Tech Thursday: iPhone App Creation

I have set a new goal for myself that I would love to see happen before I turn 31 this year. I want to create an iPhone App or at least be on a team that does. I have 2 very viable Apps that are not currently in the App Store. One would be a free download with possible large company backing and the other is a $1 or $2 deal that is aimed at a niche market but still sustainable.

Why do I want to do this?

1. The trend is for everything to go to the mobile phone.
2. I'm tired of ideas and nothing happening with them.
3. I would love to have these 2 things on my iPhone and no one is doing it yet.

How can you help?

1. If you already have created an App for the iPhone I would love to know the process.
Please teach me.
2. If you want to help create these 2 Apps then please get in touch with me.
3. I think I can get funding for both even in this economy but if you want to fund it be
my guest.


Now if you want to be on the team and get this done then let's do it. I can find very few reasons why this can't happen. I could come up with excuses but nobody cares about that.

2 Minute Tuesday: An Ode To No Bake Cookies

This 2 Min. Tuesday is more like 3 minutes but it is really funny. Patriot has something special for you at the end. Enjoy.

Ministry Monday: 80/20 90/10 and the new 65/35 Rule

Do you know the 80/20 rule? How about the 90/10 rule? There is even a new study out by Gallop that would start a new rule that could be called the 65/35 rule.

What in the world am I talking about?

The 80/20 rule states that once your facility gets to 80% perceived fullness on a frequent basis (ie more than Easter and Christmas) then your church will not grow. You will not be able to fill that 20% unless you add another service or of course build a bigger facility. Then you have the other 80/20 rule or the Pareto Principle that states that 80% of the effects come from 20% of the causes or 80% of your sales comes from 20% of your clients. I prefer the church rule over the business rule but I digress...

The 90/10 rule states that you don't have control over 10% of your life (ie red lights, other people's behavior towards you, your furnace breaking down) but you do have control over 90% and you should take advantage of the 90% and quit stressing over the 10%. Then I read today the 90/10 rule for Twitter that states that 90% of your communication on Twitter should be of a giving nature and 10% and only 10% should be of a selfish nature or taking nature. By the way, this is a good rule for life and not just for Twitter.

The new 65/35 rule was created today by Gallop. It states that 65% of people in the United States consider religion an important part of their daily life and 35% do not. Gallop released the study and you can see the results here. Gallop even breaks down the states that are the most religious and the states that are not. Mississippi came in first with 85% of the people saying religion is very important and Vermont came in last with 42%. Ohio was middle of the pack and the nations average at 65%.

Here is the good news, the opportunity, and the indiffernt.

Good news: My church is hitting the 80/20 church rule and we are thinking something is going to have to change to help reach the 35%.

The Opportunity: As pastors and ministers we still have 35% of the nation that acknolege they need help.

The Indifferent: I thought the 65/35 rule was for Twitter. Now I know I should be following the 90/10 rule and I am working on that.

Tech Thursday: Jott 2.0 for iPhone

I first wrote about Jott on April 11th, 2007. A lot has changed about their service since that day. The service has gone from free to a monthly subscription service. It has added tons and tons of features over this time as well. I use the $3.95 a month service and it does everything that I need and much more. It is better than any other voice to text service that I have come across, hands down.

Today I received an e-mail from them telling me about an upgrade to the service for the iPhone. It was much needed and Jott has done very well in their execution. It is simple, effective, and a game changer. If you have an iPhone you will be well served with their new App. The return on investment will be made on the first day that you use it.

Here is the video from Jott that explains all that it can do. Enjoy.

Sign Wednesday: Inappropriate vs. Funny

Some signs are inappropriate and not funny. Some signs are funny and not inappropriate. This one I would consider both inappropriate and funny. Enjoy.



Thanks to @acrathbone for the sign. You should follow him on twitter.

Ministry Monday: Parental Controls, iPod Touch, and Preteens

Over the last month I have had more parents ask me how to control the iPod Touch that they bought for their preteen. The fear of course is that the preteen will be able to access music, websites, and video that is not appropriate for them or really anyone else for that matter.

So your preteen wants an iPod Touch, how do you protect them?

1. There are parental controls on the device. Simply go to the settings of the iPod Touch and click on the General Settings. From there you go to Restrictions and decide what you want to turn off or turn on. While this is helpful it doesn't solve all of the problems of course. A techy preteen can hook the device up to iTunes again and set everything back to default which would wipe these settings out. So you go to step 2.

2. There are parental controls in iTunes. Simply go to Edit and click on Preferences. Pick the Parental Controls tab and set your restrictions there. Here is one of the simplest ways to keep your kid safe. Set up the iTunes account in your name with your user name and your password. Don't give your password to your child for any reason. This way if your child wants to put Apps, music, and videos on the iPod Touch then they have to come to you. Could this be a hassle? Only if you don't want to know what your kid is looking at, listening to, and watching. It also lets you into your kids world and makes you talk to your child. That is a wonderful thing and not a bad thing.

