Speaking of our Sports Ministry

Brad Meester, the center for the Jacksonville Jaguars, comes to Christ's Church. On his blog, Purpose In Every Step, one of our sports ministers David Lawson, describes a conversation he had with Brad about Christ's Church.

In it Brad makes two prayer requests. I know that most of you probably have an NFL team that you root for (I'm a Colts' fan), but do we have a team we pray for?

Here's an excerpt:

This morning's conversation centered around a "Special Edition" of our church sports e-newsletter I am working on for next week.

With the Jaguars on their way back to training camp, I wanted to know from him, and a few other players, what it is like being a Christian in the world of professional sports and how can we, as fans, pray for them as the season starts up.

I asked Brad if it was difficult being a Christian in the NFL. He said, "Yes and no. It's like any other job. It definitely has hard moments like anywhere else."One thing that has helped Brad out is getting involved in small groups. When he came to the Jaguars in 2000 he got plugged in with the team chapel services on Saturday nights and small group Bible studies with teammates Mark Brunnell and Tony Boselli.

In 2001 he started going to Christ's Church and got plugged in with our small groups ministry. He and his wife, Jamie, have been involved in a small group ever since. He told me these small groups have helped him open up about his faith.I will share more in the e-sports page next week (to sign up to receive it each week go to http://www.sports.ccontheweb.info/).

I do want to let you know how you can be praying for Brad as he starts training camp on Friday.He mentioned two things:

1) The health and safety of all the players...that it will be an injury free season.

2) For ways to reach out to the players who are not Christians and that God will use him during the season.

They have a lot of new players. That means more opportunities to build relationships and influence people for Christ.

A Proud Father

I hope you can forgive me, but I want to brag on our church and my children.

Christ's Church has a wonderful Sports Ministry. We are so grateful to be able to participate as a family in such an excellent and well-run ministry. Lives are being changed through this ministry. Has your church considered starting a sports ministry? If you would like information on how to start a sports ministry let me know and I'll get the information to you.

Last Saturday both of my boys' indoor soccer teams started their seasons. Here's the story and the picture that was sent out this week:

Last Saturday was the first day of games for our youth soccer and it was a blast! Kindergartner Sylas Chambers (pictured with his hand raised) goes down in the record books for scoring the first ever soccer goal in a Christ's Church youth soccer game!

As you can see in this picture Sylas was hungry--and it looks like a little crazed, too--for the ball!

In the next game my son Levi scored the first two goals for his team. Here is a picture of Levi and his friend Bailey.

My daughter Ashton started volleyball camp this week and my 3-year-old daughter Payton told me she wants to take up wrestling! I guess that will be helpful since she plans on ruling the world! :)

NACC Workshop--Final Section

Here's the last part of my workshop from the North American Christian Convention on Blogging, Enewsletters, and Podcasting.

Enewsletters
Pastor's Guide to E-Newsletters--How to create a must-read e-newsletter for your church by Jenni Catron from Outreachmagazine.com, January 2007

