WEB EVANGELISM BULLETIN
. . . learning from each other
W-E-B Issue 169 ~ April 2009
Monthly ISSN 471-0323
News this time...
INTERNET EVANGELISM DAY
EVANGELISM STARTING WHERE PEOPLE ARE
MISSION GROUPS ENCOURAGE WEB OUTREACH
CHURCH MINISTRY OFFLINE AND ONLINE
FUN WITH VIDEO ANIMATION
"COME ERA, DOVE ERA" - A SLOGAN FOR NO CHANGE
SUSAN BOYLE SWEEPS THE WORLD
FLASH MOBS
BOOK REVIEW: FLICKERING PIXELS
JAPAN
WRITING HEADLINES
TIPS
THE WORLD WE LIVE IN
NEW MAGAZINE: CATALYST LEADERSHIP
BOUNCE RATE
BLOGGING
TAILEND
"If you think you're free, there's no escape possible" - Ram Dass
INTERNET EVANGELISM DAY
With Internet Evangelism Day over once more, a very big thank you to the many people
who helped to make it known. For instance there has been a wide range of blog comment:
http://tinyurl.com/iedayblogging
It was also encouraging to hear of a whole week of meetings in Singapore:
http://yeuann.blogspot.com/2009/04/internet-evangelism-day-ied.html
And a Portuguese-language version of Internet Evangelism Day was launched by Paul Cull
that day. If you can help Paul in translating or proof-reading further pages for this new
resource, please contact him via their site:
http://www.avivamentoja.com/pmwiki.php?n=Recursos.IEDay
If your church marked IE Day in some way, however small, please write and share what
you did. Tell us too of anything you heard about IE Day on the radio, or read in the print
media or elsewhere:
http://www.internetevangelismday.com/feedback
EVANGELISM STARTING WHERE PEOPLE ARE
A problem with many gospel presentations is that they are 'finishing', 'sealing the
deal' presentations, rather than 'idea starting', 'intriguing the lost', question posers.
People who don't even know there's 'a deal' available, or who have rejected formulaic
agendas that don't engage, may find something else way more helpful. Peter Scheele's
'square round triangle' video clip is such a presentation:
http://www.internetevangelismday.com/blog/archives/371
US residents can buy the square round triangle from him:
http://www.roundsquaretriangle.com/index.asp?PaginaID=2792
MISSION GROUPS ENCOURAGE WEB OUTREACH
World Gospel Mission is an example of a mission agency which has seen the potential for online evangelism, and has therefore produced a 'Virtual Missionary Handbook'. Rachel Elwood writes. "This resource was developed in the summer of 2007, when we began to realize the need to carry the message of Christ to individuals in online communities, who are essentially unreached by the church. World Gospel Mission is traditionally a missionary-sending agency, but we have been shifting our focus from just supporting missionaries to helping all believers become mission-active in whatever capacity God has for them.
"For individuals who spend a lot of time in Second Life and other multiplayer online
role-playing games, Facebook, and other online communities, we think it's important to be
aware of a believer's responsibility to share the gospel, and how they can do that
effectively. The Virtual Missionary Handbook is a resource for people who feel that this
is their mission field. We can intentionally choose to use the time God has given us to
tell others about Him - and that may mean preaching under a palm tree, an avatar-to-avatar
conversation, coffee and philosophy discussion at Starbucks, or chatting with old friends
on Facebook about what God is doing in your life."
http://www.virtualmissionary.org/
And John Edmiston of Cybermissions.org has just published a new article (in PDF). He
writes, "I have just put together a new article on Cybermissions strategy. It looks at the
most effective way we can deploy Internet evangelism and Cybermissions to facilitate the
Global Harvest. This article answers two questions:
a) where is the harvest plentiful, the laborers few and Internet connectivity adequate for
Internet evangelism to take place?
b) what are the best strategies we can employ to reach those Harvest field?"
http://www.cybermissions.org/articles/strategies_in_cybermissions.pdf
CHURCH MINISTRY OFFLINE AND ONLINE
News and developments for churches: using Facebook, how accessible is your church for
phone or email contact, child safety issues. And: does your church have a web evangelism
team? If so, how does this work? Read more, and add your comments here:
http://www.internetevangelismday.com/blog/archives/210
Ipiphanist blog asks about social networking: "Is this the front door to the church in
the 21st century?"
