MinistryTxt Blog | Texting for Youth Groups, Choirs & Ministries

Cool Ten Commandments Video

2011-04-12T08:45:00.001-05:00

If you have been around this site for very long you probably know that I love using video in ministry. I stumbled across this video last night and thought artistically it was done very well.

Quick Weather Access For Scheduling Events

2011-04-08T12:39:00.000-05:00

We now provide you with a 7 day forecast for your area
Simply log into your account and you should see your area forecast, if you do not please go to your settings page and update your zipcode.

While we know this is not the most complete forecast available we hope it will help you when planning events and scheduling text messages.

I would also like to thank you again for your continued support. I am scheduled to graduate April 29 with my B.S. in Computer Information Systems and would really appreciate your prayers as I take my finals.

I have many ideas of things to add to ministrytxt once I graduate. If you have any ideas please send them to logan@ministrytxt.com.

Thanks,
Logan Moore

April Fools Day

2011-04-01T13:25:00.000-05:00

Today is one my favorite days and to celebrate April Fools day here is a video by howcast. It's simple and could provide some laughs, but I seriously doubt your victim repeatedly sits down like they suggest.

Every Breath You Take

2011-03-24T14:22:00.001-05:00

I left school today and met my mom, aunt and sister to go to Birmingham. I hadn't had lunch yet so we stopped by Burger King and I got a #1 and a slice of cheesecake.

I ate the Whopper and it was good as always, however about halfway through eating my fries my aunt was telling a story. It was a pretty funny story and somehow I inhaled the wad of fries I was chewing.

As I gasped for air I could feel the fries being sucked in tighter and I struggled for more air. It was like vicious 3 second cycle.

I got to thinking about this and how vital oxygen is to our existence and how thankful we should be for every single breath. God has blessed us with so much but I know sometimes I forget to acknowledge God and his blessings.

I almost wrote we should remember to be thankful for things as small as each breath but when I think about that instant of panic I had at lunch that single breath doesn't seem small at all.

In the NIV there are 79 references to "breath", here is one verse that shows we were given breath by God and by this we become more than dirt and become a living being.

Genesis 2:7 (NIV)
the Lord God formed the man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.

So join me today in giving thanks to God for everything.

March 2011: Japan Relief

2011-03-16T11:58:00.000-05:00

$25.00
http://www.dosomethingnow.com

Japan Relief

This month we gave money to the Japan Relief efforts throughdosomethingnow.com which is actually teamed up with Samaritan's Purse.

Tragedy struck Japan on March 11 as an 9.0-magnitude earthquake, followed by a tsunami, devastated hundreds of towns and villages in northeast Japan. Estimated death toll has soared to more than 10,000. Hundreds of thousands of survivors have been left without adequate food, water, shelter or heat as overnight temperatures dip near freezing.

Our partner is already on the ground, joining with local churches/believers to provide emergency relief and aid to people affected by the deadly quake and massive wave by distributing food, water, blankets, hygiene supplies and other aid to those who have lost so much. And for many, everything.

In addition to giving financially, please pray for the peace and mercy of Jesus to overwhelm the hearts of the Japanese people. That they would know His love beyond anything else, bringing hope and healing to broken lives for the glory of Jesus' name.

Using an iPod touch in your ministry

2011-02-21T09:06:00.000-06:00

Have you ever noticed how people respond to pictures or videos of themselves shown on the big screen? It's usually a pretty great response.

I was given an iPhone 4 for Christmas and it's been a wonderful tool and has dramatically increased my productivity and decreased my time spent on media.

Unless you are wanting to win an oscar, the iPod touch 4 or iPhone 4 should work great for you too. Here is a video that I made in 10 minutes before our service started.

Some of you may argue that "you can tell you only spent 10 minutes on it". However there are several things you can do to improve this. Get somewhere quiet that doesn't have as much ambient noise. Use a lavaliere mic that easily plugs into the mic/headphone jack on the iPod Touch. Find a nicer location to film, outside on a pretty day makes for a great shot. Try to use the rule of thirds and keep the subjects head and shoulders in a third of the screen.

You can do like me and play with different ideas and improve on it each week.

