Recently The Alban Institute issued an article talking about the Internet and the Church. The blinding speed of the internet's impact on the local church is very important and significant for those who are involved in ministry to people of all ages. From the study I was encouraged that for many the internet is the best way to connect to others. Here is the challenge. Can real community take place on the internet? Can Facebook become a powerful third place to gather with others and to enjoy community? There are some very good examples of church's that are doing a good job on line as part of their strategy for ministry. LifeChurchTV is a great example of a fully designed Internet Church experience. Recently the church covered a series on practical Atheism. In addition the church is working to integrate web communities to the local communities of the church.

Living in both the physical and the virtual world is now commonplace. The debates are over. It is not a matter of will people spend time in the virtual world of the web, but how do we connect the realities of the two worlds! Here are some statistics about web usage as we move into the 21st century. One place where millions gather in the  web world is Second Life. I don't think we can underestimate the power of Second Life on the virtual world of technology. Reality check! This new virtual world has all the challenges of the physical world--business, commerce, religion, and relationships. There are many companies that have found their way to SL. You can find the dark  world there, but you can also find the light. I read a post about how LifeChurch.tv is using the virtual world Second Life to reach out to people with the gospel. What an encouragement to see God's people going as missionaries to the unreached with the message of hope found in Christ! I am surprised at the large of number of people who still aren't aware of Second Life. I have attached a Wiki on the subject for those who need to do your homework. :) What do you think about it?

Here at NavPress we are excited about the opportunity to use a number of new technologies to get the word out about our services and products. Do you Twitter? If not then a brief update is needed. There are a number of micro blog sites out there. But I have found that Twitter seems to be the best connection with my network of business associates and friends to stay in touch about what is going on in their world. One of the great things about these tools is that they can connect to your PDA or to your computer and interface with MySpace, Facebook or other social networks. So if you have not joined the micro blog revolution, sign up at www.twitter.com. Then I encourage you to follow these two twitters--called "twits"--to keep up with what is happening at NavPress: millerisms56 is my personal one, and then of course NavPress twitter. [polldaddy poll=1124137]

I was recently reading a study on Socializing a New Generation: Trends That Mark Changes from the Boomers to the Generation Xer's and Yer's. Here is an excerpt that really made me think about trust: "When the security and structure of family and its related support institutions are broken and when young people experience the rise of protection and safety as the highest values, you no longer have the foundation of trust. Without trust, relationships do not operate in a healthy manner, leaving each person isolated and fearful of the very thing that we have been promised will set us free--TRUTH! Robert Putnam, author of Bowling Alone, has probably written more than any other author on the subject of personal isolation and the loss of trust. He has discovered that in the U.S. from 1960 to 2000 the belief that most people can be trusted fell from 55% to below 40% and for teenagers in the year 2000 it was at 25%!" Have we become a trustless culture? Will most of our socialization in the future be in the isolated environment of the virtual world? What do you think?

This week we will all pause to celebrate with friends and family a time of Thanksgiving! We all have our own  memories related to this special day. I wanted to express thanks for several very important things in my life.

• I thank the Lord for His grace and mercy shown, for His salvation in Christ, and His provision.

• I thank the Lord for my wonderful wife, Pat, of 32 years! She is my other half!

• I thank the Lord for my children and grandchildren; they enrich my life.

• I thank the Lord for my mother as she teaches me the importance of change in life circumstances.

• I thank the Lord for my friends who hold me accountable and stand beside me.

• I thank the Lord for the employees of NavPress; you are a pleasure to work beside.

• I thank the Lord for The Navigators. Your selfless investment in people for the sake of the Kingdom is infectious!

May the Lord bless you during this Thanksgiving season! Here is a wordle for you to read! [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xtxmSAqMtDA]

These are trying days in the publishing industry. Just recently a number of Christian nonprofits have been feeling the pinch of the economic slowdown. The retail sales situation is quite serious as we enter the holiday season. Sadly the media has created among consumers a level of fear that seems to me to be immoral and exaggerated. However, in these days there are a number of issues at work. Some industries are experiencing job losses, drops in the stock market, changes in consumer purchasing preferences, and declines in readership across all ages, to name just a few. One of our newest authors, Matt Bell, has some interesting thoughts on some of these financial issues as individuals seek to find their way in these tough days. I talked with a fellow publisher the other day who said that this economic slowdown will have a dramatic impact on the publishing business going forward. I would agree that this will be a time of change. But does it have to be panic? Or can there be an opportunity within this economic tidal wave? Here is my appeal to my friends in the Christian publishing world. 1. Let's focus on quality not quantity. Less is more in the new economy. 2. Let's partner together from publisher to retailer. Now is the time to rethink some of our roles. 3. Let's build new alliances with authors and agents. We all have a valuable role in this work! 4. Let's remember that it is important to honor God and trust Him in these days! 5. Let's ask God for wisdom to be better at our work as a result of this crisis.

