At Catalyst Dallas, Nancy Duarte of Duarte Design discussed how to tell a great story.

We are all born with the desire to do something that changes the world.

You can have a bad idea and communicate it well, and it will be adopted.
You can have a great idea and communicate it poorly, and nothing will happen.

So how can we communicate the greatest story well?

1. Establish a likeable hero. I am not the hero; the audience is the hero. The presenter is to come alongside the hero and get them unstuck.
2. Encounter a roadblock.
3. Emerge transformed.

Joseph Campell traveled the world to discover common elements of story structure in both Western and Eastern cultures and discovered that there are keys to great storytelling.

Gustav Freytag found good stories to follow (1) exposition, (2) rising action, (3) climax, (4) falling action, and (5) denouncement.

Steve Jobs and Martin Luther King, Jr knew how to tell great stories. Steve Jobs marveled at his own product. MLK spoke eloquently using repetition, poetic metaphors, pop culture, and political references.

One of the only ways to make your dream come true is to learn to be a good storyteller.

Special thanks to Skylark Audio Video for covering my travel expenses so that I can live blog the conference for you.

Further Reading:
2012 Church Conference Calendar

At Catalyst Dallas, Matt Chandler of The Village Church (Flower Mound, TX) discussed the importance of affection for Christ.

My (Matt) hope for you through this talk is a greater affection for Jesus Christ.

I am drawn to passages that seem intimate with God. “As a deer panteth for the water so my soul longs for you.” That isn’t friendship.

David’s soul longed after Jesus.

In Philippians 3:10, Paul says, “that I might know him.”

Augustine said, “How sweet all at once it was for me to be rid of those fruitless joys which I had once feared to lose! You drove them from me, you who are the true, the sovereign joy. You drove them from me and took their place, you who are sweeter than all pleasure.”

We are replacing an affection for Jesus with a pragmatism where we try to get people to be affectionate for Jesus when we are not. Anyone that is doing the Biblical job of shepherding has an unbelievable task.

We have a difficult calling but the men I quoted had a calling with equal or greater difficulty. Could it be with the rise of burn out and disillusionment that men of God has is the lack of affection for Christ.

Acts 1:8 says, “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”

Ephesians 3:14-16 says, “For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, 16 that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being,”

1 Peter 4:11 says, “whoever speaks, as one who speaks oracles of God; whoever serves, as one who serves by the strength that God supplies—in order that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ. To him belong glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.”

1 Corinthians 10:13 says, “No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.”

Why We Struggle with Union With Christ

1. There is failure to stand with right standing in justification of salvation by grace alone through faith alone. 1 Corinthians 15:1-2 says, “Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you— unless you believed in vain.”  There is an unreal amount of freedom in being able to rest in the justification of the cross that frees you from being a slave to ministry. Brothers that get lost in secret sin are afraid of losing their ministry rather than their relationship with Christ. When you don’t believe you are justified by grace alone through faith alone, you will consistently avoid intimacy with God because you feel guilty. The more you get the gospel more freely, the more you will run towards Christ.
2. An aversion to suffering and struggle. You following Jesus Christ doesn’t mean that things will always go the direction you want. Sometimes the greatest thing God can do for you is wound you. Paul was given an evil spirit to torment him because God loved him enough to keep him humble. Don’t rob from yourself the dependency you need to have of God. We have to be grateful for seasons of difficulty that reveal what is in our hearts.
3. The failure to understand the doctrine of adoption. What I have found to be people’s greatest hitch in understanding  the gospel is their struggle with the idea of God as an adoptive, loving father. J.I. Packard says, “That justification-by which we mean God’s forgiveness of the past together with His acceptance for the future-is the primary and fundamental blessing of the Gospel is not in question. Justification is the primary blessing, because it meets our primary spiritual need. We all stand by nature under God’s judgment. His law convicts us, guilt gnaws at us, making us restless, miserable, and in lucid moments afraid. We have no peace in ourselves because we have no peace with our Maker. So we need forgiveness of our sins, and assurance of a restored relationship with God, more than we need anything else in the world. And this Gospel offers us before it offers us anything else.” So the lie of the enemy causes us to question God’s affection for us.