Editing / Publishing
I am using the iMovie app from the App Store, it costs $4.99 and is very simple to use. It's pretty limited but allows you to cut and delete sections or rearrange them. It has themes for you to use such as the news one above. I then simply export the movie and it is saved in my "Photo Reel". I then use the drop box app and upload the video from the photo reel to my dropbox account. The video is then synched up to our media computer and the video is ready to go live.

The dropbox app is free and you will need a free account from http://www.dropbox.com

Other uses for the iPod Touch
You could also use the iPod to play music, it has a great music store called iTunes which will allow you to buy some of the latest in Christian music and then simply hit play. You can also use the calendar and notes apps (come installed) to keep up with your events and meetings.

You can get an iPod Touch 8GB for $204.99 off of amazon
http://www.amazon.com/Apple-touch-Generation-NEWEST-MODEL/dp/tech-data/B001FA1O0O

Thanks,
Logan

Attack of the Cows

2011-02-18T12:50:00.001-06:00

Well not necessarily ministry related, or even related to this site.

I was however going fishing yesterday and umm let's just say some cows didn't want us to go fishing.

Also Chick-fil-a is apparently doing pretty good with their marketing :)

Free T-Shirt

2011-02-15T12:18:00.001-06:00

The first minister to email me at loganjmoore@gmail.com and ask for a shirt gets one.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

February Highlight: Charity Water

2011-02-15T08:36:00.001-06:00

charity: water is a non-profit organization bringing clean and safe drinking water to people in developing nations. 100% of public donations directly fund water projects. Learn more or donate.

Water changes everything. Preventable waterborne diseases are drastically decreased. Long walks to muddy ponds and rivers are no longer necessary. Time spent collecting water is reduced, offering women a chance to earn an income, and children a chance at a better education.

Clean water offers improved health, a better quality of life, and hope for a better future.

Thanks again for your continued support of MinistryTxt and helping us to support these ministries.

View our organizations page to see our past monthly highlights.

-Logan Moore

Happy Birthday We are 2 Years Old

2011-02-12T10:00:00.002-06:00

Oh, geez you shouldn't have.
Thanks so much for 2 great years everyone, I'm not going to bore you again with how ministrytxt got it's start. I will say that God is good and I am thankful for everything he has blessed me with.

I look forward to the next 2 years and how God is going to evolve and expand this ministry.

Oh man my ears are hurting, please stop... What's that noise, ohhhhh that's that bieber kid singing happy birthday to Betty White.

Thanks,
Logan Moore

Welcome Canada

2011-02-11T15:45:00.003-06:00

We now support Canada
We have added support for Rogers, Bell and TELUS as well as the Atlantic and Newfoundland timezones.

While NTelos is not a Canadian based provider I have added support for them as well.

You will also notice that there is a new blue bar at the top of the site, this should allow you to navigate the site easier and allow us to add pages for users that are not registered.

The Tutorial Video
If you have not seen our tutorial video on how to use the site please watch the video below, its around 7:00 minutes long and will show you how you can use all of the current features on ministrytxt.

Thanks,
Logan Moore

Using YouTube In Your Ministry

2011-02-09T12:54:00.000-06:00

Requirements
High speed internet connection
Computer that can play YouTube videos
Projector (preferred method)

While a projector is not needed it certainly would be better than having a large group of people huddled around a computer monitor. I of course am thinking of using it in a youth ministry, but I am sure that some of these could be applied to a worship service.

The Videos
Let's take a look at some possible videos that could be used, there are hundreds of these type of videos on YouTube so you may want to search for one that is more of your style

Service Countdown Videos

Hey there what ya listening to?

Minute to Win It Blueprint Videos

Here is a minute to win it countdown video

These are just a few of the ways you could be using YouTube in your ministry. For some people it may be easier to just open a web browser on the computer and hit full screen on the video.

Others may want to check out a website called http://www.savevid.com. This site allows you to paste in the YouTube url and save the video to your computer. Be sure to download the right format and you can add it into your media-shout or pro-presenter programs.

User Signup Forms Are Here

2011-02-09T00:01:00.000-06:00

No more collecting information and adding it by hand. You may now simply share a link on social media networks and your website and have your members add themselves.

Log into your account to get your join link and also be sure to visit the manage groups page. If you want users to be able to add themselves to a group, you must set that group to public. You will also want to visit the settings page where you can choose what information to collect from them. For instance you may not want to know their favorite TV Shows but only want their email and mailing address.

