Get ready Revolution! Its time to get God’s BIGNESS into our hearts!

(Using an RSS Reader and can’t see the video? Click here for a direct video link)

A UK site recently reported that the word “Facebook” alone appeared in 20% of its divorce cases last year. That ought to be an indicator that its necessary to set some social networking guidelines to protect our marriages.

Here are some guidelines that married couples ought to follow when using facebook:

1. Never hide anything from your spouse on Facebook…or online at all for that matter. Share your Facebook, email, and other online passwords with your spouse. This builds trust and communicates to your spouse that they are welcome to see what you are doing anytime.

2. Befriending an old boyfriend or girlfriend should NEVER be done. Don’t even go looking for people you dated in the past.

3. Never “connect” with anyone of the opposite sex. This means don’t chat, surf their photo galleries, or leave comments.

4. Remove anyone who crosses normal boundaries. Use your head…if a comment makes you uncomfortable or sets off that little voice in your head, drop them like its hot.

5. Facebook has a cool feature where you can put that you are married and even who you are married to. Announce it to the world with great PRIDE.

6. Don’t spend more time on Facebook than you do with your spouse. Communicate with your spouse and ask them, “Am I spending too much time online?” You want to make sure your spouse is your number 1 relationship, not your buddies on Facebook.

6. Use a picture of you and your spouse as your profile picture or post a few in your photos.

7. Never use Facebook or Twitter to complain about your spouse. Praise publicly all the time!!!

8. Don’t leave comments on people’s pages that may come across as suggestive. Use your head and think before you type.

Just visit this page and click the little video icon.

If you prefer to view it on your mobile touch enabled device, simply go to www.revyourlife.com on your mobile browser and click the Watch Videos button.

Great job media and web team!!!

EVERNOTE.

Evernote is a collection of software and services that allows users to collect, sort, tag and annotate notes, files and other miscellaneous information. I literally use it to run my entire life right now.

Trying to find a recipe? Evernote.
Doctor report or prescription information? Evernote.
That picture of uncle bob last Christmas in the goofy sweater? Evernote.
The idea I recorded myself talking through that I thought I’d never use? Evernote.
Traveling and need a good place to keep hotel, flight & itinerary info? EVERNOTE!

You get the point…

PDF’s, audio files, pictures, documents, excel sheets, screenshots, text files, design work, task lists, html code…its all in evernote. I even take pictures of or scan in handwritten notes because Evernote has full handwriting recognition. For example, if I wrote out a note that included the words “Revolution Church Vision” Evernote would later find it in any search with those words. Or if I took a picture of a billboard that had the word “Life” on it, Evernote would even recognize that text right out of the picture!

I even use it to catalog all my sermon research, mind maps, outlines, ideas, illustrations, stories and more.

Truly amazing!

AND…ITS…FREE!

And the best part of all…its all in the cloud so I can always access any of my information from my phone, computer, ipad or even any computer connected to the internet.

I know I’m a little nerdy this week, but seriously…if you aren’t using Evernote, you are making your life harder than it should be.

Here are a few Evernote posts, tips, tricks, etc:

• Ron’s Evernote Tips…these are some of THE BEST.
• Getting Started guide
• Organize Evernote for maximum efficiency
• One and a half minute video overview
• How to email docs straight to your Evernote
• Using a traditional paper notebook with Evernote
• Get a free account now
• The Trunk. Other stuff that loves Evernote.
• Evernote Pro high volume and non-profit discounts.

Mowing your lawn with an old school reel mower. That’s right.

Why?

1. They’re light.
2. They’re quiet.
3. They’re environmentally friendly.
4. They’re better for your grass. (Rotary mowers tear the grass. Reel mowers cut the grass like scissors, leaving a fine spray of cuttings as mulch for your yard.) It provides a finer cut than a rotary mower — no ripping or tearing — and seals the grass blade, which keeps moisture in and lawn disease out.
5. They’re close to maintenance free.
6. They’re as easy to push as much heavier motorized mowers.
7. They don’t blow exhaust into your face while you’re mowing.

I started this last year and I love it.

Tip: you need a certain reel mower depending on what kind of grass you have. Here is a great guide and overview of reel mowing.

Try it out. Unless you have a HUGE yard…then save up and go get a riding mower.

You’re welcome.

Today, I want to share some “best practices.”

These are hacks to make your Tweets and status updates easy and more effective! Do these things and you will help the church rock it even more on Facebook and Twitter!

