Back in January, I gave my first Sunday sermon at Hope Chapel. Many of you came out to hear my “first real sermon” and I really appreciate your support. Even though that was the Sunday all the church leaders were out on a retreat, the sanctuary was full. Thank you.

The sermon was about the most mysterious woman in the old testament. We don’t even know her name but she wrote one of the most famous passages in the Bible. Curious? You will have to listen to the sermon to find out who she was. Or read Jim Davis’ notes below.

The first service I completely fell on my face technologically. I forgot my VGA adapter and even when someone in the congregation had one the projector completely failed to work. I have never in my life had a technical failure so catastrophic in front of so many people. The sound guy gracefully cut the first few frantic minutes of the sermon from the recording.

Listen/Watch

• Listen to the recording of the first service (right click and then click save as).
• Watch the video from the second service (right click and then click save as).

Here are the notes put together by Jim Davis. He created the notes for small group discussion.

Lesson

Satan intends to kill the current generation of God’s people and destroy the mission God has given them, but God heals and protects His children.

Text(s)/Resources

• Proverbs 31:1-9, Matthew 28:19-20, and Psalms 139
• AlmightyMusicVideo.com

Ice-Breaker:

1. Have you experienced an interest/hobby consuming large amounts of your time? Dominating your interests and thinking?
2. Have you felt an “adventure-shaped” hole in your heart, your thinking? Do you long for a more interesting/exciting life?

Background:

Proverbs 31 is famous for its description of a competent woman, but the first 9 verses are the words of a mysterious (unnamed) woman, the mother of King Lemuel. She speaks to her son, who is (or will be) a king. Notice that she has advice, feedback for him, but she speaks from the perspective of her listener. She speaks to his identify, before she speaks about what she thinks he should do. Rather than admonishing him to avoid a failure she anticipates, she speaks to his identify and encourages him to live up to the level of who he is.

Satan is the opposite. He would have his hearers forget who they are: children of God Almighty. Rather than encourage, Satan seeks to steal, kill and destroy.

Point 1 of 3: Steal. Thomas shared that as a child he loved computer games. They consumed his interests and time. Near the time he was finishing high school, an older brother (Lester Haines) spoke a word to him: “It is time for you to be about your Father’s business.” Thomas knew (though perhaps Lester did not) that his life was oriented in large degree around gaming, to near-addictive levels. The addition to activities can be very similar to drug and other addictions. So Thomas understood God to be telling him to  give up gaming.

Thomas further understood that he wanted adventure and that gaming attempted to fill the “adventure-shaped” hole in his heart. Soon after this word was given him, Thomas began to experience the adventure of evangelism. Sharing the gospel with others was scary. But riding a roller coaster is scary. That is why one rides them. The scariness is an adventure, the ride is exhilarating. The enemy would steal true adventure from us. Don’t let him.

Point 2 of 3: Kill. The mysterious woman of Proverbs 31:1-9 told her son to avoid drinking, a metaphor for forgetting one’s role. She told him to live up to the levels required/expected of a king and to protect and speak for those who are helpless. Today, the mute and helpless are the unborn. 1 in 3 Christian woman have an abortion. These women are much more likely to suffer psychological disorders later and experience shame, guilt, and brokenness because they are unable to seek forgiveness and healing.  Babies are killed and mother’s souls are grievously wounded.

Point 3 of 3: Destroy our mission. God intends this generation to make a difference, to carry out His purposes. To take actions and/or speak out. Failure to do so results from apathy. Apathy means “hard heart.” In this generation there is a word “meh.” Meh can be defined as a verbal shrugging of the shoulders and it is growing more widespread. At a time when we should be embracing the mission of going into the entire earth to share good news, the enemy promotes the response of meh — because he wants to destroy this generation’s mission.

Digging Deeper:

• What has been stolen from you? What are you now missing that you believe you previously possessed and used?
• What is your current identity? Who are you?
• What adventure calls to you? What stops you from pursuing it?
• What can others you trust do for you to help you recover your identify and mission?

Wrap-Up:

• Pray for each other to encourage recovery of identify in Christ
• Pray for each other for forgiveness and healing of secret shames and guilt.
• Prayerfully remind each other that all need saving and as we are able to give Jesus our guilt and shame, He is faithful to give us joy and life, healing and wholeness.

Outreach/Mission:

• We are not all called to be involved in every area of outreach. Some may seek to help the homeless, some others seek to help the unborn. What jazzes you? Think of a person whom you really hope will recover what has been stolen from them. What could you say to, or do for, that person this week?
• Do you want more information, or training, in the area of sharing good news? Who can you ask to teach you, or partner with you? Plan to speak with that person.

Related posts:

1. A Woman at a Well (Psalm) You may not know Charity Chambers but she is an...
2. Almighty – Our Pro-Life Music Video My dad woke up one day and decided to make...

My dad woke up one day and decided to make a Pro-Life music video. Little did I know the inescapable whirlwind his decision would produce.

More than 40 people worked for over two months to create what you can watch here. A Pro-Life video that I feel is a true representation of what really happens.

There are a few cameos by yours truly. My favorite is the coffee shop scene (1:45 in the video). In that scene you can see me in the background building the website the video is now embedded on. We almost broke the space time continuum I think

My dad, Tom Umstattd, wrote the song and played the guitars. The actors all came from the Austin Rhetoric Club. I tried out for the boyfriend but did not make the cut. The director, Alex Lerma, said I wasn’t be mean enough.

Our hope is that this video will re-energize the church to be actively pro-life. If it saves even one baby it will be a successes. The more it spreads the more impact it can have. Would you share  a link to the video on Facebook? Would you be willing to forward it to a friend?

What did you think when you first saw it? Was it what you were expecting? Leave a comment and let us know.

Related posts:

1. Texas Rally for Life 2008 (Photos) Last Saturday I went with some friends to the Texas...
2. The Philosophy of Liberty (Video) The Philosophy of Liberty video is one the best presentations...
3. Why March? Someone recently asked me what the point was to all...

There are some issues that define a generation. For our grandfathers that issue was the Nazi slaughter of the Jews. For their grandfathers the issue was slavery. Our generation faces a similar defining issue. Will you be remembered as those who stood up or vegged out?

Please watch this 2 minute video:

Because of abortion there are 100,000 fewer black Americans each year than the year before. This must stop. Their blood cries out from the ground for justice. God’s wrath will not wait forever. If we do not stand in the gap and intercede for our nation who will?

This morning I heard Lue Engle speak here in Austin for the first time. I wept.

