Tag: blogs

Welcome to the blogging world :: Smiley & Shari

Our good friends Shari and Smiley are having fun with their new Mac and built a new website as well as a new blog.

This should be fun.

Check them out, say hello and enjoy!

And I’d be amiss if I didn’t mention that Laurie took many of the baby shower photos you can see on their website.

The best campaign website

Zephyr Teachout, writes that “Mike Huckabee’s campaign has the most effective online operation of any of the candidates.”

I think there are a lot of things folks can learn from this in any organization – especially in ministry.
I think each of these areas are ones that churches, ministries and other political candidates and organizations can put into play.
Here’s the highlights:

  1. He has the best use of video in the year that YouTube matteres the most. He is the only candidate consistently–every day–sharing user-created videos on his blog.
  2. He has done minor blogger outreach since April, to great effect; the twice-a-month phone calls with Huckabee and bloggers (homeschoolers, godbloggers, anyone who wanted to sign up)
  3. His blog has typos. This is not in itself a good thing, but evidence of a good thing. A website is not a candidate, and it is not a flyer, but most people encounter websites more like they do an individual than they do a flyer–does it excude some authenticity, does it actually attempt to communicate, or does it try to shut down any conversation except “My candidate is the bees knees.”
  4. His website is not a Stepford Site. It has big buttons that are about making it easy for users, not slick presentation that are about making it impressive for the webteam.
  5. He encourages independent action. He encourages people to go to Meetup. He encourages the growth of Huck’s Army (a very active independent Huckabee forum).

“All of this has led to massive rise in traffic (now well above Clinton’s and Obama’s, only lower than Ron Paul’s). And like Ron Paul’s supporters’ use of the internet, it is helping him in the polls and in support around the country. Unlike Ron Paul, the “help” may lead to winning key states and the primary.”
In what areas could you improve your ministry website/blog by utilizing some of these tips?

Whataburger (was) open to comments

Whataburger new "Premium" coffee

An addition to my previous post…

Whataburger had a great feature on their website… Whataburger Stories.

People had the opportunity to send in their stories from Whataburger and share them with the world.

That’s an idea I think everyone could use and add to their website.

Especially a previously mentioned competitor of Whataburger.

Flowers make all the difference

Originally published as Church Flowers in The Belton Journal

A pastor in St. Paul, Minn. blogged this week about a flower garden planted in front of his church.

First of all, I love pastors that blog regularly. It gives a lot of insight into the ministry and what they go through and see throughout the week.

Some even give insight into how their weekly sermon progresses.

Fellowship Church in Dallas has a blog set up for their entire church staff to post notes and journals on. (UPDATE: While Pastor Ed Young still blogs, I can’t find the blogs for the entire staff anymore.)

It gives you a connection with the staff that you might not otherwise have.

But I digress…

Pastor Pat Kahnke of St. Paul Fellowship Church writes that he noticed a bunch of kids bustling around in the church parking lot earlier this week.

As he walked closer he realized that a number of his church members had taken the initiative to plow up a weedy section of their church lot and plant a flower bed in its place.

While planting the flower bed, one of the church members knocked on a neighboring house door to ask to borrow a water hose.

The church neighbor said they could borrow the hose that day and year-round to keep the flower bed looking healthy.

And as a result, another member volunteered to plow the man’s backyard for him.

What a great sign of ministry on so many levels.

They took the care of the church upon themselves

No one sat around and waited for a church beautification committee to tell them what needed to be done. No building committee hired out work that church members could easily do.

People took responsibility for their church and went the extra mile to be sure their place of worship was taken care of.

What if each of us looked for areas in our own churches or work places where we could go the extra mile without being asked?

What if we quit shrugging responsibility for things in our offices or church and stepped up and said, “This needs to be done — and I’m going to do it. Even if it’s not in my job description and even if I may not be an expert on the subject.–

They involved outsiders

One of the things I love about this story is that it involved people in the neighborhood.

Now granted, with a little planning they could have brought their own water hose, but think of the ministry opportunity they would have missed. In the process, they made sure that a neighbor of the church knew what was going on at the church and then found a way to meet him at his need.

Wasn’t that Jesus’ entire ministry was about? He met people at their need.

If we are passionate about what we do, or wherever we do it, it can be contagious – people will want to be a part of it.

A business cannot grow without new customers and a church cannot grow without new members. We must rid ourselves of being exclusive or selective in who we reach out to. We must bring outsiders in.

A few months ago I wrote about George Masters who was so passionate about Apple’s iPod, that he spent several hours designing a complete television commercial based on his favorite toy.

“Why would a school teacher spend a good chunk of his free time, for five months, crafting a really slick ad for no money? For no real recognition other than a, ‘Hey, that’s cool,’ from a few friends? Because he really, really likes his iPod,– wrote blogger Andy Havens. “Masters frankly admits that he partly worked on the project as a way of teaching himself some computer animation basics, and to be part of a portfolio. That being said, why pick the iPod mini as his subject? Because he’s a huge fan. And let’s remember that ‘fan’ is short for ‘fanatic.’–

If we can get people passionate about our product or message, people will become a part of the message and share it with them where ever they go.

Little efforts can go a long way

Third, as Pastor Kahnke wrote in his blog that he was blessed and ministered to by seeing their effort and the beautiful flowers left by their effort.

A pastor who was worn down was encouraged and blessed by a small effort by members of his congregation.

I can’t imagine that this group of church goers would have realized the impact their thoughtfulness had on their pastor, or the impact it would have on a newspaper editor some 1,113 miles away.

You never know what impact your willingness to serve will have on others.