There’s a flight school that gives instruction in a hanger right there off the runway. New pilots are commissioned after going through training that teaches the basics and live in-the-air lessons.

As I head out to a weekend retreat this week, I share some of the reflections about the spiritual highs that we may experience after an amazing Christian conference, church retreat or even after hearing a famous preacher’s semonic mastery in the pulpit.

But there’s one crticial lesson of flying high that pilots are taught in flight school which God’s people may benefit from regarding their own personal faith journey. Check out this short video where I share my thoughts. . .

QUESTION: WHAT SPIRITUAL HABITS DO YOU FOLLOW TO ENSURE YOU STAY ON COURSE IN YOUR FAITH?

Information is at our fingertips. The Bible is no different it seems.

Logos is one of the major bible study software platforms out there for pastors, seminarians and others that want to dig deep and utilize all the resources available to study a passage or Biblical topic.

While the Logos Bible Study software package ain’t free, this offer is!

Check out this video below for what Logos Bible Study sent me to give away to our readers here at Godvertiser.com.

All you have to do is leave a comment here below on this blog post page and let us know what is your preferred Bible translation.

Make sure to fill in your name and email address in the comment form so we can contact you in case you are a winner!

We have 3 of these nifty giveaways totally free from the coolio team at Logos Bible Study — Thanks guys!

The amazing part was the life lesson that he managed to teach me in the 15 minute drive using just one incident that happened yesterday at camp. It just struck me how similar his message was to a Tim Keller talk I listened to recently on cultural renewal

It is amazing how children and see the world with such clarity. Watch this vlog below where I try to share what I learned.

I guess I have to keep talking to my kids more, don’t I?

QUESTION: DO YOU SEE YOUR EVERYDAY LIFE AS A CHANCE TO AFFECT CULTURAL RENEWAL WITH YOUR CHRISTIAN IDENTITY?

Aside from the Sunday School and youth ministries, the other parts of the church might also be preparing for a new small group season or new lay leadership team installations, or new . . .

It might all be “new” but at the same time, it can quickly become “old” and repetitive…just the same old thing over and over again year in and year out!

I don’t know about you, but when this happens it can quickly lead to paralysis and lifeless leadership on my own part.

But what can you do about it? Well, just sitting there and playing along isn’t going to solve anything!

Here’s some tips — eye-opening ways of approaching your “job” as a pastor or ministry leader to help “unstick” what’s “stuck” for you right now:

• Change the WHAT: That’s right, change what you’re working on.  Look to exchange responsibilities, either whole or parts of specific projects /programs you have taken on in the past.  If your team has the bandwidth you might want to lighten your load a bit this upcoming season to give you more margin — for renewal.  Or sometimes the opposite can have a pleasant effect; taking on new projects that you aren’t on your current roster of duties can help spark entrepreneurial zeal that can spill over to the rest of your work.

• Change the WHO: Churches are built upon relationships, and mixing up your “regular” stable of relationships can bring new conversations and ideas that refresh and renew.  Inviting new lay members to join and support your team can insert a change in quality of interactions for you.  Or have you been mentoring enough?  Why not carve out some time to invest in a peer or younger member of your circle of people?

• Change the WHERE & WHEN: Environmental factors play a huge role in how your perceive things.  When and where you do your work matters! Examine your routine and see if you can relocate where you do somethings regularly.  For example, where do you hold your phone calls?  Find non-time-sensitive activities and try intentionally scheduling them in a different part of the day or week.

• Change the WHY: Most of the time, we lump everything in our job together and make one big feelings judgment for or against it.  Have you ever been stuck in a rut where you just dread going to work in the morning, but after you get there, you might find parts of your day filled with purpose and energy?  If you carefully analyze what parts of your job you are doing because you have to, and others where you enjoy doing them, it is easier to re-approach your work with a healthier attitude.

QUESTION: WHAT DO YOU DO WHEN YOU FIND YOURSELF STUCK IN A MINISTRY RUT?

We are living in a 2.0 world and the Church always seems to be struggling just to stay awake and alive in a 1.0 world mode, right?

Well, this is not just a recent phenomena apparently.

That’s right, back in the day, and I mean back in the olden times, the early church had trouble with adopting new technologies too!

Thankfully, the help desk was around back then too though.

Take a look yourself at the video below documenting the upgrade experience from Biblical scrolls to bound books:

QUESTION: WHAT *ONE* AREA OF TECHNOLOGY DO YOU EXPERIENCE THE MOST FRUSTRATION WITHIN CHURCH / MINISTRY LIFE RIGHT NOW?

Although the average sermon length is now at about 15 minutes these days, sometimes, even that is too much.

Once in awhile you come across a way of doing things that is just refreshing, inspiring and attention-grabbing. And you don’t need more than 90 seconds to do it apparently!

This is what Tamara Lowe, an international motivational speaker, who happens to be a Christ follower displayed when sharing her version of the Gospel.

Check out how she tells the story and I’m sure you’ll crack a smile along they way.  It has been dubbed the “one minute sermon” . . .

If you’re like most friends I’ve shared this with, the response was pure active listening with edge-of-he-seat posture…go ahead and play the video below.

Yes, you are correct that it is a bit gimmicky.
Yes, you are correct that you can’t preach in this format 52 Sundays a year.

But also — Yes, you are correct especially if you’re arguing back these things right now, that you are exactly the type of ministry leader who could use some shaking up in your preaching and leadership style!

QUESTION: IS 90 SECONDS REALLY TOO SHORT TO CONVEY WHAT JESUS HAS DONE FOR YOU AND ME?

Check out this story where one pastor has decided to reverse the offering plate in order to bring more people into the sanctuary:

Now, while this church is relying on this tactic as a fundamental church marketing tactic, some other churches do one-time giveaways while trying to tie it into a Biblical message.

But what if the size of the church giveaway becomes outrageous? Does this make a difference?

QUESTION: WHAT MAKES GIVING AWAY FREE STUFF AT A WORSHIP SERVICE OK OR NOT?

