Following my recent and completely unfun foray into group blogging, I received a number of suggestions that I start my own group blog. At first I dismissed the idea; but it kept returning to me, and slowly but surely grew on me. I’m now at the point of thinking that it might in fact be a fun/good thing to run a group blog.

The blog I’m thinking of would be in the form of an online discussion, wherein a group of no more than a dozen Christians, each representing a different strain or denomination of the faith–conservative, liberal, Catholic, emerging, Calvinist, fundamentalist, and so on—- would discuss a specific question or topic. I or any of the group would put forth, for instance, “Today’s topic is ‘Tithing: The Pain of Giving,’” or whatever the subject might be (need I mention who would pre-approve  the discussion topics?), and then our writers would chime in on that topic. No comments from readers would be allowed, since that’s the only way to avoid unwieldy separate exchange threads. And each of the blog’s members would have to agree, going in, on the rules governing membership to the blog, which would consist first and foremost of the assurance that they would at all times respect ways of being Christian that are different from their own.

I think it’d be cool to have a place where Christians of distinctly different strains and traditions could come together to discuss matters of concern to all Christians (and people). If there are Christian group blogs out there like that (and I imagine there must be), I don’t know of them. All the Christian group blogs with which I’m familiar consist of writers who believe and practice the same things. I’d like to see a blog where people could come to learn about and appreciate different ways of doing and understanding Christianity.

What do you think of such a blog? Sound good to you? Think it’d be something you’d read and visit? Have any thoughts or suggestions on it?

(Also, if you think you’d like to be one of the writers on this group blog, please include in your comment to this post a link to your own blog. Please understand that I’m not at all committing to doing this new blog; I’m only taking these few exploratory steps. But of course part of that is giving a little thought to who the writers on the blog might be.)

Thanks for your input/thoughts.

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So how was church yesterday?    If you’re like the majority of Evangelicals in North America (and increasingly, the UK) it probably went down something like this:

• you were casually dressed
• there was an opportunity to have coffee either before or after the service, or in some cases, during the service
• either at the outset, or part-way through the service your kids were dismissed to enjoy their own worship “experience” in a kid-friendly “environment”
• you sang a number of modern worship choruses, perhaps with a hymn or two added for flavor
• your pastor — equally casually dressed — preached a message from a topical series he is working through with key points and texts projected on a large screen at the front
  
• after the service you had a couple of brief conversations with people from your small group who you will see later in the week at someone’s home

Such is Christian worship in 2009.

But now you’re sitting at your computer and you’re surfing for some good Christian blogs to read, but finding yourself in a kind of spiritual twilight zone.     The people you’re reading — in many cases anyway — don’t look or talk like the people you meet on Sunday mornings. You ask yourself, “Why can’t I find a blog by someone online who looks like me?”  So you keep searching.

Why is this?

It’s largely because the Christian internet is dominated by a number of people who have a particular axe to grind.    Once you’ve been doing this for awhile, you’ll recognize them — “By their links ye shall know them” — but until then, here’s a primer on what you’re finding on your computer screen…

Militant Calvinist Soldiers

There’s nothing objectively wrong with being Calvinist.   Most people are either Calvinist or Arminian in terms of their core doctrines, so you’re going to end up as more one or the other eventually.   The problem is that these people are consuming vast amounts of bandwidth engaging all kinds of deep debates which, while they might prove valuable in terms of Bible study on obscure points of doctrine, no one can remember how they got started.

The other problem is that they tend to use the word “Calvinism” or “Calvinist” ten times more often than they use words like “Christian” or “Jesus.”    Or worse, they use words like “Monergism.”   Believe me, if you think you’re coming down with a case of Monergism, you might want to get it checked.

Personally, I want my ticket to Eternity to be based on Christ’s finished work on the cross for my sin, and not that I stood for a particular organization, denomination or doctrine; or that I could recite all the proof-texts for a particular viewpoint.

King James Onlyites

Somewhere along the line, the joy of their salvation got sucked out and replaced with a mission:  That all Bibles everywhere on earth be eliminated save for their one copy of the King James Version in black leather.   With a red ribbon marker.   And a zipper.

Which, is fine if that’s what you like.   Goodness knows one part of my Zondervan Bible software is still set up to do keyword searches in good ol’ KJV, though it displays the results in something more readable.    But Onlyites aren’t allowed to have preferences.   They have to spiritualize everything, and if they can’t find enough external evidence supporting the supremacy of one particular translation, then they make stuff up.

