a Church Planters Head Five Days Before Your Second Service

  Zak White

  3 Nov 2009 | 7:37 pm

  The sequel…I have a lot on my mind right now. This weekend we are having our second service ever! Here’s what I’m thinking: Please shoot me in the face. We just got our Dec. 6th mailer. Its the BEST looking mailer I’ve EVER seen…except for that it says Nov. 8th. How many times can I choke back the puke in my mouth after seeing the mailer with the wrong date? Did I fail as a Dad this week? Was I a loving, attentive husband? How can I get everything done this week? What things on the list do I have to decide to kill? How can I build our team more effectively so I…

• Drink Driving

  Zak White

  2 Nov 2009 | 6:50 pm

  Just cause it made me go wow…

• The Pumpkin Smash – Photos

  Zak White

  1 Nov 2009 | 2:39 pm

  We had a blast SMASHING PUMPKINS at our first ever Pumpkin Smash yesterday. The only part that did not go well was something we didn’t think of…cleaning up all that pumpkin goo! Check it out:

• 
  Creative Worship Tour

• Sting: If On A Winter’s Night

  Richard Webb

  I don’t usually buy my Christmas albums from Starbucks; certainly not my worship albums. But, from a worship leader’s standpoint, I find If On A Winter’s Night an incredibly thoughtful and refreshing collection of music for Christmas. Sting has put together a rich variety of Christmas carols and winter folk songs, mostly from the British Isles. Some of the carols you’ll recognize immediately; others are more obscure. But they’re all well worth the listen. He’s also included a couple songs of his own. In the album’s liner notes, Sting admits that, while not a Christian, he is…

• Thursday Inspiration

  Josh Linman

  Here's some inspiration for your Thursday: Thanksgiving Video Halloween Video from NewSpring Christmas Graphic (download the PSD file at Joe's site) Free Vector Ornaments (download here) Have a great weekend. Subscribe to this blog and other Creative Worship Tour community content here.

• photoshop - play with text - creating logos

  Dan Bracken

  Greetings! Let's go through some basic steps to creating a logo. MOST logos will be used for print... which would require CMYK color mode, and 300dpi. However, in this instance, the Creative Worship Tour logo would be primarily used on-screen... so my document size is as follows: Create a new document with these specs, then make your background white. There are a number of ways to do this. I created a new layer, and used the paint bucket. After selecting my foreground color as WHITE, I filled the new layer. For this tutorial, we will create a simple logo using the text tool. We will simply be…

• Too old to be creative?

  Mark Pierson

  I mentioned earlier that I would be speaking to a group of creative arts people at a large Auckland church. I did. I said all I wanted to say about the “make or break” role that the senior pastor and leadership have with artists and the Church. I stressed the need for the senior pastor to stand between artists and critical congregation if needed. Not necessarily to defend the art, but to protect the artist. I particularly stressed the need for all involved to become aware of four things. 1. the difference between a church involved in the arts and one that nurtured and supported artists.

• So Sundays Over. Now What? - Cultivating Cultures of Worship

  Jodi-Renee Adams

  We are certainly part of a deadline oriented culture. Sunday is always there, putting her demands on our creativity, our obedience, and the collective energy of our gatherings. It seems that all of our life energy goes into creating something for Sunday and that then becomes the marker for how well we worship, or even more subversively, for how well we connect with GOD. (Ahem, or maybe even for how we see GOD...) The hour comes, we all put forth our best efforts and best intentions until the time is over and the people scatter out into the parking lot. The countdown starts again for next…

• 
  Between Realities

• My pastor can beat up your pastor.

  5 Nov 2009 | 7:00 am

  Welcome to the age of the celebrity pastor.We've always had popular men of the cloth. The advent of social networking simply helps make them viral. The results can be funny. I overheard two acquaintances going back and forth about how awesome their respective pastors where. Various major points were compared, from hair gel to mobile device. Finally, one of the debaters threw down his trump card. "My pastor can do a split!"At this point, I had to interrupt. I needed to agree... his pastor was cool. A pastor who does splits? Incredible. I felt inadequate and unfulfilled, and made a mental note…

• Scary!!!!

  4 Nov 2009 | 7:00 am

  Here is an unvarnished quick-hitter from my friend Duncan.The illicit sex slave destroys the lives of way too many people. Maybe it's time we started paying attention.Too many people are victims, and we cannot stand aside and let human trafficking continue.

• Face it..

  3 Nov 2009 | 7:00 am

  Universal truth time:Your teen is gonna network socially. Okay?Now, what are you, as a parent or youthworker, gonna do about it? How about harnessing it?I think they are fantastic outlets, and can really be used to develop existing bonds. I do tend to lean towards being a hardliner when it comes to supervision.If you're child won't let you have unbarred access to it, they shouldn't have the medium. Period.Even better... why don't you have your networking identity and "friend" your child? It's a win for all.Just some food for thought...

• The good, the bad and the insane.

  2 Nov 2009 | 7:00 am

  Innovation is the name of the game at church nowadays.You have to have an angle, something that pumps up the crowd, and no only keeps the congregants coming, but encourages them to invite friends and family to come see.Some ideas are worse than others, and so I have taken it upon myself to write an abbreviated guide to help churches figure out a few ideas to roll with, and a few too discard. I have four (4) grades:Winner! (This is cool, everfresh and can't be faded).Good (worth trying, but look left, right and left again before implementing).Fail! (I wouldn't do it, unless I was trying out…

• People I Dislike: Kimberly Thompson

  30 Oct 2009 | 6:00 am

  When it comes to life, the toughest thing sometimes is just living. It takes a deep immersion in faith to get to a point where you can do it well, and do it with an "overall" smile.Some folks do it better than others. And this is one reason I dislike 180 pal Kimberly Thompson.Kimmie (who she is to me) is a special kind of person... she makes me question why I would ever stay glum. She has this thing about her that makes me ashamed to be down.So, why do I dislike Kimmie? Too many reasons to count. Here are a few:- When asked about her outlook on life, she answers with: "To sound incredibly…

• 
  Business as Mission Network

• The Missional Entrepreneur: Principles and Practices for Business as Mission by Mark Russell

  6 Nov 2009 | 5:35 am

  Coming in January 2010, review from Amazon.com - Business as mission BAM, an emerging concept and developing ministry, has drawn fascination in missions and business circles. BAM embodies the practice of using business strategically accomplishing missional purposes. Though the term is ubiquitous in mission circles, there is disparity between its meaning. There has been much theoretical discussion about BAM but far less research accomplished on how it happens out in reality. The Missional Entrepreneur takes an in-depth look at business as missions in action with an eye to expose the most…

• Business As Mission: A Comprehensive Guide to Theory and Practice by Neal Johnson

  30 Oct 2009 | 6:18 am

  Coming December 2010- from Amazon.com - Business as mission (BAM) is a mission strategy whose time has come. As global economics become increasingly interconnected, Christian businesspeople and entrepreneurs have unanticipated opportunites to build kingdom-strategic business ventures. But Christian companies and business leaders do not automatically accomplish missional purposes. BAM requires mastery of both the world of business and the world of missions, merging and contextualizing both into something significantly different than either alone.C. Neal Johnson offers the first comprehensive…

• Business as Mission Videos with Neil Johnson and Al Caperna

  29 Oct 2009 | 6:37 am

  Neil Johnson recently stopped by and paid a visit to the team at YWAM. He was intervied for their online video sessions to talk about Business as Mission. There are several other interviews with other business leaders like Al Caperna, David Stone and others in the previous posts on this video blog. Click here or use this address http://livethestory-ywamsf.blogspot.com/B  

