Archives For Resources

My Favorites from 2009

admin —  December 31, 2009 — Leave a comment

Well 2009 is officially over, and I was thinking about some of the tech that made it’s way into my world during the year. Here’s some of my favorites:

Software:
Mozy – I committed to online backup this year having deciding that my time machine wasn’t enough.  Mostly because if something happened at my house the chances of losing both were pretty high.  I went with Mozy, and after having a harddrive crash while on a trip and I was still able to access my data, I’m sold.  It’s definitely worth the $5 a month it costs.

Dropbox – This has become a tool I use daily.  Great for online storage and sharing.  And it’s FREE!

Teleport – This little bit of software allows you to share one keyboard and mouse between 2 macs without any extra hardware.  It’s really cleaned up my desk and I love the way it works.  Price: FREE

Hardware:
iPhone 3gs – This is so much more than a phone to me. It allows me to be away from the office but still take care of quite a bit of my daily tasks.  I love it.

MacBook Pro Uni-body – My old Macbook Pro was great for almost 3 years, but my recent upgrade to one of the new Uni-body models has been a great one.  The power is awesome.  To compare, my old machine took 90 minutes to export the SYM podcast that I produce each week, and the new laptop does the same video in 35.  I love it.  Although if you are thinking about upgrading, I would wait to see if there are any upgrades early in the year.

Flip MinoHD Camcorder – This is such a great little camera.  So easy to use and a great picture for what it costs.  You aren’t going to produce a major motion picture with this, but to capture camp memory, quick event highlights, and fun family moments, I love it.  Read my full review here: review-flip-minohd.

Kindle 2 -I upgraded my ebook reader to the Kindle this year.  I really enjoy reading on it.  A few things that make it great:

  1. Battery life
  2. Amazon Store – so many titles, and great prices.
  3. Always connected – I can download books where ever I am, and it doesn’t cost any extra

Web:
Gdgt.com: Great new gadget site.  I do a lot of my gadget research here.  I also really enjoy their podcast.

LIVE Curriculum: I think most of you know, I am the web manager for Simply Youth Ministry, and one of the big projects I worked on this year was this online curriculum. I am really proud of what we put together, and when I think of 2009 it was a huge part of it.

New Product - Live Curriculum - Doug Fields' 4-Yea

Now on to 2010.

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Some Christmas Freebies

Chris —  December 16, 2009 — Leave a comment

There’s a lot of Christmas Freebies floating around this year.  I thought I’d let you know about some before it’s too late.

Some of these are daily or every couple days.  Even if you missed a few of them, there’s still a lot of freebies left before Christmas.

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Save Andy Sale at Simply Youth Ministry

Chris —  December 1, 2009 — Leave a comment


Save Andy Sale!

Over at Simply, we are having a Save Andy (and us all) Sale.  He’s decided that he wants to be a Rock Star instead of Youth Ministry.  Watch this video and see how bad he his.  Help show him his future is really in Youth Ministry by helping make this sale a huge success.  And you save 30 – 70% on some of our best resources.

Visit the Sale Here!

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Spooky Awesome Bundle is Only $69

admin —  October 21, 2009 — Leave a comment

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The Spooky Awesome Bundle is new from Simply Youth Ministry and is a amazing deal for anyone looking to stock up on Youth Ministry resources. It includes 13 resources with a $280 value for only $69, plus when they sell 200 and 400 bundles they will add more resources too it. It has stuff from Doug Fields, Kurt Johnston, Chuck Bomar, Josh Griffin, and Megan Hutchinson.

Here’s what it includes:

  • The $5 Youth Ministry
  • ER Handbook for Youth Ministry
  • Power Play Vol. 4
  • 99 Thoughts about Girls: For Guys’ Eyes Only
  • 99 Thoughts about Guys: For Girls’ Eyes Only
  • 99 Thoughts for Youth Workers
  • 99 Thoughts for College Age People
  • 10 Minute Moments – Red Stuff
  • 10 Minute Moments – God’s Story
  • Love Out Loud
  • Who Am I?
  • Plugged In
  • Life Hurts God Heals

Hurry, it’s only good until Oct 30, or until they run out, and I bet it will only take a few days, so if you’re interested, I would buy soon.