1. LIKE, like CRAZY. If you are on Facebook, click that “like” button like there’s no tomorrow. You can find the “like” button on Facebook and all over our website.
2. PICS! Tweet pics during the service. Or if you are a Facebookee, post them to the Revolution Church fan page.
3. Comment and share. Comment and share your thoughts by responding to things that the church posts. Conversation attracts more people!
4. GO MOBILE. If you have an internet enabled phone be sure to download the official Facebook and Twitter apps. Know that you don’t have to have an iphone…even if you use text messaging, you can Facebook and Tweet mobile. Go into your Facebook setting and click the mobile tab to start using Facebook via SMS. To use Twitter via SMS, read more here.
5. Use YouVersion for your Bible reading. Just go to YouVersion.com for a free account or you can get it on any internet enabled phone for free right now by going to http://bible.revyourlife.com. Seriously, if you aren’t doing this you are missing out. YouVersion will sync you reading progress, notes, and more across platforms. I use it on my mac, my iphone and the ipad. They even have over 30 amazing reading plans to choose from. Then go and link your YouVersion account to Facebook and/or Twitter to easily share what you are reading.
6. Tweet with a Hashtag. If you are using Twitter, attach our official Hashtag to ALL of your tweets. The hashtag is #REV. If you don’t know what a Hashtag is, learn here.

Got any other good tips? Please share!

[post adapted from my friend Scott Williams over at BigIsTheNewSmall.com]

The world we live in today is more connected than ever. Here is what I love about how connected we are as it pertains to what we do at Revolution Church:

“…people can engage with God, engage with their
pastor and share pieces of those engagements with the world, all at
the same time. There are entire real, living, breathing online
church services where online congregants share information
throughout their service.” -Scott Williams

Here are 4 Reasons To Twitter or Update your Facebook Status During Church:

1. The message is extended. When you “retweet” or quote something via Facebook you are literally extending the reach of the message. Podcasts work the same. Right now, over 100 people from 13 countries all over the world download the Revolution Church Podcast each week. That is pretty crazy to think our 11 month old church is already making a difference via technology in other parts of the world on a weekly basis! When you tweet or status update, you push the message FURTHER. If the pastor shares something that moves you, inspires you or changes your life, there is a good chance it will have the same impact on the lives of some of your Twitter followers as well.
2. Jesus said to “go into ALL the world.” All the world applies to the Internet world too. So tweet it up! Hit that status update button and fulfill the Great Commission!
3. Its POWERFUL and FREE marketing! When you do these things, you help market the church in one of the most powerful ways…word of mouth (or word of tweet…errrr…facebook…hmmm).
4. It helps people wander off better. I’d venture to say that at least 20% of ANY audience, no matter how great or well known the speaker is will still wander off at some point. Instead of letting people just wander off into space or draw on the back of offering envelopes, what if we helped them wander off into church on the web? And yes Revolution, I see your drawings each week…be careful how good you doodle. You might get recruited for the Creative Arts team.

What other reasons can you think of?

Tomorrow I will share some tips, tricks and best practices for Tweeting and using Facebook in church!

Acts of Sharing is a new website that is built on the fact that we have more together! These guys are working to provide an easy way to share your stuff & borrow from friends. Awesome concept!

I love the idea of saving money and living simply by developing even better relationships with those we already know and love. This is a great idea. Check it out by watching the video below and then visit their website today!

Acts of Sharing 101 from Jordan Crowder on Vimeo.

When I checked out who this cool cat is and what he does, I ran across an AMAZING post he did about Pastors and porn.

If you are a pastor, read this now! GOOD STUFF.

And that concludes porn week…

Today I’ll post two separate times with stats. I know they are just numbers, but they help us measure how real this issue is to every single one of us.

One of the major reasons porn is such a problem is that we hide it and treat it like its no big deal. We say “boys will be boys” or “its just a magazine.” Read these stats and I think you may just have a change of heart.

Cohabitation/Premarital Sex

• An estimated 5.08 million adult couples were cohabitating in 2004.
  USA Today, 22 July 2005.
• Cohabitating couples have twice the breakup rate of married couples.
  Divorce declining, but so is marriage, Sharon Jayson. USA Today 18 July 2005.
• More than 2/3 of married couples in the US say they lived together before marriage.
  ‘Cohabitation is replacing dating,’ Sharon Jayson, USA Today 18 July 2005.
• More than 237,000 unmarried people in North Carolina live together, as do 4.9 million across the USA, according to the 2000 Census.
  Sex and sensibilities.  USA Today, 17 May 2005.
• Studies show that children raised by cohabiting parents have more school and emotional problems.
  Sex and sensibilities.  USA Today, 17 May 2005.
• A 2002 study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that 41% of American women aged 15 to 44 have, at some point, cohabited with a man.
  Sex in the Body of Christ, Lauren F. Winner. Christianity Today, May 2005.
• According to the 2000 census, the number of unmarried couples living together has increased tenfold between 1960 and 2000, and 72 percent between 1990 and 2000.
  Sex in the Body of Christ, Lauren F. Winner. Christianity Today, May 2005.

