Theory | Innovating Tomorrow

Have you ever wondered who benefits from creating an accessible design? One that meets the needs of people who have impairments like the vision impaired. When I think of people in this situation I usually envision someone who is blind and can't think of many blind people. This can give way to the feeling that there aren't that many people with impairments and on the basis of this it's easy to make designing an accessible site a low priority.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau there are up to 60 million Americans with disabilities that are trying to use a computer to learn and interact on the web. If you do that math that's roughly 20% of the U.S. population. Yet, awareness of this issue seems to be fairly low and many designers are building sites and web applications that aren't usable to this 20%. Continue Reading »

We just closed the door on the first Geeks and God conference and the planning has already started for the next conference. We are riding the wave of excitement and energy into planning the future of Geeks and God. The first planning meeting is this coming Friday!

I am looking for your help to make the next conference even more of a success than the first. If you have any thoughts, ideas, or suggestions regarding the next Geeks and God conference please comment on them here before Friday.

The Geeks and God Web 2.0 Conference was a success! We weren't sure what to expect at the first conference. The outcome was better than we could have expected and we have to thank everyone who was involved.

For those of you who are interested, photos of the conference are up on the Geeks and God flickr group Continue Reading »

Gimmicks are a often used in marketing to help products stand out. Think of the different colors on a tooth brush. They aren't designed to be a functional part of the toothbrush. They are there to help the tooth brush stand out among the competition. Tooth brushes with cartoon characters are meant to reach out to kids. It's a gimmick that hooks people into a product that has nothing to do with the product. Just like marketers, the church uses gimmicks in an effort to bring more people through the door. But, are gimmicks really effective? Continue Reading »

Do you know many passionate Christians? I'm not talking about the Christians who are obsessed Christian stuff. I'm talking about those who are obsessed with the mission of the church and helping others. Personally, I can't say I know nearly enough. But, this isn't the worst part. Do you know many churches or church leaders who are building passionate Christians? I don't. Before you want to baste me and cook me over an open flame let me try to explain. Continue Reading »

This is a question that can and has gone a lot of different ways. It's not a matter of what we should measure but a matter of should we try to measure the effectiveness of the church at all. For some it's all about numbers. They want to measure their churches growth rates so they can compare it to other churches. The alternative to this view says we can't compare one church to another because God calls different groups in different ways. In an effort to skirt comparisons churches may try not to have what they do measured.

But, we all measure the world around us. A pastor tries to keep his finger on the pulse of the church. This is a measurement. Leaders over a bible study many try to see where to take the group next. This is a measurement. Let's look at a few reasons measuring the effectiveness of the church is a good thing. Continue Reading »

Our society has become a meat and potatoes culture in many ways. In our entertainment we may like fluff but, in our religions, spirituality, thinking, and social action we like the deep stuff. The meat and potatoes rather than the garnish. When it comes to your church or ministry, do people see your meat and potatoes? Let's look at the different it can make.

Are There Any Meat And Potatoes?

This is the first question we have to ask and it's a good one that can lead us to evaluate ourselves. All to often there isn't enough meat and potatoes. There isn't something worth sharing with others. For example, much of the youth ministry in America is based on having fun. It's about dessert rather than the meat and potatoes. Continue Reading »

After sharing 3 ways not to advertise or promote a ministry I wanted to talk about some ways to share ministries with others. After all, who am I to just go out and say what not to do without giving any suggestions what to do. Leaving it there would do little good. Let's dig into a couple different practical things we can do to share. To start we dive into what, quite possibly, will make the biggest difference in the way we present ourselves to the world. Continue Reading »

Everyone in ministry is looking for ways to spread the word about their ministry. Most of these churches and ministries have something great about them that brings something good to the world. But, when it comes to sharing what they have with the world around them what they share often looks and feels ugly. That great thing is somehow being presented in a way that makes people turn away in disgust. Let's take a look at a few ways this happens. Continue Reading »

Have you noticed how many people want and expect something for free. To some extent I can understand this in the church. If you can get one thing for free you can use that few extra dollars you saved to do something else great for the kingdom. But, is anything really free? If so, where should we have that expectation? Continue Reading »