Special thanks to Skylark Audio Video for covering my travel expenses so that I can live blog the conference for you.

Further Reading:
2012 Church Conference Calendar

At Catalyst Dallas, Jud Wilhite of Central Christian Church (Henderson, NV) discussed the roller coaster of ministry and leadership.

Maybe things are going great for your ministry and then a team member has a moral failing. Maybe the offering report tanks.

And then you start thinking…
Maybe I’m messing up.
Maybe I’m not hearing God’s voice.

How do we stay grounded in the ups and downs of ministry?

In 2 Corinthians 5, Paul says God knows when we are sincere. So don’t focus on creating a ministry worth bragging about. Focus on having a faithful and sincere heart. You may seem crazy, but it brings glory to God. Let Christ’s love control you.

We are not called to a spectacular ministry but to a faithful ministry. When you ground your identity in a spectacular ministry, then you are setting yourself up for a roller coaster of ups and downs.

3 Ways to Stay Grounded via 2 Corinthians 5

1. Do a gut check: are you being faithful and sincere?
2. Stay a little crazy for God.
   Ministry is about walking into a mess. Sometimes it is your mess. Sometimes it is someone else’s mess. Ministry is messy because sin is messy. But your crazy for God is different from my crazy for God. Figure out how you need to be crazy.
3. Be compelled by Christ’s love.

Special thanks to Skylark Audio Video for covering my travel expenses so that I can live blog the conference for you.

Further Reading:
2012 Church Conference Calendar

At Catalyst Dallas, Katie Davis shared her story of moving to Uganda, becoming the adoptive mother of 13 children and creating a child sponsorship program that cares for 620 children.

Katie says adoption has taught her so much about the Father’s heart. Adoption is an incredible way to look at a child that wasn’t originally your own but love them as though they were your biological child. God is like that. He love you completely and makes you part of His family.

I (Katie) want to always focus on the outcome and the goals accomplished, but God is also in the everyday and in the baby steps that make it happen. Don’t just find God in the outcome. Find God in the process.

Special thanks to Skylark Audio Video for covering my travel expenses so that I can live blog the conference for you.

Further Reading:
2012 Church Conference Calendar

At Catalyst Dallas, Jon Acuff discussed finding your identity.

Growing up it always weirded me out that sometimes we don’t use our best creativity to celebrate the Creator. We would make t-shirts that would play off of popular brands like Coca-Cola and Burger King. And so I (Jon) started a very popular humor blog about the funny things Christians do.

I ran into something I never expected – haters.

I learned that haters only get louder when you do something that matters. But we are so accustomed to act like critics matter and then focus on all the bad things. We use critic math where we have 1 insult + 1,000 compliments = 1 insult.

If you want to wreck your ministry, attach your identity to your confidence. If you want to wreck your ministry, attach your identity to the size of your success.

God is not surprised or disappointed at the size of your ministry.

Don’t attach your identity to anything but Christ.

Special thanks to Skylark Audio Video for covering my travel expenses so that I can live blog the conference for you.

Further Reading:
2012 Church Conference Calendar

At Catalyst Dallas, Andy Stanley of North Point Community Church (Alpharetta, GA) discussed being accessible while successful.

When you were called to ministry, weren’t you just called to people? Being called to ministry usually isn’t about building big buildings or organizations. It is about people.

In the beginning, ministry is all about being present with people. However, the casualty of a successful ministry is accesibility. Reality is the more successful you are, the less accessible you will be.

And you will likely want to respond to this in 1 of 2 extremes:

Refuse to face this reality and end up burning out trying to be accessible to everyone.
You can use success as an excuse to become even more inaccessible. You begin to use your busyness as an excuse to say no to most everything.

We have an awareness problem in our world. Every day we are bombarded through the news of the pain being experienced by the entire world. Previous generations of ministers did not have this overwhelming awareness of the world’s hurts. In some ways, unawareness is bliss. But unawareness isn’t really bliss; it just checks you out.

Burning out is not an option.
Checking out is not an option.

Galatians 6 says we should not become weary doing good, but as we have time (opportunity), do good to everyone.

You can’t shut it all out.
You can’t take it all on.