If you know me you know I don’t often cry. But, my heart broke this morning. If you have a few minutes it would bless me  if you would take the time to listen to the message he gave this morning. You can download it here. To copy the mp3 to your computer or iPod download the zip here.

The following information is from an email Jana sent me about the march next week. I will be there. I hope you will come too.

The Crisis

The Second largest abortion clinic in the world is being built at this present moment in Houston, Texas. This six-story Planned Parenthood abortion “super center” is right in the middle of four (4) “super neighborhoods.” Three average to 85% Latino in population and the other is 85% African American.

Planned Parenthood is targeting these minority pro-family communities, both for their finances and the restriction of their populations. But, there is a voice rising out of Houston and out of Texas, declaring, “We don’t want this death camp specializing in late-term abortions in our neighborhoods!”

On Martin Luther King Jr.’s holiday, January 18th, 2010, thousands are gathering to march against this Goliath to pray, fast, and peacefully siege this massive injustice in the spirit of that great liberator Martin Luther King Jr. Key African American, Latino, and political leaders are coming to speak and hold a nationwide press conference challenging this “super center.”

This is a great hour for the Hispanic pro-LIFE people, Catholic and Evangelical, to raise their voices against abortion and for adoption. Public opinion over abortion is shifting radically in America to pro-LIFE at the same time this facility is exalting itself above the humble and oppressed.

We are entering into the 37th anniversary of the “Roe V. Wade” abortion decree of 1973 on January 22, 2010. We are in a ’73/’37 window to reverse that decree. It started in Texas, now let it begin to reverse there.

The Call

We are calling for the pro-LIFE people of Houston, Texas, and America to gather Sunday night, January 17th, 2010 for four hours of prayer for spiritual awakening and justice, from 6:00pm to 10:00pm at Grace Community Church.

On this evening, 1/17, we will be unifying with one voice before God to pray for the Luke 1:17 answer to the killing of our babies and the wounding of our women – “And he will also go before Him in the spirit and power of Elijah to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children and the rebellious to the wisdom of the just, to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.”

The Call Info:

• When: Sunday, January 17th Location @ 6:00PM:
• Where: Grace Community Church South Campus
  • 14505 Gulf Freeway
  • Houston, TX 77034 (map)

Parking on Sunday is limited. Please carpool.

The Siege

On January 18th, at 9:00am on Martin Luther King Jr.’s holiday, we will gather by the thousands to launch a silent prayer march through the streets to the abortion “super center” for the nationwide press conference and prayer stand.

As Martin Luther King Jr. would proclaim it – It is time to “subpoena the conscience” of the nation from the flashpoint of Houston, Texas. Maybe Houston could become the Birmingham of our day to let the unborn go free and spare the pregnant mother the agony of guilt. Maybe out of Houston a great demonstration of compassion could be launched through pregnant mother care with a mass movement of adoption.

Martin Luther King Jr. cried, “I have a dream”. Alveda King, the niece of Martin Luther King Jr., has eloquently stated, “How can the dream live as long as we kill our children?” God has a dream. He has a dream for America and He has a dream for every mother and every child and a six-story massive abortion facility has never been a part of that dream. Lets end the nightmare and let the dream live.

March on Planned Parenthood

• When: Monday, January 18th Location @ 9:30 AM:
• Where: Catholic Charismatic Center
  • 1949 Cullen Blvd.
  • Houston, TX 77023 (Map)

Parking on Monday is limited. Please carpool.

Related posts:

1. Public Figure (Abolition of Abortion) Successful movements often have a Public Figure who represents the...
2. Minutemen (Abolition of Abortion) Not everyone is called to advance the cause of the...
3. Texas Rally for Life 2008 (Photos) Last Saturday I went with some friends to the Texas...

After over 10 years of doing choir in school I swore I would never sing in choir again. I put aside my musical side for  occasional beat boxing and perhaps singing with my family. No more the answers “no” thank you.

But this was not to be.

After my dad asked me for the seventh time to join the Hope Chapel Christmas choir I relented. I had a great time! Despite my expectations I might add. This is a great example of what my dad calls “forced fun.”

Below are some recordings of the songs we sang. Our camera was not so good but Bill Ledbetter, the camera guy, did a great job with our camera such as it was.

Rise & Shine by Deb Dorman

This is a newer song from Deb Dorman. This may have been the first performance. In earlier practices it seemed like she may have still been tweaking it. It was fun to sing. Deb is one of my favorite worship music writers. She is also a fun choir director.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Watch Rise and Shine on YouTube

Cradled in a Manger Meanly by George Rowe

This is one of my all time favorite Christmas songs and one you have probably now heard. Legend has it that this song helped inspire the Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis. Or at least the Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe.  I don’t know if that is true but I do know I like this song.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Watch Cradled in a Manger Meanly on YouTube

Celebrate the Child by Michael Card

Geno the pastor had us sing this song a second time and told us to put “more soul in it.” Everyone seemed to like it a lot.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Watch Celebrate the Child on YouTube

Infant Holy Infant Lowly by Spiewni­czek Ko­sciel­ne

Infant Holy is a traditional Polish Christmas Carol. Traditional in Poland I guess. I had never heard it before but it’s catchy.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Watch Infant Holy on YouTube.

Related posts:

1. A Different Kind of Thomas Here is a part of me you may have never...
2. Adventure at Dunnottar Castle Instead of telling you about the computer work I did...
3. Christmas Evangelism Boot Camp #3 It is here. CEBC #3 Registration is now open. Watch...

Two Russian orphans.

The biggest question I have received about my trip to Russia is “What is MIR?” No one has heard of it. To help answer that question I have put together the following video.

While in Russia I helped:

• Setup a several new computers
• Setup a new secure email system
• Demoed the XO Laptop to orphanage directors (yes yes a post on XO Laptops is coming)
• Secure the network.
• Increase the network speed.
• Setup auto backup.
• Trouble shot numerous computer related issues
• Setup StoneworksInternational.com
• Setup Mir’s new website  (still a work in progress)
• Tech training on how to process email more efficiently.
• Training on how to use a Mac
• Shot video footage for the Mir Video.
• Setup a website for Street Cry (still a work in progress)
• Edited the Mir Video.
• Passed out tracts with the folks from StreetCry

I also drank a lot of tea at the Cantrell’s with my Russian Family and explored a winter war battlefield.

Here I am filming an orphanage director. Her orphanage is interested in joining the XO-Laptop program. They are also involved in MIR's hosting program.

Related posts:

1. Photos from Russia Photos from my recent trip to Saint Petersburg Russia. ...
2. What I Learned in Russia I learned a lot in Russia. Here are some of...
3. My Russian Family I would like to introduce you to my Russian family...

