This should probably be my last post before heading to Indianapolis. I’m backed up with work to do and I’ve got a wedding to perform this weekend so I don’t think I’ll have time to write anymore. I wanted to write a quick note and mention a couple of things to look for while I’m gone to the convention.

• First, I will not be live blogging. I’m not planning to take my laptop into the convention hall this year which will be a first compared to the past couple of years. I will, however, be in communication during the convention with my good friend, Alan Cross. Alan can’t be in Indy this year but will have access to his computer. If anything important pops up, I will let Alan know and he will get the word out asap. Be sure to bookmark his site and be prepared to check his updates out.
• Although I won’t be live blogging, I’ll try to provide a nightly update on the convention. I am often very busy during this week so I’m not promising anything. I know, however, that it is pretty typical for my site traffic to triple during convention week so I know many of you are looking for info. I’ll do the best I can to provide it.
• I’m privileged to be a part of Ed Stetzer and Philip Nation’s blog tour to promote their new book, “Compelled by Love“. As part of that I will be posting a two part interview on Tuesday during the convention. Part 1 will feature a written interview which we did this week. Part 2, however, will feature an audio interview with Ed that we’ll be recording Monday morning in Indy. Be sure to watch for that. The book is fantastic and Stetzer and Nation help provide some excellent resources.
• Thankfully our church has been very generous in their commitment to missions giving through the Lottie Moon and Annie Armstrong offerings and as a result Tracy and I have been invited to a dinner with the IMB and then a luncheon with NAMB. I’m looking forward to spending that time with the great missions thinkers in our convention.
• Ok, this one is kind of goofy, but I figured I’d have some fun this year and mix everybody up. I think I’m going to sport a suit every day of the convention. After my jeans and shirts over the past two years, I thought that would be a fun change of pace.

If you are a ministry leader Facebook for Pastors is an exciting new resource that you need to add to your library! Chris Forbes, also known as the Ministry Marketing Coach, has put together this short, 31 page book to walk pastors and church leaders through the process of using Facebook in their ministry settings. The best thing about the book is that it is available as a FREE download!

Chris is a friend who writes most of the book but also uses the help of a few other ministry personnel that are already using Facebook in ministry to add to his thoughts. I had the privilege of lending an article to the book.

I’ve been using Facebook for well over a year or two now and have found it to be an incredible resource in ministry.

Chris posted this description of the book on his site.

How to build relationships and connect with people using the most popular social network on the Internet. This 32 page e-book will help Pastors and other ministry leaders make the most of this great networking tool.

• How to make the most of your profile information
• Tips for Networking with People in Facebook
• All about groups, messages, poking, etc
• Brand Your Ministry
• Meet prospects for your church
• Learn more about the members in your church
• Fine tune your communication skills
• Testimonies from Pastors who use FaceBook
• and much more!

Get the e-book here free using this link: Facebook for Pastors E-Book
(PC users, right clink and select “Save As” for best results)

Thursday night our lovely town of St. Joseph was hit by a small tornado. By most accounts the damage was confined to a small area. The Pesina family, however, was hit the hardest. They rented the upstairs apartment in a building in which the bottom floor was unoccupied. They lived there with their 9 children until the tornado lifted the home of its foundations and set it back down. Most of the family was inside the house and one child was hit by a television. Otherwise, however, the family escaped harm. They did, though, lose everything that they owned.

In response to this tragedy, churches across St. Joseph are beginning to rally around this family to help show them the love of Christ. There is an effort underway to help find the family permanent housing. Whether that be a home that can be purchased affordably or some land that a small home could be built on, many are trying to help this family have a place to live.

I want to encourage you to consider what you can do to help. Our church will be considering ways that we can help meet the families needs. I do now, as well, that an immediate need is a place to live until a permanent solution can be arrived at.

A website has been setup to provide information so that you can be involved. I would encourage you to run over and see if there is a way that you can jump in and help. The site is located at www.helpthepesinas.com

For additional news stories from our local new sources, you can click on the following links.

KQ2: http://stjoechannel.com/content/fulltext/?cid=17316

St. Joseph News-Press: http://stjoenews.net/news/2008/apr/12/picking-pieces/

I am always impressed with churches that are creative in their attempts to worship. I think our emerging generations are more easily connected when we communicate to them using a multi-sensory approach. I also think that God is an incredibly creative God who loves the incredible diversity in His creation.

One of the Worship leaders at Fellowship Church with Ed Young Jr. recently posted a video highlighting a song they used in their Easter service. I thought you might enjoy seeing what they did in their service. I know it was encouraging to me.

As this post goes up on the web I’ll be in the middle of speaking at Impact 2008 on the topic of Affordable Technology in the small church. I’ll be adding the audio as soon as I can get it edited, formatted and uploaded.

As I was preparing for this talk I was originally planning to create a cd that included a plethora of resources. I decided against it for a couple of reasons. First, it’s pretty expensive to produce cds for more than 100 people who are attending the conference. Secondly I realized I could build a website that anyone could access and that way every person at the conference as well as those who didn’t attend can access the resources. Finally I realized that it’s easy to lose a cd. This will be available even if you lose a copy of the files I’ll provide on this site.

So, if you are looking for help with technology specifically geared to the church, you can find the early stages of this site by clicking here.

Impact 2008, the 1st annual SBC Small Church Leadership Conference, is less than 2 days away. I’ll be getting up and leaving my house around 5am Thursday morning to catch a flight to Charlotte where I will hop into my rental car and head north to Lewisville, right outside of Winston-Salem. I’m very much looking forward to spending some time with some of the most incredible pastors in our convention, those who are faithfully leading smaller churches. I spoke to conference organizer Les Puryear today and it sounds as if it is going to be an incredible conference.

I’ve been working on the website for the conference and have actually just completed a renovation in time for the conference. As part of the renovation I have added a page which will feature a podcast that you can subscribe to and receive free audio files of each session. The church has wifi in the Worship Center so I will attempt (in other words no promises) to post each audio session within an hour or two of it being delivered at the conference. As long as I am able to get the uploading taken care of in a reasonable amount of time, you should have access to each file within a short amount of time.

I understand that Baptist Press and the Biblical Recorder will both be reporting from the conference and a couple of bloggers, Chuck Warnock and Gene Bridges, will be live blogging the sessions. Make sure you check them out. I have a feeling this conference will feature some dynamite information that will be helpful for pastors and church leaders.

I’m not sure what my own blogging will be like during the conference. My 3 days in NC are pretty packed. I will try, as possible, to fit in some blogging as I can, though.

You can access the conference website by clicking here.

If you are anywhere in the St. Joseph, MO area and you are not already committed to a local church, you need to make plans to be with us at Frederick Boulevard this Easter Sunday morning! It is going to be one incredible day!

I listened in this evening as the worship team prepared and they sounded incredible! The service will mix a combination of dynamic music, baptism, multimedia communication and a message from Colossians 2:13-15 to celebrate the cross and resurrection in an unbelievable manner.

You can choose between our 8:30 and 10:15 services and also enjoy a continental breakfast served from 9:45-10:45 am in our new building that we’re opening up on Sunday! You will be able to tour the new building which includes our Biblical Counseling Center, the extension of our KidsLife Children Department and the new atrium area that I’m calling Frederick’s Living Room. It will feature comfortable sofas, chairs and tables along with free wifi and coffee.

This Sunday should be one of our most amazing worship experiences yet! I hope you will plan to be with us.