Modern BelieverCulture Changes. God Doesn't.

Some of you may have read the title of this post and become confused. Online Ministry? How does that work?

The fact is that the internet is becoming a powerful force for spreading the gospel. I am part of a generation that goes to the web for just about everything. Need somebody’s phone number? Google (though Facebook is taking this over as more people go exclusively cell phone). What time does an event start? It’s probably on at least one online calendar. Need a quick answer to a question? Twitter is there.

Social Media sites abound, but a cutting edge geek knows what's worth your time.

Church websites (or at least those who have them) are developing fast. The problem is that the rest of the web is developing faster. An effective church web site will require a lot of prayer, a lot of vision, a lot more prayer, an openness to new things and new ways of doing those things, a bit more prayer, volunteers passionate about the latest in everything web (before they ever start working on the church site), a little more prayer (for the site), and a whole lot of prayer (for the volunteers).

As John Saddington notes:

…one of the most successful ingredients that I’ve seen in the marketplace when looking for “volunteers” (but we don’t call them volunteers) is interest.

The catch here is that it must be self-generated. It can’t be fabricated or forced. In other words, some of the best volunteers are those that are already doing what you’d like them to do; they’re just not doing it for you and your ministry (yet).

This way they don’t get tired, they don’t get frustrated, or necessarily burnt out because you’re not forcing them to do something unnatural or having them try to feign interest. Find the people that love to do “online ministry” (whatever that means for your ministry) and then empower them to help out for yours.

So as you set out to create that website, rebuild it, improve it, or just maintain it, take a good look around at people living on the bleeding edge. They’ll understand that now may not be thee right time to implement something, but they’ll have crazy amounts of experience with it when your church is ready to take that step.

And while those people are likely to be well under 30 years old, some of the most savvy people I talk to about it all are baby boomers (thank you Twitter).

The question of how to disciple those who come to know the Lord online is still passionately debated though.

Pastors are busy people. Parents are busy people. Students are busy people. Pretty much everybody is busy. There are enough distractions in life already, should the computer take up any more time than it needs to?

Some of us already spend hours upon hours on the computer, because that’s what we do. Building websites, researching, asking for help, giving help. Us geeks tend to live on the web, and over time, have learned a lot of little things that add up to save a lot of time. For example, I try to keep up with all that is happening on Twitter and Facebook. But instead of sitting at their websites and refreshing the screen all day, I keep Tweetdeck open on a second monitor (If you only follow a few hundred people, you can probably check every 30 minutes and not miss anything). Quick glances are all it takes, and familiar pictures draw my attention quickly to those I talk to most.

Those of you who spend hours on the computer, but half of it is playing Farmville on Facebook, well, you just need to cut back on the gaming.

Zen Habits put together 14 tips to browse the web faster (and get back to your Bible sooner). Here’s my 5 favorites.

1. Use a fast, minimal browser. [I highly recommend Firefox or Chrome, Internet Explorer is the opposite of fast and minimal]

2. Use tabs, not windows.

3. Learn keyboard shortcuts.

12. Clear most of your toolbars. [You really don't need 7 different search toolbars, in fact, you only need the one built into your browser]

13. 1password or KeePass. [I use LastPass, there is no other way to remember all of my passwords]

As a geek, this article really speaks to me. The Church is increasingly lagging when it comes to technology. Instead of showing others how to use new technology to reach people, we’re taking our sweet time, only adopting something when people start moving to something else (how many of you are still showing VHS instead of DVD).

There I was at the Pantheon. The building originally dedicated to all gods by the Romans and later used as a church. It holds the record for the largest unreinforced concrete dome. It exactly as high as it is wide, seemingly no simple feat at that time. Awesome.

I could go on and on, but here’s the point: in antiquity it was the church that was the “backbone of technological innovation,” to apply the words of Klaas Verbeken to a different subject. New technologies and systems were developed so that they could be used to glorify God.

And here we are all those years later. And who is one of the greatest users and innovators of all things techie? The porn industry. Tink betamax vs. vhs, blueray vs. hd-dvd, etc.

What a bummer. It’s as if the devil has stolen the playbook of the early church and has caught on to its effectiveness.

Oh, you’re still reading? Go find a youth pastor and ask him what the kids are into these days. Put the priority on incorporating that yesterday.

I love Twitter.

Twitter has connected me to thousands of people from around the world. There’s only a handful that I have meaningful conversations with day after day, but all the tweets are of value in one way or another. But in the rapid fire world of 140 character replies, are we always paying enough attention to how we respond to others?

Take Chris Pirillo. He’s a very well known geek, and he hadn’t been to Church in awhile. He was invited to one to speak about social media, and being a geek, he tweeted about it on the way home.

Visit his blog, read through the responses he got to a simple tweet, and think about how you respond when a non-believing friend tells you they went to Church.

John Saddington always has great stuff for us, and his post on what people want from your Church website is no different. Some highlights for the already established Church are:

4. Connect with other members.

6. Join and/or interact with a home/Bible study group.

8. Find serving opportunities at the Church.

9. Post prayer requests or needs.

Alright, every blog needs a first post, so this will be ours.

We’re still working a few kinks out, playing with a few design aspects, rocking some social media (yay Twitter! Come follow us!), and finishing up a few things here and there, but we hope to launch on October 26th. That’s correct, next week Monday!

After hanging out on Twitter for a couple years, gaining some great friends, meeting amazing people who always help others, and discovering some fantastic content from across the web, a calling was felt to help bring this content to others! It’s tough being a Christian in today’s culture. It’s even tougher if you’re trying to live a Christian life pleasing to the Lord. It’s tougher yet if you work in ministry, volunteer in ministry, or are trying to reach out to help those around you.

But what if there was a place on the web that you could go to find helpful resources? What about a place that can encourage you? Give you inspiration to try something new? Or a place to learn what has worked for others, and how they did it?

We hope to be such a place. We’ll be scouring the web for fantastic content that can help you as a believer in this modern culture. We’ll only be giving you tidbits of it, instead giving you a link to see it in all of the original glory the author brought it out as. We want to make it easier for you to grow in your walk with the Lord. There’s already not enough time in the day, let us help by gathering the best content from around the web in one spot. Let us find it for you.

We aren’t perfect though. Maybe you find something great that you think we should know about. Send it in! Send us a message with a link on Twitter, or zip us a quick email ( tips@modernbeliever.com ). We’ll be sure to take a look at it. We’ve got a good start on monitoring sites with a track record of amazing stuff, but don’t be afraid to send in your suggestions!

You might not agree with everything that gets said here, so feel free to leave a comment, we’d love to see it! We all grow in Christ with FRIENDLY debate and discussion. If something gets out of control we won’t hesitate to shut down the comments on a post, but as good brothers and sisters in Christ, it shouldn’t ever come to that.

So be watching, Modern Believer is coming soon! Hopefully we can be a small light in this world, helping other lights to shine brighter! Pray for those behind this site to stay motivated and alert, and to follow the Lord’s guidance. As we put some ads and sponsorships up, please click through to them. It is going to take a lot of time and money to keep this going, and we’ve got bills to pay just like everyone else.

Tell all your friends that Modern Believer will be up and going soon!

In Christ,

Shawn

PS Jesus <3 You!