Here is a quick video with some of the cool people we met at the ACW conference .

I’m in St. Petersurg now and will post about that soon.

No related posts.

Everyone once in a while a short film like this comes along. Volition is short, well made and powerful. If you havent seen it yet stop whatever you are doing and watch it right now. Its that good.

For those of you who have already watched it what did you think?

Related posts:

1. Almighty – Our Pro-Life Music Video My dad woke up one day and decided to make...

Watch the CEBC promo on GodTube.

This outreach will help you face your fears as you serve with other Christians who desire to “preach the gospel to all creation”.  If your commitment to Christ compels you to grow as a witness who serves effectively, inoffensively, and biblically then register today.

For more info about the Christmas Evangelism Boot Camp please visit AustinEvangelism.com .

Related posts:

1. Christmas Evangelism Boot Camp 2007 The second annual Christmas Evangelism Boot Camp is coming up...
2. Balance in Evangelism (Video) Here is a talk I gave at the 2007 Christmas...
3. My Idolatry of Evangelism Its the first of the month. Another post from the...

You will notice a political twist to today’s New Media Monday. I did some media consulting for a local political candidate and I prepared a guide for him on Viral Video. He ignored my advice but I hope you will find it helpful.

Why YouTube is Important

Why did we have no good presidential candidates this year? George Allen was an attractive articulate Reagan conservative who people liked. He probably would have been the best republican presidential candidate if it had not been for YouTube and one word:  Macaca . Right now, Youtube is where conservatives go to die. I hope that will change

Conservatives aren’t the only ones who die on YouTube. Obama’s 1984 add was the begining of the end for the Clinton Dinetsty. That “anonymous” add started Hillary’s long decline from 70% democratic approval down to oblivion.

The temptation for Christians is to flee to GodTube because the content is cleaner. But the people are not at GodTube they are at YouTube. If you want to reach people you need to post your videos to YouTube.

12 Tips For Effective YouTube Videos

1. Keep it Short – The best videos are short no longer than 5 minutes best if under two. The longer the video the more it must change scenes. I have seen effective videos go as long as 8 minutes but they do this by splicing together 15-30 second clips.
2. Low Friction Transfers – Videos must be easy to share. These means embedding and email functions should be built into the video itself. YouTube does this for you. Uploading an .mov or .wmv to your website is not good enough.
3. Be Funny – Funny videos get more views and are remembered well.
4. Offer a service – How-to videos go all over the internet. Help people and they will spread the word about your video.
5. Find a strategic partner – Only political junkies knew who Mike Huckabee was before Church Norris endorsed him. Now that there is a YouTube Video with Chuck and Huck it gets tens of thousands of views a day and Mike is growing in the polls.
6. Be relevant – Videos on current events get lots of hits. On the internet current means less than 24 hours and preferably less than 12. Posting a video response to a presidential debate on YouTube for example will likely get lots of hits but only if it is posted an hour or less after the debate.
7. Pick a Interesting Thumbnail & Title – Make sure the thumbnail is interesting and high quality. There are millions of other videos on YouTube. If you want someone to watch your you must convince them that your video is more interesting than all the other videos on YouTube. Your title and thumbnail will either save you or kill you.
8. Promote Like Crazy – Don’t expect your video to just take off. If you want the video to go viral you need to infect a lot of people all at once. Otherwise the other 100k videos will drowned you out. Get your blogger friends to post your video, get it on Facebook & MySpace. Here is a site with
9. Use a Tripod – If possible use a tripod will give much better quality than handheld. This is particularly true with compressed videos like the ones on YouTube.
10. Good Audio Quality – If there is one thing that kills online videos it is poor audio. If you want a successful video, tear the microphone out of your camera and get creative. Ways of employing good audio include:
    1. Use clips off of the TV – This is considered fair use for short clips.
    2. Consider Using Only Music – Videos that use music, pictures and text can be effective. The key is to have good music, powerful pictures and well worded text.
    3. External Mic – If you want live footage use a handheld mic, shotgun or a lapel mic.
    4. Good Compression Quality – The best way to keep the quality up is to upload directly from Apple iLife 08. If you don’t use a mac for your video editing consider it. The higher the resolution the better.  Use an effective codec (like H.264) if you can’t upload directly from iLife.
11. Use Studio Lights – Video is not as important as audio but is still vital.  The key to good video is good lighting. Investing in some lights and an external mic will do more for you videos than buying that fancy new camera you’ve been eying. It’s probably cheaper too.
12. Advance an Issue not a Candidate – People don’t care about candidates. Unless your candidate used to be a professional wrestler he is boring.  Politicians all have the same haircut and wear the same red tie white shirt blue blazer.But, if you can offer best explanation for why the Trans Texas Corridor is bad for Texas, people passionate about the Trans Texas Corridor will forward your video all over the internet. One of Fred Thompson’s most popular videos was about federalism not Fred Thompson.

    If you champion the causes of the people, the people will champion you.Another benefit of advancing issues over candidates is that even if you loose the issues you stand for have still be advanced which can lead to victories down the road. Ros Perot lost but we did have a more balanced the budget in 1993 because of his advancement of that issue.

Helpfull Recources

• 10 YouTube Promotion Tips More YouTube Tips
  
• YouTube For Dummies Learning the Ins and outs of YouTube takes more than a blog post.
  
• How to Do Everything with YouTube Another YouTube Book
  
• Digital Video For Dummies Shooting video is important.
  
• Izzy Video Free & paid video guides for shooting better video. Best place to learn ninja camera skills.

What Do You Think?

Have you posted a video to YouTube? Share it with us in the comments.

Related posts:

1. How to Use Skype (New Media Monday) Chances are you’ve heard someone talking about Skype . But...
2. Easy Guide to Blogs (New Media Monday) Today is the first in a series I am calling...
3. How to Use & Edit Wikipedia (New Media Monday) So what is wikipedia? Why is it so important? How...

Today we are talking about blogs. What are they? What are they good for? And how to have a great blog.

Filter friendly video link .

What are blogs?
Blog are platforms for you to have your own publication. They started off as journals or weB LOGs but they have become so much more now.

Blogs are better than email for mass communication. Email is plagued by spam filters and by people deleting it before reading it. Blogs don’t face these challenges. Facebook notes and MySpace notes are not real blogs.

Blogs often have comments section after each post allowing for community discussion

What are they good for?