The title, Deliverance of the Captives, obviously speaks to the state of the audience.  They are literally captives, but Barth recognizes and preaches that we are all captives to our sin and broken humanity.  The nature of his audience at the Prison of Basel serves as a parable for all of us and warrants publication.  The gospel message of deliverance from captivity is just as needed within the prison walls as without.  Barth’s preaching to these men in this particular circumstance serves as a sign to all.  We are called to preach deliverance to the captives so Barth went to the captives and proclaimed a message that goes beyond the realm of physical captivity.  If these men may be freed, so may we all in Christ Jesus our Lord. . .

These 18 sermons would be categorized as expository preaching.  Barth takes a small passage from scripture and expounds upon its meaning.  The sermons are quite short and to the point, in contrast to the Church Dogmatics.  It seems that Barth the preacher was able to distill the message in a different sort of way than Barth the theologian.  This is not to say that these two men are not the same; that Barth the theologian never preaches or that Barth the preacher never theologizes.  In fact these sermons are naturally infused with Barth’s theology and are thus decidedly Christocentric.  This is the first strength I will point out from this collection.  Barth is able to relate any passage of scripture to the reality of God With Us in Jesus Christ and the actual effect that reality has on our lives.  Each sermon is basically a reiteration of the gospel message which is Jesus Christ.  Barth relies on the resurrected and present Lord to be present in his preaching.  He points to this presence and activity instead of pointing to the text.  Expository preaching has the tendency in some contemporary examples to deify the text.  The Bible becomes the answer book for good clean family living etc. as opposed to the witness to the life of Jesus Christ.  Too many preachers want to show us how to read the Bible as experts or how to master the information and apply it correctly.  In my experience I have often encountered an overpowering dependence on the truth of God’s word in Scripture rather than the Word who is Truth witnessed to in Scripture.  In one sermon, “You Shall Be My People,” Barth concludes,

“I am at the end.  I tried to explain this Bible passage as the Word of God fulfilled in Jesus Christ.  Read and heard, understood and believed in this light, this word radiates infinite power.  It the not only says, ‘I will walk among you’, but ‘I walk among you!’ Not only ‘I will be your God’ but ‘I am your God!’  Not only ‘You shall be my people’, but ‘You are my people!’ (66).

The biggest danger of expository preaching is to make the Word of God into an abstraction, to preach about an ‘it’ who is a He, a living, breathing resurrected He, Jesus Christ who is, who walks, whose we are.  The immediacy of that reality is well preached by Barth and would be well observed by future preachers like myself.

Another strength of these sermons which emanates from the first is the simplicity of the message preached.  Barth rarely goes into the esotery of the text’s origins or the original language and when he does he does so in a way that brings the text into our reality.  The tendency of preachers to expose their expertise about the Bible in their sermons usually only serves to alienate those who have little knowledge.  I suppose the preacher who uses a bunch of fancy Greek words is trying to demonstrate his or her authority to be heard.  The congregants are well educated and the preacher feels the need to demonstrate his or her domination of the text.  But such domination of the text is useless because the meaning of the text cannot be dominated.  The meaning of the text is Jesus Christ who is Lord and cannot be used to lord over anyone in any way.  In the sermon titled “God’s Good Creation” Barth reflects on the meaning of the word good.  He points out that the Greek meaning used in the context of 1 Timothy 4:4 is “beautiful” (95), but he does not drop his Greek knowledge between the listeners like a bomb.  He does not say kalos.  The richness of the Greek word and the Greek language is not the focus of his sermon; it is the richness of the reality of God’s meticulous care and love for us that matters.  Barth chooses not to let the distraction of the messenger, the text, take away from the message, the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

A third strength of Barth’s sermons is his reliance on prayer.  He begins and ends with prayer and makes sure the reader does not miss the importance of these prayers.  In his ‘remarks’ he writes, “In preparing and conducting the worship services, the prayers I gave were to my mind as essential as the sermons themselves” (11).  If the preacher is going to let Christ be the message and merely point to Him in his or her sermons, then Christ will have to be invoked and depended upon to be present in the room that the sermon is preached or in the book from which the sermon is read.  Barth recognizes this and includes them as integral parts of his message.  In fact the message is begun in the opening prayer and is concluded in the closing prayer.  The prayers often allude to the circumstance and the company and focus on the realities around the prison, the town, the country, the workers and the business owners.  The context of the worship service and the liturgical year are also constantly referenced.  Invitation to the Lord’s Supper is part of the sermon and the prayer.  The communion elements and their consumption is an application of the message Barth preaches.  Since the message is usually simple truth telling about Christ and our relationship with God through Him, prayer is an extension of that message, as is the Eucharist.  Barth can’t preach everything about Christ in one sermon, nor does he usually get to instruction on how to live in the light of the revelation he professes, but he models these things in prayer.  Though his sermons are fairly down to earth, the prayers are absolutely earthy.  They boldly expect God to be in the room while Barth is preaching, in the lives of the listeners and in the communal life of the town.

This last strength may be the silver lining to what is actually a weakness.  Barth’s sermons are short and they quickly get to the point, which is to preach the gospel, but they do not spend much time sketching out the ramifications of the Truth proclaimed.  He describes a reality that is revolutionary; he tips dominoes that are in a long row.  He is confident that Christ is in the center of it all and He can work it out, but his message might benefit from further development of what life in Christ really looks like.  So much time is spent driving home the point that Christ delivers us from captivity but not much time is spent encouraging his hearers who are trying to live out that freedom.  Does Barth believe that there is no development in the spiritual journey?  That we need to receive the message of salvation each time we listen to a sermon and nothing more?  I have a feeling that Barth could say yes, but I am not qualified to speak for him.  This group of sermons focuses on the proclamation of the gospel from many different angles but the central theme is constant and simple.  The long time disciple of Christ would need more, but the long time disciple of Christ may not be in the crowd for which these sermons were designed.  The prisoners may need this message to be put plainly before them so that they can be given the opportunity again and again to repent and be transformed.  But I think that Barth would say this is true for all of us.  However, I maintain that a parish preacher could not forget further instruction.