Never get in an argument with these people because there is nothing — absolutely nothing — you can say that will sway them.   Yea, verily, their mind hath been firmly fix-ed, neither shall anyone dissuade them.  Thus spake I.

The Law and The Gospel Litigists

The fact is, we’re all sinners in God’s eyes.   We’ve all missed the mark in various ways at various times.   Our attempts at righteousness are as far from “pure white” as the paint rags I used during our last kitchen reno.   So yes, nobody is going to get on God’s heaven registration list just by trying to live a good life and be a good person.

On the other hand, this approach, as true as it is,  while it works well if you’re doing somewhat random “witnessing” to strangers, is about as far from lifestyle evangelism as you want to be; especially with friends, neighbors, relatives, co-workers, fellow-students, etc., that you want to see cross the line of faith over the long-term.   Plus, at least you’ve earned the right to be heard, instead of spouting volcanic eruptions of guilt and condemnation.

So while it’s true that there aren’t many roads to God, there are many ways to introduce someone to Jesus.   L&G people tend to get upset if you’re not doing it their way, or winning as many people as they are, or feel called to do street ministry.

Discernmentalists

Years ago, a rather cool guy named Walter Martin figured out that with all the cults and “isms” out there, it would be good for someone to track the beliefs of different writers and organizations whose beliefs bear a strong external similarity to Christianity, but also hold to other ideas that are somewhat off the wall.   He started what is often called a discernment ministry.

With some of the excesses sometimes found in the Charismatic movement, that investigation started hitting closer to home.   Which may be justified.   Especially when you have a research staff documenting everything so that your end product isn’t just a load of innuendo and veiled accusations.

Today however, it seems like there is a Walter Martin wannabe around every corner.   And they don’t trust anyone under 40.   Which means they can — and probably will — show up at your church on Sunday morning and nitpick over the use of words and phrases and pronounce you apostate, cultic or — even worse — Emergent.     (Note:  Emergents who quote Charles Spurgeon and Jonathan Edwards totally confuse them.)   And you don’t want to know their views on music.

Sermon Scribes

These people never actually blog anything original but simply cut and paste vast amounts of sermon texts, often completely omitting to include anything resembling paragraph breaks.

Like the Hindu temple priests who believe there’s something in the incense that rises up to God,  these Ctrl-C, Ctrl-V bloggers believe that there’s something of value in posting these vast and usually impossible-to-follow sermons online, that apparently can only be perceived by God Himself and other Sermon Scribe bloggers.

Personally, I’ll take a podcast over text.   You get the inflection of the speaker who, if they are tech-savvy enough to post a podcast, usually has a communication style that’s less 1910 and more 2010.   Plus you get the audio equivalent of paragraph breaks:  Deep breaths.

Ecclesiastical Elite

There are some good leadership blogs out there.   I even link to some of them in my blogroll.  But if you’re a new Christian, you need to know these aren’t for you so much as they’re for pastors to communicate with other pastors.

Frankly, pastors have different issues than the rest of us.   They live in a world that is vocationally as far removed from you are as the east is from the west.  They work odd hours.  They drink a lot of coffee.  They read books that even the staff at your local Christian bookstore don’t know how to find.

I have great respect for these men, and 99.44% of them are men.   But their blogs should exist on some kind of private blogging network that only other pastors can access.   One of my favorites is actually not on my blogroll for just that reason.    I started thinking about how frustrated and confused I would be if he were my pastor.    It’s good stuff, it’s just not good for everyone.

Conference Crowd

Some people think the big money to be made off Christianity these days is in running conferences and seminars.    I disagree.   The big money is actually in the airline business and the hotel business.   And those lanyard name tag things.

This crowd devotes at least 66.7% of the blog postings in anticipation of a forthcoming conference and another 66.7% coming down from the conference high.   The remaining 66.7% is spent live blogging from the conference itself.   (Hey, it’s arithmatic license, okay?)

There is an saying among modern Evangelicals:  “Send a man to a conference and you’ve recharged his spiritual batteries for a day.  Teach him how to organize and run his own conference and you’ve kept him run off his feet for life.”

