EXCERPTS FROM THE WEB EVANGELIST BULLETIN - AUGUST 2006
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"We need men who can dream of things that never were" - John F Kennedy
"To accomplish great things, we must dream as well as act" - Anatole France
"A dream is just a dream. A goal is a dream with a plan and a deadline" - Harvey Mackey
UCB LAUNCHES OUTREACH SITE
UK-based radio ministry UCB's new outreach site LookingForGod.com launched recently. Already, site visits are growing, and UCB report that many are asking for more information about the Christian faith.
The site includes is a map of the world which shows the number of contacts around the world who are visiting at the same time as you.
http://www.lookingforGod.com/
CHURCH WEBSITE WITH A DIFFERENCE
Dave Mullen writes about his church website in Leeds, UK:
"The Church is really exciting: it's Jesus' body, God's rescue plan for the world! So why are so many church websites so dull? When I began to make a new site for my church I wanted to really present the church, not a building or a creed. To do this I put the church on the front page, that is - the people, not the building or a creed!
Each time you visit you are greeted with a different selection of short testimonies: you meet the church, people whose lives have been changed by God. It's easy for the unchurched to ignore some mysterious text explaining the church doctrinal position, but it's a lot harder to overlook a group of people providing a glimpse of what God's done in their lives.
It works! The site's been online for around half a year and we've had guests at each of our last Alpha Courses who've found us through the web, previously knowing nothing about us.
Our church, Gateway Church Leeds in the UK, has really got behind the site. We have a database of over 40 testimonies from a church with just over 100 members. On top of this, people are promoting the site through their email signatures, blogs, forums and other personal sites. A small link, "My Church: www.GatewayLeeds.net" provides a very straightforward opportunity for people's friends to see what all of the excitement's about!
If you want to see people saved, if you want to see a whole church recognizing the potential of the web as an evangelism tool, then I encourage you to make the most of your church's website. It doesn't have to copy our model (though you're welcome to), but in an age where the web is becoming the primary source of information, it NEEDS to clearly present the church to the lost."
http://www.GatewayLeeds.net
MID-LIFE CRISIS
To those who are too young (ie. not yet 35-50ish) to have experienced this relatively universal rite of passage, the characteristics of a mid-life crisis are:
- realization that your life is in all likelihood halfway through, that 'life is passing by, and passing you by'.
- a fear of death, which is suddenly less than forever away.
- a growing sense that 'I could' is becoming 'I could have' - that your dreams are likely to remain just that: dreams.
- physically, you are no longer 21.
It can be a time when people suddenly take up a long-hidden ambition - cryptic clue: Ha*ley D*vidson. And that's just the women. Depression, infidelity, singleness, childlessness, or empty-nest syndrome can all be part of it too.
Here's a ready-made felt need to which we can offer a healing Christian perspective. It is a fairly narrow window of opportunity, for most people work through the issue anyway and often end up with a more fulfilled and mature outlook on life. But still without God.
I spent some time Googling, and could find not a single page offering a Christian input to this life issue. It would be great to see a website built around this need. Not, please not, a site 'for Christians' to find help. But one written entirely for non-yet Christians.
There are many secular sites, such as:
http://www.midlifeclub.com/
http://www.psychologytoday.com/conditions/mid-life.html
http://www.lessons4living.com/midlife.htm
OVERCOMING ANXIETY
A related felt need - here's a short article by Rusty Wright, one of many available to syndicate into other publications.