The intermittent nature of Barth’s preaching in this context is another weakness.  I cannot really hold it against him.  He was not a preacher by vocation and he was not the full time minister of this group of men.  Guest preaching in general is worthy of some suspicion.  I do not mean to throw it out completely by the inherent obstacles are worth mentioning.  Barth did not know these people, nor could he know them in the way a parish minister knows his or her congregation.  His message is simple because it cannot be more complex in addressing these people as individuals.  His message is universal because he prepares it in isolation from its hearers (This is why it is so accessible 50 years later and across an ocean, here in the United States in 2010.)  But the preacher is more than a proclaimer of the gospel message, or at least the preacher I want to be is so.  I believe that the Gospel is best shared incarnationally.  By this I mean relationally, person to person, even from the pulpit.  Granted God can use the impersonal nature of Barth’s message to transform and Barth adequately relies on God to do so.  This is because Barth has no other choice.  He is not living a life of community with them, nor can he.  The community has decided to isolate them from the community.  So Barth’s sermons are appropriate to the context but not as complete as I would describe to be optimal.

In his sermon titled “All”, Barth writes,

“The text [Romans 11:32] insists that God has made all men prisoners of disobedience.  All, including me, the preacher of this Sunday sermon?  Yes, including me!  Including the good or at least the better fellows among you?  Yes, including them!  Including the best people that ever lived or may live on earth?  Yes including these!  The all-knowing God declares that all, each one in his own way, yet each and all, are prisoners to disobedience.” (90).

Perhaps in response to these exclamation pointed sentences, John Marsh wrote in the preface, “I have read these sermons through with immense profit because I could not read them without having to search my own soul, and ask myself some disturbingly awkward but curative questions” (9).  Because this is true for me, I would recommend this collection of sermons to anyone, especially to the aspiring preacher who more than anything needs to be tempered with the humility to preach the Truth of Jesus Christ to himself or herself and to be transformed by it each day and each time he or she steps to the pulpit.  We point to the Truth who is real and alive-who is Jesus Christ, the resurrected Lord.  In exposition we do not preach the words of the Bible, we preach the Word made flesh and witnessed to in the Bible.  This is my message and it is by this Word that I live and will lead the Church.

Some churches just wait for people to come, relying upon the building to do all the work as people drive by and take note that the church exists.

But some churches do intentional work to attract new visitors.  While that subject is large enough for a blog post series on its own, this post is about sharing the way(s) in which your church attracts new visitors . . . to your website.

What are some of the methods you use to get new people to visit your website?

. . .which paid resources are worth it?

. . .which were filled with hopes and promises but were a complete waste of money (not to mention time)?

. . .do you have any free / unpaid suggestions for churches to attract more church website visitors?

QUESTION: Would you share one idea or tactic that you have used to gain more church website visitors? Please share your ideas below in the comments section.

Q) The essay you both wrote last year – A Jesus Manifesto for the 21st Century, which was the precursor to your new book Jesus Manifesto (Thomas Nelson) – seems to be a holistic critique against how Christianity is “being done” today, at least in North America. Can you share a little about how this project should be received with respect to this and is your book about the same thing?

A) Frank: I think it was more of a clarion call pointing out that Jesus Christ has been dethroned and devalued in many quarters of the Christian faith, being replaced by so many other things. Jesus has often been boiled down to a footnote or a stamp of approval to some other issue or topic. Our book expands what was in the original essay and seeks to re-present Christ in a fresh and powerful way, showing why He is worthy of having the preeminence in all things. Its aim is to wipe everything else off the table and glorify Jesus beyond the stratosphere. One of the endorsers of the book wrote the following, which I think answers your question pretty well:

“Gandhi once said, ‘Your Christians are so unlike your Christ.’ Maybe if we actually knew Christ, we would reflect Him more. Sweet and Viola’s Jesus Manifesto is the quintessential re-introduction.”

Len: One of the most important developmental tasks of every human being is to find their voice, and to speak out of their unique voice. One of the worst things that can happen to each of us is to lose our voice, or to speak out of other voices than our own. Frank and I are saying that the true voice of the church is Christ, and when other voices take over, the church is rendered voiceless.

I am a big fan of Wendell Berry’s writings. I think this farmer/poet/essayist is USAmerica’s greatest living poet. What makes Wendell Berry so special is that his writings are simply the land given voice. The Bible is the Spirit given voice, but the Spirit’s voice is a unique, one-of-a-kind, once-for-all-time voice. It’s not a propositional voice, but a story-telling, poetic voice that carries a unique register and timber and tone: it is the voice of Jesus the Christ. It’s time the church spoke again in its original, true voice.

Q) The subtitle of your book is “Restoring the Supremacy and Sovereignty of Jesus Christ” – pointing to an assumption that Christ’s sovereignty has been “lost” or “misplaced.” For me, there seems to be a bit of a difference between seeing the problem as Christ’s Supremacy and Sovereignty being “lost” and one where the is not being acknowledged. Is there difference between the two positions from your point of view?

Over 300 years ago a German pastor wrote a hymn that built around the Name above all names. I love to sing this song, although it’s seldom sung anymore, because the lyrics are posed in question and answer format. It’s an antiphonal song that comes across as a confession of faith:

Ask ye what great thing I know, that delights and stirs me so? What the high reward I win? Whose the name I glory in?

Jesus Christ, the crucified.

This is that great thing I know; this delights and stirs me so: faith in him who died to save, Him who triumphed o’er the grave:

Jesus Christ, the crucified.

*Gabriel Josipovici, The Book of God, 74

Frank: I think this is merely semantics. We are saying that the supremacy and headship of Christ has been “lost sight of” hence it must be “restored” or “brought back into view,” and more accurately, “restored as a living experience.”
There is a principle in God that He never gives anything, but that He first allows it to be lost. The Lord Jesus said that until you lose something, you can’t really have it. This appears to be a divine principle. God gives something first, then allows it to be taken away, that it may be given again. It’s the principle of death and resurrection, and it’s a recurring truth throughout the Scriptures. Ever notice all of those re- terms in the Bible: Restoration (Acts 1:6; 15:17), regeneration, restitution, recreation, rebirth, renewal, resurrection, revive, etc.

