Spring is in the air! After over 70 inches of snowfall around here this winter, I’m ready for spring.

Even though there’s still melting snow in our driveway, it’s time to get busy with spring time activities — including some spring cleaning.

So today, I decided to clean house a bit…online. And the first place to attack was one of my Twitter accounts. There are many different strategies for who to follow or followback. But one rule that’s probably agreeable to most is to remove people from your follow list that are inactive or MIA from Twitter.

I personally like UnTweeps.com since it lets you filter your Twitter Follow list for people who haven’t sent out a tweet in ____ days.

If you really want to be conservative, you can try something like 180 days (no activity in 6 months kind of makes them as good as any other non-user, right?). But I go for the 30 day threshhold and see how many come up.

In one fell swoop you can chop off dozens and dozens if not hundreds and hundreds of inactive twitter accounts from your follow list. While some people might want to hang on to everyone on their list, this actually does help your twitter friend ratio of following to follower ratio which is used by some measurement apps out there.

AHHHH….that feels better.

TOOLS THAT RULE:  UnTweeps.com

Everyone pretty much knows how stinky-winky the NIV Bible can be because of copyright issues.  Yuck.

It’s not like the King James version, whose text we can use freely anywhere, whenever we want. Nope, the using the NIV means you’re up against all the commercial interests of the entity behind that very popular translation.

So can you imagine my excitement to hear that for a limited time only – during a specific 400 hours to be exact – I’ll be able to download the entire NIV legitimately to my iPhone this coming weekend.

Yup, YouVersion has done it again to provide great value, accessibility and practicality by striking the deal.

Here’s the details to get the New International Version of the Holy Bible to go with you wherever, whenever you want on your iPhone. . .

. . .a special 400-hour promotion made possible through a partnership with Biblica and Zondervan. Exclusively through the Bible App™ you’ll be able to download the New International Version (NIV) using an iPhone, iPad, iPod touch or Android device…absolutely free. Downloading the NIV means you’ll be able to read it anytime, anywhere—even when you can’t connect to your service provider or the Internet, and after the 400 hour promotion is over. This special offer only lasts for a limited time, starting THIS SATURDAY, February 12, at 8:00 PM Eastern and ending at 12:00 p.m. EST on Tuesday, March 1, marking the first availability of the NIV update in print.

All you have to do is go into the YouVersion HOLY BIBLE APP and follow these three steps:

QUESTION: What Bible have you been relying upon on your iPhone, Droid or smartphone?  And will you be downloading this free NIV Bible during this next week?

The viral spread of social media is one of the most obvious indicators of the break-neck pace of cultural change.

For many pastors already trying to cram 25 hours into a single 24 hour day, social media poses a range of dilemmas. . .

Do I use social media at all?

Is it merely a distraction?

Is it a legitimate way to reach and shepherd people?

Am I too enamored with it…or too resistant to change?

Wherever you fall on that spectrum, here are a few thoughts to fuel your pursuit of balanced answers.

Top 5 Reasons Pastors Should NOT Use Social Media:

1. Everybody else is doing it.

There is nothing more miserable then watching someone who isn’t interested in facebook, twitter, or blogging using the social application out of duty or a need to keep up with the guy down the street. They don’t want to use the application and have no plan. They simply throw stuff on the wall and hope it sticks.

If you can’t find an internal and healthy motivation, don’t fake it.

2. Brand “Me”.

In the age of Pastor as entrepreneur/CEO/rock star, it’s worth asking yourself if you are using social media to promote yourself or elevate your own profile.

If your gut tells you this is part of your motive for using social media, don’t do it.

3. Quick Fix.

Just because you’re tweeting, facebooking, and blogging, doesn’t mean all your church problems are solved (i.e. bigger crowds, more baptisms, and more revenue). Social media is not the silver bullet, even for better communication.

While we are at it…there is no silver bullet.

5. Creating Noise.

People don’t care that you almost ran over a squirrel on your commute this morning. Well, maybe the animal lover in your church cares, but you aren’t earning any points there. Be a good steward of your followers’ time. If you are going to post something, make sure it has value (see below). It’s fine (even good) to be whimsical and fun as you develop a sense of what you’re doing. Just don’t let meaningless banter become the norm. People will notice, and you’ll find yourself wasting a lot of time.

