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An Evening on Gospel-Centered Productivity in Orange County

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For those in the Orange County area next week, I’ll be speaking at Sovereign Grace Church on gospel-centered productivity on Thursday night, June 7. I’ll be giving two messages:

  • Why We Need to Think Theologically About the Practical for the Sake of Love
  • Overcoming the Greatest Challenges Christians Face in the Marketplace
It would be great to see you there, and also feel free to bring your hardest questions. You can find out more details and RSVP (it’s free) on their site.
(I’ll also be speaking at the Biola Digital Ministry Conference next week as well — would be great to see anyone there also.)

Come to the Biola Digital Ministry Conference

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I go to the Biola Digital Ministry Conference every year I can. I think since 2007 or so I’ve only missed once (it used to be known as The Christian Web Conference). It is a fantastic time to learn, innovate, and connect with other like-minded people who are excited about ministry and the web.

The Aim and This Year’s Theme

This year’s conference is June 5-7 at Biola. Here’s the aim of the conference:

The Biola Digital Ministry Conferenceis designed to empower individuals with the vision, knowledge, and relationships necessary to be thoughtful designers, developers, and practitioners of digital technologies for the cause of Christ.

Well said.

The theme this year is “The Disruptive Nature of Digital.” The sessions will focus on three key topics: theology, strategy, and technology.

That’s incredible because so often, ministry conferences focus only on strategy and tactics. But they will be focusing on the theology and philosophy of digital ministry as well.

What I’ll Be Talking About

I will also be speaking there again this year. I’d be highly recommending the conference either way, but since I’ll be out there, I’d love to see any of you as well.

My message will be: Practical Usability: Why So Many Websites Frustrate their Users and How to Make Your Site a Destination that People Actually Enjoy.

Last year I gave a theology of usability — why it ought to matter greatly to us to make our websites usable, and the (very interesting) biblical basis for doing so. This year I’m going to dive more fully into the nuts and bolts: how do you actually create a usable website? And how do you do this in the midst of budget constraints? I’ll talk about the core fundamentals of web usability, which we built the Desiring God website on the basis of, and practical principles that are at the core of almost every easy-to-use website.

Also, I love questions, especially super hard ones. So bring your questions on usability or ministry web strategy in general, and we’ll take some time to interact with them.

And, if anyone is interested in getting together to talk in more detail about ministry web strategy while out there, contact me (see the tab above) and I’ll see if we can pull a meal or something together.

The Essential Importance of Usability

Here’s one way to summarize the importance of usability: free is not enough. Even if you post all your content online for free (which I highly recommend!), your content will still not serve people or spread to the extent it can if your site is not usable.

Good content is not enough, either. You have to make your site usable. And, this comes from actually understanding usability and knowing how — you can’t just do what you think will be good. You have to actually know what you are doing.

Other Speakers

Other speakers include:

  • Drew Goodmanson (CEO of MonkDev, creators of Ekklesia 360)
  • Chad Williams (CEO of Five Q)
  • John Mark Reynolds (professor of philosophy at Biola and founder of the Torrey Honors Institute)
  • Brett McCracken (social media manager at Biola University)
  • And many others
Registration
You can register here.

Related Stuff

Here’s the article I wrote back in 2007 at Desiring God on why every ministry should post all of its content online, for free, without requiring registration, in a maximally usable interface.

And here’s the message I gave at the conference last year:

Fruitful Leadership in the Marketplace: A Mini-Conference if you are in the Louisville Area April 14

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On April 14, the Saturday right after T4G, I will be speaking at the Engage@Work Spring Mini-Conference held by Sojourn Community Church from 8 am to noon.

I’ll be talking about fruitful Christian leadership, especially in the marketplace, and will cover about six main things:

  1. Why we must care greatly about leadership as Christians
  2. Can there even be a Christian view on leadership? Or, how to learn from secular thinking without infecting the church with the “managerial model”
  3. What is the essence of good leadership and how does the gospel transform it? The two core principles at the heart of effective gospel-centered leadership
  4. Leading for the good of others: Transactional leadership versus transforming leadership
  5. How do you lead well — especially in the marketplace? 8 things you can start doing right now
  6. Leadership and how the gospel changes our organizations, cities, societies, and the world

Also, bring your questions — the harder the better. Answering difficult questions on leadership, the Bible, theology, and anything else is one of my favorite things to do. (But don’t worry if your question seems more simple — I like those questions as well!).

Everyone is welcome, and the event will be held at Sojourn’s New Albany campus. Registration is $10, and the first 50 registrants will receive a 40% discount on my upcoming book What’s Best Next: How the Gospel Transforms the Way You Get Things Done when it releases.

You can see more details on Sojourn’s blog and register here.

It would be great to see you there!

Multiplying Our Productivity Through Effective Biblical Leadership

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For anyone who is going to be in or around the Twin Cities this weekend, you’re invited to attend a leadership seminar I’ll be teaching at my church, Bethlehem Baptist, this Friday night and Saturday morning.

The title of the seminar is Multiplying Our Productivity Through Effective Biblical Leadership. There will be a special emphasis for those leading Short Term Mission trips this year.