Narcissistic Marketers

With this category, we’ll end this this theme, and since you’ve all been patient enough to get this far, you can read more about this in my latest book, which, while you’re ordering it online, you can actually pre-order my next book which is coming out next month.

Plus, we just got in a skid of my first book, and if you’re interested in buying these in case lots (only 72 copies to a case) to give away to all your friends, we can ship them to you free freight if you order them by Friday.   Christmas is coming, and you don’t want to be without a gift to give that unenlightened pagan who lives next door.

Also below you’ll find a link to my latest video promoting all four of my books, plus a PayPal donation button if you really enjoy the great insights I post here daily.   On the sidebar, you’ll also find a link to a story about me in the New York Times and a picture of me receiving CBA Book-of-the-year in the category “Christian non-fiction miscellaneous;” as well as all the details of our “Holy Land of the West” 14-day tour of Wheaton, Illinois (with optional day trips to Barrington, Elgin and a two-day side trip to Minneapolis, Minnesota.)  Did I mention my book?

Immersion in Christ – Mark’s Gospel

I discuss the Bible in a couple of Yahoo Groups, one in particular.  I have learned an enormous amount in the 3 years I have been on this list especially but the same topics seem to be discussed ad infinitum.  I have some quite different views from many on the list and I enjoy presenting my views and interacting with the list members, some of whom are close friends and I consider them mentors (even if we don’t have identical perspectives).

Recently as some of my views have changed, I have been reading Christian blogs more, searching for different approaches that make sense to me and that I can accept intellectually as well as spiritually.  As one of my favourite bloggers, Michael Spencer – the Internet Monk, said in a post today:
I feel like I’ve been saying this a lot recently, but I’m far more interested in a person coming to a position of honesty and integrity than I am in maintaining labels that aren’t working. The choice between a phony Christian profession and honest doubt is not a hard one for me.

I can’t maintain the label of “strictly evangelical” any longer.  However, some of my friends see my change of perspective as the beginning of a slippery slope towards a loss of faith. This is far from the truth – my journey is towards a more authentic faith where I am not forced to try to reconcile interpretations which I cannot accept.   I was challenged to spend as much time in the gospels as I do in the blogs. Now this is a fair comment (I spend too much time blog reading and not enough in the Word) and one I have taken to heart.  I need to feed on spiritual bread and drink of the living water. I have been inspired by Nick Gill’s commitment to blogging his way through the Bible and decided to blog my way through the Gospels. I will post in my group (Berean Spirit) as well as here. And as my blog is networked to facebook, it will post there too.

For various reasons I have decided to stick with looking at one gospel at a time. (Some in Berean Spirit  suggested a chronological study of Jesus’ life). It is more manageable, and I don’t want to commit to something I have neither the time, the discipline nor the skills to complete. Immersion in one gospel at a time (pun intended) will enable us to discern the intent and voice of that author and it’s message for us. I chose Mark to begin with for a few reasons. It’s most likely the first gosepl that was written. It has more of Jesus’ deeds and less of his teachings than Luke and Matthew do, so it might make sense to look at Jesus’ teachings later after looking at a framework of his life in Mark first. And, I don’t want the discussion to go offtrack by being distracted by the genealogies in those gospels (I have different views on the historicity of the genealogies to many in Berean Spirit) or discussion of the virgin birth. Plus the profundity of the Sermon on the Mount scares me – I need to work up to discussing that. And Mark is the least “literary” of the gospels so I have spent less time in Mark than the other gospels so far. This will address that lack.

I am going to post my comments after reading, prayer and reflection. I am not intending to make this an indepth study so will try not to get distracted (as I am wont to do) by commentaries or tangents. I’m using the ESV to paste here (thanks Biblegateway) but am reading the NIV, TNIV, ESV and NLT each day before commenting. And I will make each post short so it’s more manageable.

Mark 1 (English Standard Version)
1The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ,(A) the Son of God.[a]

The gospel is ongoing beyond Mark’s account (into Acts and beyond). The gospel not limited to a written account or to this account. My Bible tells me that the Son of God was added later. Is that significant? Probably not… it doesn’t contradict anything.

^2(B) As it is written in Isaiah the prophet,^[b]

^(C) “Behold, I send my messenger before your face,
who will prepare your way,
^3(D) the voice of one crying in the wilderness:
^(E) ‘Prepare^[c] the way of the Lord,
make his paths straight,’”

Mark indicates that Jesus is the fulfilment of Israel’s prophecies in quoting here from Isaiah and Malachi. A reminder that Jesus cannot be understood in isolation but in the context of the whole of God’s story.

