Thoughts on 11/19/2010

Vision is foresight with insight based on hindsight. – George Barna

I am excited for the future. It includes graduation and the rest of life full of new adventures. I wonder what God will have in store for me?

Lately I have realized that I know so little. Do you ever find yourself feeling so out of place and lost? I have been feeling this way and I think that I am figuring out that God is trying to speak to me.

I have been telling Him that I can do it on my own, but He is getting my attention. I an realizing that He has so much more for me than I could imagine for myself.

These are my thoughts today. We will see what tomorrow brings.

Cool Business Cards

Check out these creative business cards:

10 Ways to Use the Internet to Reach Your Community

Is your church using the plethora of free resources available on the Internet to reach the community? If not, you are missing an exciting opportunity! It’s easy to use the Internet to connect with church members and the community if you know which tools to use.

Public Campus Ministry

One of the largest audiences to reach are young adults who are attending public colleges and universities.  Ron Pickell has a lot of expertise in this area and he recently lead out in a webinar that was sponsored by AdventSource.

If you haven’t checked out the recording of this webinar, I would highly recommend it.

Is Technology Handicapping Us?

This weekend I attended a technology ministry conference. The goal of the conference was to educate and equip churches with resources that they can use to spread the gospel.

I found myself getting into a bas habit of using my phone as a comfort blanket. I didn’t know anyone at the conference and instead of networking with people, I found myself seeking refuge in checking Facebook and texting on my phone. I began chastising myself for not inserting myself into the crowd. This led me to wonder is technology handicapping an entire generation? As a generation, we don’t thinly twice about friending someone on Facebook, but ask us to introduce ourselves to someone in a crowd and we hesitate.

My challenge to myself and to you is to take your eyes off of your gadgets and look around you at all of the REAL people in front of you. Engage with them, even though it might be scary.   

What I learned from Wendy Townley

Last week I went to a meeting of the American Marketing Association Chapter in Lincoln, Nebraska. The speaker was Wendy Townley, who wrote a book based on her blog entitled“Nerdy Thirty”. She talked about how we can use social media, including twitter, blogging, and facebook to promote events and products.

I decided that I would share a few ideas that I learned from Wendy:

1. Best Feature of Twitter and Facebook is the interaction created between organization and target audience.
2. Relationships are what matter. Marketing is all about building relationships.
3. Other people are probably talking about your church, school, or ministry on Facebook and Twitter. It is time to join the conversation!

You might be thinking how does this apply to my church, ministry, or school? Why do I need to get involved? In my opinion witnessing is all about the relationships. People are converted from online interested parties into visitors of your church, school, or ministry by the relationships that they build with you online. Keep this in mind as you develop your social media strategy.

If you are interested in Nerdy Thirty or Wendy Townley, check out twitter.com/nerdythirty or facebook.com/nerdythirty.

Giving Your Website A Face: Using Images To Make It Personal

Last week Adventist Church Connect (the company that I work with) had a webinar about the importance on using images to enhance your website. We discussed some guidelines for sizing and legality.

This webinar also gives you an idea of what the Content Management System that Adventist Church Connect uses looks like.