dan king is a real dude [we are real guest post from cheryl smith]

I should have known that anyone who names his blog “BibleDude” (and has a twitter handle by the same name) would be a fun guy with a heart for God. It didn’t take me long to realize this truth.

Dan and I first began interacting at the beginning of the year, as colleagues at High Calling Blogs. He’s the Social Media Editor and I’m the Welcome Editor. One of my early duties was to send Dan the twitter names of our HCB member bloggers, so he could add them to the HCB Twitter list. Those brief email exchanges were often good-natured, with some occasional banter.

Thankfully, within the last couple of months, that process was automated. I say thankfully, not because I didn’t want to communicate as frequently with Dan, but because it was a tedious part of the welcome process. In fact, I actually found that I missed harassing Dan with some regularity.

Then a couple of months ago, Dan brought a 31 day blog project to the HCB network. I was really intrigued, but the timing didn’t work for me to participate. I lived vicariously through several of the posts – LL’s in particular, probably because I liked her snarky style, but that’s another story.

Upon completion of the project, I was VERY impressed by Dan’s ability to initiate, manage and promote a project of this magnitude.

So when he started talking about the sex project, I was interested. You see, for years now, God has been leading me to tell my story. It’s a story of His faithfulness and redemptive work in my life. I agreed to participate.

But it’s scary to put your stuff out there.

Here’s a quick recap of my email to Dan:

“…God is leading – to expose the lies of the enemy and set the captives free. Scary stuff. And exciting…

Suddenly feeling the need to be in prayer against the enemy for all who are taking part in this project. I have a strong sense that spiritual warfare could be huge.

Thank you Dan. Truly.”

His response was really encouraging:

“I hear ya…
Please know that I’m spending some time on my knees for all of you who are contributing to this project right now. I definitely agree that this is gonna stir the pot a bit. I’m praying that each of the contributors (including you) have a clear mind, and ears to hear what the Lord would have you share. I’m praying for a protection over your households and that you experience a peace that allows you to do what’s needed to ‘expose the lies of the enemy and set the captives free.’

AMEN!!!”

The next day I sent him a quick email. The subject line read, “Close to hitting publish” and the body simply said, “and throwing up.”

But I did it. (without barfing.) And God used Dan King in a big way. And that was only week one of the project.

In preparation for the We Are Real project and guest posts, Dan and I talked on the phone last week. I heard a little more about his heart for God and sensed a high calling on his life.

This fall, most of the HCB staff will meet at Laity Lodge for a retreat. I’m looking forward to meeting Dan and our other colleagues who have become “friends” through the power of the Internet.

As I type these last words, that lump in my throat is back. It’s the one that tells me God is at work. I know in my heart He’s at work in Dan’s life. And I’m thankful to be included in the journey.

We Are Real. Yes!

Note from Dan: Check out my guest post at Cheryl’s site!

10 must-read posts [from @thehighcalling blogs network]

Looking for inspiration? A challenge? Maybe yout just need to know that there’s someone else out there dealing with the same stuff that you are.

If any (or all) of these situations describe you, then you’ll want to check out this list. These posts have been selected by myself and the rest of the editorial team at HighCallingblogs.com as our favorites that we’ve had the pleasure of sharing.

These posts will make you laugh, and make you cry. You’ll be inspired, and challenged. But most of all, these posts will do what a Christian blog network does best…   They’ll let you know that you’re not alone.

1. A Son’s Wisdom by Billy Coffey
2. Our Life with Shelby (and part two) by Gordon Atkinson
3. Liturgy for the Common Cube by Thom
4. Culture Corner: Top 10 Reasons to Hope by Sam Van Eman
5. Your Greater Leadership Purpose at Work by Bradley J. Moore
6. It Happens in a Blink by Ann Kroeker
7. On Forgetting Myself by Laura Boggess
8. Zombies for the Love of God by Marcus Goodyear
9. A Letter from God? by Gordon Atkinson
10. It’s Easy to Be With You by L.L. Barkat

Do you have any favorite posts from HighCallingBlogs.com? Then please share them in the comments below. I’d also love to hear if any of these posts particularly moved or touched you in some way. So please feel free to share your thoughts on this list.

the elevator pitch: bibledude[dot]net

First and foremost, BibleDude.net is intentionally a .NET. We strive to provide a place of Christian fellowship and community (a network) where people can express themselves in three ways:

(1) To be REAL. Our interactions and discussions aim to be honest and authentic in nature. This is a place where people can express what they really feel about living out their faith.

(2) To be RELEVANT. What we do should be focused on real-life application of the Word of God to our families, job, ministries, or any other aspect of our lives.

(3) To be FAITH-centered. God is at the center of everything that we do and discuss. Without Him, what we do would be meaningless.

What do you think? Is this something that you would want to be a part of? Does it sum up your experience with BibleDude.net? Is there anything that I should change about this statement?

As the Social Media Editor for HighCallingBlogs.com, I’m taking the lead in a partnership with Christian Web Trends at OurChurch.com in a project called ’31 Days to Build a Better Blog’. I’m pretty excited about this project, because I think that it’ll give me the opportunity to take BibleDude.net to the next level.

I’m also hoping that we’ll be able to apply some of what we learn to the HighCallingBlogs.com site, and I think that many of our member bloggers will benefit a great deal from the discussions.

Day 1 of the project focuses on ‘The Elevator Pitch‘. Wikipedia defines the elevator pitch this way…

An elevator pitch is an overview of an idea for a product, service, or project. The name reflects the fact that an elevator pitch can be delivered in the time span of an elevator ride (for example, thirty seconds or 100–150 words).

For quite some time now I’ve used the tagline of ‘real. relevant. faith.’ for this site. I use it because I believe that it sums up what the site is all about. The 116-word elevator pitch that I started this post with provides the deeper definition of what that three-word tagline means to me.

I’d love to hear what you think about my elevator pitch. If you’ve been visiting here for a while, does this fit your experience? If not, then what is missing?

If you’re new here, does this sound like something that you’d want to be a part of? Why or why not?

Please feel free to be honest, and not worry about hurting my feelings. I’m really trying to grow through this process, and want to know what you really think (that’s the REAL part of my elevator pitch).

So let me have it! Ready, set, go…

[highcallingblogs.com] how to engage community on facebook

Note: This is an excerpt of a featured Community post (written by yours truly!) at HighCallingBlogs.com.

Facebook is a game-changer. Say what you want about sites like MySpace, Twitter, or a number of others, but Facebook is the killer app that brought social networking into the mainstream.

Social networking is ultimately about community, and not just surfing a website. So if you want to get the most out of Facebook, and even use it to benefit your blog, there are some things you should know about engaging community. The good news is the rules aren’t very different than ‘real’ life, even though the tools may be.

Engage People Directly

Whether it’s online or offline, few things are as effective as just talking to people. When you want to talk to someone offline you walk over and talk, or you pick up the phone and call. Regardless of how you do it, the idea is that you take the initiative to connect. Generally speaking, it makes people feel good when others reach out…

Read the entire article at the HighCallingBlogs.com website.

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