WEB EVANGELISM BULLETIN
. . . learning from each other
W-E-B Issue 142 ~ November 06
Twice a month ISSN 471-0323
News this time...
VIDEO CLIPS AND ANIMATIONS
COMMUNICATING WELL
MEETFISH LAUNCHES: NEW CHRISTIAN NETWORKING SITE
BOOK REVIEW
THE WORLD WE LIVE IN
INNOVATIVE POSSIBILITY FOR WEB OUTREACH
TIPS
USABILITY TESTING ON A ZERO BUDGET
THE NATIVITY STORY RELEASES
HOW COMPUTERS CHANGE THE WAY WE THINK
IEC CONFERENCE VIDEOS
GAMES
TAILEND
"A pessimist mourns the future"
"If you spend all your time looking back at yesterday, you are destined to trip over tomorrow"
"The bridges you cross before you come to them are over rivers that aren't there"
VIDEO CLIPS AND ANIMATIONS
You may recall we have discussed the huge potential of the video clip on secular sites such as YouTube. And it is amazing how some are made with little more than a webcam.
Take for instance the very funny Treadmill video clip by OK GO:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pv5zWaTEVkI
which has had 8 million views on its original posting (others have reposted it, which
confuses the download totals).
Can you parody self-parody? Well, yes, someone has done a Lego version of it, and is
obtaining a dramatic number of downloads on the back of the original video's
popularity:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DjCL0_0Il7w
Creativity, humor, and thinking outside the box, are keys to producing video clips that
people will want to watch:
http://www.internetevangelismday.com/video-outreach.php
Check also Rox35's animation competition for mobiles. These are Christian messages
within short animations, and you can vote for the best, or download them:
http://roxroxtoonz.com/
Meta search for video is on the way. PureVideo is in beta test mode:
http://www.purevideo.com/
COMMUNICATING WELL
MODERN OUTREACH: What might have worked in times past, though perhaps not as well as we
imagined, may not work so well today. Here's a page that sums up a philosophy of
evangelism that is appropriate for our days - they call it 'WithReach':
http://www.breakthroughchurch.com/withreach/chart.html
UNDERSTANDING CULTURE: "Too many churches are boldly pressing forward in the third
millennium with the methods and ministries that worked in 1954," write Ed Stetzer and
David Putman in 'Breaking the Missional Code', a 2006 release from the B&H Publishing
Group of LifeWay Christian Resources:
http://www.web-evangelism.com/offsitelink?b06nov-lifeway
C S LEWIS QUOTES: for articles, sermons, websites:
http://www.lewissociety.org/quotes.php
MAGAZINE TRAINING INTERNATIONAL will be putting their next training course onto DVD, as
a resource for writing and operating Christian magazines. The writing tuition applies
equally to web writing:
http://www.magazinetraining.com/
DOING IT RIGHT: Shoot-First Apologetics: What a dead bluebird taught Walter Martin
about defending the faith:
http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2006/november/27.98.html
MEETFISH LAUNCHES: NEW CHRISTIAN NETWORKING SITE
We have recently covered the potential of secular networking websites for relationship
building and evangelism. On the other hand, this is certainly not everyone's calling, and
many people would like to be part of (or offer to their younger children) a networking
culture that is not quite so, well, full of secular in-your-face youth attitude. Different
Christian groups have developed other networking alternatives.
Just launched - and with the credibility of a major ministry - is MEETFISH, from ATS
Tracts. Very significant is that it is not intended as a ghetto for Christians. Dave
Waggoner writes,
"The idea is to offer a safer alternative to MySpace. You will be seeing major
developments as the website grows. Some of the key features are:
- Simplicity - It has been designed using a module system, so users will be able to use
a simple drag and drop method to show/hide features on their page.
- Moderation - Everything is passed through a moderator.
- Privacy - Each account is private by default, which means the user has to take the
initiative to make their profile public.
- Accountability - There is a 'Remove Inappropriate Content' (RIC) button located next to
every user-editable content area.
- Clean Ads - The ads being displayed are general web consumer ads selected by MEETfish,
so there won't be any inappropriate ads.
- Inviting - The website was designed to be appealing and open to anyone.