1. Gaining accesses to famous people: Having a blog has allowed me to interview and interrogate a state representative, congressmen and even the Texas Land Commissioner.
2. Gaining local influence: Local political blogs are one of the most powerful weapons in the modern political arsenal. If you have a good blog on Podunk Texas politics you can become just as influential as the Podunk Texas newspaper. All politics is local.
3. Communicating with the press: I have had major news magazines contact me about blog posts. As a candidate it is a great way to communicate with the media in between press releases. There is really no reason to be a candidate and not have a blog.
4. Advocating Issues: Sometimes the best way to take on the local school board is to blog about them. If you blog each school board meeting you will become the source of information about the school board.  You will become the expert and able to influence change.
5. Fact Checking the Media: It is a lot harder for the liberal media to get away with lying now with bloggers watching. Rick Green may have one in 2002 if he or some of his supporters had active blogs and could have held the press accountable for their deceptions. If you don’t believe me I have two words for you. Dan Rather.
6. Search Engine Optimization: Google likes blogs. Just google “Abolition of Abortion” and see what comes up.

Blog Tips:

1. Have something to say. People have no patience for parrots. If you don’t have something original and why should someone read you?
2. Practice . The first 2 years of my blog were awful. Getting the hang of writing something other people want to read takes practice.
3. Read other blogs. Google reader is the best blog reader and it is free! reader.google.com for more info. ProBlogger and CopyBlogger are some great blogs on blogging. The key to reading blogs is to understand and use RSS feeds .
4. Be interesting. Boring blogs don’t get read.
5. Be Original. Touting the party line is boring. So is repeating Rush Limbaugh or Shaun Hanity.
6. Study Blogging. I recomend reading and applying: 50 Way to Take Your Blog to the Next Level

My Favorite Blogs

News & Business Blogs

• AppleInsider
• Seth Godin’s Blog
• Good URL Bad URL

Public Speaking/Presentation Blogs

• Presentation Zen
• Create Your Communications Experience
• Beyond Bullet Points

Fun Blogs

• Homestar Runner
• The Joy of Tech
• Calvin and Hobbes (Unofficial)
• Dilbert Daily Strip
• Pearls Before Swine
• indexed

Political Blogs

• The Patriot Academy Blog
• Lessig Blog
• Right in Texas

Friends Blogs

• The O’Brian FACTor!
• Renae Brumbaugh
• David Umstattd
• Paul Hastings

Educational Blogs

• Common Craft – Explanations In Plain English
• Dictionary.com Word of the Day

Related posts:

1. How to Use & Edit Wikipedia (New Media Monday) So what is wikipedia? Why is it so important? How...
2. 12 Tips For Effective YouTube Videos (New Media Monday) You will notice a political twist to today’s New Media...
3. Digg.com (New Media Monday) You may have already heard of it but Digg is...

So what is wikipedia? Why is it so important? How can you use a wiki and even wikipedia? These questions and more will be answered in today’s New Media Monday.

Wikis in Plain English

• Wiki Tutorial Video 3m
• Filter Friendly Video Link

What is Wikipedia?
Wikipedia is the source of truth for many people. When they look for the facts they ask google and google sends them to Wikipedia. Anyone can edit wikipedia. That means YOU can edit wikipedia. Each wiki page has a discussion page where users debate what the content should be.

At one time the 3 page Wikipedia post on abortion had over 80 pages of discussion. Every word has been a struggle. Is it a fetus or a baby? Pro Life or Anti-Abortion? The Wikipedia discussion page is on the front lines of the abortion debate.

Disagreements on wikipedia are settled democratically so the side with the most people wins. Wikipedia leans left because conservatives don’t edit it.

What is wikipedia good for?

• Arena of Ideas: The debate pages on wikipedia are some of the most important on the internet.
• Candidate Information: Some candidates have lots of accurate information about them on wikipedia. Some do not. This is where the press will goes to look for details and sources. Google any politician and their wikipedia page will in the top three sites on that politician.
• Driving Traffic to Conservative Sites: Each wikipedia page has a links section at the bottom. You may find it useful.

How to Edit Wikipedia

Editing wikipedia, or any wiki for that matter, is not as hard as you might think. Belive it or not wikipedia has a great article on how to edit wikipedia .

Careful:
Wikipeida does not look kindly on vanity pages. Unless you are running for a major office (State rep and up) and a party nominee a page on you will likely be deleted. It is better to edit other pages than to create one about yourself.

Wikipedia is not the place to fight for your point of view. Wikipedia is your place to fight for fairness.

How & Where to find time to edit Wikipedia

How to Use a Wiki for a Debate Clup
The Austin Rhetoric Club has started using a wiki to handle all our research. So far it has saved us a tun of time and the students seem to enjoy editing it. We tried Wet Paint but found that it was lacking several important features (such as an easy way to print) to work well for a debate club.

We settled on Deki Wiki which is also free and powerful. It lacks a to-do feature but we bypassed our need for it by having a to do page that the students themselves can edit.

Related posts:

1. 12 Tips For Effective YouTube Videos (New Media Monday) You will notice a political twist to today’s New Media...
2. Easy Guide to Blogs (New Media Monday) Today is the first in a series I am calling...
3. How to Use Skype (New Media Monday) Chances are you’ve heard someone talking about Skype . But...

Here is a part of me you may have never seen. I am a beatbox and this is my audition for McLane idol. I ended up winning a free dinner and a movie. If the embedded video doesn’t work try this link: http://youtube.com/watch?v=LtDocZQFUS4

And yes I had no hair at this time.

Related posts:

1. My Adventure at Hope Chapel’s Christmas Choir After over 10 years of doing choir in school I...
2. Almighty – Our Pro-Life Music Video My dad woke up one day and decided to make...
3. So, what is MIR anyway? The biggest question I have received about my trip to...

Technology helped Luther change the world.

As Christians it is important for us to do the same. We must embrace new technologies to help spread the Good News. Learning new tech can be intimidating. So, for the next several weeks I will present a new technology every Monday.

You will learn:

• What it is
• How it works
• How to use it to change the world

My goal is to use clear simple English and videos that I have found on the web. If you don’t understand the technology after 5 minutes I will consider that post a failure as far as you are concerned.

Before we get started, I want to share a preview video about Social Media. This is the big picture and the individual technologies are like the puzzle pieces that fit into that picture. In short, social media gives the power to the people.

Social Media in Plain English

Social Media in Plain English on blip.tv . Please leave me a comment if Blip.tv is blocked by your filter so I can find a better video site.

You can subscribe to my blog to get new posts automatically delivered either by email or rss feed .

