Aliens Have Finally Returned Me to Earth

Really, it’s the only halfway decent reason I could think of for the length of time since I last posted. Of course, aliens didn’t actually snatch me (or invite me, for that matter). Life just got, well, like life gets, I guess. But we’re back, and stuff is happenin’!

First up, while I was off-planet, 325 people have already signed on as users on disciplemen.com. In the words of one of the apostles, “Wow!” (It’s in the original greek.)

Second, if you’ve been to disciplemen.com lately, you’ve seen the “How to’s.” These are cool mini-trainings delivered via e-mail right to your desktop. Already, 212 of you have signed up for a course, and the feedback has been awesome.

But wait, there’s more! We have contracted with an awesome company called Modomo Technologies, run by our new best friend, Lyndon Modomo, and his merry band of techno-gurus. They are working feverishly (seriously, they’re burnin’ up) on the next two phases of disciplemen.com, a Leadership Directory and Best Practices & Resource Center. First phases of those will be up in April, if all goes according to plan.

So that’s the techno-update for now. I’ll be posting more frequently now. Really, I will. But as Dale Carnegie said and Pat Morley likes to quote. “The older I get, the less I listen to what people say and the more I just watch what they do.”

Watch the blog. Let’s see what happens.

Future Polls

Wow! The ‘R Rated’ Poll really struck a nerve. Of the 500 or so people we told about the poll, over 250 people voted. We’ll post the final vote tally once a new poll is up.

Speaking of a new poll, what should it be? Use the comment function to suggest questions you would like to see leaders committed to discipling men answer or vote on. Keep in mind that for right now the poll has to be multiple choice.

Oh, and stay tuned for a big announcement about the ‘real’ disciplemen.com site going active in the next few days. Those of you on the disciplemen.com Insiders Update will be notified via e-mail. If you’d like to get the update, go to Man in the Mirror’s e-mail subscription page, enter your e-mail address, and select the disciplemen.com Insiders Update from the list on the left side of the page.

CAUTION: Major Kingdom-Building Ahead!

Poll #2 – R-rated movies

So what do you think? Should you recommend R-rated movies to your brothers? There’s some that have gotten quite a bit of notice in men’s circles. Movies like Braveheart, Gladiator, We Were Soldiers, etc.

If you haven’t voted yet, go to www.disciplemen.com to cast your vote. (If you’re reading this post after October 9, it’s probably a different poll by now…so go vote on that one!)

Post your comments. We want to know what you think! Please, keep it civil, but keep it honest.

In Dutch, drupal means “drop” (or was it “drip”?)

Whatever it means, it is the totally cool Open Source Content Management System – or, as we call it, the TCOSCMS – we have chosen for disciplemen.com. Drupal gives us a ready-made way to handle things like User Login, adding stuff to the site, navigation, etc.

Michael Maine, Internet Services Director, and Kevin Fittro (M&M and K-Fit to their friends) prepared the attached document to give you a better idea of what drupal is.

Wanna really see what drupal can do? Here are some other sites built using this TCOSCMS!

• http://www.destinationbride.com/

• http://www.scrippsnews.com/ 

• http://www.sudden-thoughts.com/ 

IBM even wrote an article about why they used drupal for a big project they did. Pretty cool! (I mean, “totally cool.”) Click here for more drupal-based sites, a link to the IBM article and more of M&M and K-Fit’s Technical Mumbo Jumbo… Drupal Technical Info 

Content Management System – Who Needs It?

So I asked MIM Dir. of Operations (and disciplemen.com project manager) Kevin Fittro, “How are we getting this thing started?”

And he replied, “A significant piece of the underlying infrastructure for the disciplemen.com website is made up of the Content Management System (CMS).  The implementation of the CMS provides immediate functionality in a couple of areas.  These functions can be tailored to a set of requirements through configuration changes made available through graphical user interfaces (GUIs).  This capability allows the administrator to affect the behavior of the CMS without the need to make programming changes to the underlying system.”

And I just stood there, smiling and nodding.  Check out the attached document to read the technical benefits of having a CMS…if you’re into that kind of stuff. CMS Technical Document

Poll #1 Results Are In!

 

The first poll is complete and the results are in! Pastors are a great resource for answers about discipling men. After all, that’s pretty much their “prime directive,” isn’t it?

Welcome In!

Welcome to the official blog of the discipmen.com. We’ll use this blog to help keep the community informed of the development process as we go.
We’ll also post past polls (say that three times fast), collect quotes on discipleship, and anythig else that comes to mind as we go.

 Remember, this is a community. It gets stronger with your involvement, so post your comments!