39Blogger

Should you video blog?

by 39Blogger on April 20, 2012

Worst Video Blog Ever?

Yes. That’s the answer you need. Even if you have a popular blog, you should add some video entries. As a church, you can tell people about your awesome event all day long. You leave the impression of the event up to their imagination. If you’re writing isn’t creating the images you want, you could be missing a good opportunity to make an impact on that person that is only going to read your blog once.

There is an old saying; “Give a man a fish, you feed him for a day. Show a man how to fish you feed him for a lifetime.” That is true in every way possible.

If I wrote on my blog how awesome my stage design was in the youth center, it wouldn’t make much of an impact. If I showed you a picture of it, it would make more of an impact. If I gave you a tour on video and showed you how I created the totally awesome light boxes for $2.00 each, you will probably think I’m pretty awesome too.

You write about the amazing puppet team and how great they are, you make a little impact. If you show a picture it carries a little more weight. If you post a video of the performance… they make up their own mind about how awesome it is.

You write a great, revelatory theological message. It can have an even bigger impact if they actually see and hear you explaining it.

Here are two reasons you should utilize video: [Read More]

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Microsoft Office For iPad For FREE

by 39Blogger on April 20, 2012

Anyone that uses a mac understands that Microsoft has been behind since the late 90′s in just about every category. When their focus turned from inventing great things to protecting their invention they fell behind. Microsoft has been focused on holding off competition since 1995 by refusing their systems to new devices or trying to crowd out devices.

I’m not sure that’s why they haven’t offered an Office app for the iPad yet. Perhaps they were up to their old tricks and saving that draw for their own iPad releases. Who knows? But until now, Microsoft hasn’t offered an iPad app for their popular Office suite.

Capitalism works because some small startup has released an app that allowed you to use Office applications on your iPad via drop box. What’s better? It’s absolutely free!

Create, Edit, Save and Share Your Work

CloudOn lets you open Word, Excel, PowerPoint and PDF email attachments directly in your workspace. Throw in some comments, format a picture, do whatever you need to get it right. Then, email the file without ever leaving your workspace. And, breathe easy because your changes are saved automatically – always.

Check out CloudOn for more information on their ground breaking app.

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New App to Schedule Twitter Updates

by 39Blogger on April 20, 2012

So your church has a lot of events right? Your church twitter account has a lot of tweets to let people know what is going on, right? Some people have their tweets sent to their phones as text messages. If you have an iPhone you can even get twitter alerts dinging right to your home screen.

We probably all know someone we secretly un-followed because of the constant overflow of tweets. Some people don’t tweet for 4 days and then send 20 on one day and disappear for another few days.

That’s why we need the Buffer App!

It wil schedule your social media updates and spread them out so even when you’re away from your computer, your twitter account is still consistently active. It’s easy to use and a snap to setup. Go to BufferApp.com to check it out.

It also has a lot of extra tools to go along with it. Check out the graphic below:

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I Can’t Complain by Don Johnson

by 39Blogger on April 18, 2012

This has been my theme song the last few years. Sometimes life throws you nothing but curve balls and it feels like it’s been a long time since you got a base hit. But through all those hard times I can still look around and see his blessings. You don’t have to search very far before seeing what God keeps you from and how he has protected and provided for you.

Don Johson wrote this song in 1975. Recently he passed away. This song though will live on for a long, long time.

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Books Every Church Leader Should Read: A Tale of Three Kings

by 39Blogger on April 18, 2012

Buy It On Amazon

Starting this new blog series, “Books every leader should read.”

To begin this series I would like to recommend one of the best books I have ever read, A Tale of Three Kings: A Study in Brokenness, by Gene Edwards. I had to read this book for a class assignment in seminary and have read it two more times since then. I will probably read it again a few more times in the future.

The book takes a look at the lives of King Saul, David, and his son, Absolom. As the events that shaped their stories take place, Edwards exposes the attitudes and how each king reacted to situations in their lives. It focuses on the contrast between how David acted in the same situations that Saul and Absolom found themselves in. David was a fugitive and leader of a rebellion as a young, popular man.

Saul dealt with David through jealousy and violence. Yet, David responded to Saul by leading a rebellion but never lifting his hand, nor his words against God’s anointed king. Then David trades places with Saul as Absolom takes the role as the young rebel leading a revolt against the King.

When you see the difference of David in the situations mirrored in Absolom and Saul, it shows how being a man after God’s own heart is accomplished.

This is a must read for any minister and volunteer in every church. You can order used ones for under $5 on Amazon.

