clayton faulkner

One of the things I try to do everyday is read blogs. They keep me up to date on what is happening out in the world. They help me learn about technology, news, churches, worship trends, etc. Here are my top 5 favorite blogs (no particular order) I’m following in my reader right now:

1. Collide Magazine Blog (http://www.collidemagazine.com/blog) – Blog of one of the few magazines I subscribe to. For a sample check out “Offering Shards of Glass“
2. Modern Worship (http://fpcbmodernworship.wordpress.com/) – Worship blog from First Presbyterian Church of Bellevue, NE. Check out their setting of “Psalm 100“
3. Don’t Eat the Fruit (http://donteatthefruit.com/) – Technology/theology guru John Dyer from Dallas. For a sample post check out “Why You Need a Technology Basket at Home“
4. Beyond Monochrome (http://www.beyondmonochrome.com/blog/) – Photography guru Walker Pickering. Really inspiring photos. Check out one of my favorites “Chelsea“
5. Tony Morgan (http://tonymorganlive.com/) – Simply strategic church guru. To get a feel for him, check out this sample post called “5 Attributes of a Church in Decline“

And if you aren’t using a Reader to catch up on blogs, you’re missing out. It’s an essential tool. It’s easy and it streamlines everything. I prefer Google Reader. It lets you:

• Google Reader constantly checks your favorite news sites and blogs for new content. Whether a site updates daily or monthly, you can be sure that you won’t miss a thing.
• With your Google Reader public page, you can share your favorite items with your friends, simply by sending them to relevant links.
• You can access your Google Reader account from any computer with online access. Whether you’re at home, at work or abroad, your subscriptions stay with you.

From Tony Morgan…

Feel free to keep investing in print communications if your highest priority is keeping your “internal customers” happy. Just thought you should know that other organizations are using the web to reach the same people you’re probably trying to reach in your community.

So what else does your church do to keep “internal customers” happy, but misses reaching out to new people?

From Tony Morgan…

Rather than looking at the Web through the eyes of a Facebook and YouTube and Twitter user, though, we’re still looking at the Web through the eyes of a Sunday bulletin reader. That approach works for the people who are already attending our churches. It completely ignores the people who we are trying to reach.

From Tony Morgan…

Leaders are not normal. They are:

• the strong
• the rebels
• the skeptical
• the intelligent
• the independent
• the positive deviants

Try to control these people, and you’ll never be able to rally their potential. Try to normalize these people, and you’ll never be able to sustain their positive impact.