If you’re involved with ministry on a daily basis, you know that sometimes you need a breath of fresh air once in awhile.

This is what the AHA! web conference look like it is going to be.

It is a free conference that is webcast just like The Nines, recently put on 09/09/09 by Leadership Network.

They’re back, but this time it’s 40 speakers providing 40 great aha! moments.

So sign-up and clear out next Wednesday March 3rd on your calendar.

Here’s why you should register now:

• It’s FREE.
• It’s a one-day event, no need to kill your week or weekend
• Instead of just one or a couple of people going to a conference, you can make it an group event in your church or ministry org.  Put it up on the big screen and inspire everyone on your team!
• Did I mention, it’s FREE?
• It’s efficient — you get to hear great content from FORTY leaders in our field in one place.

Are you planning to register?  Please leave a comment with which of the 40 speakers interests you the most right now

There’s tons of stuff that you should be doing with your church website.

But at the base of it all, one of the most important things that matter are the 3 C’s for church websites:

1. CONTENT
2. CONTENT
3. CONTENT

Pastors and church webmasters are always struggling on how to churn out relevant content that will pull current church members back to the site more than the first week after announcing the website was revamped, relaunched, etc.

Surveys and polls are a great way, but most implementations to date have been awkward and non-optimal.  Here’s one that someone how gets people to answer multiple questions - it strangely works to get people to answer even looooooonnnnnng surveys with over 100+ questions.

What is the first survey you are going to set-up on your site after reading this post? Please feel free to link to the page on your website that includes a survey or poll to we can see examples in action.

Do you pray?

I can’t believe my eyes.

My PC is now a MACINTOSH computer. Seriously.

And all I did was follow the installation directions that came with the Accordance for PC I recently received from Oak Tree Software to review.

Basically, whenever I want to run Accordance, all I have to do now is rev up my Mac emulator (called Basilik II) via a desktop shortcut, just like any other application:

Then a full-screen Macintosh computer comes to life on my PC:

After “start-up,” you get a full Macintosh desktop, complete with top of the screen menus and its own virtual hard drives (which you configure during installation) and all. You’ll notice my Accordance Folder open on the left of the Mac desktop with all my Accordance goodies ready to run:



And just as if I’m running Accordance on the Mac, I can launch the actual bible study application by clicking on the Accordance icon:



And voila!



I must say that the installation documentation was one of the best manuals I’ve used for installing software on a Mac or PC. And because we have to install and configure the Basilisk II Mac emulator application on the PC before you can install Accordance for Mac (on the PC which thinks it is a Mac!), there’s risk of getting derailed or discouraged along the way. But this documentation had detailed screen shots for *every single* move you make between inserting the install DVD to getting to run accordance for the first time on the PC. It was super easy.

Now I just have to go back to the Training DVD which came with the package and start to watch some intro videos so I can get a good handle on the application. If the training is as well thought out as the installation docs, I’m completely excited to engage with the Accordance platform training DVD. Afterall, who likes going through instruction manuals? But so far, these guys have made it super simple to follow-along. I kind of understand why Mac users tend to rave about Accordance. Now there doesn’t seem to be a reason for PC users not to do the same!

Are you an Accordance user (either on the Mac or PC)? Got any tips for me as I dive into the text (my current anchor text to exegete is Luke 11:5-13)? Please leave them as comments below!

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Disclosure of Material Connection: Here’s some legalspeak about sponsored posts. . .I have not received any compensation for writing this post other than a complimentary review copy of the software package mentioned. I have no material connection to any of the the brands or products/services mentioned in this post. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Last year, we packed our bags and headed to Virginia Beach for Wave Conference.

It was a great time for me to learn from some great ministry leaders, meet one of my fav pastors, spend some great family time together on the beach and really recharge my soul. The worship center at Wave Church is just awe-some. If you ever have a chance to go see Pastor Steve at Wave Church, you really should.

This summer we’re trying to figure out what to do, but it looks like the combination of Wave Conference 2010 and getting a chance to play with the kids on one of the best beaches on the east coast is making Wave 2010 a very strong candidate for a summer trip at the beginning of August.

Early bird registration of $70 doesn’t hurt either. A great price for a great weekend. [fyi, don't know about this year, but last year, child care was available for only $5/child...and no, that's not a typo. They have a great kids ministry area complete with indoor jungle gym, they rented outdoor bouncy inflatables, did crafts, etc]

If you’re going to Wave 2010, definitely leave a shoutout in the comments below! Perhaps we can coordinate a meet-up at the event too!

What conference(s) are you going to this year and is there anything that makes it a must-go-to experience? Please share your planned big trips and leave a comment below!

This year for Christmas, we introduced Kiva.org to our kids. They are old enough now where we want to try and instill some meaning to the “spirit of giving.” Kiva is the perfect Christmas gift to enjoy together while doing just that.

