25 Blogs Tony Couldn’t Live Without
I’ve held on to this post for a couple of weeks now. And, at the
risk of alienating everyone on this list and those that aren’t, I’m
going to run with it. Remember, there are over 97 million blogs. I’m
following about 100 of them. Out of those 100, I narrowed it down to
the 25 I couldn’t live without. (Here are the 25 websites I couldn’t live without.)
In the coming days, I’ll try to take a few minutes to list why these
folks are on the list, while others are not. Trust me. If you follow
these blogs, it’ll really mess with your brain and stretch your
thinking.
- Perry Noble — OK,
I’m no idiot. If I didn’t follow Perry’s blog, I wouldn’t be employed
at NewSpring Church. But, I have to admit–I really enjoy Perry’s blog.
Mainly because he says exactly what’s on his mind. It’s unfiltered, and
it’s solid. - Seth Godin — I have an important message to share, and, frankly, I learn more from Seth about sharing it than just about anyone else.
- Swerve — Craig Groeschel and Bobby Gruenewald are providing an insiders look at LifeChurch.tv and stretching my view of how the church does ministry.
- TechCrunch — It’s how I get my technology fix. TechCrunch provides the latest news on Internet products and companies.
- Tom Peters — Tom is
one of the Author 1.0 guys that have made the leap into the Web 2.0
world. I scan his longer posts, but his leadership insights continue to
stretch my thinking. - LeadingSmart.com
– I’m not doing this just because Tim Stevens used to be my boss. I’ve
always appreciated Tim’s grasp of leadership. And, I really enjoy his
heart for leveraging the culture to reach people for Jesus. - Terry Storch — I’m
sure his blog will be even stronger when he gets out of beta. Until
then, Terry continues to stretch how we view the use of technology when
it comes to fulfilling the Great Commission. - The Official Google Blog — My life revolves around Google, so I need to know what’s coming next.
- Gary Lamb — Because everyone needs to follow a blog that feeds their inner redneck. Gary is the Lead Pastor of The Revolution Church in Canton, Georgia.
- Scott Hodge — Scott is the lead pastor of The Orchard Community in Aurora, Illinois. Scott is the same in real life as he is in blog world–genuine and hilarious. I love both Scotts.
- Corey Mann –
Random. Outrageous. Real. Corey. Mann. He helps me stay one with the
culture…and, in the mean time, he’s helping to transform the lives of
students at Granger Community Church. - How to Change the World
– I’m a huge fan of Guy Kawasaki. My favorite posts to read are his
top 10 lists. Guy is just plain smart…even though he’s a Mac guy. - Evotional.com — Mark Batterson is one of the most creative pastors in the country. And, his National Community Church office is in a D.C. coffee shop, so he’s my idol.
- Monday Morning Insight
– Todd Rhoades spends a lot of time trying to report what’s happening
in the church across the country. If there’s a story brewing, Todd will
likely find it. - SimplyJosh.com — Josh Griffin is the manager of Purpose Driven Youth Ministry and a pastor at Saddleback Church. I’m betting Rick Warren reads his blog.
- From Where I Sit
– Michael Hyatt is the President and CEO of Thomas Nelson Publishers.
Because of his position, Michael provides a unique perspective on both
publishing and leadership. - Brazen Careerist
– Penelope Trunk is one of my new favorites. She provides leadership
and workplace insights from a female blogger’s perspective. Very
refreshing. - Steven Furtick — Steven is the Lead Pastor of Elevation Church in Charlotte, North Carolina. If he’s not on your radar, he should be.
- Church of the Customer Blog — This is a marketing blog classic from Ben McConnell and Jackie Huba.
- Dave Ferguson — Dave’s one of the pioneers of multi-site church. He’s the Lead Pastor of Community Christian Church which meets in eight different locations in the western suburbs of Chicago.
- ChangeThis — They’re out to spread ideas and change minds. Download manifestos in PDF format that will change your thinking.
- DavidFoster.tv — David is an author and pastor of The Gathering in the Nashville area. He has a passion for helping nonreligious people connect to God. He also rides a motorcycle.
- Movie Marketing Madness
– I don’t have near enough time to watch movies…and I have even less
time to keep up with what’s coming next. This blog keeps me in the loop. - Brand Autopsy — John
Moore blogs about marketing. My favorite posts are about his
experiences working with Starbucks. It’s fun to get an insider’s view
of growing companies. - ClickZ Stats — Because I’m a freak about numbers and the Web.
