Lightstock – Great Christian Stock Photography

November 20, 2012 — Leave a comment

lightstock

I wanted to introduce you to one of my site sponsors this month. Lightstock is a new stock photography website devoted to Christian images. I’ve tried out many different stock photography sites, and I’ve had trouble finding images that work well with church websites and print material. Lightstock looks very promising because of the quality of the images. As I browsed through their collections, I found several great pictures on baptism, on prayer, and on Bible study.

These aren’t free images, but they are affordable. The site works similar to other stock photography sites. You buy credits, and then you select and purchase photos. Photos are available at multiple resolutions, and the higher-res option require more credits. They have the photos sorted by collections, and you can even request a picture if you are looking for something specific.

I like using real images from our church for our website, but these are really great quality. I’m already thinking about how these can be used. It’s always great when people see a need and meet that need. Here are some sample images. Check them out at lightstock.com.

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Helping Those in Need: Hurricane Sandy Relief

November 13, 2012 — Leave a comment

hurricane sandy

We’ve had a lot of people ask how they can help the victims of the recent superstorm in the Northeast. At Cornerstone, we are currently collecting supplies that will be driven up to the New Jersey area on Thursday for distribution to hurricane victims

We are loading our church trailer and taking the supplies Roanoke on Wednesday Night to help Because We Care Ministries fill up a larger tractor and trailer which was donated by FedEx. We are also planning several trips over the next few weeks and months, so please let me know if you are interested in helping. Here is the information for our current collection.

Drop off times at Cornerstone Community Church, 227 South Main Street in Downtown Galax

  • Tuesday ( Nov. 13th ) – 10am – 4pm and 7pm-8:30pm
  • Wednesday (Nov. 14th) – 8:30am – 3pm and 5pm-6pm

Items that are needed:

  • New or gently used clothes
  • Coats
  • Socks
  • Blankets and Linens (sheets, towels, etc) Diapers and Wipes
  • Cleaning Supplies
  • Bottled Water and Non Perishable Food

If you need more information, contact Jennifer Morris at 233-2567

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Leadership Lunch and Learn

November 13, 2012 — Leave a comment

picture1On Tuesday November 14th, I’ll be facilitating a leadership meeting at The Crossroads Institute. I’ll be taking a group through Andy Stanley’s excellent DVD study on Becoming a Great Staff. This is a great opportunity for pastors, business leaders, and local civic and educational leaders to come together and learn from each other.

We’ll meet at 11:30am at The Higher Education Center for the Crossroads Institute. It is located at 208 Cranberry Road in Galax, and lunch will be available for $5 a plate. If you know of anyone else who might be interested in attending, encourage them to call 276-236-0391 or email registration@crossroadsva.org to register.

Here is more information for the workshop.

 

What makes a great team or a great staff? What causes people to look at your organization and think, “Now there’s a team that knows how to work together”? The answers to these questions are found in one simple habit that every leader and organization can embrace immediately.

Together, we will go through a video session by Andy Stanley who will help explain how to build a culture of trust in your organization. Using real-life examples, he uncovers several best practices (and several not-so-great practices) for becoming a great team.

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Book Review: Gospel

November 6, 2012 — Leave a comment

gospel At Cornerstone, we have just finished a five-week series on the Gospel. One of the books that helped me and encouraged me was Gospel: Recovering the Power that Made Christianity Revolutionary by J.D. Greear, pastor of Summit Church in the Raleigh-Durham area. This book is a powerful book that I highly recommend.

Unfortunately, many people think the gospel message is based on our performance and action. Even if they don’t verbalize it, many people believe that their acceptance before God is based on how well they obey God’s commands. We need to return to the beauty and power of the Gospel, and remember that we can have a relationship with God because Christ reached down to us. We don’t need more rules and more guilt, we need to understand why Christ died for us, and then our response will be from love and gratitude. This book does a great job of taking doctrine and theology and explaining it in simple terms that everyone can understand. The Gospel is the one thing that we simply can’t mess up.

Here are some of the quotes that I highlighted:

Continue Reading…

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Bible Bloom: A New Bible App for the iPhone

October 23, 2012 — 1 Comment

biblebloom

Bible Bloom is a new iPhone Bible app. I’m always interested in trying out new apps, and this one is no exception. A few years ago, I went through an experiment of reading through the entire Bible on my mobile devices. I used my iPod, my Android, and my iPad and read the Bible whenever I had spare time. It was actually surprising how quickly I could read through the Bible simply because of the accessibility. No matter where I was, I always had one of those devices with me. That is why an app like this can really help you connect with God’s Word.