^4(F) John appeared, baptizing in^(G) the wilderness and proclaiming^(H) a baptism of^(I) repentance^(J) for the forgiveness of sins. ⁵And all the country of Judea and all Jerusalem were going out to him and were being baptized by him in the river Jordan,^(K) confessing their sins.

We should not be limited to “this” baptism. We need to embrace baptism in all it’s richness and spiritual complexity. If we limit baptism to the “remission of sins” we miss much of what Jesus is all about.

Note that “all” is used here in a hyperbolic sense, not literally. It is obvious (from the rest of the gospel story) that not everyone in Jerusalem and Judea were baptized by John.

⁶Now John was^(L) clothed with camel’s hair and^(M) wore a leather belt around his waist and ate^(N) locusts and wild honey.

Does this description have echoes of the 40 years the Jews spent in the wilderness? I know it links John to Elijah and other prophets.

⁷And he preached, saying,^(O) “After me comes he who is mightier than I, the strap of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie.

John’s foreshadows the servant leadership of Jesus.

The poetic language of the prophets Isaiah and Malachi and John contrasts with the prosaic language of Mark.

8(P) I have baptized you with water, but(Q) he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”

The importance of Holy Spirit baptism. Water baptism is insufficient unless we are immersed in the Holy Spirit too. We need to base our theology of baptism on the gospels and the whole canon of Scripture, not just Acts 2:38.

I was wondering how this line would be translated with immersion instead? (Berean Spirit group has been discussing how the Greek word baptidzo should best be translated into English – by the transliteration baptism or immersion.

8 I have immersed you in water, but he will immerse you in the Holy Spirit.”

It loses something, I think.  Baptism is much more than immersion.

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Verse 3 makes me want to sing.  Handel’s Messiah is one of my favourite pieces of music.

I invite your comments.  And your prayers for my perseverance with immersion in Jesus.

First, let me say that I’ve been reading several different blogs listed at SBC Voices, and will soon be adding some of those to my blogroll.  A button for SBC Voices appears in the sidebar if you would like to check it out; I’ve been introduced to some really good blogs over there including Confessions of a Recovering Pharisee, who shares the story below.

According to the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life, often quoted by atheists to show how quickly religion is failing, children raised in non-religious homes tend not to stay that way.  The New York Times calls the situation “defecting to faith,” and reports that over half of those raised with no religious affiliation will choose one in adulthood.  Only 13 or 14 percent of those raised in Christian homes will defect.  And although atheism has large numbers of “converts” each year, it also has one of the lowest retention rates. 

Link to Kevin’s article here, with more stats and links.

I think almost every Jesus-loving-person should have their own blog!

With some bloggers in the U.K. already posting on April 2nd, I decided it was time to cruise the Christian blogosphere and see what my online friends had to offer for April Fools Day.

Instead, I discovered that AFD is ignored the way the Christian community ignores Halloween.     Yawn.    However, having done all the research I thought the least I could do was share the lynx links with you.

Take an online tour.   It does get better as it goes.

Randy Morgan gives a Pastor’s-eye-view of performing weddings and funerals here.

Pete Wilson reveals here that even pastors struggle with prayer.

Michael Patton, a Calvinist who believes in “perseverance of the saints” dissects people leaving church.

Eric Wright in Dayton, Ohio becomes the latest blogger to link to this fascinating technology video.

The always humorous, sometimes downright silly blog, Stuff Christians Like gets absolutely devotional.

Meanwhile the SCL tribute/knockoff site, Stuff Christian Culture Likes asks how you sign off your letters.

Jon Birch at ASBO Jesus posts his 690th cartoon and again leaves everyone thinking.

Mark Randall highlights the De-Baptism certificate and also figures out how the hierarchy of church leadership works.

Yours truly posts a tangential response to an article on the upcoming movie based on Blue Like Jazz.

Author Wayne Jacobsen’s April 1 post is obviously tongue-in-cheek, and a little too real, also.

The Canuck/Kiwi blog Mental Reflections visits oldies night at the contemporary church.

Jim Lehmer at Lord I Believe links to: Moses Departing Egypt – A Facebook Haggadah.