These days The Navigators are providing NavPress with some very insightful trends they're seeing in their work with college-age young adults. I thought you might be interested in what we're learning. Perhaps you have noticed some of the same trends in your ministry world? At NavPress we take these shifts very seriously; they provide us with a reminder that we must be conscious of changes in the way people today process information and form spiritual decisions. Let me know your thoughts on this and what you've been observing.

Shifting Trends

Old: Learning through reading New: Learning through images and stories Old: Guilt orientation New: Shame orientation Old: Individual evangelism New: Living/discipling among those who don't believe Old: Activity-oriented ministry New: Environments of grace Old: Organizational growth New: Kingdom movement

Not long ago I sat with a friend whom I had worked with as an executive coach several years ago. We talked about his progress in his business. Discussed the issues he was currently tackling as a leader. As we were catching up he paused and thanked me for helping him with him time management. At first I was surprised that this was such an important issue for him out of the many things he was dealing with on a regular basis in his work. He said, "No one ever challenged me to start with the things that were the most important in performing my work rather than working my priorities around an existing calendar of organizational activities!" So perhaps the same advice might help some of you as you consider your busy schedule. Take your calendar and take a look at what appears on the page or the screen. Are the activities listed helping you accomplish your personal mission and the job you have been hired to do? Here are some tips that have worked for others: Identify your life activities. These include personal, work, family, and other life activities. Set priorities for each life activity block. Start your calendaring with your personal priorities and work down the list of life activities. Work should not come before your personal life activities. You are looking for balance in life and work.

I have enjoyed learning about a new economy called "Freemium". The author Chris Anderson of The Long Tail has been sharing some great information on his blog about this important subject. Frankly to many in the business world they will turn their nose up at this development. But personally I am intrigued by his concepts.

I included one one of his diagrams to help you understand the concepts of freemium. Free 1: You get one thing free you buy another. Free 2: Advertisers, Sponsors and paid media pay but consumers get it free. Free 3: Some pay for a full version, some is free. Free 4: Gift economy, give away for non monetary rewards. Here is the question can this work in the publishing world? Will this kind of thinking put pub. companies out of business? Is it too late to stop the Freemium wave? These are some of the questions that I am wrestling with right now wanted to share them with you and get your thoughts?

As a publisher, I often think about how the industry has changed in just the past 10 years. We now face the twin challenges of changes in reading styles and learning styles among millennials. And the rise of new technologies has dramatically challenged the traditional role of the publisher. The old publishing model was guided by the principle that the publishing house knew best about everything related to publishing a book: which message to select for publication and which to reject, how to structure and edit the selected content, what the interior and cover would look like, and, of course, creating the marketing plans to promote and sell the new book. How things have changed! Now don't get me wrong--I still believe in the role of the publisher and the publishing company. But now I have partners in the publishing enterprise. A democratization has occurred in the pub world. It might seem small at the moment, but nevertheless it is important--and it's growing. Here is how it works. WE--meaning everyone--are the teachers. WE are the publishers, the distributors. Every day millions of people turn on their computers and send emails with attachments concerning all types of information ranging from family matters to business issues. Millions more publish their latest experiences on Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, and Pulse to name just a few. And let's not forget the growing blogger world, of which I am proud to be part of, that posts all kinds news items and shares information on limitless subjects. Still other people are placing video messages on GodTube, Youtube, or some other web-based video sharing site. My hat is also off to those countless authors who have learned how to self publish their work! So WE are all teaching using these technologies. We are communicating and distributing messages to the world--or at least to anyone interested in reading what we have to say. As a publisher, I can either embrace these changes or refuse to admit that they have altered my business model. Hopefully NavPress can learn how to partner with all those teachers that share our values and mission. Let me know if we can partner and publish together.