• Whole Foods CEO in Wall Street Journal - Business has a Noble Purpose

  26 Oct 2009 | 6:37 am

  The guys over at Regent University noticed a great article in the Wall Street Journal about the founder of Whole Foods. I found it fascinating to see how he recognizes that business has a higher purpose. Here's the quote that stands out."Mr. Mackey's latest crusade involves traveling to college campuses across the country, trying to persuade young people that business, profits and capitalism aren't forces of evil. He calls his concept "conscious capitalism." What is that? "It means that business has the potential to have a deeper purpose. I mean, Whole Foods has a deeper purpose," he says,…

• Call2All Business as Mission Event in New Zealand

  23 Oct 2009 | 5:59 am

  The Call2All movement has grown over the last 2 years to include thousands of different ministries and organizations around the world. Top Christian leaders have met on all continents strategizing together to complete the Great Commission. Now they're making a movement to engage the next generation. Now they are conference in New Zealand in January.Al Caperna and others will be collecting influential speakers and teachers to lead the 20+ hours of programming about Business as Mission. Here's a short promotional video talking about calling the younger generation to the event.  

• 
  ChurchBeauty

• Cottonwood Church

  Sean Alsobrooks

  14 Oct 2009 | 12:11 pm

• Abundant Life Christian Center

  Sean Alsobrooks

  13 Oct 2009 | 7:22 pm

• Four Corners Church

  Sean Alsobrooks

  4 Oct 2009 | 3:10 pm

• Discovery Church

  Sean Alsobrooks

  28 Sep 2009 | 9:55 pm

• The Chapel

  Sean Alsobrooks

  22 Sep 2009 | 11:07 pm

• 
  CJ Alvarado

• 7 Common Design Mistakes That Clients Love (and how to fight back)

  CJ

  4 Nov 2009 | 9:35 pm

  I read a great post today from Crestock’s blog and had to share it.  This article makes some great points that work in and out of the Church world.  To read the whole post from the original site click here. “From flash intros, to logo theft, to information overload, clients often ask a design team to [...]

• Bird Composers

  CJ

  2 Nov 2009 | 2:43 pm

  Birds on the Wires from Jarbas Agnelli on Vimeo.

• Boiling Frogs

  CJ

  19 Oct 2009 | 12:23 am

  You’ve heard the parable about the boiled frogs right?  If you stick a frog in a pot of boiling water it will jump out or at least try to.  If you stick the frog in room temperature water and gradually begin to increase the water temperature the frog won’t move.  Even once the water starts [...]

• Saying No to Good Ideas…

  CJ

  2 Oct 2009 | 8:30 am

  In his book “Good to Great” Jim Collins explains that “good is the enemy of great.”  He goes on to explain that all Great companies have a laser focus on 3 things.  He called it the Hedgehog Concept.  Read the book if you haven’t, believe me you’ll be thankful you did.  But what are the [...]

• Pursuing Elegance

  CJ

  1 Oct 2009 | 1:30 pm

  In his article “In Pursuit of Elegance,” Guy Kawasaki present 12 tips to pursuing elegance.  Here are a couple that really stood out to me.  Read the entire article here. Question: Why is elegance so important? Answer: Elegance cuts through the noise, captures our attention, and engages us. The point of elegance is to achieve the maximum [...]

• 
  Mistakemaker.com

• Seeing People Through The Lens of Anticipated Redemption

  Mike Silliman

  5 Nov 2009 | 8:50 am

  Jesus always sees people through the lens of anticipated redemption. Seeing them for who He intended them to be, rather than seeing them for who they really are. The Russian writer and philosopher Fyodor Dostoevsky said, “To love someone means to see him as God intended him.“It’s this idea of seeing every person and treating them as kingdom contributors before they even know what the kingdom is. It means treating people as if they are already functioning in the body of Christ, giving them a picture of what could be and should be. God has expanded my view of prayer beyond a…

• Sanctifying Contentment

  Mike Silliman

  3 Nov 2009 | 7:49 am

  God is sanctifying us daily. He’s at work, setting us apart for His special use and special service. Our level of contentment often stands in the way of our sanctification. For many years I was discontent with where God had me and content with where I had God. A major shift happened in my life about 7 years ago. I began to have contentment with where God had me and started to have a discontentment with where I had God. This shift was a game changer for me. God was sanctifying my contentment so He could take me to where He wanted me to go. Sanctifying contentment leads us to a God…

• Confessions: I’m a middle aged out of shape fat guy

  Mike Silliman

  15 Oct 2009 | 12:57 pm

  I decided to start a new weekly series on MistakeMaker.com called “Confessions”. Every week I’ll be confessing the junk in my trunk… mostly for me, but hopefully you’ll find some encouragement in it as well. So I thought I would kick off this series with my first confession. I’m a middle-aged out of shape fat guy. There I said it. Whew…I feel better already. So here’s the deal. God has been kickin’ my butt in the area of discipline. Particularly with the idea that our physical life is interconnected with our spiritual life. I blogged about…

• It’s not over until you hear the whistle blow

  Mike Silliman

  15 Oct 2009 | 7:06 am

  Click here to view the embedded video. _ _ This video got me thinking…As followers of Christ, we need to play hard until the whistle blows. God holds the whistle and no one else. We play to please Him. When we stop playing before the whistle blows, we risk one of two things. 1) We risk celebrating a false win. Or… 2) We risk giving up just short of a win. Anytime we celebrate the win before the whistle blows, we are celebrating a false win. Our spiritual enemy loves to deceive us into celebrating a false win. If he can get us to celebrate early, we let go of the ball and take our…

• Is our spiritual discipline connected with our physical discipline?

  Mike Silliman

  14 Oct 2009 | 8:40 am

  Is there a connection between our spiritual fitness and our physical fitness? Why do many Christians(including myself) often devalue physical discipline? Every major Eastern Religion connects spiritual discipline with physical discipline. This is true in Hinduism, Buddhism, Taoism, and Shintoism. But, when it comes to Christianity we don’t connect the two. Christians that do value both physical and spiritual discipline usually don’t connect the two. Now, I’m not suggesting that we should come up with our own physical exercise system akin to Yoga, Aikido, or Shaolin Kung Fu.

• 
  Agile Ministry

• Agile Ministry Is Now VolunteerCentered.com

  James Higginbotham

  5 Nov 2009 | 3:21 am

  We are excited to announce that AgileMinistry.com is now VolunteerCentered.com! While the name has changed, the content hasn’t changed. In fact, we hope to expand our current focus on volunteer leadership and management into other areas, including blog posts from church planters and leaders in the field. By the way, if you are already a subscriber of Agile Ministry, you don’t have to do a thing – you’ll still get email or RSS notification of new articles. Why the name change? One of the difficulties we’ve had over the last few years is getting people to remember…

• Are You Out of Control?

