I believe that God uses each of us with the gifts and abilities we have, and we are called to be available to where He leads us in using those gifts and abilities. For me, that means using my ability to design and build websites. For years, I have been the web guy at my church, and Creative Missions provides an opportunity for me to serve other churches for the sake of the Gospel that might not otherwise have the resources to effectively communicate with their communities through modern technology.

Why Vermont?

From the Creative Missions website:

A recent Gallup poll found only 23% of people in Vermont consider religion important and attend services regularly. Cities in Vermont frequently make Barna research lists—least Bible-minded and most post-Christian. In fact, Vermont ranks 48th in the nation for church attendance across all denominations with 34%. Some of the same pulpits once held by preachers like Jonathan Edwards and George Whitefield, during the Great Awakening, now proclaim universalism and other teachings that fall short of the gospel.

The need in Vermont is great, but the gospel is greater. There’s a good spirit of unity among pastors and planters. The state that, in recent years, has been referred to a “church planter’s graveyard” is changing as churches are planting, surviving and thriving.

The Vermont pastors we are working with are all convinced that they are in the middle of a new awakening, eager with anticipation for the unique ways our missionaries can serve.

A pastor at one of the churches we will be serving said “I feel like I’ve neglected my people while worrying about tech and communication. You’re just in time. This is the coolest thing I’ve ever heard of.” That sums it up for me. We are doing the work that these pastors need so they can focus on the work that they are called to.

How can you help?

First and foremost, please pray for me and the other missionaries who are going on this trip. Pray that God will remove any obstacles that might hinder anyone from participating, and pray that He will prepare our hearts and minds for the work that we will be doing.

Pray also for the churches we will be serving, that God will give them endurance to fulfill the role that God has called them to, and that He will bless the work that they are doing to help spread the Gospel in Vermont. Pray for the people of Vermont that these churches serve, that they will be open to the message that these churches bring.

If you feel led, there is also a way you can support this mission financially. The cost of the trip for each missionary is $495, and that does not include airfare. If you would like to make a tax deductible donation to this trip, you can do so by going to http://sponsor.creativemissions.to and filling out the sponsorship form. Every little bit helps to offset the cost of the trip. If I raise more than $495, the rest will go toward other expenses incurred by Creative Missions.

If you are a creative professional who does graphic design, photography, videography, web design, web development, etc. and you want to be a part of Creative Missions in the future, let me know. I would love to talk with you about my experience and how you too can get involved.

Every time the controversy du jour (that means “controversy of the day” for those who haven’t seen Dumb n Dumber) happens, I can always count on certain people (conservative and liberal) to have something to say about it. Sometimes they have interesting things to say that add to the public discourse about controversial topics, but most of the time they’re just shouting in a noise factory. I used to be that guy. Admittedly, sometimes I still am.

Rest assured that I was on the Internet within minutes, registering my disgust throughout the world. – Comic Book Guy, The Simpsons

It’s tough to get on social media in the midst of controversy. There are endless opinions from all sides of an issue, and you are guaranteed to find some outlandish opinion that, in your opinion, nobody in their right mind would think, much less profess publicly. As someone with strong opinions, I find it very difficult to sit back and let opinions with which I disagree go unchallenged.

Just yesterday I had a discussion on Twitter with a friend over the Supreme Court’s Obamacare ruling. He and I are still friends because we know how to disagree without being angry, but that’s not always the case. Which brings me to the point of this post.

How should we, as Christians, respond to controversial topics in social media? There are ample opportunities to get into heated debates, so I think it’s important to really think about how we should respond to these types of topics.

James 1:19-20 says “This you know, my beloved brethren. But everyone must be quick to hear, slow to speak and slow to anger; for the anger of man does not achieve the righteousness of God.” That’s the answer right there.

Be quick to hear

Other translations say “be quick to listen.” How many of us take time to listen to opposing viewpoints? I know that in many cases, the opposing view seems so crazy that it’s not worth listening to. Even so, there is great value in simply listening. Most people just want to be heard. That’s why they’re shouting in the noise factory to begin with, because they think that their voice is worth being heard over all the other noise.

You don’t have to agree with someone to hear them out. But you should afford them the same respect that you hope that they would afford you. Why should they listen to you if you are not willing to listen to them? Even if you don’t agree with someone, by listening you may be able to gain a deeper understanding of why they hold certain views, and that will help to advance the conversation in a constructive, meaningful way.

Be slow to speak

That’s a tough one for a lot of us. Like the Comic Book Guy in The Simpsons, we often want to make our opinion known as widely as possible and as quickly as possible. A lot of times, we don’t take the time to consider the whole story or the implications of our opinions before sharing them with the whole world.

By jumping into the fray too quickly and without first listening, we expose our inherent biases. Your immediate reaction and interpretation of a situation are shaped and formed by your biases. Take some time to get the facts before rushing to judgement and spouting your bias all over the Internet. Think how much less annoying Facebook would be if everyone did that.

In many cases, being slow to speak just means not speaking at all. You don’t have to give your opinion on every little issue that pops up. Again, think how much less annoying Facebook would be if everyone were more selective about the issues they actually comment on.

