Tag: follow friday

5 church planting gurus you should follow

Since Grace Community Church, where I serve on staff, is going multi-site in early 2011, I thought it fitting to mention some of the people who are influential in the world of multi-site churches.  You can read the rest of my “Follow Friday” series HERE.

Mac Lake – Mac is the Chief Launch Officer of The Launch Network, a new church planting network based out of West Ridge Church in the greater Atlanta, Georgia area.  You can read his blog HERE, and follow him on Twitter HERE.

Greg Surratt – Greg is the founding pastor of Seacoast Church, one of the early adopters of the multi-site model. Located in Mt. Pleasant, South Carolina,  Greg is also a founding board member of the Association of Related Churches (ARC).  You can read his blog HERE and follow him on Twitter HERE.

*While you’re at it, go ahead and follow his brothers on Twitter, too: Chris Surratt (small groups pastor at Cross Point Church in Nashville, TN) and Geoff Surratt (pastor of ministries at Sea Coast, co-author of The Multisite Church Revolution and A Multisite Church Roadtrip; you can read his blog HERE).

Larry Osborne – I was introduced to Larry through his book, Sticky Church.  It was basically a book about how to add a stickiness (encourage people to continue attending your church) to your church through small groups.  Larry is the pastor at North Coast Church in Vista, CA, one of the pioneers in the video venue church services.  You can follow him on Twitter HERE and read his blog HERE.

JD Greer – Pastor at Summit Church in Raleigh, NC, a church that meets in multiple locations, and does small groups incredibly well.  You can follow him on Twitter HERE, and read his blog HERE.  If you care…their small groups pastor is a good friend of mine, and you can follow him on Twitter HERE, blog HERE.

Darrin Patrick – Pastor at The Journey Church in St. Louis, and author of Church Planter.  Darrin is a leading voice in the Acts 29 network of church planting, a network that has planted over 300 churches in the last 10 years.  You can follow him on Twitter HERE.

Who did I leave out that I should have included?

 

5 Funny guys you should follow

Continuing my Follow Friday series (you can catch up HERE), I’ve got 5 more people I think you should follow.

And they all make me laugh.

5 Funny Guys you should follow

Jon Acuff – author of the book Stuff Christians Like, and the BLOG by the same name, Jon has recently moved to Nashville to work with the Dave Ramsey Show.  His blog does a great job mixing pop culture references with the goofy things we Christians do…the things Jon brings up, and the way he writes about them, will make you laugh.  In fact, I often laugh out loud when I read his stuff.  You can follow him on Twitter HERE.

Tyler Stanton – Tyler writes for his self-titled blog, TylerStanton.com, and produces short videos with Tripp (below) at TrippAndTyler.com.  I don’t know how to describe it.  But one thing I can say for sure about his blog: it’s trivial.  And it makes me laugh. (And that’s more than one thing…sorry) But that’s his goal.  He wants to make people laugh.  And it’s clean, PG-rated stuff.  You can follow him on Twitter HERE.

Tripp Crosby – I first saw Tripp when he interviewed Rob Bell after Catalyst last year.  You can see the hilarious video HERE.  Owner of Green Tricycle Studios, Tripp’s sense of humor connects with me.  And like Tyler (above), it’s often pointless.  You can read his blog HERE and follow him on Twitter HERE.

Bryan Allain – Bryan’s blog is hilarious, and he’ll help you be a better blogger and writer.  Read his blog HERE, and follow him on Twitter HERE.

Xianity – I don’t know who this Twitterer is, but they do a great job poking fun at Christian culture in a lighthearted, non-threatening, non-offensive way.  Follow them HERE.

Who else would you include in this list?

 

5 Women leaders you should follow

Continuing in my “Follow Friday” series (you can catch up HERE), I’d like to recommend 5 more people I think you should follow.

This time, they all happen to be women.  And they’re all incredibly strong leaders.

Jenni Catron – Executive Director at Cross Point Church in Nashville, TN, I first met Jenni as she led our staff in thinking critically about recruiting and maintaining volunteers.  Jenni is an incredible thinker and leader.  Read her blog HERE, and follow her on Twitter HERE.

