As we learned from Micah Fries, we have to manage social media before social media manages us.

Social media is no longer a toy (though I still chuckle at all the early comments saying social media would not last). Today, social media is a primary means of communication. Personally, I use blogs, Twitter, Facebook, and GooglePlus everyday.

Time has told us that social media is not a toy for tweens, but a legitimate conduit of information. Like money, social media makes an excellent servant but a terrible master. Anyone who values their time needs to think seriously about putting social media management systems in place, and so avoid becoming its slave.

We use Hootsuite (and tried TweetDeck for a while), but I am wondering about the best tools for me and for LifeWay.

The other day I ran across this blog listing "10 Top Twitter Tools Suggested by the Pros" at www.socialmediatoday.com. Some of these I know, some of them are new to me. They asked industry leaders in the social media space. While I do not necessarily endorse these experts, I do find what they think fascinating.

I wonder what you use and why. Any insights on any of these tools?

Here is a synopsis of their survey (I've included socialmediatoday.com's description of the tools):

1. ManageFlitter- chosen by Mari Smith
"With this tool you can clean up and manage whom you are following within just a few clicks. You can find out who is following you back and who is cluttering your stream with too many Tweets at once. And as of recently you can even link your Google+ account to your Twitter account."
2. Buffer- chosen by Jay Baer
"With Buffer you can post Tweets in a more efficient way. You can drop Tweets into a queue and the App will post them for you at the best times. You can spend a few minutes each morning finding great links and putting them into your Buffer from any website."
3. CoTweet- chosen by Aaron Lee
"CoTweet is an amazing Social Media dashboard that particularly helps with managing your team efforts. It allows you to have the history of all Tweets with someone displayed whenever you are receiving Tweets. Overall it features a full Twitter dashboard with all functionalities."
4. Commun.it- chosen by Jure Klepic
"Commun.it is a wonderful solution for you to keep track of your Twitter network. It displays the people you are influenced by and the ones you are influencing the most. You can also get and update about who is mentioning you and your brand outside your network."
5. Argyle Social- chosen by Jason Falls
"Argyle Social is a very advanced Social Media Marketing software, that boasts a ton of great features. It helps you to know how many clicks you get on your links and which networks visitors to your website have come from. Jason told me that it is particularly helpful for him as he can measure the value of each Social Network a lot better for him."
6. Refollow- by Liz Strauss
"Liz also mentioned that Refollow is a great tool to check a person's bio and stats before you decide to follow or unfollow someone. With this tool you can keep close track of your Twitter network and sort your followers easily by importance and other measures."
7. TweetDeck- chosen by Mack Collier
"TweetDeck also boasts a ton of other features for you, allowing you to post to other Social Networks, schedule Tweets and set up search terms to monitor all things happening on Twitter. Similar to Mack, my favourite feature are the columns, which allow you to track any event very easily."
8. TweetLevel- chosen by Dave Larson
"With this App you can also search and analyse hashtags very conveniently to get more out of certain topics. You can also order Tweets by any results by influence, popularity, engagement or trust. This gives you a great array of different options to find new people to follow."
9. HootSuite- chosen by Michael Brito
"HootSuite is a powerful Social Media dashboard. It allows you to see comprehensive analytics around your Tweets on top of using their own Owl.y URL shortener. Being browser based it also gives you the option of accessing the same settings from any computer."
10. Tweepi- chosen by Neal Schaffer
"On top of this, you can filter with various parameter through all the people you are following and sort them in various groups. The app also makes it very easy to find people that are following you, but you aren't following back. Reciprocating those follows can sometimes lead to great extensions of your network."

Some of these are more for organizations, but many of you are church or ministry leaders. So, how do you manage social media in your ministry?

I find it interesting when friends disagree. And, a bit of an argument has "broken out" among some friends.

First, my friends at Leadership Network posted a list of speakers for people to vote for or against for their online conference, TheNINES.

Dave Travis explained that they set up the list to consider speakers for their event. To get it started they, "seeded the list with 20-25 names and encouraged folks to add to the list."

The response was rather surprising:

So far over 30,000 people have viewed the site. We are up to about 11,000 comments and over 350 speakers suggested. All of that is way, way more than we ever figured would see the list much less respond.