But you can do for one what you wish you could do for everyone. This is symbolic leadership. This is very counterintuitive because as children we were taught that if something is done for one, it must be done for everyone.

Doing for no one what you can’t do for everyone is a terrible approach.
Doing for everyone what you can do for one is a terrible approach.

It is not fair, but you don’t need to be fair. Fairness ended in the Garden of Eden. Fairness isn’t even a fruit of the Spirit (or maybe even a Christian value). Ultimately, trying to be fair will cause you to be disengaged.

3 Ways to Do for One What You Wish for Everyone

1. Go deep, rather than wide.
2. Go long-term, rather than short-term.
3. Go time, not just money.

When you do for one, you often end up doing for more than just one. But if you do for everyone, there is no replication or multiplication. If you do for no one, there is no replication or multiplication. Doing for one is your best chance of multiplying yourself.

Church apps are a great way to connect more deeply with a congregation on the go. And while traditional websites aren’t going away, I expect more and more church websites to start emulating the communications approach of mobile apps.

So while widespread adoption of church apps probably won’t ever be as saturated as browser-based church websites, I do think it is safe to say that church apps are about to make a big dent on the way we do Internet ministry.

Digital Church History

In 2000…
An increasing number of churches recognized the value of a church website. It was a digital land rush where most sites served as a digital billboard or brochures highlighting the church’s ministries. Unfortunately, this approach offered little value past the first visit.

In 2003…
More churches saw the potential to distribute sermons and other media to a much broader audience than their brick and mortar congregations.

In 2006…
Content management systems rose to popularity as churches took control of maintaining their own content through blogs, event calendars, and other features. Church websites transitioned from being a static brochure to a dynamic magazine.

In 2009…
Many churches experiment with streaming sermons, Twitter, and Facebook, and some offer a church online experience complete with worship, sermons, instant chat, and online prayer.

In 2012…
Due to smart phones, mobile web browsing is surging, but most church sites are clunky to navigate in a mobile browser. Church apps and mobile sites are less like a magazine and more like a conversation. I expect the next phase of Internet ministry to cut out fluff content and focus heavily on event details and dynamic conversations via social streams.

Onseeker Church App

Onseeker, in particular, is positioned to rebuild Internet ministry as we know it. Onseeker’s church app for Android and iPhone devices is incredibly rich on features that allow churches to showcase and manage:

• messages
• worship
• small groups
• events
• devotionals
• prayer requests
• online giving
• resources
• staff directory (including who to call for crisis or interventions)
• turn-by-turn directions and parking info
• reminders
• social sharing
• and more features like weather, etc.

The Onseeker Church App focuses on the entire church as a whole and is designed to make communication and ministry easier for a congregation on the go.

The content management system behind the app allows churches to add and update content in real time. And a master key allows for the creation of sub-ministry sections that can be assigned to a specific sub-ministry leader, so that there is accountability in communication.

But to really understand the value of Onseeker, watch this interview with Chad Herold of Underground, the college ministry of Second Baptist Church (Houston, TX).

Underground has been amazed at how much their students use the app, and they particularly love how Onseeker allows them to keep ministering to college students even when the students are gone for summer.

Best of all, Onseeker’s current pricing is the lowest I’ve seen for a church app thus far!

Special thanks to Onseeker for supporting Church Relevance by sponsoring this post.

Where are all the Christian women bloggers?

It is a good question requiring several answers.

(1) Look at the Criteria

The phrase “church blogs” is vague, and with each new update to the list the qualifications get stretched to new definitions as I add more blogs. Since Church Relevance is a ministry-centric blog, it makes sense that in this context church is loosely used to mean blogs about ministry, ministry leaders, or living out the gospel in a way that fulfills the great commission.

To put it simply, a blog is a “church blog” if it offers content that is useful to ministry (according to my subjective opinion). 

There are, however, a number of blogs on the list that do compromise a bit on this criteria. One example is prominent church leaders that are read because of their influence but whom lack substance to their writing. Another example is certain Bibliobloggers or theologians that do not directly  discuss ministry but offer intellectual insights that could be useful to sermon preparation or be formative to key ministry philosophies.