At Cross Point Community Church in Nashville, Tenn., we send out Crosswire, our weekly e-newsletter, each Wednesday with short, newsy updates about what's happening on Sunday and in our ministries throughout the week. This establishes a point of communication with our members, many who are 20- and 30-somethings firmly entrenched in the information age. E-mail is where they are. And we've found that Crosswire is the most effective way to communicate with our attendees on a regular basis. During a busy week, most of them won't navigate to our Web site on their own to check for news.
How to do it:
Set-up Time: A few weeks to design, compile subscribers and develop content
Maintenance: 2 hours a week to write, edit and send your e-newsletter
Find an editor. Enlist a task-oriented person (with some writing/editing skills) from your church to manage deadlines, and gather and polish content.
Design your template. Choose e-mail template software. iLife suite is extremely user-friendly (apple.com/ilife). Or check out Templatemonster.com. Be sure to craft your e-newsletter as professionally as possible. If you have an attractive Web site, make sure your e-newsletter is consistent with the design. Refresh the template seasonally to keep it interesting.
Or for a surprisingly affordable fee, you can hire a design/marketing company. Make detailed sketches and tear out designs you like from magazines to show the designer. We hired the A Group (theagrouponline.com) as our marketing company, which not only designs our template, but also blasts the e-newsletter each week, manages our subscriber list and tracks open rates (how many people open the e-newsletter) and click-throughs (how many people click into your Web site from the e-newsletter).
Gather subscribers. Every Sunday morning, we insert a card in the church bulletin encouraging people to sign up for the e-newsletter. When we first launched Crosswire, we pulled every e-mail address in our database. Then we sent a one-time e-mail to the whole list saying, "This is our new weekly e-mail, and we'd like you to be part of it. Click here to subscribe." We only sent the future issues of the newsletter to the people who subscribed, or what viral marketers call an "opt-in." Federal laws prohibit companies or churches from sending mass e-mails to people without their expressed permission.
To continue to gather subscribers, consistently promote your e-newsletter after its launch. Every now and then, we put a blurb in our weekend bulletin asking, "Are you signed up for Crosswire?" We also post it on the home page of our church's Web site.
Gather weekly content from ministry staffers. You'll need weekly updates on your ministries and projects, so charge key staffers with that task. Establish a content deadline at least two days prior to your send date as you'll need time to edit for space and clarity. You might also want to provide a form that allows busy staffers to answer specific questions about the ministry.
Edit strategically. Determine the most important things you want to communicate, and only include those. The e-newsletter should alert your congregation to church happenings, but your Web site should be the source for all the details. Provide links in the e-newsletter for readers to click into the site for specifics.
And vary the length of the pieces. A strong page design usually features one article that's longer than the others and is often accompanied by a photo. But if you put too much in the e-newsletter, people will stop reading it.
Write catchy subject lines. It's your only chance to get people to read your e-newsletter or click into your Web site. Ask yourself, "What would make me want to read this?"
Send wisely. Send your e-newsletter before the end of the workweek, as some of your congregants only have work e-mail. But avoid Friday—people are already gone for the weekend or have mentally checked out. Most other e-newsletters go out Monday and Tuesday, so we send Crosswire on Wednesday, and occasionally Thursday.
Blast correctly. Send the e-newsletter through a custom e-mail blaster or a Web marketing company. Don't try to blast from your church e-mail. If you send to numerous addresses, you'll bog down your mail client, and you could be listed as a spammer. For professional HTML e-mail blasts with built-in tracking, try ConstantContact (constantcontact.com).
Include an e-card.
Before your church launches a sermon series, give your congregation an easy outreach tool by attaching an e-card invitation to your e-newsletter that members can use to send to their friends.
Use the e-newsletter to push people to your church Web site. On average, Crosswire doubles our weekly Web site traffic. When we included a link to a humorous video clip of our pastor on the Web site, traffic tripled that week.

Source: Jenni Catron is executive director of Cross Point Community Church (crosspointonline.org) in Nashville, Tenn., where she manages the production of Crosswire, the church's weekly e-newsletter. This content originally appeared on Outreachmagazine.com in January 2007.
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Podcasting

Pastor's Guide to Podcasting by David Russell and Mark Batterson

At National Community Church (NCC) in Washington, D.C., we are deeply convicted of the need to redeem technology and use it for God’s purposes. There’s a strong tradition for that. Gutenberg could have copied anything on his printing press, but he chose the Gospel.
And the Church needs to compete. We need to get our message into the hands of as many people as possible, and podcasts—digital broadcasts made available on the Internet—are proving very effective. If it’s worth preaching, it’s worth podcasting. Podcast your weekly messages, but also explore other types of podcasts: 20-minute motivational talks, updates, core values, leader touch-points, “radio shows.”
At NCC, we ask new visitors how they heard about us, and they often recount stumbling across our podcasts on a friend’s MySpace. Although approximately 1,000 people around the D.C. Metroplex attend our weekly services, thousands more tune in to our weekly podcasts.
How to do it:
Set-up Time: 1–2 hours to record your podcast
Maintenance: 1 hour a week to podcast your weekly sermon

