Archive - December, 2011

30+ resources to help you read the Bible in 2012

December 30, 2011 in Christian Living

So you want to read the Bible more in 2012? Great!

Perhaps like me, this isn’t a new desire. You’ve started the year with grand aspirations to read the Bible that have slowly (or quickly) fizzled out. Take heart from Noel Piper, who explains how she saw through a year of reading her Bible – all 66 books!

Here are some resources to make 2012 a year of reading the Bible and growing in your love of God. There’s something for everyone – reading plans (beginner to advanced!), devotional resources for individuals and families, questions to ask as you read, as well as tips for memorising and journaling.

Continue reading…

Video: The Advent Conspiracy

December 23, 2011 in Christmas

[AC] Promo 2011 from Advent Conspiracy on Vimeo.

Learn more here.

Top 10 most viewed posts of 2011

December 23, 2011 in Christian Living

Thank you for your support of Communicate Jesus in 2011. Here’s a list of the most viewed posts of 2011.

These are posts that were created in 2011 – there’s still a ‘long tail‘ in operation – the most viewed post every day is a post from 2009 – ‘30 ideas for community outreach‘!

  1. 15 examples of church newsletters and bulletins
  2. Video: ONE (promo for John Piper/John Lennox event)
  3. 10 church welcome packs
  4. 10 common mistakes in Facebook advertising
  5. 7 creative Easter marketing concepts
  6. Video Bible readings at City on a Hill
  7. Billboard: Dear Aussie Muslims
  8. 5 reasons to use video for church Bible readings
  9. A pre-service video to introduce newcomers to church
  10. 7 more ideas for Easter marketing campaigns

I look forward to continuing to serve you in 2012.

20 arguments for and against buying Christian books online

December 22, 2011 in Christian Living

I started pondering the pros and cons of buying Christian books online when I discovered that I could buy a book (Wayne Grudem’s ‘Systematic Theology’) for $22 cheaper online than from my local Christian bookstore.

Earlier this week, Tim Challies shared his thoughts on buying from the local Christian bookstore versus buying on Amazon. He wrote this article because:

“I regularly receive emails rebuking me for supporting Amazon by pointing readers there after I review a book. Sometimes I receive emails rebuking me for supporting any online retailer, whether that is Amazon or a Christian ecommerce bookstore. According to the people who write me, I ought to point readers to their local, community bookstores. But I am not convinced that there is an “ought” in this situation—that one option is morally superior to the other.’”

It was a good discussion, but didn’t cover all of the arguments for and against. I wrote these up when I first started to think through this topic – and here they are. What would you add to these lists?

Continue reading…

Video: prepare your church for the new year

December 21, 2011 in Church Services

A video from Gymea Baptist Church to give some seriously advanced notice about events in the new year:

How is your church giving advanced notice for the new year?

Planning Center Online and the problem with multiple data sources

December 20, 2011 in Administration

At my church we’ve got data in 3 main sources:

  1. Jethro (our member database)
  2. Planning Center Online (for service planning and rostering)
  3. MailChimp (for weekly email newsletter)

I’m reluctant to give up Planning Center Online (PCO) because the features are so good and aren’t matched by any of the other member database providers.

However, it’s a real pain having some of our member data here, and some in a member database (MailChimp is a nice optional extra that we could survive without). When contact details change, or people leave church, it’s an effort to update their details or remove them from multiple systems. As the church grows, the potential for data to get corrupted increases greatly.

I’m not sure what the solution is.

I asked PCO if they have any integrations with member database solutions. They said:

“We have an app with Shelby Arena, but that’s the only integration that we have with a management software at this time. But several churches who have used Fellowship One have told me that they were able to build an integration using our APIs. Here is a link to ours: http://get.planningcenteronline.com/api/general-details/“

Unfortunately, for most churches (including mine) building API integration is well out of our league.

I had another idea – PCO developing beyond rostering, music and service planning into a fully-fledged member database! I put this to PCO and they said:

“We have talked of plans to increase Planning Center’s capabilities in the future along the lines of database software, but we don’t know what it will look like yet, or when new features will be available.”

I’d love to see PCO integrate with other big name member databases like Church Community Builder (CCB) and FellowshipOne. This doesn’t look likely in the short to medium term. (I know that CCB has a rostering solution, and Elvanto has even more advanced rostering and music features, but neither are as capable as what PCO offers).

I’m now thinking through our next steps for managing this data. Appreciate your thoughts on how you approach this challenge.

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