The conversation was more about comparing crazy stories when all of a sudden, this co-worker mentioned how we need to pray for these people. These are the people who can come out of jail one day and witness to others about how they have experienced the lowest lows and how they have been in some of the worst situations that people can be in, but they have come out the other side a better person. These people could relate to those who have no desire to attend church or to find a relationship with God.

I thought about how over the years, I have prayed for many things. I’ve prayed for success, motivation, health, safety, my family, my friends, those suffering from illnesses and those who are sad or alone (whether I know them or not), but I haven’t spent much time praying for this guy, who at 18 made the biggest mistake of his life. I don’t know if I’ve spent any time praying for others like him who are serving time for their crimes.

After the tragedy, there was gossip all over town about how the captain of our football team managed to ruin his own life and took someone else’s. Sure, we had pity for him, but it was as if we all stuck our noses up at him and ignored all of our own transgressions. I’m sure people, myself included, spent more time talking about him than we did praying for him. It’s shameful, really.

“Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you. Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.” -Matthew 7:1-5

We have all made stupid decisions in life, and yes, some are worse than others, but we still need to show the same kind of grace to everyone. God shows us grace all the time, and who better to model ourselves after than Him?

Has anyone else seen this before? It takes the phrase “tech savvy” to a whole new level, especially since this was over a year ago. There are still churches out there who use organs and/or don’t even have anything that can be referred to as a band. That’s great, because everyone has different tastes and many people still prefer the more traditional worship service… but this is a must see. Even if you aren’t one who likes cutting edge technology in your church, it will be hard to not be impressed by this video.

What an innovative way to switch things up! Kudos, North Point!

Does your church ever do anything out-of-the ordinary to try and shake things up?

Pinterest is a website that has become very popular over the past year or so and has a huge female following. Companies have just started setting up their own accounts on the site in order to get their names out there. Pinterest has over 11 million unique visitors each month, according to TechCrunch.com, so you can understand why everyone else wants to get “on board”, too (pun intended).

It hurt me a little bit when I signed Shelby Systems up for its own account, just because I know that the majority of people use Pinterest for good craft ideas and recipes, and the presence of a company might not sit well with everyone. I was in college when Facebook started and back then, only college students could have an account on the site. It then opened up to also allow high school students, and with that came a lot of frustration. We all thought we were part of some exclusive college site and we didn’t like anyone else being a part of it. As we all know, it then opened up to everyone and Facebook is bigger than ever. They frequently make changes to the site, too, and you will often hear people complain about it… but nevertheless, it keeps growing and people adjust.

The point is, I could set up Shelby on Pinterest with a clear conscience because we aren’t a company set out to overwhelm everyone with information about software. Instead, we work on a day-to-day basis with churches around the world and we want to know what is relevant, important and interesting to them. Instead of advertising, it is a way for us to have fun and get to know our customers a little more.

I like the interview that Tim Schraeder from Park Community Church did with Jake Johnson from Mars Hill Church. In the article titled “Churches Reaching Out With Pinterest”, Johnson explains that Pinterest is a great way for Mars Hill to further connect with female members and to “talk about Jesus”. The church even has a pinning board that they call “Jesus” that sends a message to those following that says they are now “following Jesus”.

If you are on Pinterest and want a fun way to stay connected with us, please follow and we will try to follow you back!

Shelby’s Don Alsup sat down to talk to Mr. Hyatt about his background, what Thomas Nelson does, his most popular blog topics, ePublishing, his upcoming book “Platform”,  his #1 tip for ministry workers, and what he will be covering in his keynote address and break-out session at ISC 2012.

If you can’t see the video below, click here.

The interview discusses the difference between Shelby’s software and other software packages, some of our most useful features, the difference between our two church management software systems (Shelby Church and Shelby Arena), why you should choose Shelby and what types of support are available.

Be sure to check out the interview here and call or email us if you have any further questions.

Phone: (800) 877-0222

Email: sales@shelbyinc.com

Many of the members at the Phelan campus own horses, and some have been known to ride in on Sunday mornings. You see, High Desert has 3 different campuses, but their Phelan location is unique due to its rural location. As Joel Lingenfelter put it on his blog, “It would never work at any of our other campuses, but in Phelan, it’s perfect. ”

Speaking of Joel, be sure to check out his blog when you get a chance- it’s a wealth of information about what it’s like working in IT at a large church and how High Desert came to work with Shelby. They started using Arena back in 2008 and he blogged his way through the entire process of choosing the church management software (ChMS) all the way through setting it up and how they are using it today.

Does your church do anything out of the ordinary for its members and visitors?

For additional information about our partnership with PDS, you can view our informational sheet here.

For the past 6 months, Shelby has put on regional demos around the country where we can come meet face-to-face with our current and prospective customers about Shelby Arena and Shelby’s Financial software. We want to keep everyone informed, but also give you all the chance to ask questions and see how each product works from a more personal standpoint.

We will be in Oak Brook, IL on February 7th and Kentwood, MI on February 9th. The next week will be a whirlwind with a demo in Blue Springs, MO on February 14th, then Ozark, MO on February 15th. February 16th, you will find us presenting a demo in Ellisville, MO AND we will also be exhibiting at the Texas Ministry Conference in Houston, TX.

If you will be in any of these areas around these dates, we’d love to see you and get the chance to talk with you! Click on one of the links on this calendar to register for a regional demo or come by our booth at the conference and say ‘hello’!

(In case you haven’t signed up yet and you still want to catch the early bird pricing, you can register now to attend ISC 2012 in Memphis, TN June 13-15!)

Coupons are a great way to advertise your products or business, but when overlooked, they lose all purpose. It really takes a restaurant sparking my interest to get me to go there. After all, there are plenty of restaurants and coupons available to us. Just like churches.

This is where my random thought comes in. Customers who come in with coupons are there because they see a deal in that tiny piece of paper and they want to take advantage of it. I figure if I owned a restaurant, I would really hone in on those who walked through my doors with a coupon.

Why? Well, it has taken that coupon to motivate them to go there, either because they have been before and thought it was good enough to try again or they’ve never been before and they’re giving it a shot. They decided their lunch/dinner decision before they even left the house. They made sure they had their coupon. The impression that you leave them with is crucial to make them come back.

If they walk out thinking, “That was good but I’m glad I had a coupon because I normally wouldn’t go there,” then you have failed. You want them to be so impressed with the food/service that they are excited about going back.

You see, coupon-holding customers= your church visitors. God obviously brought them to your church that day, but you have this one chance to make a great first impression, andwhatever earthly thing that brought them there might not be convincing enough to bring them back (be it a friend or an advertisement, etc.).

That’s where YOU come in. I’m not talking about a pastor being that person, either. Everyone plays a role in your church, and one person can make a difference to a visitor.  Make them feel welcomed, make them feel like they’ve just spent their hour engaging with and learning more about God.

Don’t let your church be guilty of a bad first impression. Someone or something brought them to your church. You keep them there.

Does your church do a lot to reach out to unfamiliar faces? If so, how?