Month: November 2007

  • Saturday Tunes

    Saturday_tunes_2Today is a semi-busy day for me as I have lots of little things to do for next week, an event tonight for Light Force, a video to finalize for baptism tomorrow,
    and of course… spend time with my family on my "day off." At any rate, here are the next 10 songs pumping between my ears as I PhotoShop the morning away.
    As always, no cheating and ratings are included.

    1. Broken Cup by Sandra McCracken ****
    2. Sing Like the Saved by David Crowder Band *****
    3. Flowers (For Molly) by Jason Harwell ****
    4. We are broken by Paramore ****
    5. Forever You by Vineyard UK *****
    6. Outro by Jake Smith ****
    7. New Creation by Tree63 ****
    8. Oh the Glory of It All by David Crowder Band *****
    9. All Blues by Miles Davis *****
    10. Vertigo by U2 *****

  • First Semester Spanish Love Song

    I was just going to put this on my "shared links" to the left, but this is so good I want to make sure you watch it. This makes two funny videos in a row for those who are keeping track at home.

    This is also a good time to remind my audience that I got a D- in Spanish at Moody. Second semester I applied myself more and got a D. I’m happy to report I can translate all of these silly statements.

    HT to ysmarko

  • If Good is the Enemy of Best, What is This?

    Janet Jackson eat your heart out.

  • Circles and Facebook

    FacebookI’ve spent a fair amount of time talking about Facebook this week. It’s truly amazing to me the connections I’ve been making.

    Kristen’s dad wrote a book called "Circles of Blessing" where he describes their missionary story in Indonesia, his dreams for one day reaching into Soviet Russian, and God’s annoying habit of doing amazing things because you are simply faithful to His Word and calling.

    Thanks to Facebook and taking some seminary classes I’ve been able to paint a beautiful picture of something God did simply because I was faithful to His Word way back in 12th grade.

    I really got on fire for the Lord in 11th grade while living in Germany. But some circumstances led to my
    coming back to the U.S. and re-entering the school that I grew up going to for my senior year. That’s where the story takes some twists.

    (more…)

  • Web 2.0 ministry in a Web 1.0 church

    Web20workshopLess than a week away until I head down to Atlanta for the National Youth Workers Convention. Among the myriad of things I’m excited about (having a booth for YMX, seeing dozens of friends, fantastic time of worship and renewal, a road trip with Todd, making new friends) I am also pumped about an opportunity I have to lead a discussion at one of the Late Night Options.

    My topic… I hope some people even show up… has a nerdy title but is actually going to be quite relevant to youth workers as they learn to get better at interacting with their students using the internet and internet devices.

    Here are 3 reasons I think my 1 hour session is worth coming to

    1. Most youth ministries are not doing a good job interacting with their students on students internet turf.
    2. Most youth pastors, as savvy as they are, have no idea how to use Web 2.0 utilities.
    3. Most youth pastors need more information to convince their bosses that internet ministry can be an effective means of reaching the students of their communities. If nothing else, using some web 2.0 tools will make their communications with students more effective and faster.

    If you are planning to attend, you can RSVP here. All of the notes, videos, and other stuff will appear right here on my blog.

    (more…)

  • Kidnap a Gnome This Saturday


    Kidnap a Gnome promo, originally uploaded by mclanea.

    This is in a couple of nights and I’m geeked about it. I’ve been doing this about 10 years and I’ve learned that sometimes the simplest events are the most fun. I hope that’s the case here.

  • MainStreet Love

    Construction_webLast night’s MainStreet rocked. I’ll say it again… "The process is scary but the product is great." Going into the night I was convinced that it was going to be a disaster, but I was horribly wrong. It may have been our best yet.

    The thing I like most about it was that the game after the production was perfect for the night and the snack… divine! (Chocolate covered pretzels shaped like tools) I felt like Hannibal on the A-Team, "I love it when a plan comes together." Minus the cigar, please.

    There are so many good things happening at Romeo right now, it’s really hard to accurately describe them all. MainStreet is definitely head of that class.

  • From China, With Love

    Backdrop_mock_up_v4Yesterday the display arrived for YMX.This is the backdrop for our booth at the NYWC in Atlanta.

    This thing is sweet, it’s 8 feet tall and 9 feet wide and (so far) looks good. The only problem is that I ordered it from a printer in California and the shipment arrived from Beijing, China. You’ve got to love outsourcing sometimes.

  • YMX Featured on Gospel.com

    Ymx_debut_2Yesterday I posted about all that I liked about the new website, gospel.com. Well, the love is obviously two-way as YMX was very well-featured on the debut day of Gospel.com. We appeared as a "featured ministry" on the main page and here on the ministries page.

  • USA Today: Go in search of a church by way of the Web

    I get a lot of blank stares when I talk about the importance of the internet when it comes to a local church ministry. Even some people at our church will openly wonder, "Why are we using the internet so much? Why is it so important?"

    Well, USA Today has an excellent article about the connection between people checking out the church and them checking it out online.

    Instead, observers say, they’re visiting
    church websites and evaluating congregations often without having
    actually met anyone at the church. And that has some church people
    worried that the practice of faith is getting ever more impersonal
    and consequently less powerful in an age driven by efficiency and
    impatience.

    Church shoppers "used to have to go to the service,
    sit in the back row and watch," says Tom Bandy, president of EasumBandy
    & Associates, a church consultancy. "The website has just replaced
    that. The color schemes, the formatting, the language, the music those things powerfully reveal who they (in the church) want to come
    there and who’s going to be accepted there."     Story

    HT to Church Marketing Sucks