Communicate Jesus

What does Google know about you?

Steven Kryger — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 01:08:13 +0000

Google has released Google Dashboard – a one-stop shop to see most of the data that is associated with your Google account.

It’s just as well Google launched this – I’d forgotten how many Google services I use – 14 in total! Some I use regularly, like Gmail and Google Alerts. Others I haven’t used in years, like my Blogger account, but I haven’t got around to deleting. Now might be the time.

The Sydney Morning Herald and Mashable have also reported on this new service.

It makes me wonder – how many accounts do you and I have out there on the world wide web, for products and services that we haven’t used in a very long time? When you have some time spare, it could be worth your while trawling your email for all those confirmation emails that you receive when you sign-up for a new service, and if you no longer use the service, delete your account. There’s no point keeping an account active that you no longer use.

I’ve done this in bursts at various times – and discovered how difficult it can be to delete some accounts. For example, Mecanbe.com never answers my emails, and Plaxo continued to send emails after I’d deleted my account!

At the End of Slavery

Steven Kryger — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 02:04:13 +0000

International Justice Mission shares some staggering statistics about human trafficking and slavery. Here’s just a couple:

The total market value of illicit human trafficking is estimated to be in excess of $32 billion (U.N.)
27 million men, women and children are held as slaves. (Kevin Bales, Disposable People)
Each year, more than 2 million children are exploited in the global commercial sex trade (UNICEF)

This week they launch a new documentary ‘At the End of Slavery‘, with opportunities for your church or group to host a screening. I’ve included the two trailers below. It will shock you.

On a related note, I’m also impressed with their use of social media. Follow International Justice Mission on Twitter, Facebook, Vimeo and YouTube.

Advanced Trailer

At The End Of Slavery – Advanced Trailer from International Justice Mission on Vimeo.

Extended Trailer

At The End Of Slavery – Extended Trailer from International Justice Mission on Vimeo.

Uncomfortable about child sponsorship incentive

Steven Kryger — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 05:14:47 +0000

I am a massive fan of Compassion.

I love the fact that they care for disadvantaged children. I love the fact that they are unashamedly Christian. When I heard the CEO of Compassion Australia, Paul O’Rourke, speak several years ago I was impressed by his faith and commitment to the cause of releasing children from poverty, in Jesus’ name. All this is to make very clear, Compassion does a great work.

However, I saw a promotion today that made me feel uncomfortable.

In an effort to encourage people to sponsor a child, the United States branch of Compassion is running an online promotion to sponsor a child and receive two Veggietales DVDs:

I’m all for getting more child sponsors, but something about this promotion made me feel a little uncomfortable. Perhaps I feel uncomfortable because this kind of promotion is so common in our world (e.g. “buy two pizzas, get a free coke and garlic bread”). Perhaps I feel uncomfortable because the intrinsic value of the children themselves should be a good enough incentive to sponsor a child. I can’t put my finger on it, but it just doesn’t sit well with me as a marketing strategy.

What do you think?

Will your church join LA city council?

Steven Kryger — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 23:00:42 +0000

Most churches and ministry organisations have two core technology tools – email and word processing (I’d add calendars to this list too, but most ministries and people in ministry probably aren’t using online calendars – yet!). Most churches and ministry organisations would use a desktop email client (e.g. Microsoft Outlook or Apple Mail), and Microsoft Office for word processing. Not only can these tools be expensive, in need of regular upgrading and specific to particular operating systems, there are some real benefits to using online tools for these tasks.

Last week, technology blogs Mashable and Cnet that the Los Angeles’ city council is about to start using Google Apps. For those unfamiliar, Google Apps is a set of tools provided by Google to assist organisations with communication, collaboration and publishing.

How does it work?

Most churches and ministry organisations will already have their own domain (e.g. www.stanglican.com). You can keep this domain and use Google to manage these common tasks:

Email – use Google’s email tool (Gmail) to manage your email. Your email address will remain the same (e.g. steve@stanglican.com), but there are added benefits such as awesome spam filtering, access to email wherever you have internet access, and a dedicated team working behind the scenes, 24/7/365 to make sure your email is always available. Here’s some more tips and benefits to using Gmail.
Calendars – use Google’s calendar tool (Google Calendar) to manage your schedule and collaborate with the schedules of others in your team/ministry/church. There are many benefits to not using a paper diary, but one of the most compelling for ministry is collaboration. Google Calendar will allow you to create multiple calendars, see who has what on when, allocate resources, find common meeting times, and publish (where appropriate, of course) particular calendars online for anyone to access. That’s a very brief sell – check out a tour with more of the features.
Documents – use Google’s document creation/management tool (Google Docs) to create documents, spreadsheets and presentations. You can import (eg. from Word/Excel/PowerPoint) and export to the same formats (and others) – i.e. you can maintain most of the benefits to using Microsoft Office and open documents others send you. Again, one of the key features is collaboration – Google Docs is a great platform for sharing documents and allowing others to work with you on particular documents, without the issues associated with emailing these around and hoping you’re working on the most current version. And importantly, you don’t need to be connected to the internet to access your documents.