- Speed - Since the website utilizes AJAX technology, more can be accomplished without
constant page reloads.
Our target audience is anyone interested in a family-friendly online community. Our advantage is that we've developed a website that is also open to those that are either afraid of, restricted from, or offended by MySpace. We hope to see all age groups, religious beliefs, races, etc. represented in the MEETfish community. This will allow believers that take part in the community an opportunity to engage in conversation, share their faith, and hopefully see lives changed by the gospel.
In addition, we will also be allowing other ministries the opportunity to have their
own community utilizing the MEETfish platform. This opens the door for any ministry to
realize the benefits of online social networking. Ministries will be able to connect their
people, gather vital user information, and communicate directly with their constituents.
By using the MEETfish platform this can be accomplished for any ministry without the
sizable investment (in both time and money) to develop an online community from
scratch."
http://www.meetfish.com/
BOOK REVIEW
Inside the Organic Church
Bob Whitesel
Abingdon Press
ISBN 0-687-33116-1
Bob Whitesell is one of those very rare people - a 'church advice doctor' who has the
insights and experience to understand the 'health issues' and problems facing churches in
their desire to reach out into the community. His books such as 'A House Divided' (with K
Hunger), 'Staying Power' and 'Growth by Accident, Death by Planning' are full of wisdom
for any church leader. This latest book looks at the innovative way 12 different churches
are responding to postmodernism and the need to reach out effectively to Generations X and
Y (those under about 40, and 22 respectively). His insights into culture and two different
streams of postmodernism are also very revealing.
http://www.c3intl.org/
THE WORLD WE LIVE IN
THE BITER BITTEN: E-mail spam scammers make millions from unsuspecting dupes. But one
man is fighting back, exposing fraudsters to ridicule with his own brand of retributive
justice:
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,7-2434135.html
TV FEELS THE CHILL: Ad revenue in the UK for Google UK has surpassed TV's Channel 4 and
it appears as if the older media never saw it coming:
http://blog.searchenginewatch.com/blog/061102-085942
HOW SONY STARTED MARKETING TO WOMEN: women actually respond to different issues. Male
evangelists and potential Henry "Why can't a woman be more like a man" Higgins lookalikes
please note: Women. Do. Not. Think. The. Same. As. You.
http://www.marketingsherpa.com/article.php?ident=29772
THE 'NET GENERATION': Young people - now adults - who grew up with the Internet,
actually think differently too:
http://blogs.zdnet.com/BTL/?p=3900
Alloy Media + Marketing and Harris Interactive offer an detailed study of what friendship
means to today's youth. New technologies shift means of communication across this digital
generation, as teens come to define their closest circles by those they are connected with
both online and offline:
http://www.web-evangelism.com/offsitelink?b06nov-harrisPDFreport
WEB DANGERS: a speaking tour sponsored by CCCI, with former porn addict Michael Leahy,
is warning college students across the U.S. about the devastating effects of
pornography:
http://www.crosswalk.com/news/religiontoday/1445528.html
Leahy's own ministry: http://www.bravehearts.net/
MS Location Finder: find out where you are without having to invest in a satellite
navigation system using a laptop that has WiFi:
http://www.web-evangelism.com/offsitelink?b06nov-microsoft
TRACING YOUR ANCESTORS: CastleGarden gives access to database of immigrants to USA:
http://www.castlegarden.org/
Ancestry.com offers free access to passenger lists 1820-1960 - but only till end of
November.
http://landing.ancestry.com/immigration/main/?o_iid=24988&o_lid=24988
INNOVATIVE POSSIBILITY FOR WEB OUTREACH
Secular writer Frank Warren says, "In November 2004, I printed 3,000 postcards inviting people to share a secret with me: something that was true, something they had never told anyone. I handed out cards at subway stations, I left them in art galleries and I slipped them between the pages of library books. Slowly, secrets found their way to my mailbox."
People were prepared to write, anonymously on a postcard, things they had maybe never
told even their best friend, or maybe even really admitted to themselves:
http://women.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,17909-2436314.html
The author does in fact post new ones on his blog (content warning here).
But, I wonder, could this concept be adapted as a bridge strategy site, offering understanding to people's deepest needs and secrets. Secrets could be posted online (or just shared with the webmaster if preferred by submitter). The site could lead into answers on various life problems, with email mentoring and support.
