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DEVELOP.ME BY: T. GIPSON
Develop.Me is a new performance review platform that pulls your teams goals and objectives together like never before. You can set goals for your staff and then can monitor and adjust them in real time. Staff development and growth is key for any team, and this is in innovative way to streamline this process. The best part about this tool is that it’s totally free! There’s really no reason not to try this out and continue investing in your team’s growth this next year.
Developing Eternity We're passionate about development in the Church because we're passionate about the mission of the Church: reaching people for Christ. When eternity is in the balance, why wouldn't we want the strongest, healthiest, most fully developed Church possible?
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Office of John Maxwell Team | info@johnmaxwellteam.com | John Maxwell Team PASTORING TODAY 2300 North Dixie Hwy | West Palm Beach, FL 33407
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EXCLUSIVE BY: DR. TONYA MERRIWEATHER GIPSON
FAITHCANON FaithCanon is a social media platform built to be a content provider and a digital marketing company of all things Christian and, by doing so, spread the Word of God globally. FaithCanon was founded by seasoned businessmen in the areas of marketing, finance and enterprise software development with the skills and leadership to turn FaithCanon into a major Social Media distribution platform. The Team are all men and women of Faith who are connected to Churches globally FaithCanon has partnered with Smart Engagement’s proprietary technology that allows the users to literally filter out the noise and customize the content they are bringing home. The technology behind it allows FaithCanon to deliver campaigns, information or news according to users’ preferences and choices and target specific audiences due to its innovative system ADM – Advanced Dynamic Messaging.
FAITH CANON EXCLUSIVE CONTINUED… BY: DR. TONYA MERRIWEATHER GIPSON
The FaithCanon user will connect and discover Christianity through Prayer, movies, music, education, philanthropy and news, all in one place, filtered with his preferences. With state of the art technology and design, it is the only enterprise internet platform to aggregate in one place churches, news’ entertainment and Christian products.
Unlike other Social Media Networks, FaithCanon created a directory for churches, entertainment companies, news agencies or any other Christian business to build their own professional space to market their products or services directly to their audience.
FaithCanon has partnered with Smart Engagement’s proprietary technology that allows the users to literally filter out the noise and customize the content they are bringing home. One of the features include building personal customized pages without advertisement. Churches and Christian communities will have their own personal page where they will interact directly with their members.
The first phase has been completed which includes a website portal with backend database with mobile apps and the permanent website, a machine learning program will be incorporated to enhance the interaction and provide a live, personal experience through FaithCanon. FaithCanon takes the social media experience to the next level. It is about taking on a personal Journey to Discover Christianity and grow spiritually.
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WORKING TO MAKE FAITH CANON THE BEST A Team Of Professionals
REV. DR. ODE H. HINES CO-FOUNDER CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER
THOMAS CULLIN CO-FOUNDER CHAIRMAN OF THE BOARD
JOHN CHEGE FAITHCANON EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
FAITHCANON.NET
$50 for you + $50 for friends Refer friends to CARD.com and you both get $50 when they sign up using your referral link and direct deposit at least $200 of payroll or federal benefits within 60 days of account opening. It’s our biggest referral bonus ever! What are you waiting for? Start sharing today!
GENERIS.COM
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Free Church Media Resources Free Church Media Libraries Church Media Drop Free Church Media Library A community-contributed resource site for churches from churches. Includes audio, bumper videos, logos + graphics, mini movies, motion backgrounds, series packages, still backgrounds, and tutorials. Open.Church Free Ministry Resources An open network of resources from Life Church and their partners. Includes scripture art, social media graphics, sermon graphics, t-shirt designs, videos, and templates. They also provide ministry resources for church leadership, operations, youth, small groups, missions and more. Seeds. Free Church Media Library Resources from Church on the Move. Includes series designs, artwork, video, music, dramas, motions, kids + students media, live production and media for holidays.
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CARE.ORG
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MENTORING & DISCIPLESHIP "He is the one we proclaim, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone fully mature in Christ." – Colossians 1:28
Mentoring includes training and the transfer of skills and knowledge, but it's so much more. It's a witness to an open life worthy of imitation, perhaps an older, experienced person holding the ladder for a younger colleague. It may be someone with a particular gifting patiently helping others to believe that they can attempt and succeed at something new. In OM, we esteem all backgrounds and cultures because we know we can learn from each other. Mentoring in OM isn't just a trendy word; it's handson, side-by-side, walking in faith to see each other develop and grow as God has gifted us. It's walk, not talk. The typical limitations of too few church leaders serving too many young believers means there's an acute need for mentors in every OM ministry. We want people whose love for the people they serve is more widely known than their expertise. Most of all, we want godly mentors who will coach and develop more mentors who see it not as a ministry, but as the best way of life.
