Accounts -Checkbook
Since moving to a Quicken, MS Money, etc. like program for your computer, have you missed the old days of entering items in your checkbook register? You were so consistent with writing in each item. You diligently entered the item right on the spot holding up the customers before. Now, you stuff the receipt into your pocket, telling yourself to remind yourself to enter that receipt in once you get home. A couple days later, your wife shows you a clump of paper that rode thru the laundry. Thinking back you “remind” yourself of a receipt that you missed.
Sound familiar? It does to me. more »
General News: Back to Church Sunday Evangelism Gospel Great Commission
by Joshua
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Putting church back into Sunday.
Churches grow by people. Money cannot grow a church. Programs can help, but often cannot maintain long-term growth of a church. Great facilities are a huge plus, but those alone will not grow your church (they tend to be the outcome of growth.) It is when God’s people invest into their churches thru sharing of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and the discipleship of new believers that a church will see exponential, lasting growth.
Sounds like a plan doesn’t it? That’s how it use to be, but today’s churches have fallen away from that plan. Church auditoriums now have more empty seats then people and less people following the Great Commission, rather following the Great Recession of personal evangelism. It will prove to be our own undoing as Christians. Keep in mind the disciples said to have turned the world upside down in just a short amount of time. They started with only 12, we have far more than that. Consider the following statements.
- Most Americans have been to church, and yet only 20 percent are regular attendees. – The American Church in Crisis
- 82 percent of the unchurched are likely to attend church if invited by a trusted friend or relative. – Dr. Thom Rainer
- Only 2 percent of church-going people invite someone to church in a given year. 98 percent of church-goers never extend an invitation in a given year. – Dr. Thom Rainer
- 50 percent of the current U.S. population would be candidates for a Back to Church Campaign. - Gary L. McIntosh, D.Min., Ph.D.
Some folks have started a campaign called “Back to Church Sunday” in which they are encouraging Christians to give a personal invitation to those they know to come to church. It’s a practice that our Lord and Savior commanded us many years ago. I really like the idea of this campaign for several reasons. They are employing the use of technology to help get the word out. They are getting back to basics. They are encouraging folks to invite those they know. They ask pastors/churches to hold a special visitors Sunday meeting. All of this in hopes of getting folks back to church.
There are many churches that have similar outreach ministries like church visitation, bus visitation, etc. We just need more folks like-minded for personal evangelism. What good is a church without the people? I think we all have some work to do.
“More than one million people so far have been invited to attend a church service on Sunday, Sept. 12, as a result of this year’s national “Back to Church Sunday” campaign, and more than 3,000 churches have signed on to take part.
In 2009, the inaugural year of the campaign, over 700,000 invitations were sent out and over 1,500 churches had signed up.
“Seeing the number of invitations eclipse one million encourages me to believe that God is actively using Christians to impact their communities,” commented Philip Nation, the national spokesperson for “Back to Church Sunday.”
via U.S. ‘Back to Church Sunday’ Campaign Surpasses 1.2M Invites | Christianpost.com.
Finally, Gadget Pastor has a Facebook presence!
Many of my readers over my time of blogging here are aghast at my non-prensence on Facebook. OK probably not aghast, but surprised at my balking at the mammoth Facebook. After all, it’s so cute, cuddly, and filled with so many friends!
Well, my Facebook-loving readers, I have a Facebook fan page. You can view it here and feel free to subscribe, becoming a fan, and all that Facebook goodness. Hope you enjoy this new social networking addition!
Tiring out your brain with tech
Articles likes these can be a dime a dozen, but there can be some truth within them. After all, if God wanted us to have a Bluetooth earpiece in our ear all the time, He would have given us one to start with! I do believe that like anything else moderation is key. As Christians, we cannot let ourselves become so consumed with tech or whatever else that it takes priority over godly priorities.
“SAN FRANCISCO — It’s 1 p.m. on a Thursday and Dianne Bates, 40, juggles three screens. She listens to a few songs on her iPod, then taps out a quick e-mail on her iPhone and turns her attention to the high-definition television.”
via Your Brain on Computers – Digital Devices Deprive Brain of Needed Downtime – NYTimes.com.
Church encourages people to forgo tech for one day
The title of this post makes me cringe, too! It’s hard to think about not using your cell phone, iPod, laptop, TV, or any digital device for one day. One of the first things I do in the morning is view my calendar on my iPhone. It’s a habit for me. I know folks that say they’d rather text or email than talk. Could you for one day forgo the text or email and go talk to them face to face? It’s a foreign idea to this generation, so I imagine this church will have some folks cringing in their pews.
Technology is a wonderful tool. It has increased our opportunities to reach the world with the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. At the same time, it has become a stumbling block. We lose track of time. We spend too much time online. We find ourselves wondering about our blogs, Facebook pages, Twitter accounts. We no longer say hi as we pass someone because we are distracted by a text message. We forgot that an encouraging voice or a smile can really brighten someones day.
I really hope this church succeeds and that the congregation learns some great lessons to help them better reach their Jerusalem, Judea, and Samaria. We would be wise to learn right along with them.
“Chris Shook is as technology-dependent as most. If she accidentally leaves the house without her cell phone, she’ll turn around to get it rather than spend a few hours feeling naked without it.
She and her husband, pastor Kerry Shook, founded one of Houston’s most tech-savvy congregations, Woodlands Church, where members can tweet questions during services, interact on their own social networking site and even attend worship services at its “digital campus” online.
On Wednesday, though, they’re asking the church’s 17,000-plus attendees to do the unthinkable: turn off their laptops, iPods and cell phones, and take a break from technology.
They’re calling it a National Facebook Fast. For a whole day, the Shooks want people to swap digital communication for face time with family and friends.
“We love our technology … but it’s not going to help our relationships,” Chris Shook said. “It’s good for our networks and finding old friends. It’s not good for sustaining deep and rich relationships over time.”
Continue reading “Turn off gadgets, tune into loved ones“
