Registration is now closed!

Due to the rush of spammers – who register and try to build commercial websites on our system – I had to close the registration process. Hopefully, this will be temporary and we can open it back up again soon.

In the mean time, if you want to register on this system, you will need to contact the webmaster and request it. Send an email to webmaster at cdntoday.com and state the following:

1. That you are requesting registration on BLCOG.COM
2. Your actual name (First & Last)
3. Your email address (we will contact you at this address so it must be accurate)
4. Your status as a Christian (SHORT testimony)
5. If you want to build a website here then you also need to include:

• • Long Title of your website (e.g., “Beyond Limits, Church of God”)
  • Short Title (e.g., “blcog”)
  • Tag Line (e.g., “Going Beyond The Limits”)
  • Email address of the person who will be your webmaster (if not you)
  • Your relationship to the Louisiana Church of God (e.g., “Member, Maranatha”)

We will process your request as quickly as possible (usually within a couple of days) and reply to your email with the links to get you connected.

Most churches today are probably already using some church management software – especially for their financial transactions. However, due to the cost of purchasing such software, some smaller churches may not.

Prior to my retirement, I pastored some small churches that did not have commercial software. So, I created some Excel spreadsheets to accomplish the more important functions. If you are in a similar situation, you may download my files and edit them to use with your church.

• Budget.xls – a simple checklist of routine payments, so nothing is forgotten.
• Bulletin.dot – a Word template to print a weekly church bulletin
• Minutes.dot – an agenda/minutes outline
• MonthReport.xlt – a pretty complex spreadsheet to present a FULL monthly report of finance and attendance.
• Outline.dot – my template for sermon or study outlines
• Voucher.dot – a form to define the purposes of all non-check expenditures and assure proper reimbursement
• WeeklyFinance.xlt – A working spreadsheet to tally the weekly revenues & create the deposit slip for the bank.
• WeeklyReport.xls – basically the same as WeeklyFinance.xlt except this one is just to print and allow a NON-computer literate treasurer to just enter the data on a PAPER copy for someone else to enter into the computer.

If you like and use these forms, please add a comment below. If you make considerable changes, consider offering the changes for others to use also.

Bishop Moore has WISELY stated that every church website should have a map to help visitors find the church building. This is VERY easy to accomplish with our system.

To create a map on YOUR website, just visit the ADMIN function (the dashboard for your dashboard). Under SETTINGS, click on “MapPress” and fill in the blanks.

GOOGLE MAPS API KEY: You are welcome to request your own key from Google. It is free and takes just a couple minutes here: http://code.google.com/apis/maps/signup.html

After you complete the setup and save your configuration,

1. Click on the PAGES/ADD NEW.
2. Name the page whatever you like (we used MAP).
3. Type any introductory information in the content entry box.
4. Enter the desired address in the “MapPress” box (just under the content entry box) and press “Add location”. (you can preview the map below the MapPress box).
5. Click on the “Insert map shortcode in post”
6. Type any additional info you wish below the shortcode (in square brackets)
7. Click PUBLISH.

Here is a sample of what it can look like:

The BLCOG Community is RADICALLY different!

You can do a lot of stuff on Beyond Limits. Click here to visit the main site & check out the “EASY MENU” in the right column:

• Find information about a Church of God congregation in your area. Press the YELLOW button (Find a Church). You can find the location, contact info and browse the church’s website – all from this link.
• Register (or log-in) to start using all the social features. Press the GREEN button  (Start). This community offers features much like FACEBOOK (Friends,  Groups, Timeline, etc). All features are free and available to every registered user.
• Create a new Blog or Website. If you are a registered member of this community, then you may qualify to have a blog hosted here for free. After you are registered, just click on the RED “Create A Blog” button to start.
• Get Help. A lot of what we offer here (for free) has only been available to a select group of “geeks” before. So, we understand that you may not be familiar with building a website or whatever. That is why we have built a Technical Support system to help you with each task. Just click the RED help button to read existing article, ask for help  or start a support ticket that will be tracked openly.
• Just “Chill” with friends. After you have registered, you can find friends, make new friends, establish groups, discuss issues of general interest or send personal messages to other users. Press the FRIENDS button to see what is going on right now.
• Add your Church to our database. All Church of God congregations in the State of Louisiana should already be in the database but if your church is not listed, Click the GREEN “ChurchLoc.com” button & add it. A staff member will review the entry and take the appropriate actions.

