Facing the Facts about Mobilizing Ministry in a Media Age

The average Facebook user has 20+ "friends," according to Usama Nasir's "16 Social Media & Blogging Stats of 2012"

Digital Buzz Blog states that 55% of Twitter users access the platform via mobile devices.  Additionally, the site also states: Out of the 6 billion people on the planet 4.8 billion have a mobile and only 4.2 billion own a toothbrush.

Is it time for your ministry to go mobile?

Let's face the facts.  People are using all sorts of mobile devices.  It is a global trend.

But you are just getting your website revamped. Let's not to mention the fact that you have yet to update the pastor's blog or the photo gallery that have no new photos since 2010.

I am just saying.  Now you know I don't mean any harm.

Let's get mobilized with the times.  We are called to lead people in the world to Christ. Yet, if the world all are captivated by Miley Cyrus VMA video clips and TMZ news feeds on their iPhones and tablets, then we had better come up with some methods for entering the multimedia marketplace with an action plan and some real strategies that can deliver results without burning out our congregations or volunteers and that won't cost loads and loads of money.  After all, Jesus ministered in the marketplace.  Paul did so, too.  The other Apostles reached people by the methods of their times, too.  Imagine what they would have done with email, text messages, and YouTube.

Stay tuned as I launch several posts in a series on starting your own multimedia ministry.  The series will span several weeks and include some interesting pieces on mobile sites, video conferencing, and other methods.

Blessings from Bonhoeffer

 

Believe him to be the Son of God,

and you will find him wonder upon

wonder, counsel upon counsel.

-Dietrich Bonhoeffer

A few years ago, I was introduced to Dietrich Bonhoeffer through a play that depicted an interaction between Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Dietrich Bonhoeffer.  Ever since that introduction, I have read something by Bonhoeffer at least once a year.

Recently, I continued reading Life Together by Bonhoeffer.  Undoubtedly, it reminds me of the kindred spirit that Bonhoeffer offers me through his discourse on the concept of community to people of faith.  In all fairness, Bonhoeffer shares some inspirational words that should cause us all to pause for a moment and realize the true value of our Christian community despite the shortcomings and mistakes of our humanity.

I also started reading I Want to Live These Days with You, a daily devotional by Bonhoeffer.  I had read through it previously back in 2006 and 2009.  As I prepared for 2013, I decided to return to the devotional once again.  I had done the same with My Utmost for His Highest by Chambers and Morning and Evening by Spurgeon.

I suggest that most believers could glean something from Bonhoeffer's writings.  He provides the reader with both inspiration and insight.

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Defiled from the Inside Out

And he said, That which cometh out of the man, that defileth the man. - Mark 7:20

Imagine how it would be if everyone could what was inside of us.

They could see your thoughts.  Every one of your thoughts would play out like a movie scene before every person who came in contact with you.  You would be viewable by anyone and everyone.

People could see what you had in your system.  What you ate for breakfast would be in plain view.  What you put in your system would be apparent to every single person who approached you, both the good and the bad.

That doesn't sound too good.

What about that time when I only had a few drinks? It was just something to do.

How about the time when I  held her close for only one night? Will those smudges of sex and lust still be apparent on my hands and the rest of my body?

Will everything that I laid my eyes be revealed when people look in my eyes? Magazines? Videos? Websites?

Uh-Oh!

The eyes of the LORD are everywhere,

keeping watch on the wicked and the good.

- Proverbs 15:3 (NIV)

Take the latest pop-up quiz on the Gospel of Mark (Ch. 1-7).

Online Communities for Christians

Let brotherly love continue. - Hebrews 13:1 (KJV)

This walk of faith can seem lonely.  We can get to the point where it feels like no one is on our level.  We can feel as if we have grown into isolation.

That just should not be so.  Sadly, it is a real truth for many who believe in the Lord.  They are in church, but they feel very much alone.  They don't feel the brotherly or sisterly love.  They feel on the outside.

Numerous churches have worked diligently on being missional and developing community.  They have worked tirelessly to create relevant ministries in their local communities.  In fact, some like Saddleback Church and Willow Creek have gone on to create resources such as study guides and e-books on ministry based upon what has worked for them.

Here I have listed some online communities of faith that may help others discover their ministry or a sense of Christian community:

• http://www.gracehope.com/
• http://www.urbanministry.org/
• http://www.youversion.com/
• http://www.shoutlife.com/
• http://www.relevant.tv/

Be sure to check out Christian Publications Available at Amazon

From Eden to Egypt- Day 43

Now Jacob dwelt in the land where his father was a stranger, in the land of Canaan.

- Genesis 37:1 (NKJV)

In the previous chapter, we learn about Esau as the "father of the Edomites" and how Esau lived in Edom. However, this chapter starts out with the pronouncement of Jacob living in the land of Canaan, where his father lived as a stranger.