Skye Jethani, a great thinker and gifted writer, objected (strongly) in this post:

... I was both saddened and disturbed by the Leadership Network's decision to run a Twitter-based popularity contest to determine the speakers for THE NINES conference in 2010. The feedback form seen here allows users to submit the name of a church leader. Twitter users are then able to give a thumbs up or down to each person. Ranking is then automatically determined by the ratio of positive to negative votes a leader receives. Adding a dash of arsenic to an already distasteful dish, the site allows you to see exactly who voted up or down for each leader.

Skye was actually one of the presenters in TheNINES last year. (Some disclosure: I also participated in TheNINES last year. Actually, there were nine blogs that hosted it for discussion and feedback and my blog was one of the nine. You can see the discussion and my video here. My theme was that "mission is the opposite of self" and you can read my blog post here.

I have had a little fun with the list, encouraging votes for two people:

• Ben Arment, just an all around great guy who blogs and has a new book, Church in the Making.
• Frank Turk, who is a cranky Calvinist blogger at Pyromanics and (once you get past the blog and some of his grumpy friends) is a great guy.

So, what do I think of the list?

Well, first, I have looked at it... more than once. Which tells me that it probably appeals to a part of me that is not good. I think that is probably the reaction that many of those on the list have had.

Second, I have noticed that some of the people at the bottom of the list probably have been unfairly treated. Many of these speakers are pastors and I think it might hurt their ministries.

Third, I don't like the idea that people can like and dislike and, on that basis, I probably would have not run with the technology even with the good motives that LN had. I think they could have simply asked for suggestions (but, to be honest, they would not have had this level of reaction).

Fourth, some of the leaders on the list are controversial, but controversy does not mean you should not be heard.

Finally, this is a list of people who have an affinity for Leadership Network, evangelicals, and now (probably) Out of Ur. That means it is not a representative sample by any means (and they did not claim it to be).

But, I think I like the idea of discovering new voices. For example, I don't see Pete Wilson on that many national platforms, but as I have had the opportunity to get to know him, I think he has some good things to say. My guess-- this will help people know who he is. Also, I think both Ben Arment and Frank Turk are worth listening to.

Also, this list tells us some things. For one example, it tells us the influence of the Reformed community (at least on the Internet). I mentioned that in a recent discussion of the top 100 blogs.

I think it also speaks to the decline of some "movements" like, for example, the Church Growth Movement.

And, it tells us that being bald seems to help you make the list ;-)

But, all in all, I think it is a good idea with a technology that makes it distasteful.

But, for some, making lists is always problematic. It is not for me. For example, I want to know (and have done the research to answer) who the most influential preachers. I have even hosted a discussion on that very topic-- with almost 150 comments). I do not want to know it for their aggrandizement, but because I want to know who is shaping our churches and leaders.

So, read their two articles (one from Skye Jethani which came first and then Dave Travis' response) and feel free to share your thoughts here at the blog. And, then go vote for Ben Arment and Frank Turk. ;-)

What do you think?

I recently wrote an article called "The Blessings of the New Media" for Tabletalk Magazine. I shared four ways that social media can assist churches and leaders.

The first way is community:

Those who attempt to find community exclusively online will miss out on the fullness and authenticity of relationships God intends for us to have face to face. Gathering together (Heb. 10:25) requires feet and faces, not just electrons and avatars. Therefore, when a Christian seeks to be a part of a local church only by live streaming the worship service and conversing on message boards, he is short-circuiting the fellowship of the saints and his own spiritual growth. Yet, I do not believe that virtual community and real community are enemies. I see them more as friends, the former as a help to the latter. Unfortunately, for too many theologically-minded pastors, their aversion to the abuses of social media has distracted them from the opportunity they provide.

While social media cannot replace real-life interpersonal relationships, they can assist in building real community by connecting people in ways that allow them to share both the big and small things of life. Web services such as Facebook allow people who might see one another only during church on Sunday, or midweek in smaller community groups, to continue to share aspects of life they would not otherwise. This allows friends to look into the parts of life we share and respond with encouragement or exhortation.

The second way is communication. As I said in the article, the age of the bulletin may not have completely passed, but these days people rely on so many other forms of communication to stay abreast of current events. The speed with which news can travel using social media is nothing short of amazing. For example, when my friend Matt Chandler had a seizure last year and I sent a tweet asking for prayers, the "re-tweet" function had the request going out to huge numbers of people within minutes. Matt was a trending topic on Twitter that day, which means that he was one of the ten most mentioned phrases or words in all of Twitter. People all over the world knew about his situation and prayed for Matt thanks to Twitter (note his name in the lower right corner).