Our Lord is a God of restoration.

For this reason, church historians have used the “restoration” motif for a long time. It’s been said that God used the Reformers to restore justification by faith when it was lost sight of. God used the Holiness movement to restore personal holiness when it was lost sight of. God used the Moravians to restore missionary outreach when it was lost sight of. He used the Pentecostals to restore the power of the Spirit when it was lost sight of. Right or wrong, we feel that we are living in a day when the supremacy and headship of Jesus Christ needs to be restored in the life of the church.

Q) A central part of the argument for how we are to re-center our faith is found in the statements, “Knowing Christ is Eternal Life. And knowing him profoundly, deeply, and in reality, as well as experiencing his unsearchable riches, is the chief pursuit of our lives, as it was for the first Christians. God is not so much about fixing things that have gone wrong in our lives as finding us in our brokenness and giving us Christ.” I agree that the Christian religion has dangerously become more about things that really should be subordinate to Christ or on the periphery as a result of knowing Christ. But I wonder if defining the “chief pursuit of our lives” in the way that is being presented and/or seeing God’s purpose as restoring our fallenness still keeps us – humanity – erroneously at the center of the story, and not God. North American Christianity has surely become consumeristic, but your article individually-focused emphasis on Christ seems vulnerable to similar outcomes. Would you be willing to put these claims in the proper context according to the lens you are seeing the issues at hand?

A) Frank: My books Reimagining Church and From Eternity to Here take dead aim at the individualism, independence, and consumerism that seem to be in the drinking water of Christianity today. This is not just a Western problem; it’s quite universal as Western Christianity has spread just about everywhere.

I don’t know what version of the manifesto essay you’ve read, but there’s an entire section on how that the pursuit of Jesus Christ is not an individualistic pursuit. But rather, it’s a corporate journey (see below). We dedicate an entire chapter to this point in our book, Jesus Manifesto. Here is point 9 of the essay:

“Jesus Christ cannot be separated from his church. While Jesus is distinct from his Bride, he is not separate from her. She is in fact his very own Body in the earth. God has chosen to vest all of power, authority, and life in the living Christ. And God in Christ is only known fully in and through his church. (As Paul said, “The manifold wisdom of God – which is Christ – is known through the ekklesia.”) The Christian life, therefore, is not an individual pursuit. It’s a corporate journey. Knowing Christ and making him known is not an individual prospect. Those who insist on flying life solo will be brought to earth, with a crash. Thus Christ and his church are intimately joined and connected. What God has joined together, let no person put asunder.”

Len: The relationship of the WE and the ME is one of the most important subjects we can talk about. Like Frank, I have addressed this in a couple of books before: The Three Hardest Words to Get Right, 11 Indispensable Relationships You Can’t Live Without, and Jesus Drives Me Crazy. Part of that unique “voice” of Jesus I referenced earlier is that Jesus always is heard in surround sound (I used to say “stereo”). If you only hear one thing, it’s likely not to be Jesus (Alpha/Omega, Lamb/Lion, Prince of Peace/Sword of Truth, etc.). It’s like the body of Christ has two lungs, and two brains (left/right), and . . . The Gutenberg world majored in the ME, the I, the left-brain, partly because the book is the most anti-social technology ever invented by the human imagination. The Google word is WE or right-brain dominant. We need both brains. God gave us two brains for a reason.

Q) Separate from the actual content of your essay, it is curious that both of you as authors who embrace technology and the Internet, chose to pursue a printed book which is a commercially sold medium opposed to releasing a free, viral-friendly electronic document such as an Seth Godin idea virus. If this Manifesto is a prophetic wake up call for the Christian community at large, doesn’t this go against the movement’s objectives or potential toward mass exposure and adoption to require the purchase of a book?

A) Len: Media is not a zero sum game. How’s your “paperless office” doing? Almost every website seems to be selling books, a bookstore (even churches are bookstores through their websites, thanks partly to Amazon.com’s franchise program as well). Books will flourish even in this iPad, Kindle future, but our experiences of books and the books we keep will change. When my original publisher refused to break up the text with inserted quotes and use background images on some pages, I pulled one of my first books, Quantum Spirituality, and set up my own publishing company (Whaleprints). I also do a weekly podcast called Napkin Scribbles, am one of the “Twitter Elite,” have a top-ranked Facebook site, post a sermon a week on sermons.com—there’s always a Sunday coming for me—and am writing more books than ever before. By the way, Frank and I “posted” the Jesus Manifesto first on the web—partly inspired by the German word that is used to describe what Luther did with his 95 Theses: not “nailed” or “mailed” but “posted” on the door of Wittenberg’s Castle Church in 1517.

Frank: Many years ago I started self-publishing my books. For the first two years, I gave them away free of charge. When the time came that I could no longer afford to pay for them (it costs a pretty penny to print a book), we started to sell them to cover our expenses. Believe it or not, once we began to sell the books, a lot more people were interested in reading them.

Right now on my website, most of my writings are available free of charge. This includes two free eBooks at the moment. One would think that an electronic book that’s free of charge would disseminate more widely than a book sold by a publisher. The truth is, it doesn’t. Not even close. For whatever reasons, published books are read by far more people than free eBooks or give away copies. (That’s been my experience anyway, and we’ve been tracking it for years.) I don’t understand why, but it just is. I wrote about this recently on my blog in fact. And that’s why I’ve agreed to have my books published.

Thomas Nelson is the largest Christian publisher in the world right now. And they are getting behind the book in a huge way. So right or wrong, we felt it was best to go with them to get the full message of the Jesus Manifesto to as many people as possible. They have allowed us to make available free sample chapters and I suspect the same will be true for the audio version.

