Rocks Cry Out - Tilt your head to the left.
My Two Cent: Podcasts Rant
With the all the buzz with podcasting, I just want to say a few things... Don't try your podcast out on me! My fear is that there are some good podcasts out there and with the successs Terry is having everyone will try to have one. But just like communicating a talk or sermon, be prepared! Don't just get up there and wing it. Act like you know what you're doing. Do a few practice podcasts before you publish one and get it down. Don't be in a hurry to get one out but take your time publish a quality one that people will actually want to listen to. Bad podcasts are like bad sermons, no one wants to hear them!
Can't Afford an iPod?
If you want to run with the big boys, but can't afford an iPod, you can now just make one. Check out iPod Origami! LOL!
I must be getting old...
E-mail is for older people...
"Three-quarters of teen Internet users use instant messaging, compared with 42 percent of adults, Pew said. Nearly half of teens said they exchanged IMs daily, and some said they spent more than two hours each day using instant-messenger programs.
Half or nearly half of the 1,100 teenagers surveyed said they used IM to send Web links or photos to each other, while nearly one-third said they had sent music or video clips over IM. Adults were much less likely to do any of those things, the survey found."
The Christian Paradox
How a faithful nation gets Jesus wrong
"Only 40 percent of Americans can name more than four of the Ten Commandments, and a scant half can cite any of the four authors of the Gospels. Twelve percent believe Joan of Arc was Noah’s wife."
"Three quarters of Americans believe the Bible teaches that “God helps those who help themselves.” That is, three out of four Americans believe that this uber-American idea, a notion at the core of our current individualist politics and culture, which was in fact uttered by Ben Franklin."
God is looking for Better Men...
"We are constantly on a stretch, if not a strain, to devise new methods, new plans, new organizations to advance the Church... God's plan is to make much of the man, far more of him than anything else. Men are God's method. The Church is looking for better methods: God is looking for better men." -E.M. Bounds
New Mp3 Tuesday : Blogger Mp3s
Have you always wondered what your fellow bloggers sounded like? Here are some bloggers with links to their talks/sermon mp3s. If you blog and have mp3s, let me know in the comments and I'll post them.
Ben Arment - Blog - Audio
Mark Batterson - Blog - Audio
Bob Franquiz - Blog - Audio
Scott Hodge - Blog - Audio
Bruce Johnson - Blog - Audio
Perry Noble - Blog - Audio
Brian Orme - Blog - Audio
Tally Wilgis - Blog - Audio
"Don't Xerox a Mega Church!"
Church Media guru, Anthony Coppedge took Ed Young's article, 5 Ways to Stay On Track with Media & Technology, and added his own insight. Check it out!
Sunday Stew
Psalm 16:11 - "You will show me the path of life; In Your Presence is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore." (NKJV)
Free Mp3 Friday!
Mars Hill Church is ahead of the game with now offering bitTorrents. BitTorrents is a file delivery system that distributes the bandwidth costs of downloading big files. Now you can not only download podcasts but now you can download a whole book series at once. I tried it out yesterday and downloaded 37 sermons for the whole book of Ephesians. For more information on bitTorrents check here, to see all the bitTorrents they're offering check here.
In other exciting news, Terry Storch's podcasts made it to iTunes, to find his podcast just do a Podcast search in iTunes (4.9) for Storch and you should find it. Check it out.
Are you a Voice or an Echo?
I once heard a preacher say, "God wants us to be a voice not an echo" but Tracey Barnes make an intersting point, that we first must be an echo before we can be a voice. Check out the post here.
The Power of Church Multiplication
Check out Bill's post on church multiplication , he puts a out a great point about Lakewood's growth vs. what their multiplication could have been.
Okay, so $95 million, split by $50,000 start-up gifts, comes out to...
...1900 new churches that could have been started. 1900 more churches. Now, use your imagination a bit. Let's say, over the course of each of these church's history, they only grow to be about 100 people. That's not big. Not a megachurch. But do the math again. If each of these 1900 churches grew to 100 (not an outlandish number), then there would be...
...190,000 people who are now part of these churches."
Perry on Preparation
Sweet! Perry is one of my favorite communicators, so I emailed Perry a few weeks back and asked if he'd post on what his preparation & creative team planning looked like for the weekends and he posted today about it. Check it out here . (July 21st post. Permanent link doesn't work.)
Mac is Back
Mac is back from Disney with a great lesson he learned while there. Disney Lesson #1 small things are a BIG DEAL. Check out his interesting post .
Leadership Lessons from the Chocolate Factory
Check out Bob's post on "Lessons from the Chocolate Factory"
A Few Keys to Better Meetings
I have to say I HATE pointless meetings. I usually go to a couple minister's meetings in the community and have a few at our church each month. I'm considering cutting out the minister's meetings b/c they are pointless and I can't change them. They go on and on about nothing and that's time I can spend with my kids. Here's a few keys I've found to better meetings that I use at the church.