The final two ways listed are inspiration and better introductions. Blogs, Facebook and Twitter all provide ways to share inspiring thoughts and gospel-centered messages (often in 140 characters or less!). And social media also allows people to share things about themselves more fully and with a broader group of people. We are actually getting to know each other better in some ways through the use of electronic media.

These things can never take the place of human contact, but to ignore them and the role they can play in fostering community is unwise. They are helpful tools that the world is using, and that the church can benefit from.

As I consider social media in the twenty-first century, I can't help but think of the spread of the gospel and the church's growth in the first century. Communication was greatly aided then by the common language of Koine Greek. Since the New Testament was written in a language accessible to so many, the Word of God was able to penetrate different cultures rapidly. Perhaps today the new media will be the "common language" for the masses to hear the gospel.

Tabletalk is a publication of Ligonier Ministries. I will be speaking next week at their National Conference on this very subject June 17. Hope to see you there!

I'll be hosting a regular web show starting in February. Doing a "web show" feels a bit like I should be broadcasting from a basement in Aurora, IL, but I have hopes that we can be some encouragement to pastors and leaders.

My main agenda is simple: to help pastors and church leaders in a setting that includes questions and dialogue. If I had my way, I would personally coach and encourage every pastor or leader. But, since they actaully want me to lead a research team here at LifeWay, I am somewhat limited in my capacity. With this new show, I can talk through some common themes and interact with Christian leaders as we "provoke one another to love and good deeds" (Hebrews 10:24).

The episodes will be archived and cataloged by themes and topics.

Here is their release:

Connect with me on Twitter and Facebook. ;-)

P.S. Angry pastors need not post their "grave concerns" about the disruption of a solemn wedding ceremony or I will post this. Don't make me do it.

I am blogging from Taiwan. You can't get much farther away from Nashville.

While here I will be working with the Upstream Collective and another organization. For some contextual reasons, I won't be saying the name of that organization in my blog posts.

And, as you can tell we will be avoiding some other terms as well. Many of our M friends move between different regions in the area and they have asked us to be careful.

I am bringing several pastors with me on the trip and we will be post video content here are on several other blogs. Our hope is that we might give some global focus on the missional conservation.

Here are some of my friends who will be posting content in the next week.

Andrew Jones (Tall Skinny Kiwi)
J.D. Greear
Matt Chandler
Ed Stetzer
David Phillips (Integrating Missionally)
Almost an M
Michael Carpenter (Dining with Sinners)
Derek Webster (re:frame)
Grady Bauer (Missional Space)
C. Holland (Missionary Confidential)
Kevin Mullins (Life.Outpoured)
Guy Muse (The M Blog)
Ray Short (Cultural Dichotomy)
Todd Littleton (The Edge of the Inside)
Paul Chambers Cox (OMS International)
Tim Patterson (Travel Light)
Justin Powell (Urban Idealist)
David Jackson (Moving at the Speed of God)
Ernest Goodman (Missions Misunderstood)
David Putman (DavidPutmanLive)

I will be moving my SBC-specific blogging to here. I am privileged to be a part of the faculty at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary and am excited to be a contributor to their blog.

I posted my first blog entry there this morning. It is called "Looking Back to Louisville."

A list of the Top 100 Church Blogs have been posted by Kent Shaffer at Church Relevance. This little corner of the blogosphere came in at #23 (up from #39 last time) so we are celebrating around LifeWay Research today and wondering if we get a prize. ;-)

Kent explains that he chose 181 well known blogs, collected data from each blog (Alexa Rank, Compete Visitors, Google PageRank, Google Reader Subscribers, Technorati Authority, and Technorati InLinks), and then ranked them in comparison to the others. A composite rank for each blog is determined by averaging each blogs ranking from the 6 measured criteria. Kent is up front about his method, that he chose some of the well known blogs, and asks for input regarding those he's missing. Yet, I have seen some unhappy bloggers out there.

I hope to see you on the web today at 2p.m. CDT for a live event.

Over 1000 people have signed up-- and you need to register to participate.

I'm kind of a big deal-- or at least that is what the faceless bureaucrats at Facebook insist. They tell me that I cannot have any more friends beyond my current 5000. And, if I want to have more friends, they have to become "fans."