Q) Finally, what is the best case scenario if this call is heard properly by the Christian community? What does the hope that the both of you have after writing this book actually look like?

A) Frank: Calvin Miller (author of The Singer and many other works) wrote this just after he read the book:
Jesus Manifesto is the most powerful work on Christ I have read in recent years. The Christ of the Empty Tomb is back among us. Sweet and Viola have beckoned us to return back to Olivet and renew our souls. I was hushed by its welcome authority. I found a lump in my throat as I read through page after page of Biblical witness to the one and only, incomparable Christ in whom alone is our Salvation. You must read this book. All of us must, and then we must believe in this book, rise and advance on our culture with the truth we have lately backed away from in our faulty attempt to play fair at the cost of our God-given mission.

My hope is that this same sort of response will become so widespread that we will all drop the religious “stuff” we are chasing and fall down on our faces in the presence of the greatness of Jesus Christ, making Him central and supreme in our lives, our ministries, and our churches. In a word, my hope is that Paul’s statement in Colossians 1 will become a living, breathing reality instead of black letters on a page – “that He might have the first place in everything.” It’s one thing to parrot that sentence; it’s another to be so captured by Jesus that it becomes our biography. But this will never happen unless our eyes are opened to see His greatness. And with the Holy Spirit as our help, that’s what we are seeking to do with our book.

Len: What can I say but “Amen” to Frank.

Kenny: Thank you both for taking the time out to share some of your thoughts behind Jesus Manifesto.  I’m looking forward to seeing the conversations that will undoubtedly emerge from the book release!

–
Jesus Manifesto: Restoring the Supremacy and Sovereignty of Jesus Christ (Thomas Nelson) releases Tuesday, June 1st and will be available on discount from Amazon.com that day.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from Thomas Nelson Publishers as a review copy. I was not required to write a positive review. Some of the links in the post above may be “affiliate links.” This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will add value to my readers. The opinions I have expressed are my own. 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.

The second one is a direct assault against the notion that church is plain boring, predictable and outdated.

Church does haven’t to be.  Nope, not at all if you care about it.

God is creator and creative.  So should you.

Our world has changed enough where the “normal” isn’t normal anymore.  You have freedom to change the rules in almost every corner of life these days.  You just have to decide to do it yourself.

And the only way to do it is to embrace creativity.

Are you thinking outside the box?  Are you taking what’s black and white and flipping it, turning it upside down?

I love how this video captures something that is a mundane as black and white line drawings and escalating it to something moving, beautiful, imaginative, and inspiring.

QUESTION: If you’re as reckless as you can be with your imagination, what’s the one area in your ministry that could use some creative injection? Take the risk and leave a comment below!

Sometimes the best tactic for effective ministry is a smile and learning (yes, learning!) how to laugh.

Are you enjoying what you’re doing?  Are you enjoying the time you spend with others?

Church can be fun.

Church should be fun.

Church is fun — if you let it be.

One of my long time axioms is: Take your work seriously, but don’t take yourself too seriously!

QUESTION: When was the last time you have a serious bout of laughter in church or while doing a ministry activity with others?

[I don't know about you, but at about 1:00 min and 2:10 into the video are some really "different" approaches to laughing I've never heard of before!]

NO!  Of course not…not at least to others!

But what about to yourself?   According to Dave Ramsey, most people are being dishonest. . . with themselves — about money and finances.

Financial honesty is something that many people — including Christians — need to face up to.   The good news is that the transformation to a life of integrity regarding money is something that can be learned. 10% knowledge, 90% behavior!

This past year, I had the chance to experience the Dave Ramsey in-your-face-no-holds-barred approach to bringing financial peace back into the picture for upright Christian living.  I led about 50 people through his 3-month Financial Peace University program locally.  For anyone that is struggling financially, hiding from their own debt, or just plainly confused about how to manage their finances, Dave Ramsey’s message is pretty solid.  After going through it all, it really was amazing to see that the life changes are real and for some, completely transformational.

The key to Ramsey’s teaching is a very concrete simplified system - that doesn’t assume you are debt free.  It is very practical and fully of direct commands for participants to do or not do.  Follow the formula, and you will become debt free. Seriously.

One of the tools I wish I had available when teaching the Ramsey system would have been a big fat compilation of FAQ’s regarding the various topics covered.

Voila.  It exists!  And this year, an updated version of the same title book has been released.  Dave Ramsey’s The Money Answer Book offers quick 1-page answers to the most common questions he gets from  participants and followers on his TV, Radio and FPU programs.

It is organized into the various categories Dave Ramsey focuses on in his overall teaching, including budget planning, saving for retirement or student tuition, or personal buying matters — even building wealth and charitable giving.  Each section has dozens of specific questions that are answered in a simple, succinct manner.

You won’t get the full picture reading this book cover to cover, but you will gain a better understanding of his view of personal finance management.  It’s an easy read because you can pick up the book and start at any chapter, any question.

Anyone that has been exposed to Ramsey’s mantras, whether in person at an FPU event, or through his various multimedia offerings, will immediately like this book.  It is easy to read and easy to understand.

If you are currently going through Ramsey’s envelope system or any other part of his money model, or need a quick refresher as a form of encouragement, I recommend The Money Answer Book for you.

QUESTION: Do you believe the Church should be teaching people how to manage their money?

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from Thomas Nelson Publishers as a review copy. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. 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.

A) in need of sleep

B) in need of funds

C) in need of a website to tell the world

Sorry pastors, I can’t do anything about your dreams for being able to actually find time to have dream aren’t real just yet! haha!

But here’s a generous offer to help you with the the last item on this list above — a free website to spread the word about your new ministry in town. . .

One of the better known church website companies is Site Organic, which offers a very dynamic content management system for church websites.  They ain’t super cheap if you are looking at absolute dollar figures, so most church plants can’t benefit from services from companies like SiteOrganic.  For example, their pricing ranges from $1,200 — $3,000 per year on a recurring basis.  That’s A BIG CHECK to write for most new church plants.