Same-Sex Marriage

• Massachusetts remains the only state in the nation where same-sex marriages are legal. In the past year, more than 6,100 same-sex couples have gotten married—one out of six marriage licenses issued in the state. Connecticut and Vermont have legalized civil unions, giving same-sex couples the same benefits as married couples without marriage.
  Gay-marriage debate still intense a year later, Charisse Jones. USA Today, 17 May 2005.
• In Massachusetts, there has been an overwhelming shift in support for gay marriage, with 56% supporting it and 37% opposing it, according to a March 2005 Boston Globe poll. In February 2004, voters opposed same-sex marriage 53% to 35%.
  The sky didn’t fall in Mass, Deb Price.  USA Today, 17 May 2005.
• Opposition to same-sex marriage reached a historic high in March 2005, reaching 68 percent. These numbers decreased in a April 29-May 1 poll, with 56% opposition and 39% support of same-sex marriage.
  Gay-marriage debate still intense a year later, Charisse Jones. USA Today, 17 May 2005.
• In the November 2005 elections, 11 states passed amendments to ban same-sex marriages.
  Sex and sensibilities.  USA Today, 17 May 2005.
• Since Massachusetts’ legalization of same-sex marriages, 65% to 34% of voters say it has not weakened the institution of marriage. Thirteen percent say gay marriage has had a negative effect on married heterosexuals.
  The sky didn’t fall in Mass, Deb Price.  USA Today, 17 May 2005.
• By 50% to 37%, adults nationwide oppose same-sex marriage.
  The sky didn’t fall in Mass, Deb Price.  USA Today, 17 May 2005.

Marriage and Family

• Up to 20% of couples now report having sex no more than 10 times a year, qualifying them for what experts call “sexless marriages”
  I Love Them, I Love Him Not, Judith Warner.  The New York Times, 14 February, 2005.
• Four out of every ten adults say their top priority in life is having a satisfying family life. Forty-seven percent of the adults who have been divorced indicated that a fulfilling family life was currently their highest priority. The second-most common life priority, listed by 18 percent of adults, was that of understanding and carrying out the principles of their faith (22% women and 14% men).
  What is A Purpose-Driven Life to Americans? The Barna Group, 17 May 2005.

Extra-Marital Affairs

• Those who are promiscuous before marriage may be more likely to cheat on their spouses once married.
  Sex in the Body of Christ, Lauren F. Winner. Christianity Today, May 2005.

Single Parent Households

• In 2004, 1.5 million babies were born to unwed mothers.
  Sharon Jayson, USA Today 2005.

Single Adults

• A 1990s survey of single Christians showed that approximately one-third of respondents were virgins.
  Sex in the Body of Christ, Lauren F. Winner. Christianity Today, May 2005.

Religion

• Half of Americans 45 or older say they are somewhat religious; 20% cite their most satisfying spiritual experience is prayer, 19% say living a good life, 19% say helping others, 13% say being with family, and 10% say attending religious services.
  Prayer most pleasing, USA Today Snapshots.  10 January, 2005.
• Almost half of churchgoers want to hear more scriptural teachings on sex (44%). Forty-four percent say they are satisfied with the frequency of sermons addressing sex.
  More Sex, Please.  Christianity Today International, Winter 2005.
• Fifty-six percent of adults attend church services in a typical month.
  More People Use Christian Media Than Attend Church.  The Barna Update, 14 March 2005.

Today I’ll post two separate times with stats. I know they are just numbers, but they help us measure how real this issue is to every single one of us.

One of the major reasons porn is such a problem is that we hide it and treat it like its no big deal. We say “boys will be boys” or “its just a magazine.” Read these stats and I think you may just have a change of heart.

Pornography and Children

• Incidents of child sexual exploitation have risen from 4,573 in 1998 to 112,083 in 2004, according to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children. (Reports of child exploitation up. USA Today Snapshots, 17 February, 2005.)