There are several new features that are being worked on and will hopefully be out in the next few weeks.

Thanks,
Logan

MinistryTxt 2.0 Is Live

2010-12-15T03:48:00.000-06:00

Hello,

I hope you have had a blessed year and I know God is doing wonderful things in each of your ministries. I personally have been studying very hard to finish up with my bachelor's degree so that I can move onto seminary. I have two classes left in the upcoming spring semester and then I will be graduating. Your prayers over the upcoming semester would be greatly appreciated.

Some of you may remember that around this time last year I had mentioned that there would be a new version of ministrytxt, however it never happened. I spent the majority of last Christmas break developing the new version of ministrytxt but I ran out of time before I was able to deploy it. I just finished the past semester last week and have been finishing up the new version of ministrytxt. It is now live and with several new features that were not possible with the old system.

If you will remember the old system was originally developed just for me and our youth pastor to use in our respective ministries, however once other ministers in the area found out they began asking to use it as well. God blessed the website and it grew rapidly to the point where adding features or making changes became very difficult and time consuming.

The new system design will allow me to add more features and customize the system much easier. So be on the look out for new features. Below are some of the new features added in ministrytxt 2.0.

New Features

Add a contact one time and then just simply select if they are in a group or not
Manage multiple groups
Send messages to multiple groups
Message History
Customize the From address, so instead of alert@mintxt.com you can have 180cm@mintxt.com
Improved messaging algorithms
Student Information - Keep track of information on each of your students.
Student Information Packet (SIP) - A free form that will help you to collect the information on each student
SIP Processing - Snail Mail us the Student Information Forms and we will enter the data for you at the rate of $1 per form.
Meebo Chat Bar - Chat with your Facebook, Myspace and AIM friends all without leaving ministrytxt.com
Settings - You may now update your email, password, zipcode and timezone from the settings page.

If you have any questions, comments or suggestions please send them to loganjmoore@gmail.com.

Thanks,

Logan Moore

http://www.ministrytxt.com

It's finally here!!!

2009-09-11T11:10:00.000-05:00

Self Add Via Text Message Is Now Here!!!
Yes your students may now add themselves by sending a text message.

Before I tell you how to do it let me define some things for you.

Provider Id
This is a 3 digit number that tells ministrytxt what provider the user has

Alltell	001
Verizon	002
AT&T	003
Metro PCS	004
Nextel	005
Sprint PCS	006
T-Mobile	007
Virgin Mobil	008

Group Id
This is a code that tells ministrytxt which group to add the contact to, you may view your group ids on your Manage Group page. You will need to provide the correct group id for your students.

Ok Here Is How It Works
1.) Send a text message to the number 41411
2.) For the message type the following "mintxt providerid groupid firstname lastname"
3.) Send the message

Example
My name is Logan Moore and AT&T is my cell provider, I want to add my self to my college group. I would send the following message to 41411 "mintxt 003 k16 Logan Moore".

It is very important that you have spaces between each word, if you have any questions, comments or suggestions please let me know at loganmoore@bellsouth.net

Housekeeping & New Feature Coming Soon

2009-08-10T09:58:00.000-05:00

AT&T Message Delivery

Just wanted to let you know that I have been aware of the sluggish AT&T message delivery over the past few days. I have been in contact with AT&T and things appear to have improved. If any of you have any other issues please be sure to make me aware of them ASAP via loganmoore@bellsouth.net

New Feature Coming Soon

I have spent this month, developing a new and easier way for you to add contacts to your account. Your contacts will now simply be able to text their info to a number and it will be added to your account. The contact will have to text the keyword, provider id, group id and their name.

The message will look something like this "mintxt 003 a20 Logan Moore". I have put together a dvd that you can show at church to help with the process. Just think you have 100 students at a weekend retreat and within minutes you have over 100 new contacts that you can now schedule text messages to.

Thanks,

Logan Moore

August Updates

2009-07-31T11:21:00.001-05:00

Hello,

Hope everyone has had a great summer so far. I know I am getting ready for School to start back and all of our students being here more consistently. I hope some of the updates in the next month or two will make your ministry communication much easier and more organized.