Related posts:

1. Podcasts (New Media Mondays) In this issue of New Media Monday you will learn:...
2. Easy Guide to Blogs (New Media Monday) Today is the first in a series I am calling...
3. How to Use & Edit Wikipedia (New Media Monday) So what is wikipedia? Why is it so important? How...

Tap Tap Tap. A weak hand resounds against the shabby door as a feeble voice pleads. “Grant me justice from my enemies!” Pound Pound Pound. A strong hand thunders against the dark door in the dead of night. “Please, I must have bread for my friend, he has come from a long distance and is faint for want of food.”

Ambition. It is the difference between those who are content to be smart and those who are great. It is the dust from which mighty nations are born and the wind that blows movements from generation to generation.

Like the unrighteous judge, the world does not often give us what we are due. If we, unlike the widow, allow the judge to tell us “no” our condition will never improve.

Think Different

If Martin Luther has conformed to the world, he would have never nailed those 31 points to the gate of the chapel. He would have continued to be a humble monk who never changed the world. But the movement he started shakes the world to this day.

Thomas Edison believed that there was a better way to light homes than oil burning lamps. No one thought there could be a better way. When Edison tried he only met with failure upon failure. One persistent man forever changed the color of the night sky.

Like his namesake, Martin Luther King also refused to take the world at face value. He saw things as they could be, not as they were. He had the drive to make a difference and the passion to see it through to completion.

Not Easy

Everyone who wants to see change has their share of obstacles. After nailing his theses on the door Martin Luther was hated, loathed and hunted by his peers. Martin Luther King was assassinated. Edison failed, but after each failure he tried again. When the world knocks a man down, he falls. But an ambitious man gets right back up and keeps striving, knocking, pounding. He won’t give up without justice, without bread, without change.

What makes great men different? What is it that helps them change the course of the future? Are they lucky? Are they rich? What gives them the ability to shake the world? Not only do they have skill and ability but they have an unrelenting ambition to see something change. They do not give up banging on the door until they have justice. They do not stop shouting on the street till they get bread. They do not stop striving until they see change.

Not Safe
Ambition is powerful and volatile, but it is dangerous alone. Ambition is the means by which strong ideals are driven into the fabric of the world, but it does not discriminate between good and bad. Ambition fills the lungs both of those who would improve the world and those who would control it. Many ambitious men have changed the world for the worse.

Hitler saw a world in which a certain type of human was superior to the rest. He went from delivering fiery bar room speeches to starting the largest and bloodiest war in history . What made this man different from Martin Luther or Martin Luther King? His ambition was the same but his heart was not.

Keeping ambition from poisoning the future takes more than “good” intentions. Hitler thought he was making the world a better place without retarted people and Jews. He was wrong but did not know it.

Ambition Tests

Here are three tests to see if ambition is good or bad:

1. Means Test - One test to see the quality of your ambition is to test your means. Do you think the ends justify the means? Unjust means unjustify the end. Hitler was not afraid to use unjust means. Martin Luther was not.
2. Source Test - One way to see where your ambition is going is to see where it comes from. Godly ambition will lead to a godly end. Ungodly ambition will not.
3. Fruit Test - Is your ambition bringing you closer to God or away from Him? If you find yourself farther from God it is a sign you are on a dark road. Get off that road.

I am sure there are other tests. Can you think of what they are?

One Last Warning

In your ambition be careful not to belive in yourself. The world’s lie of self esteem can lead to a poisoning of your future.

Related posts:

1. Anouncing: New Media Mondays One difference between Martin Luther and the reformers who came...

Here is the video we made for refuge a few months ago. If you have ever tried to fast this video is for you. Scott Cheek deserves the credit for all of the behind the scenes work as well as playing Jesus. Ultra Fasto-Boy is played by Jonathan Lees.

Related posts:

1. Rob Bell Revealed from the archive… False prophets don’t speak heresy. Not at...

Here is a talk I gave at the 2007 Christmas Evangelism Boot Camp. You may recognize the first few minutes as from my blog. The audio quality improves dramatically after about five minutes.

Summary

Learn the principles that ground good evangelical methods. Learn to balance your presentation of the Gospel between Spirit Truth and Love. In this talk we discuss the challenges to balanced evangelism and how to overcome them. You can get the Balance in Evangelism Handout from here .

Watch

• GodTube
• Google Video
• Quick Time (High resolution, big download)

Transcript
Before we get started, I would like to share a story. A family once had a pool party at their house. They had friends from all over filling their backyard.
While no one was looking a young boy creep ed over to the pool and fell in. "That kid can’t swim!" One of the ladies said. Then a man replied; "Why don’t you go and help him?"

"Oh, no!" The lady responded. "I’m just the eyes of this party. I don’t have the gift for saving people." She then turned back to her food and continued eating while the child gasped for breath.

One guest thought about saving the boy but then he decided that he might offend someone by implying that children shouldn’t swim.

Another guest felt sorry for the boy so he ate his food by the edge of the pool, hoping to make dry ground look so appealing that the boy would want to leave the pool and get out of the water.
Yet, another man, behind a grill was so busy serving the guest that he never even noticed the drowned child. "I will call my father about this." A man hesitant to get wet lives said. "He lives in just the next town and he loves children. I’m sure he would love to come in and save this child for us."

Finally a teenage girl saw the baby now floating in the water. She jumped in, grabbed the boy, and tossed him out of the pool. She listened for breathing an hearing none she started roughly pressing on the baby’s stomach, as the girl tried to administer CPR and save the babies life, the guest gathered around the girl and began to criticize the girl’s efforts.
"You’re being much to rough with that child." One of the guest responded. "You should be much more gentle."

"You’re not pushing hard enough!" An elderly man commented. "And you’re pressing in the wrong place." Finally in desperation the young girl cried out; "Will someone please call 911?" At first none of the guest made a move but finally a lady sighed, walked into the house, and made the call. The paramedics came and whizzed the baby away. Soon all was quiet. As the sirens faded away into the distance the guests turned upon the teenager. "How dare you order us to call 911?" one said. "Did you see how rudely you splashed water all over those guests when you jumped in? You’re going to scare visitors away from this party."

These comments hurt deeply. She didn’t want to be rude or hurt anyone. All she wanted to do was to save the baby but the guest continued. "You should be ashamed of yourself for how insensitive you were to that child." A man said. "You just grabbed him and tossed him out of the water. You should be more loving."

He didn’t even asked to get saved!" said another. "Who are you to jump in and force your dry ground on someone else? You should never of forced your own air down someone Else’s throat."
Finally the girl could not take it anymore. She ran away from the party. The guest never did find out if the baby survived or not.

