Funky Little Emmanuel

Sam Harrelson on October 14, 2015

Will Emmanuel ever be a megachurch? No. It’s not a splashy place that is known for its rock band or stage settings or theatrical services. There’s no “Shine Jesus Shine” here. It’s not “easy” and it gets into your soul in ways that you don’t understand at first. Going to Emmanuel on just Christmas morning and Easter is impossible.

Instead, Emmanuel is a strange and wonderful little church. I use that term deliberately.  It’s a group of dedicated people from across socio-economic status, genders, colors, sexual orientations, political perspectives, religious theologies etc and it’s a place that changes who you are and how you think about God (whether you believe in a god or not).

Most of all, it’s a place where people pull up their socks, roll up their sleeves, and get to work doing what needs to be done.

The Apostle Paul would have been proud. I know I am. Now back to work.

“And that’s when Merianna Harrelson’s phone started blowing up. “I had church members calling to say ‘what are we going to do to help?’” said Harrelson, pastor at Emmanuel Baptist Church in Lexington, S.C. “There was one woman who was taking on water at her home, and she was asking how she could help.”’

Source: S.C. churches stepping up to help flood victims | Baptist News Global

It’s the little things…

Sam Harrelson on October 14, 2015

Last night at a meeting in Lexington, I had a glass of ice water for first time in two weeks. 

We don’t have drinking water available in our home or at the office here in Columbia. We still do have a house with all of our belongings and memories, though. We also have bottled water.

I can’t express how much I now prefer a glass of iced water to a bottle of water. 

Twitter’s Target

Sam Harrelson on October 14, 2015

I started using Twitter in mid 2006, so I’m a little biased… but I still have many expectations and hopes for the platform that I don’t for Facebook, Instagram etc.

Twitter stands(or, it could if it were to become developer friendly again) at the fulcrum point between traditional social networks and the future of online social interaction (messaging platforms) with its following, rather than friending, structure and the ability to send direct messages baked into the architecture.

Now it’s Dorsey’s responsibility to perform a Steve Jobs-esque “second act” in which he returns to the company and rights the ship and steer it away from being perceived or imagined as an “enticing takeover target” …

“The microblogging site’s co-founder and chairman, Jack Dorsey, will replace him temporarily. Although the number of monthly active users topped 300m in the first quarter, growth has been slowing; revenue of $436m, though up 74% year-on-year, was less than expected. Twitter, a relative minnow in today’s tech sea, as the above interactive shows, looks an enticing takeover target.”

Source: Leaving the nest | The Economist

Stop Worrying About Your Website’s Design

Sam Harrelson on October 13, 2015

I have this conversation with website build or revamp clients almost daily… It might sound odd for someone who runs a web marketing company to say that website design really doesn’t matter as much as you think it does. But it’s true. Focus on the other aspects of your business and stop worrying whether your site has too much white space.

The expectations of people visiting your site and our collective notions of web design have changed to the extent that “pretty” isn’t necessarily “better” due to the speed of your page and the experience (content) your site offers (particularly on mobile).

Sergio Nouvel has a good write up about this with more salient points:

“This switch from web design to experience design is directly caused by the shift from web pages to digital products, tools, and ecosystems. Web pages are just part of something much bigger: mobile apps, API’s, social media presence, search engine optimization, customer service channels, and physical locations all inform the experience a user has with a brand, product, or service. Pretending that you can run a business or deliver value just by taking care of the web channel is naïve at best and harmful at worst.”

Source: Why Web Design is Dead | UX Magazine

 

Episode 5: Thinking Out Loud 85: Alternate Universes vs. Altered Universes – Thinking.FM

Sam Harrelson on October 13, 2015

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Show Notes

What Elisabeth and Merianna are Reading


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“…things have changed”

Sam Harrelson on October 7, 2015

https://embed-ssl.ted.com/talks/emilie_wapnick_why_some_of_us_don_t_have_one_true_calling.html

On a personal note, I had my Ordination Council meeting yesterday. It was an intensely personal time, but it was something that I’ve been working towards for a long time.

I can’t go into specifics, but one of the themes I addressed is “why” I’d want to go through this if I weren’t necessarily going to participate in something like parish ministry (or “being a preacher” as we call it here in South Carolina).

That has to do with my long time intention of finally launching Hunger Initiative.

Between the terrible disaster that has affected South Carolina and my hometown of Columbia over the past week, and my ordination process (being formally ordained this Sunday) … it feels like “things have changed” (to channel Bob Dylan).

That doesn’t mean like I’m putting Harrelson Agency aside (certainly not), but it does mean that it’s time to get Hunger Initiative off the ground. I first started talking about this during my days in Connecticut back in December 2001. It’s time and I’ve been putting this off for too long.

You can follow along at Hunger Iniative‘s site or @endhunger on Twitter … snagged that one early 🙂

Poverty Amongst Prosperity

Sam Harrelson on October 6, 2015

These are great numbers at the macro level, but this is troubling:

“Corporate profits are at record levels; stock prices have more than doubled.”

vs

“The same Census report showed that the number of people living in poverty went up in 2014 to nearly 46.7 million — which is 6.8 million more than in 2008. The official poverty rate — meaning the percentage of the population living below the official poverty line — was 14.8 percent last year, which is 1.6 percentage points higher than in 2008.”

Source: Obama’s Numbers (October 2015 Update) | FactCheck.org

Episode 3: Thinking Out Loud 84: Solopreneurs – Thinking.FM

Sam Harrelson on October 5, 2015

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Elisabeth and Merianna talk about building audience and expanding your market as a solopreneur. They talk about the stresses and joys of owning your business. They also talk about the progress in their own writing projects.

Show Notes

What Elisabeth and Merianna are Reading


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How Much Does Your Local News Website Cost You Each Month?

Sam Harrelson on October 1, 2015

“We estimated that on an average American cell data plan, each megabyte downloaded over a cell network costs about a penny. Visiting the home page of Boston.com every day for a month would cost the equivalent of about $9.50 in data usage just for the ads.”

Source: The Cost of Mobile Ads on 50 News Websites – The New York Times

I’d venture to say that local TV and news sites have even more ads than boston.com and “cost” you more in data downloads each month. There’s a reason local news stations are eager to promote their content on Facebook and why most engagement and comments happen there rather than on their own sites.

If your business, group, or church site is loaded with plugins, images, and unnecessary animations (especially Flash), you’re already likely being penalized by Google in organic searches as your site is not as mobile friendly as it should be.

Keep that in mind when you open your own site on your mobile device.