  James Higginbotham

  16 Sep 2009 | 3:18 am

  It starts simple enough – a problem comes up that needs to be addressed. Then another. Then another. Pretty soon, it seems like things are out of control. Perhaps you are spending too much time away from home trying to keep your team afloat. Perhaps you can’t seem to find the time to train new volunteers and leaders, preventing you from finding the time to train new volunteers and leaders, which keeps you from finding time… Perhaps you are at the limit of what you can take because you are overwhelmed. Whatever the case may be, it can seem like life is out of control. How can…

• Who, What, and Why

  James Higginbotham

  15 Sep 2009 | 3:11 am

  Leaders experienced in a particular skill often see the “how” before anything else. This is especially true of creative and “techie” types. That is because we are so focused on our skills and how to solve a problem, we forget to look at the other factors involved. Here are some questions to ask before diving into a new solution: Who? – who is impacted by the problem? Knowing who needs the solution is a good part of the problem, as the solution often needs to be tailored to the audience What? - what exactly is the problem? We often forget that some time needs to…

• Support Your Local Leader

  James Higginbotham

  14 Sep 2009 | 3:52 am

  Are you leading sideways? Many times, we are so focused on leading upward (to those we report to) and downward (to those we manage) that we forget to lead sideways. Leading sideways means that we need to spend time listening to the needs of the leaders next to us. Leading sideways means that we need to be willing to join up with others to accomplish something bigger than a single team can do. Leading sideways means coaching one another as we lead our teams through the great and the difficult times. Take some time to consider where you could help out another leader. Perhaps it is simply…

• Is Your Leadership Like a Savings Account or a Credit Card?

  James Higginbotham

  9 Sep 2009 | 3:57 am

  Our leadership can take two forms: a savings account or a credit card: A savings account is about investing in your life and the lives of others. A credit card  sits until there is no other option.A savings account is always giving back. A credit card keeps taking and never gives back. A savings account brings a smile to the faces of young and old. A credit card brings stress and regret until it is finally cut and tossed away. Each of us has the potential to be a savings account or a credit card to those we lead. Which one are you?

• 
  Revitalize Your Church

• Tragedy

  Mark O. Wilson

  6 Nov 2009 | 2:50 pm

  A few days ago, a young man in our community, Arthur Garcia, killed another man, David Palm (his ex-girlfriend's brother) and then committed suicide.It was a sad and shocking turn of events -- which hits awfully close to home. Just today, I discovered that Arthur attended services here at Hayward Wesleyan Church five out of the last seven Sundays of his life. I even prayed with him one Sunday after church last month.It really breaks my heart -- and I wonder how this possibly could have happened. Oh, how I wish we would have reached out to him further.Please remember the families in your…

• Something to Ponder

  Mark O. Wilson

  6 Nov 2009 | 5:00 am

  The average church member has listened to 6000 sermons and 8000 prayers, sung 20,000 hymns, and asked zero people to receive Christ.-- Herb Miller (Fishing on the Asphalt)

• Comfort Zone

  Mark O. Wilson

  5 Nov 2009 | 4:50 am

  Simply to enclose oneself in "the given" is no glory to God. It is an evasion of life and of growth, a hiding your light under the bushel.-- Thomas Merton, A Vow of Conversation (p. 24)

• Seven Year Old Steals Car to Keep from Going to Church

  Mark O. Wilson

  5 Nov 2009 | 4:00 am

  Poor kid. There have been times when I've felt the same way myself.

• Driver's Education

  Mark O. Wilson

  4 Nov 2009 | 4:12 am

  A quote from my son, Wes, after I took him driving last night:"Dad, it really doesn't help me much when you grab the dash and yell, 'WOAH! WOAH! WOAH! WOAH! WOAH!"

• 
  Challies Dot Com

• Free Stuff Fridays (With 50 Prizes!)

  6 Nov 2009 | 5:22 am

  This week Ligonier Ministries is offering 50 (count 'em 50!) prizes. Each of the 50 (!) winners will be given a year-long subscription to Tabletalk Magazine (or a subscription for a friend, neighbor, hairdresser, family member, etc if the winner happens to already be a subscriber). Tabletalk is a tool that helps you grow in your knowledge of God and in your love for His Son and His people. Each month is packed with more than 60 pages of focused, practical Bible study and insightful commentary by today's top Christian thinkers. Over the years, Tabletalk has been recognized for its excellence…

• A La Carte (6/11)

  6 Nov 2009 | 4:58 am

  Six Flags over Jesus Jared Wilson writes about the new $130,000,000 building program at First Baptist Dallas. "Nobody should fault FBC Dallas or anybody else for building a building. But this isn't a building. This, and a bunch of other stuff, is Bible Belt Disneyland. This is evangelicalism with more cowbell. This is Field of Dreams attractional church. And it stinks to high heaven." Inmates Save Guard Here's a bit of a feel-good story from behind bars. "Hillsborough County, Florida, Deputy Kenneth Moon was alone at his station at a county jail facility near Tampa when an inmate attacked him…

• Reading Classics Together - A Reminder

  5 Nov 2009 | 5:40 am

  A couple of weeks ago I announced that the next book we would read together as part of the Reading Classics Together program would be Redemption Accomplished and Applied by John Murray. We will begin reading that book on November 12, exactly one week from today. Actually, we will begin discussing the book on that date, so it would be best to start reading it before then. This is a final invitation to participate in the program and, for those who have already indicated interest, a final reminder that you'll want to finish reading the first chapter in the next week. This Reading Classics…

• A La Carte (11/5)

  5 Nov 2009 | 4:59 am

  Multiple Perspectives on Multi-Site Churches A panel at Southern Seminary discussed this topic. The participants are R. Albert Mohler Jr., Gregg Allison, Kevin Ezell, Greg Gilbert, and Daniel Montgomery. The Day I Went to Church I enjoyed this article simply for the perspective it offers on a person's first strange and perhaps terrifying attempt at going to church. It is good to remember how foreign church is to people who are not accustomed to it. Stand By Me This is a cool little video. The producers went around the world and recorded the song as performed by an international contingent of…

• To Love Him Is To Know Him

  4 Nov 2009 | 5:33 am

  How many times have you heard a person claim that he has "accepted Jesus as his personal Lord and Savior?" Have you ever asked him what it means that Jesus is his Lord? Have you ever asked him how Jesus is his Savior? What makes him his Savior? And what does it mean that he is his personal Lord and Savior? How many times have you heard a person open a prayer with the words "Dear God?" What do those words really mean? Why do we begin our prayers with an address? Is this necessary or merely customary? How many times have you heard a person thank God that Jesus is present, for "where two are…

• 
  The Resurgence

• Invitation From God

  Charles Spurgeon

  6 Nov 2009 | 11:00 pm

  Invitation from God: Click | View Series Isaiah 1:18—"Come now, let us reason together, says the Lord: though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool." The sinful condition of men is terrible in the extreme. This is set forth vividly in previous verses of the chapter. They are altogether alienated from their God. God himself interposes to produce a change. The proposal of peace is always from his side. He urges that a conference be held at once, "Come, and let us reason together." That conference is to be held…

• Riches vs. Righteousness

  6 Nov 2009 | 9:00 am

  Riches do not profit in the day of wrath, but righteousness delivers from death. - Proverbs 11:4 Vintage Jesus A theological journey chasing Jesus through Scripture and pop culture. Timeless answers to timely questions about the most important man who has ever lived. Find out more. <!--break-->

• Ravi Zacharias on Postmodernism

  Resurgence

  6 Nov 2009 | 2:00 am

  Author and apologist Dr. Ravi Zacharias spoke at The Henry Center

• How Jesus Made Disciples: Sending & Praying

  Mike Anderson

  5 Nov 2009 | 9:00 am

  Jesus sends his disciples ahead of him Jesus is comfortable leading passively from a distance at times, and lets his disciples go out before him on their own. We don't have a clear description of what they are doing when they go out before him, but you can infer that they are living the life that Jesus is teaching them about outside of the structure of Jesus physically being present with them. When they are on the boat after the miraculous feast of 5,000, they were most certainly processing what just occurred. Jesus wasn't there to tell them explicitly, but he gave them a framework to…

