Last week I had chance of visiting with the leadership of TWR Brazil. While there’s so much I would like to say about my 4 days in Sao Paulo, here’s a random dump of observations: 1. Evangelical Christianity is booming in Brazil. Entrepreneurial Christians are taking the gospel further into the remote parts of Brazil and using technology to reach large cities as well as remote jungle locations. God is alive and well in South America.  Cutura bookstore. Four stores filled with inventory and lines 8 deep of people buying books. Who said Brazilians don’t buy books?  2. TWR Brazil has a great leadership team that is visionary and entrepreneurial. I believe their best days are before them. Not only TWR reaches the entire nation via radio waves, they now have a growing publishing division that’s resourcing their listening audience and finding new audiences. Tim Klingbeil (TWR Americas Director) Jose…

Yesterday I heard 75-year old John Bisagno speak to a group of pastors at First Baptist Church of Jacksonville Pastors’ Conference. Dr. Bisagno retired after 30 years of ministry at First Baptist Church Houston leading that congregation to reach thousands of people in  Houston and around the globe. While most men his age would be tempted to reminisce about the good ol’ days and how the new generation has drifted away from God, Bisagno had no time for that. He was more interested in speaking about how to use social media to reach the lost. What has impressed me the most about Dr. Bisagno is a quality that I have valued since my early teens when an 83 year old school cook asked me to help her cook a dish she didn’t have a recipe for. I felt uneasy about telling granny what to do in the kitchen, but she…

Half-way through a great Sunday morning service at The Life Church of Memphis, it hit me: they need new language to help define their uniqueness both theologically as well experientially. And then I realized that there are potentially hundreds of churches in America in the same place. They need a new expression to help shape their movement and give them new context in American Christianity. Not long ago the term “spirit-filled” evoked images of people falling down, speaking in tongues and, yes, even “barking in the Spirit.” Some of the neo Charismatic churches that still believe in the demonstrative gifts of the spirit on an individual level but not as much corporately are still using this outdated phrase to define themselves. That’s a problem. Those who are looking for the old school spirit-filled experience will be disappointed with the lack of, what I call, chaos in the neo charismatic services…

“I like you. How can we work together?” I remember hearing that from a person who barely knew me at the time and today is a client, and, more importantly, a friend. We all buy services and products, but we often buy them from some one, and the nature of sales has more to do with the salesperson than it does with the buyer. Great salespeople can sell most anything. In my experience, people want to buy from those whom they like. All things being equal, I want to buy from someone I relate to and trust. I might even be willing to pay a premium for good service and a smile. Just ask the girl at the sun glass store where I bought a new pair of expensive glasses after she convinced me it made me look younger. (Ok, I was grasping for a reason and the phrase “they…

Most people in business has heard, worked on or paid for SEO (Search Engine Optimization) on their websites. SEO attempts to setup a website in a such a way that when search engine bots and crawlers visit your site, they are able to find, index and eventually display your information well. Here’s how Wikipedia describes it: Search engine optimization (SEO) is the process of improving the volume or quality of traffic to a web site from search engines via “natural” (“organic” or “algorithmic”) search results. Typically, the earlier a site appears in the search results list, the more visitors it will receive from the search engine. SEO may target different kinds of search, including image search, local search, and industry-specific vertical search engines. But a new science/art is emerging along with the growth of Social Media, I have heard it called SMO for Social Media Optimization. SMO is about an…

In this 16-minute presentation from TED, Clay Shirky, author of “Here Comes Everybody: The Power of Organizing Without Organizations” makes a compelling presentation on how social media has changed the way we communicate. The landscape of information has changed dramatically. Today media is global social ubiquitous cheap In a world of media the the former audience is now increasingly full participants, producers. In that world, media is less and less often about crafting a single message to be consumed by individuals and is more and more often a way of creating an environment for convening and supporting groups. center http://video.ted.com/assets/player/swf/EmbedPlayer.swf Open communication is messy and sometimes painful. What are the implications for churches, Christian organizations that face many critics?

Google has changed the way we catalog and access information. Now the geniuses are out to redefine and change the way we communicate. Google Wave is schedule to come out later this year, and if it is successful it will kill email as we know it. This is a long presentation, but it’s worth your time to see how Wave might change the way we communicate. How quick are you to adopt a new communication platform?

People often say they like change. But they lie. We really dislike it. Very few of us are truly “change agents,” as it has become of the battle cry of so many consultant wannabes. Most of us only seriously contemplate change when staying the same is more painful than the perceived cost of the path. But whether any of us like it or not, change is being thrown at us at an unbelievable pace. If you have problem with it in your life, watch the video below at your own risk. centerthis vidhttp://www.youtube.com/get_player So what does it mean to you? I’d love your input.

I remember hauling a 15 lb projector around the country that took most of the space on my carry on bag. Recently, Microvision unveiled a mobile projector. Yes, this thing is the size of a cell phone. All I can say is wow. Now I need to figure out a way to justify the cost. After all, I’m in the communication business and this is a communication tool, right? http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=3340611&server=vimeo.com&show_title=1&show_byline=1&show_portrait=0&color=00ADEF&fullscreen=1 Would buy one of these?

Great communication always involves passion for the subject. Oceanographer Sylvia Earle presented at this year’s TED conference. Her 18-minute presentation is one of the best I’ve ever experienced. She used video along along with her written speech in a seamless and effortless talk that had me mesmerized, even as I watched it through video. Her smile was contagious, her warnings were sobering and yet she offered hope along with her challenge. This is her presentation. If you’re like me, you’ll want to see the whole thing. It’s remarkable. centerhttp://video.ted.com/assets/player/swf/EmbedPlayer.swf How are you using media in your presentations?