New sites, resources, and musings
I'm pround to present two new websites that are now online. The first is Roberts Chapel where my friend Bryan Fowler is pastor. Check it out, and while you're there, check out the missions section, and watch the video that Bryan cut together.
This site runs on the content management system Textpattern which is what we use here at SonSpring. It is a very powerful, flexible, and lightweight PHP/MySQL based system. The main perk is that it allows users to make updates to their websites without expensive software, as all they need is a web browser.
The second site that was launched yesterday is Natalie Hagen Photography. This site belongs to a friend of my wife and I who does alot of the photography for Asbury Seminary events, such as weddings and social functions. She's really got an eye for good shots. She started out shooting casually at friend's weddings, and eventually was hired so frequently she just decided to make it a profession.
So, in case you missed the links sprinkled in this post, here they are again, go check them out…
Great Web Resource
I go periodically (okay, maybe religiously) to this guy's site. I've learned a lot about PaintShop Pro, when he used to have tutorials for that. In the past few years though, he switched to using Fireworks MX, and so that's what I've been trying my hand at lately.
He has some great tutorials for Fireworks, that even if you don't use this particular program, the concepts carry over into PhotoShop, etc. He also has some helpful CSS tutorials, and he uses Textpattern to manage his site as well. So, if you're an aspiring web-guru, check out his site…
Funny Quote
For my Urban Leadership class, I was reading Leadership in the Wesleyan Spirit by Lovett H. Weems. He had a one-liner that was both hillarious and convicting at the same time. I paraphrase…
Ministry in a large church is like a football game: 10 thousand people who are desperately in need of exercise watching 22 people who are desperately in need of rest.
I was thinking on this, and I think that for the most part it's true. People come to church longing for something more, wanting to get involved, but too often we bench those who would make for great players or coaches. They keep coming for "love of the game," and have much to give those who are in it.
I think of it like this, a retired pastor in a congregation is like a veteran football player, who has been there in the thick of it, and knows how to deal with things because he's gone through the school of hard knocks.
He has the advantage of 20/20 hindsight, and can help the current hot-shot avoid some of the mistakes he's seen. So, let us as the next generation give the proper respect to the leaders of yester-year, and bring on board the leaders of tomorrow.