Be slow to anger

This one is actually pretty easy for me. It takes a lot to make me angry. But I realize that’s not the case for everyone. Did you know that it’s actually possible for someone to disagree with you and still respect and love you at the same time? It’s true. Too many times, we take any disagreement on any subject as a personal affront, and that just shouldn’t be the case.

I recognize that many people, hidden safely behind the anonymity that the Internet provides, will strike out at people with rude, disrespectful words meant to harm and not to advance any sort of meaningful discussion. These people are what the kids call “trolls,” and it’s a waste of time to engage these people, much less become offended by something they say. Once you get mad at a troll, they’ve won. Game over.

But trolls aside, why get angry or lose friends over a simple disagreement? When you get angry, you become tempted to say something you might regret. No issue is worth damaging relationships. Keep calm, and walk away if you feel that you cannot engage in a discussion without getting angry.

Love each other

We are called to love each other. I believe that is how we “achieve the righteousness of God.” You cannot argue someone into a loving relationship with Jesus Christ, so why try? We can and should have meaningful discussions with people in such a way that we exemplify the love of Christ. God has called us to more than being the most vocal conservative or liberal on Facebook. Let’s live up to our calling.

As a web developer, I have served as the webmaster for my church’s website for over a decade, and I’ve always thought how great it would be to help other churches with their websites. I never knew something like this existed until this year, so as soon as the application for the 2015 trip went live, I applied. I just wish I had known about it before this year.

I was really excited when I got an email on March 25 with my formal invitation to be a part of Creative Missions. I have been on other mission trips where we did things like build houses, paint churches, run vacation bible schools, etc., but this was different. This would be an opportunity to use my talents to serve God’s kingdom beyond my home church, and I couldn’t wait to be a part of it.

The trip was May 16-22. I arrived in Boise the evening of the 16th and was greeted at the airport by 3 of the 4 other members of my team for the week. It was great to be with like-minded people who had a heart for using their creative and technical abilities to serve churches in Boise. In total, there were 22 people on this trip divided into 4 teams serving 11 churches.

Our team served 3 churches: Christ Presbyterian Church, North End Collective Church, and Boise Mustard Seed. All 3 churches were very different in how the approached the process of being a church, but they all shared in common that they were faithful congregations led by faithful men and women seeking to glorify God and fulfill his calling on their lives and their churches. I was humbled to have the opportunity to serve these churches as they pursued an unwavering commitment to serve the Lord.

By the numbers

According to this article, the 4 teams provided approximately:

• 10 website designs or redesigns
• 12 logos, branding packages and/or style guides
• 3 new social accounts setup & branded
• 6 videos
• 27 total number of print designs (business cards, letterhead, etc.)
• 14 signs
• 10 coaching, strategy and/or training sessions (social, tech, general communications)
• 5 AVL upgrades or troubleshooting
• 3 photography/photo shoots
• 4 email newsletter designs/redesigns
• 1 stage design
• 2 ProPresenter or presentation system software design/install
• 11 Churches served
• 22 Creative missionaries

A conservative estimate based on the amount of hours worked during the week is that the teams provided $45,000 in free labor and services to the churches in the Boise area.

I was truly inspired by the diverse and incredibly talented group of individuals who gave a week of their time to serve churches in Boise. I am grateful that I got the opportunity to take part in this trip, and I hope I get to continue to be a part of Creative Missions for years to come.

Before I start explaining my reasons, let me just say that this isn’t going to be a typical link-bait Joomla vs. WordPress article. I think both projects are doing great things, and both systems have their strengths and their weaknesses, but I also think it’s time to move beyond the comparison game and realize that both Joomla and WordPress (and even Drupal) serve great purposes. Let’s just leave it at that.

Now, on to my reasoning…

This is just a blog.

WordPress is the king of blogs. The undisputed champion of the blogging world. I have always said, if you just want a blog, WordPress is the way to go. All I wanted to do is create a blog, and the easiest way to get up and running with a blog quickly is to use WordPress. Yes, you can blog with Joomla, but WordPress is a better blogging platform. If I wanted more than a blog, I would use Joomla, because I still believe that Joomla is better for anything more than a blog.

I don’t have time

I recently re-entered the world of freelance web development. I voluntarily left the comfort of a steady paycheck and jumped back into the deep end. As an independent, self-employed developer, the phrase “Time is money” hits really close to home. Time is money. If I’m spending time designing, building, and maintaining a personal blog, that’s time that I’m not spending providing billable service to my clients. I don’t get paid for the time I spend on my blog, so I want to spend as little time as possible doing that.

It’s cheap

As I mentioned earlier, this blog is hosted at WordPress.com, which only costs me $13/year to use my custom domain name. I could host it myself, but why would I do that? With WordPress.com, I get great hosting and a lot of really useful tools without having to put forth any effort or spend a lot of money. It’s a no-brainer. If I needed something beyond what WordPress.com can do for me, I would host it myself. But I don’t.

Use the right tool for the job

So, yes, I’m a Joomla guy. I love Joomla. I’ve been with Joomla since the beginning, and I will continue to be an active part of that community for as long as it exists. But I’m also a pragmatist, and I believe in using the right tool for this job. For this job, WordPress was the right tool.