And yet, many people have very hackable passwords. Not sure if your password is rubbish? Check out the ‘25 worst passwords of 2011‘, the ‘Top hackable passwords‘ infographic, or run your passwords through the ‘How secure is my password?‘ checker, or these password strength tools. Interestingly, Twitter has a list of passwords that can’t be used by its users.

Here’s 5 tips for creating and managing your passwords. While any password can be hacked, these tips will help reduce the risks and save you a lot of grief:

1. Don’t use the same password for each account.  If you use 1Password (see below), here’s how you can check for duplicate passwords.
2. Don’t use personal details (names, nicknames, birthdays, etc).
3. Don’t use a dictionary word or a common word that’s easily guessable. Some password hackers run programs that churn through dictionary terms.
4. Do use a combination of numbers, characters and case-sensitive letters.
5. Do use a minimum of 8 characters. The more characters, the more secure.

Here’s some more tips from the Gmail blog and Productivity 501.

I use a program called 1Password to manage my passwords. It works on Mac and PC, iPhone and Android and has a bunch of super-useful features. You can learn how to use it here. Once you’ve signed-up (and there’s a 30-day free trial), check out the 3-minute expert tour. LastPass is a similar service (but I haven’t used it so can’t comment on how good it is).

One of the best features of 1Password is its random password generator. This tool creates a secure password for you, and you can create and save this password in your 1Password account when you sign-up for a new account.

Make 2012 the ‘year of the secure password’, and take some time to secure your online presence.

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This is basic stuff, but it’s easily forgotten. Here’s a couple of choice quotes:

“We learned that the most effective strategy for moving people forward in their journey of faith is biblical engagement. Not just getting people into the Bible when they’re in church—which we do quite well—but helping them engage the Bible on their own outside of church.”

“Nothing has a greater impact on spiritual growth than reflection on Scripture.”

That last quote really hit me. We all know the Bible is important. But how many people in our churches are regularly reading the Bible and spending time with God outside of formal church activities?

And, how different would our churches look if everyone was regularly feeding from God’s word? I think it’s an encouraging and exciting vision!

I’ve been brainstorming ways to encourage people to read the Bible more regularly. Here’s some ideas – I’d love to hear your ideas too.

1. Give people a print out of the readings for next week’s sermons, as they leave church this week.
2. Launch a church reading challenge – e.g. read the whole of the New Testament in the next 72 days.
3. Sign-up to Rick Warren’s ‘40 Days in the Word‘ starting 29 January.
4. Preach a series on the ‘devotional life’ (e.g. here’s one from Tim Keller).
5. Encourage Bible study groups to spend a regular session (perhaps one week in four) sharing what they’ve been reading in their own Bible sessions, and how they’ve been growing.
6. Include times in the service where people can share encouragements from what they’ve been reading in the Word.
7. Provide everyone with a journal to document their readings and learnings.
8. Invite people to subscribe to a daily reading or devotional. You could create your own readings as a church (e.g. Park Community Church), or simply sign people up to a reading plan at BibleGateway.
9. Ask people to share testimonies of how they have grown as a result of time spent in the Word.
10. Print out a Bible reading plan and give it to everyone at church this weekend (e.g. PDF plans from Ligonier).

Bonus – send members of your church a link to this article ‘30+ resources to help you read the Bible in 2012‘.

Image credit: Ligonier.

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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.

I thought this tip was helpful:

“If you fall behind in your reading don’t force yourself to catch up. Bible reading plans can become a source of pride and legalism.”

Bible Reading Plans

First of all, check out ‘why read with a plan?‘

Justin Taylor has compiled a comprehensive list of reading plans, plus some helpful links to get you started.

Ligonier has put together another comprehensive list.

NewSpring Church have a collection of 21-day, 100-day, 6-month and one-year plans.

BibleGateway will send you readings from the New Testament, or the Old and New Testament each day.

YouVersion has a huge collection of reading plans, and you can choose to receive this in a variety of formats. They’ll even send you a daily reminder!

Scripture Union has the E100 Bible Reading Challenge.

There’s the Bible Eater Plan.

If you’d prefer to print out a plan, try this two-year Bible reading plan (PDF) or Don Whitney’s Bible reading record (PDF).

If you’re feeling brave, you might like to sign-up to the 3650 Challenge to read 10 chapters of the Bible each day. It’s based on Professor Horner’s Reading Plan, and while it sounds ambitious, it’s not impossible! As the author of the plan explain:

“DO NOT be intimidated! I was a college dropout, ex-heavy-druggie when I started it. If I can do it — so can you!”.

You could also start reading the Bible with someone else in some ‘one-to-one Bible reading‘.

I’m reading – now what?

Take a look at:

• 3 questions to ask when reading the Bible
• 14 questions to ask your Bible
• Questioning your Bible reading
• How to meditate on God’s word

Daily Devotionals

If you’d like some ‘For the love of God‘ by Don Carson is a book with four daily readings, plus thought-provoking reflections and comments. You can also read these devotionals online.

Tabletalk is a magazine produced by Ligonier Ministries, and has a daily Bible study. They also provide an extensive collection of online devotionals “to encourage your heart and mind in the pursuit of God and his glory”.

At Grace to You, John Macarthur has 4 different collections of daily devotionals, with Bible readings, prayer suggestions, and questions for reflection.

