Revolution

Resource Week

This week I'm going to pass on some of the resources I've found really helpful for me in my growth as a believer & as a leader. The great news about a lot of this is that it's totally free because it's online. I will recommend some books that you should definitely go out & buy. They'll be worth so much more than the price on the cover.

The first area I'll hit are some websites & blogs that I use simply for reading & also for study helps in studying the Bible & preparing lessons.

The Blue Letter Bible-This is a site I've found recently that allows you to easily access the original languages of the Bible in an online way. You just enter the passage you're reading & it brings up lots of good resources like the original languages, other uses of the word, etc. It's not hard to use; just play around a bit & you should get the hang of it. This isn't going to be for everybody, but it could be useful if you're interested in digging into something a little deeper than just a brief devotional. It's a good online tool for lesson prep.

Catalystspace.com-This site is one of the best out there in the arena of leadership, especially Christian leadership. Not only does this site offer great online articles, but you can also subscribe to their digital magazine Catalyst Leadership or the monthly Catalyst Monthly which synthesizes the best stuff from the site for the entire month. Excellent stuff here!

Lifechurch.tv Open-This site is an amazing asset for those of us who have to regularly teach & preach. Lifechurch.tv has put their resources available for FREE to pastors & teachers. For me, the best part is their creative elements. Rarely do I use the actual lessons, but there have been many times that I had a lesson or a series that I wanted some cool creative pieces before & this was the place to go.

Here are a few blogs that I read often:

The Bowman Family-This is my wife's blog, & I don't think she realizes that she's a pretty good writer. It's also got some great pics of my little girls, Julia & Audrey. If you have any desire to know more about my personal life, you'll find it here.

BradLomenick.com-Brad is the director of Catalyst. He's got some amazing insights that he brings on life & leadership. Besides the fact that he's an Oklahoma Sooner fan, he's a pretty sharp guy that you should check out.

Flowerdust.net-Flowerdust is the blog of Anne Jackson. Anne has also served on the staff of Cross Point Church in the Nashville area. She's now focusing on speaking & writing. Her blog is many times raw & always thought provoking. Anne is one of the giants in the blogosphere, & she would hate that I wrote that about her.

Tomorrow I'll share some other blogs that I read pretty much everyday. I promise these are people that you need to be reading because they are great thinkers & great men of God, plus they're usually pretty entertaining to read too, & that always helps.