I changed my Twitter profile background graphic the other day again.

I have two dozen or so Christian themed Twitter backgrounds that I’m preparing to release via the Tweeteratti Tuesday Free Christian Background Series here on Godvertiser.com.

It got me thinking about how more Xtians are starting to witness their faith to the Twitterverse and beyond with the simple effort of putting up Christ’s name out there for everyone to see via Twitter backgrounds.

King of Kings.

The One & Only.

Peacemaker.

Prince of Peace.

There are so many names for Jesus Christ.

What is the proper way to introduce Him to the world?

Here’s one suggestion that I have fallen in love with since Leonard Sweet put me onto it a couple of years ago.  Hope you are inspired too by it (and the response of the crowd is equally inspiring) – turn up the volume, play the video full screen . . . sit back and enjoy, unless you want to stand up and cheer:

QUESTION: THUMBS UP or THUMBS DOWN?

Whenever I am doing exegetical work on Scripture passages, it becomes painfully aware how short my bookshelves are in length.  It makes you want to go to one of those massive theological book sales and buy out the whole place – especially when books are only $5/all you can fit into a box.  But I wouldn’t even have a place for all those books to live in my home library.

The other alternative is to repeat the back and forth and back and forth to the library where they house complete collections of commentary series, Bible encyclopedias and dictionaries.   But sometimes you find yourself playing hide and seek when you find that the one volume you need is missing from the shelf – either being used by someone, or waiting in a lonely corner of the library, waiting to be picked up and re-shelved.

I recently decided to take the Google-generation approach to initial research and have tried out the Anchor Yale Bible Dictionary on CD-ROM (yes people, software is still published on CD-ROMs in some parts of this world).

I must say that I was pleasantly surprised. . . Read the rest of this entry »

It’s been awhile since we posted a freebie twitter background. . .since Valentine’s Day.

If you’ve been on Twitter for a bit, you’re background probably hasn’t been changed recently.

Here’s your chance to throw up a fresh look for your Twitter backgdrop.

Just download the free Tweetback image and follow the instructions below to install it on your profile.

If you don’t like this one, there’s plenty of other free Christian Twitter Backgrounds available in our Twitteratti Tuesday Series. . .

RIGHT-CLICK>SAVE LINK AS… to DOWNLOAD this free background image

How to upload a custom background to your Twitter account:

1. Log in
2. In top navigation bar, click Settings (or go to http://twitter.com/account/settings)
3. Click the last settings tab, Design
4. Select a template, change your text and background colors, or upload your new background image
5. Save your changes!

QUESTION: HAVE YOU CHANGED YOUR TWITTER BACKGROUND MORE THAN ONCE IN THE PAST YEAR?

Raymond Hundley is a a PH.D, former youth pastor, seminary professor, missionary and more.  His bio lists Asbury Theological Seminary and Trinity Evangelical Divinity School.

Hundley has written Will The World End in 2012 published by Thomas Nelson Publishers.  It’s a quick read at 154 pages, plus supplemental content like a study guide for groups reading this book together.  So when someone with these credentials and puts out a book about the coming Rapture in 2012, it peaks your attention.

At least it did mine.

The 2012 book turned out not what I expected it to be. . . Read the rest of this entry »

Just got my hands on the world’s latest Bible translation of the New Testament: The Voice from Thomas Nelson Publishers – in joint production with the Ecclesia Bible Society, headed by Chris Seay.  For the academics and Bible nerds out there, be warned, you’re in for a ride.

That’s because The Voice is more of a retelling of the Bible for the new generation than a new academic translation of the text.   After the first time you sit down with the Voice Bible, you’ll notice some really distinctive devices that are used:

• screenplay formatting so that you know who’s talking and with what type of tone, attitude or force of message
• color-highlighted text to help readers follow along with what’s going on in the passage
  
• devotional commentary intentionally using modern day language and concepts
  
• explanatory book introductions and notes within chapters gives context and details normally found in footnotes – again put in plain English

The “translation committee” drew from traditional academic scholars, pastors, writers, musicians, poets, and other artists.  The collaborator list includes heavyweights such as Brian McLaren and Leonard Sweet.  They have the standard ivy tower theologians on the list too so that critics can be satiated, or at least rebuffed.  Because of this unusual cast of characters, the final product captures your attention from the first words you read aloud (which by the way is also one of the assumptions in the writing – that it will be read aloud in public settings similar to the oral tradition of the text) whether in public worship, in more intimate bible study groups, or even when you are reading it by yourself.