Needless to say, I was not pleased. I don't want "fans," I just wanted more friends.

I have found great value in social networking, with Twitter and Facebook in particular. In the beginning I wasn't easily convinced that it would be worthwhile, but I have really enjoyed connecting with friends all over the world. Earlier this month I shared my dilemma - Facebook has a 5,000 "friend" limit, and I was maxed out. Of course, I realize that many of those friends are not people who know me personally, but I was using facebook as a means of broadly communicating with others and interacting around my Facebook "Wall" and "Notes." I have substantially more interaction on my Facebook wall than I do here on the blog.

The options weren't great, and I wasn't really sure what I was going to do, but my publisher went ahead and created a Facebook "Fan Page" for me-- without asking. This allows for as many fans/friends as desire to connect, and so I am reluctantly moving all discussion from my personal Facebook page to my "fan page."

For the record, I didn't make this move because I think "I'm kind of a big deal." Let's be honest, being a big deal on Facebook is sort of like being the Dungeonmaster in a game of Dungeons and Dragons. It really doesn't matter. This fan page is simply the best way to continue discussion on Facebook while allowing others to join in. And, all of my Twitter updates will now go there (and I have discontinued the feed on my personal page as that will soon go away).

So, if you are "friend," and want to connect, you'll need to become a "fan." I know; I hate the word "fan," so let's not even use that. Let's just be friends on a different kind of page!

I hope to see you there!

P.S. If you do not get the pop-culture reference, "I'm kind of a big deal," please forgive my attempt at self-deprecating humor. I read about it in one of my many leather-bound books. ;-)

Well, I have a conundrum related to my Facebook page.

Facebook has been a good place to network. It regularly suggests friends (sometimes in humorous combinations as this picture demonstrates).

However, Facebook now tells me I cannot have any more friends. It appears that there is a limit of 5000 friends and I am now at that limit.

So, I have been told that I have to have to create a "fan" page in order to go over 5000 friends. Actually, the my publisher has already done this before I officially gave them permission. ;-) (B&H Publishing's Aaron Linne is a go-getter.)

Of course, anyone can create such a page. Just yesterday, I discovered a group called, "All I Really Need to Know About Church Planting I Learned from Ed Stetzer." I had to join that group just to see what they were saying!

Anyway, I like Facebook. I about 50 Facebook comments a day so I enjoy the interaction, but I need to make a decision. I do not like the idea of anyone being my "fan." So, I am unsure how to proceed.

I would like your help to decide.

As I see it, I can:
1. drop off of Facebook completely and just go with Twitter and the blog.
2. eliminate my personal Facebook account and move completely over to the fan page posting and interacting on the "wall" there.
3. keep it as is and just let the current 5000 be my friends and that's it.

Option 1 is easiest and Twitter is a fine alternative. But, Facebook provides public conversation in a way that Twitter does not. (Having a back-and-forth conversation with Twitter goes to over 15,000 people whereas Facebook just goes to the people in the conversation).

Option 2 assumes that the good people at my publisher will let me link and have control of the wall there. (I know they will. I asked!) But, it also assumes that people will switch over to the new page. I am not sure the will.

Option 3 leaves a page out there but I cannot add any friends.

An obvious additional option is to do both a personal page and a fan page, but I do not see that as viable because people will try to be "friends" and then get no response from me on the personal account. For that matter, I don't like the idea of creating another site I need to check.

Finally, Facebook won't raise the friend limit. I asked.

So, what do you think? What do I do with Facebook?

Between Two Worlds includes quotes from my time on the radio yesterday. The full details are here.

Robbie Sagers wrote:

Why do so many people say that they like Jesus, but not the church? And how can Christians go about changing that perception?

Dan Kimball, Kevin DeYoung, and Ed Stetzer joined guest-host Russell Moore yesterday on the Albert Mohler Program to talk about how unbelievers view the church, and how the people of Christ can reach lost men and women--those at the coffee shop, or sitting next to you on the bus, or those working in the cubicle adjacent to yours right now--with the only gospel that saves.

DeYoung and Kimball are both quoted. Dan and I have been friends for years and I appreciate his perspective. Kevin and I have not yet met, but we are speaking together and a forthcoming Reformed Church in American "classis" in Grand Rapids, so I look forward to meeting him. I have enjoyed his writings.

