That's My King!

This is an amazing video that I saw today!!

That's My King from Dustin Bankord on Vimeo.

You can check out more videos from Dustin Bankord here.

Listen Listen Listen to Andy Stanley!

Andy Stanley now communicates through auto-tune!!



Now thats FUNNY!! You can watch more videos from these guys here.

The Power of time off - Stefan Sagmeister

Here is a very interesting talk on the idea of taking time off. As Christians we are familiar with the word "sabbath" but very few christians actually practice it on a regular basis.

After watching the talk, I wondered what would happen if we gave "off time" for the people who work in our churches. What kind of impact and affect would that have?



I would really like your thoughts on this topic.....

Did you know 4.0

The Times They Are A-Changin' - Bob Dylan

Hillsong: I Heart Film

Owl City

Posted via email from Ben's random posts

The Source at CRC - Norfolk

We have been having a great time in the student ministry at Calvary Revival Church in Norfolk,VA. We are really excited about what God is doing among the students and are really excited and expectant about the future.

Here are some pictures from last sunday that my brother took.

Click here if you want the pics to be BIGGER!!



Keep us in your prayers as we we continue to put our faith in God and move forward!

4 ways to be a terrible leader!

Jesus gives us an idea of what terrible leadership looks like in Matthew 23:1-12 when he talks to a crowd and His disciples.

Here are four ways to be a terrible leader and hurt the people you lead:

1. Put too much pressure and weight on your followers.

Instead of serving the people you lead, put too much pressure and weight on the people, while you don't do what you are supposed to do as a leader.

2. Do things just to be noticed by people.

Instead of doing things out of a pure heart to glorify God, do things so that people around you can notice you, praise you and give you accolades!

3. Be obsessed about your "title".

Instead of gaining influence by the level of trust the people have in you, influence then by throwing around your authority and title. Always make sure that people call and address you by your title. Take yourself seriously all the time.

4. Exalt yourself.

Instead of humbling yourself under the might hand of God, exalt yourself for who you are and what you do!

Do these four things and you will definitely ruin your chances of being a great leader.

Cowboy Leadership! Yeeee-Haaaw!!!

I have been reading Richard L. Daft's book The Leadership Experience for one of my classes at Regent University and came across the Cowboy Commandments in the book. Even though some of the points might be very basic they very well apply to everyone in leadership.

Here are the commandments:

1. A cowboy never takes unfair advantage - even of an enemy.
2. A cowboy never goes back on his word or betrays a trust.
3. A cowboy always tells the truth.
4. A cowboy is kind and gentle with children, the elderly and animals.
5. A cowboy is free from racial or religious prejudice.
6. A cowboy is always helpful and lends a hand when anyone's in trouble.
7. A cowboy is a good worker.
8. A cowboy stays clean in thoughts, speech, action and personal habits.
9. A cowboy respects womanhood, parents, and the law of his nation.
10. A cowboy is a patriot his country.

The Forum - Jack Welch

The Forum - Bishop Jakes

The Forum - Patrick Lencioni

The Forum - Bill George

The Forum - Matthew Barnett

The Forum - Henry Cloud

Go. Preserve. Illuminate.

These are the slides that David and I used in our talk on Church, culture and Social Media today.

Culture/Social Media

View more presentations from Ben Komanapalli.

and here is the video that we used.

I'll Make You An Offer You Can't Refuse by Michael Franzese

I'll make you and offer you can't refuse by Michael Franzese is a pretty interesting book. The title was the first thing that got my attention and when I saw that the book was written by a former Mob Boss I thought it should be pretty interesting since I never read any book by someone in the mob.

The book consists of eleven chapters in which Michael Franzese talks about eleven different things to consider to build and maintain a successful business. These are lessons that he learnt in his life during the the time he spent with the mob.

He uses the wisdom of Machiavelli and Solomon to describe the wrong and right way of doing things. Even though you might not find anything that will revolutionize your thinking regarding business and life there are certain lessons and ideas to be learnt from the book. There are a lot of interesting stories from his life that he shares to get his point across. The stories kept my attention and at the end of every chapter there was something that you could walk away with.