Jacob may not have been at his best when he deceived his father with wool-covered arms and venison, soup, but he eventually dwelt in the land of promise.  He became one of the three major patriarchs of faith in the Judeo-Christian religious system.  We name him right after Abraham and Isaac. 

Jacob lived in a place where his daddy wasn't wanted, the very place where they filled his father's wells every time he tried to dig one.  Jacob took residence there and settled in, raising his family there.  Jacob's sons shepherded his flocks in Canaan.  Jacob's sons from his many different wives lived in Canaan with Jacob.  These were the sons who would make the tribes of Israel.

Where you live may not dictate how you live.  Live to your best and live at peace wherever you are.

From Eden to Egypt- Day 10

Then the LORD said to Cain, "Where is Abel your brother?" And he said, "I do not know. Am I my brother's keeper?"-Genesis 4:9 (NASB)

Am I my brother's keeper?

 

It is an age-old question.  Ever since this early sibling rivalry, the question has loomed among mankind. Some have only asked it.  Others have crafted sermons based upon it.  Many have built ministries based on it, too.  It has at least crossed our minds at one time or another, possibly pricking our hearts in some cases.

We ask it without truly seeking out the revealed answer that occurs in the very same verse where it initially appears.  We ask it without recognizing that the question that prompts us asking such a question provides the very rationale that we need to truly understand the Lord's desire for us.

"Where is Abel your brother?" 

 

It is the Lord who asks this of Cain.   It is not Adam or Eve seeking to find out what has happened to Abel.  It is the Lord who asks about Cain's brother.  The Lord's question about Abel, Cain's brother, supersedes and precedes Cain asking if he is his brother's keeper.  The question that comes from the Most High is over greater importance.

Let us seek to uphold our Christian responsibility by answering the Lord's inquiry about our brother or sister.  Let it never be the case that we are resistant or reluctant to help our brother or sister in need when we have the means to help him or her.  How pleasing are we to the Lord when we cannot even answer about our care and concern for our own brother or sister? May we never shame the very name of Christ by our negligence for the calling to live up to His name as Christians.

Endless Supply

You desire and do not have, so you murder. You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel. You do not have, because you do not ask. - James 4:2 (ESV)

You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions. - James 4:3 (ESV)

Our daily agenda should include prayer.  Our daily routine will simply become mundane with the exception of life-giving prayer.  Daily, we need to take our desires and concerns to Lord in supplication and petition with thanksgiving, seeking Him for all that we need.  Believers need to simply believe in a prayer-hearing God.

God has all that we need.  Do we ask of Him.  God can supply us beyond our own belief.  Do we take our concerns to Him in earnest and ferverent prayer? God is open and available to us.  Do we go to Him with the petitions of our hearts?

• God is Available: Go to God.  The curtain separating us from Him has been torn.  He opens access to Him through our Advocate.  The Holy of Holies is no longer limited to the line of Levi.  Access has been granted to all who believe.
• God is Answering: He answers in many ways.  He can give us a direct and obvious answer.  He can give us indirect answers.  He can show us our answer.  He can lead us to our answer. But our God is in the heavens; He does whatever He pleases.  God has answer for us. We just have to accept it.
• God is Awaiting:  He awaits you. Will you go to Him with what plagues your heart? Will you run to Him with all that you have in you? He awaits you.  Seek the LORD, and his strength: seek his face evermore.

Learning While Leading

"A true and safe leader is likely to be one who has no desire to lead, but is forced into a position of leadership by the inward pressure of the Holy Spirit and the press of the external situation."

- A.W. Tozer

Run-ins can lead to your ruin.
Conflicts can combat your consecration.
Divisions can diabolically divide your direction.
Problems can plague your position.

What we have to do is learn how to lead while leading.  Christendom is no exception.  The way we select and choose our leaders can also impact and influence how we support and strengthen them in leadership.  A warm body can lead to a live target.  We should not charge someone with leading the way, and then dig in our heels with conflicts, challenges and confrontations that object to where they are leading us and bully them by stating and reiterating who put them in position and can put them in their place.

Moses learned while leading. Imagine if there had been a written job description detailing the opposition and objections that he would have faced.  He would have offered more than the limited excuses he shared before the burning bush about not going back to Egypt.

Look at David when the men who were unwanted but willing came to join him.  He could have turned them away, relating his turmoil of being a hunted man by his father-in-law and boss, the king of Israel, but he didn't. King David had led sheep, so he learned how to lead these men and how to lead as king later. He learned more and more while leading them.

Our Christian leaders learn while serving.  Studying will help them.  Prayer will focus them.  Fasting and meditation will concentrate them.  Serving will help them to lead.