Why Online Evangelism Is the Wave of the Future

 12/11/2014 Deborah Hamilton – Charisma News

In a world of seemingly ever-present iPhones, iPads and laptops, it’s difficult to go anywhere without seeing people transfixed by their technology devices. Could it be they’re doing more than updating Twitter and Pinterest? One study says yes.

According to the study by the Pew Research Center, one in five Americans shares their faith online, and in a typical week, nearly 50 percent of U.S. adults see someone else share their faith online.

Southern Evangelical Seminary President Dr. Richard Land says that while changing modes of faith-sharing may make some uncomfortable, online evangelism is critical to reaching the unreached and will be central to fulfilling the Great Commission.

“Technology is the future. We can either try to swim against the current, or we can surf the wave,” Land said. “Sharing one’s faith online is perhaps the best way to reach many younger people with the Gospel, and it may be the only way to reach those in foreign nations that have governments and cultures hostile to the Gospel. Like any scientific or technological advancement, the Internet has the potential to be used for either good or evil. When used by Christians dedicated to sharing the life-transforming truth of Holy Scripture, it can be a medium that can reach around virtually the entire globe and change people’s eternal destinies.”

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The Power of Unity – Vic Election and the Christian values based parties / Church leaders refuse to speak out – Will we pay the price?

Dear family and friends in Christ,

First let me take this opportunity to thank everyone who voted, supported and prayed for us. This was the first State Election that Rise Up Australia Party contested (although we contested the Federal Election last year) and I must say that we learned a lot.

Something very significant happened in this election in Victoria. The Christian values based parties worked together as a block in sharing first preferences with each other and the results were very good.

In most regions with the strategic preferences, we came very close to winning Upper House seats, and it seems that at least one Upper House seat will now be secured, with three more seats currently in question. (Some 90% of the upper house votes are yet  to be re-checked).

This clearly shows the power of unity as Jesus said, where He prays for all believers in John 17:20-23.

“My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, 21 that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. 22 I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one— 23 I in them and you in me—so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me”.

On another note, although some church leaders I know of spoke out regarding the election, once again many church leaders refused to speak out and tell the people how to vote.

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How Social Media Will Help Us Finish the Great Commission

Social media, such as Facebook, is a great way to spread the gospel. (creationswap.com)3/1/2014 Brandon Cox – Charisma News

Social media, such as Facebook, is a great way to spread the gospel.

The church is living in an age of tremendous evangelistic opportunity.

As we venture into the social, digital era, the gospel can travel further and faster than ever before. If the church is a vast volunteer army of people carrying the Good News of Jesus to the least, the lost and the last, then it is safe to say this army is better equipped and more effectively mobilized than any other age to carry out its marching orders—the Great Commission.

We began planting Grace Hills Church in the summer of 2011 and officially launched weekly services in a local movie theater in January 2012. We don’t have a building. We don’t have a sign. We’ve never done a direct mail campaign or sent any postcards. We don’t advertise in the local newspapers or on television or radio. But in January 2014 alone, we met almost 100 new people in our weekend services. How? Facebook.

Each week, we post a short video just a few minutes long that explains who we are as a church, what we value and what we will be talking about in our upcoming weekend services. We then “boost” that post so that it sees thousands of eyes within a 10-mile radius around our community, and we challenge all of our faithful attendees to watch it, “like” it and share it with others. On Mondays, we look through our communication cards to see how our guests heard about us, and it’s not difficult to spot the pattern: Facebook, Facebook, Facebook.

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