Come and teach us. Come and learn from us (www.om.org). PASTORING TODAY
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3 CHARACTERISTICS OF CHURCHES WITH A STRONG DISCIPLE-MAKING CULTURE BY: DAVID HORNER
Here are few of the relational characteristics I have observed among those local churches with a strong disciple-making culture: Strong Personal Relationships Among the People Disciple-making starts with a personal relationship. Someone loves you and wants to invest himself in helping you love Jesus and grow to maturity in him. In my early years following Christ, faithful preaching of the Word of God anchored my faith. But until my faith became personal and relational, a certain formality kept the Lord at a bit of a distance. When I met others who demonstrated the love of Christ in godly friendships, my faith came alive. These friends walked in a manner worthy of Christ, and I joined them on that path.
Close Personal Ties with Missionaries It’s hard to feel connected with just a name on a prayer calendar. Because the majority of the 40,000 or so Southern Baptist churches never send a missionary, there may be millions who have never actually met a missionary in person. Interest in missions comes alive when Christians get to personally know and love missionaries. When they become friends, church members personally care about them and what they are doing on the mission field. Compassion and financial support also grow stronger when there is a relational stake involved. The development of a global disciple-making mindset happens best in the context of a personal relationship with someone who is a missionary. PASTORING TODAY
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3 CHARACTERISTICS OF CHURCHES WITH A STRONG DISCIPLE-MAKING CULTURE CONTINUED‌ The development of a global disciple-making mindset happens best in the context of a personal relationship with someone who is a missionary. A Culture of Specific Prayer for Missionaries Improved travel and communication now make it possible to meet Christian leaders from other nations and cultures. Once those relationships grow, you can no longer just hear about missions challenges in the Middle East without wondering about your friend(s) there. Armies marching into eastern Ukraine and violence on the streets of Kiev capture your heart because you wait to hear how it impacted others you know. When a tragedy hits India, you cannot rest until you learn about the impact on someone you know there. And on it goes. The news comes alive, and the desperate need for the gospel hits home. You know people there and it matters. When missionaries become your friends and extended members of your own family, what happens in their part of the world captures your attention and informs your prayers.
Modern communication allows relationships to develop in ways that have never been possible before. Once, prayer lists and maps were the only connection we had with nameless, faceless people we did not or could not know. Now, stories from the field come to us rapidly on social media, drawing us into closer connection with spiritual brothers and sisters who are actively spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ to the nations. But watch out. Once you start rubbing shoulders with global disciple-makers, their passion can be contagious. You may discover that those relationships could lead to pathways for you to join them!
David Horner serves as the executive director for Equipped for Life, a ministry established to train men and women to grow in Christ and learn to excel in their ministry callings. For over thirty years he has traveled the world to equip and support national pastors for effective gospel ministry.
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YOUR SMALL CHURCH IS NOT TOO SMALL FOR GLOBAL MISSIONS BY: SCOTT SLAYTON
Our tendency to make much of the distinction between small churches and large churches hasn’t been healthy for our understanding of missions. Because big churches have large budgets and a staff dedicated to social media, they can show the great mark they’re making on their communities and around the world. Small churches don’t have the budget, the megaphone, or the people to do things on the same scale. Too often we assume this means small churches can’t be involved in global missions and are too small to make a significant impact beyond the few saints they marry and bury. Nothing could be further from the truth, however. Small churches can fund missionaries, send missionaries, take part in short-term missions, and fan a flame for the nations in their churches. But these types of efforts don’t happen by accident. To have an influence beyond their walls, small churches must take purposeful steps to engage their people in global missions. Here are four ways small churches can take steps towards engaging in global missions. 1. 2. 3. 4.
Pray for Missionaries Get to Know Missionaries Partner with Other Churches’ Mission Trips Serve Internationals in Your Own Community
You can, with the Spirit’s help, play a strategic role by taking small steps to take part in the Great Commission. Pray, get to know missionaries, go on a trip, and meet your international neighbors. These sacrifices will make an eternal difference among the nations. PASTORING TODAY 21
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Teaching Children About God’s Word TEACHING CHILDREN ABOUT GOD’S WORD BY: L. WILSON
Kids are wired to be spiritually curious, and so as a way to help them grasp the importance of our faith and God’s impact on our lives, we resort to detailed, abstract language. But children reason concretely, and this language isn’t lost on them. Rather, it sticks like glue. When kids hear figurative speech, they absorb it in a literal and concrete way. When we don’t teach with children’s perspectives in mind, they hear a confused and misleading message.
Tell it like it is. Use great concrete object lessons to help kids understand abstract terms. Whenever possible, incorporate tangible examples and images so kids can clearly see what you’re talking about. When you’re tackling an abstract or hard-tounderstand point, break it down into the most concrete terms possible, and check frequently for kids’ understanding by asking follow-up questions. For instance, bring a heavy piece of wood to let kids get a feel for how heavy the cross Jesus carried might have been.
Remember: Kids have definite perceptions of God. I asked kids to talk with me about God: What did they believe? Who was God? These kids have very concrete perceptions of life and reality. Their world is made of absolutes. Generalizations don’t have a lot of meaning. Reality is what they can see, feel, touch, and taste. They had little difficulty telling me that God was like a person. God lives somewhere. He has a home. He talks. God gets hungry and angry and even lonesome. God acts like a parent. These are kids’ perceptions. They fit a child’s perspective and if you observe them closely as they grow you’ll get to see their thinking as it evolves. PASTORING TODAY
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