This is my pre-published version of an article I wrote for Christianity Today International's Resources department. It is part of a larger downloadable study exploring Church rental issues. Here, with the help of a few friends, I consider the advantages and disadvantages of renting worship space.

The urban landscape is becoming increasingly crowded — and expensive. While churches have been moving out of the city to the suburbs, the cites have been growing. The North American Misssion Board reports that nearly 6 out of 10 Americans live in the 50 largest cities. And while establishing a new congregation in a populous city context poses many challenges, the lack of affordable space for church property is one of the most daunting. Purchasing facilities for worship in most large cities, especially for a church plant, is often impossible.

As previously noted, this is my week for presenting at GospelCom's meetup: "The Internet Ministry Conference."

I successfully captured audio for today's presentation: "Relationship Blogging." So as soon as I can get my audio editor software working, I'll upload it as an mp3 file, and I will also upload a flash version of the powerpoint file for your enjoyment as well.

I don't think there was any video of this presentation, so I'll spare you that!

Stay tuned for details.

Tomorrow I'll be giving my "Integrity on the Internet" presentation. The presentation has been updated from my earlier 1998 version. Hopefully It'll go well!

More later. But, meanwhile, for all who were interested in the books I mentioned, see:

Hat tip to Michael Davis for alerting me to this question posed over at Total Leadership: "Should Ministry Leaders Blog?" Here are my thoughts…

A blogger with a "why" beats one with only a "how"

Blogging can be a waste of a leader's time if he doesn't know what he's doing or why he's doing it. (Especially why.)

I would never suggest a leader start blogging (or podcasting) unless they've already been reading some choice blogs and are starting to get some idea of what value a blog can bring to a ministry or to one's life. Rushing into blogging without first experiencing it is like convincing someone to preach who's never heard a sermon in their life. Sure, it might be comical or even refreshing — once.

A

Articles

• Church Rentals: Have Space Will Worship (Christianity Today Library, September 6, 2007 [via CTI])
• Cyber-Sexuality: Maintaining Real Purity in a Virtual World (Christianity Today Library, August 29, 2007 [via CTI])
• Involuntary Self-Denial and Relationship Breakdown (Christianity Today Library, June 13, 2007 [via CTI])
• Apostasy: Rejecting Ideas (Christianity Today Library, 04/11/2007 [via CTI])
• Misplaced Love: On Greed, Addiction, and Bad Affection (Christianity Today Library, 02/14/2007 [via CTI])
• Video Games: Violence In, Violence Out? (Christianity Today Library 08/09/2006 [

These are a few of the things I've recently found interesting, but don't have the time to properly blog on. I don't necessarily like or agree with the links here, I just think they're interesting. And just in case you do, too, enjoy.

(You can view past Del.icio.us links here or subscribe to my Del.icio.us feed here. )

Never realized how easy it is to set up a blog with WordPress. This is pretty sharp.

Now, let's see if I can come up with something to write about. Of course, this being the first post of the blog, there's literally nothing to write about except yet further inane drivel about the futility of writing when one has nothing to say.

And isn't that what blogging is all about?

(What I really want to do is podcast. )

[tags]blogging, BlogRodent, first-post, Wordpress, writing[/tags]