• The Preacher’s Voice: Tension & Stress

  John Catanzaro

  4 Nov 2009 | 11:00 pm

  The Preacher's Voice: Click | View Series Stress Affects Your Message Preachers encounter stress and this can profoundly affect the delivery of a clear message. Unrelenting stress is called hyper-stress, which is considered a type of stress that the human body cannot adjust to very easily. An example of hyper-stress in the Bible is when Scripture tells of Jesus Christ sweating drops of blood. His spirit, mind, and body were beyond the point of fatigue and in a traumatized hyper-stress state. Extreme tension and hyper-stress can eventually saturate every aspect of the preacher’s message and…

• 
  Desiring God Blog

• 9 Ways to Know the Gospel of Christ Is True

  6 Nov 2009 | 8:17 am

  (Author: John Piper) 1. Jesus Christ, as he is presented to us in the New Testament, and as he stands forth from all its writings, is too single and too great to have been invented so uniformly by all these writers. The force of Jesus Christ unleashed these writings; the writings did not create the force. Jesus is far bigger and more compelling than any of his witnesses. His reality stands behind these writings as a great, global event stands behind a thousand newscasters. Something stupendous unleashed these diverse witnesses to tell these stunning and varied, yet unified, stories of Jesus…

• Discounted DVD Sets

  6 Nov 2009 | 4:46 am

  (Author: Tyler Kenney) We've lowered our prices on the John Piper Small Group Series DVDs. Each one is at least $7 cheaper than before. God Is the Gospel Seeing and Savoring Jesus Christ TULIP What's the Difference When I Don't Desire God Why We Believe the Bible

• My Mother's Response to Our Adoption

  5 Nov 2009 | 7:13 am

  (Author: Noel Piper) Today is a very important day in my life—my mother's birthday. At my blog, I'm in the middle of a series, telling our adoption story. Today, I skipped ahead a few episodes to describe Mother's response to our adoption news. I'm thanking God for Mother, who to this day points me toward him through her life and practical advice.

• New Programs at Bethlehem College and Seminary

  5 Nov 2009 | 5:25 am

  (Author: Joe Rigney) Bethlehem College and Seminary is offering new undergraduate programs beginning in the fall of 2010. We'll be offering a two-year degree in Christian Worldview, a four-year degree in Biblical and Theological Studies, a four-year degree in the History of Ideas, and a non-traditional degree completion program. Whichever of these programs students choose, they will not find a typical college experience. The classes are small. For starters, we keep the classes around 16 students per instructor (instead of those mammoth introductory courses at most colleges). The price is…

• Christmas Sale: Something for Everyone

  4 Nov 2009 | 11:45 am

  (Author: Abraham Piper) You're going to be buying presents for all sorts of people this Christmas, so we thought for our Christmas sale we'd put together sets of books and other resources aimed at different kinds of readers. We've created 12 packages and put them on sale. We hope that this will make it easy to choose a perfect present for some of the people on your list. Check out your different options: The (Almost Complete) John Piper Library For Mom For Dad For the Little Ones For the Bargain Hunter For the Student For a Missionary For Your Pastor For a New Christian For Anyone in a Hurry…

• 
  MondayMorningInsight

• The Best of Christian TV… all right here!

  toddrhoades@gmail.com

  6 Nov 2009 | 4:11 am

  You know... it's really no wonder the world laughs at us.  If this part of 'Christianity' wasn't so sad, it would be hilarious...

• Israel Intends to Bomb Lesbians?

  toddrhoades@gmail.com

  6 Nov 2009 | 4:06 am

  Well... I'm sure that this will make a certain segment of Christianity very happy indeed...

• The Megachurch MOVIE

  toddrhoades@gmail.com

  6 Nov 2009 | 3:59 am

  According to the Christian Today Movies Blog, Morgan Mead, a young Christian filmmaker from Indiana, wanted to know. Why are there so many megachurches, what's the phenomena all about, and just what is their role in American Christendom? Mead pursues answers to these questions, and more, in The Alpha and the Mega, now available on DVD. In a recent interview, Mead explained why he decided to look into the megachurch mythos . . . "My wife and I were in Kentucky, and we were looking for a church to go to," he told Metromix Indianapolis. "We went to this enormous church and it was unlike anything…

• Joyce Meyer May Have to Testify in Murder Trial

  toddrhoades@gmail.com

  6 Nov 2009 | 3:52 am

  Charismatic speaker Joyce Meyer and her son might be asked to testify in a murder trial involving their ministry’s former chief of security. According to the Christian Post, a lawyer representing the family of slain mother-of-two Sheri Coleman alleged that Meyer’s son, Dan Meyer, had traveled with the accused murderer, Christopher Coleman, and his girlfriend, Tara Lintz, prior to the May 5 slaying of Coleman’s wife and two sons. And, as Dan Meyer is the CEO of Joyce Meyer Ministries, attorneys Jack Carey and Enrico Mirabelli allege that the ministry knew that Coleman was…

• Ted Haggard Starting a New Church in His Colorado Springs Home

  toddrhoades@gmail.com

  5 Nov 2009 | 4:56 am

  It all starts November 12 at the Haggard residence, just blocks away from New Life Church. Haggard:  "We wanted to do something in our house to connect with friends." According to the Colorado Springs Gazette:   Haggard will hold his first gathering at 7 p.m. Nov. 12 at his house at 1865 Old Ranch Road. He referred to it as a "prayer meeting," but said it would also be correct to call it a church. The gathering will include music and an offering to New Life Church. Haggard also will give a talk about the power of prayer. Although Haggard said just recently he had no…

• 
  Pastor Steven Furtick

• Financial Management from a 4 Year Old’s Perspective

  ceagon

  5 Nov 2009 | 1:00 am

  Guest Blogger:  Heather Bishop, Project Manager-  Office of the Lead Pastor (Doomsday Speaker for Elevation Uptown) Take a look at this video, it’s a favorite here at Elevation.  Trust me, once you watch this, you’ll want to watch it again! Pastor Steven’s 4 year old son, Elijah, teaches us all how to manage our money God’s way… it’s a simple concept, yet so many of us haven’t mastered it.  I hope this video challenges you, makes you smile, and encourages you to assess your own financial management of the money God has entrusted to you. Give 10% to God Give 10% to savings…

• Sow something

  meredithbrock

  4 Nov 2009 | 1:00 am

  I want to have a Kingdom minded approach to ministry.  Sadly, my flesh so often pulls me in the direction of building my own kingdom.  It’s an ugly, discrete, and unacceptable inclination. Since I know this proclivity is a part of me, I have to proactively wage war against it.  It’s good to pray about it.  And it’s even better to pray about it and then act against it. I’ll share a small effort I made toward this before I ever even moved to Charlotte.  I’m not sharing it to brag, because honestly, I don’t think it’s all that heroic.  But hopefully, it will inspire you to…