Lindsey Nobles – Director of Corporate Communications at Thomas Nelson Publishers, Lindsey is also a Compassion International Blogger, and just returned from Guatemala.  She’s a great writer.  You can read her blog HERE, and follow her on Twitter HERE.

Rachel Evans – Author of Monkey Town, Rachel offers a refreshing look at faith and theology, and offers readers the freedom to doubt, question, and wrestle through major issues.  You can read her blog HERE, and follow her on Twitter HERE.

Anne Jackson – Anne is an author and speaker, and her book Mad Church Disease (Amazon link) is an incredible read (I’m sure her newest, Permission to Speak Freely, is good, too…I just haven’t read it yet).  But the coolest thing about her is that she rode her bike across the entire country in order to raise money to build wells in Africa (via the Ride:Well Tour).  You can read her blog HERE, and follow her on Twitter HERE.

Heather Zempel – Heather is the Discipleship Pastor at National Community Church in Washington, DC, and author of the small group study, Sacred Roads.  When I first came on staff at Grace, I began trying to connect with small group pastors around the country, and came across National Community Church.  I connected with Heather, and her blog was invaluable as I began to shape my views on small groups.  You can read her blog HERE, and follow her on Twitter HERE.

Who would you have included in this list?

 

Follow Friday

I’m convinced that Twitter and social networking are operating on the cutting edge of society.  Not necessarily the platform itself, but the opportunities it opens up for the spread of ideas.  What used to take hours to reach the print is now being spun out in real time.  What you used to have to wait for the evening news to see, you can now see instantly wherever you are.  What used to take months to get to to the print press as a book is now updated daily.

But social media is so large, now, that it can be tough to find those people that you’d like to follow.

For a while now, Twitter users have been promoting their friends using the hashtag #FF (which stands for Follow Friday).  Basically, on Friday, you mention a few people that you enjoy following on Twitter, and encourage others to follow them, too.  (by the way, if you need a crash course on the language of Twitter, read mine HERE)  Here’s an example:

It’s kind of like Facebook’s “Suggest” button.  Mike suggests that people follow these Twitterers.  Make sense?

I’m taking this concept one step further.  I’ve been on Twitter now for about 2.5 years, and have stumbled upon some great leaders.  To save you the time of reading their updates and visiting their blogs to see if they’re worth following, I’m handpicking the best of the best.

Not on Twitter?  No worries. Even if you don’t use Twitter, you can follow people on Twitter. Just open up a Google Reader account, and subscribe to their RSS Twitter feed. (that sentence lose you? Don’t fear. My explanation of Google Reader is HERE)

Each week, I’ll present a different crop of Twitterers that you need to be following.  This week, I give you 5 people who are influencing me right now.  You should follow them…immediately.

5 people influencing me:

Seth Godin – Seth Godin is a entrepreneur, author, and speaker.  And he’s a marketing genius.  His books are helping shape the way I think about leadership and influence. Follow him on Twitter, @ThisIsSethsBlog and find him on his website HERE.

Matt Chandler – Pastor at The Village Church in Dallas, TX.  I often listen to Matt’s sermons when I run…which means I laugh, I’m convicted, and when I’m done running, I have pages worth of notes in my head.  My small group is also going through his Philippians study.  Follow him on Twitter, @mattchandler74

Michael Hyatt – Chairman and CEO of Thomas Nelson Publishers, Michael is a prolific blogger (blog HERE) and Twitterer.  His content is consistently helpful and insightful for me in my area of leadership.  With my love of leading and writing, I don’t miss one of his posts.  Follow him on Twitter, @michaelhyatt

John Burke – Pastor of Gateway Church in Austin, Texas. His book No Perfect People Allowed will mess you up. Follow him on Twitter, @johnburke_, though he’s not a prolific Twitterer.

Rick Warren – To be honest, when the Purpose Driven Life craze was in full swing, I was not on that bandwagon.  Not because I had anything against it…I just hadn’t bought in yet.  Or read it.  Which explains why I hadn’t bought in.  On top of that, early in my ministry career, Rick Warren was lumped into a category of pastors who were seeker-friendly at the expense of the Gospel.  I’ve learned that that category is far from fair with Rick.  His short Twitter updates strike to the heart. Follow him on Twitter, @rickwarren

Who’s influencing you?

 

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