Seminar Outline

  1. Why we need to care—greatly—about leadership in the church
  2. Can there even be a Christian view on leadership? Or, how do you keep from infecting the church with the “managerial model?”
  3. What is the essence of effective biblical leadership? Or, what are the two core principles at the heart of good leadership?
  4. How do you lead well? 8 things you can start doing right now
  5. Leadership and global missions

Event Details

Location: Bethlehem Baptist Church, Downtown, Rm 203
Date & Time: Friday January 27 7:00–9:00pm, Saturday January 28 9:00am–Noon

All are welcome! If you plan to attend, you can RSVP to Tina Lowe at tina.lowe@hopeingod.org

The Essence of My Book

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Here’s one way to state the essence of my book, in the words of Spurgeon:

Be diligent in action. Put all your irons into the fire. Use every faculty for Jesus. Be wide-awake to watch opportunities, and quick to seize upon them.

That’s what I’m trying to help you do, and that’s why I wrote my book.

I spend the first part fleshing out what productivity really is from a Christian perspective and why it matters (namely, so you can maximally steward all your gifts and opportunities and faculties for the glory of Jesus); then in the rest of the book, I lay out practical strategies for actually getting things done in the midst of all the opportunities and distractions that constantly multiply around us.

The biggest influences on my book include, from the old days:

  • William Wilberforce
  • Jonathan Edwards
  • Martin Luther
  • John Calvin
  • Augustine
  • William Carey
  • Charles Spurgeon
  • Martyn Lloyd-Jones
  • Jim Elliot (though I don’t quote him)
  • John Wesley
  • The Macadonian Christians in 2 Corinthians 8
  • The apostle Paul
  • Many others

And from the current days:

  • Jesus
  • Tim Keller
  • John Piper
  • JI Packer
  • Wayne Grudem
  • Peter Drucker
  • Tim Sanders
  • Keith Ferrazzi
  • David Allen
  • Stephen Covey
  • Seth Godin
  • Daniel Pink
  • Scott Belsky
  • Chip and Dan Heath
  • Marcus Buckingham
  • Many of my friends
  • Christians I’ve met around the world, both online and in person
  • Many others

What does someone like the 18th century theologian Jonathan Edwards have to say about productivity in the 21st Century? A lot. You’ll see when you get into the book. I think, perhaps, this conjunction of the old and the new, along with utilizing the best secular thinking within a robust Christian framework, might make it unlike any book you’ve read (in a good sense!). We’ll see.

In terms of the status of the book: we are still finishing revisions, but we do have a publication date which I’ll share with you when I have the time.

I just wanted to write this post up because I came across that Spurgeon quote again during the revisions, and wanted to share it with you.

Have a great weekend!

 

My Interview at The Gospel Coalition on the Doctrine of Vocation and Finding Meaning in Your Work

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Last fall, Collin Hansen of The Gospel Coalition interviewed me on the Christian doctrine of work. It’s now posted at their site. Here’s the video, with Collin’s intro:

What gets you out of bed on Monday morning to go to work? What motivates you to persevere in a job you don’t enjoy, that doesn’t reward you adequately?

I posed these questions to Matt Perman, blogger and author of the forthcoming What’s Best Next: How the Gospel Changes the Way You Get Things Done. We discussed how jobs afford us opportunities to love our neighbors, and how we each multitasked during repetitive work to learn about God and concentrate on his Word.

Especially if you’re struggling at work, you’ll want to hear Perman explain the doctrine of vocation, which invests everything we do with meaning, because we’re living out a God-giving calling. Whether a pastor or plumber, we work in faith as unto God himself (Colossians 3:23-24). Perman explains how even garbage collectors can apply this doctrine to make their work more interesting, challenging, and fulfilling.

How the Gospel Should Shape Your Web Strategy for Those in the Twin Cities

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This Friday morning (November 11th) I’ll be speaking at the Social Media Shepherds monthly event on “How the Gospel Should Shape Your Web Strategy.” It will be 8:00 – 9:30 am at Bethlehem Baptist Church (downtown campus), 720 13th Ave S, Minneapolis, room 203 (upstairs and to the left).

For anyone in or around the Twin Cities interested in web strategy and social media, it would be fun to see you there.

Looks like you can also RSVP and get more info on Facebook.

Piper Up Now

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Piper is starting his message now, “Let the Peoples Praise You, O God Let All the Peoples Praise You!” He is preaching from Psalm 67 and Genesis 12.

David Platt Up Now

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Piper introduced David Platt with two things he loves about him most: his love for the Scriptures and passion for God’s glory among the nations.

Platt remarked how the passages he planned on speaking on are the same ones Louie Giglio went to last night — so maybe the Lord wants us to go deep into these passages.

Reading from Isaiah 6 now.

“There is no one like our God. It is folly to compare anything to our God. All of the earth is a continual explosion of the glory of God. ‘He brings the stars out one by one and calls them each one by one.’ And he is sovereign over all nations. Go to Isaiah 46. This is part of the purpose of Isaiah — to show the sovereignty and supremacy of God over the nations.”

This is a key point he is making: God’s sovereignty over nature is meant to buttress our confidence that God is sovereign over human history as well. We shouldn’t think “God is sovereign over rocks and trees and stars, but human history is out of his control.” He is sovereign over human history just as much as he is sovereign over the course of the stars and workings of nature.