A number of Christian women bloggers have questioned why some women make the list and others do not. The ones that talk about ministry or Great Commission-centric theology often enough get included as long as those posts represent a good portion of their overall posts.

The list has become popular enough that many would like to see it to include all Christian blogs, but doing so would make the list too broad scoped and worthless. Newspapers ask me to have their religion sections included. Political blogs have wanted in the mix. Christian poems, family blogs, crafters, current events, and potluck faith would like to be represented, too.

Currently, there are a few blogs I have been made aware of that I would like to add, but I know that if I do so, it would only be fair to broaden the criteria to include blogs that I know offer little to no ministry value.

(2) Some are Undiscovered

The only way I can improve the scope of the top blogs list is through reader recommendations. I know there are still great church blogs by both women and men that I don’t know about but should be on the list.

Please use the comments below to share your recommendations for blogs to consider for the next update.

(3) The Gender Gap (for now)

Historically, men have occupied the overwhelming majority of church leadership positions. As most of you know, this disparity is deeply rooted in denominational and theological beliefs. At the same time, there have always been more male bloggers than female bloggers.

However, the gender gap among bloggers has now shrunk to roughly a 60/40 ratio according to Technorati’s 2011 State of the Blogosphere. And I wouldn’t be surprised to see the percentage of women in key ministry positions also continue to grow significantly over the next few decades.

I think a significant gender shift among global Church influencers is inevitable because of:

1. The progress made for women’s rights within the last century.
2. The average Christian globally shifting from being a white, Western, 48-year-old male in 1907 to being a black, African, 28-year-old female in 2007 (see Philip Jenkins’ research).

(4) Look Closer

At first glance it may look like there are only 8/200 top church blogs written by 8 women. However, many of the blogs are written by multiple authors. So if you look closer and include the blogs listed as “Various” authors, you will actually discover that 41/200 blogs are written by 175+ women to some degree.

In other words, 20% of the top blogs are written by women.