• Honor the fathers

  meredithbrock

  3 Nov 2009 | 1:00 am

  The first thing a church planter should do (before he even unpacks his boxes if possible) is identify and honor the spiritual fathers in the city he’s occupying.  I did a decent job of this when I moved to Charlotte.  I could have done a lot better. (If the term spiritual fathers doesn’t work for you, how about something like most influential Christian leaders?  The important thing isn’t what you call it.  What matters is that you do it.) You may want to make a list of ten churches in your community/surrounding area that are really making a difference for Jesus.  I don’t think it…

• You ain’t the first

  meredithbrock

  2 Nov 2009 | 1:00 am

  This is a friendly reminder to all church planters: You’re not the first person to ever love Jesus and preach the Gospel in your community.  Unless you’re planting way on the outskirts of the middle of nowhere in some sort of deep, deep, dark jungle.  Alabama doesn’t count. It takes nerve to start a church in a place like Charlotte.  There are so many really solid, really healthy, really remarkable churches already established in this area.  We didn’t start Elevation here because nobody else was getting the job done.  In fact, a large part of what has made our ministry fruitful…

• Married Guys Listen Up

  meredithbrock

  29 Oct 2009 | 2:00 am

  Guest Blogger: Larry Hubatka, Creative Pastor Continuing with the IMPART wrap up, here’s a quick hit from a surprise session with Pastor Steven and Pastor Perry Noble from NewSpring Church in Anderson, SC. It was a surprise for everyone in attendance–a casual conversation between 2 friends candidly talking about life in the ministry. Here’s a few minutes you should think about sending to every married man you know in ministry.

• 
  adrianwarnock.com

• Interview With "Bones" A Pastor From Zimbabwe

  6 Nov 2009 | 10:27 am

  Anyone who knows me well knows that I have a soft spot for this troubled African country. It was where my wife grew up for a start. Also, who cannot feel compassion for this nation which should be one of the wealthiest in Africa and yet faces abject poverty?What amazes me is the way God seems to be working in this land. Good, doctrinally solid churches seem to be springing up all over the place! Not only are there 16 Zimbabwe churches directly in relationship with Newfrontiers, but there are at least two other networks led by godly men who we have good friendships with. God seems to be…

• Don't You Dare Try and Worship God With Your Hands In Your Pockets!

  5 Nov 2009 | 2:27 pm

  My pastor, Tope Koleoso did not say the words in the title of this post. But they are very consistent with the tone and thrust of the following sermon on worship which follows on from what he said last week. I would strongly encourage you to watch both of these talks as you will find they have a fresh and challenging perspective on worship.The video is available in HD at http://jubilee-church.org In response to what we have been hearing about worship, this coming Sunday will be a special service at Jubilee Church with a prolonged worship time. It may be that you live near London and have…

• Worship His Majesty!

  5 Nov 2009 | 2:26 pm

  It seems to me that us reformed believers run the risk that we recognize God is holy, but it can feel as though he is distant. To us charismatics God may instead feel close, but perhaps not seem glorious. Reformed believers understand something of the sovereignty of God, and his glory. All too often, however, we fall into the trap of worshipping a remote God who is not really immanent. As a result God is essentially nowhere to be seen, felt, or experienced. Charismatics often enjoy a sense of intimacy with God. But, all too often we worship a God who is immanent, but can seem warm and cuddly.

• Ed Stetzer on Raised With Christ

  4 Nov 2009 | 10:51 am

  “Adrian Warnock presents a beautiful picture of why the resurrection matters to each of us. In Raised with Christ, the resurrection of Jesus is unleashed to its exalted place where it supplies our new birth, surrounds our new life, and empowers our new mission. With great clarity, Adrian teaches how the resurrection of Christ matters every day.”—Ed Stetzer, President, LifeWay ResearchEd has been a good friend to me and is one of the leading Evangelical thinkers and networkers of our time. If you don't already you can follow him on twitter or facebook. Few people are invited to speak as…

• 25% Off NEW Logos 4 Bible Software for Blog Readers

  3 Nov 2009 | 7:10 am

  Logos Bible software has long been my primary tool for bible study, sermon prep, and book writing. Now it just got even faster with a radical new search engine, and an iPhone app that can read my books.I couldn't have written my new book Raised With Christ without Logos Bible Software, so imagine how excited I was to hear that Logos 4 would be even faster at searching, and could now fit in my pocket with an iPhone app that reads the books I own!If you have never owned Logos Bible Sofware, this is a great time to jump in, and I am thrilled to announce that the 25% discount for blog readers…

• 
  Reformissionary

• Music Monday 11.2.09

  Steve McCoy

  2 Nov 2009 | 2:45 pm

  A bunch of great $5 albums available today. Reformissionary recommends... The Antlers: Hospice - might be my #1 of '09 The Avett Brothers: Four Thieves Gone - anything Avett is must-buy Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros - love this new album, full of gems Blitzen Trapper: Furr - #14 album of '08 for me John Coltrane: The Ultimate Blue Note - one of my fav jazz albums  Grizzly Bear: Horn of Plenty - older, lo-fi sound from a hot indie band The Gaslight Anthem: The '59 Sound - a great album Flogging Molly: Float - so much fun, these guys I can't say…

• Review: Fight Clubs by Jonathan Dodson

  Steve McCoy

  29 Oct 2009 | 5:36 pm

  I remember reading the article, Fight Club, from Jonathan Dodson when it was published by Boundless back in 2008. I read it several times. It's great to see this made into a fuller-length treatment, though it's still only just over 40 pages of text. Jonathan is pastor of Austin City Life. Fight Clubs is about re-centering discipleship on the gospel in community, not merely individuals. It's a messy, tenacious struggle with honesty and authenticity. Dodson describes the biblical case for the fight, where we go wrong (legalism or license) and how to keep from extremes, the…

• Music Monday 10.26.09

  Steve McCoy

  26 Oct 2009 | 9:53 am

  Quick hits... Mat Kearney, four free songs at Daytrotter My buddy, Rick, lists his top 50 albums of the new millennium Sufjan Stevens' soundtrack for The BQE is very good Daniel Renstrom's new Christmas CD, On The Incarnation, comes out tomorrow. Review up soon.  Join oh join the angel melody//God with man is pleased to dwell//Sing confess, with all His company//Jesus our Immanuel A thoughtful and woeful video for the gorgeous song "Charlie Darwin" from The Low Anthem. Their album, Oh My God, Charlie Darwin is outstanding. (Download) I just can't say enough about…

• Review: Counterfeit Gods

  Steve McCoy

  20 Oct 2009 | 12:07 pm

  I have a thing for Tim Keller. You've noticed? Cool. Just wanted to make sure you know. :) When I heard that Dr. Keller was publishing Counterfeit Gods (OUT TODAY, October 20th) many months ago I was pumped. Pumped because I like nearly everything he says and writes and one more thing is a good thing. This book has exceeded my highest of expectations, especially after Dr. Keller's excellent talk, The Grand Demythologizer, at The Gospel Coalition this spring. In Counterfeit Gods, Keller defines idolatry for us... It is anything more important to you than God, anything that…

• Music Monday 10.19.09

  Steve McCoy

  19 Oct 2009 | 12:29 pm

  Bon Iver is on indefinite hiatus. Steve is in definite depression. Check out The Swell Season's new album streaming for free. Saw Where the Wild Things Are on Saturday with the family. We enjoyed the movie and the kids loved it even more having heard several times the excellent soundtrack from Karen O and the Kids. You should own it. Dave Grohl, John Paul Jones, Josh Homme = Them Crooked Vultures. They can play rock music, like this. This would be a good time to crank it up. Hope you didn't miss the $0.99 album (The Second Gleam) I mentioned on Twitter yesterday from The Avett Brothers. You…

• 
  Worship Matters

• Matt Redman Interview

  Bob Kauflin

  5 Nov 2009 | 5:00 am

  I asked Matt Redman if he could fill us in on some of the background to his latest album, We Shall Not Be Shaken, which I reviewed yesterday. His responses give some insight into the songwriting process, as well as Matt’s humility. Themes of God’s sovereignty pervade the songs on this album. Why did you choose to make that focus for this album? I had a sense that many people right now need re-assurance that God is in control in their lives. So many recent events, particularly economic ones, have reminded us that much of this life and this world is fragile, temporary and changing.

