morethandodgeball.com

GUEST POST: Beneath the Surface

Recently, I compiled a series of blog posts that have gotten my blog a lot of traffic. There?s an iPhone game, Snappers, that causes more frustration than child-proof packaging. So, IscouredGoogle, Yahoo Answers, and my game experience, and compiled a list of walk-throughs for the various levels. As I was laying it out, I also carefully key-worded it and SEO?d the mess out of each blog post. Now, when you Google for Snappers levels, more often than not, this website will be one of the top 3 results.

Thanks to these 5 blog posts, check out my web traffic.

Pretty crazy, right? Those are unique visitors (by IP address) per day at my website. I uploaded the first of the walk-throughs on January 21. Between then and the time of this blog post?s beginnings, I?ve had 37,796 individual people come to this site.

This kind of traffic landed me as one of the world?s most visited wordpress.com blog pages.

According to wordpress.com?s Blogs of the Day, I?m a high-influencing blogger. This page varies in it?s order, but here?s the rank (the site lists the top 100) the time of this writing?

Yep?that?s right. austinjwalker.wordpress.com right now is the #28 blog in the world (out of blogs using wordpress.com not .org or any other platform). Let?s put this in a little bit of perspective, just to help out. Scott Bourne hosts (or at least used to) a widely followed podcast called Photofocus, in which he answers emails on photography. Scott has over 166k twitter followers, one of the best blogs on wordpress.com with posts featured in the worlds top blog posts of the day on a regular basis, and a wealth of knowledge in his field I will never be able to touch. Here is where is blog was at?

I say all of this not to brag, but to set up this observation. It would be natural to think that kind of traffic would increase influence, traction, and authority. Twitter followers may jump, commenters may arise out of thin air, and the beginnings of a solid network may emerge. But here?s another interesting stat for you?

Painfully revealing. I?d love to hide these numbers. I?d love to pretend the stats aren?t real. The fact of the matter is, in the last 7 days, the unique readers of my true ?content? (including my home page, about, and contact forms) are but .007758 of the traffic. .007758 is nothing.

So why am I writing about this, how does this apply to anyone reading this (the .00000005 of my future blog traffickers)? Here?s how it hits student ministry. What do your numbers truly reflect? When you?re talking with other student pastors, deacons, your pastor, or anyone you?re wanting to be looked up to by, how do your numbers come across? Does your ministry attract a LOT of people? If so, that?s awesome, and if done right, there?s a LOT of positives that can come out of that. But looking beneath the surface, is there any depth? Are you discipling students to pursue Christ and lean into His call on their life, or are you just satisfied to count their head at youth and let them chow down on pizza and warheads?

Are you making use of the numbers God has given you, or are you doing everything you can to gain accolades, with no meat beneath the surface? Is there substance to accompany all the hype?

Austin Walker is the Student Pastor atFellowship Bible Churchin Cabot, AR and blogs right here.

marriedtoayouthpastor.com

In regards to a comment?

You are right, there are far more dangerous jobs than youth ministry. I am extremely thankful that my husband does not stare down the barrel of a gun. I cannot imagine the kind of strength a wife would need for that. No matter what the job each one of us, including myself, has and will face great tragedies. Just in each day there are so many ups and downs. Our lives are sprinkled with many different feelings and emotions from happiness to thankfulness, to frustration to sorrow. My hope is that not one of us would deny ourselves the right to feel validated in each and every feeling that we have that gets mixed up inside of us. I hope that in some small way this blog may be a place for someone in ministry to feel heard, connected, and uplifted through a comment, a funny story, or a serious post. And what I love so much about this community of women is the honesty shared about their lives, and the tone that we all take loving God and our husbands seriously but don’t take ourselves too seriously.

I write this in no way with a defensive voice, but with so much concern that many pastor’s wives are told that their feelings are silly or not important. Whether from someone at church or their own inner dialogue. Our “perspective” should be to accept and embrace our feelings whatever they may be and then with God [...]

simplyinsider.com

The everlasting God . . . neither faints nor is weary ?Isaiah 40:28

Exhaustion means that our vital energies are completely worn out and spent. Spiritual exhaustion is never the result of sin, but of service. Whether or not you experience exhaustion will depend on where you get your supplies. Jesus said to Peter, ?Feed My sheep,? but He gave him nothing with which to feed them (John 21:17). The process of being made broken bread and poured-out wine means that you have to be the nourishment for other people?s souls until they learn to feed on God. They must drain you completely? to the very last drop. But be careful to replenish your supply, or you will quickly be utterly exhausted. Until others learn to draw on the life of the Lord Jesus directly, they will have to draw on His life through you. You must literally be their source of supply, until they learn to take their nourishment from God. We owe it to God to be our best for His lambs and sheep, as well as for Him.

