October 2015

Bigger Fixes Nothing in Churches

“CHURCH: Stop preaching downloaded sermons from other preachers. If you found it online, so can the congregation. People want to hear your take on God’s Word, not a re-heated sermon from someone else.” Source: Bigger Fixes Nothing (7 Unexpected Steps Toward Church Health) | Pivot | A Blog by Karl Vaters Saving these for later… and …

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Goodbye, Oyster.

“Looking forward, we feel this is best seized by taking on new opportunities to fully realize our vision for ebooks. With that, we will be taking steps to sunset the existing Oyster service over the next several months. If you are an Oyster reader you will receive an email personally regarding your account.” Source: oysterbooks …

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This is the perfect opening to a scifi novel…

“With the help of James Jubilee, a former American arms control officer and now a senior science and technology coordinator for health issues in Kazakhstan, Dr. LaPorte tracked down Mr. Dey through the State Department, and his images and documentation quickly convinced them of the earthworks’ authenticity and importance.” Source: NASA Adds to Evidence of …

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S.C. teen assaulted by deputy is a recent orphan

“Our kids, who already face enormous pressure in life, should never be subjected to state-sponsored violence while in school. For this young girl, Spring Valley High School should’ve been a refuge.” Source: KING: S.C. teen assaulted by deputy is a recent orphan – NY Daily News

Charity has changed (listen up, churches).

“One thing is clear: Giving has changed, says JoAnn Turnquist, president and CEO of the Central Carolina Community Foundation. “People want to feel ownership of how their dollars are being used,” Turnquist says. Previous generations, Turnquist says, “were brought up to give to institutions, organizations that had secured the community’s trust,” she says. “The donors …

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Your phone’s homescreen is dead; or how native advertising wins in the post-mobile world

“Part of this will entail  a shift in advertising to permission-based advertising:  asking the consumer whether she wants to see an ad — which would be asking her if she wants to receive information — for a particular brand at the current time. The consumer will have the choice: yes, I’m in the supermarket and …

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Go Read Ezra and Nehemiah

“This story came out of nowhere and had me looking at other resources for answers. First, I didn’t really know that Ezra and Nehemiah were. And now, Nehemiah — a name I couldn’t spell in my notebook without writing out each letter looking at the Bible — and he was speaking to me. I flew …

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What’s good (and bad) about Amanda Palmer’s style of marketing?

Amanda Palmer did an AMA on the /books subreddit yesterday on the topic of her book The Art of Asking, so the Thinking.FM hosts pulled a Superfriends on Friday night and recorded 90 minutes of thoughtful discussion about Palmer’s tactics and the nature of the artist in an age of self-promotion. I think it’s an …

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Social Media Marketing’s Decline

“It feels weird admitting this, too: We as a Buffer marketing team—working on a product that helps people succeed on social media—have yet to figure out how to get things working on Facebook (especially), Twitter, Pinterest, and more. And that’s super scary to admit.” Source: We’ve Lost Nearly Half Our Social Referral Traffic in the …

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Writing as Conversation

“If you simply manage to write in spoken language, you’ll be ahead of 95% of writers. And it’s so easy to do: just don’t let a sentence through unless it’s the way you’d say it to a friend.” Source: Write Like You Talk by Paul Graham

Episode 8: Thinking Out Loud 87: Own Your Own Content – Thinking.FM

Elisabeth, Merianna, and Sam talk about the commodity of content and how authors should disseminate that information. They advise authors that they shouldn’t help the rich get richer, but help build their own audience. Show Notes Chuck Wendig Rebooting the Novel Chuck Wendig One Star Reviews Sell More Books Cliff Notes Indie Web POSSE 4 …

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Episode 6: Thinking Out Loud 86: 10,000 Hours Worth of Expertise – Thinking.FM

Elisabeth and Merianna talk about their upcoming conference and why they continue to work in the field of publishing. They also talk about what makes you an expert and when you can call yourself an expert. Elisabeth reminds them both that: “That’s what we do, make it possible for people to get published.” Show Notes …

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Happy Anniversary, Merianna!

What an adventure it’s already been, Merianna! Looking forward to many more with you.

My Sermon from Emmanuel Baptist Today

Here’s my sermon from this morning at Emmanuel Baptist Fellowship in Lexington, SC entitled “You Don’t Know How to Serve.” Download here. The basic idea is that Mark 10:35-45 is not about sin or atonement, but about subverting hierarchies. Why are churches struggling in 2015? Because churches are supporting the systems that Jesus attempted to …

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“Censorship that doesn’t look like censorship”

Remember, “free speech” doesn’t always align with the user policies on Facebook, Twitter etc. Own your content and your books or learn to live with the trade off of letting the algorithm decide how you vote… “Censorship that doesn’t look like censorship. It deliberately reduces the spread of information that might otherwise go viral. Vicious. …

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Hey Bullfrog

The ability to change our minds is one of the greatest human blessings. To see an issue or a situation, take into account the data presented, be reminded of our past history of decisions, and ultimately come to a conclusion is a wonderful adaptation our mammalian brains have come up with to help us deal …

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Discount on Handguns if You’re a Christian

Sad. “Christians who are looking a good deal on a gun need look no further than Frontier Firearms. The Kingston, Tennessee liberty-defending establishment began offering 5 percent discounts last week for anyone who says “I’m a Christian” before purchasing a new handgun.” Source: Guns Are Cheaper At This Tennessee Store If You’re a Christian – …

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