"Courage doesn't always roar. Sometimes courage is the little voice at the end of the
day that says... I'll try again tomorrow."
APOLOGETICS BLOG FOR OUTREACH
Ryan writes about his blog:
"I started my site last October for a few reasons:
1. I was working on a Master's in Apologetics and wanted to put it into practical use
2. I have a heart for evangelism and overcoming peoples obstacles towards finding
Jesus
3. I learned that there are a lot of people out there with questions (Christians included)
that just don't know where to turn to for answers.
I decided to focus my site on "Contemporary Apologetics with an Evangelistic Twist".
This means I focus on current, relevant topics and always try to steer the reader towards
Christ. I also have been frustrated in the past with discovering that most of the material
out there on apologetics is too dense for the average person to understand. So I like to
act as a "translator" and take these tough concepts and make them user friendly for
everyone.
I've had my site viewed by people all over the world and most of them come from
internet search engines.
I do get some feedback on my posts. Mark D. Roberts www.markdroberts.com recognized my two post series on a response to Newsweek's article about the birth of Jesus, on his website. But perhaps the most "controversial" series I did was on Mormonism where those dear sweet Mormons who visit your door turn into raging wolves when you put their beliefs under the microscope." http://www.reasontobelieve.blogspot.com/
COMMUNICATION
TESTIMONIES. What's So Amazing About ... My Testimony? "How I learned to embrace my
"boring" spiritual journey" by Karen Langley:
"I sat motionless in my chair, listening to the speaker give his testimony. Joe's story
held us spellbound. It was the kind that totally mesmerizes hundreds of people for an
hour. The kind that tugs at heartstrings and sends silent tears trickling down cheeks
throughout the auditorium. The kind that leads to repentance and faith rededications at
the end of a service. I left the chapel service amazed and inspired. And
frustrated..." http://www.christianitytoday.com/tcw/2005/003/9.34.html
VISUALCY: Literacy is not the only necessity in a visual culture, says Andy Crouch.
"The doctor was an enthusiastic amateur photographer, sporting a pricey Canon digital
SLR..." http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2005/006/21.62.html
REACHING TEENS - Rob Williams comments in his blog: "A great article from MarketingProfs.com about how to build a website to reach teens. I think it has some application for all audiences, not just teens. It reminds me of the teen outreach sites http://www.elsistema.net/
and http://www.meant4more.com/
FLASH IS FUN. Although Flash 'splash' pages are a great irritant in most contexts,
Flash can do some amazing and innovative things within a website. Look at what
220power.com do on their Bible reading plan page: http://www.220power.com/core/readingplan.php
And on their homepage: http://www.220power.com/
WHAT'S DAMARIS SAYING? UK-based culture vultures comment on 'The Kingdom of Heaven' and
other films and novels: http://www.damaris.org/new
ACTIVECLICK automatically clicks the mouse by hovering over a link, and can drag
windows and text similarly without clicking. Helps those with carpal tunnel, tendonitis,
and RSI problems: http://www.activeclick.com/
Some of these tips are taken from the excellent Neat Net Tips newsletter, which
although no longer f.r.e.e is well worth its small cost: http://www.neatnettricks.com/
THE WORLD WE LIVE IN
Corey Rudl, internet marketing innovator, died in a motor racing accident in California
at the beginning of June. Pray for his wife and family.
"THE PASSION" AIRED IN INDONESIA: in spite of some opposition, Mel Gibson's blockbuster
"The Passion of The Christ" was broadcast on national Indonesian TV at 8 pm on March 25th.
Gibson gave permission for the movie to be shown without censorship or commercial breaks.
Although some provinces were unable to receive the broadcast, most of the country could
watch it. And over 110,000 requested a free VCD offered at the close.
IS IT TRUE? Check out TruthOrFiction.com before you forward that email about a new
outrage. This will save you contributing to Internet logjams by passing along unfounded
rumors... (er, now, forward this to everyone you know!) http://www.truthorfiction.com/
There are also many supposedly true stories passed around as sermon illustrations which
are not true. Once they gain credibility by being used in, for example, printed devotional
notes, they just go on an on. For instance, the tale that a young Alexander Fleming
rescued a young Winston Churchill. Or the various versions of a story whereby a railway
bridge operator (or bus driver) has to sacrifice his son to save the passengers - moving
as a parable, but incorrect if told as something which actually happened.