Internet-savvy cats post pictures online, but their spelling and grammar is atrocious.

A place called Henry proves to be the ideal vacation destination right now, with this 5-day weather forecast.

…but in the end, it looks like Jeff McQuilkin captured the spirit of the day with this post.   Ya actually got me, Jeff!

The finalists for the 1st Christian Bloggers Award  (to be awarded at the Christian Bloggers Luncheon at the Tulsa Workshop) are
here

Vote before 5:00 p.m. Eastern Daylight Savings Time (USA that is…) on March 23rd and spread the word.

Methinks the awards should be broadcast live.  Ustream maybe, Brad?

If you have never read any Christian blogs, the blogs of the finalists are a great place to start.  I am very proud to call many of them (the finalists, not the blogs!) friends, and some of them dear friends, spiritual mentors and encouragers and inspiration for my blogging.

One of the things I love about blogging is the new friends I have made. I love being a part of the Christian blogging fellowship. Some of my blogging friends (hi Brad!) are sponsoring these awards. I wish Tulsa was closer! Maybe one year I will get there…

Please help us get the word out by blogging/posting/tweeting the URL http://nominate.theobloggers.org.

At the Tulsa (Oklahoma, USA) Workshop this year, we will be having a TheoBloggers® sponsored dinner for Christian bloggers and fans of Christian bloggers on Saturday, March 28th at 11:00 a.m. at the Memorial Road Church of Christ building.  Of the myriad festivities that will occur at that dinner, one of the most exciting will be the first annual TheoBloggers® Christian Bloggers Awards.

Just like blogging, we want to make this a community event.  To do so, we need you to help us nominate bloggers for various awards.  Once the nominations are in, a panel of five judges will consider all comments and frequency of nominations and will sort the nominations and come up with the top three in each category.  At that time, we will make you aware of the finalists and you will get to make the final decision in a second round of voting.  The results of these awards will be announced at the TheoBloggers® dinner and then posted at http://www.theobloggers.com.

We have two categories of awards: “Best of” awards, which focus on individual blogs and posts, and “Blogger of the Year”, which will focus on the overall content and communicative value of the blog.  The “Best of” awards will consist of the following categories:

- Best Marriage/Family/Parenting Blog
- Best Leadership/Discipleship Blog
- Best Devotional/Inspirational Blog
- Best Theological Blog
- Best Practical Ministry Blog
- Best Blog by a Female Blogger
- Best New Blogger – Must have started their first blog in 2008

This form is broken into three parts: your information, “Blogger of the Year” nomination, and “Best of” nomination.  Be sure to use the appropriate spaces for your nominations.  Please revisit the form to nominate additional bloggers. You may nominate as many bloggers per category as you choose.  You may also nominate yourself if you desire, although this does not sit well for the “Most Humble Blogger” award .

Blogging award nominations will be accepted from February 9th through March 2nd.  Finals voting will be March 9th through March 23rd.

If you have any questions or problems with this form, please contact brad@theobloggers.org

For more information on or to register for the Bloggers Luncheon and Awards Presentation, visit http://register.theobloggers.org

An excellent exposition of the biblical view on homosexuality and the sins of church people. 

The conclusion:

The church should not and must not accept unrepentant homosexuals–or unrepentant sinners of any type of transgressions–into membership.

The church did not make the rules for her standards of conduct. The one true God, who is holy in all of his ways, made the standards. It is he who offers to you to believe on Jesus Christ so that he might give you salvation from your sins. He offers you Christ so that you may become a sinner saved by grace who lives holy among God’s people–the church.

So if it is acceptance you are seeking, go to Jesus first. Once you have met him in repentance, all of the other redeemed sinners will be glad to accept you!

The full article bears reading, both by those who don’t want gays in the church — and those who think the church has nothing to say to gays about homosexuals  and repentance.

Let me begin by making a quick remark about the comments to Monday’s question. Wow! I was impressed. Very few (if any) of the answers were “typical.” Whenever I’ve spoken at a conference with mainstream Christians and I’ve asked this same question, the two typical responses are: 1) to save the lost, and 2) to worship God and enjoy Him forever.

A number of the answers you all gave reflect my own thoughts on the subject. In fact, some of them sounded very much like what I wrote in Reimagining Church on the Eternal Purpose of God and some other works of mine. That’s VERY encouraging to me.

