Fork In The Road Music » Ministry

Don’t Be Crippled By Striving For The Way It Could Be

Russell Martin — Tue, 02 Aug 2011 05:14:11 +0000

At one church I was at we held our contemporary worship and traditional service back to back in the same location. This made for some interesting transition times, and meant we had to be creative with our warm-up arrangements. Since we could not get into the worship space sooner than 15 minutes before we had to play, we would rehearse in a small classroom, using amps, a small electric drum set and often no microphones. Not the ideal situation.

I mentioned one time that I couldn’t wait till we could get a bigger space, more ideal equipment and more time to set up. One of the members looked at me and said, “Yeah.. but we’ve come a long way. A few years ago the drummer used a couch seat for a snare and pillows for cymbals.”

I was looking at where we were currently, and where I thought things should be. I was totally forgetting how far we had come.

This is something that I constantly struggle with, mostly in areas of my ministry. I see how I think things should be, how they could be so much better, cooler, more effective. I forget to look back and celebrate how far things have come from that point. As I have reflected on this I have found that always looking ahead has some negative effects:

1. You are never satisfied- You have to realize that when you constantly look to how it could be, you’ll never get there. There is always sometime else, something more, something better. Yes you should strive for what’s next, but first take some time, enjoy where your at, smell the roses and look back and see how far you’ve come

2. You dismiss others accomplishments- You may be one who doesn’t need as much time to stop and enjoy how far you’ve come, but sometimes others do. Others on your team, staff, ministry, and family may need more time to enjoy their accomplishments. Don’t rush on, let them enjoy the fruits of their labors.

3. You get lost in the journey- It is hard to see where you need to go, if you don’t take time to stop every once in a while. By relaxing, and looking back on where you have been you get a chance to get your bearings, and reconsider the path you are going.

How do you get crippled by “How it Could Be?”

What ways can we correct that thinking?

Photo from http://www.flickr.com/photos/sarae/

Top Ten Iphone Apps I Use for Ministry

Russell Martin — Sun, 06 Jun 2010 19:22:22 +0000

The other day my friend who is a pastor emailed me, “Hey I just got an iphone. Got any good ministry apps?”

I sat and thought about it. Which apps do I use most in my day to day ministry? Here is what I came up with. What would you add?

Pocket Informant- Keep personal, work, and multiple google calendars organized with this app. Also handles tasks, projects and more.

Facebook- Manage your personal facebook and church facebook page from this app. Add photos, status updates and send messages while sitting in line or waiting for your next meeting to start.

Pandora- Create your own radio station to listen to while you prepare that sermon, or play music while you wait for a service to begin.

Hootsuite- Manage multiple twitter and facebook accounts and pages. Post status updates to one or more. Create search columns to see what others are saying about your church or ministry. Track retweets and clicks on your posts and see what’s being repeated.

Planning Center Online- Manage your Planning Center orders of worship, schedule participants, send reminder emails, manage song library and more from this app. (Subscription to Planning Center Online required)

Google- Google search, voice search, plus one stop access to documents, gmail, tasks, Buzz, Calendar and other google services.

Foursquare- Let others know where you are. Check in and become the mayor of your church. Put up tips about your church including service times and upcoming events.

You Version Bible- Bible search, several different bible versions, notes and bible reading plans. Great bible resource.

Animoto- Create videos of ministry events, children’s programs, and youth nights by uploading photos and videos straight from your iphone and have them put into a great video with background music, and transitions.

Flickr- Got flickr? Access your photos, add tags, and search flickr photos

Ustream Broadcaster- Show live video on your church website from wherever you are using this cool app. Also adds video capability to your iphone 3G.

Dropbox- Use Dropbox as an online flash drive. The Iphone app gives access to all your files. Listen to music, browse documents and more. Click here to find out more and get 2.25 gig of space free!

A Few Extra Favorites-

Words with Friends- Relax, keep in contact with friends, and stretch your vocabulary with this tile based word game.

Google Reader – It’s not an app but an iphone optimized version of google reader. Great to read your RSS feeds on the go.

What I Am Reading-Freebies, Printing Press and Questions

Russell Martin — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 20:48:16 +0000

Thought I would let you in on a few different blogs and articles I have been reading lately-

1. The Internet is Not Your Delivery Boy- From Church Marketing Sucks I learned that the internet is not just the 20th century printing press, but should be so much more. It’s not about informing but connecting…

2. Freebie Friday- Tim Schmoyer from Life In Student Ministry shares different freebies each week. Last weeks was #152: Dallas Theological Seminary Courses on Itunes-

3. Finally David Risley in a guest post from ProBlogger asks the question, “Are You Talking At or To Your Readers” in a recent post. I wonder how many of the questions, and lessons learned, in this post could be applied to churches too?