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FREE Online Event With Andy Stanley, Jeff Foxworthy and Others
Who doesn’t like getting something for free? How about learning something for free?
Go “behind the scenes” with some of America’s best preachers to find out how they bring great content week in and week out.
Would you like to hear how Andy Stanley, Perry Noble, Dr. Charles Stanley, Louie Giglio, and Vanable Moody prepare their messages? How would you like to learn communication principles from one of America’s best comedians…Jeff Foxworthy?
All of this happens on Thursday, March 15 at 1pm EST. And best of all, it’s 100% free. Preach Better Sermons is a free, three-hour, online conference focused on helping communicators prepare and deliver messages that matter. Some of the best communicators in the world will unpack these seven preaching principles.
- Start with the Scripture.
- Keep it simple.
- Make it portable.
- Show it, don’t just say it.
- Find common ground.
- Finish early in the week.
- Preach with the end in mind.
It’s 100% free and since it happens online, there are no travel costs. Register for the free event here.
Valentine’s Day Is A Joke Part 2
Last week I wrote a post on how I think Valentine’s Day Is A Joke and I received a lot of feedback on it. It wasn’t even mostly from females either which is weird. So I snapped the photo above on my way to work last Tuesday as I loudly laughed out loud. Say that three times in a row as fast as you can!
Anyways, Valentine’s Day has come and past and everyone has spent their $126.03 on the big day. A boost in the economy is probably the only good thing about the day.
So here are my questions…
1. Ladies…how many of you were let down by your guys? (a lot)
2. Guys…how many of you failed and felt like a let down? (a lot)
3. Girls…how many of you went to school last Tuesday hoping and waiting to get a Valentine’s Day Card from Johnny, but sat at your desk alone all day and got nothing while you watched Johnny give Sally a heart shaped balloon? (a lot)
4. Boys…how many of you wrote your crush Sally a Valentine Card only to have her not even read it because she got that darn heart shaped balloon from Johnny and was all googly-eyed over him all day. (a lot)
5. How many of you sat alone, at home, by yourself, wishing Valentine’s Day would just be over already so that you wouldn’t keep getting reminded of how you are so alone? Or the ex’s who broke your heart? Or the divorce you are going through? Or how you don’t feel loved by anyone? (a lot)
I’ve got bad and good news for you.
Bad news is…I don’t think Valentine’s Day will end anytime soon. Americans are silly, they get caught up in hype, and really like to spend billions on Holidays. I am still against it but I am getting married this year so there’s always a chance of a sellout in my future. (highly unlikely)
Good news is…there is a God who loves you so so much that he sent His son Jesus to die for all those past relationship mess-ups, and hurt feelings, and broken hearts that the millions of you felt on Valentine’s Day. Even when it feels like you are alone and no one loves you, God does. And knowing God loves you is better than any Valentine’s Day balloon, or card, or flowers, or chocolate…ever!
Logo
The other day I got an e-mail telling me my website logo was featured on a blog post called “30 bad logo designs” This is pretty funny to me for various reasons, but for one the guy who e-mailed me wanted to charge me only $100 to design a professional logo. You see I paid a whopping $5 to this guy to design me a logo. His website name is called “horrible logos” so you obviously get what you pay for. Above is my current logo and below is my old logo. I think they are both ridiculous and funny.
Mom
Today marks 14 years since my mom passed away. She would have been 60 this year. I was 2 months away from turning 14 at the time. That means I’ve now lived over half of my life without her. It’s all kinda weird to think about. I am pretty sure she would be proud of me. I sure don’t miss her any less, maybe even more as I grow older. I really wish she got to meet my bride cause I know she would love her. Thinking about you today mom.
Valentine’s Day Is A Joke
Valentine’s Day is a joke. Yes, I said it…it’s a joke. No, I am not a bitter single person with no one to take out and spend money on. I happen to have a beautiful fiance who I could take out…but I am not going to and I am not even sorry about it. I’ll probably make tacos at home that cost less than $10 in groceries and they will be wonderful. (hopefully) And my fiance will think it’s extremely romantic and not care that I didn’t spend $126.03 on her. Why?
America’s will spend $17.6 billion or $126.03 per person on Valentine’s Day this year. Really? That’s like 3 times what we spend on that other “holiday” called Halloween.
My questions for women:
- Do you really think that Valentine’s Day is romantic?
- Do you really think that a day when your man has to buy you flowers and take you to dinner is from the heart and romantic?
- Wouldn’t you rather have him surprise you with dinner and flowers randomly when he wants to show you he loves you?
- Does the commercialization of it make it more attractive?
Honestly I do not get it. It must be the commercialization that makes it so attractive. Or maybe it’s the only time of the year when you can get your man to be romantic because he has to. Well that’s not romantic…that’s just sad.
My questions for men:
- Do you not surprise your wife with dinner, flowers or chocolate throughout other times during the year? What’s wrong with you?
- Can you not think of any other way to do something nice or romantic other than on the day that you have to? What’s wrong with you?
- Do you like being taken advantage of and falling into the trap of spending money out of guilt and not love? What’s wrong with you?
Just curious over here. I just think Valentine’s Day is a joke. How about you? End of rant.
Empty Churches
Two days ago I tweeted a quote from the Athens Church LDP book. It said “churches are not empty because they are propagating lies, they are empty because they are not helpful” The quote goes on to say “they are not helpful because they are not addressing real needs in an engaging manner.”
Here’s the critical question – is your information helpful? Think about that question long and hard. You might think sure it’s very helpful, it’s the Bible! But think about it again. Are you presenting your information to me in a way that is helpful?
You can preach at me for an hour…but if you are just preaching at me, you are just wasting your time and mine.
You can preach to me for 10 minutes or two hours in an engaging manner and explain how your information is helpful to you, me, and that other guy in my row who doesn’t even believe in God…and that could result in significant life change.
So why isn’t the church perceived as relevant?
1. Lazy leadership (the same message is preached or the same song is sung the same way, over and over again)
2. Fear – we are scared to change (people might leave…but it might be the best thing that could happen for your church)
3. Bad theology (come on!)
4. Dead architect (cars, houses, schools, and jobs…everything is built or done differently today than in the 1950′s. if the model that you do church in is from the 1950′s or even the 1990′s…it’s probably time for a change, a big change!)
5. Cheap (don’t rip me off with kool-aid that tastes like water)
So the challenge is…what are you going to do in your church to change things?
Andy VomSteeg
My pastor Andy VomSteeg just got a sweet new blog setup. Check it out right here.
Blog Money
Having a website or blog costs money (hosting, domain name, etc). But you can also make some money. Can is the key word.
Here’s how much I made on my blog in 2011.
$2.08 from Amazon Affiliate sales
$21.00 from DreamHost sales
$34.65 from Standard Theme sales
That comes to a whopping grand total of $57.73.
During that time I wrote 18,000 words on my blog, enough for a short e-book. (In 2010 I wrote twice what I wrote in 2011, enough for a standard book.)
So I made $0.0032 per word I wrote…big baller status!
In 2012 I hope to write 40,000 words while increasing my income. Lets see how I do.