I plan to discuss the topic further on Tuesday (I’m out of town Monday for a conference this weekend, which I’d appreciate your prayers for). But I will simply say this: Monday’s question is intensely related to the question of the church’s mission in the earth. Those two questions ought never to be separated.

But that’s a discussion for another post on another day.

That said, let me move on to lighter things.

My 2 cents on the election: Beyond the obvious that scores of people have already observed and which I’ll quickly repeat – history has been made, no expert understands what McCain’s campaign manager was thinking or doing, America isn’t “a racist nation” after all, the country is still deeply divided over political issues (including the Christian segment), it will be impossible for the new president to deliver on all of his promises, etc. etc. etc. – but beyond all that, I feel a bit like I did when the Trial of the Century ended (the first O.J. Simpson trial).

No more high drama to watch on television.

No more flipping between the major networks and watching the spin, and more spin. No more following the stars in the cast, all of whom were quite colorful and interesting in my opinion. No more sitting in amazement at how God’s people could have two drastically different mindsets, values, and opinions on the election and the issues that surrounded it. No more presidential and vice-presidential debates, no more intriguing (or not so intriguing) interviews, no more watching the polls change, no more debates between pundits and experts, etc. etc. etc.

Watching the nightly news isn’t quite the same for me now.

Sigh.

Now on that high note, but on a completely different topic, I’d like to introduce my readers to Mike Morrell. Mike is one of the most interesting, engaging, well-informed, and thoughtful bloggers of our day. While you may not find yourself agreeing with all of his opinions (I don’t think he even does that J), he will certainly provoke you to think. And he’ll educate you about things that you probably weren’t aware of.

In my opinion, Mike’s blog trumps that of all the high profile Christian bloggers that I know of. Andrew Jones, Grace, Michael Spencer, Brother Maynard, and Brant Hansen (when he has time to blog J) would be the exceptions.

The reason? Beyond the fact that all of the above are thoughtful and creative writers, Mike, Andrew, Grace, Michael, Bro. M., and Brant (when he’s blogging) seem to be firmly in touch with what’s going on all across the Christian landscape, including the various cutting-edge streams of Christianity today. They don’t dismiss or ignore any of them. Instead, they show keen discernment to know where the Spirit is speaking and what He’s saying to the church. They aren’t afraid to bring conversations into their blogs that are taking place “outside the box” … outside the accepted mainstream … and they even try to bring them together. This is quite rare in the blogosphere today let alone Christian magazines and journals. The “echo chamber” phenomenon, as I like to call it, is pandemic.

Hopefully, this will change in the coming days as more bloggers get their pulse around the different things that God is doing throughout the world, not simply restricting it to what’s popular or accepted by the mainstream.

So if you are a blog consumer, check out Mike M., Grace, Andrew J., Michael S., Brother M. and Brant H. (if he ever starts blogging again .

May their tribe increase!

Have a great weekend,

Frank

—

New Article: The Current Move of God: 8 Characteristics – written from a guy who DOESN’T talk about any contemporary “moves of God” … but feels forced to now.

Included is a special survey for people 21-35 years old.

So, you might still be deliberating on using a blog for your church. You are not unlike many Americans who are becoming wrapped up in the new frenzy that is being labeled Church Social Media. Pastors, ministers, and other evangelistic mediators are taking their word to the internet. As you sit there and ponder the next wave of the internet, I am quite sure you are also wondering where to start. Which method would be the best? Let’s look at some statistics surrounding the use of blogs. See the chart below from Jupiter Research.

Although this may look bleak, I would like to reference buzzlogic.com that has conducted several studies and arrived at the conclusion that the number of people who read blogs daily, or at least once a month has increased at least 300%. “Harnessing the Power of Blogs,” a research study of more than 2,000 online consumers in the US, was conducted by JupiterResearch, a Forrester research company. (Reference) What is a so big about the blog world? Look at these statistics:

As you can see, blogs have a tremendous affect on the purchase behavior of their audience. Several genres of products including major banks, retailers and other leading markets have adopted the idea of Social Media, embracing blogs and bloggers alike.

With this in mind, I would like to draw the parallel between buyer behavior and the behavior of the common individual on the internet. Chances are, those who are lost are not beating down the doors of your church. Where are they? On the internet, reading blogs, chatting via instant message, you get the point right?

