This January, Church of the Resurrection (Leawood, KS) is beginning a new sermon series called “Seeing Gray.” Pastor Adam Hamilton will be searching for insight to some complex gray areas of faith, morality, and politics by studying the Bible and Christ’s example.

They are also taking the discussion from the pulpit to YouTube, and they are looking to hear your thoughts, opinions, and questions on each topic that will be discussed over the first five weeks of 2008.

Liberal or conservative? Republican or Democrat? Is there a right answer? What would Jesus say?

Here is the sermon series trailer:

Here is the YouTube question for week one of the series:

I appreciate this fresh approach to getting the congregation and others to join in discussion around each topic in the sermon series. To join the dialogue, visit their YouTube page.

According to Robert Stephens, the founder of Geek Squad,

Marketing is a tax you pay for being unremarkable.

In this context, I believe that by marketing Robert means promotion - that is advertising, direct marketing, interactive marketing, personal sales, sales promotion, and public relations. Unfortunately, marketing has become synonymous with advertising and other promotional elements. By its true definition, marketing encompasses product, price, place (distribution), and promotion, and this is commonly referred to as the 4 P’s of marketing.

It is still a great quote, but consider it this way:

Marketing promotions is a tax you pay for being unremarkable.

Remarkable products and services promote themselves through word of mouth. Typically, remarkable organizations earn their remarkability by having a great product or service. However, an organization can also become remarkable through the other three P’s of marketing. For price, think of Wal-Mart’s low cost or Giffen goods. For place, think of Wal-Mart’s distribution or LifeChurch.tv’s Internet campus. And for promotion, think of Apple and Nike.

There are a few lessons to be learned here:

1. If your organization is unremarkable, you will have to compensate by spending more money on marketing promotions to be successful.
2. If your organization is remarkable, marketing promotions will only amplify your success.
3. If you can only be remarkable in one area, have a remarkable product or service because it will keep people coming back for more as well as generate word of mouth.

For further reading on how to make your church remarkable, read my previous article “Marketability First.”

LifeChurch.tv’s Hendersonville, TN campus has two very innovative church marketing ideas. They also happen to be very amusing.

#1 Buy a scooter. Plaster it repeatedly with church logos. And drive it around town.

#2 Buy a big balloon. Tie a church invitation to it. And let it loose.

Although these methods are meant to be funny, they are also undeniably very memorable ways to spread awareness for a church around a city. The marketing principle here is that very unique advertising gets attention. It can cut through the clutter of thousands of mundane advertisements and leave a lasting impression.

Children’s ministry expert Jim Wideman recently blogged about 10 ways to win the confidence of those you lead. Here are the first five:

1. Believe in yourself.
   No one wants to follow an insecure leader. At the same time you can put too much confidence in yourself. The key here is to be confident that Jesus has called you to be a leader.
2. Be upbeat and not discouraged or overwhelmed.
   Things are never as bad as you think, and you are not as wonderful as you think you are either. Be passionate and enthusiastic.
3. Carry yourself like a winner.
   Always look your best and dress for success. Know how to clean up well when you need to and don’t be silly.
4. Identify your present leadership level.
   How would rate yourself as a leader? How would your volunteers rate your leadership? If you are a five, sevens and eights can’t look up to you. You must grow as a leader. Ask yourself these four simple questions, and you’re on your way to your next level. 
   >> What level are you now?
   >> Where do you want to be?
   >> What do you need to do?
   >> What steps can you take to begin?
5. Become a student of leadership and keep growing in your abilities.
   Always be reading. Listen to leadership teaching and mentors. Discuss what you are reading and learning with other leaders.

To read five more ways to gain people’s confidence while leading them, check out Jim Wideman’s original post.

PSDtuts offers a helpful list of 9 essential principles for web design. It is a good reference for any church web designer or communications team looking to develop or overhaul their church website. Here is a quick overview with highlights:

1. Precedence (Guiding the Eye)
   The user should be led around the screen by the designer.
2. Spacing
   Spacing makes things clearer.
3. Navigation
   Buttons to travel around a site should be easy to find - towards the top of the page, easy to identify - they should look like navigation buttons, and well described - the text of a button should be pretty clear as to where it’s taking you.
4. Design to Build
   It’s really good to know what can and can’t be done, which is why I believe all web designers should also build (code) sites, at least sometimes.
5. Typography
   Different types of fonts say different things about a design. Make sure your text sizes are consistent, large enough to be read, and proportioned so that headings and sub headings stand out appropriately.
6. Usability
   With so much information and interaction to be effected on a website, it’s important that you, the designer, provide for it all.
7. Alignment
   You should go through and try to keep things consistently placed on a page. Aligning makes your design more ordered and digestible, as well making it seem more polished.
8. Clarity (Sharpness)
   Keeping your design crisp and sharp is super important in web design.
9. Consistency
   Everything should be themed to make your design coherent between pages and on the same page.

This is just a quick glimpse of the article. Be sure to visit PSDtuts to read the full explanation for all 9 principles of good web design.

Power has been restored to my home since it was first cut off by the ice storm three days ago. According to the Tulsa World, a record 600,000 Oklahoma homes lost power this week. There are still tens of thousands of homes across Oklahoma without power. Please keep them in your prayers.

[Photo Credit: Cornell Campbell]

Well, the power is out, and the trees are down from the great Oklahoma ice storm of 2007. Posting may be sparce this week. Luckily, I found an Internet connection on the other side of town so that I could write this update. I’ll be in touch.

Craig Groeschel of LifeChurch.tv (Edmond, OK) recently turned 40 years old and in celebratation has blogged 40 leadership tips for young pastors (part 1, 2, 3, & 4). Here are my favorites:

#3 - Ministry is a marathon, not a sprint.
#16 - Err on the side of generosity.
#17 - Believe in people that others overlook.
#18 - If you’re going to reach people that others aren’t, you’ll have to do things that others won’t.
#21 - When you have a tough decision to make, but you know it’s right, make it immediately. (Like pulling off a Band-Aid: do it fast, and all at once.)
#22 - Hire slowly. Fire quickly.
#24 - Don’t criticize others’ ministries. Yours isn’t nearly as perfect as you think it is.
#25 - Take care of yourself. Eat right. Rest. Exercise. Take time off. No one else can do that for you.
#27 - Don’t just delegate responsibility. Delegate authority.
#32 - Be careful what you say. You’re being watched (and recorded).
#36 - Love your wife more than you love the church. The church is Jesus’ bride, not yours.
#37 - Always be caught speaking well of others.
#40 - Smile and look people in the eyes when you talk to them.

For all 40 leadership tips, read Craig’s original posts (part 1, 2, 3, & 4).