Jason Reynolds Life and Times

Back from the NRB Conference – Initial Reflections

// February 20th, 2007 // 2 Comments » // Leadership, Ministry, Television, Web Ministry

Having returned late last night from the National Religious Broadcasters conference (NRB), I am still processing this quick trip to Orlando. I was there speaking on a panel in one of the REACH sessions about the use of internet content in ministries. Regarding the conference, I can’t say I learned a lot of unknown information, new technology, or that my attitudes about broadcast ministries changed, but here are some initial take-aways:

E-zekiel Content Management System Failure

// January 12th, 2007 // No Comments » // Programming, Web Ministry

Those of you who build websites know sometimes the things you attempt simply will not work. Either the technology won’t cooperate or it is designed in a way you don’t expect. Once in awhile you come across an infrastructure item that has a bug or an odd behavior. Even less often do you come across a security problem that is a result of poor engineering.

Web Ministry Idea #3 – Skypecasts

// January 6th, 2007 // 1 Comment » // Christianity, Ministry, Web Ministry

This is post #3 in a slow going series about Web Ministry. Find post #2 here.

I first thought of this when I began using walkie-talkie like voice calling on ICQ back in 1998-99 (remember that Dave?). Back then the social network was hard to discover and the voice quality was incredibly poor. Conferencing was impossible. These days though, we are a few clicks away from multi-person conferencing that rivals the best voice bridges ran by billion dollar corporations. And it seems the muslims have beat us to the punch of providing lessons on their religion whenever someone cares to participate (see picture below).

Web Ministry Idea #2 – YouTube

// December 13th, 2006 // 1 Comment » // Christianity, Ministry, Web Ministry

This is post #2 in a slow going series about Web Ministry. Find post #1 here.

So this should be somewhat obvious, but to do good web ministry you have to go where those who need ministering to are located. Not to say that you need to be comformed to the world, or even blend in. But being relevant is, well relevant to web ministry. Here is a neat thing Community Christian Church did to get a dialog going with a) unbelievers and b) people stuck in legalism/traditionalism.

Web Ministry Idea #1 – Squidoo you

// September 22nd, 2006 // 1 Comment » // Design, Ministry, Web Ministry, Writing

This is idea #1 in my series on web ministry. Follow the trail to #2 here.
Much of what is required in web ministry is creating new channels with which to connect with people. I am of the opinion that you must go where the people are. Like the roots of a hardy plant should our projects in web ministry be.

One root I have discovered and predict will grow in popularity and traffic is the Squidoo lens. Squidoo’s own definition:

A lens is one person’s view on a topic that matters to her. It’s an easy-to-build, single web page that can point to blogs, favorite links, RSS feeds, Flickr photos, Google maps, eBay auctions, CafePress designs, Amazon books or music, and thousands of products from hundreds of other trusted merchants. You can pick whatever content you want to put in your lens to bring context to your topic. Then, when someone is looking for recommended information, fast, your lens gets him started and sends him off in the right direction. It’s a place to start, not finish.

This means you can leverage a platform that receives more traffic and has more credibility with the search engines than your own ministry site. It is a way for people to initially find your ministry distinctives (speaker, programs, beliefs, unique attributes) and become more familiar with your organization over time.

As an example, I created http://www.squidoo.com/chuckswindoll/ in order to promote Chuck Swindoll. The page was created on 07/12/2006. As of 09/22/2006,