One Prayer Download Stats

Churches from all over the world have been reviewing and downloading One Prayer messages for the last week.  There is one week left before the series officially starts globally and I strongly encourage those of you participating to review and download the messages you are going to use now.

Some of you have asked if I have any statistics/technical details about the downloads…here are some quick stats for those of you technically inclined.

• Over 7000 One Prayer files have been downloaded in the last week.
• Over 5.2 TB (terabytes) have been downloaded in the last week
• The peak data transfer was 368 Mb/s (megabits per second) on Tuesday May 27th
• There are 432 GB (gigabytes) of One Prayer messages stored on our servers
• We have two servers hosted in Dallas, TX that are handling One Prayer traffic.
• All of the flash video previews are not included in those stats.

If you have no idea what any of that means…it means there are a whole lot people reviewing and downloading One Prayer messages :)  It’s still not too late to join.

Tags: one prayer, preaching, technology

5 comments

August is the New September

This may not be true all over the world, but most of the new generation leaders in the U.S. are seeing a trend in churches: August is the New September.

In years past, September was one of the biggest months of the year for churches. The week after Labor Day, people settled back in and seemed to refocus on God and ministry.

Don’t wait until September, start in August!

I’m not sure if it is the change in school schedules, the distraction of Fall football, or some other factor, but people are coming back to church earlier.

If you normally consider August as the last month of your summer schedule, I’d suggest a change in your thinking. View August as the first month of your Fall planning.

Please jump into this conversation! How is August different than in years past? What do you do that works? Do you agree? Disagree?

(Please tell us where you are from if you are explaining your experiences.)

Tags: church growth

30 comments

Your Church Can Grow SPIRITUALLY this Summer

Yesterday we talked about numerical growth. Today, let’s focus on spiritual growth.

Don’t let this summer pass without challenging your people spiritually. Even though some people are traveling, visiting the lake, or have simply gotten distracted, you can still challenge people spiritually.

• You might invite people to fast with you.
• You might challenge people to read through a book of the bible for a month (even if they are traveling.)
• You might invite people to participate in a service project.
• You might inspire people to intentional acts of spiritual kindness.
• You might devote the month of July to praying for 31 different things that affect your community.
• You might ask all your small groups to do a specific study together.

So many ministries coast through the summer on autopilot. Ask God how He wants you to push the people spiritually this summer!

Tags: church growth

10 comments

Your Church Can Grow this Summer!

It’s true. Your church can grow this summer.

• Many new churches will grow throughout the summer months.
• Some “mature” churches will reach more people this summer.
• Several of our campuses will boom during the “hot” months.

I am believing God for one of the greatest summers ever.

First, I expect One Prayer to ignite a burning spiritual passion! Following One Prayer, we will do “At the Movies.” This series has become an anticipated evangelistic event. (We have seen annual attendance records every July with more salvations than previous months each year.)

(NOTE: PLEASE DON’T RUN OUT AND COPY THIS SERIES THINKING YOU WILL SEE THE SAME RESULTS. THIS IS BASED ON GOD’S BLESSINGS AND YEARS OF TRAINING OUR PEOPLE TO USE THIS FOR OUTREACH.)

Whatever you do this summer, believe growth is possible! Your church can grow this summer! Dream big! God is still on the throne and desires to reach people through your ministry!

Please share any summer evangelistic ideas you have.

Tags: church growth

14 comments

Messages Available on OnePrayer.com!

I hope you all had a good Memorial Day weekend!

On Friday, our hard working digerati team launched the message preview/download section of OnePrayer.com! Many churches have already downloaded content and are planning their weekends.

With over 1,100 churches participating, I strongly encourage you preview and download the messages you’ll be using as quickly as possible. We want to help you make One Prayer successful in your church!

Thank you to the 62 pastors and churches who submitted video teaching. We know this is no small task, and we appreciate the extra effort everyone has put forward into making One Prayer incredible!

To begin previewing and downloading messages, click here.

Tags: one prayer, technology, Unity, video

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The Summer Slump

Most churches experience a “summer slump.”

• Attendance drops
• Giving slows
• Volunteers miss
• Interest fades

What should a leader do during down times? Although I can’t answer the question for you specifically, I would say, “DO SOMETHING INTENTIONAL!”

You might:

• Challenge the church to host summer neighborhood block parties
• Ask your small groups to take the summer off and challenge them to devote one weekend a month to an inner city mission project.
• Write devotionals for people traveling on vacation.
• Do a summer long overview of the Old Testament
• Experiment with a different style of worship
• Participate in “One Prayer” (Couldn’t resist)
• Take some extended time off
• Challenge people to devote a week of their vacation to minister on an international mission trip

Whatever you do, don’t miss this great opportunity to pray, seek God, and do something intentional! Even though many are distracted, God still wants to do something powerful through your ministry this summer!

Please share any summer ideas or ministries you are excited about.

Tags: one prayer, summer ideas, summer slump

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Results: Bible Translations

Thanks to everyone who commented on the previous post I wrote asking about Bible translations. I think we set a record number of comments!

Here are the results (as of early Friday afternoon)…The links will take you to that translation in YouVersion.com.

NIV - 27%
NLT - 26%
ESV - 18%
NASB - 10%
TNIV - 6%
NKJV - 5%
Message - 3%
NET, KJV, AMP, RSV, NRSV, HCSB - 1%

(We are working diligently on adding the NLT and others to the various YouVersion.com translations.)

What do you think? Any surprises?

For those of you in the US, have a good Memorial Day!

Tags: Bible, translations, YouVersion.com

27 comments

I’m Curious: Bible Translations

With all the various Bible translations out there, which translation do you use the most?

Please answer with where you are from, as well as your preferred translation.

We’ll post the results soon!

Tags: Bible, translations, YouVersion.com

244 comments