EXCERPTS FROM THE WEB EVANGELIST BULLETIN - September 2006
This bulletin is published on this Website only as an informative document of possible interest to our patrons and browsers. Christians Products in publishing this content does not necessarily agree with nor take responsibility for any of the articles or links contained herein.
"Mountains of gold would not seduce some men, yet flattery would break them down" - Henry Ward Beecher
"Write injuries in sand, kindnesses in marble" - French proverb
USING VIDEO CLIPS FOR OUTREACH
With the growth of high-speed broadband connections, video is becoming an integral part of the web experience. But how can we use video clips for web-based outreach? There is a big opportunity waiting to be used - post them on secular networking sites:
http://ied.gospelcom.net/video-outreach.php
IEC CONFERENCE CHICAGO - BLOGGERS NEEDED
If you are going to the conference this week and would like to send blog reports on the sessions to the E-vangelism blog, please contact Andrew Careaga via the site:
http://www.e-vangelism.com/
Good news is that videos of the sessions will be posted online later:
http://webevangelism.com/
CREATIVE ARTS COURSE HAS VACANCIES
If you believe God wants to grow your gifts in the creative arts, there's a one-year course in Leeds UK. It's not too late to sign up for this wide-ranging residential Christian program - check out the Visible Voice School of Expressive Arts. I've visited their center - it's great.
http://www.visiblevoice.org.uk/
COMMUNICATING WELL
BELIEF: How people perceive God affects their other beliefs, and will help us as we offer more balanced views of Him:
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,11069-2355486.html
STORYTELLING: We've frequently highlighted the biblical effectiveness of storytelling. Here's a secular guide to the craft:
http://www.creativekeys.net/StorytellingPower/sphome.html
CREATIVE IDEA: An Ottawa radio station and Anglican church have teamed up to offer spoof tickets to heaven with absolution for sins. It's an innovative way to start people thinking about the gospel:
http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/MediaNews/2006/08/12/1751316-sun.html
CONSPIRACY THEORIES: The bizarre promotion even in Christian circles of a conspiracy theory relating to 9/11 (despite all the arguments having been clearly refuted) is just the latest in a long line of such stories where apparent inconsistencies in a small percentage of thousands of reports are built up into an illogical house of cards. A previous conspiracy theory on a less contentious matter is that the identity of the Titanic was swapped with sister ship Olympic. Another is that the moon landings were faked in a film studio.
The problem with any conspiracy theory that would involve more than a very small number of highly disciplined alleged operatives, is that it leaks. If a conspiracy had really happened, and needed a number of people on the ground to carry it out, sooner rather than later, someone would talk.
That's what makes the resurrection so credible. The body was missing. People were prepared to die for their claims. The classic book WHO MOVED THE STONE (Morison) remains in print and covers the ground clearly.