Just below the Title of this page is a menu of the other primary pages for this site. Click on a tab to view the following pages:

• HOME – Returns to this page
• ABOUT – More info about what we are doing here
• FAQ – Frequently Asked Questions (and the answers)
• TOS – Our Terms Of Service & Privacy Policy
• CONTACT – How to contact the personnel who maintain this community.
• CALENDAR – The list of events relative to the Churches of God in Louisiana.

Scroll down the page to read other articles that you may find helpful. Each article is written to help you find more reasons to visit us every day – and stay a while!

Some churches already have a website, so what can this site do for them and their users?

The BLCOG community offers many benefits to churches, pastors & others – regardless of whether they create a website here or not:

Facebook-like “social networking”

• Each user controls the information shared on their profile
• Each user has a timeline (“wire”) of activities and updates
• Users link to others as “Friends“
• Users can send private messages to each other
• Users can create and/or join groups which facilitate interaction with select group of Christians
• Users can share links easily with other users
• The system sends notifications (online and/or in email) of selected activities

Users can create forums for discussion

• Enables groups of users to discuss issues of mutual concern
• Can be public or private
• Easy navigation & notifications of new posts

Websites for every COG congregation in Louisiana

• Single sign-in for all sites hosted on this community
• Easily visit & see what is happening at each church
• Post comments across the entire community

So,  back to the question about churches that already have websites. There are several alternatives. Which is most appropriate is a decision that you must make. Here are some suggestions:

1. If your site is hosted on a free site where you are limited in the content and appearance, then you would almost certainly benefit from our full-featured WordPress installs. We can help you migrate from whatever site you have now to the BLCOG community.
2. If you have your own Private Domain Name, you can point that to a site built here on BLCOG. For instructions, see our “How-to” here. In this case, all existing users will continue to use your Domain and will be redirected to your site here. New users from the BLCOG community will receive all the above benefits while visiting your site.
3. If your present site is well established with a strong user base and heavy traffic, then you have a couple of options:  a) You keep your present site and duplicate it on this community or b) You could have your site on this community redirect users to your present site. (This is not generally recommended since your users will no longer receive all the benefits listed above.)

So… Complete your registration – REGARDLESS of your intentions about building a website on this community. You have a LOT of benefits coming to you!!

Create an automatically updating EVENTS CALENDAR on your website!

One of the really cool features of some sites is that they have an events list in their sidebar. Such as the one at the blcog.com site.

How do you do it?  Is it hard to create or maintain? Good questions! Read on…

Actually, it is pretty easy. And, once set up, you or someone you trust, will only need to add an event on your online (Google) calendar. Then the system will AUTOMATICALLY update your website and display the appropriate events as they come due. Recurring events that you have created (birthdays, anniversaries, etc) will automatically appear at the appropriate time– without any intervention from anyone! And, you can add additional calendars from others to combine with your calendar.

If you have a self-hosted (single or multi-user) WordPress website, then let me tell you how to do it.

1. Create a Google Calendar
2. Share the Calendar with ics
3. Import the Calendar into your WP Blog

Each of these functions is a little complicated so I will create a SERIES of posts (this is the first) to explain how to accomplish each step. As I create each step, I will link the article to the points above.

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Hello Colleagues:

I am certain that you know that we are living in an era of change! The strains on our economy over the past year have exceeded anything in the history of mankind. Changes in the weather, changes in politics and national & international policy all seem to be beyond comprehension – and out of control. The “Tea Party” movement is apparently an attempt by people to regain some control over their lives. But we all face severe limits on what we can do.

I believe that our Lord could return for His church at any time. However, Jesus left us a command to “occupy till I come” (Lu. 19:13 KJV). So, how do we do that? How can the church keep up with all of these changes when we have such severe limits imposed on us? Of course, God is not limited. But the command was for US to continue doing business until Jesus returns. Even though there are boundaries and limitations all around, we have to find ways to get PAST those limitations!