1. Plug your microphone into your computer. Recommended Mics:
• Samson C01U (samsontech.com), $80
• The Heil PR40 (heilsound.com), $260
2. Open your recording application and set up the track(s) you want to record. This process depends on the software you’re using, so check the Help section for more detailed instructions.
Recommended recording applications for Windows:
• Audacity (audacity.sourceforge.net), free
• Adobe Audition (adobe.com/products/audition), $300
Recommended Mac applications:
• Garage Band and iWeb, packaged with OSX
• Apple Logic (apple.com/logic), $300 for Express version
3. Check the mic “levels” to make sure you don’t see red on the level meter when you talk, which could cause distorted output. Laugh or speak at your highest volume while checking to ensure the recording isn’t going to “peak.” Record a few seconds of talking at normal volume, then stop and play back that section. Sound good? Delete that track.
4. Prepare the room for recording. Close all doors and windows. If the room has hard floors, lay down towels or blankets throughout the room. Eliminate any other obvious ambient noise—fans, cell phones, digital watches.
5. Start recording. Keep podcasts, even sermons, to 30 minutes or less, or you’ll lose most of your audience. Begin your regular sermons with a shout-out to your podcast audience to make them feel included. When you’ve finished, press the stop button in the recording application and save the work there. Edit the track(s) if you need to add royalty-free music intros, fix speech errors or boost a weak mic signal.
6. Export the final version to mp3 format. Pay attention only to the exporting option called the “bitrate” option. The ideal bitrate for an mp3 podcast is 64 kbps on a mono channel format. The resulting clarity is near that of a CD, with a manage-able file size. Name the output file whatever you like, but keep it short.
CD Ripping: If you already record your weekend sermons onto CD, use iTunes or another CD ripping application to encode straight to mp3 file format.
7. Locate your Web host. This is online space where you’ll store and deliver your podcast files.
Recommended Web Hosts:
• Our Media (ourmedia.org), free
• 1and1 (1and1.com), $2.24/month
8. Upload the mp3 file to a directory on your Web hosting space using an FTP client. (FTP means “file transfer protocol,” responsible for managing file transfer on the Web.)
Recommended FTP for Windows:
• SmartFTP (smartftp.com), $37
Recommended FTP for Mac:
• Fetch (fetchsoftworks.com), $25
Now create a folder called “Podcast.” Inside, create a folder called “Audio” to differentiate between audio and video podcasts. Upload the file inside that folder. The direct link to that mp3 file will be: http://www.yourdomain.com/podcast/audio/yourfile.mp3. Make a note of that link—and be precise. Capitalization and accuracy are important.
9. Deliver your audio file on the Web. Podcasting offers a method of subscription using technology called RSS or “Really Simple Syndication,” which pulls a set of data (like text, audio or video) into one place for your listeners.
Use a blogging tool like WordPress (wordpress.org) or Blogger (blogger.com) to deliver your podcast. If you don’t already have an account, sign up for one to receive a domain, such as yourchurch.wordpress.com. Log in. Now create a “post” with the title and description of your podcast. Then add that link in the description and “publish” the post. Also post the podcast on your MySpace profile.
Congratulations! You just made your podcast publicly available and simultaneously created a podcast feed. See it for yourself by going to yourchurch.wordpress.com/feed. It won’t make sense to you, but it will to podcast feed readers.
10. Let iTunes know you’re there. iTunes (apple.com/itunes) is the indisputable king of podcasting directories—it’s a good idea to be listed there. To do this, submit your podcast feed to the iTunes directory. Once your podcast is listed with iTunes, create a one-click link to the podcast and send it via e-mail or post it to your Web site, giving people with iTunes a simple method of subscribing.
You’re done! Audiences can now access your podcast with just a computer and an Internet connection. If podcasting still sounds too complex, recruit tech-savvy teenagers in your church to help.
--Source: http://outreachmagazine.com/Library/JF07ftrPastorsGuide.asp

