Category: christian
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Lessons on Suicide Prevention from Rich Van Pelt
This evening the four eldest members of our family attended a presentation about suicide prevention by Rich Van Pelt, a church youth leader from Colorado who has authored several books on helping teens in crisis. I’m not sure how many people were present in the sanctuary at Crossings Community Church in north Oklahoma City, but…
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Merry Christmas 2012
Merry Christmas to you and your family. I hope this holiday season finds you with family and friends, counting your blessings and celebrating the holidays together. If you are separated from loved ones this holiday, I hope you will be reunited soon. As we continue to mourn the deaths of so many in Newtown, Connecticut,…
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Leveraging YouTube to Tell The Story of Your Non-Profit
(Cross-posted as a slightly secularized version from Eyes Right) Upendo Kids International is a mission outreach non-profit based in Edmond, Oklahoma, which sends teams each summer to Kenya to show God’s love and kindness through a variety of activities. This evening, I had an opportunity to show the nineteen members of the June 2012 Upendo…
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QR Codes on Conference Bookmark Handout
I’m headed to south Texas this weekend for an annual men’s conference, and am looking forward to sharing a breakout session this year. For my handout, I opted to make a “bookmark size” flyer and primarily feature three QR codes. I used the website qrcode.kaywa.com to create the first two QR codes, and www.qrstuff.com for…
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A Touching Sign Language Performance of David Phelps: No More Night
A few weeks ago one of the guys in my Friday morning men’s group at our church shared a touching video on YouTube as part of his lesson. This seven minute video was created by an student in Oklahoma who has gone through an incredible number of surgeries since she was born. It is difficult…
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Think Differently and Support AutismOklahoma.org
Did you know 40% of children diagnosed with autism cannot speak? For reasons we don’t completely understand, the numbers of children in our society diagnosed with autism are on the rise. The following is a beautiful, powerful video scripted and created by AutismOklahoma.org. This was published at the end of last month on YouTube. It…
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MinistrySafe Online Video Training for Youth Protection from Sexual Abuse
These are my notes from the MinistrySafe online training video for churches. This is a required training program our church has paid for all adult volunteers who work with children and youth to complete. My wife saw these trainers (who are lawyers in the Dallas area) present in person and helped bring this training program…
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Underwhelmed by iBooks Author Software
This afternoon I started a new eBook project using a collection of favorite Bible verses from the Friday morning men’s group at our church. The idea is pretty simple: Include verses from the NLT and MSG translations, complying with the copyright permissions for each provided on the YouVersion.com Bible website. Along with the verses, include…
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Storychasing Follow Me Sunday with an iPad2 and iRig Mic
We need to encourage more people to become “storychasers” modeling ethical, responsible, and constructive uses of social media technologies. Storychasers can and should utilize mobile videography tools and “quick edit” journalism platforms like YouTube, Facebook, and blogging websites to document causes and events in our communities. This post features some examples of this kind of…
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Helping Parents in Prison Connect with their Children
Oklahoma has the highest incarceration rate for women in the United States. Of women in Oklahoma prisons, 85% are mothers or grandmothers. Oklahoma has the 4th highest incarceration rate for men in the United States, and many of these guys are dads also. 28,000 children in Oklahoma don’t have one of their parents at home…