Pornography

• The Internet accounted for US $2.5 billion of the adult industry’s $14 billion in U.S. revenues in 2004. (Dirty Downloads Ready to Go on iPods, Ron Harris, www.macnewsworld.com, 2005)
• 70% of 18 to 24 year old men visit pornographic sites in a typical month. 66% of men in their 20s and 30s also report being regular users of pornography. (First-person: the culture of pornography, R. Albert Mohler, Jr., Baptist Press, 28 December 2005.)
• 23% of American adults believe “whether one likes it or not people should have full access to pornography under the Constitution’s First Amendment.” (No Consensus Among American Public on the Effects of Pornography on Adults or Children or What Government Should Do About It, Harris Poll, 7 October 2005 www.harrisinteractive.com)
• 40% of adults surveyed believe that pornography harms relationships between men and women. (No Consensus Among American Public on the Effects of Pornography on Adults or Children or What Government Should Do About It, Harris Poll, 7 October 2005. www.harrisinteractive.com)
• According to pastors, the 8 top sexual issues damaging to their congregation are: 57% pornography addiction, 34% sexually active never-married adults, 30% adultery of married adults, 28% sexually active teenagers, 16% sexual dissatisfaction, 14% unwed pregnancy, 13% sexually active previously married adults, and 9% sexual abuse. (More Sex, Please. Christianity Today International, Winter 2005.)
• According to 2004 IFR research, U.S. porn revenue exceeds the combined revenues of ABC, CBS, and NBC (6.2 billion). Porn revenue is larger than all combined revenues of all professional football, baseball and basketball franchises. The pornography industry, according to conservative estimates, brings in $57 billion per year, of which the United States is responsible for $12 billion. (Internet Pornography and Loneliness: An Association? Vincent Cyrus Yoder, Thomas B. Virden III, and Kiran Amin. Sexual Addiction & Compulsivity, Volume 12.1, 2005.)
• One out of every six women grapples with addiction to pornography (Internet Pornography and Loneliness: An Association? Vincent Cyrus Yoder, Thomas B. Virden III, and Kiran Amin. Sexual Addiction & Compulsivity, Volume 12.1, 2005.)
• Playboy’s third quarter profit rose to $3.2 million from $1.9 million in 2005. (Porn may be on the way for iPods, Rebecca Barr, www.azcentral.com, 2005)

Today, practical tips for MEN. Porn can destroy our lives, our marriages and our ministries!

In Matthew 18:7-9 Jesus basically says that if your right eye causes you to sin then gouge it out! Its time to be the MEN that GOD has called us to be! Its time to do something DRASTIC!

Here are some crazy sounding, practical steps that I have seen work in mighty ways! If you are here for a spiritual solution such as “pray more” or “just read this verse” then this isn’t the post for you. However, if you have tried everything…if you feel stuck…if you know that you are addicted to porn and that you need to break out then this post is totally for you.

#1 – Get accountable! Drag it out into the light! This does not mean that you go find someone who has the same problem as you that you can call each week and say “I messed up” and then feeling OK because you were not the only one to sin. I want to challenge you to find someone who does NOT struggle with the problem…and ask them to get in your face on a regular basis. This has some serious POWER!

#2 – Ditch the internet! For some of us, this is tough. But, Jesus said if your right eye causes you to sin then gouge it out…so I don’t think its that crazy to say if your computer causes you to sin then get rid of it. Check out free software from xxxchurch called X3 Watch that will keep a record of any questionable site that you visit and then send it to your accountability partner. If your iphone or blackberry is the source, then ditch it! Get a plain old phone…your marriage and relationships with your kids are worth it!

#3 – Don’t travel alone! I am serious! Never ever travel alone if you are struggling with porn. Pastors, tell your church that you wish to be a man of integrity…that temptation is real! We have a rule at Revolution that I never travel alone to conferences, etc.

#4 – Bring your wife in the loop! Want to REALLY ditch this stuff? Tell your wife. And wives, pray for your husband! You might as well come clean now because when she finds out…not if…because she WILL find out…when she finds out she will feel lied to and cheated on.

#5 – Beg God to re-teach you how to view women in a healthy, Godly way. Retrain your brain to think “That woman is some mans daughter…and I would not want anyone looking at my little girl that way!”

#6 – Go to a recovery class / meeting / small group and realize that you are always an addict. Put a lifestyle that includes a filter in place!

