Learned from Twitter: week ending May 2, 2009

This week in Twitter was full of insight, laughs, free stuff and lots of discussion. Here are a few things I learned from Twitter this past week.


1. BtotheEtotheN (Ben Boles) added something to my "wow, really?" file.
"The Catholic priest officiating the wedding opened the service with, pray for this couple to your god whom ever that may be."

2. kentshaffer (Kent Shaffer) shared this story, which is sure to make you feel a little less smart than you did this morning.
"One student gets perfect scores on the ACT, SAT, & PSAT - http://bit.ly/40vQq"

3. justayouthguy (Jon McIver) shared a great interaction he had with a student.
"Just asked Middle School girl 'why do you have a water balloon in your purse?'"

4. YouthMinBlog (Youth Ministry Blog) provided a code to get a free video download from Bluefish TV.
"Use the code BFP3 to get a free video download from http://BlueFishTV.com"

5. theofficenbc (The Office) provided a link to a new ringtone that Office fans will want to get. Might I suggest not putting this as your sr. minister's ringtone - that might get you into some trouble. :)
"You asked for it, you got it! Get the Dwight "Idiot" ringtone that Jim made in "Broke" @ http://www.nbc.com/The_Offi..."

6. 6drews (Mike Andrews) brought up a great thought for all youth ministers to consider.
"weighing the risk/reward of changing culturally based thinking in the church vs. behavior modification in order to avoid controversy"

7. AdamLehman (Adam Lehman) mentioned a church that saved money by trying to be good stewards of their resources. [Personally, I think its sad that this type of church is different enough to be considered newsworthy. We are all called to be good stewards.]
"a church saves $268,000 by going green. http://tr.im/jVdN"

8. williamhartz (William Hartz) shared some wisdom/insight he learned at his small group.
"Anyone who holds to the theory that girls don't poop... Tonight's conversation at small group has amply disproven it. #awkward"

9. kentshaffer (Kent Shaffer) provided another article link, this one tells us that most people who use Twitter quit way too early.
"60% of Twitter Users Quit Within the First Month - http://bit.ly/oIwCO"

10. drumdog00 (Justin Van Rheenen) shared a link to a free download from Thousand Foot Krutch.
"RT @chuffybass5: You can download new TFK free at www.welcometothemasquerade.com and if you're a TFK fan like me, you'll love it!!!"

11. YS_Scoop (Youth Specialties) has a really cool offer going right now.
"Help us purge our offices! You get great YS stuff and help mentor kids. http://tinyurl.com/realityc... Spread the word!"


What did you learn from Twitter this week?

Photo Friday: diapers

Guess which diaper came from the hospital and which one came from the store? They are both pretty much the exact same diaper, its just that one has the "character" on it and the other does not.

I always thought it was strange that diapers can licensed characters on them. Do babies even care what picture, if any, is on the front of their diaper? Why does marketing have to start so early?

Church Signs: money related

Recently, I have seen a couple church signs that are financially oriented. I thought I would share them with you.

"The IRS can't tax treasures stored in heaven."

"Tithe if you love Jesus, anyone can honk."

Do you have any favorite money-related church signs?

Learned from Twitter: week ending April 4, 2009

This week I learned a lot from twitter. Maybe it was a rather informative week, maybe I just paid more attention, or maybe it had to do with April Fool's Day. Whatever the reason, I'm dumping it all here for you to enjoy/learn from.

1. pastorjohnbyrne (John Byrne) shared some thoughts on evaluating your ministry. They are worth a look.
"How to Evaluate Your Ministry: http://hex.io/fqo"

2. marklee3d (Mark Lee) goes goes "Star Wars" on us.
"Watch Mac stab me with a light sabre mid-song http://tinyurl.com/dh6d67"

3. nikomas (Nikomas) thinks you'll laugh as you watch this.
"a good read: Try not to laugh while you watch http://tinyurl.com/dm3wxo"

4. YMTV (Youth Ministry TV) offered two links to free book downloads of "the Fine Line" (as of 4/4/09 it still worked) and "Get a Grip on the Basics"
"download The Fine Line audio book for free (limited time): http://www.zondervan.com/m/..."
"RT @bethjonesFREE download of entire "Get a Grip on the Basics" book to establish new believers, www.gettingagriponthebasics..."

