Digital Evangelism Issues

Here’s Google’s newly-released video presentation of their Project Glass project.

It’s nothing less than a fully-functional smartphone built into glasses with head-up display on the lenses.

Will it fly? Will people really want it? Will users be forever falling down holes or bumping into lamp-posts or people? Surely it must never be used when driving a car?

It’s hard to see any of the evangelism/discipleship opportunities of a normal smartphone (eg. video-clip sharing) working with these glasses. But could it generate others?

Would you like to use a set of these? Add your comments.

Although Internet Evangelism Day is now over, of course any church can create a focus spot about the opportunities.

If you are on Facebook, please share with this one-click link.
and here’s a ready-to-use tweet.

Above all, we’d love to see churches devoting a few minutes to share the practical opportunities that are now available. Here are 14 things your church can do on IE Day.

A changed world
The digital world has changed remarkably in the last year or two. Although a part of Internet Evangelism Day’s emphasis has always been to mobilize individual Christians into digital evangelism, until recently the options we could suggest were quite limited. Writers might be drawn to blogging, or create a website if they felt technically competent. Those good at thinking on their feet could share in chat rooms and bulletin boards. But most of these suggestions were time-intensive and intentional initiatives only suitable for a small minority.

What has changed? The emergence of the ‘three-fold cord’ of social networking allied to video shorts and mobile phones. At last it has become remarkably easy for any Jesus-follower to build relationships and discuss truth appropriately, especially within social networking platforms. Our digital communication culture has become highly visual and dialogue-based, and the sharing of conversation-starting video shorts on Facebook and Twitter is as easy as a mouse-click, though only if we know where to find them:
http://ieday.net/video

Phone apps
There are few smartphone apps that are genuinely aimed at outsiders, that can be shared one-to-one, or in a small discussion group. UK team Damaris has just released a strategic iPhone app called Talking About Jesus (Android version coming soon.)

Informal blog-like article about this app for re-use | News release.

A second new evangelism-related web app is called God’s GPS. Its purpose is to equip Christians to share faith appropriately and conversationally. It is not intended for non-yet-followers to download or look at:
http://ieday.net/blog/archives/7677

Curation
Pinterest.com allows anyone to create a very visual set of curated recommendations, within their own chosen areas of interest, with no tech knowledge needed.
http://ieday.net/blog/archives/6977

March 13 sees the publication of a very significant book, available in paperback and Kindle:

Viral: How Social Networking Is Poised to Ignite Revival
Len Sweet
Waterbrook Press
229 pages paperback
ISBN 978-0-307-45915-2

What’s it about?

About 10-15 years ago, you and I were relocated from our comfortable familiar home to a new land. Not necessarily unwillingly, like the Jewish exiles taken to Babylon. Not necessarily a worse new homeland. Some of us ran ahead. But others left trails of a resistant struggle. A few may have barely noticed they’ve been moved at all.

It was … the huge move from print communication culture to digital. Len Sweet styles those of us who grew up in a print culture as ‘Gutenbergers’, and those who grew up in, or have whole-heartedly adopted digital, as ‘Googlers’. It’s an apt and helpful simplification for a social revolution as far-reaching as Gutenberg’s invention of the printing press.

His book is probably the best and most insightful explanation of these two communication cultures, the tension between them, and the huge implications for Christians, the church and especially the retelling of the good news. We just cannot continue doing the stuff we used to do, because it won’t work any more. So this book really is mission critical.

And – there’s a clue in the title – he believes that online relationships and social networking can share the good news powerfully in ways there were never possible before. It is likely to be the most significant book on digital ministry to be published all year.

For this reason, it is the chosen book recommendation for Digital Outreach Month.

You can preview 22 pages of the book below, using the arrows at the bottom right of the frame below:

We’ve seen a crop of good movies already this year – Hugo, War Horse, The Artist, and The Iron Lady.

Culturewatch team Damaris has produced a range of free discussion materials about life issues (not political issues) raised by the film:

Check also their summary article Fading Dreams.

Digital technology years seem to run seven times faster than real time, like dog lives. What developments may be significant for us in 2012?

The three-fold cord of mobile phones, social networking and video shorts will surely continue to grow in significance. India will have 200 million new mobile accounts during the year, and release the $50 Tablet for Schools.

A 4-week distance-learning course in mobile ministry starts this week – there is still time to sign up. Also still open for booking: the 8-11 Feb ICCM conference in Netherlands.

April 29 will be Internet Evangelism Day, and the whole month of April is designated Digital Outreach Month. (Here’s a ready-made short news item to use in print or online.) This is a great time for churches to investigate the huge potential of digital, and perhaps also consider whether to appoint a Digital Advocate.

2012 will surely be a year of great uncertainty and stress for many people, and there are many ways that we can connect with them online.

Read more on all these opportunities.

Photo credit: Pleroma/Flickr | Creative Commons

From a historical perspective, ‘Christian’ attempts to pinpoint the date of Jesus’ return have always made us look bizarre and ridiculous, not least the supposed ‘end times predictions’ of 2011.