Simple Podcasting for Churches By Bob Brown, Christ's Church

A Philosophy of Podcasting:Podcasting is another route for getting your message to the world. Remember that Churches are producers of of important content.
May cut into sermon CD sales, but that isn’t a problem unless that is a primary revenue stream.
Start with the sermon and then move into other areas like lectures, classes, or even messages recorded specifically for the web site.
Who should be in charge of the Podcast?
A podcast can only be successful if someone in your church is truly dedicated to doing it. The person providing the content should be completely sold on the idea, and the person managing it should be dedicated to the task. Otherwise, it will quickly sink in quality and become a burden.
Obtaining the Audio: The most important thing is to obtain good quality audio at the start. This will be better for editing, it will compress better, and it will sound better. For your worship services you can hook directly into the soundboard and record to a CD, Computer, or Digital Audio Recorder.
Our latest CD recorder is a Tascam CD-RW900 (pricing). Use a battery backup (UPS) because a CD that is interrupted before being finalized becomes a useless shiny disc.
If you use a computer it should be created in a lossless format such as .wav, Apple Lossless, or Windows Lossless.
You can use your computer’s audio-in jack, but you are better off with specialized hardware such as:
Digidesign Mbox2: Standard / Education price
MOTU UltraLite
TC Electronic Konnekt 8
A USB Microphone.
Editing the Audio:
Garageband on the Mac (part of iLife - $79).
Audacity with an MP3 encoder on Windows, Mac, or Linux.
If you just need to get it off of a CD you can use CDEX, iTunes, or Windows Media Player.
Publishing your Content
Wordpress is a blogging system that can create your podcast feed: Podpress or the Audio Player plugins.
Drupal: More about that from the Geeks and God podcast.
Very Important: Tagging Your Files.
Proper file naming and tagging makes it easier for your users to track the content.
It should be consistent and informative.
Example 1: Podcast_Name-Series_Name-Sermon#-Sermon_Title.mp3
When someone sorts their podcast by file name your messages will be grouped together apart from other podcasts and then sorted by the series name and number with proper information about the message readily available.
Example 2: Podcast_Name-YYYYMMDD-Title.mp3
If you don’t have series then include the date with the year first followed by the 2 digit month and the 2 digit day. This will improve sorting and provide useful information about when the podcast was created. Including a useful title will also make it easier for people to know the content.
Tagging is information included inside the file for the computer to understand. This is the additional information you see when hovering the mouse over the file. Stuff like title, author, year, genre, etc. If your editing software doesn’t add the tags then you can use something like FixTag (requires Java) or MP3Tag.
Online Resources for Distribution
The iTunes Store is a popular means for getting your podcast noticed, all it provides is advertising and easy eased subscription for iTunes and iPod users.
Feedburner is one of the best ways to manage your podcast feed.
You can create community discussion podcasts with Skypecasting or Talk Shoe.
Copyright Issues You only have the right to post content you create or have been given permission to use.
There is a good episode from the Creative Synergy Podcast on Copyright & the Church.
Don’t record the music from your service, it isn’t worth the hassle to get permission for everything. The rules for posting online are different from those for selling on CD.
If you use music, get a musician to perform something they created or get something from a creative commons or freely available music source such as the Podsafe Music Network.
Podcasts you might enjoy:
Church Tech Talk from Southeast Christian Church
Geeks and God
Church IT Discussions is a podcast chat done as a round table / call-in program online.
Ravi Zacharias provides a good example of a daily teaching podcast.
Creative Synergy: Has good content, but don’t hold your breath between episodes. This serves as a good example that having regular episodes is a solid element in a good podcast.

Nice review of my latest book

I was sent a link to a review of my book by Discipleship Publications International (http://www.dpibooks.org/). It's a really nice review.

I met two of the editors from this publisher in Atlanta last week--Tom and Sheila Jones (Tom reviewed my book)--who are both authors as well. I picked up Sheila's book Finding Balance and Tom's book Mind Change.

They were so kind and I look forward to reading their books in the near future.