I share this story tonight to give us some respect for what evangelism is really all about. It’s not about techniques or methods. It’s about reaching into a lost and dying world. A world that is gasping for breath and who desperately needs a Savior. We have a passion that makes it easier for us to share the gospel and frankly it makes it easier for us to withstand persecution because the world does come to persecute us. He who is in us is stronger than he who is in the world.

Today, I’m going to be sharing some principles for grounding our methods. The reason that I’m doing this is not to criticize methods. I don’t want to be like the guest at the pool and, frankly, I don’t want you to be, either. I have been on the receiving end of quiet a bit of criticism when it comes to evangelism and unfortunately I’ve been on the giving end as well.
I’ve realized that he who plants is nothing and he who waters is nothing. The way that they plant and water is nothing. God uses us despite our mess ups and it is He who does the saving.
That said, I think that there are some Biblical principles that we can apply to the methods we use weather those methods of the "Evangelic Cube" or the "WWJD" questions there are some Biblical principles that we need to apply to be in accordance with God’s law. There are three things that we need to keep in balance. To talk about these three things I would like to talk about a simile of the fire.
There are three components that you have to have for a fire to burn correctly. What are those three components? Fuel, heat, and oxygen. Alright, so you have to have fuel, you have to have heat or spark and you have to have oxygen. Each one of these corresponds with each of the three critical things that we need for evangelism.
The heat is like spirit. The fuel is like truth and the air is like love. These are the three things that I am primarily going to be talking about, today.

Love is vital. Who here has seen a lump of charcoal? We’ve all seen them. Who hear has tried to burn one? They’re kind of hard to burn, right? Once they get started they will burn but by themselves they will not burn very well at all. If you’re trying to build a fire and all you have is charcoal it’s going to be very difficult. Why is that? You’ve got the match, you’ve got the heat, and you’ve got the fuel right there so why doesn’t charcoal burn?

Well, there was a competition to see who could burn a lump of charcoal the fastest. They brought in engineers from all over and they could do whatever they wanted to this lump of charcoal to see who could consume it the fastest. You could use a blowtorch or use any other type of fuel.There was one team that was able to completely burn up a lump of charcoal in less than a second.

In a fraction of a second it burned up the entire charcoal. I was like, how do they do that? Charcoal is so hard to burn. Well, they figured out what charcoal needed. It didn’t need more fuel. See, other teams were doing jet-fuel and other really flammable liquids. Charcoal doesn’t need more fuel, it has all of the fuel that it needs. There were some teams that were using blowtorches to add more heat. It doesn’t need that either. What the charcoal desperately needed to burn was oxygen. What this team did was soak this piece of charcoal in liquid oxygen. You lit a match and that was all that it needed, the charcoal was gone!

Now when you cook something or heat it up you suck the life right out of that. We see this as a bad thing but it is actually used to create something that many of y’all like. It’s called coffee. When you make coffee, you burn the beans in such a way that sucks the life out of them without destroying the bean. What they do is roast coffee beans in a vacuum so that they don’t catch fire and become consumed. If you’ve ever tried to cook or dry a coffee bean you have discovered that there is no life in them.

This is what happens when we share the gospel without love. We just cook someone and they become this dried up shell. We become a clanging gong and a resounding cymbal. The Apostle Paul says that without love we are nothing. Love is vital. I think we all can agree on that.
Truth is also vital. Without truth there is no message. It’s just a puff of smoke. You’ve got heat and air but there is nothing that sustains it. Often we do lot’s of well intentioned evangelism but we are afraid to share the truth. So we do everything but that. We will spend thousands of dollars to go somewhere and we will spend thousands of dollars to build a house.

We will smile a lot and we will hug these people and we will tell them how much we love them but we never share the gospel. Then we leave. The fire hasn’t been started. It’s just a puff of smoke.This is often what many Christians do and this is what their evanglism is. They don’t include the truth because they are afraid too. Are they don’t include the vital elements of the truth because it might be offensive. The thing is, is truth is HARD! If you have a block of wood….it’s hard but that doesn’t mean that it’s not vital.

Spirit is also vital. You have a fire. It’s ready to burn. It even has cardboard on the top so that when that spark hits it it will be ready to go. Imagine this fire. You have all of the people around it…they’re doing all of the motions. They’re warming their hands. You even have some people with some marsh mellows and a guy with some hot dogs. The thing is is that they are not burning.

They are like, we’re doing it all perfect. I’ve got my marsh mellows on the stick just right! This fire is perfectly constructed. It is soaked in gasoline. It has tender at the bottom. All it needs is to get started. All it needs is the spark of the spirit. So often we do it all right. We’ve got the structure just right. We have everything set up and we’re going though all of the motions like it’s supposed to happen. We’re, like, "we’re doing it just like those Christians over there that we heard about who were warming their hand!" But there is no fire. There is no spirit. The spirit is vital. It’s like everything without the match. You have to have both.

So we have these three. Spirit, Truth, and Love. Usually what happens, in my experience, is that people will tend to combine a couple of them. They will really try to emphasize on those two. They will criticize people for not doing those two as well as they do. I would like to do some math here and just see what happens when you add up two of these and don’t include the third one.

So truth and love. What happens when you take truth and love together with no spirit. You get nothing. It is powerless. Oftentimes this is what happens in modern evangelism but it is powerless. There is no power in it. We can get our tracts and make them be the pretties tracts in the world. But if God does not bring the increase there is no increase.

So what about spirit and truth and no love? What happens? The people that I’ve seen share without love tend to wash out in about a year if they make it that long. A lot of the people that came here last year are not here because they could not take it. The lack of love just turned black like those coffee beans. It did damage to their souls and it hurt their souls, sharing with others without love. It’s very damaging to share with others without love.

O.Kay, what happens if you have spirit and love without truth? Heresy! Exactly! You get away from the Bible. It’s like you’re floating with the spirit and all of the sudden you start floating with the wrong spirit. The Bible calls the Holy Spirit holy for a reason. The Holy Spirit is set apart. The Holy Spirit is different from all of the different spirits. We each have a spirit in us so there are many spirits in this room with each one of these people and there are also unseen spirits and domains and things that we do not know much about.

The Bible talks about them and we see Jesus and the disciples interacting with them and they can be very distracting. Sometimes we think that we are being led by the Holy Spirit and we’re actually just being led by our own spirit. You have to be grounded in the Bible. You have to be grounded in the Word. You have that truth or you get into trouble.