1. Set a time limit on the meeting.
Sarge's Law of Meetings is that a meeting will expand to the time you allow for it. People will be more likely to participate if they know the meeting will last only 1 hour. We've all sat through 3 hour meetings that could have been done in 1 hour. Respect people's time.
2. Set an agenda.
An agenda is the meeting's goals. If you don't have an agenda, you don't need to have a meeting. If the agenda is given out before the meeting, each member can be prepared and not caught off guard during the meeting.
3. Invite only those who need to be there.
I've been in meetings where the leaders were the only ones that needed to be there to make decisions but somehow Mr. Yahoo got invited. Mr. Yahoo questioned every decision and wanted every detail on decisions that were made last month. Keep Mr. Yahoo out.
4. Stay Focused during the meeting.
This is the benefit of telling the members that this meeting will only last an hour and half and I respect your time. I'm able to say we've got 30 minutes left to cover these last three items on our agenda.
Finger Scanning At Disney Parks Causes Concern
Finger Scanning At Disney Parks Causes Concern
I think I saw this on that "Mark of the Beast" movie I had to watch in youth growing up. Did anyone else have to watch that movie in youth? I'll have to ask Mac if he ever comes back from Disney.
Sunday Stew
Philippians 2:9 - "Because of that obedience, God lifted him (Jesus) high and honored him far beyond anyone or anything, EVER..." The Message
Joel Osteen on Larry King
For all the traffic I'm getting for "Joel Osteen on Larry King"(I'm ranked #2 on Yahoo.) Here's the transcript of the show & here's the apology letter . Thanks.
Free Mp3s Friday!
When I did my post on Top Mp3 Communicators, I forgot to include Dr. Larry Osborne from North Coast Church. He would have made the Honorable Mention list. Check out his sermons on mp3 for free!
Leadership Capacity
Bruce hits a homerun with his post on Leadership Capacity! Check it out! I've always taught this and I use the "Parable of Talents" passage. He gave to each as their ability to receive. What's your ability to receive?
Are you a Power Slacker?
Survey: Workers waste more time than employers expect, costing companies $759 billion a year. More than 10,000 respondents in the online survey admitted to wasting, on average, 2.09 hours per day.
Their top time-wasting activities, they said, were making personal use of the Internet (including email), socializing with colleagues, conducting personal business, spacing out, running errands, making phone calls, applying for jobs, planning personal events, and arriving late or leaving early.
Why I hide my identity?
After I read Bruce's post on being asked to resign, I had flashbacks. I don't know if blogging had anything to do with it, but here's my story. I was blogging before blogging was cool, three or four years ago and linked by some big blogs of the day, even had a post linked by the big guy, instapundit.com (150,000 hits a day) sending thousands in traffic my way. I was never fired or asked to resign over my blog but when I did leave I was told that the board and members read my blog daily. They checked out the blogs of everyone who left comments to see if they were decent sites. They visited my blogroll daily and those I linked just trying to find something bad.
I get asked frequently of who I am and I respond in email with my name and I've been thinking of just using my name on the blog, but after reading Bruce's post. I don't think I will. Why am I telling you this? Your leaders, board members, & people read your blog and some people are evil and are looking for some reason to bust you. You say they don't know you have a blog, but do you think they can't google your name? Just beware of your blogroll, your comments, and who you link to, the devil is a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour. This is just a friendly reminder.
Help!
What must I do to be able to have church E-invites for people to use to invite friends to church? Do i need certain software to add to a site or is there a hosting site? thanks!
Speak Like Churchill, Stand Like Lincoln
Tally recommended "Speak like Churchill, Stand like Lincoln" on his blog, so I ordered it, and I'm loving it! I find it very interesting to learn things that great communicators do.
Here's a quote: "Churchill once said that a speech is like a symphony. It may have three movements but must have one dominant melody. Churchill would growl out the central chord of Beethoven's Fifth Symphony, "da da da dum." Churchill explained that Beethoven already had that Beethoven already had that chord drumming in his head before he wrote that symphony."
Pray for Perry
Pray for Perry Noble. His blog says that he almost died from a loss of blood during an elective surgery and is in the hospital.
Top 5 Books that have Influenced Me
Bob published his Top 5 Books and asked the question what ours were. He's my Top 5 Books that have Influenced Me besides the B-I-B-L-E:
5. Renovation of the Heart by Dallas Willard
Reminded me it's about life transformation not numbers.
4. Why Revival Tarries by Leonard Ravenhill
This little book rocked my world when I read it ten years ago and it will change you and your church. If you have a hard time praying read this book. I have to go back and read it every so often.