Even though it might not be a great how-to book on business, it is a pretty easy read in which you learn some insights and get a small peak into the life of a former Mob Boss!

The sound of The Prancing Horse!

If you did not already know...... I am a huge Ferrari fan and the sound in this commercial is pure music to me!

Listen to The Outsiders by Needtobreathe for FREE

NEEDTOBREATHE is one of my favorite bands!!

Really like their previous albums and am very excited about the new one!

Let me know what you think!

The Outsiders - Needtobreathe

Listen to Armistic by MUTEMATH for FREE

I have been waiting for this album for a long time and I am really excited about it!

I have not listened to the album yet but I will in about 2 minutes!! Once you do finish listening to it, let me know what you think!!

Enjoy!

Armistice - MUTEMATH

North Point Online!

North Point Community Church has finally made the decision to take their church online!!

This is very exciting!! Even though I have never attend the church in ATL, I have always heard great things about this church and I believe that the decision to take their church online will be a great tool that God will use to bring people to Himelf!

The first service will take place on Aug. 16th at 6PM EST. CHECK IT OUT!

Here is the promotional video for the series that they will be kicking off with called "Losing your religion".

Promo: "Losing Your Religion" from North Point Media on Vimeo.

I believe it is going to be a great series for people who have not yet made a decision to receive and follow Jesus!

So if you have family or friends that you have been praying for, this might be a great opportunity to invite them to church online!! Let me know if you do!

Are you listening?

Here is the ad for the the partnership between BlackBerry and U2. A Mobile Album will be released soon!

"Pity the nation that won't listen to your boys and girls

Cos the sweetest melody is the one we haven't heard" - U2

I think this is very true when it comes to leadership. As leaders it is important that we pay attention to the "boys & girls" that we are leading. When we don't do it we often miss out on some of the best concepts and ideas that are yet to come into the world!

Listen to Faith+Hope+Love by Hillsong for FREE

Here it is!! The new album from Hillsong!

Enjoy!

Faith+Hope+Love - Hillsong

The Children's Song by Josh Garrels

"The Children's Song" - Josh Garrels from Josh Garrels on Vimeo.

New Hillsong Video! (No reason to hide)

Check out the new Hillsong video for the album FAITH + HOPE + LOVE that will be out on August 4th.

No Reason to Hide - Hillsong from Tony Morgan on Vimeo.

Redeeming Time

We have all heard the sayings..... Time is money. You can never get back time that is lost..... and so on.

Well as I was waiting for an appointment a few days ago, I started to think about how many people really don't pay any attention to redeeming time.

I think that redeeming time is one of the most important lessons that a leader should learn when it comes to self-leadership.
If a leader does not redeem the time that he/she has they will always be "busy" but will never be able to actually do things that are necessary to make progress!

This is something I am currently learning and by the grace of God getting better at.

Today, there are many ways that you can redeem time!
Here are some of the ways I try to redeem time:

1. I listen to podcasts/ CD's while driving, working out and doing work around the house!
2. I always make sure that I am carrying a book or two so that I can read when I have to wait for people, appointments etc.
3. I read The Bible and a few blogs on my iphone.
4. Meditate on the Word.

Another area that I need to get better at is spending time to think. Taking time to think is a great exercise for everyone that needs to become a daily routine. If you want to learn more on that I would recommend John C. Maxwell's book Thinking for a change.

So what are some of the ways you redeem time?

What lesson are you currently learning when it comes to self leadership?

Light & Shadow, Day & Night

GREENLIGHT HOPE FILMS is a new extension of Jeol Osteen Ministries.

Here is a short film that they made! Check it out!

Light from Joel Osteen Ministries on Vimeo.

Wasabi Gospel by Shawn Wood

I will be reviewing the first chapter from Wasabi Gospel by Shawn Wood. July 8th is the date for the Book Bomb at Amazon! So make sure you pick up a copy on the 8th!

The name of the first chapter is "God, I'll take the Mercy, but give the idiot who cut me off in traffic Justice"! The chapter is based on:

Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy. - Matthew 5:7

As you can guess from the title of the chapter, it deals with Mercy & Justice. It deals with how we as christians often want others to be judged by God but when it comes to just faults, we want God to pour out his mercy on us.

