Andy Rowell

Church Leadership Conversations

  • Biblegateway.com – Why every pastor should demonstrate it to their congregation

    Biblegateway1 All pastors should put a blurb about Biblegateway.com in the bulletin or show their congregations on the screen how to use it.  It is a basic 21st century discipleship tool. 

    • There should be no excuse why worship leaders cannot find Scripture verses that go with the song they are singing any longer.  They can use Biblegateway. 
    • PowerPoint slides should never have typing errors in the Scripture verses.  Just cut and paste from Biblegateway.com
    • Bible Study leaders need not use only one version in their preparation.  They can easily paste two versions in a table so that people can compare them.Bible_1

    I have taught my Biblical Literature II and Program and Curriculum Development students how to use Biblegateway.com this week.   

    See also my post: The Best Bible Study Tools on the Web

    What everyone needs to know about Biblegateway.com. 

    1. It is free.  No registration.  No login.  Free.   
    2. Go to http://www.biblegateway.com/
    3. You can search for a word or a passage on the home page.  In other words, if you put in salvation, it will know to look for that keyword.  If you put in 1 Corinthians 13, it will take you to that chapter of the Bible.  It is smart.   
    4. You can also change which version you are searching.  You can also look up a passage in five versions at a time on the Passage Lookup page.  I recommend TNIV, ESV, NLT, The Message (paraphrase), and NIRV (for kids).  See more about Bible Versions at my post The Best Bible Study Tools on the Web.   
    5. You can also go to Keyword Search and look up how often words occur.  Yes, this is a basic concordance.   
    6. You can also listen to chapters that are read aloud online.  Look up a verse in the TNIV and then click “Listen to this passage” or the icon.  You can listen to it in RealPlayer.  I tell my students to listen to one chapter while getting dressed in the morning.  (Sorry you can’t download it or listen to more than a chapter at a time).   There are a number of audio versions available on the Audio Bible page. 
    7. You can change your default bible in Preferences on the home page. 

    I have pasted below my handout in class which has page views. 

    Download Biblegateway.doc 

  • Why to Try Blogging and How to Start

    I am teaching my Christian Educational Ministries "Program and Curriculum Development" students how to blog tomorrow.  (I talked more about the books for this course here).  Wordpress

    They have already had to make comments on two different blogs because that is a good way to familiarize yourself with blogs.  (For inspiration, see my list of the Best 70 Church Leadership Blogs). 

    Tomorrow we are meeting in a computer lab and they will all be setting up a blog on WordPress.  I have told them that they can set up a fake ministry blog or a personal blog. 

    Here are three reasons I am teaching them to blog. 

    1. Churches and ministries need websites and the blog is the easiest way to get a basic website going.  Even for one event they may want to be able to do this.   

    2. I want these students to get over their fear of doing web design.  You don’t know if you are good at it and like it until you try. 

    3. Even if they don’t do it the future, they need to be able to work well with designers and they will do that better if they have done it a bit themselves. 

    Here are the basic instructions for them.

    If you are new to blogging, this sequence of tasks may be a good quick way to try your hand at it.    

    The screen photos are on the attached Microsoft Word handout here if you are interested.  Download WordPress_Blogging.doc 

    My sample blog which I practiced with tonight is: http://ced352.wordpress.com/

    1. Go to http://wordpress.com/
    2. Click: Start a blog in seconds »
    3. You need to figure out a Username and Email Address and click the legal box and then click gimme a blog. 
    4. Then you need to come up with the url for your blog and the name of the blog and whether you want it to appear publicly or not.  The url will not be able to be changed but the blog name can be changed later.
    5. Check your email for the confirmation email. 
    6. Write a post.  Then click Publish.
    7. Upload a post with a photo.   
    8. Update your profile.  Change your password to something you will remember. 
    9. Presentation.  Pick a new theme.
    10. Presentation.  Do a Custom Image Header by uploading a photo.  You can only do this for some themes. 
    11. Go to Manage . . . Pages . . . Edit your About page. 
    12. Under Manage . . . Pages . . . Create a New Page

    It literally took my students less than 10 minutes to get blogging.

    Lots of people in the blogosphere are recommending the new book The Blogging Church by Brian Bailey (who has a blog here) and Terry Storch.  That is the best place to begin probably.   

  • Five Innovative Missional Ideas for Serving Your Community

    Here are five wacky ways I have tried to love my community this year.  I thought they would be fun to share and might stimulate some other ideas.  Only number 4 was actually "successful."  These are extremely experimental.  In chronological order, here they are:   

    1. Fix the Wikipedia entry for your town so that it is accurate and helpful. Wikipediaword_1 I did this earlier this year with Upland, Indiana.  The description of the town where I live was about three sentences before I added to it earlier this year.  I thought it was good for the world and for the town to have an accurate description at Wikipedia.  Has it had a positive impact?  I don’t know but I know lots of people have read it.      

    2. Start a blog for your favorite organization or business that does not have a website.  This blog can serve as a fan club for that organization and post relevant information for the world.  I did this earlier this year for Ivanhoe’s – a local ice cream shop.  Has this had a positive impact?  I don’t know but it has gotten lots of hits. 

    3. Write a politician.  I recently wrote Barack Obama to urge him not to portray himself as a one-issue politician because I was reading that he was getting his biggest cheers for his "Pull our troops out of Iraq by March 2008" talk and that his campaign believed his stance on Iraq was his primary strength in comparison to Hillary Clinton.  From what I know about him, he has more to contribute than just that perspective.  Has it had a positive impact?  Maybe I’ll never know.  Obama

    • Obama’s speech to Call to Renewal in June 2006 is especially helpful to listen to if you are interested in learning about his faith.  The transcript and MP3 of the talk are both at Obama’s website here. 
    • You can also read the transcript of his speech on AIDS at Rick Warren’s Saddleback Church in December 2006 here.
    • Evangelical? Obama’s faith too complex for simple label is also an interesting article. 

    4. Protest appalling things.  Si_logo Yesterday I was really annoyed to see the four-inch banner advertisement for the Swimsuit Issue on Sports Illustrated’s website SI.com.  I wrote them and complained.  See my note here.  (I also sent a note to The Jim Rome Show and Dan Patrick of ESPN radio but I don’t think anything was said on the radio about it.  I like both of those sports talk radio shows).  Well, a day later Sports Illustrated reduced the advertisement to a half inch.  I’m shocked but thankful.  Thanks, Sports Illustrated.   

    5. Advocate for something better in your community.  Bk_logo_1 Today I wrote a letter to Burger King (which is the closest fast food restaurant to where I live) because the children’s playground has been "closed for maintanance" for five months (at least).  I sometimes study there and it breaks my heart to see kids come in disappointed which today (a Saturday) was like five kids per hour.  So we’ll see what happens on that.  See my letter here.

    Update: They reopened the playground at the end of March!  🙂