Tim Challies’ New Book: The Discipline of Spiritual Discernment

Tim Challies has a new book titled The Discipline of Spiritual Discernment coming out, and it comes with recommendations from some heavy-hitters, including one of my former professors Dr. Donald Whitney. Wow.

Here’s a description from his site:

“Spiritual discernment is good for more than just making monumental decisions according to God’s will. It is an essential, day-to-day activity that allows thoughtful Christians to separate the truth of God from error and to distinguish right from wrong in all kinds of settings and situations. It is also a skill—something that any person can develop and improve, especially with the guidance in this book.”

September 24, 2007 · Filed Under Books

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Leveraging Culture to Reach People

Leveraging Culture to Reach People… Granger’s Tim Stevens is working on a book to talk about that subject. I’ve interviewed Tim for a story and thoroughly enjoyed the experience. He was at MinistryCOM but I didn’t get to meet him in person. Maybe next year!

September 24, 2007 · Filed Under Sidenotes

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Win a Free Church Website

Denver-based HotPress Web is offering to build a free website, valued at $5,000, to a church or nonprofit charity. The offer also includes free hosting for one year.

Fill out an application today for your church! The deadline is Sept. 30, 2007.

They build websites using Element Fusion’s content management system called Light. EF is one of my recommended church website providers.

September 17, 2007 · Filed Under Church Websites

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Church Branding 101

Church Branding 101… Chris interviews Dawn Nicole Baldwin, one of the great people I got to finally meet in person at MinistryCOM, about church branding. She’s an expert on the subject and gives some great insights into the topic.

September 17, 2007 · Filed Under Sidenotes

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MinistryCOM 2007: Afterthoughts

Just got back from MinistryCOM 2007 and am totally drained, but energized by what I heard and saw!

Here are some bullet-point thoughts and insights I gleaned from my first MinistryCOM:

1. Terry Storch and LifeChurch are setting the innovation bar and pioneering new territory for the evangelical church on the web. Terry keynoted the conference with a talk on Web 2.0 and how it relates to the church. I must say I felt humbled and wanted to shrink in my seat as I contemplated my role in helping the church reach the world through technology. Anyway, I’ve had lunch with Terry and I have to say, he’s one of the most approachable, genuinely likable guys. You should buy his book The Blogging Church. (By the way, he just redesigned his blog!)

2. From Saddleback communications veteran Jon Walker I learned to always ask these questions of the things I write: “So what?” and “What now?”

3. Re: roles … I found that there is a variety of roles and responsibility and job descriptions for church comm’rs out there … some come from the print or public relations world … a few wear the title of “pastor” or “elder” as well … some church comm’rs fall under the worship/arts department or technology or just don’t have a home department! … some churches have a bunch of staff and 95% of the rest (like me) are jealous …

4. A whole bunch of church comm’rs own Mac laptops! The other 5 percent (me included) are forced to be PC’rs because “I.T. made me” as Shaun Wood hilariously put it!

5. Speaking of Shawn Wood, I loved his talk. I’ve also never seen PowerPoint used so effectively and seamlessly than he did it. Also, he revolutionized my definition of “branding” …

6. I’m really not hip enough to be a church comm’r. I’m only 5% hipper than I was 4 years ago because my wife has started to dress me.

7. Chris Forbes is one of my best friends. He rode with my wife and I to MinistryCOM and we cemented our friendship on the 20-hours of drivetime together. (Due to non-disclosure agreements, we cannot discuss the details of our trip any further … and we now have enough dirt on each other to keep each other silent.)

8. Brad Abare of Church Marketing Sucks is the real deal and the genuine article.

9. I had a front row (literally) seat to every main session … because the veteran Chris Forbes used all the great excuses for why he shouldn’t be the “front of house” guy. So I sat front and center (front row, center seat) for EVERY session with a headset, helping the excellent production crew. Evan McBroom and Mark Bennardo are true professionals and I was honored to watch them work their magic!

10. My MinistryCOM Award would go to Beth Sanders, a volunteer from Tennessee who paid her own way to come to MinistryCOM, attended all the workshops and main sessions just to learn something so that she could take her insights back to her home church. Truly awesome!

11. John from Church Post rocks … because he helped me get Internet access (imagine 400 church comm’rs vying for 10 access ports) and get my church bulletin back to be printed in time! (If you’re looking for a church email newsletter solution, check out ChurchPost. They have email newsletter solutions, including dozens of templates, catered specifically for churches.)

12. Terrell Sander’s favorite things in life are (in this order): Chili’s, the Hampton Inn hotel chain, and Southwest Airlines. [Story correction and update: Terrell’s third favorite thing is actually Diet Coke.] But really, it’s Chili’s, Chili’s, and Chili’s. He also doesn’t get enough credit or “thanks” for making MinistryCOM happen.

13. Anne Jackson is as awesome in person as she is online. We’ve known each other for almost three years now but finally met “face to face” at MinistryCOM. She’s also the first person I’ve met who is “almost vegetarian.”

14. If you want to have a better recollection of what actually happened or was talked about, Dave Crow recaps it all on his blog.

15. I didn’t get to meet Kem Meyer, but the testimonial video she showed as part of the ending session made me cry. She’s the ultimate church communications pro and most of us look up to her …. thanks, Kem, for reminding me of what it’s all about.

16. I can now officially say, “I’ve been to the Grand Ole Opry.”

17. Bucksnort and Toad Suck are actual towns located in the United States.

18. Next year’s MinistryCOM will be in Oklahoma City (my hometown) and I’m pumped! I can’t wait to reconnect with the people I met from all over the country who are rockin’ it for Jesus in their churches!

See ya next year!

September 16, 2007 · Filed Under Church Marketing

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