#7 – Read Every Man’s Battle. Yeah, I know you hate to read, but if you replace the amount of time you look at porn each week with reading this book you’d probably have it read pretty fast. Seriously, though, there is a growing amount of GOOD material on this subject matter. As the porn problem grows, so does the amount of resources geared towards helping us!

What other tips would you share?

Ran across these FAQ’s about porn and our kiddos today and thought I’d share since its porn week here at the blog! Thanks to PureHope.net!

How do I know if my son or daughter is at risk?

There are many signs that could indicate that your child is viewing pornography or communicating with an online predator.

1. Sudden changes in habits or behavior
2. Spends less time with friends and family members and more time isolated
3. Spends large amounts of time on the computer
4. Changes password without your knowledge
5. Is secretive about instant message (IM) buddies
6. The cache (short-term list of sites visited each day located in the pull-down menu of the address line) of your computer is emptied after your child has been on the computer
7. Internet history file (long-term list of sites visited, downloads, etc.) is erased after your son or daughter uses the computer
8. There are multiple ISP (Internet service providers) dial-up services on the desktop of your computer
9. Minimizes the computer screen when you walk into the room
10. Shares personal information with others over the Internet
11. Gets lower grades in school while Internet use increases
12. Accesses your Internet account from a friend’s house
13. Changes in sexual behavior (becomes active)
14. Spends an inordinate amount of time at school or the local library

What should I do if I suspect my son or daughter is communicating with a sexual predator online?

There are many steps you can take:

1. Consider talking openly with your child about your suspicions. Tell them about the dangers of computer-sex offenders.
2. Review what is on your child’s computer. If you do not know how, ask a friend, co-worker, relative or other knowledgeable person. Pornography or any kind of sexual communication can be a warning sign.
3. Use the Caller ID service to determine who is calling your child. Most telephone companies that offer Caller ID also offer a service that allows you to block your number from appearing on someone else’s Caller ID. Telephone companies also offer an additional service feature that rejects incoming calls that you block. This rejection feature prevents computer-sex offenders or anyone else from calling your home anonymously.
4. Devices can be purchased that show telephone numbers that have been dialed from your home phone. Additionally, the last number called from your home phone can be retrieved provided that the telephone is equipped with a redial feature. You will also need a telephone pager to complete this retrieval. This is done using a numeric-display pager and another phone that is on the same line as the first phone with the redial feature. Using the two phones and the pager, a call is placed from the second phone to the pager. When the paging terminal beeps for you to enter a telephone number, you press the redial button on the first (or suspect) phone. The last number called from that phone will then be displayed on the pager.
5. Monitor your child’s access to all types of live electronic communications (i.e., chat rooms, instant messages, Internet Relay Chat, etc.) and your child’s e-mail. Computer-sex offenders almost always meet potential victims via chat rooms. After meeting a child online, they will continue to communicate electronically often via e-mail.
6. Should any of the following situations arise in your household, via the Internet or online service, you should immediately contact your local or state law enforcement agency, the FBI, and the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children :
   • Your child or anyone in the household has received child pornography;
   • Your child has been sexually solicited by someone who knows that your Child is under 18 years of age;
   • Your child has received sexually explicit images from someone that knows your child is under the age of 18.

   If one of these scenarios occurs, keep the computer turned off in order to preserve any evidence for future law enforcement use. You should not attempt to copy any of the images and/or text found on the computer, unless directed to do so by the law enforcement agency.

My child has received an e-mail advertising a pornographic web site, what should I do?

Generally, advertising for an adult, pornographic web site that is sent to an e-mail address does not violate federal law, or the current laws of most states. In some states, it may be a violation of the law if the sender knows the recipient is under the age of 18. Such advertising can be reported to your service provider and, if known, the service provider of the originator. It can also be reported to your state and federal legislators, that that they can be made aware of the extent of the problem.

Do not reply to the sender and asked to be removed from their mailing list. Doing so will only confirm that your e-mail address is valid. Not only will the company continue to send you messages, they may sell your address to other companies who will do the same. To learn more about or report unsolicited e-mail, or spam, visit SpamCop.net.

Is any Internet service safer than the others?

Sex offenders have contacted children via most of the major online services and the Internet. The most important factors in keeping your child safe online are the utilization of appropriate blocking software and/or parental controls, along with open, honest discussions with your child, monitoring his/her onilne activity and following our tips for parents. Click here for information on two cutting-edge filtering companies.

Should I just forbid my child from going online?

There are dangers in every part of our society. By educating your children to these dangers and taking appropriate steps to protect them, they can benefit from the wealth of information now available online.