http://ipiphanist.wordpress.com/2009/04/11/is-this-the-new-front-door-to-church-in-the-21st-century/
Digital @ Leadership Network points to two churches who are really integrating social
media into their websites:
http://digital.leadnet.org/2009/03/how-a-church-website-is-connecting-with-social-network.html
Here are valuable tips on search engine optimization for your church site:
http://www.internetevangelismday.com/blog/archives/479
Our church website design tool also provides promotion and search engine optimization
tips. Please link to it, or blog about it:
http://www.internetevangelismday.com/church-website-promotion.php
FUN WITH VIDEO ANIMATION
Like to try making your own animated story? Try it at
http://www.xtranormal.com/
"COME ERA, DOVE ERA" - A SLOGAN FOR NO CHANGE
The 1000-year-old Campanile di San Marco in Venice suddenly collapsed into a heap of
rubble in 1902. Mercifully, there were no casualties apart from the caretaker's cat. There
followed a time of great debate - whether, or how, to replace this beautiful bell-tower.
The view which gained acceptance was summed up in the campaign slogan "Come ere, dove era"
- meaning "As it was, where it was", pronounced 'COM-aira, DOV-aira' - and a
near-identical replica (with better internal strengthening) was inaugurated in 1912. Are
there any spiritual parallels to this? Read more and add your comments here:
http://www.internetevangelismday.com/blog/archives/279
SUSAN BOYLE SWEEPS THE WORLD
Unless you were holidaying on the Planet Krypton, you probably heard the story of Susan Boyle, a remarkably gifted contestant on UK TV show Britain's Got Talent. The YouTube video clip had already reached 50 million views within a week of the story breaking, and is now the most popular clip ever, beating a previous number one, 'The Evolution of Dance.' A 10-year-old audio of her singing 'Cry Me a River' is now also on YouTube.
What lessons does this teach us? Also, can we use popular culture as a 'way in' for
effective evangelism? Watch the videos, and add your comments here:
http://www.internetevangelismday.com/blog/archives/404
FLASH MOBS
There have been a couple of large music/dance flash mobs at European train stations
(one a UK TV advert for a mobile phone company). So, can we use flash mobs effectively for
evangelism? There’s a recent example of flash mob 'guerilla worship' in Liverpool, which
looks like a credible public witness. Do you know of other examples, small or large? Or do
you have ideas for doing this? Watch the videos, and add your comments here:
http://www.internetevangelismday.com/blog/archives/484
BOOK REVIEW: FLICKERING PIXELS
Flickering Pixels
How Technology Shapes Your Faith
Shane Hipps
Zondervan ISBN 978-0-310-29321-7
"The color of the world is changing day by day" - Les Miserables
This is a very significant and strategic book because it explains the way that electronic media, especially computers and the Web, are changing our culture. As we use them, they are in fact using us, in ways we may not realize.
For 500 years, Western culture has been a 'left-brain' print-based communication
culture, where we could express everything in 26 alphabetic characters. The way we
preached the gospel, structured our Christian activities and systematized our theology -
all have been completely shaped by print. But now technology is rapidly changing this
'print culture'. When the medium changes, the message is changed too. Effective evangelism
must take account of these changes.
Hipps also looks at the changing nature of relationships: online versus face-to-face, with some surprising illustrations. This is a short and very readable book, but the conceptual adjustments we need to make are essential and profound.
Further reviews, and a video interview with Shane Hipps:
http://www.internetevangelismday.com/blog/archives/456
JAPAN
If you are interested in evangelism to Japan and the Japanese people, listen to audio
presentations from the recent RJC conference:
http://www.rjcnetwork.org/?page_id=21
WRITING HEADLINES
A headline has a vital task - summing up the contents of the webpage in an enticing and
meaningful way. Subheadings are also very useful on a page, leading the eye further down.