It is significant that our society is undergoing unimaginable change. The term “generation gap” now defines age groups separated by no more than 10 years! How can any church keep up with that? Today’s college students (& many who are older) cannot imagine life without the Internet. But some of our smaller churches don’t even have a church telephone.

Lack of finances and lack of technical skills have kept many of our churches and pastors from using technology in their ministry. These churches have been relegated to a kind of “3rd world” position of not being able to connect with the younger generation because of their limitations. And it is a simple fact that any church that does not attract younger members is dying!

Let’s Go BEYOND THE LIMITS!

I have partnered with Bishop Moore to help every Church of God congregation in Louisiana to create a FREE web site. Not just a simple cookie-cutter directory listing on some site that adds a bunch of advertisement – but a fully functional & professional looking website that can be as interactive as you want! Did I mention that it is FREE? The cost of hosting the sites is being underwritten by the state and I am donating my services to get the project working.

If you need technical help, I will help you develop your website. If you feel totally incapable of the task, I will even build the site for you (for free). If you have someone in your church that you want to work on your site and develop it further, I will provide technical support to them.

If your church already has a website, we will link to it from our central system. Our desire is not to change what you are already doing but to BREAK DOWN THE LIMITATIONS that some churches are facing. There are additional benefits to having a site actually hosted within our community. So there may be a few churches who will move their existing site into our system. If so, I will assist you with that also. Or, you can have multiple sites: your existing site and a site on our community.

The focus of this community is:

• Assure that every COG congregation in Louisiana has a QUALITY web site
• Make the process of building a site EASY (“so easy even a caveman could do it”)
  
• Provide FREE hosting & support & a central “directory” of all LA COG sites
  
• Offer ways that churches can work together to encourage and support each other

Check it out and let me know what you think. The main site is located at http://blcog.com and is open right now. Please visit the site and REGISTER. During the process of registration, the system will offer to build a website for you, try that out. It will be a start. Almost everything can be modified at a later time to better meet your wishes. Or, it can be deleted and you can start over fresh.

We have been LIMITED too long. Let us go “Beyond All The Limits” and truly “occupy” till Jesus comes! God has given me a ministry of helping others use technology in their ministry, let me help you. If you want, give me a call and we can discuss this in more detail.

Welcome to blcog.com.

If you are a new user of this site, here are a few things to help you get started.

• You must register to get the real benefits of the community. Press the big GREEN “START” BUTTON in the right hand sidebar to get started or press HERE.
• There is some personal info that you need to add in your “dashboard” (the area where you arrive immediately after signing in) – select the “User” menu (on left) then “Your Profile.” (Press here.) At this point, you need to add your first/last name, nickname & ESPECIALLY click on the arrow for the “Display name publicly as” box and select your choice of how your name should be displayed on posts, comments, etc.
• You may also need to complete your “Profile” for the site. Top (Black) menu – My Account – Profile – Edit Profile.
• Always hit the “Activity” button (black menu, “My Account” / “Activity”) to see the latest notes from the admins and your friends. (Very similar to how Facebook works.)
• Visit the FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) page to get some of your questions answered.
• If you asked for and received a blog, then you should read the short tutorial at the bottom of the FAQ page. If you want a blog, but did not yet request it, press here.
• Visit the Technical Support Site for “How-To’s” & Tutorials about building and maintaining your website here on BLCOG.
• Leave a comment (or Direct Message) to Ray Waldo if you need some other assistance.
• Follow the NEW USER series of articles list below or click here.

Please visit the Tech Support site regularly. I am creating tutorials for many of the most common issues that you may have with your new website. There will also be a “Ticket” system where you can track your request for help.

You are welcome to post a comment here if something is confusing. I will try to answer as quickly as I can.

If you have tips for other Twitter users, tell us about it in the COMMENTS below.

Recently, I had the opportunity to use the facility for the first time. I hope I do not have that “opportunity” again for a while.

If you  are not  familiar with  Facebook, Twitter and social media sites, I have written a bit of a tutorial on my other blog that describes how I use these services.  You can  read the article here: http://chiefshepherd.com/2010/01/friend-unfriend/