Shawn talks about three levels of forgiveness:

1. The first level is where we say we forgive the person that has hurt us but we really don't let go of the hurt and pain.
2. The second level is where we forgive and forget.
3. The third level or the level where you get hit by the wasabi-punch. This is where we start looking through God's eyes. We realize that we ourselves are in need of his mercy and that we ourselves had to be forgiven by God for the things we have done against Him!

Forgiveness has to be something that goes beyond the way we "feel". Forgiveness is a choice and at times even though it can be very tough, it is still something that we are called by God to do and He is hear to help us with it! It is a great reminder for everyone of us. No matter where we are in life this is something that needs to be something that we cannot neglect.

In the rest of the book Shawn looks at 6 other saying of Jesus that pack a Wasabi-punch to them! He does a good job weaving in personal stories to better explain the content. If you ever wondered about the hard sayings of Jesus or wondered if Jesus was really serious about some of the things that he said, I think reading this book will do you a lot of good.

But I tell you who hear me: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. - Luke 6:27-28

Listen to Cradlesong by Rob Thomas FREE!

I have not listened to the entire album yet but really like what I have listened to so far!

cradlesong - Rob Thomas

What do you think?

U2 360° Tour

Here is something that I am really excited about and looking forward to!! This will be the forst time I see U2 live! Going to see them in VA or D.C.





Check the massive LED screens expand!! Pretty cool stuff!!



Are you guys going to any concert during the summer? What music are your currently listening to?

For Men Only and the Women Who Love Them by Dr. B. Courtney McBath

Here are two small clips of my Pastor Dr.B.Courtney McBath preaching about Men! You should definitely follow him on twitter!





The clips really don't do justice for all that was taught in the message and the series. To really get everything that was taught I would really encourage you to go here and get a copy!

How to start a MOVEMENT!

Here are 10 things I got out of this video about starting a movement:

1. All movements need a leader.
   
2. You will be alone at the beginning!
3. You have to be bold and courageous!
   
4. You cannot worry and stress out about what others might think.
5. You have to be in it for the long haul. (Consistency)
   
6. You have to interact and welcome people who seem to be interested in what you are doing.
7. When people start getting involved, don't try to control them.
8. There will always be people who will not get involved in the movement, so don't try to please everyone!
9. Let the tribe improvise and be creative.
10. Have fun! Its all worth it at the end!

What are your thoughts and what would you add?

Chris Anderson on FREE: The Future of a Radical Price

Chris Anderson, the Editor-in-Chief of Wired Magazine talks about the "FREE" at the business conference Disruptive by Design.

1. What do you think?
2. How will this change the way most churches and ministries operate?

Would really like to hear your thoughts!

Hillsong UNITED at Wave Church

Hillsong UNITED were recently in Virginia Beach at Wave Church. I had a chance to go see them along with my brothers Steve and Reinhard. It was my third time seeing Hillsong UNITED and it was a great experience. Here are some pics that were taken by my brother.

Innovation VS. Incrementalism

I saw this tweet a few days ago from Craig T. Owens. Since I read the tweet, I have been thinking about this quote by Bill Hybels.

Bill Hybels is someone I really admire and respect.

I have no clue about the context in which this statement was made.

BUT.... since it got me thinking about incrementalism and innovation in the church, I thought I would ask you some of the questions that came to my mind.

When it comes to leading change in an organization, especially in a church:

1. Is innovation always better than incrementalism?
2. What is the main difference between incrementalism and innovation?
3. Is it better to make small changes and reach the goal or is it better to make big changes and reach the goal?
4. By making big changes don't you run a bigger risk of loosing people? I do realize it is necessary at times!

So, What are your thoughts on this? I would like to hear your thoughts and get your input!

Coldplay live in Virginia Beach

I recently had a chance to catch Coldplay live in Virginia Beach! Did not have a good camera with me at the time but here are some of the pictures that I took that day!

Miracle!! (Part 2)

On March 13th this year I posted a video about a high school student who attends our church.
Well this is an update on what has happened in her life since then! If you don't know what I am talking about, check out the video in my previous post and then see the video below.

