Blogger is wonderful.....but I have found that I can do lots more with WordPress.
Go to my blog there: www.effectivechurchcom.com.
In my seminars I compare the two and I'm in the process of putting together a CD that will help you be more successful with WordPress.
Blessings to Blogger and it might be just perfect for you--check it out.
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
Saturday, July 12, 2008
In the midst of competing demands, keep your eye on the most important goal in church communication
Lesson 8 Nehemiah for church communicators
As I was reading through Nehemiah to get a picture of the whole story, I was struck by how many distractions Nehemiah had to face: ridicule that turned into vicious attacks; workers who wouldn't work, who were afraid and tired; dealing with poor people who had been unjustly treated; political schemes that stretched from Jerusalem to Babylon; corruption in ministry.
His situation reminded me of the reality of most church communicators today--that you do your job in the midst of many demands and distractions. Very few church communicators have the luxury of doing only church communications. Usually you are part of a multi-tasking church staff with answering the phone, dealing with emergencies, staff meetings and congregation crisis all being part of your daily job. In that we can take inspiration from Nehemiah because no matter what else he had to deal with, he never lost sight of his primary task: build the wall.
In church communications, the core motivation, inspiration, and reason for all I do and what I want to pass on to everyone who attends my seminars or reads my materials is that the primary task of our communications is to fully fulfill the Great Commission, to introduce people to Jesus as savior and to help them become mature disciples.
To fully fulfill the Great Commission is our true north. It is the measure by which we evaluate all our work.
There were many days that I'm sure Nehemiah was not able to concentrate totally on his task and days he felt little was accomplished. Yet, though side-tracked temporarily, he always returned to his goal.
For all of us, the challenge is similar. The phone rings, an emergency referral has to be made; a lonely person wanders by your office and you take time for a chat to comfort a hurting heart; a financial report needs to be finished--and you've still got the deadline to create an inspiring newsletter, both in print and online in the next few days.
I don't know why God doesn't protect us from these interruptions; why he doesn't allow us to do the work he called us to do without distractions. But he has decided to allow these things to enter our lives and like Nehemiah, if we keep our eyes on him, we can trust him to help us accomplish the tasks he's given us. Even more, if we keep our mind on our goal, he will use our communications to help people come to know him and become his mature disciples.
As I was reading through Nehemiah to get a picture of the whole story, I was struck by how many distractions Nehemiah had to face: ridicule that turned into vicious attacks; workers who wouldn't work, who were afraid and tired; dealing with poor people who had been unjustly treated; political schemes that stretched from Jerusalem to Babylon; corruption in ministry.
His situation reminded me of the reality of most church communicators today--that you do your job in the midst of many demands and distractions. Very few church communicators have the luxury of doing only church communications. Usually you are part of a multi-tasking church staff with answering the phone, dealing with emergencies, staff meetings and congregation crisis all being part of your daily job. In that we can take inspiration from Nehemiah because no matter what else he had to deal with, he never lost sight of his primary task: build the wall.
In church communications, the core motivation, inspiration, and reason for all I do and what I want to pass on to everyone who attends my seminars or reads my materials is that the primary task of our communications is to fully fulfill the Great Commission, to introduce people to Jesus as savior and to help them become mature disciples.
To fully fulfill the Great Commission is our true north. It is the measure by which we evaluate all our work.
There were many days that I'm sure Nehemiah was not able to concentrate totally on his task and days he felt little was accomplished. Yet, though side-tracked temporarily, he always returned to his goal.
For all of us, the challenge is similar. The phone rings, an emergency referral has to be made; a lonely person wanders by your office and you take time for a chat to comfort a hurting heart; a financial report needs to be finished--and you've still got the deadline to create an inspiring newsletter, both in print and online in the next few days.
I don't know why God doesn't protect us from these interruptions; why he doesn't allow us to do the work he called us to do without distractions. But he has decided to allow these things to enter our lives and like Nehemiah, if we keep our eyes on him, we can trust him to help us accomplish the tasks he's given us. Even more, if we keep our mind on our goal, he will use our communications to help people come to know him and become his mature disciples.
Monday, July 7, 2008
Do you know how your church communications works?
Lesson 7: Nehemiah for church communicators
Though Nehemiah risked his career on rebuilding the wall of Jerusalem and though the king himself had approved of the project and given him provisions to complete it, Nehemiah didn’t do anything until he had carefully and personally checked out the situation, as he records:
I went to Jerusalem, and after staying there three days I set out during the night with a few men. I had not told anyone what my God had put in my heart to do for Jerusalem. There were no mounts with me except the one I was riding on.
By night I went out through the Valley Gate toward the Jackal Well and the Dung Gate, examining the walls of Jerusalem, which had been broken down, and its gates, which had been destroyed by fire. Then I moved on toward the Fountain Gate and the King's Pool, but there was not enough room for my mount to get through; so I went up the valley by night, examining the wall. Finally, I turned back and reentered through the Valley Gate. The officials did not know where I had gone or what I was doing, because as yet I had said nothing to the Jews or the priests or nobles or officials or any others who would be doing the work (Nehemiah 2: 11-16).
Two key lessons and challenges from this passage:
Though Nehemiah risked his career on rebuilding the wall of Jerusalem and though the king himself had approved of the project and given him provisions to complete it, Nehemiah didn’t do anything until he had carefully and personally checked out the situation, as he records:
I went to Jerusalem, and after staying there three days I set out during the night with a few men. I had not told anyone what my God had put in my heart to do for Jerusalem. There were no mounts with me except the one I was riding on.
By night I went out through the Valley Gate toward the Jackal Well and the Dung Gate, examining the walls of Jerusalem, which had been broken down, and its gates, which had been destroyed by fire. Then I moved on toward the Fountain Gate and the King's Pool, but there was not enough room for my mount to get through; so I went up the valley by night, examining the wall. Finally, I turned back and reentered through the Valley Gate. The officials did not know where I had gone or what I was doing, because as yet I had said nothing to the Jews or the priests or nobles or officials or any others who would be doing the work (Nehemiah 2: 11-16).
Two key lessons and challenges from this passage:
- It is a leader’s responsibility to personally check out the reality of any challenging situation.
- In church communications, as a leader, you need to know exactly what your communications are or are not accomplishing. Do you really know?
For example, if you strongly believe in small groups and preach often from the pulpit on their importance, do you have any idea how people actually get signed up for them?
Is there a list in the bulletin? Does it have contact numbers, emails and complete location, date and time details for each one? Or does it have a totally non-productive phrase such as, “Call the church office for more information.” That phrase is sort of like all the garbage Nehemiah encountered as he surveyed the broken down walls of Jerusalem—nobody can get past it.
Or is the contact information on small groups on your website? If so, anonymously try to sign up or ask for information on small groups. Are you successful? How long does it take to get a response? Even if the website works well, how many people in your congregation have web access? Do you know? Or did you put the small group information on the website only because that is what some web expert advised you to do?
Web experts aside, no matter what the content, all church programs need more than one channel—print, web, newsletter, powerpoint, whatever, if they going to connect with all all the people who need them.
One more thing: before you make any changes or try new things, be sure you thoroughly know the condition of your current church communications—there may be a little bit or a whole lot of garbage that needs to be cleaned up.
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