But what you do get is a very rich content management system that is capable of all the bells and whistles you see on the largest church and ministry websites on the web today.  Even their most affordable packages provide aesthetically pleasing designs — ones where you certainly won’t be embarrassed about in representing your church to the community you are investing in.

The GOOD NEWS here is that Site Oragnic is giving away their services for free to church planters.

As long as you have less than 300 people adults attending your church to date, and it’s been less than a year (or even before you launch your official first worship gathering), you’re all set to benefit from the free offer.

The fine print is that it’s technically not completely free.  You do have to pay a $99 start-up fee, which is basically aimed to weed out the freewheelers and anyone that isn’t seriously planting a church right now.  But the rest is really free.  You’ll get over $2,500 in free services with no obligation to continue at that package rate, nor at all period after the first year.

If you’re planting a church, this gives you some breathing room to establish your core community.

Assumably, if you’re church plant is even semi-successful, you will have gotten some sort of financial stability after another year of existence — at least enough to to have the beginnings of financial options so that you can decide what to do about your web presence.  If you’re church plant’s time is not meant to be in the here and now, you’ll know that too after another year from now and you won’t be in need of web services much longer at that point.

Having personally seen SiteOrganic being used live in the church website setting, I can say that you won’t be disappointed by this offer.  It’s one less thing to think about so you can focus on the more important tasks at hand in launching your ministry.  Enjoy!

QUESTION: Does your church currently use a 3rd party website service like Site Organic, or do an internally owned and managed website?

Please share your experience with other ministry leaders and leave a comment below!

The Entrepreneurship Initiative, a part of Redeemer’s Center for Faith and Work hosted the event up high above NYC at the new 7 World Trade Center.  It was the perfect site to engage in discussions about new creation, especially as we could see Ground Zero coming to life on one side of the building while the hustle and bustle of the city was alive and well on the other side.

The best part was hearing Tim Keller speak about “God’s Brand” .  . .

God’s brand is weakness and humility, and nothing can go up against it.

Dr. Keller has been a long time pillar for me in my own faith development and it is always good to be able to struggle with issues such as Gospel Entrepreneurship with Tim Keller in the same room.

I love the way in which Dr. Keller sees the identity of Redeemer must avoid the selfishness of secular culture but at the same time, the tribal nature of mainline denominational churches which can dominate any church’s DNA.

Check out this short video interview clip of Dr. Keller:

QUESTION: Are the stories and images your church projects trying to promote its own brand or God’s brand?

For those of us that have forgotten, the Haiti earthquake struck on January 12, 2010 at about 5pm.

While our memories and the news media have taken Haiti off the front burners, Hell sill exists in Haiti for millions of survivors.

Perhaps the next time you pay $1.85 for your Starbucks Grande Pike Peak Light and Sweet, you’ll remember that the average Haiti lives on less then $2 a day.

Do you remember Haiti?

A brother in Christ that I am privileged to know has not forgotten . . . Here’s a video from his mission team that just returned in April 2010. . .

Here’s 3 ways you can help Haiti right now, from right where you’re sitting:

The following organizations are accepting SMS donations in the US only. You text now, and it will be added to your cell phone bill the next month — almost all major carriers in the US support these one-time donations as of now:

• Send the text message “HAITI” to 90999 to donate $10 to Red Cross relief efforts
• SMS text “YELE” to 501501 to Donate $5 to Yele Haiti’s Earthquake Relief efforts
• SMS text “GIVE10″ to 20222 to donate $10 to Direct Relief

Some other ways to help Haiti are available online as well.

QUESTION: Would you be willing to lift up a 30 second prayer for the people in Haiti, RIGHT NOW?

I have two dozen or so Christian themed Twitter backgrounds that I’m preparing to release via the Tweeteratti Tuesday Free Christian Background Series here on Godvertiser.com.

It got me thinking about how more Xtians are starting to witness their faith to the Twitterverse and beyond with the simple effort of putting up Christ’s name out there for everyone to see via Twitter backgrounds.

King of Kings.

The One & Only.

Peacemaker.

Prince of Peace.

There are so many names for Jesus Christ.

What is the proper way to introduce Him to the world?

Here’s one suggestion that I have fallen in love with since Leonard Sweet put me onto it a couple of years ago.  Hope you are inspired too by it (and the response of the crowd is equally inspiring) - turn up the volume, play the video full screen . . . sit back and enjoy, unless you want to stand up and cheer:

QUESTION: THUMBS UP or THUMBS DOWN?

The other alternative is to repeat the back and forth and back and forth to the library where they house complete collections of commentary series, Bible encyclopedias and dictionaries.   But sometimes you find yourself playing hide and seek when you find that the one volume you need is missing from the shelf - either being used by someone, or waiting in a lonely corner of the library, waiting to be picked up and re-shelved.

I recently decided to take the Google-generation approach to initial research and have tried out the Anchor Yale Bible Dictionary on CD-ROM (yes people, software is still published on CD-ROMs in some parts of this world).

I must say that I was pleasantly surprised. . .You get all the text across all 6 volumes of hard-copy bound books in the Dictionary series at your fingertips.  Of course, the advantage of electronic resources is that so much of the cross-references are magically hyper-linked.  One click and you’ve jumped to the other book or Bible on the exact page you wanted.

Yes, yes, much of this type of content is available in Bible study software packages like Logos, Bibleworks and Accordance.  It’s just that I find most people still are not in the habit of thinking digital when it comes to reference collections, myself included.

I not only have immediate 24/7 access to the reference content I need, I don’t have to make another trip to the stacks or photocopies.

Here’s a short video that gives you a glimpse of how a 6-volume reference book translates 7,200 pages into the digital environment:

Added bonus I just found using the Anchor Yale Dictionary: When you copy/paste into your own document (Word, Powerpoint, etc) it automatically inserts a properly formatted bibliographic footnotes! Just that alone might have made it worth the time to test out the CD-ROM.

QUESTION: What is the ONE Bible reference resource you use most often (online or offline)? Please share your answer in the comment section of the blog.