• Why So Many Words in Worship?

  Bob Kauflin

  4 Nov 2009 | 12:16 pm

  Over at the Gospel Coalition blog Kevin DeYoung gives 25 reasons why words are so important in our corporate worship. Here are some samples: All the corporate worship we know of in the early church is saturated with words. While there are many things we don’t know about the worship of the early church in the Bible, we do know that they devoted themselves to the apostle’s teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer (Acts 2:42). We know they were devoted to the public reading of Scripture (1 Tim. 4:13). We know they brought hymns, words of instruction,…

• Matt Redman’s We Shall Not Be Shaken - Review

  Bob Kauflin

  4 Nov 2009 | 3:00 am

  I first met Matt Redman in 1997 when I was over in England for a worship conference. In a few minutes of conversation a few things stood out to me. He was a young man passionate about impacting his generation with worship songs that communicated biblical truth about God and not simply emotional responses. He was theologically aware and gospel-focused. He was articulate. And he was humble. Over the past years my first impressions have not only been confirmed; they’ve been deepened. After listening to his latest album, We Shall Not Be Shaken, I found myself thanking God once again for…

• What Do You Want to Be Remembered For?

  Bob Kauflin

  28 Oct 2009 | 12:18 pm

  Here’s another clip from the message I gave at WorshipGod09 on “The Future of Worship.” (You can find two posts from the same message here and here.) In verse 8 the psalmist references a previous generation “whose heart was not steadfast, whose spirit was not faithful to God.” They were remembered as NOT being faithful, and NOT being steadfast. Have you thought much about what YOU want to be remembered for? That’s the question I ask in this 2 1/2 minute clip from my message.

• Can We Even Sing in the Same Room?

  Bob Kauflin

  23 Oct 2009 | 4:00 am

  In a previous post I referenced a message I gave at WorshipGod09 on “The Future of Worship,” based on Psalm 78. Here’s a 3 1/2 minute excerpt from the message where I talk about the importance of finding musical styles that multiple generations can sing together.

• 
  Church Matters: The 9Marks Blog

• Machen on Preaching by Aaron Menikoff

  Aaron Menikoff

  6 Nov 2009 | 2:08 pm

  I'm re-reading J. Gresham Machen's Christianity & Liberalism with my friend and co-worker, Jacob Hall. Machen wrote this book in 1923 as a response to the doctrineless preaching of Harry Fosdick. It rings true today--and I'm not just talking about what others are preaching. I'm talking about the temptation I face to avoid saying hard things. I'm surprised how often I have an inner conversation as I prepare a sermon. It goes something like this: "Aaron, that's true. It's in the Bible. It needs to be said even though it may offend some." In spite of…

• Does Multi-site = Increasing Growth Potential? by Jonathan Leeman

  Jonathan Leeman

  6 Nov 2009 | 8:08 am

  Thabiti, I'd like to follow up on a point you made and make it a little stronger. You write, "Some seem to presume that if you're growing and you're not interested in multi-site then you just may be limiting the growth potential of the kingdom.  And conversely, if you are a practitioner of multi-site you're increasing the growth potential of the kingdom." You suggest this is "spurious." I would also say it's short-sighted. If God does in fact mean for local churches to consist of one congregation, then we can trust that such a congregation…

• Evangelical Scuffles by Thabiti Anyabwile

  Thabiti Anyabwile

  5 Nov 2009 | 11:17 pm

  Greg, Thanks for alerting us to your participation in Southern's panel discussion on multi-site churches.  I not only appreciate the link, but appreciated how you represented the "opposed" position and how all the men engaged one another charitably.  It was a good Christian "scuffle."  Which is to say, nobody got hurt and there was love for all.  Thanks for modeling that, brothers. I have to say, though, the multi-site church issue feels like it's in that category with emergent churches for me--something receiving a lot of attention…

• Would the Apostles Endorse Multi-site Churches? by Ryan Townsend

  Ryan Townsend

  5 Nov 2009 | 6:52 am

  John Meade, a dear Brother from Clifton Baptist Church here in Louisville, KY, gives a thoughtful, biblical, succinct, and helpful answer here.Here's some of John's highlights and conclusion from the post:"My basic assumption going into this issue is simple: the view that remains faithful to the clear Scriptural directives and can obey those directives practically should be adopted.  Thus any view of the church which would necessarily lead to the disobedience of clear Scriptural directives because of the church’s structure itself should be abandoned....What are these…

• Video: Multi-perspectives on Multi-sites by Jonathan Leeman

  Jonathan Leeman

  4 Nov 2009 | 7:05 am

  Good conversation here between Greg and several folks affiliated with Southern Seminary who are all pro-multi-site. I love the heart for evangelism which runs across the board. As you'll see, there's some disagreement about what we're to learn from some Scriptural examples. The examples seem more prescriptive to some (like us) because they tie in so well with the responsibilities not only of the leadership (as Daniel said) but of the congregation.  

• 
  Deep Thoughts by Gman

• Famous Failures

  6 Nov 2009 | 9:07 am

  http://feeds.feedburner.com/blogspot/ZioO

• Life is Temporary Bluefish TV

  6 Nov 2009 | 9:07 am

  http://feeds.feedburner.com/blogspot/ZioO

• Why is it hard to follow up on people?

  6 Nov 2009 | 9:02 am

  Here is an email I recently sent the congregation I serve:One of the things I know myself and even the church needs to do is to invite people and follow up on not only on Visitors but also on those missing. Why is it hard? Let me suggest a few reasons. I. It takes time. II. It is a relationship. III. It can be awkward. Let me tell you what I am doing and maybe you can be encouraged as well. Each week, we follow up on our visitors with a letter right away and try to reach them and ask if they have a church home. Every few weeks I try to reach out to them - send reminders or thank them for…

• Preaching and Pouting Jonah 3 - 4

  6 Nov 2009 | 8:50 am

  This week we look atI. How God used Jonah.II. How God ministered to Jonah.And how this applies to us today.http://feeds.feedburner.com/blogspot/ZioO

• BRBPDYM - Big Red Ball Purpose Driven Youth Ministry

  3 Nov 2009 | 11:26 am

  It all started out as a discussion on what it means to be purpose driven and ministering to those in the post-modern era about 12 years ago.Online there wasn't message boards or forums as much as listservs. Email lists and debates and discussions. Youth Specialties had this one listserv started by Mike A of Mikey's Funnies. (Later would become YMExchange) So as the discussion came about, one person suggest all we need is a Big Red Ball. A Big Red ball? Yeah, Big Red Ball Purpose Driven Youth Ministry. It wasn't so much the tool but on the relationship.Bouncing the ball back and forth and…