There are other tools and benefits provided by the Google Apps service – all available free for non-profits (i.e. churches and most ministry organisations!) Learn more of the features of Google Apps, or sign-up.

Will your church or ministry organisation join LA city council?

52 inspiring links tweeted in October

Steven Kryger — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 05:55:06 +0000

If you don’t follow Communicate Jesus on Twitter, or if you’re not on Twitter all the time (and I don’t blame you), or if you’re in a different timezone (and again, I don’t blame you!), you might’ve missed some of the resources that were shared last month. So here’s a list of 52 links tweeted during October:

11 years of Google squished into 2 minutes – http://clicky.me/XQ (via @GuyKawasaki)
Blog post: The why, what, who & how of communications – http://bit.ly/2wuEdY (via @Stevefogg)
New at the Create conference blog – 145 websites we (apparently) need to know about. http://clicky.me/XM
5 wickedly clever ways to use Twitter – http://clicky.me/WP (via @stevefogg)
Books recommendations on: formation of the canon, reliability of NT and refuting the claims of recent critics – http://clicky.me/X7
Evangelical Christians gave a higher % of income to world missions during the Gt Depression than they do now. Devastating. (via @albertmohler)
Apple prepares to launch tablet computer, “larger version of the iphone” – http://clicky.me/XK
17 ways to kill common distractions – http://clicky.me/X8 (via @webworkerdaily)
Most of his sermons cost money, but now Tim Keller has released 150 sermons for free download online – http://clicky.me/X6
New blog post: Are you simple or complicated? http://tinyurl.com/yfhkoxn (via @Stevefogg)
Celebrity atheists expose their hypocrisy – http://clicky.me/WQ
Red is white. Cool site selling t-shirts (tees!) with Christian concepts. http://clicky.me/WH
New post at the Create conference blog – “Is your church, ministry or pastor on Twitter?” Add your details to the list – http://clicky.me/WE
Google to include Twitter updates in search results – http://clicky.me/Vg
12 characteristics of successful internet entrepreneurs – http://clicky.me/Vf
10 most extraordinary Twitter updates – http://clicky.me/V4 (via @mashable)
Reading: 10 Twitter tools to effectively manage your followers. http://clicky.me/U0
@Stevefogg recommends this book for exploring how the church can leverage pop culture for Jesus – http://clicky.me/UP
Young people turning to Facebook to grieve – http://clicky.me/UO. (h/t @OurChurchDotCom).
A search engine for free stock photos – http://clicky.me/Ta
For updates on all that’s happening at Create conference 2009, follow @creatconf!
This must be one of the ugliest banner ads I’ve seen. Made a good site look amateurish. http://twitpic.com/m2lc9
Google is God: Google is God http://bit.ly/UP6tS (via @Fervr)
A video: “The gospel in 6 minutes” (a presentation by John Piper) – http://clicky.me/S7
Tearing up (again) watching this video (again) about God using a lowly thing in the world to show truth. http://clicky.me/So
Top 20 funny signs courtesy of the Signspotting website – http://clicky.me/Re
Want to quickly calculate the number of days between two dates? Use this free tool – http://clicky.me/Rd
10 ways to make the most of Facebook for your church – http://bit.ly/aqkBu (via @Stevefogg)
13 ways to bless missionaries without paying for postage – http://clicky.me/Ob
Fellowship One church database is getting a new look – http://clicky.me/RV
Avoid frustration – don’t post an article but make the user click ‘next page’ 5 times to read the whole thing. e.g. http://clicky.me/SA
Maybe you need some advice in writing email? “15 tips for writing effective email” – http://clicky.me/RU
How are you going at staying on top of your email? “10 articles on managing email” – http://clicky.me/RT
How many YouTube videos are viewed each day? Only one billion. http://clicky.me/Rj
Have you seen doubleTwist? It’s a media player seeking to give iTunes a run for its money – http://clicky.me/RS
Great interview with Desiring God Ministries on how they got started, and why they have a ‘free resources’ policy. http://clicky.me/Ri
Reading: “The history and evolution of social media” – http://clicky.me/Qy
These two homepages are just beautiful. They just make you want to go exploring (http://clicky.me/QZ & http://clicky.me/Qa). Agree?
Thoughts on using Facebook well for ministry groups – http://clicky.me/Ou
Procrastinating and reading: “Minimizing complexity in user interfaces” (http://clicky.me/QY). Satisfying my desire to discover new apps!
Reading: 20 Twitter badges to show off your tweets. http://clicky.me/QV
New website launches with videos to teach kids about Jesus – http://clicky.me/Pv
Posted an interview with CJ Mahaney on the limits of creativity in corporate worship, from #WG09. http://bit.ly/yVZEr (via @bkauflin)
What an amazing testimony. From homosexuality to holiness. http://clicky.me/PD (h/t @angus_boyd)
Reading: ‘Barely anybody clicks on banner ads anymore’. http://clicky.me/Oa
Reading: What’s your favourite Firefox extension? http://clicky.me/Ov
This single image shows so starkly the falsehood of the so-called ‘prosperity gospel’. Thanks @JohnPiper. http://clicky.me/OZ
A brief history of Google. What a story – in just 15 years from BackRub to global influence of an precedented scale . http://clicky.me/ON
Reading: How to Create a Minimalist Computer Experience – http://clicky.me/O1
Just started using @dropbox. I can’t believe I haven’t used this before – it’s great! Manage files wherever you are – http://clicky.me/Na
Have you read Dan Brown’s ‘The Lost Symbol’? Disclaimer: I haven’t, but here’s a review by Greg Clarke (@gjclarke666) – http://clicky.me/Mq
New post with two videos with some staggering stats. ‘Responding to the internet revolution’ – http://clicky.me/NU

Pay more for better support?