BREATHE at the Simply Youth Ministry Conference…DISCOUNTS Still Available!

Have you delivered yourself over to exhaustion because of the way you have been serving God? If so, then renew and rekindle your desires and affections. Examine your reasons for service. Is your source based on your own understanding or is it grounded on the redemption of Jesus Christ? Continually look back to the foundation of your love and affection and remember where your Source of [...]

morethangossip.com

Girls that don?t give up!

I love this video!! The story behind it is that the New York Giants coach watched it and later showed it to his team to teach them determination and commitment!

That spirit of commitment is in every girl…our job is to help them discover what in life is worth fighting for and to never give up!!

smallchurchyouthministry.com

#4 Top Twelve Ideas for a GREAT YM Year

#4 – Let Ephesians 4:29 be the measuring stick for our posts, tweets, emails, etc.

I’m up early. The reason? I was really disturbed by the number of negative comments made by people in ministry about yesterday’s half-time show. I am hurt and discouraged.

Don’t get me wrong; I’ve never been a purchaser of Madonna’s CDs. But the comments about her age, relevancy, past-her-prime…were hurtful. To whom, you may wonder?

To the Youth Watching With Us: If the same negative comments on Facebook and Twitter were made out loud to the students gathered around us watching the half-time show, then our students will think its OK to be mean because “well, she’s not one of us.”

To Madonna: She and so many others are watching us for the love we show. They know our motto is “Love Jesus – Love each other.” I don’t think yesterday was collectively our best example of that.

To Me: I am the same age as Madonna. The many comments about her age from ministry people made me wonder: Are you also saying I’m too old, too? Am I irrelevant? Have I crossed an unseen finished youth ministry line where my gifts are no longer valid, needed, necessary? Let me know because I’ll learn to knit or start playing Bingo if that’s the case.

Don’t worry; I know I’m among the chief of sinners in having a quick tongue. I’m examining myself, too. One thing I do know: no one is built up when we criticize and post with negativity.

Is this [...]

simplyurbanministry.com

You need VISION

q Jeremiah 1:4 ?The Word of God came to me saying, before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born, I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.?

q God had a vision a plan for you. Do you have one for the assignment He has given you?

q Vision: The picture of God?s potential, purpose, and possibilities for your life.

q Show me a person without vision, and I will show you a person who is at a standstill in life.

q Proverbs 29:18 ?Where there is no vision the people perish.?

q Life Point: The key element to getting out of my present state is the vision that I have for myself.

q Jeremiah 29:11 ?For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope,

q True vision goes beyond what I can accomplish on my own.

q True vision adds value to others.

q True vision attracts vision.

q True vision must have God in it.

q Acts 2:17 ?And it shall come to pass in the last days says God, I will pour out of my spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and daughters shall prophesy and your young men shall see visions and your old men shall dream dreams.?

1. Not knowing who you are. If you don?t know who you [...]

youthmissionsinsider.com

The Big Day of Serving ? Spring 2012

We’re very excited about our newest ministry – The Big Day of Serving. The Big Day of Serving is a one-day service event designed to be easy for a youth leader to get their youth group involved in service. The goal of Bid Day is to transform a neighborhood in a single day. It’s only 29 per person and includes lunch, a t-shirt, an opening Kick-Off Rally, all major materials and supplies for projects, devotional content during the day, and Block Party to end the afternoon.

Check out the 2012 Spring Locations:

April 21: St. Louis, MO | Medina, OH

April 28: Denver, CO | West Palm Beach, FL | Lynchburg, VA

May 5: Chicago, IL | Minneapolis, MN | Manassas, VA | Dubuque, IA

May 12: Nashville, TN

May 19: Nashua, NH

holysoup.com

Selling the Church to a Skeptical Public