Here's an excerpt from Tom's review of my book:

Chambers' work includes keen insights and considerable humor. This is not a heavy theological work, but it is also not short on fresh biblical perspectives (for example, “Purpose without identity can lead to a hypocritical existence. The Pharisees knew what on earth they were here for, but they had forgotten who on earth they were. They had works, but no faith, and works without faith are just as dead as faith without works.”

Chambers is very much in touch with the reality of the human condition. Consider this example: “But truth be told, we don’t usually fall into sin—we jump. In fact, we often step back so we can get a running start!”

The rest of the review is available here: Review of Remember Who You Are

Great Video on the Power of Prayer

In March of this year, Jonah Bratton--the grandson of the Senior Minister at Christ's Church--was fighting for his life. His life was threatened by a mysterious illness. News of his condition spread around the world as people prayed for his healing. His illness and recovery became a testimony to the power of prayer and changed his father's heart in many ways.

The video linked below is a message recorded by his father, Jake Bratton, for the National Day of Prayer gathering and played on a recent Sunday just before Jonah's baptism in the arms of his grandfather Dr. Dennis Bratton, Senior Minister of Christ's Church.

The Power of TBN

My fellow blogger at Tominthebox News Network recently posted a report on how one cable company is seizing on the power of The Trinity Broadcasting Network to motivate a specific group of people to do something they don't really want to do.

Here's an excerpt from the article:

Knoxville, TN- Cable Pro of Knoxville has for years had to put man hours and money into the problem of cable company clients who were delinquent in their payments. The practice has traditionally been that cable customers who persisted in not paying their bills would, after three notices, have their cable service cut off until their account was settled.

While this practice has been successful in rooting out non-paying customers, it still costs the company an estimated $60,000 per year in lost time, and man hours.But recently Cable Pro president, Larry Maezell experimented with a new idea that has so far been very successful.

Now, instead of canceling a person's service, or sending him or her repeated notices of delinquency, Cable Pro simply changes a customer's subscription preferences resulting in his or her service becoming 24 hours of the Trinity Broadcasting Network on every channel."It's worked beautifully" said Maezell. "In the past we'd have to try and try to get in touch with the people who weren't paying, try and get our man out there to cut off their service. It was just a big hassle. Now, they call us!"

Cable Pro customer Chris Kjos was one of the first to experience Cable Pro's new policy."All I wanted to do was watch a little golf on Sunday afternoon" said Kjos. "I turned on my set and all I saw was this lady with big poofy hair singing. I just thought the cable company had switched up all the channels again. So I changed the channel, and it was the same thing on every channel. When I called the cable company they said I hadn't paid up my bill in over a month.

"Now, "like clockwork" customers who are behind on their payments for cable services usually call the company within 24 hours wondering what is wrong with their cable service, only to told that they must pay up if they wish to have any channels other that TBN.

"This is the greatest idea we've had in a long time" said Maezell. "We've literally saved thousands of dollars. And last week when TBN ran the non-stop Benny Hinn marathon people were calling in so fast we couldn't keep up."

While a number of cable customers have complained that Cable Pro's practice amounts to "cruel and unusual" measures, Maezell has no plans to change."The rule stands" he said. "Either pay your bill or all you'll be watching is TBN, twenty-four-seven."

NACC Workshop--How? Part 1

I did a lot of research for this workshop. I cite every source for the information I present here. I hope this information is helpful. I'm going to post the final section of my NACC presentation in several smaller parts.

How?