5. hulu (Hulu) told us that you can now watch Charles in Charge online - awesome.
"Another walk down memory lane: Hulu's now streaming Season 1 of Charles in Charge. http://www.hulu.com/charles..."

6. Some April Fool's Day tweets:

lilkup (Me) posed this question:
"If Jesus was born on April 1st, do you think everyone would have thought it was a April Fool's Joke?"
bigsmooth433430(Matt Couch) responded with this statement:
"@lilkup Maybe even more interesting to ponder is...If Jesus had died or risen on April 1st, would people have thought it was a joke?"

crowderband "It's time for a new look. Hair and goatee are gone."
YS_Scoop "BREAKING NEWS! Stop the presses. RT @crowderband It's time for a new look. Hair and goatee are gone. <-- wow!"
StudentMinistry "BREAKING NEWS! Stop the presses. RT @crowderband It's time for a new look. Hair and goatee are gone. <-- wow! (via @YS_Scoop)"

foecuspastor "RT @human3rror: North Point Ministries launch NEW WEBSITE...! MUST SEE! http://is.gd/q6K3 // LOL!"

ymgeek "I think this http://budurl.com/6y2a was my favorite Tech April Fools prank. They spent quite a bit of time on it. It's even been twittering."

7. thirdday (Third Day) wants us all to know about a sale on iTunes.
"FYI - Revelation is on sale at iTunes for $7.99 as of today. The sale will run through 4/13. http://tinyurl.com/d6n2nr"

8. ymgeek (Youth Ministry Geek) was one of a few people to let us know about the possibility of Google acquiring Twitter.
"google in talks to aquire twitter? Interesting...http://budurl.com/fkczabou



What did you learn this week from Twitter?

5 Things that would have been great April Fool's Day jokes

While thinking about April Fool's Day jokes, I starting pondering a few things that would have made a great joke. Unfortunately these things are not jokes, they are real.

5 things that would have made a great April Fool's Day joke... if they were not real:

1. Hulk: the movie (2003)
2. Sanjaya on American Idol
3. Crystal Pepsi (check out these commercials)
   
4. the Seinfeld finale
5. the day I learned that WWF wasn't real wrestling

Honorable Mention:

1. The Cubs not being champions for 100 years
2. Furby

What would you add to this list?

Learned from Twitter: week ending March 28, 2009

This week, I learned a few things on Twitter that I wanted to share with you.


1. gavoweb (Gavin Richardson) shared a link to a free video.
"the folks at 'the work of the people' are giving away this cool video as free download. http://is.gd/oMdT i really like their work"

2. arpierson (Allen Pierson) challenged anyone to try this science experiment. I haven't tried it yet, but plan on doing it.
"I cracked open an egg into boiling water out of sheer curiosity and it was pretty much the coolest thing ever. You should try it sometime."

3. WorshipRising (Kevin Richardson) wanted to introduce everyone involved with worship ministry to Dan Wilt. Go ahead, check him out.
"Seriously, worship pastors, if you aren't aware of Dan Wilt, you should be. Start here (.pdf article): http://tinyurl.com/cvw84v"

4. UstreamTV (Ustream) shared a link to the tour for Mercy Me and Hawk Nelson. Check it out.
"The Road Show, with @MercyMe @HawkNelson, and others, streaming their whole tour! http://bit.ly/n6vjP"


What did you learn on Twitter this week?

Photo Friday: More President Obama Marketing

You can buy this 1000 piece puzzle of President Obama.








