Category Archives: Resources

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Reading The Classics Together

If you haven’t noticed, I love to read.  Reading is a great way to deepen my understanding of God, life, and ministry.  And I find it extremely relaxing and enjoyable, too.

In fact, this blog started a place to post book reviews, and that’s still a large part of what I do here.  The book review side of things is called The Randleman Review.  Over the last couple of years, I’ve read and reviewed dozens of books for several different publishers.  I even made a business card for the book review side of things.

Challies.com

I recently started following Tim Challies’ blog.  And I have to say, I find it extremely interesting.  There have been some excellent resources posted there in the few short weeks I’ve been reading.  I would recommend that you check it out.

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My Top Posts For May 2011

May is over!  That is so hard to believe!

Since it is now June, I thought it would be interesting to see what May look liked for JeffRandleman.com.

Wordle.net Word Picture for May 2011

In case you missed them, here are my top five posts for May, in terms of page views:

  1. Hubble Deep Space Field
  2. Responding To The Devastating Tornado In Joplin, Missouri
  3. Why You Need To Develop A Philosophy Of Ministry
  4. My Current Philosophy Of Ministry
  5. Book Review – Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
  6. Why I Love Mondays

I know.  That’s six.  Here’s why I listed one extra.  The Hubble Deep Space Field photo is always the post that generates the most page views.  Always.  As in 1000% more than any other post.  So, in a way, I don’t count it in my top five, since it’s a given that it will be there.

This is really kind of amazing to me, since I posted this picture in 2008!  It’s still generating lots of interest!

Out of all of these, two of them are part of the Foundations Of Youth Ministry series.  This is a series that I am extremely excited about.  If you are involved in youth ministry, you may want to check out some of these posts, covering things they never really taught me in college.

My person favorite post this month was Why I Love Mondays.  Which one was yours?

If you are a blogger, leave a comment with your top post for the month.  If you don’t blog, leave a comment with a favorite post or blog that you read this month.


 

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Redefining Our Missions Strategy

On Tuesday and Wednesday of this week, I attended a missions conference at Avant Ministries, in Kansas City.  The conference was called C.A.N., meaning Church. Agency. Now.

Avant Ministries

They partnered with sixteen:fifteen, a coaching ministry that partners with churches to discover and implement a strategic missions mindset.

I attended the CAN conference this week with another guy from our missions team.  We took away a great deal of information about how to structure and implement our missions strategy more effectively.

sixteen:fifteen

The best thing about the CAN conference?  It’s free.

That’s right.  No cost.  They provide two days of workshops for free.  And materials.  And a book or two.  And meals.  And overnight lodging in their guest house.  All of this… for free.

My first thought was why.  Why would they do this?  There has to be a catch.  There has to be a sales pitch.

No catch.  No pitch.  Just sincere concern about reaching the unreached peoples of the world.

Wow!

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Going Paperless Can Be Easy!

I’ve been struggling for the last several months with the amount of paper I produce.

I’m not fanatically “green” or anything… although I firmly believe that we are called to be wise stewards with our planet and its resources.  But simply from a perspective of bulk, I produce a lot of paper.

Stack of Papers

I’ve been trying to move away from that somewhat.  I’ve started receiving bank and credit card statements via email rather than in a paper format.  But I still have the problem of where to store all this.  My file cabinet is full, and receiving a statement by email only to print it for filing is counterproductive.

What to do?

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The Power Of Words

I came across this video the other day.  It’s powerful!  And it really makes you think.

Watching this video really made me think.  Do I harness the power of words…

  • with my family?
  • in my preaching and teaching?
  • with friends?
  • in my writing?

Sometimes it’s easier to say something without any thought than to make sure that what I speak is powerful and edifying to others.

I’m so guilty of this.  Watching a two minute video has convicted me to be more intentional in all that I say.

Do you ever speak without really thinking through what you’re saying?  How do you make sure you’re more intentional in this?  You can leave your thoughts in the comments.

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What To Do When You Feel Like A Dummy

Sometimes I feel like I don’t know everything I should about something.

Sometimes I feel like a dummy.

Fortunately, there is something I can do about that.

WordPress All-In-One For Dummies

I’m a reader.  I learn best by reading about how to do something, and then doing it.  Once I take those two steps, I’ve pretty much got what I needed to understand.  At least, to an extent.

So now that I’m blogging more seriously, and using WordPress as my platform, I needed a resource that would help me understand what I’m doing as well as possible.

I pre-ordered WordPress All-In-One For Dummies.  I placed this order over two months ago on Amazon.com.  After the availability date was pushed back a couple of different times, and I almost forgot that it was coming, it finally arrived at my door yesterday.

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Why You Should Attend The Missouri Christian Convention

This weekend is the annual Missouri Christian Convention.  I’m here this weekend because I’m leading a workshop in the teen sessions.  I was given the topic of dating and relationships.  It works out pretty well, since we are currently in a series on dating, relationships and sex in our youth ministry.

The convention this year is at Tan-Tar-A Resort, in Osage Beach, Missouri.  Because I’m a workshop leader, I was given a room for free.  We have a very large, open room on the eighth floor with an excellent view of the Lake of the Ozarks from the patio.

Tan-Tar-A Resort, Osage Beach, MO

My wife and kids came along.  They haven’t taken in much of the convention, due to several factors.  We’ve just used the opportunity to get away from home as a family and enjoy a resort room together.  The kids have loved the pool.

I love going to conventions like this one.  Let me give you a few reasons why.