Robbie quotes my comments about authenticity here:

I think that authenticity is basically a simultaneous admission that I'm imperfect, in need of the work of Christ and the cross, but at the same time sharing that struggle in that journey along the way... I think that authenticity is built from pastors and leaders, but also from everyday people who say, 'Here's what Christ has done, how he's changed me, how the gospel shapes me, but I'm also the one who's filled with faults and failures--struggling, but trusting in the power of Christ.

You can listen to the whole program at the Albert Mohler show radio show site. Who knew that Russ Moore would have such a smooth radio voice?

And, in another post, Robbie also quoted me bringing some stats:

We asked a total of 1,000 twenty-something unchurched people; 900 American, 100 Canadian. And we compared them to a sample of 500 older unchurched (30 or above). ... And what we found is that yes, there are negative views of the church, two-thirds saying the church is full of hypocrites, people who do one thing and say another. But there was also great openness that's there. One of the questions that we asked them to agree or disagree with was: "I would be willing to study the Bible if a friend asked me to?" Among twenty-somethings, 61-percent said, "Yes." Among their older counterparts of 30 and above, 42-percent said, "Yes." That was a statistically significant difference saying there is something going on, there is an openness that's there. So we're seeing that as an opportunity that in the midst of some negative views of the church there is also some openness to the things of God.

This data comes from Lost and Found: The Younger Unchurched and the Churches that Reach Them (B&H 2009).

Thanks to Russ and Robbie for the invitation.

This month Leadership Network and Lifeway Research conducted national research projects to find out how churches are being affected by the current economic slump. Warren Bird and I recently got together to talk about the findings from both surveys in this fast-paced interview with Dave Travis.

Weathering the Storm - How Churches Are Holding Up in the Current Economic Downturn
Download (it's free, people!), listen, and give your thoughts below.

How is your church being impacted by the recession? And, what are you doing in the midst of the recession?

Here is an excerpt from my recent blog on our economy research:

LifeWay News has posted the story with downloadable graphs here.

In this morning's USAToday, you will find Cathy Lynn Grossman's article pointing out the growing numbers of people in need looking to the church for help as we continue through this economic crisis. She includes research that Lifeway Research recently completed. Cathy brings out a few important details and provides some helpful examples.

Nearly two in three pastors (62%) report more people from outside their church asking for help, and nearly a third (31%) see more such requests from church members, according to a survey of 1,000 Protestant pastors.

.....

The survey, by LifeWay Research, a Christian polling firm based in Nashville, finds that 40% of pastors say they have church members out of work, and 37% say their church has increased spending to help the needy. (The survey has a margin of error of plus or minus three percentage points.)

What we found is that while the needs are greater at this time, most of our churches are ready and working to serve those in need and may be in a better place than other sectors of society. The average church actually saw their offerings grow by 4 percent in 2008. Only 12 percent of churches saw their giving decline by 10 percent or more in 2008.

This doesn't mean our churches aren't experiencing difficulty. These are challenging times that demand sacrificial giving by membership and wise spending by churches. And, depending on where they are in the country (and thus the severity of the recession), the situation can be and is different.

We just released this article at LifewayResearch.com that provides much more information about the economy research.

This last year has also brought changes in how those within congregations approach expenditures. Thirty-five percent of churches have a heightened sense of caution within their congregations about trying new things that cost money. A small number of congregations (11 percent) have seen increased reluctance to attend church functions or church-sponsored events that carry a cost or admission charge. Among the other effects the economy has had on churches:

• Seven percent delayed hiring that was planned.
• Six percent reduced staff salaries.
• Four percent laid off one or more employees.
• Four percent reduced insurance benefits for staff.

With these challenges comes greater opportunities for our people to demonstrate love, kindness and support to one another and those outside of the church. In fact, these difficult circumstances are motivating churches to mobilize people for the work of mercy ministries. Be sure to read the USA TODAY article, "In times like these, more people are going to church for help." and "Bad economy challenges churches but provides opportunities" by our team at LifeWay Research. And, as always, you can find the full PowerPoint at LifeWayResearch.com or download it directly here.

How is your church being impacted by the recession? And, what are you doing in the midst of the recession?

I have been serving as the guest host of the USAToday Faith & Reason blog. Cathy Lynn Grossman has written with USA Today for a decade and asked if I would fill in for her on the blog while she is in Europe on assignment.

