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I am back from Q, and I must say that it was a phenomenal ministry conference. There were over 25 sessions, most of which were 18 minutes long and packed with wisdom and ideas. Stay tuned as I blog my notes this week.

Q also announced a valuable monthly resource that they will be launching called Fermi Words. It is $59 per year, and each month you will receive:

• Fermi Shorts
  Chapter-length, essays (also provided as mp3’s) to inform and expose you to the ideas shaping our culture and how the church can influence culture.
• Fermi Talks
  18-minute presentations by cultural leaders on the subjects of the future, the culture, the church, and the gospel. Two Fermi Talks are released monthly online and in audio/video format.

Check it out if you like challenging your thinking and enhancing your ministry.

Here is a roundup of what we were talking about one year ago:

• Creating an Experience the Disney Way
  [May 1, 2006]
• Creating an Innovative Culture
  [May 1, 2006]
• Responsibility Needs Response
  [May 2, 2006]
• 15 Year Forecast
  [May 2, 2006]
• Measuring Tape - Literally
  [May 3, 2006]
• How Will High Gas Prices Affect Your Church?
  [May 3, 2006]
• Teens Like Their Liquor
  [May 4, 2006]
• 3 Truths of Effective Interactive Marketing and Church Growth
  [May 5, 2006]

Harold Davis, the elementary children’s pastor at Church on the Move (Tulsa, OK), makes this distinction between information and communication:

Information and communication are often interchanges, but they have two distinctly different meanings.

1. Information is giving out.
2. Communication is getting through.

Just because your sermon gives quality information does not mean it is getting through to your congregation. If you want to preach more effectively, you must purpose to become a better communicator.

I am heading out to the Q conference in Atlanta today. I’ll be blogging my notes for you to enjoy.

Here is a roundup of what we were talking about one year ago:

• The Internet’s Influence
  [April 24, 2006]
• Cartoon Network Dominates the Youth Market
  [April 24, 2006]
• Islam and Community
  [April 26, 2006]
• Cultural Relevance and Sound Theology
  [April 26, 2006]
• The Next Generation
  [April 27, 2006]
• Where Two or Three Brains Are Gathered Together
  [April 28, 2006]

If you tried to reach me by phone or email this morning, you couldn’t. I was unreachable. To my surprise, our office had no phone or Internet.

Our service provider mistakenly disconnected our service. How did it happen?

Well, it comes down to the difference between a “2″ and a “3″. We are moving to a new location at the end of the month - the 30th to be exact. Yet somehow today, the 20th, we lost our telecommunications.

Detail #1 
My guess is that someone got careless with the details and typed a “2″ instead of the intended “3″.

It is a little detail, but it comes with big consequences. Obviously, the absence of Internet slowed our productivity, but anyone who attempted to call us heard an inconvenient disconnected message. Within several hours, they had the Internet back up and running, and we had a phone line. But they did forget another important detail.

Detail #2
They assigned us the wrong phone number upon reactivation.

Now after a few more hours, the mistakes have been corrected. In hindsight, I am amazed that the difference between a “2″ and a “3″ can fester into so much extra work.

The Moral
It is better to spend a few extra seconds to pay attention to details than it is to spend hours trying to correct a mistake. Make it a habit to double check your work. Proofread. Think before you act.

When you do make a mistake, learn from it. Do not let yourself make the same mistake twice. And above all else, remember there is a big difference between a “2″ and a “3″.

This morning LifeChurch.tv (Edmond, OK) launched a brand new church website, which includes enhanced usability and navigation.

Igniter Media Group recently released Igniter Videos Volume 5, which offers five short videos that you can use as sermon illustrations. They have been done extremely well. To preview one, click any one of the five titles listed below.

1. Smart
2. 99 Balloons
3. Boys and Grills
4. Proof
5. Teamwork

Best of all, if you would like to buy Volume 5 for your church, you can get a 20% discount by using crblog07 as your promotional code. The special offer expires on May 31st.