If you want to get a pulse for how the world feels today; where life's issues can make us feel happy, sad, angry and so forth go to the creators of wefeelfine.org. They have created a tool that visually represents and aggregates by gender, age, weather, location and date what people are feeling. This project has great potential for advertising, research, and of course ministry focus.
Tags: feelings, wefeelfine, life
Here is a online service that is full of Christian news CNN style. Christianpost.com is an independent pan-denominational Christian media company that seems to be doing a good job at delivering current news surrounding Christianity in the world.
I found this great article on their site titled: "Americans' Confidence in the Church Nears All-Time Low". There are many reasons for this, but in my opinion its a direct correlation to the rise of the new postmodern thought in America. (Article)
Tags: Christian News, Post, Postmodern, Christian media, CNN
Today's news landscape is vast and troubling. Communication mediums have reached new heights for deliverance and consumption. One online service called "daylife" has created a new landscape to capture the news and put it in a context that really makes you think. It's a creative context that gives the listening and watching audience a view of what is popular in today's world of news corruption. (All news isn't bad) The platform seems to give one a glimpse of what God might see looking down on our dysfunctional stories.
I should also mention that they have a service where publishers can submit their stores to their news platform for readership. I'm sure there are some creative ministry possibilities or sermons that could be derived from the service.
Check out the labs and some of their innovative platforms.
( I especially like the Universe one ) http://universe.daylife.com/
Tags: daylife, universe, news, stories, corruption, communication, labs
It's becoming more and more popular and difficult for churches to find new locations to meet. Some of the reasons for this lie in the expense or lack of buildings to utilize for a worship service. This is why movie theaters are becoming popular places to lease. Most theaters are looking for additional income when not in use and will welcome churches with open arms. One organization that helps churches establish contacts or agreements is National Cinemedia. They help new or existing churches find a new place to setup and worship at popular theater locations. One success story to this model is the thriving National Community Church in Washington D.C. They were able to expand to four theater locations and still operate under one church umbrella.
Tags: theater, movies, NCC, washington d.c., cinemedia, cinema, worship, church
Online forums have been around a long time and until now the way you use them hasn't change as well. Tangler.com has created an easy free service to create live interactive forums on your website or blog. The setup and signup process is very easy and makes one think that forums are a new thing by putting a web 2.0 twist on it. This could be another way for ministries to create discussions around topics and instigate collaboration for their ministry.
Tags: Forums, Tangler, Live, Groups, Interactive, Discussion
My good friend David Posthuma just published a new book titled: "made for a mission" I haven't got my hands on a copy yet, but I'm sure it's going to be a good one. It looks to be designed to go along with the Assessme.org service, where one can take online assessments that helps one discover their uniqueness in the mission of Christ. I highly recommend the service to individuals and ministries. I believe he is running discounts on the new book, so take advantage of this new publication right away.
Tags: David Posthuma, assessme, mission, assessments, book
In the past I have mentioned services like askville.com where they provide a user driven question and answer collaboration portal or wiki. I thought I would mention one more that has risen to the top and seems to be the most popular at this moment. WikiAnswers.com is one of them that has been expanding their user base and content. This service like many similar services can have a huge impact and opportunity for ministries. It gives anyone the ability to ask a question about God or life in general and have many offer help or insight. There is a huge Religion/Spirituality category where many have already taken part. If you are using this service or others, leave a comment on how you might or are using this for ministry.
Tags: wiki, wikianswers, questions, answers, religion, spirituality, ministry
I’m sure you have heard about CRM (Customer Relationship Management) systems in the business world before. In the non-profit world there is not much out there to help out with membership, the customer equivalent. CiviCRM is an open source product that can help non-government, non-profits deal with donor management, fundraising, event registration, tracking and membership management. For those that are using Drupal or Joomla CMS, there are tools to interconnect into the content management system as well.
Tags: CRM CiviCRM Drupal Joomla CMS Non-Profits Fundraising Membership
I have a creative idea for ministry branding and ministry awareness. Join the annual Bullrun challenge. Get ministry sponsorship and race your favorite car to the finish line.
Last year I had the privilege of attending one of the Bullrun 2007 stops in Staunton, VA. It was impressive to see all of the exotic cars role into town with the Hollywood entourage.
Bulrun 2007 - Stonewall Jackson Hotel - Staunton, VA
Here is my idea: A pimped out Toyota Prius that beats the gas guzzlers to the finish line. I'm sure I can get "Green" sponsorship on this one. I would put my sponsors all over my car and my main sponsor would be my ministry. The entrance fee is $20,000 and of course you need a car. I still think this is a small price to pay when you will have nationwide media coverage. Most evangelistic series are well over $20,000 and are only impacting a small percentage of people.
Find out the details and rules.
WHEN: 20th June - 27th June 2008
WHERE: Calgary, Canada - Phoenix, USA
(If anyone would like to sponsor such an event or know of someone that could help,
see my contact information)
Can't you see the potential!!!
(Chrome Wheels, White exterior, lowered 2", trunk full of extra gas, dual exhaust with glass pipes, plus much more)
Tags: Bulrun, Race, Calgary, Canada, Phoenix, Prius, Toyota, Hollywood, Green, Environmental, Sponsorship, Ministry, Crusade, Evangelistic
Media, Staunton, Virginia, Stonewall Jackson, Hotel, Cars, Car Race, Automobile, Hybrid
With everything else on the web offering a LIVE feature, then why not Blogging. Coveritlive.com is probably the premier site to offer good live blogging. It works great during live events or meetings. I see more of use in the business world or for the commercial blogger's but I guess it would be useful for just about any type blog out there. The interactive features and the easy way to publish audio/video to the site allows Cover IT Live to add some excitement to most dry blogs out there. As far as ministry potential, this service could be used for conferences, sermons, religious events or just for the personal blogger's. I may give them a try some day myself.
Tags: live blogging, coveritlive.com, bloggers, events, live, blog