I chose an easy topic to handle: the issue of exclusivity in terms of obtaining eternal life. You know me; I do not like controversy. No sir. Keeping it nice and light.

I started by discussing some recent research. Here is the wrap-up to my second comment that will give you a flavor of where the discussion is going:

To further the discussion, let's talk about the core issues of exclusivity of beliefs and how that affects culture, religion, and human interaction.
How do you view those who hold such exclusive beliefs? Why do you think that people increasingly seem to hold universalistic and pluralistic beliefs?
Let's make it personal, as well: Many faiths believe there is only one way to God, heaven, righteousness, etc. If you are a person of faith, does your faith teach that? If so, why does it matter?

Be nice. Engage the culture. Listen.

As a Christian, a researcher, a pastor, and a father I am very interested in the spiritual temperature of the younger generations. In surveys conducted by Lifeway Research we found that many have been getting it wrong concerning the younger unchurched.

In fact, 73 percent of unchurched twentysomethings consider themselves "spiritual" and would like to know more about "God or a higher supreme being." This is 11 percent higher than among unchurched individuals who are 30 years old and older. They are also significantly more likely to attend church or a small group than older, unchurched generations. This research is included in my newest book, Lost and Found: The Younger Unchurched and the Churches That Reach Them, co written by Richie Stanley and Jason Hayes. You can get some more numbers and thoughts from the authors of the book in this article at Lifeway.

Below you can check out a podcast where Jason Hayes and I discuss the younger generations and the churches that reach them. Give it a listen and share your thoughts in the comments.

As you may know, I am kinda' into Twitter. A few of us at LifeWay have jumped in (including the big boss, Thom Rainer) and we find it to be a helpful (and enjoyable) tool.

But, I know that some of you blog readers have been hesitant to jump in. There are some obvious pros and cons in social networking (and I have opined on that subject here.) But, let me encourage you to start a Twitter account and get going.

In order to help you make the leap into social networking, I am giving away some signed copies of my new book (written with Richie Stanley and Jason Hayes), Lost and Found: The Younger Unchurched and Churches that Reach Them.

Here's a quick look into what it's all about:

Who are the young unchurched, and how can they be reached with the good news of Jesus Christ?

In a poll result highlighted by CNN Headline News and USA Today, nearly half of nonchurchgoers between the ages of twenty and twenty-nine agreed with the statement, "Christians get on my nerves." Now, researchers behind the larger study present Lost and Found, a blend of dynamic hard data and modern day parable that tells the real story of an unchurched generation that is actually quite spiritual and yet circumspect, open to Jesus but not the church.

And, here is a video the fine folks at B&H made. It made me chuckle.

Now, here are the giveaway rules:

Once my Twitter "followers" reach 6000, I will give away a free book to every tenth person that follows. That should be 6000, 6010, 6020, etc. up until 6100. However, the count is based on my notifications. (Each time someone follows you get an email notice.) So, I will simply mark when I get the 6000th follower and then count every 10 after that until 10 books are given away.

If someone "unfollows" during that time, it could mean that the count you see and the number of follows I receive do not line up. My count is final. And, since more than one person might "follow" at 6000, my notification will be the signal for a free book.

And, these are for new followers I am encouraging to connect with via Twitter. If you are brand new Twitter, that will be great, but if we are just new "Twitter friends," that is OK, too. (And, I follow back all who follow me.) Now, for the 26 of you who "unfollowed" after I announced the contest on Twitter for "new" followers, I will let your conscience be your guide. ;-)

Everyone will be notified via Twitter direct message within 24 hours.

I hope to see you on Twitter.

I have been "tagged" by about 20 people (mostly on Facebook) and asked to share "25 Random Things" about me. If you're on Facebook you already know what this is. Even if you're not you probably do. Time Magazine covered it, as did most major newspapers. (Yep, they still print those things.) And yes, I usually ignore these things (see my earlier post on social networking) but the opportunity to talk about myself and blame others for it just took over. ;-)

So, here goes:

25 Random Things About Me

1. I signed papers to join the Army once but they rejected me (after accepting me) and I never served. I was rejected due to a unique eye deformity discovered in MEPS (Military Entry Processing Station), but the paper work was slow.

2. My grandfather was a fire battalion chief in Manhattan and my dad was a union iron lather and helped build the World Trade Center (among other things).

3. I participated in "Jeopardy" tryouts in Buffalo, NY. If I knew that the Volga was the largest North flowing river in the Soviet Union, I would have made it to the television.