Blogging

Pastor's Guide to Blogging by Gordon Atkinson and Anthony D. Coppedge
Soon after I started my blog, http://www.reallivepreacher.com/, I began communicating with a gay man in California who is living with AIDS. Through my blog, we began what has become a four-year friendship. Recently, he called me. I had written something on my blog that had moved him, and he phoned to tell me, “I just wanted you to know, I kind of think about myself as a Christian now.”
I’ve had a number of these types of encounters through my blog, and all of them came out of an honest sharing of who I am, instead of attempts to evangelize. I now believe, as do many pastors around the world, that my blog is as fruitful an instrument as my pulpit.
How to do it by Anthony D. Coppedge:
Set-up Time: 20 minutes to set up your blog
Maintenance: 15 minutes a day to blog
1. Choose blog software. http://www.typepad.com/ and http://www.wordpress.com/ offer both easy and inexpensive ways to create a professional blog. Blogger.com is free.
2. Register a domain name (such as Johnsmith.com), and direct it to your blog URL. If you switch to different blog software or another service, you’ll be able to take your name and your readership with you. Register a domain name at Yahoo.com under the Small Business section.
3. Start writing. You’re entering a system of writing and publishing that’s purely natural selection. Be honest, talk straight and write well. If your blogs are intriguing and eloquent, you’ll eventually attract readers. Make sure you include an “About” section to let readers know who you are.
4. Promote your blog. It’s rare that someone starts a blog, and a lot of people find it immediately. However, you can promote your blog by using targeted keywords in your titles, links and blog posts. Search engines like Google look for these words, and you’ll maximize the chances of your blog appearing in search results.
You can also promote your blog by actively participating in the blogging community. Some simple ways to do this:
• Visit other blogs, read them and leave a comment with your blog address.
• Reference, quote and link to other blogs in your blog.
• “Blogroll” other writers, which means listing their blog among “favorite blogs” on your site. Understand that in the blogosphere, being blogrolled is a big deal, but when people list you, they often expect you to return the favor.
5. Use good blogging etiquette. It’s OK to give your honest opinion in a blog comment. Don’t be surprised when people do on yours. When you’re leaving a comment on someone else’s blog, realize this is not objective journalism—it’s a blog.
6. Write several times a week. When you don’t update your blog frequently, readers move on.
7. Be aware. Everything you say has consequences. In any church, pastors who write honestly about their struggles will have critics.
8. Don’t preach. The blog world is particularly sensitive to agenda-driven blogs. Instead, think “conversation” and honestly share who you are. Blogs are a wonderful way to share with people you might never meet, but remember to do other bloggers the honor of being in relationship with them.
--Source: http://outreachmagazine.com/Library/JF07ftrPastorsGuide.asp

NACC Workshop--What?

Here's the second part of my workshop on Blogging, Podcasts, and Enewsletters from the North American Christian Convention. I'll post the third part next.

What?

Blogging
“I do not do blogs…As a 59 year old private person…they are not of my generation or demeanor. My personal opinion is that blogs are to communication what nose bleeds are to circulation.”
--My good friend’s opinion on blogging

“Blog”—Blog is short for weblog. A weblog is a journal (or newsletter) that is frequently updated and intended for general public consumption. Blogs generally represent the personality of the author or the Web site. www.bytowninternet.com/glossary

Other definitions . . .

• A regularly updated website with content organized by date and the most recent post on top. The Blogging Church, p. 2.
• Briefly described, “blog” is an abbreviated form of the term “weblog,” which was coined in the late 1990s to describe personal web sites that were updated regularly, with individual “posts”—date-stamped journal entries—usually presented in reverse chronological order, the most up-to-date writing first. Blogs are an engaging alternative to static web sites because they offer something new to read, usually every day and sometimes several times each day. www.contentfactor.com.
  “Blogging”—the act of writing in one's blog. To blog something is to write about something in one's blog. This usually involves linking to something the author finds interesting on the internet. codex.xwd.jp/index.php/Glossary

By the end of 2004, there were nearly four million blogs online, according to Technorati (www.technorati.com), an organization that tracks the growth of the blogging world. As of March 2005, the number of blogs had climbed to 7.8 million, with more than 900 million links between and among blogs, and between 30,000 to 40,000 new blogs created each day. During the week of May 16, 2005, Technorati tracked its ten millionth blog.


Enewsletters
“Ezine”, “Enewsletter”—An ezine (a.k.a. e-zine, email newsletter, e-mail newsletter, or e-newsletter) is a newsletter that is delivered via email that you can subscribe or opt-in to it.

