WHAT’S ON YOUR MIND? // MY LIFE SUCKS COMPARED TO EVERYONE ELSE ONLINE

‘Facebook can be depressing because everyone else’s lives are better than yours… But are they really?’

This short film by Shaun Higton is excellent in revealing one of the problems with social media and living life online. We are comparing our mundane, ordinary and dissatisfying lives with what we perceive to be amazing, extraordinary and fulfilling lives of those we are connected to online. As I quoted in my post on selfies:

“One reason we struggle w/ insecurity: we’re comparing our behind the scenes to everyone else’s highlight reel.”

Higton’s film goes further to suggest that the highlight reel portrayed online, may not even be that accurate.

What’s on your mind?

What’s on your mind? How should we answer this question? Better yet, where should we answer this question?

Online community is not enough. It’s probably unwise to share all your deepest secrets and struggles via your social network accounts. Hashtagging your life is not the answer. I think the answer is offline.

It’s more than just looking up. All people need to be part of an offline community where you have permission to be broken, to share your struggles, to be real, and where you don’t feel the need to photoshop your life. These offline communities also need to be a place where you can be loved, accepted, and find healing.

Does your offline Christian community allow the authenticity that online communities fail to provide?

SOULIES.NET RECEIVES FACELIFT SURGERY

#SOULIESYOUTH

Not long after I told a bunch of youth leaders how to get their ministry online, the website of our youth ministry crashed! There was some bug in the theme, and while the content was safe, the look/feel/vibe of the site was dead and buried. We then put a temporary (and ugly) template online in its place.

After 6 months of that ugly template, we have finally given the site a more permanent facelift. Check out the new site and the launch video here.

I really like it. The new www.soulies.net theme is simple and with responsive width design it’s much better for viewing on mobile devices.

It’s from Studio Press using the Genesis Framework (those are affiliate links, so I get a couple of dollars if you purchase anything with Studio Press). The current theme and framework on my blog, launched October 2013, is also adapted from Studio Press.

10 GREAT PLACES TO FIND FREE IMAGES FOR CHURCH PROMO // GUEST POST BY JORDAN GILLMAN (@JORDESIGN)

free-images-for-church-promo

What began as a conversation on Twitter, eventually became this guest post by Jordan Gillman! Jordan is an experienced Web Designer and Developer. He is part of the award-winning team at fervr.net and is a specialist in building WordPress websites for Churches, Non-Profits and Startups. We were extremely pleased with his work on stfaiths.net and I would recommend his work to anyone looking for quality design at a reasonable price. Keep an eye out on his excellent blog and also a new project – ChurchSites.co – that will make quality church websites even more affordable. I’ve already begun to use the websites that Jordan recommends below.

Whether you are working on a slide for a new sermon series, a flyer or newsletter – a great image can really make a difference. But sometimes it’s hard to find the right one.

There are load of stock photography around – but they’re often filled with cliched examples and can get quite expensive. Luckily there are some great places you can find free images that won’t make you cringe.

A quick note on licensing and copyright – always make sure you’re allowed to use the image. Most of these sites allow free use for both personal and commercial work – but some might require that you provide a credit in the design. It always pays to check.

Check them out…

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