4. I married my high school sweetheart. We even went to prom together.

5. In the seventh grade I was given the "most loquacious" award. I was very excited until I went home and found out what it was.

6. I own the web page, postmodernism.net. I never have used it. I also own about 40 others.

7. My wife and I started dating when we were 16 years of age and we had no other serious relationships.

8. My dream job was to be a professor until I became one and decided that was not for me (full time, at least).

9. Rick Warren recruited me to be the first Nehemiah Project church planting professor in a partnership with North American Mission Board and Southern Seminary-- that's right, Warren recruited me to consider a job at Southern. Al Mohler interviewed, approved, and hired me for the job that Rick Warren encouraged me to do.

10. My sister died in 1987 of a rare form of skin cancer. She wanted to sing at our wedding (August 13th) but instead saw if from heaven.

11. You can see the building of the very first church I planted (when I was 21) right
here. It was (and is) in a very rough neighborhood in Buffalo. It is now pastored by one of the layman we started with 20 years ago.

12. I have 4 graduate degrees and have never been a full time student. My wife told me I was not allowed to do any more education. Ever. ;-)

13. I have slept on the floor of an African hospital paying "extra" money to nurses to use new needles on a student I brought from America.

14. As best I can tell, I spoke to over 70,000 pastors and church leaders last year.

15. I graduated High School with a "D" average. I struggled in school from the second grade froward-- taking summer school classes for two years in high school.

16. I studied Spanish in Puerto Rico in a three week immersion school--it did not work. (Well, it got me through my PhD language test, but that is all.)

17. The first Christian book I read (other than the Bible) was The Cost of Discipleship by Dietrich Bonhoeffer.

18. I've had my license suspended for speeding while driving home from speaking at Liberty University.

19. I have rolled my car and climbed out of the sunroof.

20. I was once on the Rush Limbaugh show and on CNN Headline news. But one does not know about the other.

21. I grew up on public assistance for much of my childhood.

22. I studied Reformation History at a Roman Catholic seminary... turns out, they have a different view of what it was all about. ;-)

23. I have lost 90 lbs without going on a diet (just exercise and changed some eating habits).

24. I have never been to Australia and have always wanted to go so that I can say I have "trained pastors on 6 continents" instead of five. ;-)

25. I think these lists are a pain and won't be tagging anyone else to do one. ;-)

And, #26, I am on vacation today with my daughter in Chicago. I hope your day is as good as mine!

Something to think about over the weekend concerning the generation gap in our churches because of technology. The Barna Group recently published some research on the role tech plays in widening the generation gap.

Technology is fast becoming the latest driving force behind what is often called the "generation gap." While Americans of every age have become quite comfortable with and dependent on technology, a new study by The Barna Group explores how technology is shaping different experiences and expectations among generations.

Some bloggers have already responded to The Tennessan article on SBC decline that I mentioned yesterday, including:

Michael Spencer (Internet Monk)

SBC Impact

Pat Hood (cited in the article)

I will add more if I see them. Feel free to link yours or suggest others below.

Here is the final installment, looking back to the start of the blog from October through December 2007.

For the other sections, see parts 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5.

October

• Explained our methdology for doing the largest and fastest growing list in Outreach Magazine.
• Did a podcast on preaching with my friend Michael Duduit from Preaching Magazine.
• Asked opinions on a book cover, and received a lot of helpful comments.
• Shared some important new research I did for Leadership Network.

November

• Responded to Dan Kimball's suggestion I get a new haircut.
• Reflected on guidelines for missiological contextualization.
• Linked and posted the presentations at the Building Bridges Calvinism conference. I was one of the most clicked pages on the blog.
• While speaking at the Assemblies national church planting summit, created a list of Assemblies of God fun facts (which, I have been told, was subsequently read aloud at the Springfield, MO headquarters).

December

• Announced that I was named the "Interim Teaching Pastor" at FBC Hendersonville. I had been preaching already a couple of months and I am still there today. A great church and I love teaching there.
• Was publicly accused of plagiarism and responded here. (The author of that post, David Wayne, is struggling with cancer. Pray for him and follow his blog here.)
• Talked about my time in Philadelphia and discussed "third place" churches.
• Corrected an erroneous report on The Trinity Broadcasting Network which they later clarified.
• Posted new research on the decline of younger leader involvement in the SBC.