Kiva enables micro loans of $25 at a time from “lenders” like you and me to entrepreneurs in developing countries. It handles all the administrative issues, tracks the loans, provides narrative updates, lets you see and connect with other lenders to the same Kiva loan if you wish, etc. The repayment rates are unbelievable, topping 95% in most cases. Which means that you’ll most probably get your $25 back in several months (each loan has a set repayment schedule too, so you’ll see the progress of the loan as well) where you can take it back or . . . invest in another Kiva loan!

Here’s the Kiva story our kids picked out to invest our $25 from Christmas. By May, before their school is out, they’ll see the success of their loan. And hopefully we can choose another loan to reinvest for the summer and beyond.

You can see details of our our Kiva loan group right now: My Kiva Loan

There are tons of other sample loans available to invest in:

Kiva loans are addictive, makes a visible connection with someone else across the globe and better than writing a check to a faceless charitable organization.

Do you Kiva? Tell us about your Kiva story and leave a comment below.

This Christmas break, I’m sitting down again with Tim Keller and his Counterfeit Gods. It is always refreshing to take in a story or message that’s well told. And that’s what Dr. Keller, lead pastor of Redeemer Pres in NYC does - tell great stories, share some great messages.

As Dr. Keller starts to put out a book a year (I’m eager to find out more about his next book which is apparently on suffering/evil), his unassuming style is being noticed by more and more people. You’ll notice that the buzz about #tk is constant in the Twitterverse. And yet some people can’t get enough of the messages he offers from the pulpit.

If you haven’t been tipped off yet, here’s some good news. Redeemer has released 150 doses of classic Tim Keller. You’ll notice that much of the content that Redeemer has chosen to give away completely free are great to share with friends — especially those that have questions about faith, the Church, and God.

The only issue anyone can have with this huge archive of free sermons from Dr. Tim Keller is that there’s no 1-click to download all 150 mp3 sermons at once.

But if you listen to just one sermon a day during your daily commute, workout, or daily devotion time, you’ll get to spend enough time with Dr. Keller over the next 5 months to the point where you will probably find yourself starting to tell some great stories…share some great messages. Doesn’t that sound like Good News to you?

The Brady Bunch was a classic TV show. Whether your favorite was Greg, Marcia or even Alice there’s something that all ministry leaders can learn from the Brady Bunch show. And all you have to do is watch the first couple of minutes of the show literally. The opening sequence with the 9 talking heads on one screen is the key.

These days, there’s a new generation that’s reaching out across the web to meet online in multi-user video chat to collaborate in real time: meet the Tokbox Bunch.

www.Tokbox.com allows anyone to jump into a video conference chat with NO software downloads or installations. It works across all platforms so all those Mac and PC people can actually make friends.

What you get is a screen of webcam headshots - and you can control each one. Enlarge any one if you’d like to see them better. Mute or hide any participant. You can even shuffle around the order/placement of the boxes on your screen. Text chat is right there in the same window as well.

The best part is that it’s free and it works.

Dave Ingland, a church planter from the left coast recently tweeted a meet-up in a Tokbox room and instantly half a dozen of us joined the conversation. We ended up discussing some of the recent developments with online worship communities such as Andy Stanley’s church and how they are embracing online small group Bible studies. We heard some other online church’s experiences for using video conferencing in their own ministries as well. You always learn something when talking with other peers and leaders in your own field. That’s the point.

The conversations are real. The video allows you to have full expression. It’s live and real-time. One real big upside is that you can easily tweet, call, text, or grab someone and tell them to get in the room by simply visiting the tokbox link. DONE.

www.Tinychat.com is another multi-user video chat service that has taken off as well. Both harness technology for what it’s good for - removing friction of offline problems (physical distance) in an elegant way.

BONUS TIP: And note that the service is perfect for group meetings, but works just as well if you have only 2 people involved. So think of it as Skype without the software or account hassles. You can suddenly make long distance video calls internationally for free.

Have you tried Tinychat.com or Tokbox.com video conferences? What’s your experience?

Over the last couple of months I’ve been working on a little web-app to help me look up Bible references quickly.

I used to have to figure out which site had the translation I’d like to look-up; then go to that site; then input the Scripture reference; then use the drop downs to find the translations, and finally submit.

If I wanted to send the link to a friend via email, facebook, twitter, or even in live worship chat during church online, I’d have to take some additional steps - open up TinyURL.com, bit.ly or some other favorite URL shortcut services out there. Copy the long URL from the Bible site, paste it into the shortcut generator. Submit. Copy the short-cut url, and viola. FINALLY, I had something I could pass on.

This just didn’t seem efficient. I simply thought that there must be a better way.

I couldn’t find anything much better, so I decided to just create it.