Do you have any other pages on this topic to recommend?
CHURCH WEBSITES: the Church Site Tips page can be syndicated into your own site. If you
found the CSS/Javascript method looked a bit daunting, we will shortly have an easier
iframe syndication method available. (If anyone else is interested in syndicating their
own material this way - it includes a nice script that resizes the iframe to the exact
height needed.) http://ied.gospelcom.net/church-syndication.php
SEARCH ENGINES
GoLexa is a remarkable tool for site owners. It draws results from Google, but then
adds in links to lots of other information about the pages. A great one-stop place to find
out who is linking to you, and far more: http://www.golexa.com/
WHAT CLICKS WITH WEB SEARCHERS? How do searchers find what they want online? Not the
way you might think, according to a number of new studies that examined searcher behavior
in a variety of situations: http://searchenginewatch.com/searchday/article.php/3502796
BRIDGE STRATEGY EXAMPLE
The way to many people's hearts is through their heart's interest. Both online and
offline, reaching affinity groups through their interests is biblical and effective:
The model railway church...
Nige Gresley is a 43-year-old Methodist with two passions: the church and his model
railways. "Most model railway exhibitions take place on Sunday morning, and I always had a
bad conscience when I missed church to exhibit my models. But I slowly began to realize
that church is not about being in a particular building at a particular time. I realized
that God is also with me when I am with my fellow exhibitors. And then I had an
idea...!"
Thomas the doubting tank-engine
For years, Nige had held special "Children's Hours" at the exhibitions, playing well-known
stories to do with trains, such as 'Thomas the Tank Engine', to an excited audience. So he
thought to himself that it would be a great opportunity to present the greatest story of
all time - with model locomotives in the main roles! So he now tells stories from the Old
and New Testaments, with trains playing the Biblical characters: Peter the Green Engine,
James the Red Engine and the Virgin Voyager (Mary) play alongside The Fat Controller (God)
and The Flying Scotsman (Jesus). "One chap got quite upset that I was suggesting Jesus
might have been Scottish," Nige remembers, "but once I explained the power of metaphor as
used in the parables - and let him have a go operating the signals - he calmed down."
"It's more than entertainment," he says. "I believe we're genuinely building church
here."
- a Christian had thought of that and built a Bridge Strategy site on it:
Draw a Pig website has received more than 330,000 visitors. This simple innovative concept (which might be compared with the outreach site www.essaygenerator.com ) could certainly be adapted to an evangelistic context: http://www.drawapig.desktopcreatures.com/
Survival of the Grittiest - an idea for the next "Survivor" show:
"Six men will be dropped on an island with one van and four kids each, for six weeks.
Each kid plays two sports and either takes music or dance classes. There is no access to
fast food. Each man must take care of his four kids, keep his assigned house clean,
correct all homework, complete science projects, cook, do laundry, etc. The men only have
access to television when the kids are asleep and all chores are done. There is only one
TV among each family and there is no remote.
The men must shave their legs and wear makeup daily, which they must apply themselves
either while driving or while making four lunches. They must attend weekly PTA meetings,
clean up after their sick children at 3:00 a.m., make an Indian hut model with six
toothpicks, a tortilla and one marker, and get a four-year-old to eat a serving of peas.
The kids vote them off based on performance. The winner gets to go back to his job."
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Olympics - Gospel.com - Christian resources from over 300 ministries
People are always striving to be the best—it's part of being human, and it's how God made us. But is the true meaning of sport just to crush the competition, or is it something more significant?
As the world gathers in Beijing to showcase the spirit of competition and excellence, we're celebrating athletics and sportsmanship here at Gospel.com. Join us as we highlight sports ministries and look for the spiritual significance of sports.
“For the LORD takes delight in his people; he crowns the humble with salvation.”
- Psalm 149:4
Today's passage is from the New International Version of the Bible
Powered by BibleGateway.com
One of the more interesting consequences of the Olympic games being held in China has been the Chinese government’s slight loosening of religion restrictions within its borders.
