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WEB EVANGELISM BULLETIN

. . . learning from each other
W-E-B Issue 127 ~ January (i) 06
Twice a month ISSN 471-0323

News this time...

BLOGGING FOR EVANGELISM
OUTREACH SITES IN CHINESE
LIFEWAY RESOURCES ON OFFER
EVENTS
TIPS
PASTORS, CHURCHES AND WEB MINISTRY
SEARCH ENGINES
VIRAL TRANSMISSION
HELP NEEDED
THE WORLD WE LIVE IN
FILM AND COMMUNICATION
TAILEND

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"He has never been known to use a word that might send a reader to the dictionary"
- William Faulkner (about Ernest Hemingway)

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BLOGGING FOR EVANGELISM

A blog is probably the easiest type of website to set up, and requires no technical knowledge at all:
http://www.pastors.com/article.asp?ArtID=8959

Although there are thousands of Christian blog sites, virtually all of them have been written for other Christians. Yet there is enormous potential to use blogs to reach non-Christians. Check the new IE Day resource page to learn how:
http://www.internetevangelismday.com/blogging.php

Please link to it, blog about it, pass it round. We believe there is great potential for sharing faith through blogs, yet very few are doing it.

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OUTREACH SITES IN CHINESE

Just launched by an Asian-based team: RenshiShen.com (Knowing God) and XinShengMing.com (site for students):
http://RenshiShen.com/
http://XinShengMing.com

There are very few sites truly designed for non-Christian Chinese readers (and even less in Japanese), so pray for these strategic developments.

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LIFEWAY RESOURCES ON OFFER

LifeWay.com are effective exponents of innovative, biblical communication in many forms. Their latest resources include...

Billy Graham Celebratory Website
As Dr. Graham enters the twilight years of his ministry, it is amazing to consider just how many people he has touched with the glorious news of the gospel. LifeWay just unveiled a tribute site that highlights key events and milestones in his more than 50 years of ministry. Photos, videos, personal stories and other components make this a must-see for anyone familiar with Billy Graham. Submit your own story how he has impacted you or a loved one:
http://www.lifeway.com/billygraham

Web-based learning for ministries
LifeWay has partnered with Thomson NETg, a global leader in online learning, to offer ministries and other organizations more than 100 classes ranging from leadership development to Microsoft skills. A year's subscription gives an 'all-you-can-learn' access to all courses:
http://www.lifeway.com/learning

New software gives instant access to Scripture
EZword automatically presents Scripture in a small new window as you mouseover biblical references. It can also drop, with a simple keystroke, full passages into emails or word-processed documents, in the translation you choose. Running in the background of your computer, it automatically works with many different applications:
http://www.ezword.com

In addition, LifeWay will shortly launch a podcasting site for Christian audio, and have a ministry technology conference in the pipeline for Nashville during May - details next time.

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EVENTS

LEEDS UK: I'll be speaking at an evening meeting about web evangelism 15 February:
http://www.internetevangelismday.com/events.php

CALIFORNIA: TechVangelism, Menlo Park Presbyterian Church, California, 17-18 March 2006 - conference on technologies for communicating Christ cross-culturally:
http://www.mppcfamily.org/w_page.php?id=8401&type=group

ROX35 - latest comic training seminars in Sydney, Australia, May 2006:
http://www.comix35.org/

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TIPS

- non-techies look away now!

BEST PRACTICE - when making text links: avoid 'click here':
http://www.w3.org/QA/Tips/noClickHere

PHP - use it to vary a background color in, for example, tables:
http://web-professor.net/tools/cycle/cycle.txt

PHP - if you use it, you may need to understand security issues:
http://www.sitepoint.com/article/php-security-blunders

RSS is going mainstream, with support within Firefox and the new IE7 browser. There is also a new graphic which is intended to become the standard for indicating the presence of an RSS feed:
http://www.feedicons.com/

DOMAIN NAMES: previously used names are for sale - you might just find something you need:
http://www.tdnam.com

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PASTORS, CHURCHES AND WEB MINISTRY

Survey: 1 in 4 churches neglect ministry potential of the Internet:
http://www.bpnews.net/bpnews.asp?ID=22412

Not all pastors have grasped the significance and potential of the web. '8 things pastors need to know about e-ministry'
by Terrell Sanders is a useful Pastors.com resource for them:
http://www.pastors.com/article.asp?ArtID=8958

Ten Internet 'best practices' for church site ministry:
http://www.pastors.com/article.asp?ArtID=8992

Use Web forums to draw people to your church, says Chris Forbes:
http://www.pastors.com/article.asp?ArtID=8960

CHURCH WEBSITES: we have simplified the method for syndicating the IE Day page of church site tips into any webpage. Now all you need to do is copy/paste a single block of code onto the point in a new webpage where you want the material to appear. And that's it - the online content will automatical be drawn down onto your page:
http://www.internetevangelismday.com/church-site-tips.php
Code available here:
http://www.internetevangelismday.com/church-syndicate.php
where you can see how jesussites.com have added it.