• 
  Church IT RoundTable

• Network Maintenance

  Stuart Dyckhoff

  As a person that makes a living being a network techy there’s something I often wonder. How many folks actually undertake any form of network maintenance? And by network I am meaning the bits of kit that allow your computer to talk to another for whatever reason. A quick google search would seem to imply that most folks think network maintenance to be checking on your PC’s, printers and servers. I don’t, and here’s a list of some of the things I think you should do or have in place. Do you change default passwords on network kit? Do you change passwords when people…

• Outliers

  renewingmind

  Last night I read the book Outliers: The Story of Success by Malcolm Gladwell. My dad first mentioned this book to me in July, and I finally picked it up about a week ago. This book was utterly fascinating!If you haven't heard of it, this book analyzes specific factors that contributed to the success of individuals. It looks beneath the "rags to riches" stories to reveal the unique advantages

• ChMS - Day Two of the Arena Developer Roundtable

  renewingmind

  We started day two by hearing about some of the things that Willow Creek had added to Arena in their implementations of events as well as a few other areas. They built some very nice items that we will pickup and utilize in the next couple of months. It was good to hear from them, and the stuff they built will help us immensely.After Willow Creek, we had an open "show and tell" in which we

• Day 4 of the TV Experiment

  renewingmind

  I didn't writeup day 3 because it really wasn't much different than it would have been with the tv on. Last night though was awesome. I got home around 5-ish, and remembered that it was "National Men Make Dinner Day" so I put on Rush: Signals(a longtime favorite album), and started making tacos. Nothing special, but since I didn't remember until I got home, I wasn't prepared to make anything cool

• Added Comments to Blog and Projects

  Erik Reagan

  Just a quick update on the new website: I've added in commenting to the blog and projects sections. I did a soft launch of the site yesterday leaving a few things to be completed. One of those things was commenting on entries. I'm satisfied enough with them for now so here they are. I'd love to start getting feedback from everyone on some of the things discussed.

• 
  Markartrip.com

• DEALING WITH CRITICS IN MINISTRY

  markartrip

  5 Nov 2009 | 8:57 pm

  I recently asked on my twitter and facebook what people wanted me to blog about and a few suggested “getting attacked” or “taking criticism”. I haven’t been in ministry forever but I have been at this long enough to take a bullet or two so I thought I would write my… Top 5 tips for dealing with critics. Pray-Your first reaction will be to gossip or defend yourself by fighting back.  Resist this and stop what you are doing and pray.  Sounds so cheesy and religious but it is so necessary so that Satan doesn’t get a foothold.  He would love to cause division in the Body of…

• LIFE 101-WEEK 2-MIND DUMP

  markartrip

  4 Nov 2009 | 9:07 pm

  Let me first start by saying that I am trying to not eat sweets, but as you can see it isn’t going well. This week Stephanie Watson told me that she liked to bake so I naturally told her that I had the gift of eating.  She brought me some cookies tonight and after a Wednesday night it was awesome to down a couple. I took a picture just to show how thick these things are. They are the real deal. Record night at HSM.  We had our biggest attendance ever for a Wednesday night. Fall sports ended this past week. We just had our usual visitors but all the regulars and semi-regulars decided to…

• MALACHI FALL PICS

  markartrip

  29 Oct 2009 | 8:03 pm

  Some new Malachi pics for those without facebook…   http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=337346&id=758655500&l=f65749a3e9    

• NEW HSM SHIRTS

  markartrip

  29 Oct 2009 | 12:25 pm

  We got the new HSM shirts in the mail today. For those who did a 1 on 1 interview, come and get your shirt. For those who didn’t, hold your breath. I think I said I would put a picture up so here they are for those who care………

• LUKEWARM PEOPLE-FRANCIS CHAN

  markartrip

  26 Oct 2009 | 7:19 pm

  Unless you live under a rock you have probably heard of Francis Chan. He is lead pastor at Cornerstone Church in Simi Valley, California and one of the premiere pastors in America. Last year he wrote a book Crazy Love.  I read it when it came out, but right now our HSM grace groups as well as my adult grace group I lead are going through the matching DVD curriculum. To say that Francis, his book, and the DVD are awesome is an understatement.  This week I have been focused a ton on this list of what the lives of lukewarm people look like. Read this and tell me you are moved to action. 1. …

• 
  Gabe Taviano | Technology meets Eternity

• Date with daughter Nina

  Gabe Taviano

  4 Nov 2009 | 6:49 pm

  Hope you enjoy walking through my big date with our youngest daughter Nina in the video below. We’ve had quite a few of the times together, but it was nice today to be able to capture some of the highlights. It’s my prayer that fathers-to-be or new fathers learn the same lesson I learned 6 years ago. Date your daughters while they’re young. They’ll sure feel special, loved, and will know what to expect in the years that aren’t too far ahead. What are some memories like this of yours, as a parent or child? Click here to view the embedded video.

• What am I scared of?

  Gabe Taviano

  3 Nov 2009 | 8:09 pm

  God has a great thing going with Digital Disciples. It’s been almost too much to handle alongside of my daily web / graphic design services to be honest. And that’s where I stand today. I feel compelled to put as much time and effort as I can into making the network / local gatherings the best I can for the Lord. But on the other hand, I have to put my best time into serving clients and paying bills. Being in the bill-paying mindset can take its toll and even be unhealthy at times. Challenges like that sure make us learn, even if they are uncomfortable! But I’m not one to…

• Leadership as a disservice

  Gabe Taviano

  2 Nov 2009 | 3:54 pm

  I’m struggling. Mentally. Trying to figure out what it means these days to be a leader and still serve as a result of Christ’s example. I want to write a blog so badly on this, but I’m going to play nice and just shut up until God tells me when it’s right to speak out. At the same time I’m excited for the path God’s given me to lead together with other Digital Disciples around the globe. But at the moment, I’m going to pray that God lets me actually serve the least of these before getting so wrapped up in asking others to do the same. I’ll leave…

• Thoughts on Twitter Lists

  Gabe Taviano

  30 Oct 2009 | 10:23 am

  Returned home from the Cultivate and Story Chicago conferences (more on those in a few days) and saw that Twitter Lists are now a reality. If you’re not familiar with Twitter, until now you just had a long list of friends. They weren’t divided into their areas of expertise or interest. But that has changed. Rather than write a long review, I thought I would just post a few reasons why these lists seem to be a good idea. If you haven’t seen them yet, click here to check out the lists that I’ve been added to or click here to see a list I am forming of those that are…

• Social Media Business Cards

  Gabe Taviano

  22 Oct 2009 | 7:31 am

  In the tech and creative circle it’s almost required that you have a business card. Some are even going as far as creating a website / profile page online that is their “virtual business card”. You go there to see a listing of their website, blog, social media profiles, contact info, etc. Going virtual is a nice touch, but it doesn’t replace having a physical card that you hand a friend or possible client. So what you see is what I came up with for my third round of business cards (click photo or here to see large). I simply took the same avatar I use on sites like…

• 
  Marketing Integrity

• How To Foster Two-Way Communication Through Your Church Web Site

  David Tonen

  27 Oct 2009 | 6:45 pm

  Last week, I wrote a post titled How Every Church Should Communicate to look at the value-proposition of your church web site as a mass-communication medium.  From that post, a member of the Marketing Integrity community asked this question: “Do you have some suggestions for HOW to foster two-way communication through a website? Or how Facebook/Twitter factor into that?” Rather than answer this excellent question as a comment reply, I figured it warranted a post of its own! Integrate Media Today, web sites, if they are “good” are far more than online brochures.  Yes,…