http://www.probe.org/content/view/1374/162/
THE WORLD WE LIVE IN
Oz Views
Australians may wish to make their Christian viewpoint known in this survey:
http://www.democrats.org.au/survey2/survey/GodGovt_v2/
United 93
Michael Bronner, researcher for the film United 93, obtained all the recordings of the air defence team on 9/11, and has reconstructed a fascinating account of the unfolding tragedy:
http://www.vanityfair.com/features/general/060801fege01
Visit our solar system:
http://www.spacewander.com/USA/english.html
Is the church smaller than we think? asks Kevin Swanson, president of MAF:
http://www.assistnews.net/Stories/s06060084.htm
A children's illness to be aware of:
Kawasaki's disease is a rate children's sickness unfamiliar to many community-based doctors, yet can cause heart damage if not treated promptly. Our grand-daughter was diagnosed recently - though it took the children's hospital to make the diagnosis. If any child you know (mainly under 5s) has a range of feverish symptoms which may include swollen red hands and feet, and body rash, be aware of this possibility:
http://www.kidshealth.org/parent/medical/heart/kawasaki.html
Barna's insights:
George Barna latest research as to people's perceptions of themselves suggests a remarkable lack of objective self-awareness:
http://www.barna.org/
EVANGELISM CHALLENGE MUSIC
There's a new f.r.e.e. MP3 'Show Your Glory Lord' from Recent Rainfall in our resource page of songs (including lyrics chords and sheet music) which are useful to challenge Christians as to the need for evangelism:
http://ied.gospelcom.net/music.php
COMMUNICATING WELL
What DNA Are We (Really) Reproducing? Challenging article from Mission Frontiers:
http://www.missionfrontiers.org/2006/04/PDFs/08-10%20What%20DNA.pdf
"Does your organization have a crisis communication plan?" asks Terry Wilhite. Being prepared could make all the difference to your witness, one day:
http://www.christianav.com/2006cav07/2006cav07terry.pdf
Telling illustrations more effectively, by Steven James:
Illustrations make sermons come alive - at least when the stories in them are told well. Experienced storyteller Steven James shares three storytelling principles that are sure to help sermons come alive through your illustrations, and equally apply to other areas of communication:
http://www.pastors.com/rwmt/default.asp?id=271&artid=9713&expand=1
US AG churches now have a new option in designing a church website - a template content management system. 300 churches have already signed up since launch two months ago:
Story: http://guide.gospelcom.net/rd?b06august-AGsitebuilder
Sitebuilder: http://www.AGChurches.org/
CONFERENCES
There is a September MinistryCOM conference in Pheonix (Arizona, US. They say, "MinistryCOM hosts the only national conference specifically designed for church communication professionals. People who, daily, are challenged to find ways to harness the power of the most important message ever told to a hurt and broken world."
http://ministrycom.org/cgi-bin/index.cgi?section=conference
Other conferences - including the IEC September Chicago conference:
http://ied.gospelcom.net/events.php
CULTURE
Down on the Farm
Steve Oedekerk, the writer/director/producer of Barnyard, might be one of Hollywood's funniest guys. For Oedekerk, a Christian, it's all about the joy of making people laugh:
http://www.christianitytoday.com/movies/interviews/steveoedekerk.html
Dr Who
Detailed and insightful studies of the latest Dr Who TV series, from Facing the Challenge and Damaris:
http://www.facingthechallenge.org/who01.htm
http://www.damaris.org/content/content.php?type=5&id=492
HollywoodJesus.com
Dave Bruce has redesigned HollywoodJesus with a new appearance, style and direction. Sign up for the newsletter too:
http://www.hollywoodjesus.com/
TEACHING YOURSELF STUFF
Don't under-estimate what you can learn from a book, tape or website It could be CSS, PHP, writing, or anything else. Check this remarkable video clip of a girl who taught herself a skill:
http://www.metacafe.com/watch/178160/incredible_11_year_old_yodeller/
MESSAGE IN A BOTTLE
Here's an online version of throwing a bottle into the sea. You can send a general message, or a specific message to a named person. Why not try sending a non-preachy, thought-provoking insight that would be appropriate for non-yet Christians? Or something nice to a friend.
http://www.oceangram.com/
TAILEND
I planted some birdseed. A bird came up. Now I don't know what to feed it.
I had amnesia once - or twice.
I went to San Francisco. I found someone's heart. Now what?
Protons have mass? I didn't even know they were Catholic.
What is a "free" gift? Aren't all gifts free?
They told me I was gullible and I believed them.
Teach a child to be polite and courteous in the home and when he grows up, he'll never be able to merge his car onto a freeway.
Two can live as cheaply as one, for half as long.
Experience is the thing you have left when everything else is gone.
What if there were no hypothetical questions?
One nice thing about egotists: They don't talk about other people.
If the only tool you own is a hammer, every problem begins to look like a nail.
What was the greatest thing before sliced bread? Hmmmm?
[Source: www.witandwisdom.org/ ]
