Marc Andreessen, the man who co-created the first web browser and co-founded of Netscape, started blogging only five weeks ago. He recently summarized eleven lessons he learned about starting to blog for the first time,

Eleventh and last, the most common reaction that I got from starting my blog that I didn’t expect was, “finally he’s blogging”.

I found that to be quite humorous because of course from the perspective of bloggers who have been active for several years, it’s completely true, and yet here we are still living in a world where most people who have interesting things to say are not yet blogging and have no idea that they’re behind the trend curve.

When I started reading his blog, I thought the same thing. If anyone should have been blogging for years, it should have been Andreessen. But his observation is correct. The most interesting people in the church are not yet blogging. The ChurchReport list of the 50 most influencial Christians have few bloggers (most have podcasts but that is a distribution sermons):

• #16 Rick Warren blog and podcast (RSS)
• #19 Paula White MySpace
• #23 Dr. R. Albert Mohler Jr. Blog or Crosswalk
• #44 Beth Moore’s Living Proof Ministry has a blog (RSS)
• #45 Mike Slaughter Blog
• #46 Phil Vischer Blog (RSS)
• Let me know if I missed any by adding a comment to this post…

Now, none of these blogs are any good or even worthy of getting into my RSS Reader. If you look at the list, you will see a generational bias. But basically of the none of the most influential Christians are involved in the conversation about Christianity online. Now, this may not matter today or in the next few years.

However, if you review this list in five years, I will bet that most of the most influential Christians are blogging or podcasting (more than just putting sermons online).
Take A Ways 

• The old path to being influential in the church you passed through certain gatekeepers: denominations, academics and publishers. In the future, you can be influential because you are networked and skilled at sustaining and generating conversations. You no longer need “influence” bestowed upon you via a denomination, seminary or publisher.
• The other lesson to learn is that if you currently are a person who has interesting things to say about ministry and are not blogging; if you do it well, you can gain audience very quickly.

Now its a whole other discussion as to how to gain influence in the church without losing your soul in the process (or maybe the questions whether you should seek to gain influence)…

Apple announced that Google Maps will be one of the 12 widgets that launch on the new Apple iPhone. Well if you want your church to appear on Google Maps on the iPhone, get your ministry listed on Google Local Business. If you have problems getting your church listing working, visit the Google Maps Help Group.

I am a huge fan of Dean Peters work on blogs4God. I am starting to get into the habit of submitting all my source links to blogs4God. The new b4G is a social bookmarking site like Digg where you decide what is important in the Christian blogosphere. At the very least, you should subscribe to the RSS feed.

The first step is to visit blogs4God and register. Then drag this bookmarklet onto your Bookmarks toolbar in FireFox.

Send to b4G

Then when you discover a great blog post, click the Send to b4G link in your toolbar and share your discovery.

NOTE: I wrote a NEW b4G bookmarklet that is better than the one you find at the bottom of your profile screen.

My friend James at Agile Ministry writes down some valuable advice on how to recruit people to serve in ministry,

Step 1: Go to the source - Find the connectors

In every church there is at least one member that tends to connect with a large number of others within the church. These “connectors” have a doorway into a large number of people within the church, often knowing where they work, what they like to do, and what skills they possess.

Spending a little time with these connectors each week can provide leads on someone that may provide help. Before talking with your connectors, be sure to have a short list of who you need. Visit your connectors regularly, as they may have met someone new that can help you out.

Step 2: Go to your neighbors - Find the like-minded

While we all llke to look inward in our church as a first step, don’t be afraid to go to other churches in the area. Whether it is of the same or a different affiliation, there may be someone who will help out a church in your area. If you live in a rural area, make some appointments to meet others in a nearby area to obtain help or find leads on someone with the skills you need.

Step 3: Go a different way - Find an alternate path

Finally, it may be necessary to find an alternate solution your need. While this isn’t always the best option, it may require you to stretch your team by seeking creative solutions when you don’t have the necessary skills available. Remember: just because it isn’t the first solution you had in mind, you should still give 100% of your effort to His glory.

Volunteer Scheduling

Notice what is missing from this list: pulpit announcements, bulletin inserts and newsletter articles. If you are looking for a great solution to scheduling, make sure you download the PDF “Handle with Care“; a white paper with practical steps for leading your church ministry.

if you are looking for a great scheduling tool, visit Church Director which is an a volunteer scheduling and ministry tool.

I am too late for Easter 2007, but I’m early for Easter 2008. I just found this Google Map created by Open Bible that follows Jesus through the Holy Land during the Passion. It is too bad that you can not zoom in too far. It would be amazing to have a Google Street View of the last week of Christ’s life.

Do you Twitter? Get a free daily ESV Bible verse by adding esvdaily to your friends. [ESV blog]

Despite all the growth in online spiritual content (including blogs like this one), Book Industry Trends reports that religious books increased 5.6% in net revenue for 2006 and the religion segment showed the highest growth in dollar sales.

I came across this interesting Flash game called Bible Fight from Adult Swim (same screen shot left). I notice it here one because its kinda funny to think about Moses and Eve in a death match; and to call attention to the lack of such viral memes emanating from the church.

There is a new kind of game that the church ought to explore. They are called serious games:

[…] games that immerse people in the real world, full of real-time political crises. And the games’ designers aren’t just selling a voyeuristic thrill. Games, they argue, can be more than just mindless fun, they can be a medium for change.

The proposition may strike some as dubious, but the “serious games” movement has some serious brain power behind it. It is a partnership between advocates and nonprofit groups that are searching for new ways to reach young people, and tech-savvy academics keen to explore video games’ educational potential.

Offered for your consideration. Anyone know of a serious game that a church or parachurch organization commissioned? Add it to the comments below.

Step #1 Use an RSS Reader

If you are new to RSS Feeds, take a few minutes and view this introductory video. Trust me it will make sense and you will thank me later.

RSS gives to the ability to read lots of sources online in one place without having to visit separate sites. With RSS, the information comes to your Reader where you can browse, read and ignore hundreds of items in minutes.

Step #2 Crowdsourcing

It is the Internet baby, so why not use its collective intelligence. Basically, crowd sourcing is the practice of tapping into the wisdom of people. I’m sure you know several people, and they are not always right, but often they can point you to resources you would just never find by typing “ministry” into Google.
Web sites called social bookmarking sites collect links from millions of people and create lists by topic. In this case, you can get a steady stream of “ministry” resources from:

• del.icio.us at http://del.icio.us/tag/ministry (RSS)
• ma.gnolia at http://ma.gnolia.com/tags/ministry (RSS)
• Technorati at http://www.technorati.com/posts/tag/ministry (RSS)
• IceRocket at http://blogs.icerocket.com/search?q=tag:ministry (RSS)

Another lazy way to discover ministry resources online is StumbleUpon which delivers “high-quality pages matched to your personal preferences”. Install the toolbar and you are set.