http://www.leaderu.com/orgs/probe/docs/resurrec.html
FACING THE GIANTS - FILM RELEASE SEPTEMBER
This new movie, put together by a church in Georgia (US), presents a stirring message about what God can do through a high school football team. The movie is on general release in USA from Sept. 29. It uses only volunteer actors from Sherwood Baptist Church, who have also funded the project:
http://www.lifeway.com/facingthegiants/
CHURCH MINISTRY
NEWSLETTERS. How to get your church newsletter noticed:
http://guide.gospelcom.net/offsitelink?b06sept-newsletter
COMMENT AND NEWS. Some of the best writing on the planet emerges from Christianity Today magazine. CT offers a range of email newsletters you can sign up for:
http://www.christianitytoday.com/free/features/newsletters.html
There's also a blog, 'Out of UR', with some very thoughtful discussion:
http://guide.gospelcom.net/offsitelink?b06sept-outofUR
MYSTERY VISITOR. See what your church visitors see! Get a 'mystery shopper' to visit your church and evaluate the experience:
http://www.guestreflections.com/index.html
CHURCH WEB EVANGELISM - "An Opportunity Lost?" asks Gary Snow: http://www.christianwebmaker.com/articles/church_web_evangelism.htm
Check also the IE Day tips for church sites, which can be syndicated into any other website:
http://ied.gospelcom.net/church-site-tips.php
THE WORLD WE LIVE IN
CHINA has 100 million Internet Messenger (IM) users, the most in the world:
http://www.chinanews.cn//news/2005/2006-09-01/27188.html
INDIA: Although 300 million Indians live on less than a dollar a day, the Indian economy is growing fast, with 5 million new mobile phone users a month. One in three of Microsoft engineers is Indian. Because the first language of the educated classes is English, they have a huge advantage in world trade.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,6-2342637,00.html
Unusual ringback tones are taking India by storm... "the more personalized, the better, " says Mission Network News:
http://www.mnnonline.org/article/9002
INTEGRAL MISSION: Christian relief, development and justice organizations:
http://www.micahnetwork.org/eng/
FIRST DIGITAL TALKING BIBLES SENT TO AFRICA - Talking Bibles International sent its first 1,000 new digital, solid-state Talking Bibles to the Bible Society in Malawi, Africa. These Talking Bibles have a special arrangement of Scripture passages from the Old Testament as well as the entire New Testament in the Chichewa language. For the first time, non-readers who speak Chichewa will have access to scriptures in their own language. Launch was at a rally in Blantyre with the Chief Justice as guest of honor.
http://www.talkingbibles.org/
HEALTH: More scientific evidences that laughter boosts immunity and benefits healing:
http://women.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,17909-2325547.html
Need detailed info on some medication you are taking?
http://www.webmd.com/drugs/
Coping with information overload:
http://www.gdrc.org/icts/i-overload/infoload.html
WHISTLE DOWN THE WIND - a touching story of (misplaced) child-like faith. You can catch this 1-hour BBC radio dramatization of the classic 60s Hayley Mills film, available until 24 September here:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/progs/listenagain.shtml
(To capture this streamed program for later listening, either plug in an audio-cassette into your computer audio socket, or better, install software such as http://audacity.sourceforge.net/ or www.videohelp.com/tools?tool=Real7ime_Converter on your computer to grab the audio stream and convert it to a saveable form.
The black and white film itself has worn very well:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0055618
CHRISTIAN PODCAST DIRECTORY LAUNCHED
Christian.com launched GodCast1000.com last month, the largest podcast directory dedicated solely to Christian podcasts.
"Religious believers want more 'God on their iPod,' and churches are rapidly finding that through podcasting, church members can take the Sunday sermon with them throughout the week," said Lee Raney, president of Christian.com.
GodCast1000.com ranks the top Christian podcasts by categories, such as church sermons, Christian music, and Bible study. The largest category is sermons, and over 150 church sermon podcasts can be found and subscribed to for free on the site.
The newest trend in podcasting is video podcasting, also called 'vidcasts' or 'video blogs'. The top video podcast on GodCast1000.com is CyberPastor.com a daily video devotional by Pastor Andrae Bailey. Recognizing the growing number of churches beginning to podcast, Christian.com is also launching a new service called SermonCast, which helps churches convert audio tapes and CDs to podcasts.
http://www.GodCast1000.com/
CHRISTIAN ENQUIRY AGENCY UK NEEDS CEO
UK's Christian Enquiry Agency, which is also responsible for the outreach site ReJesus.co.uk is looking for a new director:
http://www.christianity.org.uk/newdirector
TAILEND ô¿ô
Working at the post office, I'm used to dealing with a moody public.
So when one irate customer stormed my desk, I responded in my calmest voice, "What's the trouble?"
"I went out this morning," she began, "and when I came home I found a card saying the mailman tried to deliver a package but no one was home. I'll have you know, my husband was in all morning! He never heard a thing!"
After apologizing, I got her parcel. "Oh good!" she gushed. "We've been waiting for this for ages!"
"What is it?" I asked. "My husband's new hearing aid."