If you are just creating noise, don’t do it.

5. Distraction.

This is probably the most important reason you should not use social media. It can be a total time suck. Listen, your congregation (and your social media friends and “followers”) need you to be a lover of God and a shepherd of people.

If social media is just one more thing that will distract you from the things that matter most, don’t do it.

This guest post was shared with us by Paul Loyless, the President of d2design (formerly Details Direct). d2design is faith-based church branding organization that excels in helping small churches and church plants communicate clearly.  You can find more of Paul’s thoughts on his blog at: http://blog.d2design.com or on Twitter @d2design

Part of effective ministry work is learning how to maximize your efficiency.

There’s tons of angles on this topic, but one of them is to find the right tools that help you be your best.   As someone who wears the technologist hat at times, I am asked quite often about which iPhone apps people should download and utilize.

While I’d normally post this kind of content over on my personal technology tips blog, I’m going to try and share a selection of technology tools and resources I personally reply upon here on Godvertiser.com.  The hope is that you begin to reconsider your own workflow processes as you do your ministry work and strive to find iterative ways of improving your personal productivity.

So here goes, first in a series of posts sharing what works for me. . .

When you’re constantly on the go, it’s imperative to find ways to be productive when and where you can.  Being able to block out the world and focus on a task right in front of you is key.  Location is key.  But sometimes, you don’t have much of a choice.  Even Starbucks can become a party zone with chatter that distracts beyond belief — not the conceptual “break time” place you were hoping for when you walked in the door.

I’ve been using a white noise generator app on my iPhone for awhile now, and it’s one of my most used utilities.  In fact, I turn to it almost on a daily basis because it really helps me mentally drown out all environmental distractions and just focus.

The paid version is awesome with 40 different sounds and mixing capablities, but White Noise LITE is good enough with 10 free background noises.  You can adjust pitch, volume, balance, etc.

If you need some zzz’s and are using the white noise app to zone out completely, you can set a sleep timer to shut off automatically after a period of time.

There’s even a digital clock that you can put on the screen while you are listening so that you have a clue as to how long you’ve been in another world.

They have versions for the other major mobile platforms in addition to the iPhone/iPad iOS – Android, Crackberry, Palm, and Window Mobile. Here’s a video that gives you a peek at the app directly:

I personally find the Crashing Waves and Rain sounds the best for my own use, but others like Airplane and Fan are good ones too.  There are 10 to try out and adjust.

At my desk, I’m running it right now through my iPhone dock sound system.  It really has upped my game when I want to sit down and work.

QUESTIONS:

(1) Have you ever used a white noise generator?

(2) What do you do or use to get focused when you sit down to work?

Please share your comments and suggestions below!

One of the biggest concepts we’ve covered already is that social media is here to stay.  The Church cannot ignore this growing part of any given individual’s daily routine.  Your people are using social networks to manage and grow their relationships right now.

The question then becomes, how do you integrate social media technologies and frameworks into the social fabric of the church or ministry?  Is it too early to try and adapt or integrate the social web into how we do church?

The answer is a clear no, it’s not too early.  In fact, the time is ripe to seriously embrace social media into the relationship and communications flow of your community.  And there are a bunch of options available that are ministry specific so that you don’t have to cobble together your own solution if you don’t want to.

Here’s one example: the Table Project. It’s a non-profit ministry group that is producing a robust, customizable social networking platform specific to churches. Take a look at this overview that covers the philosophy/approach to TableProject:

This video above leaves you wanting for a peek at the actual nitty gritty of the TableProject experience for users, right?

Here’s just one example of how the TableProject is utilizing mainstream social web assets so that users don’t have to adopt another entirely new social networking platform.  Your community members already know how to use these features, they’re comfortable with them, and by taking this approach, TableProject aims squarely at the problem of  adoption and usage uptake for any new system.

One of the strengths of this entry into the social networking platforms for churches market is how it integrates 3rd party sites and content. For example, you’ll find fluid use of Facebook, Twitter, blog RSS feeds, and other web apps.

