While most followers of Jesus who have been on the journey of faith for many years grasp both the theological and pragmatic need for community, newcomers to the faith may be unfamiliar with the concept given the increasingly individualistic society in which we live. Many local congregations would benefit from a renewed focus on Christian community. One helpful example of restoring an intentional emphasis is Our Savior's Lutheran Church (ELCA) in Circle Pines, Read More …
Social Media
A Christian Way of Being Present in the Digital World (#0265)
On January 24, Pope Benedict XVI shared his message for World Communications Day: "Truth, Proclamation and Authenticity of Life in the Digital Age." Writing for the Associated Press, Nicole Winfield, noted, "The 83-year-old Benedict is no techno wizard: He writes longhand and has admitted to a certain lack of Internet savvy within the Vatican." His speech and actions, including significantly enhancing the Holy See's online presence, are signs that while he may not Read More …
The Structure of an Effective Blog Post (#0261)
Michael Hyatt is the Chairman and CEO of Thomas Nelson Publishers, the largest Christian publishing company in the world and the seventh largest trade book publishing company in the U.S. You can connect with him by reading his Intentional Leadership blog, following him on Twitter, or liking him on Facebook. Earlier this week he shared the basic components of his blog template in "Anatomy of an Effective Blog Post" Lead Paragraph Relevant Image Personal Experience Read More …
What I Learned from Writing 100 posts in 100 days (#0260)
I did it: 100 posts in 100 days! After taking roughly 21 months to write my first 160 blog posts (roughly 7.6 a month), I needed just 3.3 months (100 days) to add another 100. This dramatic change in writing habits revealed: Blogging can be a spiritual discipline Writing more frequently led to reading more online content (I read more blogs than I ever had before, engaged several people I didn't know previously, and plan to continue to interact with those people and their work) Read More …
Pastors: Embrace Social Media or Quit (#0257)
Maurilio Amorim is CEO of The A Group, a media, technology and branding firm in Brentwood, TN that consults with some of the country’s largest ministries, leading churches, and Christian publishers. Founded in 2001, The A Group has transitioned from a traditional marketing agency into a marketing technology and branding firm, leveraging social media and mobile technologies. To connect with Amorim, friend him on Facebook, follow him on Twitter, or read his Read More …
Studying the Beatitudes in Real Time (#0238)
A few days ago, I blogged about my ongoing quest to learn more about Jesus. In that post I suggested that 2011 may be a year I devote considerable time to examining Jesus' preaching via the Sermon on the Mount. Since that time, I learned of a unique opportunity to study the Beatitudes, which lead off Matthew's account of the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5:3-12). Kimberly Knight, Circuit Rider and web admin for the Beatitudes Society, recently blogged about a new interactive live Read More …
74% Growth in Social Networking (#0235)
Yesterday, I blogged about the generational differences in online activity according to the latest research by the Pew Research Center. Today, I look more closely at the rapid growth in one specific category of online activity: social networking. In just eighteen months, the percentage of adults who use social networking sites has risen 74%. The graphic below shows the rates of increase by generation, which range from a high of 377% for older boomers to a low of 24% for Read More …
The Christmas Story: Creativity + $500 = 400K+ views (#0230)
On this the second Sunday of Christmas, I invite you to watch one of the best Christmas videos you may not have seen. The video was created by St. Paul's Church in Auckland, New Zealand to market their annual Carols by Glowstick event. According to Joshua Cody, who interviewed one of the creative folks behind the project, the church spent only $500 to produce the video since "everything else was supplied by the individuals, families and businesses of St. Paul’s. That goes Read More …
Churches Fail the Twitter Test (#0226)
Mickey Mellen, a freelance web developer who works with small businesses, churches and individuals to help them further their reach on the Internet, recently wrote about a Twitter experiment he conducted. The article, "Churches Aren't Paying Attention on Twitter", appears on churchmarketingsucks.com and should be considered a "must read" for any church already on Twitter and those considering expanding their social media strategy to include Twitter. The Experiment Reach out to 25 Read More …
Bringing Twitter into the Classroom (#0225)
For generations, students have known that the classroom is the place to go for instruction. This has been true for both university education as well as Christian/religious education. In larger classrooms, the instructors are limited in their ability to interact with a large number of the learners. Twitter offers a creative way to facilitate interaction during and beyond the class session. Consider the example of Dr. Monica Rankin, Professor of History at the University of Read More …