Maybe I preaching to the choir when I ask that question, but I want to know! What online technology has spurred spiritual growth in you?

Examples:

• Podcasts
• Bible on your phone
• Challenging articles
• Facebook links
• Bible study resources
• Twitter links from spiritual leaders

Are there any specific stories you can point to where the Lord used an online resources to grow you as a follower of Christ and as a spiritual leader?

You’ll hear about one of mine on Monday, when I post on the Campus Crusade for Christ, ReThink Blogference site.

Part of my job as Operations Director of the ministry in Portland, Oregon is building the necessary manpower and team to move us toward our vision of every student having a chance to hear about Christ. Below is simple tool that I just revamped that I like to talk through with graduating students and potential volunteers.

I wanted something that was simple, clear, visionary and yet gave specific enough details that a potential staff member could see themselves working here.

If they don’t live here I also show them this video…dispelling the myth that it’s miserable to live here.

We’re a little different cause we’re starting from scratch, but do you have any go to recruiting methods or tools?

Pictures are courtesy of Portlandground

Just a few items of note from the interwebs last week.

• Social Networking icon Chris Brogan writes about his interactions with Lifechurch.tv. Authentic insight from a new perspective on internet church.
• Campus Crusade staff member Tim Casteel wrote a great post about being able to communicate better including a short and powerful clip from Seth Godin on why blogging helps. Can’t tell you how much this post resonates with me, especially as we launch partnerships and mobalize volunteers. The ability to communicate what I do is so critical.

I’m quickly becoming a fan of anything related to Scott Belsky’s book Making Ideas Happen. Scott’s company Behance has a line of products based on the Action Method that he lines out in his book. It’s basically his productivity method for helping creative type people accomplish ideas they have.

I discovered the Action Method iPhone Application recently and so far I haven’t looked back. It’s simple, beautiful and customizable. It allows me organize action steps any way I want, plus it allows me to mark things as focus items for the day as I plan my priorities. Here’s a screen shot.

Item of note:

The application is free for the iPhone and it synch’s to an online backup, but to use the online version extensively it’ll cost a monthly subscription which is available for a discount to non-profit organizations.

I need to be able to write down action items instantly otherwise they’re in one ear and out the other. This app makes it so easy.

What about you? What are you using to get things done?

I’ve been ranting on sharing the wealth of our ministry expertise with each other for a while now. Having the technical ability plus the belief that sharing what we’re doing with other campus ministers could be incredibly helpful to seeing the Great Commission fulfilled is a key growth step for Campus Crusade for Christ. I think we’re headed that direction. Here is what Ken Cochrum, one of our national leaders, had to say about it.

Cloud computing is a term used to refer to online platforms that store information for you. Simply put, it means that you have information/documents/resources/calenders/contacts that are accessible by you any hour of the day from any computer.

The value of this hit home as I was getting my computer replaced for about week recently. Thanks to the Cloud I was able to get to everything I needed to work from a different computer. Here are the highlights, perhaps some of them will work for you…

• Dropbox: Dropbox is the bomb. You can install it on your computer and it works like another drive. Just drag and drop documents. You can synchronize computers, which I do with my wife, so that a certain CCC file can be accesible by both of us at any time.

• Google: Because I had iCal synched with Google calender I didn’t miss a beat. This took some time to set up initially, but it was totally worth it. You can also use Google documents to store documents and share documents easily. Also Google reader became my new best friend so I could keep up with my RSS feeds.

• Hootsuite: I use this twitter/facebook client quite a bit and because it is web based I can log in and see all the same settings instantly from any computer. No need to reset columns. Worked like a charm.

After a week with these things it dawned on me that these could benefit a team’s ability to collaborate easily. Not only are they all free, but you don’t have to be technology genius to benefit from them. What do you think?

Photo courtesy of tipiro

Recently I had debilitating computer problems. Running the gauntlett of customer service was not something I was particularly excited about. Although computer problems are a pain in the patuki, Apple made it as easy as possible. Here’s the things I appreciated about the experience. (Keep in mind I paid for Apple Care last year so everything was free)

• With their online site you can schedule your service call or have them call you immediately. Brilliant! No waiting on the phone for hours.
• Everyone I talked to was an American. Not that I don’t value international service, but there was no communication barrier at all. Helpful when dealing with technical info.
• Tracking me with a case number and generous note-taking they immediately scheduled a Genius bar appointment at the local Mac store and I didn’t have to explain myself again.
• I don’t know what Apple’s hiring methods are, but they do a great job of hiring the right people for the job. Every customer service expert was a great communicator, friendly and incredibly knowledgeable.

Yep, something broke on my “infallible” Mac and even though it was a pain to be without my computer for a couple of days I was pleased with my Apple customer service.

What I learned about Apple was that customer service wasn’t an afterthought. They value the customer’s experience of their company enough to make the process great. Although Apple isn’t perfect I’m starting to understand people loyalty to their brand.

What does this teach us about people experience with our organization?

With the release of the iPhone 4 today comes another round of “what’s next?” with smartphones. Basically they function as little mobile computers now and are becoming more and more integrated in how we function day to day.

So this got me thinking. My laptop is an integral part of my job. Without it I cannot complete work that is necessary. In fact it’s basically required to own one on staff with Campus Crusade. So when is my smartphone going to move into the same category? Maybe a better question is when should we move it into the same category?

Socialnomics just updated their video that I’ve posted about a few times. It’s compelling.

I experienced the Social Media revolution yesterday when I tweeted about a bad experience with Belkin and Comcast products and BOTH companies contacted me via twitter to fix my problem. Good job listening by those major corporations!

Today I got a text from a fellow staff member asking for help on leading a discussion about why technology can benefit ministry. For this post I’ll focus in on why Social Media is important for ministry. Obviously this is just the tip of the iceberg.

Here’s what I’d do with 20 minutes in a staff meeting.

• I would show this video on Social Media or this video about Return on Investment and discuss them.
• I believe that we all have an innate desire to connect with others relationally. Social media is social! I would discuss how social media is a tool that spurs on the building of relationships if we’re intentional and not just using a bullhorn technique.
• I would give specific examples of how you’ve seen value in social media. Perhaps you’ve connected with students about something you saw them post online or you can use my examples here and here.
• I’d talk about how you can align your use of social media to your specific ministry goals. If your goal is to connect more people to your ministry or perhaps involving students in evangelism…it can be done online!
• Lastly I’d talk about baby steps. You don’t have to do everything! I’d start with Facebook and figure out how to make a few minutes count each day.

That’s it…easy right? Not so fast… if you’ve got unlimited time I’d make you watch this.

What’s your best argument for using social media in ministry? How do you cast vision and align people to using it?