If you’re just landing here, welcome!  If you’ve been around a while, you might have noticed that posts have been rather sparse lately.  Like one in the last month sparse.  The truth is that I’m still trying to get caught up on life since having a baby.  I hope to be able to return to posting stuff in the near future. 

For now, you can check out an article I wrote about Technology and Youth Ministry, which may have landed you here in the first place. 

James Higginbotham at Agile Ministry tackled this topic recently.  It’s a difficult issue, but one that many church leaders face.  Here are the first three suggestions he gives:

1. Accept criticism from others, apologize for the breakdown, and offer to make it better going forward
2. Pray that God would help resolve the situation peacefully and with all glory to Him, not the person(s) involved
3. Schedule a time to chat with the person(s) that were responsible for the breakdown at a time in the future when you are calm down and free of the immediate emotion of failure

Head over and check out the remaining suggestions for dealing with unmet expectations.

Kent Shaeffer of Church Relevance has a great list of resources that he’s compiled for his reader.  There are several in each of the following categories:

• Free Church Graphics and Resources
• Free General Graphics and Resources
• Church Resources that Cost Money

I’ve used a number of the sites in his list and plan to review a few in the future.  For now, if you’re looking for some good stuff, be sure to check out his list.

The Digital Sanctuary, among others, have the news that I Am Second has launched.  The site publishes videos from famous people about how they are second because God is first in their lives.  Interesting collection of people and some great stories in there.

Hope you are having a wonderful Christmas season! I give you, a Lego Christmas:

Scuba Kyle has posted the graphics for a recent series they did, titled “I <3” (“I Heart/Love” in IM-Speak).  The topics they covered were:

• I <3
• I <3 GOD
• I <3 ME
• I <3 YOU

We’ve got our online Bibles, the tools to understand them better and a plan for reading.  Chances are, however, this isn’t your first time giving this whole Bible thing a chance.  So how do we succeed?  Here are some tips for you that I’ve gathered from around the web, in addition to my own.

Susan, at Fruitful Words, gives the following tips:

1. Keep all my Bible reading “supplies” together and in the same place.
2. Find a quiet place to read.
3. Beautify the space.
4. Realize that life happens.
5. Mix it up.
6. Pray.
   [Full post with explanation]

WayOfLife.org gives 20 tips for effective Bible reading.  Here’s an excerpt:

(6) DIVIDE YOUR BIBLE READING INTO MORNING AND EVENING PORTIONS (Psalm 119:147-148). A good habit to develop is to read a portion of Scripture in the morning and in the evening. Some possibilities: (a) Read a portion of the Old Testament in the morning and a portion of the New Testament in the evening. (b) Read the Scriptures systematically in the morning, three or four chapters a day, proceeding through the Bible; and then read more devotionally in the evening, allowing the Holy Spirit to lead to various passages.

HeLives.com offers a whopping 101 Tips for Reading the Bible.  Actually, he only gives about 50, counting on his readers to supply the rest.  They are divided into the following categories:

1. Making Time to Read the Bible
2. Understanding What you Read in the Bible
3. What to Read in the Bible
4. Reading Through the Bible in a Year
5. Picking Out the Right Bible(s)
6. Memorizing Parts of the Bible
7. Studying the Bible with Other People

The TLC Youth Group offer up their Top 5 Bible Reading Tips:

1. Remove hindrances – Cut your phone off, turn the music off and find a quiet, private place. So many times you will find yourself preparing for a good Bible readying time and something will come up to distract you from your readying and at times will make it impossible to get any good studying and reading done.
2. Truly Understand the Scripture – Compare relevant scriptures with each other so you know the aspects and differences. Again, take your time. So many times we find our self knowing a certain scripture but do not really understand the true meaning of what it is saying and end up confusing ourselves.
3. Apply what you read to yourself – We should be able to apply each and every word to our life each time we read. I read the Old Testament and the New Testament alike and could apply or relate each story to my life. That is why it’s there!
4. Write down all questions you have – write down all your questions and continue reading. If you still are confused about something – find the answer. Reading the Bible will bring up questions! It’s a good thing – But don’t stumble across a certain scripture and stop reading because your answer and true understand could be just a couple verses or chapters ahead.
5. Take Notes – I am still using notes I took 4 years ago and assume I will continue. Make bullets, short quotes or whatever you feel is best for you but taking notes will always help when reviewing what you have read.

