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I have begun to work on my first screen capture tutorials on Quicktime X and I will be doing web apps first. One the tutorial I am currently working on is Google Forms. I just recently started to play with them and found them to be a quick simple solution to a lot of problems. Google forms are located in the Google Documents suite.

We are a growing church 120 people  on average but that is double where we were last year at this time. My budget to spend on web development is small so I have to find the best free-cheap tools I can find. Google forms provides me with a good amount of options at a great price……. free. Before I started using Google forms I was using  a form manager on my site.  We use a Content Management System (CMS) to maintain our site. The code on the form manager was sketchy and though it provided me with options it was a lot of coping and pasting code  and it would have been very hard to train  someone on. My biggest issue with it was that it was extremely difficult to database the form data once someone filled it out.

Google forms, on the other hand, are simple to make so therefore easy to train someone else to use. They can be embedded the form is many places, sent it out in email or put it in one of you MailChimp campaigns. The best is that all of the data that you collect in these forms is then placed in a Google spread sheet for easy viewing. I already use Google docs for all of the DPC staff documents so adding the form data was just a bonus. So if you have been looking for a form solution try Google forms and look for my tutorial on them, coming soon to this site!

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Okay so I was born and raised in a traditional Southern Baptist Church. I went to church Sunday morning, Sunday night and Wednesday night. I was a Royal Ambassador and I was active in my youth group. My mother loved her Sunday School class and me and my sister were in one every week until I could drive. I never liked Sunday School much. Neither did most of the kids my age. I never saw the point in having school on a Sunday. Maybe the name just psyched me out but I never really got into Sunday School growing up.

So skip a decade plus a few years and here I am an adult (in age and responsibility only) in an era where Sunday school classes are beginning to fade and small groups are becoming the norm. I have been apart of my current church since it began back in 2005 and we have had “Life Groups” from the beginning. Up until this current edition of Life Groups I have not been able to connect with a group. I love the idea of Life Groups, I love what they are suppose to be but up until just recently I viewed them as a Sunday School substitute. Now maybe that’s my fault. Maybe Sunday School left a bitter taste in my mouth. Maybe I had the wrong attitude going into them.I have just been in Sunday school my whole life. I did not want life groups to become like Sunday School to me. Now the Life groups I am currently in is awesome. I am connected, I leave ready to come back the next week and my wife enjoys it too. The question is how do you get a large portion of your people to feel the way about life groups as I do about my current group? How do you make sure Life Groups do not feel like things you have to go to?

My other question is what else is there? In what way can we connect, grow and disciple other than life groups. Better yet is there a creative way to tweak the current model. What is your church doing to make your small groups effective?

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I have dropped the ball this week with post! Sorry

I dropped my iPhone flat on its face the other day and now have a huge crack in the face. The phone still works perfectly but it looks funny. Here are my favorite iPhone apps some are free some are not but they are all under $5

1. Facebook- I don’t know a ton of people who do not have facebook accounts this one just keeps me updated on the go.
2. ESPN Score Center- All the scores I need to know right at my finger tips
3. Google- I love Google, they can know what they want about me I have nothing to hide
4. YouVersion- Bible on the go. You version live is one of the coolest things ever!
5. Milpon- Remember the milk on your iphone without paying for a years subscription to RTM
6. TweetDeck- My Twitter app for the iphone
7. Flickr- I can post photos on the run
8. Shazam- This app is just fun. Let it hear a song that you don’t know the title to and it will send all the info about the song you need to know
9. Skype- Really haven’t got the to work they I wanted it to but what dies work is awesome
10. Urban Spoon- My restaurant finder. Love it.

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What a Sunday!

• The Band was Amazing. Production Team was on Point and Jesus was worshiped you can’t do much better than that.
• We talked about truth and how there is only one truth.
• Jesus said “I am THE way I am THE truth and I am THE life”. That is really powerful
• Life Group on Sunday Night was awesome! I posted on Facebook that I can’t remember being apart of a better life group!
• I stopped and watched Discover Kids for a few minutes on Sunday. Those kids have so much fun!
• Next week we start to discuss the excuses we make to sin. How we rationalize disobeying God and how to get away from that life style. 

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Really Cool iPhone app I  discover called Milpon. I have been testing it for a week now and I love it! I has a lot of the features of the RTM iphone app but it come without having to upgrade to RTM pro which means you can have your task from RTM for free! I use RTM everyday but just could not bring myself to pay to have there services on my iPhone. Now I can have my Cake (or Milk) and eat it too!

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• We shot a TV commercial on Sunday look for it on cable networks in Rockdale and Newton County real soon!
• Sunday was awesome!  The played a new song written by some of its members called enamored. Amazing stuff
• Musicians frustrate me and amazing all in the same breath
• This week was all about Passion. Being Passionate in all you do
• Next week we begin a series called true-ish where we explore the so-called gray areas of God
• By the way God is Black and White there is no gray
• Hope to see you guys next week!

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