PastorHacks

Tokbox

Sorry for the lag in blogging here. I have a feeling I'll be back in the swing of things come the new year. In the meantime...

Check out TokBox.

Our staff right now consists of two Mac users and one PC user... and no office. We tend to meet in coffee shops for staff meetings, and when we all got snowed in earlier this week, that became a practical impossibility. 

So was connecting via iChat or Skype. 2 way conversations were doable- three way, not so much. Frustrating for this Mac user who believes his beloved Apple can do anything. 

Luckily I have an iPhone and can conference calls so easily. :)

Even luckier, we discovered Tokbox. 3 way video conference in under 30 seconds- seriously. It's that easy. And I'm fairly sure we could have conferenced in a lot of other folks as well. 

And more, there's social networking components, video mail... it's pretty slick and dead simple. 

I can see a lot of uses for this, including over a big campus, or to make people working from multiple sites seem as though they are in the same space (stay on during the workday and just intercom someone, basically), but ideally suited for conferencing in multiple people not in the same physical space. 

Check out TokBox.

Free and Cheap(er) Video resources from Ignitor

I love Ignitor- among the best video stuff out there for churches. They consistently blow me away with their quality...

And since they are lowering prices...

 

36 Parables and Worship House Media

Oh how I wish I had known about 36 Parables, a series of amazingly well-produced short films based on the parables of Jesus, when I was preaching through the Gospels over the last couple of years. Man, I hope I don't forget about these before we go through a Gospel again...

Also, I've recommended Sermon Spice to you before, but now let me recommend Worship House Media... Same general idea (browse short media clips, purchase and download online), but...
Prices are generally a lot lower, and to be honest, they seem to have the best of what Sermon Spice has, without a lot or the more amateur stuff I probably wouldn't use anyway. You really should check 'em out...

For a habitual Sunday morning downloader like myself, they're going to be a regular stop, I think...

free resource: generic card

For a number of years, evergreeners have been asking me for a plain business card they could give to folks with info on our community...

I finally got around to creating one-

Printing 1,000 on glossy cardstock (a must- glossy cards look fabulous) is surprisingly cheap through Vistaprint.com- about $50

If you are interested in doing something like this, here's the original photoshop file. You'll need your own logo of course...

generic business card

Download fonts.zip

Video for Worship Gatherings...

We use media at the beginning of our gatherings, generally to point us in the direction we're going, to ask the question that Scripture will answer that morning, to call people's attention/get us all together...

Some of the best out there comes from two of my favorite sources: Work of the People and Igniter Media.

Work of the People puts together visual liturgies- visual walk-throughs of various Scriptures- good to start a morning with, good to use as a meditation, good all the way around.

Igniter does some amazing stuff with video- I'm consistently impressed by the over-the-top professional quality of what these guys put out.

Igniter has just released Volume 5 of their videos... you can also download them one at a time (rather than buying a whole collection) at their website, at Sermon Spice and at Worship House Media

Good Friday '08 images

Good Friday Media

From the Vaults of yesteryear... feel free to steal! :)

Good Friday background slides

Good Friday Media

PastorHacks podcast at LeadershipBuzz.com!

I'm excited to announce the PastorHacks podcast at LeadershipBuzz.com.

LeadershipBuzz is meant to be a resource for church leaders- podcasts from practitioners giving short, practical messages on various issues facing church leaders today...

You can listen online, or join to download-

hosts include Len Sweet, Shane Hipps, Brian McLaren, Ivy Beckwith and Bob Hyatt (uh... me!). And a bunch more too.

From the site...

1. Your Heart and Brain Will Buzz. 

 

Conference-level training from some of the best and the brightest in ministry leadership. We’ll stretch your thinking, challenge your heart, and occasionally even mail you a fruitcake. (We have a ton of them left over from Christmases past. Literally a ton.)

 

 

2. Your iPod Runneth Over. 

 

20 fresh episodes a week designed to help you do ministry better. Plus, over a year’s worth of content from our archives available as soon as you join. Please . . . Hold your applause. Just kidding! Applaud all you want. You know you want to.

 

 

3. Shiny, Happy Tools. 

 

Two words about our content: Practical. Listen in the morning. Apply in the afternoon. Sleep well at night. Repeat.

 

 

4. Learn Whenever, Wherever. 

 

Listen online, download files directly to your computer or subscribe to a podcast feed. You decide how and when you want to plug in.

Check it out!

FortyOneTwenty

If you use media regularly in your ministry, check out FortyOneTwenty. Really good quality videos (much better than a lot of stuff that's out there) competitive prices... good, artistic and creative stuff!

36 Parables and Worship House Media

Oh how I wish I had known about 36 Parables, a series of amazingly well-produced short films based on the parables of Jesus, when I was preaching through the Gospels over the last couple of years. Man, I hope I don't forget about these before we go through a Gospel again...

Also, I've recommended Sermon Spice to you before, but now let me recommend Worship House Media... Same general idea (browse short media clips, purchase and download online), but...
Prices are generally a lot lower, and to be honest, they seem to have the best of what Sermon Spice has, without a lot or the more amateur stuff I probably wouldn't use anyway. You really should check 'em out...

For a habitual Sunday morning downloader like myself, they're going to be a regular stop, I think...