Steven Kryger — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 10:53:44 +0000

I’ve had an account with Plaxo fora number of months but never really got into it. I realised there’s a limit to the number of different ways I can connect with people, and decided tonight that Plaxo isn’t one of them. So I decided to delete my account.

When I tried to log-in, I couldn’t remember my password. When I tried to re-set my password, I was told that my email address isn’t registered. So I emailed support with this issue, and this message appeared on the screen after I submitted my issue:

What do you think about this tiered level of support – i.e. pay more for a faster response? Would a plan with a quicker response cause you to pay more for a service?

(For the record, Plaxo responded to my email within the hour – nice work!)

Portraits on prayer

Steven Kryger — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 11:20:17 +0000

Brilliant Where’s Wally advertisement

Steven Kryger — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 23:25:48 +0000

For communication to be effective, it must be clear.

The latest series of print advertisements by BPAY are a great example of clear and effective communication.

What is being communicated in this advertisement?

Using BPAY is easy.

That’s the message. And because ease of use is something that appeals to us all (especially when it comes to paying bills!), communicating clearly that a product will be easy to use and make life easier will speak powerfully to many people.

Is BPAY ‘almost too easy’? I’ve no idea. Have the ads caused me to try out BPAY? Absolutely.

What’s the lesson?

It isn’t that Christians should run a print campaign with the line “Being a Christian is almost too easy”.

No, the lesson is that in all our communication (verbal, written, online, etc) we should think hard about what it is that we would like to communicate, and how we can do that most clearly. Sometimes fewer words will have greater impact. Usually, limiting ourselves to one message (even when lots of other messages are equally worthy of promotion) will be more effective.

Below are two other ads that have been developed for this campaign:

A new type of search engine emerges

Steven Kryger — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 23:33:09 +0000

Sure, I’m a child of my generation, but I find it hard to remember a time without Google. I asked a friend last week ‘does anyone use search engines other than Google anymore’? They still do (see this recent research from AC Nielsen) but Google is by far the dominant search engine and the first place people many go looking for information. An article in this month’s Wired magazine explored a new type of search engine that offers a completely different model of searching. Clive Thompson explains:

“For more than 10 years, Google has organised the Web by figuring out who has authority. The company measures which sites have the most links pointing to them – crucial votes of confidence – and checks to see whether a site grew to prominence slowly and organically, which tends to be a marker of quality…But the real-time Web behaves in almost the opposite fashion. It’s all about ‘trending topics’ [e.g. a plane crash] – which by their very nature generate a massive number of links and postings within minutes. And a search engine can’t spend days deciding what is the most crucial site or posting; people want to know immediately.” (’Live in the moment’, October 2009, page 44)

These search engines seek to make available what people are saying on any given topic at the current time, often with a particular emphasis on what social media channels (e.g. Twitter, Facebook) are saying. The article cites a number of search engines (and I’ve included a couple of others) that have emerged to meet this need for real-time information on trending topics:

It seems that Google is keeping up with, and even staying ahead of the game. Social media website Mashable reported earlier in October on ‘Google launches 9 new ways to search‘. If you do a search on Google you will see at the top of the results page a plus symbol (+) with the words ’show options’. This will provide the following options (click to enlarge):

What are the implications for ministry? A couple of uses come to mind:

track what people are saying about outreach campaigns such as Jesus: All About Life,
track what people are saying about your church/ministry,
track what people are saying about Jesus (and if you’re feeling brave, chime in to address any incorrect views!),
track the issues and concerns people are expressing about your suburb/parish and consider how your church could positively respond

Can you think of any other ministry uses for this type of real-time search?

Winners of Christian Audio giveaway

Steven Kryger — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 07:33:09 +0000

Last month on Communicate Jesus and SydneyAnglicans.net I ran a promotion in association with christianaudio – ‘Audio books for mobile spiritual encouragement‘. 10 commenters would be picked at random and win a gift voucher to the online store. The winners are:

Bob Thurlow
Luke Thomson
Craig Schwarze
Kirsty McNamara
Joanna
Amanda Farrelly
Kevin Goddard
David Pinn
Nate Swift
John Driver

Congratulations to you all! I will send each of you an email with the details for redeeming your voucher.

Don’t forget to check out the free audio book available each month too – this month it’s ‘Just Courage’ by Gary A Haugen.

Thanks once again to christianaudio for participating in this promotion.