And finally a few of my own tips:

1. Read small amounts daily instead of large amounts once a week. Daily reading becomes habit.
2. If you miss a day, don’t try to “get caught up.” Either skip the readings from that day and move to the next if you’re on a plan that assigns readings for each day of the year, or do your previously scheduled readings on the next day and continue with your plan.
3. Share what you’re reading with others. It’s a way to keep accountable about your reading, and also let’s you practice sharing God’s Word with others.
4. Try listening to the Scriptures. I purchased the NIV Audio Bible a while back and was able to get through the entire Bible just by listening in my car on the way to and from work.  Faith Comes by Hearing allows you to listen to the Bible in a number of different translations online if you’re so inclined.

Those clever digerati at LifeChurch.tv are at it again.  They’re launching VideoTeaching.com, a site dedicated to providing free quality video sermons for use in your church. [via Swerve]

I wrote a while back about searching Flickr for some free publicity photos.  Well, searching just got easier.

CompFight does the dirty work of searching the Creative Commons licensed content for you and shows approximately 250 thumbnail results on the page.  Click an image to go to the Flickr page for that photo.  Remember to attribute the image to the source!

Deuteronomy 6:4-9 (ESV):
“Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart.  You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.”

I imagine the Israelites had some sort of plan for remembering the Scriptures.  Moses spells some out for them in this passage, but I’m sure they had some other ideas for how to remember the Scriptures on a regular basis.  Now that we’ve looked at some online Bibles and tools for understanding the Word, it’s time to develop a plan.  First, three tips to guide you in developing a plan:

1. Be realistic. It’s a worthy goal to read the entirety of the Bible. It’s not realistic to do it in 30 days. Figure out how much time you are going to devote to reading each day, then spend a week just reading the Bible and find out how much you can realistically accomplish in that amount of time.
2. Variety is the spice of life. It’s great to read an entire book straight through. But sometimes variety can be a good thing.  Consider breaking larger books into two or three sections. Alternate between Old Testament, Psalms/Proverbs, Gospels and Epistles.
3. Know what you want. What’s your goal for the reading plan?  Is it to get through the entire Bible one day? Is it to read portions of Scripture not covered in the Sunday lectionary readings?  Or maybe you want to find stories you’ve never heard of before? Knowing your goals will help you make a better plan.

Ok, so we’ve got some guidelines, now what?  There are several plans already available online for you, which is probably the best place to start if you’re not extremely familiar with the Scriptures already.  Here are a few:

• Open the JAR.
  I first heard about this plan from Bill Woolsey, pastor at Crosspoint Community Church in Katy, Texas.  Start reading the Bible in the Gospel of John, which gives the story of Jesus’ life and ministry among us. Continue into Acts, to story of the early church.  Conclude with Romans, one of Paul’s letters that contains many of the key teachings of the Christian faith.
• Zondervan Bible Reading Plans
  Zondervan has compiled a number of great reading plans that are grouped into three levels: Beginner, Intermediate and Advanced.  Some of my favorites there include:
  • 30 Days with Jesus
  • 180-Day Guided Tour of the Bible (a good overview of the Bible from Genesis to Revelation)
  • Various “Two Week” plans that allow you to focus on a topic for a short period of time, then switch it up
  • The Bible in 3 Years (The chart is in the order they think you should read the Bible, which is fine, but the real value is in getting the chart. As you read sections of the Bible, mark it off on the chart to track your progress.  Mix and match plans from various sources, then come back and fill in the blanks at the end.)
• BiblePlan.org
  BiblePlan.org offers 13 different reading plans for you.  More interestingly, they include an option to subscribe and receive your daily reading via email.  Emails include links to the readings at Bible Gateway.
• Christianity.com
  Christianity.com provides a single reading plan to get through the Bible in a year. By signing up (for free), you get access to the readings online and a chart to mark your progress.  Simply do the readings and then mark the day complete.
• Into Thy Word
  Here you will find some more reading plans, similar to those above, but one truly unique one: The Genres Plan. It takes you through the Bible in a year, but breaks the readings into different genres that you read on certain days.  The genres are:
  • Sunday: Gospels
  • Monday: Law
  • Tuesday: History
  • Wednesday: Psalms
  • Thursday: Poetry
  • Friday: Prophecy
  • Saturday: Psalms

So what plans do you use?  Did I miss a great site?  Share it in the comments!