Or these President Obama trading cards. If I remember correctly, there are a total of 12 or 16 cards to collect.







Or you can buy a copy of his inaugural address (you can find a transcript of the entire address online without much effort). Well, his address and a few others.

* Barack Obama, Inaugural Address, 2009
* Abraham Lincoln, Second Inaugural Address, 1865
* Abraham Lincoln, The Gettysburg Address, 1863
* Abraham Lincoln, First Inaugural Address, 1861
* Ralph Waldo Emerson, Self-Reliance, 1841
(from the description at target.com)

Learned from Twitter: week ending March 14, 2009

Here is a sample of the variety of information I learned this week, thanks to Twitter.


1. crowderband (David Crowder Band) posted several links of some work in the studio.
"Day 2. http://tinyurl.com/dlen7k"

2. thirdday (Third Day) posted some pictures from some of their shows.
"Just posted a bunch of pictures from the Spencer and Champaign shows on our blog. http://www.thirdday.com/"

3. Most people do not like the switch to Daylight Savings Time. Here are 3 examples:
- saraedenI started blogging one year ago today. What did I blog about? How much I hate daylight savings. lol. Some things don't change.
- shawnmichaelNot pointing any fingers, but whoever set our bedroom clock ahead last night accidentally set it ahead TWO hours! (help me, LORD!) ;)
- pattigibbonsWhy DO we move an hour of daylight around twice a year? http://is.gd/mnEs I think the reasoning is weak!

4. AdamLehman (Adam Lehman) was one of the people from whom I learned about the shooting at a church in IL. I found out about the shooting a lot faster on Twitter than I would have waiting to see it on the news.
"RT @edstetzer: 5 shot, 1 killed at FBC Maryville, IL http://tinyurl.com/dfogwe pray.... "

5. tonysteward (Tony Steward) offers a very important tip about Twitter avatars, especially for guys.
"Twitter Avatar Tip: Guys ,any picture of you laying down in any way = unfollow. very creepy."

6. saraeden (Sara Williams) made me laugh with this piece of information.
"oh my word. was just looking at cookie cutters online. Saw a wedding one with the tag line "Cut out for each other" #lame"

7. ministrymonkey (Ministry Monkey) lets us know about a new site for ministry bloggers to connect with other ministry bloggers.
"We need people in ministry from EVERY state to add their blog over @ ministrybloggers.com - It's an alltop(ish) site for pastors to connect"

What did you learn this week?

Learned from Twitter: week ending March 7, 2009

This week I seemed to be away from Twitter more than usual, but I still managed to learn a few things.

1. dbeckner (Dennis Beckner) provides picture which begs for an explanation.
"Saw this sign today. I thought this was either clever, funny or odd. http://twitpic.com/1vyd2"

2. joshcook83 (Josh Cook) celebrates his 2nd birthday of being on Twitter. (which reminds me that my 2 year anniversary on Twitter comes up at the end of the month)
"Hey! Its my two-year Twitter birthday!!! My first post: http://twitter.com/joshcook..."

3. snavenel(Len Evans) warns of the possibility of advertising on Twitter.
"Tweet Ads Are on Their Way http://tinyurl.com/dchjgl"


4. saraeden(Sara Eden) provides a link to a free online issue of Youthworker Journal. "March/April issue of Youthworker Journal available online for free! >> http://tinyurl.com/clanq6"

5. iian(Ian Robertson) poses an interesting thought.
"my dog was just watching a dog on tv that was watching a dog on tv...wrap your brain around that."

Photo Friday: Not a Big Bird I want to meet on Sesame Street

My wife found this picture while going through some of our old pictures on the computer. That is Big Bird at one of the local parades. I was not a big fan of the costume back then and I'm still not. What do you think? Have you seen character costumes that have looked just vaguely like the character?

I'd love to see any pictures you have...

Photo Friday: Giant Fake Fish

I don't remember where we saw this fish, but I do remember it was on top of some gas station.

