Amazon Kindle Fire

Last week the new Kindle Fire was delivered to my doorstep. I decided to use some Amazon gift certificates to make the purchase, so I only ended up paying for the cover. It’s my first “tablet,” since I don’t own an iPad. I’ve been hesitant to purchase a tablet, because I couldn’t figure out how I would use it differently than I already use my smartphone and my laptop.

After using the Kindle Fire for a week, I’ve come to the conclusion that it’s a fantastic device for consuming content, but it’s not a good solution for productivity. My phone and laptop are still better solutions for getting work done. But, frankly, I don’t think Amazon designed the Fire to be a productivity tool. Ultimately, they just want to sell more content. That’s why they’re willing to take a loss on the device.

Here’s what I love about the Kindle Fire:

• It’s a great tool for reading books and other documents I’ve uploaded (like the draft of a new book from Tim Stevens).
• The gReader app syncs with Google Reader and makes it easy to scan and read content from blogs I follow.
• The Seesmic app allows me to keep up with my Twitter lists, replies and DMs.
• I’m using the YouVersion app to use the Fire as my primary Bible.
• I love being able to plug in my headphones and stream TV shows and movies using Netflix and Hulu Plus. Though I’ve not used it yet, I also have access to a number of “free” video streams thanks to my Amazon Prime membership. (By the way, the free two-day shipping pays for the membership.)
• The price is obviously very competitive if you’re in the tablet market.

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Here’s the recap video from yesterday’s Hope for Christmas event at the Cartersville location of West Ridge Church. We had the opportunity to provide food and toys and fun to nearly 200 families with over 500 kids. (Thanks to super-volunteer @JonathanSutton for pulling together this video in less than 24 hours.)

1. China Panda & Elite Nail Spa
2. Pacific Spice & Nikki Nails
3. Pearl China & Dallas Nails Spa and Waxing
4. Hong Kong Star Chinese Cuisine & Super Nails
5. Grand China Buffet II & She Nails

Your teaching team may spend many hours and countless meetings creating all of the elements surrounding your sermon message. It may include a series video intro, print graphics, on-screen visual package, coordinated backgrounds for worship music slides, shooting and editing the intro skit video and even a physical set design. That’s on top of the research and study to prepare the message itself!

Once the sermon has been delivered at all of your services and all of your campuses, what happens to it? If you’re like most churches, the sermon probably spends seven days on the “last week’s sermon” box on your website, and hopefully shows up in your podcast for a few weeks. Then, it begins to die a slow death, slipping gradually into the annals of other great sermons that time forgot.

Why Sermons Get Lost and Forgotten

Here are some reasons why sermons typically carry a very short shelf life:

• Churches think of sermons as live events, rather than study and spiritual growth tools.
• Most church websites post sermons based on chronology, so the oldest ones get lost.
• Podcast feeds typically deliver only the most recent “episodes.”
• Many people only get sermons via podcast, and may never visit the website itself.
• Many churches still offer sermons only via tape or CD, which are becoming increasingly irrelevant in an MP3 world.
• Sermons are for Sunday. There is rarely a connection to any other activity or curriculum being shared in other corners of the church (children, youth, small groups, etc.).

5 Ideas to Get More Value from Your Sermon Archives

With a few tweaks to your strategy, though, sermons can become a useful resource for years to come.

1. Make sermons available on your website. If you’re not offering sermons via web delivery, do it! If you are lacking equipment or manpower, consider a pocket digital voice recorder like this.
2. Make sermons free. Give away your sermon downloads. Some churches will charge for a download of a sermon, while attending their church on Sunday is free of charge. We wrote more extensively about this on our blog.
3. Promote the popular messages. Publish a “most viewed” sermon list each month or each quarter. This implies that you have tools allowing you to measure these stats (which, by the way, are a very valuable thing to have as a feedback mechanism for your teaching team).
4. Offer tools to filter results. Allow searching/browsing by Scripture, topic, speaker or title (not just by date).
5. Extend the conversation. Develop curriculum for your small groups, to discuss the deeper points of a sermon. Consider packaging these with DVDs of your sermons so that if a group isn’t ready to tackle a series now, they can obtain it from the church later.