God has really worked in and through this young students life!

Click here to get more details from the local news station.

Listen to A Cross // the Earth by Hillsong United for FREE

If you have not yet listened to the new album by Hillsong United, here is your chance. It is currently #2 on itunes behind Eminem!! You can get your copy from itunes by clicking here.

a_CROSS // the_EARTH: Tear Dow...

If some of the songs just play 30 second clips, click on the "add" button and it will play the entire song!
Let me know what you think about this album. Would like to hear your thoughts!

Awkward Questions about Jesus!

Working in Youth Ministry and interacting with students can sometimes be a daunting task. I am sure you have had some similar experiences. Here is one.



Enjoy!!

If you had an experience, please do share!!

Intel's ROCKSTAR!

Gotta love it!!

Seth Godin on Tribes at TED

You can pick up the book here. If you have never read his blog you should!

Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen

Really looking forward to this!!

Q&A with Craig Groeschel

Pretty funny! Share and enjoy!

The Principle of the Path by Andy Stanley (book reivew)

This is the second book I got for FREE through Thomas Nelson book review bloggers.

If you have ever listened to or watched Andy Stanley teach at his church or at a conference, you know that he is very simple and easy to understand. Well it the same with this book. Very simple yet profound and powerful thoughts and insights. The book has been very helpful for me, especially because of where I am in my life. There are some really good stories from Andy Stanley's life that he shares in the book to get the points in different chapters across.
The book is a very easy read. Here are some points that really stood out to me:

1. Direction, not intention determines our destination!
2. Acknowledging God = Submitting to God
3. Divine direction begins with unconditional submission. Not information!
4. Every decision has an outcome, and every path has a destination.
5. choices are now but outcomes are later.

There are many more things you will learn from the book. You will learn how to choose the right path. If you want to and need help with making better and wiser choices in life, this book will definitely help you with that. At the end of every chapter are great questions for life application.

The book challenged me in many ways and I believe it will continue to do so as I strive to make better choices in life.

If you have read the book, what are your thoughts? What book or books are you currently reading?

Joyce Meyer - Fruit of the spirit

Joyce Meyer was recently in Hampton, VA and i was able to attend one of the sessions. She taught on the fruit of the spirit. Here are some of the notes from the session.

1. Jesus cursed the fig tree because it was fake!
   
2. A fig tree is supposed to have fruit under the leaves and this one had no fruit.
   
3. Covering up with leaves did not work for Adam & Eve, and it will not work for us too!
4. 1 Corinthians 13:7-8
5. If you study success more than you study Love, you will not have true success!
6. If you study prosperity more than you study Love, you will not have true prosperity!
7. Patience - You will have to wait in life weather you like it or not! The important thing is how you wait? (attitude)
8. James 1:2-4
9. As a person you have the potential to hurt just as many people as you help!! Especially true for leaders!
   
10. Psalm 131
11. Hebrews 12:2-3
12. What people want to see in you is the fruit of the spirit.
    
13. You can be pitiful or powerful but you can't be both!

Conquer the sin of pornography!

This is a small clip from a conversation between Carson, Piper and Keller. You can watch the entire conversation here.



If you are a person struggling with pornography, here is a free book by Pastor Mark Driscoll that will really help you.

leadership is about giving up!

The picture that you see above is the tweet that was left by my leader Anthony Bass a few days ago. Anthony got on to twitter and facebook a little over a month ago and has been enjoying reconnecting with friends on facebook and connecting with new people on twitter.

Even though he is not "crazy" about facebook and twitter I know that this was not something that was very easy for him to do. So I began to think.....a part of leadership is giving up! I am not talking about giving up on goals, vision, people etc. but about giving up on something that we "like".

It doesn't matter where you are leading, as a leader you are always required to give up something for the people that you are leading. With that in mind:

1. What are somethings that you had to give up as a leader?
2. What are you willing to give up so that you can be a better example for the people who are following you?

Would really like to hear your thoughts!

Flutter - the new twitter!

This is a great video!



Pretty funny!

Unleash '09 - Session 2

In session 2 at Unleash Perry Noble talks specifically to Pastors and leaders in ministry. If you have not seen session 1 yet you can see it here.