If you’ve been on Twitter for a bit, you’re background probably hasn’t been changed recently.

Here’s your chance to throw up a fresh look for your Twitter backgdrop.

Just download the free Tweetback image and follow the instructions below to install it on your profile.

If you don’t like this one, there’s plenty of other free Christian Twitter Backgrounds available in our Twitteratti Tuesday Series. . .

RIGHT-CLICK>SAVE LINK AS… to DOWNLOAD this free background image

How to upload a custom background to your Twitter account:

1. Log in
2. In top navigation bar, click Settings (or go to http://twitter.com/account/settings)
3. Click the last settings tab, Design
4. Select a template, change your text and background colors, or upload your new background image
5. Save your changes!

QUESTION: HAVE YOU CHANGED YOUR TWITTER BACKGROUND MORE THAN ONCE IN THE PAST YEAR?

Hundley has written Will The World End in 2012 published by Thomas Nelson Publishers.  It’s a quick read at 154 pages, plus supplemental content like a study guide for groups reading this book together.  So when someone with these credentials and puts out a book about the coming Rapture in 2012, it peaks your attention.

At least it did mine.

The 2012 book turned out not what I expected it to be. . .

It is a systematic review of the “top 10″ apocalyptic theories (this ain’t that surprising when you learn that his PH.D is in Systematic Theology! hehe) that are “floating around” the Internet and mass culture according to the author.

The 10 separate chapters attempt to summarize and hypothesize each of the 10 theories (two of them are actually related, so it’s really 9…) in an unbiased fashion.  Hundley puts in a nice pithy conclusion at the end of each chapter giving you the “final answer” for each.  Surprisingly, there are some which he says are valid theories for the end of the world.

It was quite interesting to be exposed to some of the concepts behind the 2012 doomsday hysteria, such as the Reversal of Earth’s Magnetic Poles’ theory, or the one that claims we will collide with Planet X in 2012.   Or how the Mayan Calendar, whose culture has been deadly accurate in regards to astronomy, runs out on December 12, 2012.

To be fair and balanced, Hundley even throws in a chapter that covers Biblical Scripture-based predictions of the End of the World (think Isaiah, Zephanaiah, Joel, Nahum, and Malachi’s prophecies…and don’t forget NT references including Revelation).

I won’t spoil the ending of the book which gives a final assessment to the validity of all the claims and pinpoints which one(s) are real considerations for sane people (vs. people on psychadelic drugs as one theory is based upon apparently!).

But the punchline for the book is how Christians in particular should take in all these theories real or not.  And what we can or should be doing about it.

It is hard to read into these theories across the ten chapters without any bias from what you already think about the 2012 theories.  Hundley tries his best to provide the benefit of the doubt when he presents each one.  But you can’t help to think this can be taken as a bit patronizing if you are of the mind that these are all absurd.

I appreciated getting basic profiles about each theory just to know what some of the world is thinking out there.  It’s a good thing that author doesn’t spend too much time going deeply into each 2012 theory.  For me, it’s a good “airplane” read or “beach” book.  But if you don’t get to finishing the book until sometime in 2013, I wouldn’t worry too much about it!

QUESTION: HAVE YOU HEARD ABOUT 2012 THEORIES? WHICH ONES?

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from Thomas Nelson Publishers as a review copy. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. 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.”

That’s because The Voice is more of a retelling of the Bible for the new generation than a new academic translation of the text.   After the first time you sit down with the Voice Bible, you’ll notice some really distinctive devices that are used:

• screenplay formatting so that you know who’s talking and with what type of tone, attitude or force of message
• color-highlighted text to help readers follow along with what’s going on in the passage
  
• devotional commentary intentionally using modern day language and concepts
  
• explanatory book introductions and notes within chapters gives context and details normally found in footnotes - again put in plain English

The “translation committee” drew from traditional academic scholars, pastors, writers, musicians, poets, and other artists.  The collaborator list includes heavyweights such as Brian McLaren and Leonard Sweet.  They have the standard ivy tower theologians on the list too so that critics can be satiated, or at least rebuffed.  Because of this unusual cast of characters, the final product captures your attention from the first words you read aloud (which by the way is also one of the assumptions in the writing - that it will be read aloud in public settings similar to the oral tradition of the text) whether in public worship, in more intimate bible study groups, or even when you are reading it by yourself.

But sometimes it’s better to see it than hear it.  Here’s an example of just how differently The Voice audaciously retells the story:

THE VOICE TRANSLATION : John 3:16-17

¹⁶ For God expressed His love for the world in this way: He gave His only Son so that whoever believes in Him will not face everlasting destruction, but will have everlasting life. ¹⁷ Here’s the point. God didn’t send His Son into the world to judge it; instead, He is here to rescue a world headed toward certain destruction.

THE NRSV TRANSLATION : John 3:16-17

¹⁶ “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life. 17“Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.

See the difference? Personally, I found this translation refreshing.  While the publisher claims it is written so that it can easily be read aloud, I really like how The Voice is attentive to the reading experience. I did not find myself re-reading parts of a chapter over and over as I do sometimes with other translations.

The Voice Bible which Thomas Nelson sent to me as a review copy was a paperback with heavy off-white pages.  It is well laid out visually.  Even though it has screen play foratting, etc, it reads really well – not one verse at a time for reference, but read — as in sit down and read the book just as if it any of your other narrative books in your library.  And unlike the NIV, this translation is pretty accessible in the fact that it is available for 8 bucks on Amazon right now. (Supposedly all profits also go to missions-based activities/ministries too).

If you like The Voice NT, they are working on the OT translation as we speak.  In fact, you can get the [NT + Psalms + Proverbs] during the summer of 2010 (pre-orders already being taken).

Is this a replacement for your NRSV, ESV or RSV Bible?  Probably not just yet.  But is it a dynamic voice you should add to your casual Bible study praxis or study group discussions? Definitely YES.

QUESTION: What translation of the Bible do you own or carry with you?

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from Thomas Nelson Publishers as a review copy. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. 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.”

…Kind of like the Superbowl of Christian faith.