The following is from Amazon.com

From the Back Cover

“What do you do when someone throws a spear at you?”
Light, clarity, and comfort for the brokenhearted.
To the many Christians who have experienced pain, loss, and heartache at the hands of other believers, this compelling tale based on the biblical figures of David, Saul, and Absalom offers comfort, healing, and hope.
Christian leaders and directors of religious movements throughout the world have recommended this simple, powerful, and beautiful story to their members and staff.
You will want to join the thousands who have been profoundly touched by this incomparable story.

About the Author

Gene Edwards is one of America’s most beloved Christian authors. He has published over twenty-five best-selling books, and his signature work, The Divine Romance, has been called a masterpiece of Christian literature. He has written biblical fiction covering nearly the entire Bible, with titles that include the following: The Beginning, The Escape, The Birth, The Divine Romance, The Triumph, Revolution, The Silas Diary, The Titus Diary, The Timothy Diary, The Priscilla Diary, The Gaius Diary, and The Return.

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Incredible Deal: Free Website Design For Ministries!

by 39Blogger on April 10, 2012

I am excited to offer our newest venture with Designs 39. We recently were able to discount our website production service to $0.00 for ministries and qualifying personal blogs. Save hundreds of $$$ by taking advantage of this offer.

The only expense is the $30.00 per month for hosting. What’s best about this package? We are giving full support to all of our hosted websites. We even go so far to posting your updates for you or coaching you and giving you continued support so you can learn to manage your own websites.

The win-win with this setup is that we basically train our customers on how to manage a dynamic, state-of-the-art website while getting one produced for you at no cost. [Read More]

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Idea Alert!: Personal QR Codes – Break The Ice!

by 39Blogger on April 9, 2012

If you have never been to PastorGear.com you should check it out. I found this awesomeness on their site and it’s jam-packed full of useful information and ideas. This is one I had to pass on.

Heineken was at a music festival and decided to push a new idea. They would give out QR code stickers for people to place on their clothing. The idea was, when you saw someone with a sticker you would scan their code using a smartphone and get a custom message from them. The possibilities of what you could do with QR codes is amazing. [Read More]

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Facebook Marketing For Churches

by 39Blogger on April 9, 2012

I have been ranting about churches missing the boat on Facebook marketing for a while now. I’ve talked about effective outreach ideas using Facebook, and also using Facebook to win at your Internet Reputation Warfare. The bottom line to all those rants is, harness the power of Facebook.

Sometimes I’m like a carpenter. I spend all my time working on other people’s homes that I can’t even be bothered to fix the broken lock on my own bathroom door. So I am going to do a test run. I am going to start a Facebook marketing campaign for my church, mainly our student ministry, the Revolution in Dyersburg, TN.

There are 4 things I want to discover with this study: [Read More]

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Effective Outreach In the Internet Age

by 39Blogger on April 4, 2012

One comedian was griping about fliers. He said, “someone handing me a flier is like saying, ‘here, you throw this away’.” Our society has changed. The speed of life has changed. Marketing has changed. Everything has changed in just the last 5 years.

Companies are spending millions of dollars plastering ads everywhere and trying to push the envelope of shock techniques to get your attention. These days, it seems like billboards have to be closer to Lady Gaga than traditional ads to get any reaction.

I was reading before about a church (my opinion on this will follow this article) that advertised their special services on a large billboard over their small town. It was of a couple in bed and of an embarrassingly sexual nature. This was intended to get more people into church on Sunday.

Why? Because the picture with the smiling preaching with his hands held out just isn’t working anymore.

Let me ask you a couple questions. Have you had any recent success with door knocking campaigns? How about mail-out campaigns? Have you spent tons of money on postcards and stamps only to see little to no return on that investment? Why? [Read More]

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Do You Ever Get Discouraged In Your Ministry?

by 39Blogger on October 30, 2011

Everyone, at least I think everyone, has at one time or another watched as their preconceived ideas of what was going to happen in their ministry falls apart around them. They thought they had the end in sight when circumstances, life, and, problems throw a curve ball in the bottom of the 9th and you get caught swinging away at what you thought should happen.

One very wise man once told me a story about something that happened in his ministry. As a young minister he ended up as pastor of a small church. He thought it was going to work out so great but it was nothing but years of hardships and discouragement. When he finally left the church he felt like his ministry was over and he was a horrible failure.

Years later in his now very successful pastoral ministry, God reminded him of all the sorrows of that first little church. He felt like God told him, “I didn’t send you there to build a church, I sent you there to build a man.”

If you find yourself getting discouraged listen to this old sermon, 10 Shekels and a Shirt. Ask yourself, “why am I here?”