Creative Ministry http://swingthesickle.com/forum/ http://www.eblah.com en Eleven Months http://swingthesickle.com/forum/m-1208331263/ http://swingthesickle.com/forum/m-1208331263/#num1
Eleven Months

I've already bought the domain elevenmonths.org (currently just redirects to the forum), a teaser site will go up May 11, 2008, and the creative ministry will officially launch January 11, 2009. In the next few weeks, I'll be sharing how you, members of the StS community, can be involved in the Eleven Months leadership team.

The Eleven Months' Vision: Instill in Christians worldwide the importance of making Bible study a part of their daily routine. Regardless of previous unfulfilled commitments, any time of the year is a good time to pick up and read God's Word.

How to Accomplish the Eleven Month's Vision: "Read through the Bible in a year" plans have encouraged many people to read their Bible daily, but you know how New Year's resolutions go: By February, a lot of people have already fallen so far behind they've decided to wait until next year to give it another try. Of course, this is silly! There's no reason to wait. You can pick up where you left off any time. So what if you don't quite finish in a year? "Read through the Bible in a year" has just become a convenient excuse to put reading your Bible off for another year. Eleven Months will launch right before February with a "read through the Bible in eleven months" plan to offers those who have fallen behind a fresh start. Also, Eleven Months is a comical way of communicating there is nothing holy about reading through the Bible in a year: the important thing is to read your Bible everyday. The Eleven Months website will have a customizable plan that schedules Scripture passages to read the Bible in any time frame starting on any day of the year you choose.

So, gang, let's get started! I've created two possible logos. Which one do you think we should go with?





(In case you're wondering, the top one is Gnuolane and the bottom is Negotiate. Now that I've posted them, I realize how incredibly similar they look. Both logos were created with 100% Free Software: Ubuntu + GIMP.)]]> Wed, 16 Apr 2008 00:34:23 Matthew Google Makes You Smarter http://swingthesickle.com/forum/m-1203844811/ http://swingthesickle.com/forum/m-1203844811/#num1 Google TechTalks. Google regularly brings in special speakers to deliver lectures to their employees (kind of like chapel but at work). Then they put these lectures up on YouTube for the rest of us to enjoy. Right now they are up to 674 videos.

Ars Technica calls TechTalks perfect for the "chronically curious." Lifehacker says they will "improve your brain power." If you're the type of person who enjoys NOVA on PBS or watches the Discovery Channel, you will love TechTalks. Don't let the name "TechTalks" or the fact they're produced by Google fool you. TechTalks covers a wide array of topics. The intro of each video proclaims:

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Google TechTalks are designed to disseminate a wide spectrum of views on topics including Current Affairs, Science, Medicine, Engineering, Business, Humanities, Law, Entertainment, and the Arts.


Of course, some of the lectures are better than others. Yes, Google brings in experts within these fields to deliver the lectures--sometimes "the expert" on that topic. It doesn't matter how much of an expert someone is, some speakers are simply more interesting than others. And Google does bring in many speakers who are not only brilliant but also great communicators. Your enjoyment of a video will also depend on how interested you are in that topic. I'm sure you'll love videos I'd fall asleep during and vice versa.

I know it may be difficult for our multimedia-infused, 30-second clip junky culture to watch a 45-60 minute lecture. I'd encourage you to check a couple out though. Most of them are genuinely interesting, and you are becoming more knowledgeable. That's not something you can say about most of the video clips people watch on YouTube. I wouldn't recommend trying to watch through all the lectures. That's not going to be beneficial, and at 674 videos, I'm not even sure possible. Pick a topic that interests you--that you want to learn more about.

Now why did I post this under "Creative Ministry"? I think this is an excellent idea for a church. A church could bring in theologians, church leaders, and biblical scholars to deliver lectures and then post the lectures to YouTube.]]> Sun, 24 Feb 2008 01:20:11 Matthew Church of the Wired http://swingthesickle.com/forum/m-1195345868/ http://swingthesickle.com/forum/m-1195345868/#num1
Church of the Wired]]> Sat, 17 Nov 2007 16:31:08 Matthew Cheap Marketing Ideas for Churches http://swingthesickle.com/forum/m-1194907337/ http://swingthesickle.com/forum/m-1194907337/#num1
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4. Visit businesses and "work" the crowds (elevators, lunch room, etc)
Establish some contact with a few of your friends who work in larger companies and do lunch together in the big lunch room or cafeteria. Or if you're looking for the college crowd, do the same thing there. Don't be all about getting people to church on the weekend, be all about being with people. There's a concept.


From Lessons In Not Sucking: Cheap Marketing Ideas for Church Planters on the Church Marketing Sucks blog.]]> Mon, 12 Nov 2007 14:42:17 Matthew Bible Teaching vs. Spiritual Growth http://swingthesickle.com/forum/m-1194907065/ http://swingthesickle.com/forum/m-1194907065/#num1 Things I Want to Know About My Staff 1 (of 4)

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As a young pastor, I don’t remember many people taking an interest in my personal spiritual life. My pastor was phenomenal at teaching us the Bible (and for that I’m forever grateful). But most of my early mentors didn’t help me develop my own disciplines for spiritual growth.

When I meet with staff members, I want to know how they’re doing spiritually.
]]> Mon, 12 Nov 2007 14:37:45 Matthew