I challenge you to examine the way that you share the gospel, whether you are doing open air preaching, using the "Evan gel Cube," doing relationship witnessing, or whatever. Look and see if you are really being led by the Spirit and if you are really listening to God and co-laboring with God in this person’s heart. Listen and ask God if you are doing it though a heart of love. Are your motivations and means of love? or is it "oh, I must love them or I wouldn’t be sharing the truth." Sharing the truth is loving.

It can be an act of love but it can also be an act of hate. Who is that almost only ever spoke the truth in the Bible regarding Jesus and His true nature? The Devil! The Demons! Every time Jesus came up to speak to someone possessed by a devil or demon they almost were always like; "What will you have with me, Son of God? He has come to take away the sins of the earth!" or something like that. They were saying totally who Jesus was and they were telling the truth.

Still it was sin. Why? Because they were sharing the truth out of an evil motive. Sharing the truth is important but it must be done at the right time, at the right place, with the right motive, and to the right person. The truth can be very damaging. It is like a two edged sword. If you don’t share it in the right way it can be destructive.

That is one thing that we need to keep in balance. Another thing is the way that we are sharing the Gospel. This is more balancing around the person. You see 85% of people think that they are going to heaven. They think that they are Christians. So if people think that they already have Jesus they aren’t going to see that they actually do need Him. They are not going to see that sin separates’s them because in reality they are in sin. When you are far away from a whole you can’t see it. O.K. so God is a big huge God and you’re looking but you don’t see this big huge hole which is a Cosme of sin. You’re way back here looking forward and saying; "me and God, we’re cool!"

Most people in the U.S., this is not true all over the world. If you go to places like in the Muslim world where they don’t see themselves and God as being "cool." So you would share the Gospel with them differently because their needs are different and they are in a different spiritual place.
So if we have people that are far away from the their hole of sin how do we get them to go to the edge and see the hole? So that they can see how their sin is separating them from a Holy God? The Truth? The Ten Commandments? Exactly! The law is our schoolmaster to bring us to Christ. You see the law doesn’t save us, in fact, it kills us. Here is a neat thing about the law. The law was written on our hearts and our conscience in bearing witness. So that the whole world is without excuse, right?

So, when did we get a conscience? Knowledge of good and evil? At the time of the fall. Eve took that apple, what was the apple? The apple was the law, the knowledge of good and evil. The law is what brings the knowledge of good and evil. She bites into the apple and suddenly she has a realization of sin. Then sin entered into the world, what does sin bring? What does the law bring? Death! It killed her! It killed Adam and it is going to kill all of us! It’s a big problem!
What did God promise when He was explaining to Adam and Eve what they had just done? He said that there is going to be a coming One. He promised of Jesus. He said that Jesus would crush the heel of the serpent. The law was intended even from the very beginning. The law was intended to bring us to Christ.

It doesn’t save us. It just leaves us helpless. The law can not do all of the work. That’s not the Gospel. Only Christ can get us to the Father. It is only by One name that we are saved and that is Jesus Christ. No one else can do it. There is no hope except though Him. That is the purpose of the law. It is a good tool for what is was intended but it is not good for any other use. Sometimes you’re going to be talking to people who are already broken.

I talked to this one guy…….about two years ago he had a big showdown with God and he is realizing the extent of his sin. I was talking with him and he was like, "Yeah, I’ve been trying and I’ve quit a lot of stuff but I haven’t quiet gotten it all together." He was really struggling with his sin and he has a knowledge of it. He know he doesn’t have victory. He said that his mom had been praying with him. I asked him if he had been born again. He was, like, "no." So I explained to him what that means, being born again means putting your trust and faith in Jesus Christ, you realize that you can not do everything on your own and you turn from your sins once and for all and you say: "Jesus, I’m giving you Lordship over every aspect of my life. Not just Sundays but Saturdays and Friday nights and Wednesday afternoons."

I told him that once you do that Jesus will give you a new heart. He will give you new desires and that you’re old desires for sin would be taken away and you would be given new desires for righteousness. I told him that this is so radical that that the Bible calls it being born again. You could just see it click in his eyes. He was like, "I’ve got it!" I told him that he was not far from the Kingdom. He wasn’t quiet ready to make that commitment.

Committing your whole entire life to Jesus is a big deal. It’s not something that you can push someone into or manipulate someone into. Some people with strong personalities can manipulate people into saying the prayer of commitment. That’s like manipulating someone into getting married. Our commitment to Christ ought to be and is even stronger than our commitment to our spouse. None of you would of had someone say to you; "Read these vows real quick before you change your mind!" And you have this person on the other side of you and you’re, like, "Hi!" and they’re, like, "Hi!" Nobody would do that!

That is what we’re trying to do with the Gospel so often. When we’re shoving the sinner’s prayer down peoples’ mouths or throats. I don’t want to criticize to much evangelism but you do need to be mindful of that.

Another thing that we need to keep in balance is the two extremes. Temporal salvation. Temporal salvation is people who are starving and you have Christians who come in and feed them but don’t tell them about the gospel. I have read books from India. There are millions of them. "White man has fed millions of us into hell." We have sent millions of people into hell with a full stomach. We go in, feed them, and these people are not saved so they are out. It’s a tragedy.

People who only focus on the Eternal salvation…..I heard a story of this one Christian hospital and they bring in these people in from the villages and they are about to die and they are about to admit them and the doctor comes up and is like: "Have you prayed with them to receive Christ, yet?" And this person is dying on the table. There is a time where before they can hear the gospel you need to take care of temporal things. Jesus, oftentimes, before He would share the gospel with them would heal them. Then He had their attention. Other times He would just share the Gospel. So I think that there is a place of balance here where we need to be mindful of the whole person. Both their eternal person, their soul and spirit, but also their physical person. You can’t separate one from the other.

We don’t think of ourselves as separate beings, we’re made in the image of our Father, we’re tri-part beings, we have a spirit or heart, a soul, and flesh, right? And we are supposed to love the Lord our God with all three of those. We don’t see ourselves that way. I am, Thomas, the one person, even though sometimes I will very much disagree with myself, I’m still one person.
Have you ever had that? Where you had a big decision and you’re debating with yourself about different stuff. Oftentimes that’s like you’re spirit or mind saying one thing and you’re emotions are saying another thing. Anyways, it’s kind of interesting, so that is one thing that we need to keep in mind.

Another thing is "growing the church versus growing the Kingdom." On one side we have people who all they do is hare the Gospel with other people and they just leave them out to dry. It’s, like, "Here pray this prayer." or "O.K. find yourself a good church." Now that can be useful and it is Biblical but it can also be dangerous because, you know, they might find themselves a "good" Latter Day Saints Church or something like that. I mean, it looked just like a church. It had church in the name, a really pretty building, it has all this money…."