• #3 – Faith & Reason: Cathy Lynn Grossman
• #7 – GetReligion: Sarah Pulliam Bailey, Mollie Ziegler
• #10 – The Resurgence: various women including Elyse Fitzpatrick, Kristen Gilles, Lindsey Holcomb, Rachel Jankovic, Julie Smith Lowe, Jen Schmidt, Hilary Tompkins, Trisha Wikerson
• #13 – Desiring God: Gloria Furman, Noel Piper
• #14 – Internet Monk: Martha from Ireland
• #16 – Christianity Today Live Blog: Sarah Pulliam Bailey, Adelle Banks, Morgan Feddes, Kelly Henderson, Annalisa Musarra
• #20 – Rachel Held Evans
• #21 – Compassion International: various women including Caroline Atuhwere, Katy Causey, Jill DeRaad, Vera Mensah-Bediako, Shaina Moats, Jacquie Parella, Nadia Soberanis, Amber Van Schoonevald, Gail Taylor
• #32 – Ministry to Children: various women including Mimi Bullock, Kristin Charles, Jenny Funderburke, Mandy Groce, Brandi Riddle
• #33 – High Calling Blogs: various women including Laura Boggess, Claire Burge, Michelle DeRusha, Dena Dyer, Lore Ferguson, Jennifer Dukes Lee, Lyla Lindquist, Deidra Riggs, Kelly Sauer, Christine Scheller, Charity Singleton, Emily Wierenga
• #34 – Church Marketing Sucks: Jennifer Armitage, Amanda Gagnon, Danielle Hartland, Kelley Hartnett, Katie Strandlund, Erin Williams
• #44 – Call & Response: Lisa Nichols Hickman, Carol Howard Merritt, Amy Thompson Sevimli, Melissa Wiginton
• #49 – Gifted for Leadership: various women including Ginger Kolbaba, Lindsey Learn, Marian Liautaud, Anita Lustrea, Frederica Mathewes-Green, Ashley Moore, Shauna Niequist, Eve Nunez, Gina Rago, Patricia Raybon, JoHannah Reardon, Caryn Rivadeneira, Beatrice Rusu, Sarah Scherf,  Melinda Schmidt, Amy Simpson, Sherry Surratt, LaTonya Taylor, Kelli Trujillo
• #54 – ChurchLeaders.com: various women including Rachel Blom, Jody Capehart, Nicole Cottrell, Katelin Hansen, Lauren Hunter, Amy Fenton Lee, Brooklyn Lindsey, Gina McClain, Kem Meyer,
• #57 – Believe It or Not: Kate Shellnutt
• #61 – People of the Second Chance: various women including Joy Cannis, Sara Evanchick, Karen Hammons, Alex Headrick, Laurie Mackay, Lindsey Nobles, Kera Package, Alethia Schmidt, Desirae Schneider, Ashley Smith
• #63 – Catablog: Ashley Williams
• #89 – Church Mag: Danielle Luna
• #93 – Pastors.com: various women including Diana Davis, Cheryl Lewis
• #95 – Relevant Blogs: various women including Alyce Gilligan, Crystal Lovelass, Roxanne Weiman
• #99 – M and M: Madeleine Flannagan
• #112 – Godspace: Christine Sine
• #116 – Christ and Pop Culture: Erin Wyble Newcomb, Carissa Turner Smith, Erin Straza
• #118 – Modern Reject: Nicole Cottrell
• #120 – Think Christian: various women including Amy Adair, Diana Anderson, Alison Backous, Robin Basselin, Michelle Crotwell Kirtley, Kimberly Davis, Maureen Herring, Bethany Keeley-Jonker, Adele Konyndyk, Kristy Quist, Caryn Rivadeneira, Karen Swallow Prior
• #124 – Your Church: Marian Liautaud
• #134 – Small Group Dynamics: Amy Jackson
• #139 – Digital @ Leadership Network: Stephanie Plagens
• #143 – The Forbidden Gospels: April DeConick
• #145 – Nadia Bolz-Weber
• #155 – The Briefing: Sandy Grant, Rachel Macdonald, Jane Tooher, Jean Williams
• #156 – Black, White, and Gray: Becky Hsu, Margarita Mooney, Amy Reynolds
• #157 – Orange Leaders: Sarah Anderson, Sarah Bragg, Joy Bowen, Jennifer Davis, Kendra Fleming, Betsy Garrett, Amy Grisham, Kathy Hill, Cara Martens, Jessica McKee, Sue Miller, Beth Nelson, Kristi Porter, Yancy Richmond, Angela Simpson, Deb Springer
• #162 – Stuff Christian Culture Likes: Stephanie Drury
• #163 – Plywood People: Gisele Nelson, Kathryn Taylor
• #166 – The Evangelical Outpost: Renee Bolinger, Amy Canon, Robin Dembroff, Jennifer Gaertner, Jennifer Hardy, Rachel Motte, Lindsay Stallones
• #175 – Everyday Christian: Gina Burgess, Julie McElroy, Lisa Phelps, Lili Richey Willard, Judy Riddle, Dionna Sanchez, Amy Vogel, Brenda Wood
• #185 – Margaret Feinberg
• #191 – Christian Research Network: Erin Benzinger, Sarah Leslie, Christine Pack, Marsha West
• #192 – Faith Forward: Deborah Arca, Cynthia Bolbach, Jennifer Gutierrez, Erin Wathen
• #198 – Church Tech Today: Kim Conley, Lauren Hunter

So while there is a gender gap, keep in mind that the disparity isn’t just among gender. There is an even greater gap with racial disparity (most are white), and the greatest disparity is that very few of the bloggers are not from the United States. With time we can hope that things are better equalized.

To get a chance to snag one of these tickets, follow these 3 simple steps:

1. Tweet a link to this post. If you don’t have a Twitter account, you can use Facebook.
2. Write a comment below which includes why you want to go and includes your Twitter username or Facebook profile link.
3. Have a dance party on the spot wherever you are. #honorcode

On Friday, April 13 at 5:00 pm EST, I will randomly select 2 people who have completed the above instructions. If you are one of those selected, I will notify you via Twitter. If you don’t hear from me, you will have to try again next time.

This year’s Catalyst Dallas speakers include:

And don’t forget to check out Church Relevance’s conference calendar for other great ministry conferences.

Click here to see the 200 most popular ministry blogs of spring 2012.

Which blogs do you think should be on the list?