Collapse of Distinction by Scott McKain (Book Review)

Scott McKain's book might be one of the most relevant books that I have read in the last year as far as business books are concerned. The main issue that Scott McKain addresses in the book is weather or not customers can tell the difference between you and your competition. He first addresses how individuals and companies got into the mess in the first place and then spends the rest of the time addressing the different avenues of differentiation. He also addresses the four cornerstones that every individual and company need to pay attention to.

The four cornerstones are :

1. Clarity
2. Creativity
3. Communication
4. Customer-Experience Focus
   

There are many great examples and stories in the book that get the point across. One of my favorite chapters in the book is "The Ebert Effect". The Ebert effect states that when people, from their perspectives, are inundates with indistinguishable choices, they perceive a product, service, approach, or experience with a specific point of differentiation to be superior. That point alone is worth the price of the book because it can help an individual and company to make some very important decisions based on that principal!

I also really liked the format of the book. At the end of every chapter is an executive summary and another section with action steps, questions and ideas. Both the sections are very helpful and at the end of each chapter.

The book is also a part of the Nelson Free program. With this program once you buy the book you get to download the audio version as an mp3 and an ebook version for FREE which is great value for your money!

Getting to know Andy Stanley

Andy Stanley


North point just launched a new website. Click here to check it out!

Unleash '09 - Session 1

This is the first session of the Unleash Conference Where Pastor Perry Noble preached to the Church about the changes it might need to make in order to be more effective.

Men, Women & Marriage by Pastor Mark Driscoll

Here are two great messages from Pastor Mark Driscoll. He preaches about the roles and responsibilities of both men and women. I would encourage both married and single people to take some time and watch the messages.

Especially singles who are thinking about marriage!

Fearless living - Creflo Dollar

I had the opportunity to go to a meeting recently where Pastor Creflo Dollar was preaching. He taught on fear and here are some of the notes that I took:

• 2 Timothy 1:7
  
• Panic is groundless fear.
  
• The US is now more afraid then ever before.
• We have been given:
• Power - ability to get results
• Love - to love what/who is not lovable
• Sound mind - a mind that is free from fear.
• Fear comes from hearing the contradictions of the word of God.
• Faith comes by hearing the word of God.
• You paralyze the devil when you operate in faith and not fear.
• If you tolerate fear you will contaminate your faith!
• Genesis 3:1-5
• Fear and unbelief go hand in hand.
• The devil does his best to make sure that believers have the doubt that what God said in his word will not come to pass.
• Anger is an expression of fear.
• Fear is abnormal.
• When fear is used as a motivator it will always lead you to bondage!
• Revelation 21:8 if it's OK to have a little fear everything else that is mentioned in the verse should also be OK. Right?
• Philippians 1:28 (amp)
• Matthew 6:25-33
• Meditating on the contradiction of Gods word leads to worry!
• Philippians 4:6-9 (amp)
  
• Peace - security in the midst of turmoil!

Young Vs. Old

"Nobody grows old by merely living a number of years. People grow old by deserting their ideals. You are as young as your faith, as old as your doubt; as young as your self-confidence, as old as your fear; as young as your hope, as old as your despair." -- Douglas MacArthur, General

Are you getting older or younger?

Bono - Bill Hybels interview

This interview is about three years old and many have already seen this but there are still many who have not. So if you have not seen this interview, please take the time to see it.

Build your own custom video playlist at embedr.com

Let me know your thoughts on this. What did you think about the whole thing?

Realationships - creativity - help

www.tokbox.com

Let me know your thoughts.

Creflo Dollar on Facebook!

I just saw this on my facebook wall a few minutes ago! I know lot of people have different opinions and feeling about Pastor Creflo Dollar but I for one do respect the man very much. So needless to say when I saw what you can see in the picture above, I was pretty siked about it!

It is really him on facebook and you can add him as a friend if you like by clicking here!

Runnin on empty!

This is a picture that I took a few days ago with my phone. The good news is that I was at the gas station when i did! This has been a hectic week for me. Had a lot of things I needed to get done and lot of things on my mind. Everyone of us know that running on empty is not a good thing but sometimes we find ourselves there! This is especially true for leaders. It is not a good place to be spiritually, physically, mentally, financially or in any other area of our lives.

