The Internet – Email, Blogging, Social Media – for Church

Chances are that if you were in the “blogging is a waste of time” camp you wouldn’t be reading this one right now.  While I may be preaching to the choir, what I plan to do is share my reasoning on how the Internet is a tool that can be used by churches to support their ministry, build community and share the Gospel.

I have personal friends in real life that have deleted their Facebook accounts because they are a waste of time.  “There’s nothing but junk on there” was the reasoning.  I know Christians that lament having wifi and DSL in their home because it distracts them from studying scripture.  Unplugging your internet is much worse than evangelicals who tossed out their t.v. sets in the 80’s.  Television only works one way; the Internet is a two way street. Continue reading

The Read and Share File

Image is unrelated, but is something I read this week.

Culture war, church culture, shallow Christianity, need for the Gospel – they’re all featured in this post on Internet Monk.

Praying in Jesus’ Name – John Piper offers four “filters” for how to do it right.  Here is a 3 minute clip; you can watch, listen to, or download the full sermon at this link.

This article at 9Marks is interesting, but will perhaps apply to only a very few readers.  Marcus Glover writes a list of ways aspiring pastors can serve their wives now.  Huh?  Once you become a church pastor, there are some things you will miss.  Make sure to engage in those now.

Obama has come out in support of gay marriage.  He supported gay marriage as a state senator, but changed his position to run for U.S. Senate.  So he is now changing back to his original position, in support of gay marriage.  So: why does Obama evolve but Romney flip-flops?  Both men, like many politicians, have changed their views over their political careers.

I recently added Steve Brown etc. to the blogroll, and am anxious to link something.  Here is the latest post, an update to what’s known as the watchmaker argument.  Dr. Rana, author of the post, has a PhD in biochemistry and is the vice president of research and apologetics at Reason to Believe.  The post includes links to that site, as well as Dr. Rana’s recent appearance on Steve Brown’s radio show.

Tall Skinny Kiwi recently insisted he and his family are not living in a commune.  Watch this local news report about Justin Duckworth (not your ordinary bishop) and decide for yourself.

Faith by Hearing is an aggregator of audio resources, including audio books, podcasts and sermons.  Kind of like a blog, but also featuring an extensive and growing collection of audio material.  The archives are divided by topic, speaker, faith tradition and other classifications.  Faith by Hearing is a treasure trove that simply must be explored to fully appreciate.

The Read and Share File

Here’s what I’ve been reading:

What if revival broke out in your town… at the church down the street?  What if you were out of town for a few months on a mission trip, and revival started under the guest preacher?   9Marks suggests that we Pray for Revival – at the other guy’s church.  

At Believing God Today: To Gospel or Not to Gospel Part I
To Gospel or Not to Gospel Part II

NEWS – Abortion, birth control and gay marriage ranked lowest on issues of importance to registered voters, according to a new Pew Research Center poll. What issues ranked highest?  The economy, jobs and the deficit, in that order.  No surprise there; if you want to hurt Americans, hit them in the pocket book.  More of this story at Christian Post.

The Desiring God blog shares 15 Tips on Blogging from John Newton.  Perhaps you recognize John Newton as the writer of Amazing Grace.  Did he really offer tips on blogging, 400 years ago?  In a manner of speaking.

Here is the Al Mohler post that everyone is talking about.  Paul Wilkinson (Thinking Out Loud) explains Why Al Mohler Should Retire; Jeff Dunn (Internet Monk) writes on Al Mohler’s Problem with Grace.  Suddenly all my problems seem smaller.

This just in: Tall Skinny Kiwi does not live in a commune.

The Read and Share File

This is Read and Share File #10.

James said to be doers of the Word and not hearers only.  Paul Wilkinson reports on on blogging vs. doing.

The purpose of sharing what I read is that some things are said better than I could have.  Carley Evans at Grace Partakers has this to say about Growing Into Christ.  And says it well.

2 Timothy 4:3 describes a time when people will no longer endure sound teaching; sound doctrine in the King James.  Reformed Baptist Fellowship has done an excellent job with this post, and a few other bloggers have already linked to it.  All I can add is to say that Paul told us so.

And now for something completely different.

So much of God’s wisdom and Christ’s love cannot be expressed because of the limitations of the English language and our own finite minds.  Scripture relies on analogy, metaphor, symbolism, parables, and… poetry.  David was a lyricist and musician, and his son Solomon had a knack for prose himself.  Moses claimed to be slow of tongue, but at least twice he led the Hebrews in song.  Sometimes we don’t know how to pray or what to pray, but we are told to pray without ceasing.  At times we groan in the Spirit.  Most of what I share on this site is based on scriptural teaching and preaching, but as beings created in God’s image one  of his many gifts is creativity.  Some people think in poetry rather than paragraphs.  Captive Free is always in the blogroll; please read Little Lost Girl by Garment of Praise.  

The Read and Share File

April 5th marks the second anniversary of the passing of Michael Spencer.  The house that Michael built, Internet Monk, paid homage to his legacy.  My tribute to Michael is here; I was privileged to know him in real life before ever learning about Internet Monk.  I didn’t even know what blogging was. 

I received an email about Christian Youth Initiative Worldwide.  I’m still in the process of finding out more myself, but they seem to be on the up and up.  There is a blog, but also Grok Radio – whatever that is.  It’s worth a look.