How cool would it be to have this fish up somewhere in your youth space?

Photo Friday: The Nativity... with one change

I took this picture as my boys were playing with our Little People Nativity Set. At first glance, everything seems normal. But if you look a little closer, Baby Jesus has been replaced by someone else. Did you notice who it was?

I'm a Cubs fan, but this is too far...

a Cubs cemetery.

I saw this a few months ago and thought it was a bit strange. Recently ran across the information again and found a few more things that just seem odd. Once I die, I'm gonna be in Heaven so I don't really care if my body is resting in a Cubs casket or in a Cubs cemetery. I will be enjoying the afterlife.

Its interesting, nonetheless. I wonder if there are other teams doing the same thing. I know you can get team-themed everything, but I've never heard of the cemetery before.


Read more about the cemetery here or at cbschicago or listen here from NPR.

Not only can you be buried in a Cubs-themed cemetery, you can have a Cubs-themed urn or casket. Read this article "Talk About A Die-Hard Fan"


What do you think?

Photo Friday: Ric Flair, really?

I am not a WWE fan or anything, but I'm thinking this was a little mistake by Quality Control. I remember Ric Flair from when I saw back when wrestling was on the WWF and I have to say that cannot possibly be him. I have no idea who it is. I just thought it was funny that this made it through the factory.

Note to quality control workers: you should have caught this one, even if you don't watch wrestling.

Photo Friday: Old (stale?) popcorn

This is a bag of popcorn that we just ate from this week. It was best by May 2007 (only a year and a half old). It really was pretty good popcorn. Makes me wonder what it would have tasted like at its "best."

Kinda makes me think about some of the "old" stuff in youth ministry. You know, those games or lessons or media or methods that are out-dated. Is there still a use for them? Or should they be tossed aside forever?

Good Idea, Bad Idea: helping people out of debt when you don't have money

Good Idea: Helping people get out of debt.

Bad Idea: Trying to help people get out of debt, when you are in debt yourself.


Is anyone else concerned that the gov't, who owes a lot of money to others, is willing to bail out financial companies? I find that strange.

I'm sure I'll have more thoughts on it later, but I just wanted to put it out there and see what you guys think.

Photo Friday: Internet no access

This is a picture of what happened when you tried to go to a "off limits" site at the hospital. Sites like Facebook, yahoo mail (unless you went to yahoo first), or myspace. But it never showed up for Twitter or YouTube (which I found odd).

Discussion Starter: How much is virginity worth?

I saw this article about a girl auctioning off her virginity over on The Source 4 YM's blog. I'm still not sure what to say about this whole situation. Obviously, it makes me sad. Sad for this young woman and sad for any "man" who would be a part of this auction. It just shows that they have a strong lack of respect for women.

I think that this story can be a powerful discussion starter with your students. Here are a few thoughts on what topics you could use this story with...

- sex
- self worth
- virginity
- morals
- appropriate behavior
- greed
- college
- growing up
- decision making
- love
- value


In the end, I hope this young lady finds the love of God and learns that she doesn't have to sell her virginity to anyone.


You can also check out Marko's thoughts.

(gracias a Jonathan)

Photo Friday: Obama Children's Book Covers

While looking for a book for my son, I came across these two books sitting on the shelf next to each other. They do not seem to have anything in common. But, as I looked closer I saw one similarity. Doesn't that middle kid in the "Worst Case Scenario" book look a little like Obama? Compare the smile if you have doubts.

That weird similarity was not the only reason I took the picture. I find it strange that there is a biography of Obama written for young adults. You know that part of the America public that will not be able to vote for at least 6 years. Its strange to me.

Sunday School Musical??

I saw this post over at Ryan's site the other day. You have to go check it out.

Sunday School Musical


2 Comments:
1. I can't say I'm too surprised at this.
2. Really?

What do you think?

(gracias a Ryan)