Jason Powell - Church IT and Other Musings

Rick Warren is blogging

Bob over at OSMinistry.com mentioned today that Rick Warren of 40 Day's of Purpose fame is now blogging over at www.rickwarren.com

Kewl!  Welcome to the blogosphere Rick!

eBible beta

I got an invite to check out the beta of a new online Bible search and study website called www.eBible.com

So I fired it up this evening for a quick spin.  I don't know how it compares to similar services, but it's pretty slick.  Interface is nice and clean and appears AJAX.  The home page is very simple like google ... a search box and then a tag cloud listing popular searches.

So I did a search on "jason" ... you did know "jason" is in the Bible right?  Bonus points if you know where before you look below ;-)

Not only did it present verses with "jason" in them it also gave "see also" suggestions pulled from Bible dictionaries and commentaries (19 in total at this time).  So I click on Acts 17:5

The verse comes up highlighted and you have several options such as bookmark the passage, change font, and open parallel view ... I like parallel view so I set my default Bible to The Message and second to New American Standard (as shown above).

It also shows any commentary on the left hand side that relates to the passage you've searched ... or switch the left view to "last search" or "tags" ... again, I like the clean look and simple navigation.

Again, I don't have anything to reference this to and I've only started to kick the tires, but eBible.com is sweet if you need an online Bible search tool ... and this is still in beta.  I've got a couple invites available for anyone interested in checking out eBible for themselves.  Just leave a comment and I'll get an invite to you.

You can check out other reviews of eBible via the eBible blog ... nice work guys!

(update:  I just got 20 more invites for those wanting to kick the tires)

Sex Series Billboards Are Live!

Kem's got more info on the new sex series billboards that are now live ...

This picture with the Hooters sign is just too funny.  I bet that could make Leno if a better angle could be found. 

update 2/21:  Welcome oldtruth.com vistors!  Relax, the Leno blurb is meant as a joke...not some "boast"ful statement.

Pure Sex at GCC

Kem's got the inside dope on our upcoming Pure Sex series at GCC.  We're buying billboards and just putting www.mylamesexlife.com on them :-)  Hmm, think that will create some buzz?  Oh yeah baby!  Let the buzz begin!!

Guy Kawasaki and your Church Service

Guy Kawasaki has a recent post entitled "The Art of Rainmaking" ... in essence he's talking about sales.

I found this bullet point interesting:

"I believe that people are inherently smart. If you provide them with the right information, they are the best judges of the suitability of your product or service. I don't believe you should--or can--bludgeon people into becoming a customer. My recommendation is that you enable people to test drive your product or service in order to make their own decision. Essentially, you are saying, “I think you're smart. Because I think you're smart, I'm going to enable you to try my product to see if it works for you. I hope that it does and that we can do business.” Therefore, do whatever it takes to enable people to download a trial version of your software, use your web site, drive your car, eat at your restaurant, or attend your church service." (emphases added by me)

I don't know Guy's religious bent, but I'm certainly curious that he chose to use church as an example.  Regardless, I think he makes some good points.  Church should be a place for people to come and hear about the claims of Christ without being "bludgeoned" by the message.  We should be always creating new ways to draw people in our doors ... not for some bait and switch sales pitch, but to hear that they matter to God!  People are smart.  Clearly present them God's truth and let them decide.  Is the way of Jesus the best way to live? 

To quote Rob Bell from Velvet Elvis, "As a Christian I am simply trying to orient myself around a particular kind of way, the way that Jesus taught is possible.  And I think that the way of Jesus is the best possible way to live."

If Jesus Ran the World

Thursday night Granger began a new midweek series called, "If Jesus ran the World"

My college buddy and teaching pastor Rob Wegner kicked off the series with an awesome message looking at what it is for God's Kingdom to truly come down to earth.  Rob has more passion than any other person I know and his message was so inspired...it will make you want to stand up and shout in agreement!

What did you miss?  Give it a listen here:

EDIT:  Daryl worked some mojo on the file and now instead of 100MB it's only 10MB ... thanks bro! :-)

Download if_jesus_ran_the_world_24k.mp3

The rest of the series should be available for download off the WiredChurches website sometime down the road.

From IT to pastor

In the same week both Terry Storch and John Ventry have announced they're leaving their IT roles to become full time pastors.

That's awesome guys.  Our prayers are with you as you follow God's call to switch gears a bit as you push the kingdom forward in new ways :-)

That's MY KING!

This weekend as part of the message a very powerful video was show titled "That's My King" ... explaination just doesn't do it justice ... it's just powerful.  Thanks Josh for sending the link to view it online:

http://www.verticalsky.com/thatsmyking.asp

Caution:  this video may make you want to stand up shout AMEN!!!

Rob Bell and Spinal Tap?

So I go into our bookstore at Granger Saturday night to grab Rob Bell's new book, Velvet Elvis.  Sweet title BTW!

I'm looking all over expecting it to really stand out ... I finally give up after a minute or two and ask one of the bookstore workers.  She walks over to the rack I'd walked by several times and picks it up.  Well no wonder I missed it ... it's just a simple white cover with almost no writing and what writing there is is very small and subtle ... no pictures ... no graphics ... almost plain white.

Go look at the book picture on amazon.  You can't even tell where the book stops the background begins.

I instantly though of Spinal Tap and the "Black" album :-)  "none more blacker" ... that kills everytime :-)
Of course the bookstore person had no clue about Spinal Tap.  Oh well, her loss.

Hmm, I have to wonder if Rob Bell is a Tap fan?  I'm betting he is.  Gotta go...must read.

Erwin's Podcasting ... KEWL

Andy just stumbled onto Erwin McManus' podcasts over at Mosaic.org ... SWEET!

If you're an Erwin fan like me you'll want to add his podcast to your RSS reader of choice.  Hmm, wonder if Rob Bell is podcasting?