• Seeing is Believing

  David Tonen

  26 Oct 2009 | 7:13 pm

  We all need some inspiration in life.  Though this story in the video below is now 2-years old, I missed it when Ben Underwood was featured in a CBS story in the fall of 2007.  Ben lost his eyesight to cancer as a very young child and he learned to see using sonar to “see” his way through the world.  The story is amazing.  You’ll want to take 15 minutes to watch and listen to his story and his testimony.  I was very inspired by Ben. A friend sent me this video last week.  When researching for this post, I discovered that sadly, Ben died from cancer in January of this…

• Real Social Networking vs Fake Social Networking

  David Tonen

  24 Oct 2009 | 6:15 pm

  Seth Godin, a well known marketing leader, on social networking for business: Where are the real relationships?  Are there people online in your relationships who you would go out of the way for or that would go out of their way for you? Personally, I have made some incredible connections with people online that I have never met physically or talked to by phone or Skype.  Yet, they have done things for me.  I have done things for them.  The key to successful social networking for business or for your ministry is to make sure you invest in the relationships you have.  Having thousands of…

• How Every Church Should Communicate

  David Tonen

  22 Oct 2009 | 4:37 pm

  Communication is important for your church and ministry.  Your church web site gives you the power to communicate in a more cost-effective way than any other communication medium in history.  We have seen the following mass communication platforms develop over time: The printed book The printed periodical (newspaper/magazines) Radio Television The Internet As these has been introduced, the newer medium has not replaced to older one(s).  So, for example, the TV did not replace the radio, nor did it eliminate it.  It just added another layer of communication by which organizations could…

• Who is RSS Worthy?

  David Tonen

  20 Oct 2009 | 5:58 pm

  Really Simple Syndication – RSS – truly can be one of your online “best friends”.  This wonderful technology allows you to have freshly published information from the web sites that are most important to you delivered directly to you instead of you having to go looking for it every day or throughout the week. There are many free RSS Readers available to you.  My reader of choice is Google Reader.  If you are not familiar with how to implement Google Reader, please read my post called 8 Simple Steps To Google Reader. Today, John Saddington at ChurchCrunch wrote a…

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  Elemental Children's Ministry

• Stress and Kids

  henryjz

  6 Nov 2009 | 6:23 pm

  picture originally uploaded to Flickr by Sara. Nel) USA Today recently published an article on the annual Stress in America survey that is put out by the American Psychological Association. For the first time, they the study included children ages 8 to 17 years old. (HT: Daniel Bigler) While there were a number of interesting findings highlighted in the article, one thing that stood out was that 63% of the 235 parents who were in the survey stated that their own stress levels had “slight or no influence on their child’s stress levels.” According to the study, though, reality…

• Suffer the Children

  henryjz

  5 Nov 2009 | 6:25 am

  This is from a blog I’d never heard of:The Ongoing Adventures of ASBO Jesus. (HT: Dave Roberts) I think I’ll just leave this one as is. I’m thankful to be at a church that values children and doesn’t see them as something to suffer through.

• Insert Correct Prayer in Slot

  henryjz

  4 Nov 2009 | 1:40 pm

  picture originally uploaded to Flickr by mdevnich I ran across this post on the Burnside Writers Collective blog about the prosperity gospel as compared to the voodoo-type beliefs that cause people to kill and maim people with albinism in Tanzania. It got me thinking about something that has bugged me about how we view prayer and how we teach prayer. I read Facebook updates that say things like, “Starting to feel better! Those prayers are working! Keep it up!” or “Your prayers worked!” as if prayers sometimes don’t “work.” There are a multitude of…

• Don’t Forget To Fall Back Tonight!

  henryjz

  31 Oct 2009 | 9:57 am

  (picture taken from http://www.abc26.com) Just thought I’d remind the readers of Elemental Children’s Ministry to not forget to set your clocks back before going to bed tonight (October 31). Hope you all have a fun Halloween. If you are reading this on November 1 in the morning and forgot to set your clock back, you’ve got an extra hour! WooHoo!

• Setting God Up To Do Something Neat

  henryjz

  30 Oct 2009 | 6:46 am

  picture originally uploaded to Flickr by ♪ Brigitte…Meh ♫) This post from Mark Batterson reminded me of what we talked about with the elementary kids this past Sunday: Follow God even when it doesn’t make sense. Mark talks about how when you are spiritually immature, you find the greatest peace when you’re in comfortable circumstances. Whereas, spiritual maturity is evidenced by having peace in impossible circumstances. He says, “All of us want a miracle, but most of us don’t want to be in situations that necessitate one!” I love that! How many of us…

• 
  JoNathan Fietzer

• Favorite Tweets (The Deep & Funny Collection)

  nfietzer

  4 Nov 2009 | 11:51 pm

  It’s been a little bit since my last “Favorite Tweets” post so I thought I should update!! Here are some recent tweets that I have enjoyed! The Deep Tweets @RickWarren posted: When believers focus on loving Jesus,differences melt away.When we focus on anything else,the more divided we are.Gal.3:28 @nfietzer posted: Going to the grocery store without your wallet isn’t going to get you any groceries. @carajaneau posted: Don’t ever think ur too holy for Gods grace. @PRobKelsey posted: “the unexamined life is not worth living”. Socrates @_coat posted: The…

• “Real Christmas” planned in Uganda

  nfietzer

  4 Nov 2009 | 11:07 pm

  This past week I had an awesome opportunity to speak with my good friend Samuel Sebuliba from Uganda. He is an awesome man of God doing an awesome work. He is really focusing on reaching the children of Uganda. He has always had a heart for the children. This holiday season they really want to make sure that no child is left out. They are organizing “Christmas Parties” throughout the area. They want to invite all the children in the area to come and hear the story of Christmas, the story of Christ’s birth and he also would like to make sure that every child gets a gift. Many…

• Kick Jezebel to the curb

  nfietzer

  21 Oct 2009 | 2:58 am

  Rick Warren recently tweeted (yes, I said tweeted) the following “NEVER follow a pastor who belittles others success, doubts others motives, or criticizes others efforts. Rom.14:4“. This really blessed me because out of the three churches I have ever attended in my life … two of them did just that. They belittled others success, doubted others motives and criticized others efforts. If it wasn’t tied to the “their” church then it wasn’t of value or it wasn’t God. This is nothing more than the spirit of Jezebel showing its face in our churches. Those that allow…

• Favorite Tweets (The Deep & Funny Collection)

  nfietzer

  15 Oct 2009 | 1:44 am

  As many of you know … I enjoy twitter as it’s a great way to stretch yourself as well as a great way to meet new people. With that being said I wanted to post some tweets that really got my attention. There are two categories, one is deep and one is odd/funny. Enjoy The Deep Tweets @RickWarren posted: Kingdom-minded leaders give children’s & student ministry PRIORITY “…They ARE the kingdom of God!”-Jesus. Love Next Gen! @nfietzer posted: Eve added on to what God had said. (God said Gen 2:17) (Eve said Gen 3:3) Stick to what God says. Don’t add…

• Updates . . . .

  nfietzer

  14 Oct 2009 | 1:34 am

  I know … I know … I haven’t been very faithful in posting lately. Been really busy actually (mainly with moving). Anyways … just wanted to post about some recent changes in my life. 1. Got my Blackberry!!! Yes, I have crossed over to the dark side and have purchased a Blackberry (or as some of you call it a “crackberry”). I always thought