3. Safe Eyes Mobile- finally you have set all of your restrictions, parental controls, and you think that you want your child to be able to go to sites like Disney.com or other family friendly sites but you don't want them to use Safari. If this is you then you are a very smart parent in my book. There is another web browser in the App store for the iPod Touch that restricts all adult content and is very good. It is called Safe Eyes Mobile and was created for you and this instance. It is well worth the $20 and can be found easily in the App store by searching for Safe Eyes. Why buy a device that does all kinds of cool things and not use it? This gives your child a little freedom and lets you rest a little easier.

4. Talk to your child and check the device- I know that I already said this above but it is well worth a mention again. The best thing that you can do as a parent is talking to your kid. Let them know your expectations, thoughts, and wisdom. Let them know that you love them. Let them know why boundaries are put into place.

I am all for giving kids technology, but someone has to be the adult and we can't count on the kid to do that. The iPod Touch is a great, and I mean a great device. If you can get one for your child I would reccommend it but please make sure and keep them safe.

Sign Wednesday: This seems harsh

I am all for justice and I don't think people should steal but this seems a little bit harsh and just wrong.



Thanks to Sam Luce for sending me this sign.

Ministry Monday: Work With Publishing Companies Not Against

Over the last 2 weeks I have communicated with 3 different publishing companies. Standard Publishing and I had a 4 hour focus group on the future of Children's Ministry curriculum, resources, and products. Group Publishing (i.e. Keith Johnson) and I talk on a frequent basis about the state of ministry but more importantly how to train and equip volunteers. Lastly, The Rethink Group and I are talking about the Orange Conference.

Of course in the past I have worked with Lifeway Christian Resources to create, produce, and publish G-Force, a curriculum for Children's Ministry. This was my first real interaction with a publishing house and I didn't poke any of my eyes out.

Why do I tell you this? Because I think that to many ministers out there are afraid of or for some reason resent publishing companies. Publishing companies are not the big bad monsters that tell you what to do and believe. In fact, if you ever have the opportunity to sit down with them then do so quickly. They are giving you an ear and listening to your voice. Believe it or not, they want to hear what you have to say. They want to meet your need for creativity and let you meet the need of your people.

Now if you come across a company that just wants to sell you stuff and not listen to you then look somewhere else. If you are a company that doesn't want to listen then I hope you lose a lot of business. So publishing companies please listen, and ministers please start talking. In the end, we can only have better ways of reaching people for Christ.

Sign Wednesday: Dedicated to Michael Phelps

To whom much is given, much is required. This is a famous statement that goes hand in hand with all role models. I know that most professional athletes or even Olympic athletes don't ask to be role models, but it happens and you must learn to deal with it. There have been many fall from grace before and not just Michael Phelps but he is the latest. In my humble opinion, I believe that when role models do stupid illegal activity they need to move to the following street for some time.




Thanks goes to Justin Tapp for sending me this sign.

Twitter Tuesday: New Tag #kidmin

Are you using twitter? Do you know about hashtags? Tags are a great way to look at a topic. For instance if you wanted to see everyone's opinion about Super Bowl commercials you could go to http://search.twitter.com and put into the search bar #superad09. It would pull up tons and tons of people's opinions about the Super Bowl ads. Why does it pull all of these up? Because at the end of each of these post the person tagged it with the tag #superad09. Fairly simple but also very important. It makes twitter just that much more useful. There are to many tags to list below but there is one tag that I think you should know about if you do Children's Ministry. If you could mark your tweets that have to do with Children's Ministry with the tag #kidmin then that would really help us out. It would let us know who you are and then it would also let us know what you are doing in ministry or what questions you have. I look forward to seeing what the tag #kidmin does for the Children's Ministry community.

Ministry: Networking or Hook Up?

It has been a long time since I have been single. In fact this year I am celebrating 10 years of marriage. So it has been a long time since someone has tried to hook me up with someone else. Well until recently and it isn't to go on a date. For some reason over the past couple of weeks I have had the phrase uttered, "I think you should meet__________. I just know that you would really like __________. You know ________ is in ministry too."

I love to network. In fact one of my goals for this year is to network even more than I have in the past. I like to learn from other people. I also know that ministry can be very lonely if you don't surround yourself with other like minded ministers. I even enjoy helping business guys meet other business guys. This is one aspect of my ministry that I didn't think I would come to love as much as I do but I can't think of not doing it now. For some reason though, it seems a little bit like someone is trying to hook me up when I hear those words above. Maybe it is because most of the time it just doesn't work. Kind of like when people try to hook you up on a date. My hope is that these connections are enjoyable. Let me just say that just because that guy is in ministry doesn't automatically mean that we are going to get along with each other but I do appreciate your effort.

Does anybody know what I am talking about? Do you have this happen to you?