However, this is surely not to say that we should never discuss the concept of disaster-apocalypse. In the collective consciousness, there is increasing awareness of the potential for everything to implode.

A nuclear exchange in 2012 is not impossible. The finance system could go in many directions. And not in a good way. These are strange days, and many Westerners, younger people at least, have never before witnessed such uncertainties. 2011 had the highest catastrophe-related worldwide losses in history – $350 billion – says Richard Ward, chief executive of Lloyd’s of London. (And this does not represent the total cost, merely the insured cost. Rebuilding cost for Japan alone may be as high as $600 billion. Indirect costs to worldwide economies, even before factoring in banking crises, are huge.)

Apocalypse is a widely-used background to many books and movies (e.g. Day After Tomorrow, Day of the Triffids, A.I., Armageddon, Nausicaa and more.)

Post-apocalyptical artwork is also common – check these. Similar artwork was painted in the 19th century, although more grounded in a religious worldview. I have certainly been profoundly moved by the force of John Martin’s The Great Day of His Wrath in the Tate Gallery (photo above).

Who else, apart from followers of Jesus, has a counter-balancing practical message of hope in the face of such trouble?

The Mayan Calendar issue

You may not be aware that in the wider world, many people who loosely hold to New Age or alternative spiritualities (and also Hinduism), give some credence to December 2012 being the end of the Mayan Calendar, which they think may usher in huge change or calamity. Check the vast online speculation about this.

Huge numbers of people are conducting Google searches using variations of will the world end in 2012. Most of these current top-20 search results are credible news reports or sensible refutations. One result is a full-on approach by a well-known evangelist. Two are non-Christian and totally wacky.

I suggest that apocalypse can be an appropriate conversation starter (online and offline), if only we can avoid formulaic religious jargon, dates and over-claim, and engage sanely with people in secular, even perhaps New Age, terminology. And without trying to slot every world event into a biblical timetable – something that Christians have repeatedly and incorrectly done since 1000 AD.

The concept of unexpected disaster is also going to be a focus for 2012 in the shape of the Titanic sinking centenary. This also presents a ready-made parable and conversation starter we can use.

What do you think? Please add your thoughts using the comment link below.

If you would like to ask questions about why God allows disaster, or if you have other concerns, go here.

Photo credit: The Great Day of His Wrath (Tate Gallery) | Pleroma/Flickr | Creative Commons

Creative ways of telling the Christmas story… here’s the winning entry by beat-boxing minister Gavin Tyte to the UK TV’s ITN Nativity Factor video clip competition:

Natwivity

If you are on Twitter or Facebook, you may like to sign up for the Natwivity Christmas tweet stream, telling the Christmas story through the whimsical imaginary tweets of Mary, Joseph and others. Sign up: Twitter | Facebook. You can also get posts by SMS.

You can use them as conversation starters, retweeting or sharing in Facebook or other ways.

Premier Radio in UK is also telling the Christmas story by text message 18 Dec to 1 January, but only within UK.

Free articles

Web evangelist Rusty Wright offers free-to-syndicate gently evangelistic articles on a wide range of topics. Check his Christmas articles, which can be republished in print or online. Articles are also available on many subject areas.

More resources

Check the great Advent resources from Damaris:

and our other Christmas videos, resources and thoughts.

Tim Stevens’ book has a valuable message.

Pop Goes the Church: Should the Church Engage Pop Culture? – valuable challenge on why and how to use popular culture for evangelism and ministry. Stevens presents the biblical mandate for this, and gives examples from his ministry.

“Pop Goes the Church should be read by every pastor, church leader, and layperson who wants to connect people to Jesus but is finding it hard to be heard in our media-saturated culture,” says Bill Hybels. “You have to get your hands on this book.” – Terry Johnson.

Watch Ed Stetzer interview Tim Stevens:

Author: Tim Stevens
Publisher: Power Publishing, ISBN 0979017491
Review

Interesting world map compares population with IP addresses (click to see full size):

Check also the world map showing Facebook friendship pairs, which points up the huge potential for relationships and networking. Read more about map production and implications. Click map below for full-size graphic.

See a map of the world on the World Christians blog with country areas modified in proportion to population.

Finally, by the end of October, a baby will be born who will make up the numbers of humans on earth to 7 billion. Check the countdown, and other stat tickers, at Worldometers.

Mobile communication becomes more significant and strategic by the month.

Learn more: sign up today for the 4-week Mobile Ministry Course. It requires 4-6 hours study a week, in your own home, at times that suit you. The first session of this course ran very successfully in October. The second session starts 10 January 2012.

Other learning options for mobile

• Free ebook: Insider’s Guide to Mobile.
• Read Mobile Advance Blog and Mobile Ministry Magazine.
• Follow the #mobmin hashtag – lots of great tweeted resources.
• Check our previous blog posts on mobiles.
• Watch the Mobile Advance video explaining the potential in the non-western world, from a mission viewpoint (also available to download as a 32Mb MP4 file):