If the majority of the “lost” are roaming the world wide web looking for answers, should we not be out “there” bringing the Gospel?  Don’t we have the answer?

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About the Writer:

Trent Cotton has spent a number of years in management and business consulting. After spending some time in the field, he joined the HR department, beginning in recruiting and eventually serving as the Department Head of HR for one of the major lines of business. With such a varied background, he works to bring all of these together to help churches and other Christian organizations incorporate some common business practices into their ministries to enable them to better serve the Kingdom. He currently works for SourcePointe, an HR Outsourcing Agency while continuing to own and operate Christian Management Consulting as a ministry. In his free time, he also writes a lot on Church Development as a Church Consultant.

opment.

So you are considering why your Church should begin using Social Media or Web 2.0 to further develop your member base or ministry outreach? Let me help you with a very simple explanation. Social Media will enable you to take your message…

Some interesting facts to consider:

• In 2007, a Study was completed on the familiarity with Social Media by several internet users. In 2007, 42% of these said they were familiar with the term “Social Networking”. This percentage grew in 2008 to 57%. (See study here)
• One of the largest gains in the study conducted by Nora Ganim Barnes, Ph.D showed an increase in awareness of blogging from 36% to 52%. Most of the leading Social Media experts indicate blogging is the next “website”.
• The percentage of companies using Social Media as a way to communicate, retain, and attract with their client base rose from 27% in 2007 to 49% to 2008.
• When asked, most internet users indicated the importance of social media any business marketing strategy. (Up from 26% in 2007 to 44% in 2008)

With all of this said, it is more than apparent for the business community that Social Media is a clear and present need for their business marketing strategies. As a church, we have a larger, more important mission for our “client base.” Most business could sell clients something to make them prettier, cleaner, or smarter. In the church, we have the message of Christ that can clean and save the souls of our “client base.” With this in mind, why would a church not get involved in social media?

Most answers would include items such as:

• We are not that big of a church
• Our church body doesn’t feel the need for such a ministry
• We have a website and are thinking about a blog, that should be enough
• No one knows how to do this Social Media thing.

Although these are obviously valid reasons, they should not stop us. I would daresay, if Peter or Paul had the luxury or getting their message out to more people than those who were only within earshot of their voice, they would have used it. Paul, one of the early Social Media gurus, used the written letter to keep up with the churches of his day and used this as an avenue to not only reinforce his message, but provide direction as well. For those who believe their church is too small I would ask the question, “What does that matter?” If you have a strong, convicting message of Christ’s love and redemption, should the size of your congregation really determine whether or not you preach the Gospel by whatever means available? Let me provide a view of how Church Social Media works.

Church Social Media would include a number of venues for a church to explore. Depending upon your Church’s desire, you might consider one of the following:

I seem to remember a parable Christ told about three servants to whom their master gave them each sums of money depending upon their ability. When he returned, the master brought each of the three in to see him and provide an update on his investment. If you have the opportunity to preach the Gospel and reach the lost using Church Social Media, I would urge you to do it. If you need help in this area, please feel free to contact me directly. I have some partners who are great at helping businesses achieve their Social Media Strategy Goals and can help you get started in Church Social Media.

About the Writer:

Trent Cotton has spent a number of years in management and business consulting. After spending some time in the field, he joined the HR department, beginning in recruiting and eventually serving as the Department Head of HR for one of the major lines of business. With such a varied background, he works to bring all of these together to help churches and other Christian organizations incorporate some common business practices into their ministries to enable them to better serve the Kingdom. He currently owns and operates Christian Management Consulting and also writes a lot on Church Development.

So what’s the big deal with blogging?  What is its real effectiveness in reaching potential new members or even keeping in front of your current members?  Why not just have a website and leave it at that?

All of these are great points and many churches and other non profit organizations ask these same lists of questions.  With so much going on in the market with banks going under, businesses floundering as a result of an impeding recession, churches and nonprofits are seeing a drop in their charitiable giving.  With uncertainty being one of the best times to preach the Gospel and provide hope where there is none, would it not make sense to use a great, inexpensive way to advertise and communicate with both your current and potential base of members?

