Posted January 31st 2012 @ 5:24 pm by Jerod
LIfeChurch.tv is in a current sermon series called “Better.” The premise it pretty straight-forward: When you’re faced with choices in the life, the Bible gives you answers of how to make better choices. This particular sermon was based on Proverbs 22:1 which says, “A good name is more desirable than great riches; to be esteemed is better than silver or gold.”
While the teaching focused on what it means for a person to have a reputable name, the whole time I couldn’t help but think about...
Posted January 03rd 2012 @ 6:47 pm by Jerod
As we jump in to 2012, it can be a time to look ahead at some big picture things we can do during the upcoming calendar year. And for me there are a few ideas that are really stuck in my head of ways churches can become stronger communicators in 2012.
Narrow your communication stream and simplify your message. Too often, church communication is scattered and uncoordinated. Instead of using a medium that makes sense for a congregation, churches try to use everything. That leads to...
Posted July 14th 2011 @ 5:37 pm by Jerod
(Editor's note: We've been a big fan of TheCommon.org for awhile now. Churches have a heart to serve people in need in their community. But often times churches miss out on service opportunities because they don't have an efficient way to connect eager volunteers with the person who needs help. That's where TheCommon.org comes in. We asked Jay Kroll, Director of Education and Growth at TheCommon.org, to write a guest blog for us about the service. Don't worry, this isn't a paid...
Posted April 14th 2011 @ 1:55 pm by Jerod
This is a picture of Sophia. When her three adult children died, she was left with caring for her five grandchildren – a tough task since she was living in poverty in Africa. But thanks to a packet of seeds from a church in Illinois, she was able to drastically improve her life. After planting the seeds and putting in lots of hard work in her garden, she can now feed her grandchildren. Her family tripled their income by selling their extra crops, meaning she is finally be able to afford the...
Posted March 30th 2011 @ 3:53 pm by Jerod
Throughout its history, the people behind Twitter have been good at catering to what their community of users find useful. I was recently listening to an interview with Biz Stone, one of Twitter’s founders, when I was reminded that some of Twitter’s most popular features are ones that weren’t conceived by the company. For example, two popular features, @replies and hashtags, were started by the community of users. And in the response to the popularity of the features, Twitter integrated...
Posted January 24th 2011 @ 3:49 pm by Jerod
The NFL has been notorious for changing the rules of what’s legal when it comes to churches showing the Super Bowl on their big screens. So I emailed the NFL last week asking them what rules a church needs to follow to legally show the big game in 2011. They wrote:
"As long as you don't charge admission, you can show the Super Bowl game."
Easy enough, right?
If you're still looking for some more unofficial legal advice, here's a video we posted last year updated video from The Church Law...
Posted November 01st 2010 @ 5:22 pm by Jerod
This weekend, my church started a contest to encourage regular attenders to invite their friends to church. Every time someone brings a new person to church, both the guest and the member are entered to win. The grand prizes are ticket packages to see the Chicago Bears (which are hot tickets here in Chicago even though Cutler and company aren't stellar).
My gut reaction to hearing this was disgust. It seems desperate to me. While the prizes aren't huge, it will still end up costing the...
Posted June 30th 2010 @ 1:29 pm by Jerod
It’s vacation Bible school season. And while kids are running crazy with craft projects and juice boxes, it’s also a great chance for your church to meet folks who typically aren’t spending a lot of time in your building.
A moment from a couple of years ago at my church really stands out of how to do VBS follow up well. My pastor nailed his sermon following a week of VBS. He was his normal funny, relevant, theologically sound self, but this was an important sermon because of the audience.
VBS...
Posted May 25th 2010 @ 1:49 pm by Jerod
Typically I would probably just skip over any article I'd see about running. But this year me and my aching knees have been training for a half marathon, so running now has new meaning. And if I can judge interest in running based on the people I see trotting through the streets of my neighborhood, there are plenty of people gearing up for 5K's and marathons.
Outreach Magazine recently published some ways churches can get involved in races while reaching out to their community.
- "Organize a...
Posted January 17th 2010 @ 11:29 pm by Jerod
For many years, the NFL was such a stickler on its copyright rules that it became illegal for churches to show the Super Bowl on their big screens. The big game is a opportunity not only for folks in the church to come together, but also a chance to do outreach in a fairly low pressure kind of way. Recently, after some pressure from lawmakers, the NFL changed its policies so churches can start showing the game again.
The Church Law Group put together a video outlining some of the rules you’ll...