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SEARCH ENGINES

There's a new search engine to submit to. (If you submit more than one domain, force a reload in order to view the new security graphic letters.)
http://navisso.com/add

Last September, Yahoo launched Site Explorer, allowing you to enter an URL and get information about it, including number of pages in that domain, and links to that page:
http://siteexplorer.search.yahoo.com/

Learn how to optimize your website and increase visitors:
http://www.seomoz.org/beginners.php

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VIRAL TRANSMISSION

The term 'viral transmission' has nothing to do with computer viruses. What it means: if something is incredibly attractive and innovative, people instinctively pass it on to their friends.

This will probably be increasingly used with mobile devices which have the facility to forward short video clips, giving us the option for thought-provoking messages embedded in such a video.

Here is an example of a secular video clip which is being passed around the Internet virally, because of its unusual nature. It's a TV car advert, and was set up exactly as it appears. No computer graphics or editing were used. It really is a single film take of a real event. And yes, it took 606 takes to get it right. The crew spent weeks shooting night and day. The film cost six million dollars and took three months to complete.

Honda executives figure the ad will soon pay for itself simply in "free" viewings as it is passed around.

View it here - you need a plugin:
http://www.imediaconnection.com/content/cs/honda/051303/honda_ad.swf
or in low resolution at:
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=1468497375867008353&q=honda+cog

If we can create unusual compelling non-preachy video clips, they may be transmitted virally too.
See the latest 'Outside the Box Ministry' blog for a guide for creating short films:
http://www.web-evangelism.com/rd?b06-outsidethebox

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HELP NEEDED

If you are a graphics person, and could modify some graphics for IE Day, please write. Also, if you are a javascript expert, there's a small problem to solve!
Email

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THE WORLD WE LIVE IN

OLD COMPUTERS - do you remember these?
http://www.obsoletecomputermuseum.org/

TRAVEL SEARCH ENGINE that compares 667 airlines:
http://www.dohop.com/

COMPUTER GAMES FOR CHILDREN: although games must have ratings based on a number of categories, occult content is not one of them, says an AG feature, which also gives sites with games reviews:
http://ag.org/top/news/news_article_template.cfm?ArticleID=8747

WORLD WEB USAGE: "The Internet is growing at an annualized rate of 18% and now has one billion users. A second billion users will follow in the next ten years, bringing a dramatic change in worldwide usability needs," says Jakob Neilsen:
http://www.useit.com/alertbox/internet_growth.html

GOOGLE. Who draws the funny little seasonal graphics on Google's homepage? Dennis Hwang, who is also a webmaster with the company:
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2-1973976,00.html

But like an iceberg, Google is far bigger than we know. Run a search on 'google' in any online serious newspaper and be amazed at the number of plans this company has. Links with AOL, battles with Microsoft, online videos and much more. It is changing the world. If 1 Timothy 2:2-4 asks us to pray for those in authority over us, that surely also applies to corporations with this much influence. When was the last time you heard anyone pray for Google? Or Microsoft?

TIMELINE - just an unusual way of watching time pass. You could use it with a data projector as a filler between seminars (click on the page to find out how to download as as screensaver, and other versions available):
http://home.tiscali.nl/annejan/swf/timeline.swf
Or, in a missions context, you could also use:
http://www.internetevangelismday.com/worldpopulation.php

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FILM AND COMMUNICATION

MORE NARNIA: Jeff Bridgforth has created a PDF booklet that walks through the parallels in the Narnia story:
http://jeffbridgforth.com/work/narnia_portfolio.pdf

And if you have not seen the film yet, it's great! The next book is on the way - Walden Media plan to release Prince Caspian in 2007:
http://www.themovieinsider.com/nr2628-walden-media-confirms-narnia-sequel.html

WHY DO HEATHENS MAKE THE BEST CHRISTIAN FILMS? asks Thom Parham in a thought-provoking essay from his new book:
http://www.web-evangelism.com/rd?b05jan-film

END OF THE SPEAR - the story of the S American mission martyrs - is released this month:
http://www.endofthespear.com/

MULTI-LANGUAGE OUTREACH FILMS: Create International's evangelistic films for Asia are now online in streamed form. Choose from a range of languages such as Gan, Mandarin, Myanmar, Malay, Mongolia, Madurese, Balinese, Bengali, Hui and Isaan. Download them, link directly to them, use them, tell others who could use them:
http://www.createinternational.com/films/

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TAILEND ô¿ô

Home Economics For Men

Introduction to Common Household Objects I: The Mop.

Introduction to Common Household Objects II: The Sponge

Dressing Up: Beyond the Wedding and the Funeral.

Refrigerator Forensics: Identifying and Removing the Dead.

Design Pattern or Splatter Stain on the Linoleum? - You CAN Tell the Difference!

Accepting Loss I: If It's Empty, You Can Throw It Away.

Accepting Loss II: If the Milk Expired Three Weeks Ago, Keeping It In the Refrigerator Won't Bring It Back.

Going to the Supermarket: It's Not Just for Women Anymore!

Recycling Skills I: Boxes that the Electronics Came In.

Recycling Skills II: Styrofoam that Came in the Boxes that the Electronics Came In.

Bathroom Etiquette I: How to Remove Beard Clippings from the Sink.

Bathroom Etiquette II: Let's Wash Those Towels!

Bathroom Etiquette III: Five Easy Ways to Tell When You're About to Run Out of Toilet Paper!

Giving Back to the Community: How to Donate 15-Year-Old Levis to the Goodwill.

Retro, Or Just Hideous?: Re-examining Your '70s Polyester Shirts.