So here I am introducing the “BETA” version of www.wordof.gd/_____ No more searching, waiting, submitting, copy/pasting, etc. whenever you are looking up Bible verses online.

This new web app is a 1-Step Bible Look-Up Web App. Basically, find the Scripture reference you want in the translation you want IN ONE LINE — straight from the URL.

Here’s how it works:

Just add ANY Scripture after the main url:

• http://WordOf.GD/+BibleVerseHere and you’re done.

Just TRY IT to understand how this works. Try clicking on some of these:

• http://WordOf.GD/John3:16
• http://WordOf.GD/John3:16-21
• http://WordOf.GD/John3:16ESV
• http://WordOf.GD/John3:16WEB
• http://WordOf.GD/John3:16NASB

If you want a specific Bible translation see how all you have to do is add the abbreviation after the verse? Over 30 different popular translations are supported right now and more to come.

Speaking of abbreviations, it will accomodate most common abbreviations for books of the Bible too. ie. Matt, Mk, Lk, Jn, Gen, Rev, 1cor, 2cor, etc.

One you get the Bible verse, you’ll notice in the header bar, an EMAIL LINK, TWITTER LINK, (and FACEBOOK LINK to come). In addition, a short-cut URL is automatically generated for the specific verse ranges and translations you just looked-up if you want to copy/paste for any other use.

This has been pretty useful for mobile web browsing since connections are not as zippy as on a desktop usually and you want to minimize as many steps as possible.

NOTE: This *IS* a beta version - we’re continuing to update it as we go along and there might be some glitches while we polish it up. If you come across any issue, please leave a comment here or send me a tweet (http://www.twitter.com/kkcoolj) with the details.

Let me know what you think! Please leave a comment below with your thoughts.

One my favorite affordable webhosting companies to refer friends and business associates to is Dreamhost. (If you want a nice discount, use promo code “godvertiser” at http://www.dreamhost.com )

But if you are a 501c3 org or a church with the designation letter from the IRS, then this the tip of the year for you.

It seems that according to our friendly neighborhood church media super hero, DreamHost offers non-profits a fully free webhosting account [HT: Thanks John!]

While you’re jumping for joy, take a look at the deets from DH’s website in their own words:

DreamHost proudly offers free web hosting to non-profit, 501(c)(3) charitable organizations registered in the United States.

Non-profit organizations have dedicated themselves to making the world a better place - all without expecting anything (like a profit) in return! DreamHost recognizes their noble sacrifice and is happy to provide cost-free hosting to these groups which do so much with so little for so many!

This discount applies to a single hosting plan per non-profit, hosted within only one account, for US-based 501(c)(3) organizations. Domain registrations (other than any included with the plan) are not eligible for any discounts.

Now you really don’t have an excuse to get your organization on the web with a hip website.

If you’re a non-profit that going to try and take advantage of this offer, leave a comment below with the website URL you’ll use with the free non-profit hosting account at Dreamhost.

If you’re doing something right with your ministry, you are mobilizing volunteers to get involved in every way possible.

But there are two practical problems with leading volunteers across the different ministries of a church:

First, you need to hold many meetings so that everyone is on the same page (including you!), especially if there are many people involved. A coordinated effort requires a lot of dissemination of information, collaboration and a tons of basic communication.

Second, because you are working with volunteers, not staff, they aren’t always available physically to meet in the same place at the same time.

In the business world, conference call and video conferences are the norm. But for some reason, suggest that people dial in for a ministry meeting via conference call, and people seem perplexed.

The truth is that conference call services used to be expensive, hence affordable only when the costs could be justified by business. While your team’s time and efforts are no less valuable, the cost of conference call services have plummeted. It’s time to embrace this tool in your daily work as a team leader.

Here’s one way to set-up a free conference call dial-in number you can use today:

One of my favorite collaboration tools online is Drop.IO. A neat feature they offer (free too!) is a personal conference call number with each and every free team page/account you set-up.

Once you set-up a new custom collaboration page at www.drop.io, you’ll see a custom conference call dial-in number on the right column. (We’ll explore some of the other neat-o benefits in another future post)

This conference call number is all yours as long as the drop.io page is live (you can change how long the page exists in the settings to up to 1 year after the last visit). It is a reservation-less conference call dial-in number that you can pass out to use whenever you need.

If you want to set-up unique dial-in numbers for each of your ministry leaders for their own teams, just set-up additional drop.io pages for each group. Voila! Every team can collaborate as often as they wish on their own.

BONUS TIP: If you want to have certain calls recorded so that you can distribute them to other people that missed the meeting or would benefit from the contents of your meeting, you can 3-way conference in the “voicemail” number which is listed on the same page. Voicemails are saved and posted as mp3 files to the drop.io page within minutes. You can download them or even use the direct link to the file that’s made available with the recording.