Podcasting
“Podcasting”—a digital media file, or a series of such files, that is distributed over the Internet using syndication feeds for playback on portable media players and personal computers. A podcast is a specific type of webcast which, like 'radio', can mean either the content itself or the method by which it is syndicated; the latter is also termed podcasting. The host or author of a podcast is often called a podcaster. The term "podcast" is a portmanteau of the name of Apple's portable music player, the iPod--en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Podcasting

Casting Crowns

I'm in Atlanta for the International Christian Retail Show to do a signing, some interviews, and other publicity associated with the release of my new book Remember Who You Are.

This is one of the coolest "perks" of being in the Christian publishing world. This show is for people in the Christian retail, music, and publishing business. I'll get the chance to meet some of my favorite authors and singers because almost all of the most popular Christian authors and artists will be here doing signings and performances.

Last night we heard a powerful message by Ravi Zacharias and music from Avalon, Aaron Shust (wrote the worship song "My Savior, My God"), CeCe Winans, Casting Crowns, and a few others.

Casting Crowns is one of my favorite groups. They did some songs from their newest album (releasing in August). One song--in particular--really ministered to me. It's called, "East to West."

Here are the lyrics:

East To West - Casting Crowns

Here I am Lord and I’m drowning, in Your sea of forgetfulness

The chains of yesterday surround me, I yearn for peace and rest

I don’t want to end up where You found me

And it echoes in my mind

Keeps me awake tonight

I know you’ve cast my sin as far as the East is from the West

And I stand before You now as though I’ve never sinned

But today I feel like I’m just one mistake away

From You leaving me this way

Chorus:

Jesus can you show me just how far the east is from the west

‘Cause I can’t bear to see the man I’ve been Rising up in me again

In the arms of Your mercy I find rest

‘Cause You know just how far the east is from the west

From one scarred hand to the other

I start the day, the war begins

Endless reminding of my sin

And time and time again

Your truth is drowned out by the storm I’m in

Today I feel like I’m just one mistake away

from You leaving me this way

I know You’ve washed me white

Turn my darkness into life

I need Your peace to get me through

To get me through this night

I can’t live by what I feel

About the truth Your word reveals

I’m not holding on to You

But You’re holding on to me

You’re holding on to me

Thoughts on NACC 2007--Part 3

Here are my final thoughts on the NACC 2007 . . .

• I'm not an alumnus of Roanoke Bible College, but I feel like one. I was invited to their reception on Thursday night and it was really nice. President Perkins is a humble and kind man and I've enjoyed getting to know him. RBC has an incredibly strong family atmosphere. I've been on campus many times and felt the closeness they share, but it transcends the campus. The alumni, faculty, and staff of RBC seem to really like being together and seem to sincerely--and passionately--love their school. I love being a part of their family.
• I'm so proud to be associated with Standard Publishing. At the NACC I had the pleasure of meeting many of the top "brass" for the company and I was incredibly impressed by their vision and passion for excellence. I was equally--if not more--impressed with the sales team. Every member of the sales team came up and introduced themselves to me and most mentioned what they were doing to help sell my book. The people I met at the Standard booth are excited about the company and the new vision, but, most importantly, they are excited about reaching people with the good news of Jesus Christ. Very cool.
• Funny story . . . on Tuesday night before the main session at the NACC I saw a woman whom I've known for years. She and her husband are very close friends of ours. I asked about her husband and she said he was in the restroom, but that he'd been in there a long time. She was waiting for her husband outside of a hallway leading to the men's restroom. Many people seemed to be entering the hallway to use the restroom. I didn't pay much attention, but everything seemed normal to me. We chatted for about 5 minutes and she kept looking towards the hallway and expressing concern about her husband. "I hope he's o.k." she said, "He's been in there a long time." Finally, she asked me if I would go in and check on him. Did I tell you that we are very close friends? :) I agreed. As I walked into the hallway and turned to the left to enter the men's restroom I realized immediately what the problem was . . . this was not a door to the men's restroom . . . it was an elevator door! I immediately started laughing and turned around. "______________(name withheld because we're very close friends)! We've got a problem here. This isn't a bathroom!" "What?!?" she screamed. At the exact moment she realized that she had been waiting for her husband outside of an elevator her husband appeared from the far end of the hall inquiring as to where she's been for the last 15 minutes. We all had a great laugh . . . and I have a great illustration for a future sermon. . . names withheld of course.