Remember What Would Jesus Do?  Michael Kelly asks the question “What would you do it you knew you were going to die on Friday?”  Then he lists several things Jesus did.  Interesting thought.

I may not have linked him before, but Mike Ratliff writes some good stuff at Possessing the Treasure.  The Son of Man is the Good Shepherd is a great example.  Go back and read all of Mike’s posts for this week.

Remember Ed Young, of Sexperiment fame?  Out of Ur shares with us his latest stunt: baptizing with sharks.

From Desiring God Ministries, Race and the Christian is available for download.  Originally live-streamed, you can watched John Piper, Tim Keller and Anthony Bradley or download the video.  There is also a Q&A session at the same link.

Aida Spencer (Christian Post blogs) shares a personal story of discovery in What Does Easter Mean?    *please note: Aida and William Spencer are both ordained Presbyterian ministers.  I’m not asking you to join her church, just read the blog post.

Finally tonight, please pray for Chuck Colson. He is recovering from brain surgery but still in critical condition.  Known for founding Prison Fellowship (and for his role in Watergate) the 80-year-old Colson was speaking last Friday when he fell ill, and had surgery on Saturday morning.

The Read and Share File

Another busy week for me, resulting in a rather thin Read & Share File.

Have you ever thought about what we can learn from Barabbas?  Michael McKinley has: The Gospel of Barabbas at 9Marks.

Never allow the extraordinary to be thought of as ordinary, Bill Crowder reminds us at Our Daily Bread.

Jesus Is Not Our Boyfriend, an observation made by James Pruch while listening to Contemporary Christian Music.

Tall Skinny Kiwi is back to blogging, recently returning from Turkey, Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary, Austria and Germany.  Catch up and see what’s he’s doing next.

Just a reminder: what used to be My Other Blog is now SMILE :- D God Loves You. It might be just what you need to make it through the day; like 5 Hour Energy without the annoying $4 price tag.

The graphic below and many others available from Tim Challies.  see http://www.challies.com/resources/visual-theology-to-the-glory-of-god for more.

The Read and Share File

Tim Challies shares truths supported by scripture on the topic of evangelism.

The title of the post – Is There a Holy Spirit? – may give the wrong impression.  Bobby Jamieson at 9Marks Blog is describing two ways to fill a church, and how you answer that question has a lot to do with how you proceed.

What is the best thing you can do for your pastor?  According to The Blazing Center it’s pray for him.

I actually took this picture myself, then added Luke 1:78.  That’s a genuine eastern Kentucky sunrise.

Boston.com, the online presence of the Boston Globe, shares 22 pictures of the Jewish festival of Purim.

On a whim, I searched for “sunrise service” on Google.  Enjoyed this short entry on Wikipedia.    Here’s an excerpt:

The first Easter Sunrise Service recorded took place in 1732 in the Moravian congregation at Herrnhut in the Upper Lusatian hills of Saxony. After an all-night prayer vigil, the Single Brethren, the unmarried men, of the community, went to the town graveyard, God’s Acre, on the Hill above the town, to sing hymns of praise to the Risen Saviour. The following year, the whole Congregation joined in the service. Thereafter the “Easter Morning” or “Sunrise Service” spread around the world with the Moravian missionaries. The procession to the graveyard is accompanied by the antiphonal playing of chorales by brass choirs.

And then I stumbled onto this:

Read more here: http://www.capitalchurch.net/ministries/easter-service/  There were 120 at the first service in 1979; on April 8 they expect 6,000!

The Read and Share File

It’s been a busy week, even by my standards.  I haven’t been able to read much, but here’s a few tidbits you might enjoy:

While I’m not really interested in Search Engine Optimization (SEO) this article could help anyone blog better; sound advice even if your blog isn’t designed to drive business.

Believers United for Revival invite you to join One Cry.  Declaring a spiritual emergency 2,699 believers have joined the movement to pray for nationwide revival.  —-> UPDATE 

What if we treated our Bibles more like our cell phones?  This has been around for a while, but thank you Paul Wilkinson for the reminder.

My Other Blog is now SMILE God Loves You

I recently celebrated four years of blogging, and in that post explained I never meant to have two blogs but it kind of happened.  The clarkbunch.wordpress URL, formerly known as My Other Blog, will now be SMILE, God Loves You.  I will adjust the RSS feed shortly.  The Master’s Table will feature posts on religion and theology; comic strips, inspirational quotes, Our Daily Bread redirects, and other randomness will appear at SMILE.

If you’re in a reader, dropping by The Master’s Table will make this make sense.

Blogging Update

3 Notes of Interest:

1) We’re back from vacation.  The break was welcome, but as always it is good to be back here.  Expect new posts to resume as usual this week.

2) My Other Blog was fun, but I think it’s run its course.  I do have something new planned, but it will take a few days.  More to come.

3) I started a project on the side called Bible Survey.  It’s just not going to happen.  Click this link to see how it was going.  If I delete the blog everything, including the title, will be gone forever.  I would rather give the URL (biblesurvey.wordpress.com) to another user.  If you might be interesting let me know in the comments or send e-mail to jbunch@hotmail.com.  You can pick up where I left off, or preferably wipe it clean and start from scratch.  I hate to see it go to waste, but I’m ready to wash my hands of it.