Individual Messaging

If you visit your Manage Users page, you will now notice that to the left of each contact's name there is a link that says TXT, if you click this link you may now send an instant text message to that contact. The message will only be sent to that contact, and it will be sent instantly with no scheduling delay.

Introducing our new Referral Program

For every subscribing customer that you refer to http://www.ministrytxt.com I will send you $5.00 via paypal. They simply need to provide your username while signing up.

Thanks,

Logan Moore

http://www.ministrytxt.com

Feel free to email me loganmoore@bellsouth.net with any comments, questions or suggestions.

New Feature Added!!!

2009-05-25T19:11:00.000-05:00

Alright, after many requests you may now add a contact to more than one group. For instance if you have a student and you want them to get the youth group updates as well as the praise band updates then you can now do that.

If you have any other feature requests or perhaps just a question or comment, please send them to loganmoore@bellsouth.net.

Thanks,

Logan Moore

http://www.ministrytxt.com

New Features Available!!!

2009-05-04T18:02:00.000-05:00

I would first off like to thank all of you for being so understanding and patient while I finished this semester of school up. As promised I have now added some new features.

When you schedule a text message, you can now see all of your scheduled text messages and you have the ability to edit them, or delete them.

I have also changed the messaging algorithm, so please let me know if you experience any problems. As always, I will do my best to get them resolved as soon as possible.

Thanks for everything you do and for your support of this ministry. If you have any questions, comments or suggestions please just let me know. loganmoore@bellsouth.net

Thanks,

Logan Moore

Touching Base...

2009-04-01T10:24:00.000-05:00

Hello All,

I just wanted you to know that I have some updates made, but they will not be available to you for a few more weeks. I have my finals like April 20 so hopefully after that the site will see some great improvements.

Thanks,

Logan

Out Of Town

2009-03-19T08:51:00.000-05:00

Just to update everyone on what's going on around here, I have just finished some programming for the site. You will now have the ability to view, edit & delete messages. However this change will not be available to you until sometime next week. I am leaving today around noon to take my college group on a retreat to Gatlinburg. If you have any questions or need help, you may still email me at loganmoore@bellsouth.net. I will have my phone with me and should be able to stay in contact with everyone.

Thanks,

Logan Moore

http://www.ministrytxt.com

Attention: Updates

2009-03-16T23:28:00.000-05:00

If you have added any users with the provider, nextel or sprint. Please delete them and add them again. Previously nextel and sprint were a joint option however due to their messaging system I had to split the two providers up. So if you have any users with nextel or sprint, please delete them and then add them back by selecting the appropriate provider. If you have any questions or comments please let me know.

Thanks,

Logan Moore

http://www.ministrytxt.com

Please Pray For This Ministry

2009-03-12T10:38:00.001-05:00

Hey Everyone,

There are some really exciting things happening here at MinistryTxt.com lately. I can not currently share, however I would like to ask that you remember us in your prayers. I ask that you pray, whatever happens with this site will be according to God's will.

I would like to share a verse with you. Ephesians 4:29 says, "Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen." In case no one has told you today, your ministry matters and you effect more people than you will ever know. So thank you for all that you do.

Thanks,

Logan Moore

Problem Fixed...

2009-03-10T18:16:00.000-05:00

I was contacted by one of our members in the pacific time zone today about his messages not sending. I was able to take a look and determine that it was due to calculating time zone differences. The problem is now fixed, however this is a great example of someone having a problem, they emailed me and we got the problem fixed. If any of you have any problems or suggestions with the site please let me know at loganmoore@bellsouth.net

Also I haven't forgotten about the requested features.

Thanks,

Logan Moore

Touching Base....

2009-03-08T23:16:00.000-05:00

I just wanted to start off by saying I'm sorry I have not gotten the published updates completed over the weekend like I promised. Now to make excuses, God has really delt with me this weekend on my future as with school and seminary, any prayers would be greatly appreciated.

I will just leave it at that, that and school work. I certainly hope to have it done sometime over the next day or so. I can guarantee as soon as it is completed I will have it posted here. Until then please continue to enjoy the site as is.