But sometimes it’s better to see it than hear it.  Here’s an example of just how differently The Voice audaciously retells the story:

THE VOICE TRANSLATION : John 3:16-17

¹⁶ For God expressed His love for the world in this way: He gave His only Son so that whoever believes in Him will not face everlasting destruction, but will have everlasting life. ¹⁷ Here’s the point. God didn’t send His Son into the world to judge it; instead, He is here to rescue a world headed toward certain destruction.

THE NRSV TRANSLATION : John 3:16-17

¹⁶ “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life. 17“Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.

See the difference? Personally, I found this translation refreshing.  While the publisher claims it is written so that it can easily be read aloud, I really like how The Voice is attentive to the reading experience. I did not find myself re-reading parts of a chapter over and over as I do sometimes with other translations.

The Voice Bible which Thomas Nelson sent to me as a review copy was a paperback with heavy off-white pages.  It is well laid out visually.  Even though it has screen play foratting, etc, it reads really well – not one verse at a time for reference, but read — as in sit down and read the book just as if it any of your other narrative books in your library.  And unlike the NIV, this translation is pretty accessible in the fact that it is available for 8 bucks on Amazon right now. (Supposedly all profits also go to missions-based activities/ministries too).

If you like The Voice NT, they are working on the OT translation as we speak.  In fact, you can get the [NT + Psalms + Proverbs] during the summer of 2010 (pre-orders already being taken).

Is this a replacement for your NRSV, ESV or RSV Bible?  Probably not just yet.  But is it a dynamic voice you should add to your casual Bible study praxis or study group discussions? Definitely YES.

QUESTION: What translation of the Bible do you own or carry with you?

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’s Easter weekend!

…Kind of like the Superbowl of Christian faith.

Holy Week. Lent. Good Friday. . . Easter. This is ground zero.

Some ministries plan elaborate spectacles and turn the sanctuary into an open house environment this one time each year.

This is definitely the easiest weekend all church members can invite a friend from work, school, family or even those strangers you have regular relationships with such as the security guard, bus driver, mail carrier, etc.

Why not take advantage of Easter claiming to be the happiest day of the year for Americans? Everything is in your favor.

Besides using the major US holiday as an easy conversation starter, do your people have easy ways to describe your church?  What style would you characterize the worship service to people who haven’t been to church in ages (or ever!)?  How can people describe the lead pastor or the sermon messages?  And are you aware of anything else people routinely have trouble with when bringing up church with friends or co-workers? It’s the little things that many people need help with — For example, the logistics of explaining service times, location, directions, etc can be daunting to bring up.

The question of the day is: Are you doing everything you can to make it easy enough for people to invite a friend?

Here’s a great mailer I received from Liquid Church which has always been consumed with being an outward-facing ministry:

It was a great reminder to invite someone to church. And the message on the back reinforced the simple message I can use to convey when doing so — which is aimed at helping to set expectations in an easy 1-2-3 format.

But the best part of this postcard invite-a-friend mailer was in the simple detail:

The card itself was perforated on one side with a pass-along mini-invitation card with all the basic information anyone would need to know about visiting Liquid.

This is a 5-star example of making it easy for church members to go out and invite a friend to church. Successful outreach follows the classic word of mouth marketing strategies — and this church marketing piece serves to provide tools to make it easier for people to share the message with others.

QUESTION: What does your ministry do to make it easier for members to invite others to church on Sunday?

This year’s SuperBowl became the laboratory for a church experiment without many people know about it.

The Doritos crowd-sourcing platform enabled Mosaic Church to gain an instantly wider audience because of broadcast TV’s reach.

Mosaic is not your regular local church — they have access to resources and funding which most other churches don’t.

You can get your church onto TV — even national TV — for as little as $150.00. SERIOUSLY.

But this video reveals something which got me pretty excited — because it really marries both worlds that I have been living in — online marketing via Google Adwords and church ministry.

Because of the targeting and control that enables you to select specific TV programs, this is going to become an increasingly interesting tool that could be an efficient means to spread awareness about your ministry or church to your greater local region.

Google Adwords allows advertisers to control geographic targeting right now to the point where I have been able to restrict exposure of my church advertising campaigns on Google to within 50 miles of our zip code.  If you are located outside of the target zone, you see our ads at all — and I won’t be charged at all.  The same type of geographic control when it is applied to TV ad buying over the Google Ad Network should make it even more enticing for churches.