So here are two questions:

1. What are some of the ways that you make sure you don't get to this place?
2. If you do get there, what do you do to recover?

Would really like to hear your thoughts.....

Social Media for Non Profits

This is a very good presentation. Good facts in it. Once you go through it let me know what you think!

Social Media for Non Profits

View more presentations from Primal Media.

Twimailer

If you are tired of receiving the same boring email from Twitter every time someone follows you, this should make you feel better. Take a minute to look at the video and the sign up process hardly takes a minute.


Twimailer demo from jon on Vimeo.

If you found this helpful, take a second to tweet about it! Thanks!

Miracle!

This is a high school student from my church. She was involved in a terrible car accident but by the Grace of God survived and recovering at home now. She was recently interviewed on local news channel and here it is!

Listen to new U2 album for FREE!

Here you go! I think its a great album! Hope you like it!

No Line On The Horizon - U2

Books for FREE!

I like books! I really like them when I can get them for FREE. I think many of you would like to get some books for free too, so here is an easy way to get some books for free if you have a blog!

Thomas Nelson sends you a copy of the books that they are releasing if you will write a 200+ word review of the book on your blog and on any consumer retail website.

So if you have a blog and like to read simply click here and you can get started! It hardly takes 2 minutes to get signed up. I talked about the first book I received from them here. I will soon finish reading it and write a post about it.

Post a comment and let me know if you sign up for it!

Medium is the message!

Rob bell interviews Shane Hipps in this short clip about his new book. It is called Flickering Pixels. I have not read the book but what he says in the clip is something that I have been thinking about for the last few weeks. So check this out and let me know what you think!


Rob Bell Interviews Shane Hipps About Technology from Deadly Viper on Vimeo.

No Cussing!

I saw this on Foxnews a few days ago and wanted to share it with you all if you missed it. The club has over 20,000 members! You can get more information here.

What do you think about this? Can you use this in youth ministry?

Signs - Short Film

What do you think about it and what did you get out of it?

Free book from Thomas Nelson

Just got a free book from Thomas Nelson today. Going to read it and post a review of the book soon. I will also write a post about how you can do the same if you have a blog soon.

Selective Twitter status

I just found out about this earlier today. When i first got on twitter i synced my facebook status with twitter which really confused and irritated some of my friends on facebook. Well now thanks to the new app on facebook, only the tweets I want will be synced to facebook.

Its a very simple and easy process to install it. You can just click here and install it in a few seconds! Let me know if you need help with instaling it! Have fun!

Her morning elegance

Here is a pretty creative video and an easy going song by Oren Lavie




Enjoy!

Nerd Compitition!?

The group of people that I work with are beginning to embrace technology and social media. This is the reply I got from my leader Anthony Bass when he realized that my Twitter score was higher than his!

I can see the competition heating up! You can check your score here.

You can follow Anthony here and you can follow me here!

P.S. Relax! we are not doing this just to goof around. We know that Social Media is much bigger than getting a score!

Funny SYMC videos

Here are some really funny and cool videos from Simply youth Ministry Conference.










Not Fair is probably my favorite. What about you?
What do you think?

What is Facebook?

I thought this was pretty funny!

Are Schools Killing Creativity? by Sir Ken Robinson

This is a great talk by Sir Ken Robinson at the TED.



What are your thoughts on this?

yahoo welcomes google!

This is what Yahoo did when Google started to Twitter! I think thats cool!

12 second experiment

[iPhone] Dudes hangin out on 12seconds.tv

This is my first attempt at using 12seconds on my iphone. My good friends Anthony, David, Mike, Reggie and myself had some fun playing some PS3.

Are there any apps on the iphone that actually can shoot a video?

Satan teaches on sex

This video is from lifechurch.tv
What do you think? What are your thoughts?

ScribbleLive

Scribblelive is a great site and service that lets you blog live. Everything that you send via twitter, txt or other services are directly posted on to your blogpost. I am really liking this and hope to use it a lot in the future!