The Amazing Race: Mildura

A few weeks ago, while I was in Australia, we hosted a church Amazing Race teen activity. It was a great blast and a lot of work. We had three video cameras present and we tried to get as much of the race on film as possible. The final product is featured below for your enjoyment. I have also supplied the rest of our meager "designs" for you to look at too.

This was the envelope design. We printed directly onto envelopes. It wasn't difficult to make. Just use all caps, a black or thick bold font and mess with the letter height percentages in any Adobe program.

These were our clues. We printed them in black and white for sake of saving money on color, but I designed them in color. It was pretty easy. Just a bunch of rounded-corner boxes and I used wingdings shaped like travel icons for top. We had detours as well, but you can get the just of the design from this.

Most of the rest of the activity was just planning and organizing. That's the only design aspect. But don't let it fool you. Writing all of those and having them printed, then sealing them in envelopes is a lot of work! I hope this will be an inspiration for you to do a similar activity at your church! It's great fun!

Read more »

Free Book: Simple Church Giveaway

We are giving away one free copy of Dr. Thom Rainer's book Simple Church.

Recently I wrote and article about the book. Check it out here if you haven't read it yet.

This giveaway ends next Saturday, August 11, 2012 at Midnight Eastern Time.

Just enter in the widget below. Like us on Facebook, Follow us on Twitter, or post a Tweet to get extra entries. Then make sure you share this giveaway on Facebook (the widget should prompt you) to get an additional entry for each one of your friends that clicks your link.

Read more »

Review of "Simple Church"

A few weeks ago, it was suggested that I read Dr. Thom Rainer's book Simple Church. I acquired the book as well as an extra copy (for a giveaway starting tomorrow).

By the authors' own admission, the book is "a nerdy research project" (243). What I found most humorous was shortly after that statement they write: "Normal people don't read church research books on vacation. We do. But we are not normal." And where was I when I was reading this book? On a plane on vacation. To that, the authors write "Welcome to the club."

However, don't let that give you hesitation. The book is a extremely practical church statistic book. The authors never meant it to sit on your shelf next to your church philosophy books and counseling books that you reference constantly for how to keep your church in the right perspective. They merely were reporting the findings of their research.

"But Traver, why is this book on a blog about graphic design?" Well let me tell you. It is because the book contains positive marketing principles applicable to your church both through design and ministry. The book begins looking at popular companies like Apple, Google, Southwest Airlines, and Papa Johns. These companies claim their success comes from their simple approach to design.

The whole premise of the book is "Simple is better." We've been duped into this mentality that "More is better" and "Complexity shows my skill." Instead, what society really wants is the point. They want to get to the point. In a society filled with microwaves, instant coffee and fast food, we don't want the extra garbage, just get to the point.

Some of the best design I have seen is clean. It shares the information you need to know, and adds nothing else.

Simple Church takes that philosophy and applies it to the church. The research project is then unfolded. Complex churches are cluttered with mission statements, philosophies, programs and directions. Each staff member has a different idea of what they want to accomplish and no one is in harmony. These churches have been found to struggle for growth, even if they are large to begin with, and report little development as a church. The pastor is frustrated and work is going no where.

The simple church, on the other hand, has one goal. One desire. They want to move people along a process toward spiritual growth. All of the simple churches have this general plan: "Win people to Christ, disciple them, and teach them to serve and share Christ with others." It's a three step process.

The simple church desires to move people along those various steps. The pastor constantly pushes that agenda, and every church member knows the philosophy. Each staff member is unified, and the programs of the church desire to further that cause. The church is vibrant and growing.

The proof, the method, and what to do are all found in the Simple Church. The authors are witty, funny, and make reading this book an enjoyable time. It's not a dry or dull experience, and the information is beneficial. You can pick up your copy of Simple Church at Lifeway.

Read more »

End Times Timelines

So where have I been the past month or so? Why haven't I been posting? Well the simple answer is I've been busy. The more detailed one is that I've been in two 2-week long intensive seminary classes as well as Australia for 3 weeks. You've received a few updates here or there about some design work that I have done in the process.

You might remember my post about the common take on Jude 22 "Making a Difference" being the wrong approach. You also might remember my Men's Conference Flyer for Murray River Baptist Church.

Well this is another one of those sort of posts. I'm currently in, and about to finish up, the book of Daniel in a Seminary class. Two of our class projects were to create a chart revolving around the Four Kingdoms of Daniel 2 and 7 as well as create a timeline for a Seventy Weeks of Daniel 9:24-27.

Our teacher showed us a generic Word document table with boring text and white boxes and I though to myself, "How about I make my chart look attractive." This has given me the idea of making charts like this in the future. I found this to be a practical and helpful project and I hope you find it helpful, too.

Feel free to use these if you desire. I made them pretty large (25"x19"). Just click on the picture to open the largest file.

The Seventy Weeks of Daniel timeline is pretty straight forward. It's a Pre-millennial timeline of events based upon Daniel 9:24-27. Yes, I am Pre-millennial. Yes, I disagree strongly about the other two views (A- and Post-).

The Four Kingdoms or Four Beasts chart is based upon Daniel 2 and 7. Though not directly stated in the chart, the image of Nebuchadnezzar contains the same four kingdoms. The head of gold, chest of silver, waist of brass, and legs of iron and clay are represented in that same order.

This chart contains all four views of this passage, though I only ascribe to the Pre-millennial view as mentioned above. There isn't much difference in the identity of the four kingdoms, but rather the difference is how the Kingdom of God plays in. The liberal view is just dumb.

Do you like these charts? Would you like me to design some more End Times charts? I'm thinking about developing a complete End Times timeline based off of the Seventy Weeks chart. Would you find it helpful if I did this? Let me know. Your response will determine whether or not I put the time into it.

If you like this post, do me a favor and share it on Facebook. Let's get the word out about attractive and easy-to-understand Bible charts that make certain passages practical and profitable. As well as all the other design ideas on this blog!

Read more »