Watch this video below to see the results of an experiment where they created a single 30-second ad and ran with a $150 ad spot budget:

QUESTION:  Does this make you MORE or LESS interested in church marketing to include TV ad campaigns for local churches?

Do you have a life verse?  What about for your ministry?

Perhaps a resounding metaphor that clearly identifies what your organization is called to in our culture?  Or a visual icon other than a standard logo?

Mustard Seed Generation, led by Dr. Josephine Kim of Harvard with Pastor David Jung, sports a neat visual identity which takes it all and wraps it into the “1 > 99″ textual image.

It’s perfect for t-shirts — take a look!

What I love about this visual representation of Luke 15 is that it takes most people a minute or two to figure out what it is referring to and you can almost see the light bulb turn on over people’s heads.

The neat part about this design is that when you look closer, you’ll see the tiny repeating “lost lost lost lost” and “found found found found” overlapping the “1″ and “99″ on the shirt.

It takes time to find something that speaks to your organizations DNA through and through.  But when you get it, you’ll know and it is a powerful tool to represent all that your ministry is called to do.

Don’t you love it?  Way to go Mustard Seed Generation!

Do you have any neat examples of visual identities for you ministry?  Please share them with us below!

This week, my bible study group kicked off a new 8-week series.

Our group is sitting down with Tim Keller over the next two months to go through The Prodigal God DVD-based study curriculum.  I’m excited since going through the book in a group will most definitely be different than my first read of the book when it first came out.

Our first group discussion already brought out some tangible thoughts and questions to chew on:  Just how do you know if you are really relying upon God for all your needs?  Repentance is a concept easily associated with the younger son’s position, but how can I come to a place of repentance for righteous living?  Do we all need to be able to identify with both sons? . . . and many more.  A lot of the questions started to veer towards how can I ensure that the Gospel is reflected in my life — my daily living?  It’s going to be a great study series for all of us.

But today, I have something to get even more excited about.

I found that latest DVD Bible Study curriculum put out by Tim Keller’s Redeemer Presbyterian Church — and it’s called: GOSPEL IN LIFE!

The materials include the Gospel in Life book by Tim Keller as well as an 8-lesson group study guide curriculum to go along with the book.

This is an intensive 8-session course on the gospel. It will the group members explore and understand how it is lived out in all of life—1st in your heart, 2nd in community, and 3rd out into the world. In each session, Timothy Keller presents a 10 minute teaching segment on the gospel. Session 1 opens the course with the theme of the city: your home now, the world that is. Session 8 closes the course with the theme of the eternal city: your heavenly home, the world that is to come. In between, you will look at how the gospel changes your heart, changes your community, and changes how you live in the world.

Each lesson is broken down into a little over 1 hour each:

• 10 Minutes: A summary of the previous session
• 20 Minutes: the actual Bible study
• 10 Minutes: A teaching video by Timothy Keller
• 25 Minutes: Discussion questions about the message
• 5 Minutes: An introduction to next session’s homework

Session 1: City – The World That Is

Session 2: Heart – Three Ways To Live

Session 3: Idolatry – The Sin Beneath The Sin

Session 4: Community – The Context for Change

Session 5: Witness – An Alternate City

Session 6: Work – Cultivating The Garden

Session7: Justice – A People for Others

Session 8: Eternity – The World that is to Come

QUESTION:  WHAT BIBLE STUDY CURRICULUM ARE YOU CURRENTLY USING IN YOUR SMALL GROUPS? If you have a link to the publisher’s page for it too, please feel free to share it here too!

As many of the readers here at Godvertiser.com know, a big part of my background over the past decade has been in the strategic marketing / e-marketing arena.

I am currently in the midst of refining a new offering within Big Click Syndicate LLC, my consulting and coaching business — aimed at pastors, churches, ministries and non-profit organizations.

While I tinker with how the specific offering will be structured, I have decided to offer some free professional website audits to this target audience.

The twist with the website audit is that I would record it via a video screencast (which is a fancy term for a video recording of my narration while the computer activity on the monitor is recorded for the video) and publish it here on Godvertiser.com for others to benefit from some of the things I choose to highlight.  If will offer specific critique and a wide range of suggestions regarding user experience, branding, online marketing and website search engine optimization.

So here’s where I need your help: Would you be willing to let your ministry/organization website be a quick video case study for online church marketing?

Just fill out this free professional website audit request form.

QUESTION: ARE YOU HAPPY WITH YOUR ORGANIZATION’S CURRENT WEBSITE?  Yes or No?