Here’s another video covering some of the basic features inside the platform:

It’s not open source, but it’s free (for now). It’s certainly an interesting platform to consider for most ministries.

The question to ask would be just how customizable is it — especially for larger 1000+ person communities that usually need more tailoring to their communities’ needs in managing groups, sub-groups, etc.

QUESTION: Are you encouraged or discouraged after seeing potential solutions like TableProject?

Ravi Zacharias can be found on the bookshelves and airwaves across the country.  There’s good reason –  Zacharias is an associate professor at Oxford University.  His audiences have included the White House, the Pentagon, the British Parliament, writers of the peace accord in South Africa, the president’s cabinet and parliament in Peru, the Lenin Military Academy and the Center for Geopolitical Strategy in Moscow.  Zacharias has authored /edited twenty books, including Walking from East to West:(Zondervan, 2006), The Grand Weaver (Zondervan, 2007), Can Man Live without God (Word, 1994), was also awarded the Gold Medallion for best book in the category of doctrine and theology.  So his reputation certainly precedes him when picking up this book.

This time, he has pulled together an apologetics book for the masses.  The first third of the book taps six influential peers like Allister McGrath and John Lennox to address some of the questions that are relevant in today’s culture.  Topics of atheism, Islam, Eastern Religions and Natural Sciences are addressed.

In the second portion of the book, Zacharias assembled four chapters that deal with different facets of the apologetics discipline itself — such as cultural and philosophical challenges to the Christian faith.

The last section deals with spiritually grounding the discipline of apologetics for the lay person.  Here the reader is reminded: “We need to recognize the fact that there is one aspect of apologestics that involves presentation of truth, taking into account philosophy, history, science, arts and so on.  But there is another aspect of apologetics — the expression of love within the Christian community — that is the final proof that we are the disciples of the Lord Jesus (John 13:34-35; 15:9)”  pg. 249

Many people will pick up this book because they are familiar with the clarity of Zacharias’ preaching.  However, it must be noted that he authors only two chapters in the entire book.  The upside is that the reader is introduced to a variety of Zacharias’ peers that are equally skillful with the word.

In general, the tone of writing is a much more conversational one than some other apologetics resources.  In a way, this book can be used to firm up one’s faith and confidence vs. preparing to win opponents over through arguments or artful dialogue.

This book would be of value to most Christian readers, largely because most laity don’t usually encounter thoughtful discussion on the topics covered in the book.  It will help readers become better informed on general themes and responses that the Christian faith has for each circumstance.  However, it is questionable whether this particular resource would actually lend itself to preparing someone “defend” the faith they are living as the cover points to.

Here’s a video clip to give you a sense of the force behind Zacharias’ engagement with these subjects:

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.

It looks like the case for social media and the church can continue on a bit. . .In this post, I wanted to do two things: A) share some of the actual benefits of social media in a non-profit context. The social web has been hyped so much, so sometimes it is good to hear about real results. …and B) briefly address one of the most common questions asked by people and organizations that haven’t jumped into social media just yet, but understand that they need to sometime real soon. So here goes:

Beth Kanter, one of the gurus of non-profit social media strategy offers a model of the “networked nonprofit.” Kanter and her co-author Alison Fine argue that many non-profits are full of “firewalls” and bureaucracy that create stand-alone organizations.

But networked nonprofits end up looking more like social networks than like traditional organizations.  Open, simple, connected with other similar entities, transparent, successful.  One key take away is that taking on the new mental posture organizationally will enable and empower your organization to take on social media.

The bottom line?  . . . (more…)

It’s the end of the year, and I’m sure you are experiencing what I am experiencing in my email box.   I’m getting tons of them.  I’m spending way too much time figuring out which ones are important to read and which ones to ditch.  You know what I mean, right?

Usually the email goes something like this:

“Hi [FIRSTNAME HERE]! You’re such an important customer to us, and I, the CEO or leader of this organization, who has never ever communicated with you directly before until this moment, wanted to send you a personalized message of “Happy New Year” or “Merry Christmas” or plain old “Thanks For Being Our Customer.”  Sincerely yours, Big Wig.