Thoughts on NACC 2007--Part 2

As promised here's some information from my workshop on Blogging, Enewsletters, and Pod casting from the NACC.

I know blogging, but I didn't know much about executing pod casting and Enewsletters, so I did a lot of research. I included all of my research in the handout for my workshop. I broke my workshop into 3 parts: Why? What? How?

Here's the first part of the handout for my workshop.

Please note: All sources are credited.

Why?

To Reach A Billion People . . . That Would Be Cool!

Philip Rosedale didn't create Second Life to be a game or a toy. He thinks he is remaking the Internet — taking it on a giant leap forward, much like the invention of the Mosaic browser or World Wide Web. "What would feel like success?" Rosedale says, pausing to think about it. He is in the funky, ragged cafeteria of the company he founded, Linden Lab, which built and runs the groundbreaking, buzz-generating online virtual world called Second Life. Half-eaten Costco-size bags of chips and bowls of fruit lie on bare tables. Rosedale is wearing jeans and an orange sweater, hair gelled and spiked. With his classic good looks and wide-eyed enthusiasm, Rosedale seems like a cross between Brad Pitt and Bill Nye the Science Guy. "Not money," he finally says. "But I will look back and say, did we do as much as we could to reach as many people as possible? Can we reach a billion people? That would be cool!"
--The king of alter egos is surprisingly humble guy, Posted 2/4/2007, By Kevin Maney, USA TODAY

In 1990 British researcher Tim Berners-Lee wrote a computer program called “World Wide Web.” Little did he or anyone else know the revolutionary ways this experimental project would shape daily life some 17 years later. Today, the Internet is no longer just a research center; it’s where people live—communicating with family and friends, shopping, dating, banking, even attending school.
So how does this watershed technology translate for you and your church—and outreach? Think about this: Your church Web site isn’t just another place for information, but a connecting point for the community. Your sermon isn’t just 30 minutes of exposition for your congregation, but a podcast potentially reaching thou-sands. And your daily conversations don’t just happen over coffee with friends, but on your blog as you dialog with people you’ve never met—and may never meet.
-- A Pastor's Guide to Digital Outreach by Andrea Bailey, Source:
http://outreachmagazine.com/Library/JF07ftrPastorsGuide.asp

According to http://www.internetworldstats.com/emarketing.htm:
December 1995—16 million users representing .4% of the World Population
June, 2007—1.1 billion users representing 17.2 % of the World Population

I believe that any strategy we develop in our churches to work towards reaching a billion people for Christ must include a dynamic presence on and use of the Internet.

Promo Video for The Well

The Well is an alternative service for young adults 18-30 at Christ's Church on Sundays @ 6.

The worship leader for The Well, Matt Estrin, put together this promotional video this week on The Well.

Check it out. I'm really proud of Matt and his work.

Thoughts on NACC 2007--Part 1

I'm sitting in the Kansas City International airport preparing to board my flight back to Jax.

Because of a crazy schedule and expensive internet access fees this is the time I've been online since Tuesday morning. I refused to pay $10 for internet access at the Hotel. Didn't feel like good stewardship to me.

Anyway . . .

This convention was an interesting one for me.

I reconnected with a lot of old friends, which was wonderful.

I was blessed by the messages. Vince Antonucci's story about his lost son . . . "blue suit, brown hair" . . . what a powerful . . . and unforgettable illustration. Vince also pointed out that "we are God's plan for bringing his children back into his arms" and that "we need to live lives that force people to ask questions." After his message some important things were definitely more clear.

I'd like to go fishing with Vince.

I lead a workshop, which was a frustrating experience for me (for reasons that have everything to do with me.) I am so grateful that the participants were kind and patient with a workshop leader who was in way over his head.

They're getting ready to load the plane, but when I get back home I'll post my notes from the aforementioned workshop, tell you about RBC, Standard Publishing, and what happened when I went to retrieve my friend's husband from the restroom. ;)

They're calling my flight, so I have to go.

Later.