So you have to be mindful of growing the Kingdom. On the other side, I’ve heard pastors say that the only purpose of evanglism is to grow this church. Have any of you experianced that? You’ve been to a church where whenever you talk to someone and then talk to your pastor or one of the elders they are, like, "Well, did you get their information so that you can follow up and they can join this church?" Where it’s all kind of about growing the local church. Sometimes the best church for someone is not your church.

Actually, I’ve found out that it is nor-mall that way. I was at a fair one time sharing the Gospel with these three girls, one of them went to, Temple Bible Church, which is a really good solid church and the other two basically realized that they were going to hell and that they needed to get right with Jesus. I was, like, "you need to give your life to Jesus and then tonight go to church with your friend." They would already have a relationship there. She could take them to church and get them plugged in as opposed to me saying; "Oh, you have to come to my church!" See how that could be better? Sometimes we have to listen to God and realize that there is a better church for this person than my church.

Another reason for this is that sometimes there can be huge cultural distances. Sometimes God will bring in a huge cultural mismatch into your church to make your church more diverse, culturally. Other times this person simply needs a place where they can grow and not have to worry about the fact that everyone else is completely and totally different then them in every single way.

Have you ever gone to a church were you are pretty much, totally different then anyone else in every single way? Like, everyone else was about 5 times wealthier than you were and their shoes cost more than you’re entire outfit? I’ve been to churches like that. I was, like, "Okay! I’m glad I parked far away and that I was late!" Anyways that is another thing to keep in balance.
We have another thing. "Converters opposed to Diciplemakers," the goal, ideally, is that every person we share the Gospel with comes to know Jesus, they get set on fire for Him, then they go out and share the Gospel, and tell others about God. However, this does not happen overnight. Pretty much you have Christians who only want to do one or the other. You have some who say; "I am here to make converts, by Golly!"

So they do not have any disciples. They don’t have anyone following them on a day to day basis. They don’t have any one that they are trying to invest in for the long run. They are just scattering seeds. That is important but again we want to be whole Christians. We want to model Christ who did both of these. He went and He made converts. He preached to 5,000 people, and He spent a lot of time with Peter, James, and John. There was a whole range between. He spent time with the 12, with the 72, with the 120, so don’t feel bad if you’re just, like, I just not a "converter" it’s easy to feel guilty and walk around condemned and ashamed all of the time. That is not the goal of my talk. I do not want to be one of the people at the pool criticizing. But I don want to encourage you to try to engage in more than one level.

One question y’all are probably asking is; "So what? How does this apply to my actual sharing the Gospel with someone, having no idea what to say next, where do I apply this?" Well, allot of these things are heart things. Things that you decide ahead of time. You decide ahead of time that you are going here under the motive of compassion and out of love. There are some people who are sharing the Gospel not out of love or compassion but for the "rush" or to have fun. It is fun. It is scary. It has a lot of adrenaline but that is not a good reason. I encourage you to examine your hearts.Each one of you to see whether or not that is why you are here.

Some of you are sharing the Gospel because someone drug you. Basically they grabbed you by the ear and yanked you in. That can be good but I was reading a passage in Deuteronomy. It was the passage the Palestine’s were going to war and God said to Moses. "Look at your army and have everyone raise their hands." He didn’t say it quiet this way but this is kind of what He said. "Everyone who raises their hands, send them home." I think the only General in the Bible who actually went by this protocol was Gideon and he totally whipped those Malachite’s with just a handful of people.

So you had everyone who was scared leave and everyone who had gotten married in the last year raise their hands and they were to go home and be with their wives. It was not right for a man to die at war when he had just gotten married. And then God said; "Everyone who has just bought a field and it has not tasted it’s first fruit you go home, too, because it is not fitting for someone to not taste the first fruit of their fields."

The Gospel and God is not needy. That is something that we all have to come to the tragic conclusion of. "I am not vital." Now with that said, that does not mean that God doesn’t want you. He has called forth every single one of us as believers and commissioned us to go forth and proclaim the gospel. There was a guy that went to Africa, David Livingston. David said: "A commission in any army is considered a great honor, how could a commission from the Heavenly Father be any less of a great honor?" A commission in the army says; "I trust you. to be responsible for a certain number of men. I trust you to be a leader. I trust you to lead men into the fields.

When we have been given the great commission, we have been given a very similar commission where God is calling you to be responsible for certain souls that He says that He will give to you to share the Gospel with. That is why we are here. That is why I shared the story at the very beginning of the boy and the pool. We want to be the girl, who even though everyone is criticizing us, is still faithful to go and to reach the loss. She does not answer to other people at the party. We do not answer to the other people at the party. We answer to our Heavenly Father and to Him alone.

Related posts:

1. Christmas Evangelism Boot Camp #3 It is here. CEBC #3 Registration is now open. Watch...
2. My Idolatry of Evangelism Its the first of the month. Another post from the...
3. Christmas Evangelism Boot Camp 2007 The second annual Christmas Evangelism Boot Camp is coming up...

In my opinion Seth Godin is the top marketing expert in the nation. I read his blog almost every day. He’s a funny bald guy who can help you sell your candidate or product.

Video #1 All Marketers Are Liars (Google 2007)

This is Seth most popular online video. Learn how to tell story to connect with customers.

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-6909078385965257294

Video #2 Seth Godin on Web 2.0 (2007)

In this video talks about the future of the internet and how marketers can take advantage of it. He disputes the yell at strangers model. Seth explains how to use the web to promote your idea.

http://video.google.com/googleplayer.swf?docId=-4379407413504809142&hl=en

Video #3 Sliced Bread and Other Marketing Delights (Ted 2003)

http://www.ted.com/talks/view/id/28

Video #4 This is Broken (Gel 2006)

In this talk Seth looks at products, services and signs that are broken and explains why. Very funny.

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-4101280286098310645

Video #5 Ideas That Spread, Win

Ideas move and spread in radically different ways today than they did even a decade ago. Seth talks about how we are shifting away from the TV model is not working. You can no longer buy people’s attention.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m4Ch2z5ftwQ

Video #6 Seth Godin On Marketing (Forbes 2007)

How do you cut through the clutter?

http://www.forbes.com/video/?video=fvn/business/sgodin041607_hj&partner=googlevid

Related posts:

1. 12 Tips For Effective YouTube Videos (New Media Monday) You will notice a political twist to today’s New Media...