This is more than just an iPhone Bible app. Bible Bloom is built with your spiritual journey in mind. Read, pray, memorize, and activate the scriptures so that you may be strengthened by the perfect and holy word of God. Let the seeds of scripture take root and bloom in your life, let your faith grow, and let God be glorified!

Bible Bloom has a few things that I really like and it shows potential as a good Bible and devotional app. By far, the thing I like the most is time and location-based reminders. You can set the app to reminder you at a certain time interval, or you can set the app to remind you when you arrive at a certain location. I also like the concept of the Prayer Packs. Prayer Packs are similar to prayer flash cards. You can download prayer packs for different topics, or your church can even create their own. The app costs $1.99, which I feel is very reasonable, and the app is really well-designed. The graphics are great and the user-interface is easy to navigate. It has a great bookmark feature, and you can also share what you are reading on Facebook and Twitter.
The best way to understand any new app is to see it in action. Here’s a quick video showing how it works.
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A Quick and Cheap Way to Stream Video

October 19, 2012 — Leave a comment

logitechbroadcasterwi fiwebcam 10 16 12 01

I saw this on Engadget a few days ago and I thought this might be helpful to smaller churches interested in Live-Streaming. Logitech has created a wireless 720p Video Webcam that works with iPods, iPads, and Mac computers.

A church could setup this camera in a convenient location to stream and record through a computer or laptop. Logitech also offers an iPad and iPhone app to control the broadcast . You can then stream the video live through Ustream or Skype. It broadcasts up to 50 feet away from a computer and the retail price is $200.

I can see this being helpful to stream small groups, youth meetings, or even worship services for smaller churches. You can watch the video below to find out more info.

Logitech Broadcaster Wi-Fi Webcam makes it easy to share your passions and interests with the world. Whether it’s streaming a live performance of your band, recording a cooking demo for a blog or showing off a home improvement project over a video call, the Broadcaster lets you present yourself like a pro.

 

 

In Technology
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A Tough Eight Weeks

October 17, 2012 — 1 Comment

christian theology1I feel such a relief after finishing up another eight-week seminary class. I’ve been putting off taking Systematic Theology as long as I could, but I finally jumped in and finished it. I have to say, that it’s been the roughest 8-weeks of the last few years for me. The amount of reading and coursework were overwhelming, and it was a class that I simply didn’t enjoy. I’ve learned a lot in seminary, but this class really highlights some of the problems with the seminary experience for me.

As a practical, logical, left-brained thinker and former engineer, this class seemed to lack purpose and application. I’m sure it appeals to those who like philosophy, but for me it seems like a futile attempt to describe God in human terms. I am a little strange because I have always loved school and I even love the process of learning. I take 2 Timothy 2:15 seriously, and I think all pastors should be students of the Word. But this class was detached from real-life ministry. The goal of seminary is not to produce academic thinkers, but world changers who know how to understand, interpret, and share God’s Word.

Now, I can get back to blogging and serving God with energy and passion. I am blessed and thankful.

#EndOfRant  #BacktoRealLife  #3ClassesToGo

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The Multiply Movement

October 10, 2012 — Leave a comment

bookTwo of my favorite authors and pastors have joined together to provide materials for disciple making. David Platt and Francis Chan have launched a new website, The Multiply Movement, along with a new book, Multiply. What makes this unique is the discipleship curriculum they created is available for free on the website. I’ve been looking through the material and I think it is some of the best, most-practical teaching available for discipleship. At Cornerstone, we’ve been working on our own discipleship curriculum, but now I’m looking at how we can integrate these materials in our discipleship process.

There are 24 online lessons, available on the web, as a free pdf file, and included in the book. Each lesson is meant to be used in a small discipling group. David Platt and Francis Chan have also created a series of videos to be used with the study.

As a church, we’ve struggled with the reality that most people have never led another person to Christ. They simply aren’t following the command to Go and Make Disciples. Platt and Chan share the same concern and have created this as a resource to help people learn how to disciple others. I’m excited that we are seeing a return to the hard work of discipleship, which will lead people to reach and disciple others. Here is what the movement is all about.

 

Multiply is designed as a simple resource that you can use to begin making disciples. Our prayer is that it will give you the confidence you need to step out in faith and disciple the people whom God has placed in your life.

There are 24 lessons designed to be taught and discussed over a period of 24 weeks. The topics covered include:

1) Living as a Disciple Maker

2) Living as the Church

3) How to Study the Bible

4) Understanding the Old Testament

5) Understanding the New Testament

The Multiply Movement Website 

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