As always if you have any comments or suggestions please let me know at loganmoore@bellsouth.net

Thanks,

Logan

Mission Accomplished

2009-03-05T22:13:00.000-06:00

I always love it in movies, when the secret agent man is told "mission accomplished". After some feedback I realized that the site needed that sense of accomplishment. Originally there was no confirmation when you scheduled a message. Now when you schedule one it will plainly tell you that your message has been scheduled successfully.

Coming This Weekend

This weekend I plan to add the ability to see your currently scheduled messages, edit and delete them. So be sure to check back. I am constantly working on the site and adding new features to make it the best way to communicate with your students.

Reminder

Please remember to check with the individual and make sure they have text messaging. If they do not it will charge them per text message. This is nothing on our end, but it is just the standard text messaging rates from the cell phone companies. Chances are most of your student's have it, but it won't hurt to ask.

Thanks,

Logan Moore

loganmoore@bellsouth.net

Growing!!! I said we are growing

2009-03-05T00:28:00.000-06:00

That's right I am happy to announce that MinistryTxt.com is continuing to grow. Please be sure to tell any minister's you know about the site. I truly stand behind it and feel that it is a valuable ministry tool, at least it is in my ministry.

Etowah County Youth Minister's Network

I was given the opportunity to speak with the Etowah County Youth Minister's Network today and present MinistryTxt.com to them. They all seem genuinely interested and provided me with some great feedback that I will be using to implement changes over the next week or so.

These are some of the things you have to look forward to:

Confirmation of when a message is sent
Ability to view messages you have scheduled and being able to edit or delete them
In case you were to forget your password, I will add a forgot password link to the login

I know these are just a few suggestions, but if you have anything to add please feel free to email me at loganmoore@bellsouth.net. This is a ministry tool and when you suggest something it improves it for all of us.

Thanks,

Logan Moore

Good News

2009-03-03T22:05:00.000-06:00

That's right good news, I was trying to think of a fancy title and put "Good News for those who wait", or "Good News For Those Who...", but I just couldn't think of anything. So what did I do, I went with plain old "Good News".

Ok so what is the "Good News", you might ask. Well the "Good News" is that I am going to update the site so if you sign up for an account, you are able to manage groups & users without having to subscribe first. However you will not actually be able to send a text message until you have subscribed. This should allow anyone who is curious about what the site is like to explore it and become comfortable with it before they jump in and subscribe.

This new update should be out sometime before Thursday March 4, 2009.

Thanks,

Logan Moore

A Great Monday

2009-03-02T21:15:00.000-06:00

So today has been a great day, that is considering it was Monday. I mean an ok day on a Monday is like a bad day on a Friday. I seriously doubt that made any sense, but I am going to leave it there to confuse you.

I had school and work today and when I got home I had homemade pasta and croutons mixed with chicken. It was absolutely amazing and that put me in such a good mood that I added a support page to http://www.ministrytxt.com. You can find it at the bottom of every page, so now if you have any questions or need help using the site you can go to the support page and chat with me in real time. I will do my best to make your experience with MinistryTxt.com the best possible.

Thanks,

Logan Moore

Welcome

2009-03-01T21:48:00.000-06:00

I would just like to say thanks for checking out the site and my blog. This is my first post but I plan to keep it updated with all of the exciting things going on here at MinistryTxt.com. If you have any comments or suggestions please leave them in the comments field. Any changes that are made to the site will be posted here for you to easily find.

Thanks,

Logan Moore

MinistryTxt Blog | Texting for Youth Groups, Choirs & Ministries

Cool Ten Commandments Video

Quick Weather Access For Scheduling Events

April Fools Day

Every Breath You Take

March 2011: Japan Relief

$25.00http://www.dosomethingnow.com

Using an iPod touch in your ministry

Attack of the Cows

Free T-Shirt

February Highlight: Charity Water

Happy Birthday We are 2 Years Old

Welcome Canada

Using YouTube In Your Ministry

User Signup Forms Are Here

MinistryTxt 2.0 Is Live

It's finally here!!!

Housekeeping & New Feature Coming Soon

August Updates

New Feature Added!!!

New Features Available!!!

Touching Base...

Out Of Town

Attention: Updates

Please Pray For This Ministry

Problem Fixed...

Touching Base....

Mission Accomplished

Growing!!! I said we are growing

Good News

A Great Monday

Welcome

$25.00
http://www.dosomethingnow.com