Granted, there’s still much persecution and government intervention when it comes to religion, but something like this would have been unheard of 40 years ago:
China will provide 10,000 free Chinese-English bilingual Bibles to be distributed in the Olympic Village where the Olympic athletes and media are housed, as reported by the China Daily newspaper. The bilingual Bible text will include the CUV (Chinese Union Version) and the ESV (English Standard Version), appearing in two side-by-side columns per page. The CUV Bible is the most widely distributed Chinese Bible in the world, and the ESV Bible has recently become the fastest-growing English language Bible in the world.
In addition to the 10,000 bilingual CUV-ESV Bibles, 30,000 New Testaments and 100,000 bilingual editions of the four Gospels will also be made available at the Olympic Games.
Because cultural and academic leaders in China are seeking to understand the influence of the Bible on the worldview and culture of the West, there is a growing interest in Chinese-English bilingual Bibles in mainland China. “We are especially grateful,” Crossway President Dr. Lane Dennis notes, “that the ESV was selected by Chinese Christian leaders for publication with Chinese CUV Bible, through our partnership with the British and Foreign Bible Society. Since both the CUV and the ESV are ‘essentially literal’ Bible translations, they are ideally suited for a side-by-side comparison of the two languages. What a wonderful thing it would be if thousands of people would learn English—and Chinese!—by reading the Bible in side-by-side bilingual editions.”
This month, one sporting event will demand our attention above all others: the 2008 Olympics. Here at Gospel.com, we’ll be pointing out a few people and organizations in our community that do sports ministry: outreach to sports fans and athletes.
Does it seem strange to imagine a “sports ministry”? It might sound odd at first, but consider that athletics is an activity held in esteem by nearly every culture around the world, today and throughout history. Whether you like your football in the American or European variety; whether you run a marathon or swim the English channel—athletic achievement is recognized all over the world as a way to explore our own humanity.
Which means that it’s a natural and universal way to talk about the human condition… and that’s why evangelists going all the way back to the Apostle Paul have used sports as a metaphor for the spirtual life:
Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. —Hebrews 12:1
We’ll take note of specific sports outreaches and ministries in the next few weeks, as the Olympics play out. But it seems appropriate to start out with a short reflection on Paul’s use of the language of sports to talk about spiritual truth. Ron Hutchcraft has a devotional message (in text and audio) that examines what Paul means when he talks about running the race and carrying the torch, with an Olympics twist:
Now, Paul must have enjoyed the ancient Olympic Games. He made several references to them. As he writes his letter to his spiritual apprentice, Timothy, you can almost picture Paul as a torch bearer of the message of Jesus Christ. Writing from a prison cell, he’s on his last lap before he is going to collapse into the arms of Jesus. But right now he’s concerned about who will carry the torch from here.
Read the full devotional for more—and check back later this week as we look at sports ministries here in the Gospel.com community!
Mission Network News reports on the AIDS pandemic:
Approximately 2 million people died from AIDS in 2007, down from about 2.2 million deaths in 2005, UNAIDS reported on Tuesday.
However, Gary Schneider, President and CEO of Every Orphan’s Hope, warned that the battle is far from over. The report also showed that some 2.7 million people worldwide were newly infected in 2007, bringing the total number of people infected with AIDS to 33 million.
“We have seen tremendous progress being made on the fight against HIV/AIDS, but I think even to applaud those numbers might be a little bit premature,” Schneider said. “We see that there’s still 2 million people a year who are dying from HIV/AIDS, and the total number of people receiving new infections each year is still continuing to rise.”
Every Orphan’s Hope ministers to orphans impacted by the AIDS crisis in Zambia, the home of about a million orphans. It comes alongside the Zambian church to care for about 400 children on a monthly basis and to reach a total of several thousand children every year through its Camp Hope Bible camps.
Gospel.com is a community of Christian organizations all committed to doing ministry online. You can explore hundreds of different topics or get to know the many ministries that make up our community.
Each day we highlight the newest and best resources here at the Gospel.com blog, so check back regularly to see what's happening!
This month, one sporting event will demand our attention above all others: the 2008 Olympics. Here at Gospel.com, we’ll be pointing out a few people and organizations in our community that do sports ministry: outreach to sports fans and athletes.