TIPS
- non-techies look away now!
TEMPLATES: Joomla and Mambo templates:
http://www.pixelsparadise.com/index.php?option=com_frontpage&Itemid=1
http://www.joomlashack.com/
http://www.mambohut.com/
Standard CSS templates that you plug into your design:
http://www.dynamicdrive.com/style/layouts/
RSS TO WEBPAGE: Although there are third-party services that will drop RSS content onto
a webpage, you can do it yourself with various scripts:
http://www.web-evangelism.com/offsitelink?b06nov-rsstohtml
DESIGN: Thoughts on good web design with examples:
http://www.webdesignfromscratch.com/current-style.cfm
DIGITAL WEB MAGAZINE: Access a range of topics relating to web design here:
http://www.digital-web.com/topics/
WHY CARE ABOUT WEB STANDARDS? We can all (designers, developers, website visitors)
benefit from an increased adoption of Web standards.
http://www.web-evangelism.com/offsitelink?b06nov-netdummy
7 CHARACTERISTICS of a Great Webpage:
http://www.sitepronews.com/archives/2006/nov/13.html
WIKIPEDIA: where do users go after Wikipedia?
http://www.web-evangelism.com/offsitelink?b06nov-webpronews
USABILITY TESTING ON A ZERO BUDGET
Pastor Ralph Wilson's promotion website looks at the essential task of website
usability testing: "These days usability labs can burn through tens of thousands of
dollars in sophisticated testing equipment and consulting fees. But when we started
testing usability on the Web in the late '90s, all we had was a computer and a notepad.
With these simple tools, the science of modern web usability was launched." And those are
still all you need:
http://www.wilsonweb.com/design/follansbee-usability-zero.htm
More links and ideas:
http://www.internetevangelismday.com/usability.php
THE NATIVITY STORY RELEASES
Craig Webb of Lifeway writes, "I saw a partial preview of this feature film this past
week and was amazed at the effect it had on me. I want to encourage you to visit
thenativitystory.com to view movie trailers, photos, and description of this film. I
believe this will have a great evangelistic impact during the Christmas season."
http://unity.lifeway.com/UM/T.asp?A1.22.8670.12.675079
HOW COMPUTERS CHANGE THE WAY WE THINK
Sherry Turkle is Abby Rockefeller Mauzé Professor of the Social Studies of Science and Technology at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. She has some profound insights into the way the digital revolution is changing us, and has written extensively:
The Second Self: Computers and the human spirit (MIT Press, 2005)
http://mitpress.mit.edu/catalog/item/default.asp?ttype=2&tid=10515
Life on the Screen: Identity in the age of the Internet (Touchstone, 1997):
http://web.mit.edu/sturkle/www/Life-on-the-Screen.html
Her next book, Evocative Objects: Things We Think With, will be published in April 2007. She is also completing a book on robots and the human spirit.
Her insights are also explained in a recent New Scientist article (only part of which
is public):
http://www.newscientisttech.com/article/mg19125691.600
"I think they're a far better analysis than any Christians are doing at the moment on the moral and ethical effects, seen from a upright yet perhaps slightly apathetic perspective," says one Christian web expert.
IEC CONFERENCE VIDEOS
Until the end of November, video sessions of the Internet Evangelism Coalition
September conference will be available . online, and also read the latest IEC
newsletter:
http://community.gospelcom.net/Brix?pageID=20401
GAMES
Many Christians are involved in gaming. Look at:
http://xboxmission.org/
http://the-whats-next-collective.org/
There is also potential to go and live in the parallel web universe Second Life. As a
Christian! Anyone tried doing this?
http://secondlife.com/
Secular list of games:
http://www.toplistgames.com/
New Playstation 'Rule of Rose' child torture game appalls EU Justice Commissioner:
http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,23569-2457394.html
TAILEND ô¿ô
Fun At The Bank
The young woman who entered our bank to cash a check looked so hesitant that I went to
help her. "Please sign the back of the check," I told her, "as you'd sign a letter." She
looked at me gratefully, scribbled on the check and passed it to me. Signed on the back
was: "Yours affectionately, Pamela."
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