There are plenty more ways to add value to your sermons! We’re hosting a brand new webinar on this topic next week, and we’d love to have you join us. You can register for free.

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This is a sponsored post from SiteOrganic. They are an advertising partner on TonyMorganlive.com

Over the past several years, I’ve had the opportunity to facilitate seven different leadership coaching networks with more than 85 leaders from across the country. I will be launching a new network this spring for 12 church leaders. We’ll be meeting six days over six months beginning in March.

After a number of preliminary inquiries about this new coaching network, 10 people have applied for 12 spots. However, all applications will be considered to determine the right mix of like-minded participants.

Here are some things to keep in mind…

• This is not an opportunity for someone who is looking for inspiration. My coaching networks involve work. You can’t just show up. You will have to commit to six months of reading and engaging exercises with the ministry team at your church. This is designed to help you discover new systems and strategies.
• This experience isn’t for people looking for leadership theory. Yes, you’ll learn some leadership skills, but this experience is designed for you to put those skills into action. Every month you will leave with new tools to implement in your ministry environment. I want to help you shift your thinking and shift your behaviors.
• This is not a conference experience. In a conference, you can sit and soak in the teaching without engaging anyone else. In this coaching experience, you will be encouraged and challenged by other leaders who will be counting on you to participate fully.

Here are what a few folks had to say about participating in previous coaching networks:

• “As a lead pastor this was incredibly awesome. Tony is a systems and process genius. Through Tony’s network I was able to gain a better view of helping structure my vision, my dreams and better lead my team. This was a six-month commitment and well worth the time.” –Michael Robison, Lead Pastor of Uncommon Church in Austin, TX (more…)

Our team at West Ridge was hit hard with this news from Troy Page, one of our pastors:

I hope you’ll join me in praying for him and his family.

This question popped up again from another pastor, so I thought I’d share this resource in case others wanted it. At West Ridge Church, we are currently one church in three locations. To protect that vision for one church, we’ve embraced ten constants to keep us all pulling in the same direction.

Borrowing from a similar resource from Community Christian Church in Chicago, we landed on these campus constants. Every campus of West Ridge Church will reflect the same:

1. Mission
2. Vision
3. Strategy
4. Shared Curriculum
5. Teaching Team
6. Leadership Structure
7. Leadership Development
8. Financial Model
9. Communications & Web Strategy
10. Central Services

If you’re interested, we’ve highlighted how these campus constants are executed. Feel free to download the full document.

Has your church created a similar resource? If so, I’d love to see your sample. If you’re willing to share it, you may email it directly to me.

Radiant Church in Surprise, Arizona

I’m working with the Vanderbloemen Search Group fill the senior pastor role at Radiant Church near Phoenix, Arizona.

Radiant Church began in 1997 in a local elementary school. The church is located in the high-growth community of Surprise, Arizona. Not only is the city expanding, but the number of attenders and those committing their lives to Jesus have also grown.

Currently, Radiant Church serves 3,500 people a weekend. Growth opportunities are abound with a vibrant student and children’s ministry, a committed core of members, and a new Family Life Center about to break ground.

Radiant Church is focused on these five purposes given by Jesus: worship, ministry, evangelism, fellowship and discipleship. Many weekly programs are available for every age group and for special interests as well. Weekend programming consists of casual, friendly and contemporary services.

The senior pastor will serve as the chief communicator, biblical teacher and visionary leader for Radiant. The successful candidate will be responsible to teach culturally relevant and biblically accurate messages. The senior pastor will also be responsible for effectively sharing the Gospel and communicating the vision of the church.

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Here are the most popular articles from November in order of traffic:

1. Senior Leadership Teams: 7 Questions to Identify Who Should be on the Team
2. Big Announcement: We’ve Named a New Pastor for the Cartersville Location
3. Senior Leadership Teams: 7 Strategies to Empower Leaders
4. 5 Benefits to Using Tickets for Christmas Eve Services
5. Senior Leadership Teams: Are you avoiding these mistakes with your team?
6. Myths about Young Adult Church Dropouts
7. Senior Leadership Teams: Where do I find these leaders?
8. Applying the Hedgehog Principle to Church Communications
9. Do you need to increase volunteer engagement at your church?
10. Sons of Grace: An Interview with Mark Hughes, Author of Buzzmarketing