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Free Resources from Simply Youth Ministry

admin —  October 13, 2009 — Leave a comment

free_gift_hero

Thought I’d pass this along for anyone needing some resources, a great chance to get some Free stuff, but only till Oct 20, 2009.

LINK: SimplyYouthMinistry.com

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Amazing, Free Resources: Open by Lifechurch.tv

admin —  October 11, 2009 — Leave a comment

I am constantly amazed at the tools that lifechurch.tv produces.  This morning I found out about what is quite possibly the most useful of them all: Open.  What is it?  It’s thousands of top-quality resources for churches available for free download.  It’s not just youth resources!  Everyone can find something from adults to children and youth to pet ministry (I may have gone a little overboard on the pet ministry).

To begin, you simply sign up for an account and voila, the world of Open resources is at your fingertips.  Browse through the files to find videos of messages, background loops, small group curriculum, skits and video illustrations.

Don’t have a great worship band?  No problem, you can download worship sets to project on a screen with a band, lyrics, the whole deal.  There’s even forms and training.  Like I said, it’s awesome!  The only problem I could find with the well-designed site is that some of the video files require you to burn them on a dvd to play them which for a novice (especially one using a pc) could get a little hairy.

That being said, it’s all there, and it’s all free.  Next time you need help on a message or small group your first stop simply has to be Open.

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Clips from Films Still in the Theatre

admin —  September 6, 2009 — Leave a comment

I recently ran across a pretty incredible site: Wing Clips. The site focuses on providing clips for download from top movies that you can use as an illustration in your talks/sermons.  What’s amazing, is that they have clips available from first-run movies that are still in the theatres!  Right now they even have clips for a couple of films that have not even been released.

The clips are categorized by title, theme, and some even have full sermon outlines available for download (premium only).  What is interesting, and convenient, is that they have worked out a deal with the studios to allow you to not need a CVLI license to display them.   They provide 320×240 versions for free, and offer a subscription for unlimited 640×480 resolution for $15.95 a month or $139.00 a year (which works out to $11.59 a month).

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YouVersion Live

admin —  September 1, 2009 — Leave a comment

YouVersion announced an interesting new feature called Live.  Though it will not be “live” until October, the product is supposed to be focused on letting you interact with live events on your mobile phone.

According to their promotional material, it will allow you to follow along with message outlines and take notes, read related Bible verses and click through to the expanded passage, vote on a poll and see the results live, respond to questions anonymously, request prayer, and take it all home with you on your phone.

This promises to be an incredible tool if they deliver on all these feature.  Be sure that we will have a full review once the product launches.  Until then, you can click here to check out their site for all the information.

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Nooma as an iPhone App

admin —  August 27, 2009 — Leave a comment

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A few days ago I told you about one of the best deals I’ve seen to pick the physical Nooma DVDs.  And tonight I find out that they are now coming out as iPhone apps.  Here’s part of the description from iTunes:

This NOOMA application includes the full-length version of NOOMA Rain | 001 Rob Bell. In addition to providing unlimited viewings (no network connection required), the app also includes all the content from the 32-page discussion guide, a leader-follower feature that allows synchronous viewing of the discussion guide, the ability to email a friend with links and clips related to the film, and a link to the Flannel Store where you can learn more about the film.

From the description it gives you a screen by screen guide to guide the discussion.  Looks like it would be a great teaching tool to go along with the video.  At $4.99 it’s seems like a good value for the video, booklet, and discussion tools.  I can’t wait to check it out.

iTunes Link: Nooma Rain | 001 Nooma Rain | 001 Rob Bell

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Great Deal on Nooma Videos

admin —  August 18, 2009 — Leave a comment

I don’t know if you ever used any of the Nooma videos in your ministry, but here’s a great deal on them.  You can pick any 6 for $60 or all 24 for $216.  Individual videos are $11.  It included the 2 brand new ones:
023 Corner and 024 Whirlwind.

I have found them to be engaging and great for launching discussion into deep and difficult issues.  I highly recommend them.

College: Nooma Pick 6

LINK: Nooma Pick 6

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