Holy Week. Lent. Good Friday. . . Easter. This is ground zero.

Some ministries plan elaborate spectacles and turn the sanctuary into an open house environment this one time each year.

This is definitely the easiest weekend all church members can invite a friend from work, school, family or even those strangers you have regular relationships with such as the security guard, bus driver, mail carrier, etc.

Why not take advantage of Easter claiming to be the happiest day of the year for Americans? Everything is in your favor.

Besides using the major US holiday as an easy conversation starter, do your people have easy ways to describe your church?  What style would you characterize the worship service to people who haven’t been to church in ages (or ever!)?  How can people describe the lead pastor or the sermon messages?  And are you aware of anything else people routinely have trouble with when bringing up church with friends or co-workers? It’s the little things that many people need help with — For example, the logistics of explaining service times, location, directions, etc can be daunting to bring up.

The question of the day is: Are you doing everything you can to make it easy enough for people to invite a friend?

Here’s a great mailer I received from Liquid Church which has always been consumed with being an outward-facing ministry:

It was a great reminder to invite someone to church. And the message on the back reinforced the simple message I can use to convey when doing so — which is aimed at helping to set expectations in an easy 1-2-3 format.

But the best part of this postcard invite-a-friend mailer was in the simple detail:

The card itself was perforated on one side with a pass-along mini-invitation card with all the basic information anyone would need to know about visiting Liquid.

This is a 5-star example of making it easy for church members to go out and invite a friend to church. Successful outreach follows the classic word of mouth marketing strategies — and this church marketing piece serves to provide tools to make it easier for people to share the message with others.

QUESTION: What does your ministry do to make it easier for members to invite others to church on Sunday?

The Doritos crowd-sourcing platform enabled Mosaic Church to gain an instantly wider audience because of broadcast TV’s reach.

Mosaic is not your regular local church — they have access to resources and funding which most other churches don’t.

You can get your church onto TV — even national TV — for as little as $150.00. SERIOUSLY.

But this video reveals something which got me pretty excited — because it really marries both worlds that I have been living in — online marketing via Google Adwords and church ministry.

Because of the targeting and control that enables you to select specific TV programs, this is going to become an increasingly interesting tool that could be an efficient means to spread awareness about your ministry or church to your greater local region.

Google Adwords allows advertisers to control geographic targeting right now to the point where I have been able to restrict exposure of my church advertising campaigns on Google to within 50 miles of our zip code.  If you are located outside of the target zone, you see our ads at all — and I won’t be charged at all.  The same type of geographic control when it is applied to TV ad buying over the Google Ad Network should make it even more enticing for churches.

Watch this video below to see the results of an experiment where they created a single 30-second ad and ran with a $150 ad spot budget:

QUESTION:  Does this make you MORE or LESS interested in church marketing to include TV ad campaigns for local churches?

Perhaps a resounding metaphor that clearly identifies what your organization is called to in our culture?  Or a visual icon other than a standard logo?

Mustard Seed Generation, led by Dr. Josephine Kim of Harvard with Pastor David Jung, sports a neat visual identity which takes it all and wraps it into the “1 > 99″ textual image.

It’s perfect for t-shirts — take a look!

What I love about this visual representation of Luke 15 is that it takes most people a minute or two to figure out what it is referring to and you can almost see the light bulb turn on over people’s heads.

The neat part about this design is that when you look closer, you’ll see the tiny repeating “lost lost lost lost” and “found found found found” overlapping the “1″ and “99″ on the shirt.

It takes time to find something that speaks to your organizations DNA through and through.  But when you get it, you’ll know and it is a powerful tool to represent all that your ministry is called to do.

Don’t you love it?  Way to go Mustard Seed Generation!

Do you have any neat examples of visual identities for you ministry?  Please share them with us below!

Our group is sitting down with Tim Keller over the next two months to go through The Prodigal God DVD-based study curriculum.  I’m excited since going through the book in a group will most definitely be different than my first read of the book when it first came out.

Our first group discussion already brought out some tangible thoughts and questions to chew on:  Just how do you know if you are really relying upon God for all your needs?  Repentance is a concept easily associated with the younger son’s position, but how can I come to a place of repentance for righteous living?  Do we all need to be able to identify with both sons? . . . and many more.  A lot of the questions started to veer towards how can I ensure that the Gospel is reflected in my life — my daily living?  It’s going to be a great study series for all of us.

But today, I have something to get even more excited about.

I found that latest DVD Bible Study curriculum put out by Tim Keller’s Redeemer Presbyterian Church — and it’s called: GOSPEL IN LIFE!

The materials include the Gospel in Life book by Tim Keller as well as an 8-lesson group study guide curriculum to go along with the book.

This is an intensive 8-session course on the gospel. It will the group members explore and understand how it is lived out in all of life—1st in your heart, 2nd in community, and 3rd out into the world. In each session, Timothy Keller presents a 10 minute teaching segment on the gospel. Session 1 opens the course with the theme of the city: your home now, the world that is. Session 8 closes the course with the theme of the eternal city: your heavenly home, the world that is to come. In between, you will look at how the gospel changes your heart, changes your community, and changes how you live in the world.

Each lesson is broken down into a little over 1 hour each:

• 10 Minutes: A summary of the previous session
• 20 Minutes: the actual Bible study
• 10 Minutes: A teaching video by Timothy Keller
• 25 Minutes: Discussion questions about the message
• 5 Minutes: An introduction to next session’s homework

Session 1: City - The World That Is

Session 2: Heart - Three Ways To Live

Session 3: Idolatry - The Sin Beneath The Sin

Session 4: Community - The Context for Change

Session 5: Witness - An Alternate City

Session 6: Work - Cultivating The Garden

Session7: Justice - A People for Others

Session 8: Eternity - The World that is to Come

QUESTION:  WHAT BIBLE STUDY CURRICULUM ARE YOU CURRENTLY USING IN YOUR SMALL GROUPS? If you have a link to the publisher’s page for it too, please feel free to share it here too!