3. The 21 Qualities of a Leader by John Maxwell
When I was a youth pastor, I took this book and taught one chapter a week to my leaders. It challenged me and them. They still talk about this book years later.
2. The Purpose Driven Church by Rick Warren
Enough said.
1. Developing the Leader Within You by John Maxwell
This was my first leadership book I read and it blew me away when I read it. It's a classic.
What books have influenced you?
Don't Pray for Me!
This is a weird story where singer "Omarion Nixes Prayer Request".
"The B2K alum and You Got Served star is distancing himself from a press release that said the singer, scheduled to play a gig Sunday in the besieged British capital, "would like his fans to pray that he has a safe trip and a safe return home."
The widely circulated statement, published on PR Newswire within hours of Thursday's bombings, was turned into a full-blown story by the news agency Reuters, which raised the question: With at least 49 rail and bus commuters dead, and hundreds more injured in the worst attack on London since World War II, why should Omarion be singled out for prayers?"
Sunday Stew
Psalm 34:1 - "I bless GOD every chance I get; my lungs expand with his praise." (The Message)
Podcasting
I've been getting questions on podcasts and I came across this book, "Podcasting: Do It Yourself Guide". Check it out for those churches wanting to get in the game.
Free Mp3s!
Check it out, fellow blogger Ben added MP3s to his church website! Adding it to my iPod to give it a listen now.
Just finished listening to Tally's "Be Still" sermon. Good stuff. Found out why they call him Tally and that I was not pronouncing it right.
Gary's recommendation of Brian Boyle was a good one. Check him out also.
The Living to 100 Life Expectancy Calculator
Take this quiz to find out how long you will live. Woo-hoo! I should live until I'm 84.7 years old.
Mr.T & T's Top Ten
They finally did it. Terry & Tony compiled a list of the Top Ten Innovative Churches. Check it out. I already visit these churches weekly on the net to see what there doing. I was hoping for a few new ones. But this is a great resource!
I'm working on the Top Ten Non-Innovative Churches in America, you know the ones with no people, no innovation, still doing church like they did in 1950. I'm sure you can think of a few.
Doonesbury on Blogging
Check out this Doonesbury cartoon strip on blogging. Best line, "Isn't blogging for angry semi-employed losers, who are too untalented or too lazy to get real jobs in journalism."
Joel Osteen on Larry King Live
Did anyone see Joel Osteen's interview on Larry King Live Sunday Night? That was the strangest interview I've ever seen. Here's the transcript. It went so bad Joel put out a letter of apology on his website.
Happy Fourth of July!
Happy Fourth of July! Shut down the computer and go enjoy the day with family and friends!
Freebies!
Sign-up at wiredchurches.com for their free e-newsletter and receive their "First Impression Manual" free! Woo-hoo!
The Sunday Stew
Galatians 5:1 - "Christ has set us free to live a free life. So take your stand! Never again let anyone put a harness of slavery on you." (The Message)
Live 8
Can a concert change the world? I wish it would but I don't think so. I sure would like to be in London. Watching Coldplay now on AOL!
iTunes Podcast Subscriptions Top One Million
iTunes Podcast Subscriptions Top One Million in First Two Days
"With the release of iTunes 4.9, listeners are voting with their ears,” said Adam Curry, co-founder of the PodShow Podcast Network. “Subscriptions have dramatically increased across our entire PodShow Podcast Network, and I predict over the coming months that iTunes will introduce tens of millions of new listeners to the world of Podcasting.”
This Week's Podcast Recommendation
Every leader that's not a megachurch pastor, needs to listen to "So You're Not Saddleback and You're Up a Willow Creek?" podcast by The Mayberry Driven Church. It starts slow but then gets going, discussing comparing yourself to megachurches. Good stuff! Link via Todd.
Make The Connection!
"People are lonely because they build walls instead of bridges." -Joseph Newton
I had an interesting evening last night, one of the "saints" in our church invited my wife and I out to the local state park for a cookout with her and her husband. We really were not looking forward to it and made excuses why we should have cancelled but we went anyways. I find it awkward being invited to go meet unchurched spouses of church members. You never know how it's going to be and I've met some heathen that let you know that they didn't care for you being there.
We prayed before we got out of the Jeep, for God's favor and that we could make the connection with this guy. As soon as we met, he fell in love with our three kids and God opened the door. We ended up talking for over 3 hours about everything and a relationship was formed. I never preached at him, I just built a bridge for when he is ready. He made a promise to visit the church soon. Most people don't realize that making the connection in relationships is a slow process. Alot of people have walls up that were made by other Christians for one reason or another. Jesus took time for people and made connections outside of his circle of influence. Today make a decision this holiday weekend to widen your circle and make that connection.
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