What blogs would be in your Top 25?
UPDATE: For some reason, the original post was creating problems for my site. Here’s the re-post. My apologies to the folks who commented on the original version.
Josh is the man, he is a great guy and he is known around here as the king of blogging. Cool to see him on this list!
I’ve got a lot of those in my reader. One you don’t have there that’s a newer one for me is Note to CMO. Can’t remember now how I found it, but it’s a good one on marketing in particular and all kinds of interesting stuff in general.
mark
10 Ways to get the Most out of a Conference
Josh and Tony talk about their experiences in going to ministry conferences and give the 10 best ways to get the most out of them. This applies if you are going to a Youth Specialties Convention or to Groups Conference in the spring of 2008.
We …
Tony,
As a regular Joe who likes to be spiritually edified and keep up with what’s going on in the church and in the world, I’ll list some of my favorite blogs that don’t overlap with your list:
Between Two Worlds (http://theologica.blogspot.com) – Justin Taylor worked with Desiring God Ministries for a number of years and keeps his readers up with what’s going on in the evangelical world, especially the Reformed part of it, and occasionally addresses issues of interest to evangelicals.
Bob Franquiz (www.bobfranquizcom.com) – one of the original Calvary Chapel bloggers, Bob addresses church and leadership issues from the perspective of a pastor in his early thirties trying to reach his generation.
Tim Challies (www.challies.com) – Tim Challies is another Reformed blogger with excellent commentary on contemporary social and church issues.
Donny’s Ramblings (http://donnysramblings.com) – Donny Pauling is a former pornographer who got saved and now works with XXXChurch. He’s a young believer, but also more blunt and honest than a number of ‘veteran’ believers. He not only addresses issues surrounding pornography but also Christian culture, and how the church misses the mark in dealing with the culture it is in.
Internet Monk (Michael Spencer – http://www.internetmonk.com) – Spencer looks at church issues from the standpoint of someone who has pastored a home church and has both a Southern Baptist and an emerging church background.
Jesus Needs New PR (jesusneedsnewpr.blogspot.com) – this blog of Matthew Paul Turner’s hasn’t been updated recently, but his perceptions of Christian and mainstream pop culture are spot on. He has a hilarious dry sense of humor, ala Fark or The Onion.
Mikescape (mikescape.blogspot.com) – Mike Macon pastors a small Calvary Chapel in Michigan, and is very dedicated to the Calvary Chapel movement – providing a unique perspective on church issues.
simplemindedpreacher (simplemindedpreacher.wordpress.com) – this blog was started by Calvary Chapel Charlottesville pastor Chad Myhre as a place where he and likeminded pastors could discuss issues relating to leadership and ministry. The tension of being loyal to the principles of ministry laid down by Chuck Smith and followed by other long-time CC pastors, versus principles used by non-CC guys like Andy Stanley, Erwin McManus, etc., is a recurring theme.
Tall Skinny Kiwi (Andrew Jones, http://tallskinnykiwi.typepad.com) – Jones is a great resource for knowing what is going on in the emerging church and for commentary on said issues.
Thunderstruck (www.thunderstruck.org) – Steve Beard, two to four times a week, provides links to the top stories of interest to Christians who follow popular culture, music, entertainment, sports and film.
Vintage Faith (Dan Kimball, http://www.dankimball.com) – Kimball is one of the prominent voices in the emerging ‘conversation’ and, while he posts infrequently, always has good commentary on emerging church issues.
The Unofficial Apple Weblog (www.tuaw.com) – the best place to keep up to date on all things Apple.
Thanks for including us, Tony!
What about Joe???
Tony… surely you couldn’t live without Joe!!!
I used to follow over 1,000 blogs, and whittled that down to 300, and now I’m working pretty hard to scale that back down to 100. Not an easy effort, b/c there are more blogs now than ever, and there’s so much good information and great blogs out there.
Here are a couple more mind-stretching blogs that hadn’t been mentioned yet:
http://glocaltrekker.blogspot.com/
Pastor Bob Roberts of Northwood Church
http://www.jesuscreed.org/
Scot McKnight
http://thegreatgiveaway.blogspot.com/
David Fitch
What about Team Pyro, Slice of Laodicea, Oldtruth, camp on this…..those sites are the bomb!!
Great List, Tony! Thx.
I now have one new goal in life…
…to make it to Tony’s blog list!
I really like this blog – http://thewebtheologian.blogspot.com.