Check our 'before and after' pages which demonstrate this, and read more:
http://www.internetevangelismday.com/blog/archives/499
TIPS
- non-techies look away now
PREHEADERS - how to use them in HTML email newsletters:
http://www.lyrishq.com/content/view/535/96/O
IPHONE APPLICATIONS - 12 tips to get started:
http://www.sitepoint.com/article/iphone-development-12-tips/
WINDOWS 7 - the new operating system on the way. Techies who have tested the beta
version are very positive. Deb Shinder has already discovered several ways to improve
it:
http://blogs.techrepublic.com.com/10things/?p=6Z
Windows 7 will also have a 'Windows XP mode' - but this is only planned for the
Professional and Ultimate versions, not the home edition - unless they can be persuaded to
change their minds. If they don't, then it seems wise to opt for these versions:
http://www.worldstart.com/tips/tips.php/windows-7-to-have-windows-xp-mode
WINDOWS EXPLORER - make it start up at the directory YOU want, not at My Documents:
http://blogs.techrepublic.com.com/itdojo/?p=537&tag=nl.e101
COMPARE TWO SETS OF EMAILS ADDRESSES to find duplicates or uniques - use our free
online tool:
http://www.internetevangelismday.com/compare-emails.php
USING WORD OF MOUTH - Willmaster is offering a unified script to give code for visitors
to get links for sites, newsletters, or tellafriend, or add to social networking sites or
Twitter:
http://www.willmaster.com/library/tools/free-word-of-mouth-for-your-web-site.php
THE WORLD WE LIVE IN
THE NEWSPAPER TRADE (especially local and regional) is suffering, both from the
recession, the switch of advertisers to the Web, and the way people prefer to find news
online. Newseum allows you to view online versions of newspapers from around the world.
Many are endangered species:
http://www.newseum.org/
http://www.newseum.org/todaysfrontpages
"Can the Statusphere Save Journalism?" asks New Web 2.0 Magazine:
http://www.newwebmag.com/2009/04/12/can-the-statusphere-save-journalism/
MOBILE TV DOES NOT TAKE OFF - Live TV on mobile phones has failed to excite British
users. France, meanwhile, has found a business model that works:
http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/media/article6108334.ece
RAISING SUPPORT: if you have a policy of publicly requesting support online, Jakob
Nielsen's study on non-profit fund-raising is very significant:
http://www.useit.com/alertbox/nonprofit-donations.html
NEW MAGAZINE: CATALYST LEADERSHIP
Christianity Today now offer Catalyst Leadership as a free online bimonthly
publication:
http://catalystleadershipdigital.com/
You may be unaware that CT also offer a range of print magazines, and a large number of
free email newsletters:
http://www.christianitytoday.com/free/features/magazines.html
BOUNCE RATE
"For those who study and understand website statistics, they understand that 'bounce
rate' is an important measure of your website's effectiveness."
http://www.sitepronews.com/archives/2009/apr/13.html
BLOGGING
How to be blog better:
http://ministrymarketingsolutions.blogspot.com/2009/04/how-to-write-good-blogs-that-will-make.html
Few of us have time to follow very many blogs. And yet there are great learning
opportunities from the best blogs. AllTop.com is a great way to skim a selection of the
very best Christian blogs. There you'll see, all on one page, the last five posting
headers from these top blogs. Hover your mouse over the headline and you'll see the text
of the blog posting too. An amazing way to keep in touch quickly and easily.
http://church.alltop.com/
Using WordPress for blogs:
http://www.internetevangelismday.com/blog/archives/427
You can get email notification about new postings on our Digital Evangelism Issues blog
through Feedburner, or through RSS. Postings are usually every two or three days:
http://www.internetevangelismday.com/blog/about
Please link to Digital Evangelism Issues blog from any website or blog; this is the URL
to use:
http://www.internetevangelismday.com/blog
TAILEND ô¿ô
Patrick was driving down the street in a sweat because he had an important meeting and couldn't find a parking place. Looking up to heaven he said, "Lord take pity on me. If you find me a parking place, I will go to Mass every Sunday for the rest of me life and give up me Irish Whiskey!"
Miraculously, a parking place appeared.
Patrick looked up again and said, "Never mind, I found one."
A passerby stopped to watch a baseball game taking place at the local park.
"Who's playing?" he asked another observer.
"The Masons against the Knights of Columbus," he responded.
"What's the score?"
"I don't know. It's a secret."
[ Source: www.mikeysFunnies.com/ ]
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