To tackle the first question I am asked a lot, “Why have a blog and a website,”  I would like to quote www.associatedcontent.com when they write:

First, Blogs work great in connection with your website. Your website is more on the business level, where your blog is more on a personal level. You can give thoughts on your current promotions or products, or comment on how you business is doing. Many people add what they are currently learning about, making their blog seem like a journey. Always put a link to your website on your blog and vice versa. This will allow customers to see both sides of you if they want to. Remember consumers want to know who they are buying from, and what is a better way to learn about a webmaster than through a blog. This gives them a sense of comfort. They will be less likely to think that you might be scamming them. Referenced Article “Why Are Blogs so Popular and Why Do I Need One?”

In terms of blog use in the Christian society, this also provides a controllable way to advertise on the web.  So many times, there are church sites marketing with not-so-Christian adds on the same page.  We have to be sure we are conveying the correct message.  When redesigning a church website, I would imagine the steering committee would consider every in and out of how and what to consider on the church website.  However, for some of the smaller churches, using a free hosting service is the only way to be able to market via the web, and one of the down sides to the free hosting are the numerous adds placed on the website.  This could spell disaster.

As stated above, the blog allows you to present yourself and your church or organization in a more personal manner.  Your website will be general in nature, however, you can expound on your organization’s passions with the blog and update it daily, hourly, or even by the minute… if you have enough writers!

If you are a smaller church or organization looking to get your name out on the web, the blog would need to be your primary route.  Why?  First reason, they’re free and ad free.  It is the way to go and from most Social Media experts, it is going to become the mainstream method of communication – if it hasn’t already become that now.

Ideas to Consider

Below is our Top 5 Ideas to employ with your blog.  These are taken from businesses and made more Scriptural in nature.  Just begin thinking of yourself as the Apostle Paul of Web 2.0 .

1. Have a newsletter blog outlining upcoming events and chronicling those in the past including pictures and quotes from participants.  What perspective member doesn’t want to read about the events going on at your church?
2. Create a Children’s, Pastor’s, or Youth Corner feel.  Have blogs specifically for the various ages or groups within your church.  Make it personal.  Allowing yourself to delegate the responsibility of updating the news for the various ministries in their own blogs is not only liberating, but smart.  List these blogs on your main website and have themes.  For example, your Children Ministry blog could focus on a family book club, or introduce articles by Dr. Dobison or other notable writers.
3. Create a blog specifically to further discuss the sermon series you are on.  This is a great way to add depth to your sermon series for those who want more than milk!  Hebrews 5
4. Post Polls on important church topics or simply questions about the current series to drive lookers to the blog and to get some answers to questions you may not normally get honest answers to.
5. Update it regularly.  Make it a lifeline and you will begin to see results.  This is a great way to get the word out too since blogs can have RSS feeds which takes the guess work out of the equation.

Hope this is good information for you.  For those pastors who currently blog, how do you use this tool in your own churches?  What advice would you give to those considering this realm.

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About the Writer:

Trent Cotton has spent a number of years in management and business consulting. After spending some time in the field, he joined the HR department, beginning in recruiting and eventually serving as the Department Head of HR for one of the major lines of business. With such a varied background, he works to bring all of these together to help churches and other Christian organizations incorporate some common business practices into their ministries to enable them to better serve the Kingdom. He currently works for SourcePointe, an HR Outsourcing Agency while continuing to own and operate Christian Management Consulting as a ministry. In his free time, he also writes a lot on Church Development as a Church Consultant.

From a post on Al Mohler’s blog entitled “The End of Evolution?”

Darwinism has to explain everything — even why some people accept evolutionary theory and others do not.

Evolutionary theory cannot possibly explain the totality of human experience, much less the reality of human origins.  Evolutionists — if consistent — believe that every human experience, every emotion, every physical attribute, every hope, and every fear is simply a feature developed by means of natural selection.

That’s a cold theory, and it just doesn’t make sense to the vast majority of Americans — and it shouldn’t.  The Christian worldview offers a far more satisfying, true, and understandable account of human origins and human existence.

Read the rest here.

An interesting couple of posts over at liberezenfin.blogspot.com. The Christian Research Network folks are complaining that someone finally called their bluff on the unfair criticism they routinely publish on their network of sites. Richard Abanes explains why he pointed out to the ISP that they were violating the terms of service agreement. His Open Letter to Steve Camp says Ken Silva broke federal law by misappropriating copyrighted material. And Eileen Carroll makes no bones about the spirit of legalism.

They’re worth a read: Personal opinion about Ken Silva and the CRN and A note from Richard Abanes.