It has taken me awhile to finish this book but it was well worth it. When I first got this book I believed it would be just maps and charts but it was so much more then that. It had book reviews and recaps, maps, charts, book outlines, and much more. I believe for any person that studies the bible this is a must have. It makes studying the bible very interesting and insightful.

I am a student ministries pastor and this book has the power to help and aid me in teaching the word of God. Although I see things through pastor’s eyes this book is a much needed tool for professors, pastors, theologians, and even lay people.

I would highly recommend this book for you. Go and get it today, you will be glad you did.

I have been working on streamlining some items inside our admin areas. Mainly our follow-up systems. Although we have the systems in place it gets really time consuming typing the same things over and over. So we typed everything in word files so we can copy and paste, but it is still time consuming as you still have to find the file and open the file. So today I was remembering a product I heard Leo Laporte uses called Text Expander. I looked at it and was amazed at the impact it could have in ministry admin items.

I typed the following thing only using 2 snippets. (7 letters Total)

Hey,

It was so good to see you at Echo last night. I hope you meet some new people and had a great time. Here at Echo we are all about students, and helping them get connected to other students and God. If you have any questions about Echo please feel free to checkout out our website at www.echostudentministries.com, and/or email me. Thanks again for coming and we will be looking forward to seeing you next week.

PATRICK RINGLER
Student Pastor
First Assembly of God
www.firstagrc.com
www.echostudentministries.com
Office: 605-342-8265
Fax: 605-342-6848

Social Networking:
{+} TWITTER : www.twitter.com/patrickringler
{+} FACEBOOK : www.facebook.com/patrick.ringler

If you think this is something you would like to try check out the website HERE. and you can get 20% off just check out this website HERE. Also I would love to hear what you think…

I was reading a post over at Brad Coopers Blog today, You should check it out HERE, and found a post that has really continued my prayers this Easter. The Question he asked was;

Christ did not die so that we might live…..
Christ died so we might die…..
“How’s that whole dying thing going for you?”

So here is the question how am i dying and being impacted by Jesus death. All to often we seem to rush over the cross, but what is we stopped and let the whole idea of his death disturb us. I think when we rush over it we make it common place and ordinary. But it is more then ordinary, it was powerful and impacting. The two verses that have been ruining me are the following

I know your deeds; you have a reputation of being alive, but you are dead.²Wake up! Strengthen what remains and is about to die, for I have not found your deeds complete in the sight of my God.
Revelation 3:1b-2
“‘These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. ⁷They worship me in vain; their teachings are but rules taught by men.’
Mark 7:6b-7

So with this my prayer is God help me to die to self and live out the example Jesus has set for me. God help me to grow. Ruin Me! Ignite a passion in my heart to live out your example and let me leave the rules taught by men.

I am still working through this and praying for God to move. Thanks Brad for the challenging Question it is ruining me, and it is great.

I thought i was the only father that messed up alot. I have 3 girls and tears are common place at my house. I saw this video and the young guy reminded me of my littlest. I have added what Carlos (dad) had to say about the video.

So my 3 year old. He apparently loves the song, “Single Ladies”, by Beyonce. Little did I know how much he loves that song. I was simply making a point that he, in fact, is not a single lady. I thought he would laugh and keep singing. Man, was I wrong. Notice Sohaila, my
oldest daughter, in the center seat.

I was reading a story over at the Huffington Post website and I saw this one. It was hilarious! You can check out the article here and vote for which cover you think is the creepiest. I have enclosed the one that made me laugh below.

I am not really that good with photoshop yet, but I saw this video and was blown away by just this one feature in Photoshop CS4. I have this version and will be looking to try this out in the coming days. Watch the video it is worth your time, especially if you have CS4.

Thanks to AG Trust and National Youth Ministries. as they have given away a tool that is geared to aid youth pastors in reaching students. TheFiftyTwo has lots of ideas that make ministry easier. I

As you navigate TheFiftyTwo you’ll notice three other tabs besides Plan52: Leadership, Sermon/Small Groups, and Applications.

• The Leadership tab gives you a plethora of leadership tips, ideas and resources to help you grow as an individual and in your youth ministry. Some of these will also prove helpful in training your youth staff.
• The Sermon/Small Group tab contains 56 sermons, 56 coordinating small group lessons, and 56 slide presentations in PowerPoint. Every sermon, small group connect and slide presentation can be worked with in order to make it more personal and fit your youth ministry.
• The Application tab contains program and product apps to equip you with the tools necessary to win, build and send youth. Here you’ll find product descriptions and strategies that allow you as the leader to bring application to your plan. In addition, you will find an Other Resources tool bar, which will highlight several other current Apps for your use.

I believe this is great for volunteer youth workers, as time is a limited commodity in their ministry. I have a code for TheFiftyTwo that I would like to give away to a leader that would like it. I will give it away to some that comments to this post before 8pm. Check out the release video below;

Man it has been a crazy year, with everything that is going on at my current church. Although my church takes a lot of my time I do have other things going on in my life. One of those things is being Ordained. I went through the process and was really surprised at how easy it was. I received a letter this week that has informed me i had past and will be ordained coming up April 12th. I do realize that some things change, allows me more opportunities, but i am still struggling with the same thing my oldest daughter did when she turned 6 this year. She said;

“Dad am i six. (Dad said YES) Man I don’t feel six, nothing changed”

With that in mind; “Am I Ordained, I don’t feel ordained, nothings changed!”

These are the books that I am working towards reading this upcoming year. I am going to break them down by weeks. I have found if I just have a large list I struggle with reading as I am not focused. So I am going to set a goal to read a book a week. I have made a list that contains books that cover leadership, business, church admin, and bible knowledge. Here is my current list:

March 14 -The Back of the Napkin:Solving problems and selling ideas with pictures. (Surgery hindered me this week moving to the week of May 30th)
March 21 -I Am Not But I Know I AM: Welcome to the Story of God
March 28 -Essential Church?: Reclaiming a Generation of Dropouts
April 4 -Vintage Jesus: Timeless Answers to Timely Questions
April 11 – Outliers: The Story of Success
April 18 -Activate: An Entirely New Approach to Small Groups
April 25 -Soul Revolution: How Imperfect People Become All God Intended
May 2 -The Naked Gospel: The Truth You May Never Hear in Church
May 9 -Now, Discover Your Strengths: How to Build Your Strengths and the Strengths of Every Person in Your Organization
May 16 -Winning With People: Discover the People Principles that Work for You Every Time
May 23 -Flickering Pixels: How Technology Shapes Your Faith

I will post reviews as I finish them. You can follow my reading schedule on the “My Reading List” page. I would love to hear what books you are reading and what topics they cover?

“Anxiety is nothing but repeatedly re-experiencing failure in advance. What a waste.”

I have been reading “Linchpin” the new book of Seth Godin and this quote really has had me thinking in the last few weeks. I saw this over at Michael Hyatt’s Blog you should check it out here.