That’s it?! Oh yes, some of these time sink emails come with fancy graphics.  Some send the basic message wrapped in a totally-too-long verbose message.  Some have the audacity to give you a clickable link to a video message that ends up being nothing more than  a waste of my time.  Just some silly Hallmark card without any purpose.

Why am I ranting about this all-too-popular tactic?  It’s because of a couple of important things.  While most of these examples of SPAM are coming from corporate and large nationwide organizations, the rules they violate are still in play for your church or ministry as well.  I hope you see what is wrong with these shallow end of year email blasts.  Because, when you send these types of emails, they trigger some really basic rules of engagement for email:

• Sending a “personal” email to someone you don’t personally know, is not being authentic. It’s more often received as an annoyance because you just forced the person reading it to figure out who you are and why they are reading your email right now.  You really should know that personal greeting cards’ online equivalent are still meant for interpersonal relationships.  If you don’t have a direct relationship with the recipient, please don’t spam them with generic greetings or mass emailed thank you notes.  You’re trivializing personal relationship development when you treat your supporters and community like just a name on a list.

• Emails without any valuable content or call-to-action weakens future responsiveness of your list. Each time you hit up your email list with a message, there should be something in it for the person receiving it or some kind of call-to-action that is aimed at a specific behavior from the reader.  The next time when you need them to actually pay attention to your email for a donation to your ministry or cause, the last thing they remember about you is that email-without-a-purpose which you sent them. How annoying. And what do you want them to do now?

• Emails that only act as a megaphone functions shows that you aren’t really interested in them. No one likes self-centered people who just want to talk about what they want, or just keep talking about anything and everything without figuring out if it interests you, or . . . you get it, right?  Your need to share your greeting or gratitude is great.  But stopping right there isn’t enough. Here’s one lesson my kids brought home from school: “Show, don’t just tell.”  Why not show me how you are grateful?  What special downloadable or viewable content have you prepared for me?  What kind of interaction can I have with you because you are thankful?  If you’re so “Merry” or “Happy” this time of year, what are some examples of things I did (or fellow supporters did) this past year that contributed to your success?  How about using this time to lavish upon your supporters?

• If you’re real purpose is to ask for a donation, making it an afterthought will let me think it the same way. If you have been monitoring your inbox and snailmail mailbox, you know that cause-related and ministry organizations use the end of year season to ask for financial support.  According to NetworkForGood, supporters are in the giving mode too with a whopping 22% of online donations being made in the last 2 days of December!  If you act casual or shy about your need, it must not be a critical need, right?  And with tons of other solicitations for my wallet, your ministry’s support requests are easy to push to the bottom of the list.  If you are going to ask for money, don’t be afraid to be upfront, clear about the need and why I should give now. It’s the least you can do to help me make an informed decision.

These are only some of the reasons why you should never send an anti-personal personalized email greeting to your list just because you can.  Am I missing anything?  Can you add to this list or give me some reasons why it’s ok to spam me like this? Show your vote of support or rebuttal in the comment section below.

Last time, I shared a video of the digital nativity story.

It has garnered a lot of press around the world because of its timely and smart execution.

Kudos to the Portual-based team that produced it.

Now, others are jumping on the bandwagon after all the buzz that’s been going around (that’s the power of social media, right?).

I present to you this time . . . A Facebook Christmas story. . .

While there are critics who’s knee-jerk reactions will be to shout out how shallow and trendy these versions are — I wonder if you really quizzed people, especially younger ones, about the actual storyline — would they be able to tell the story better before they saw these videos or afterwards?

I would be willing to bet that since this video is so contextualized to the Facebook generation, a good portion of the group would be able to reconstruct the basics of the storyline in much better fashion than through the accumulated exposure to all the Christmas plays at church over the year as they were growing up.

Take a look for yourself at this video:

QUESTION: Does this video tell the story well enough?

Contextualization.

Mobilization.

Social Media Nation.

Nativity.

Creativity.

Levity.

Merry Christmas.

HT: Jason Locy of FiveStone