BibleGateway has 22 daily devotionals that you can have delivered to your inbox each day/week.

Anglican YouthWorks has produced the REAP Journal for kids, adults and youth with daily readings, and space to reflect and pray.

Tim Keller has a series of talks on the topic ‘The devotional life‘.

Family Devotions

If you’d like to start reading the Bible with your children, John Piper has responded to the question ‘How did you do family devotions when your kids were real little?’ and ‘How do you do family devotions?‘.

The readings in the REAP Journal (mentioned above) align across the three age groups, so family members can do the readings in their own time, and then discuss and pray together.

Memorising Scripture

The Fighter Verses app (iPhone and Android) by Desiring God is a great tool to help you to memorise Scripture. You can learn more about the Fighter Verses on their website.

Journaling

If you’d like to keep a record of what you’re reading and learning, you might like to consider examen.me and YouVersion – both allow you to keep a journal of your Bible reading. There’s also an ESV Journaling Bible.

Church Challenges

Park Community Church has a 3-tier mailing list where members can sign-up for Scripture, reflection and application questions, and memory verses.

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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.

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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?

Argument for buying books from your local Christian bookstore

• If you don’t know what you’re looking for the staff might be able to assist.
• By supporting Christian booksellers, you’re giving them a presence in your community (and unbelievers might wander in).
• Local bookstores are good for people who aren’t online.
• Local bookstores often support Christian ministries (e.g. Reformers gives 10% to a mission agency of your choice, for sales from church book stalls).
• Less chance of credit card fraud.
• No hassles with delivery issues.
• Get the book straight away (no time to wait for it to arrive – if they have it in stock).
• Relational opportunities (e.g. have a coffee at the store’s cafe, chat to the sales person).
• You can check out the book before you purchase it.
• It’s much easier to source books for a church/camp bookstall from a local store.
• If the book is published in Australia, buying locally saves emissions by avoiding the book shipping overseas (to the distributor), and then shipping back to Australia (to you).

Arguments for buying Christian books online

• The money I save from purchasing online (which can be substantial), can go to my church, or to support other ministries.
• Is the best use of our money (stewardship) to support bookstores that have high operating costs when this money could be used elsewhere?
• Free delivery (with some online stores).
• It can be easier than visiting a store (no driving, parking, etc).
• Affiliate payments can go back into ministry.
• Don’t support stores that promote themselves as Christian bookstores, but sell products from false teachers. Obviously, this isn’t all Christian bookstores.
• You’re guaranteed to get the book (often local stores don’t stock it, and it can take months for the book to arrive).
• Receive reviews from people who’ve read the book, rather than from staff who might not have read it.
• Read samples of the book online (and even download samples to your Kindle).

What would you add to this list?

Which arguments for or against hold the most weight for you?

Here’s an interesting article by Albert Mohler on ‘Why bookstores matter‘.

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• 74% of Australians believe in God.
• 53% believe in heaven.
• 45% believe in life after death.
• 43% believe in resurrection.
• 42% believe in the divinity of Jesus.
• 33% believe in the devil.
• 32% believe in hell.

20% of Australians attend church less than monthly.

Source: ACS98 Why people don’t go to church p48, p68 (available here).

Here’s the big question – how might these insights be used to reach Australians with the gospel?

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“You can purchase the full report commissioned by Olive Tree Media into what Australians really think about Christian faith. The Australian Communities Report was conducted by McCrindle Research and highlights the top ten belief blockers that Australians have towards the Christian faith plus much, much more. This 32 page document will provide real facts which will help you be more effective in your Christian ministry, and makes for very interesting reading!”

Read more here and purchase here. I just wish you could purchase a PDF version – $5 for shipping in Australia.

Steve Fogg has written about the report here. There’s more interesting research about the Australian church here. I’m looking forward to reading it.

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A large regional evangelistic event recently took place in South-West Sydney.

Praise God – many local churches got involved.

The ministry team of one church enthusiastically encouraged everyone in their church to invite friends.

On the day of the event, the members of the church gathered outside the venue. Lots of people had invited friends. Lots of people that is, apart from the ministry team.

It really stood out – members of the church (at least the one I heard from) noticed that they were being asked to do something the ministry team wasn’t doing. That doesn’t go down well. It has the potential to harm future calls to invite and evangelise.

If it’s so important that the church should be doing it, the ministry team should be doing it too.

This is a huge personal challenge for me – how about you?

I think one of the challenges for ministry teams is actually knowing people to invite. The more you get involved in ministry, the harder it can be to develop relationships outside the church as you’re constantly drawn into a never-ending whirlpool of church activity. But this is the topic for another post.

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But this kind of promotion makes me feel uncomfortable:

What do you think?

I’ve seen a couple of other similar examples – ‘Save a life and get a free book‘, and ‘Uncomfortable about child sponsorship incentive‘.

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It destroys marriages, it distorts expectations, it damages lives (of viewers and ‘participants’), it devalues people made in the image of God, and it was never part of God’s plan for our sexual expression.

Melinda Tankard-Reist has written ‘Big Porn Inc – Exposing the Harms of the Global Pornography Industry‘.

She’ll be speaking about her book in Sydney on 21 November. For more information and to register, visit the Centre for Christian Living website.

For resources to help you and your family stay safe online, please check out the collection of online safety resources.

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