WEB EVANGELISM BULLETIN
. . . learning from each other
W-E-B Issue 179 ~ May-June 2010
Monthly ISSN 471-0323
STRATEGIC NEW BOOK PUBLISHED THIS MONTH
LAUSANNE WORLD PULSE
WHAT IS RANDOM CHAT?
FACEBOOK OPPORTUNITIES
WARNING: LATEST SORT OF PHYSHING CALLED TAB NAPPING
THE WORLD WE LIVE IN
WEBINAR FOR WEB MINISTRY
ENGAGE BRAIN FIRST
TIPS
VIDEO CLIPS AND YOUTH MINISTRY
COMMUNICATING EFFECTIVELY
MAKE YOUR SITE USABLE
Tailend
STRATEGIC NEW BOOK PUBLISHED THIS MONTH
Netcasters: Using the Internet to Make Fishers of Men
Craig von Buseck
B & H Publishing Group
ISBN 978-0-8054-4784-2
With its launch on 1 June, Craig von Buseck's landmark book draws on research for his recent doctoral dissertation as well as bible college lectures he has given on the topic.
Von Buseck presents a unique overview into the vast and growing potential of the
digital media to share the good news of Jesus. There has been no title like this since
Andrew Careaga's books in the early days of the Web. Its well-researched and visionary
coverage, interviews and case studies are indispensable to anyone needing to understand
the nature of the new media and how to use them effectively. And since we all now live in
a 'digital communication culture', this surely means all of us: Jesus-followers at any
stage of our spiritual journeys, as well as pastors and leaders, college students and
faculty (it's an ideal textbook), or mission staff and believers from nations around the
world. And remarkably, we don't need technical knowledge for this!
http://www.internetevangelismday.com/netcasters
Via that link, you can read the first three chapters online, and also access an interview with Craig. Please republish this review (and the interview too if you wish) in any medium, and mention in on Facebook and Twitter.
LAUSANNE WORLD PULSE
The June/July issue of Lausanne World Pulse has a focus on technology and missions. Six
articles look at the opportunities and potential:
http://www.internetevangelismday.com/blog/archives/1881
WHAT IS RANDOM CHAT?
Steve, of the excellent Communicate Jesus blog, suggests that Chat Roulette could be a useful opportunity to connect with people and engage about the good news.
Chatroulette is a website that attracts over 500,000 visitors per day - here's how it
works:
http://www.communicatejesus.com/2010/03/harness-the-craze-of-random-chat-for-evangelism/
FACEBOOK OPPORTUNITIES
Facebook for evangelism: we can share the good news in various ways:
http://www.internetevangelismday.com/facebook-evangelism.php
Digital Rivers Newtown - short parable story about the rise of Facebook:
http://www.internetevangelismday.com/blog/archives/1735
Cartoon: people will do WHAT in the future?
http://www.internetevangelismday.com/blog/archives/1836
FB Privacy: I certainly have no plans to close my Facebook account! But it is important
to understand the ways you can protect your privacy, and only be wise in what personal
information you post. Check out Mister Nifty's advice - one no-brainer for instance is
never post when you are planning to go away on holiday (and therefore leave your house
unattended):
http://www.misternifty.com/internet/social-networking/worried-about-facebook-privacy/
IE DAY FANPAGE - please click 'Like' and become a fan:
http://www.facebook.com/internetevangelismday
WARNING: LATEST SORT OF PHYSHING CALLED TAB NAPPING
Keep your mind alert and suspicious at all times. Tab napping could easily catch you
out:
http://www.azarask.in/blog/post/a-new-type-of-phishing-attack/
THE WORLD WE LIVE IN
SCRAPBOOKING - Remember when people did clipping - saving articles from magazines and
newspapers into a scrapbook. Is it possible online? Yes, says Jeremy Wagstaff:
http://www.loosewireblog.com/2010/05/the-lost-art-of-clipping.html
EVANGELISM - The Luis Palau Association plans to bring its "Festival" evangelistic
model to France in May 2011 for the very first time:
http://mnnonline.org/article/14217
CHURCH BUILDINGS - although buildings are not the church, we tend to meet in buildings.
And here are 50 of the most extraordinary, around the world:
http://www.boredpanda.com/50-most-extraordinary-churches-of-the-world/
TURKEY - Radio Shema, a Christian Station, is producing an iPhone application, to be available from iTunes, that allows people to listen to Radio Shema on their iPhones. Shema is also developing new programmes for women.
WEBINAR FOR WEB MINISTRY
Yvon Prehn offers a FREE Webinar on the differences between WordPress.com and WordPress.org and how churches can use WP to create very robust but free or extremely low-cost websites. Her site also carries other past webinars.
She writes, "If only all believers would flood the web with the gospel! I want to show them how easy it is to do it. Either go to my website to register: http://www.effectivechurchcom.com/
or directly to register:
http://www.effectivechurchcom.com/category/webinars/past-webinars-videos-online/
ENGAGE BRAIN FIRST
One thing that Christians are not always very good at is analyzing the stuff that comes their way. Sometimes it is just repeating urban myths that have no foundation in fact. Other times it is the bizarre adoption of semi-conspiracy theories, just because some preacher has created a supposed tie-in with imagery in, for example, Revelation. And of course the Internet can now propagate such ideas at the speed of light.
It is also not unusual for Christians to use minimally corroborative or dubious arguments as main evidence for something, rather than sticking to tested and defensible positions.
Intute gives resources for sensible study and research:
http://www.intute.ac.uk/criticalthinkingunit1.html
TIPS
-non-techies look away now
PAGE PEEL - add a 'page peel' corner banner to your site:
http://www.marcofolio.net/webdesign/create_a_peeling_corner_on_your_website.html
GOOGLE - shortcut search options:
http://www.google.com/help/features.html
10 Simple Security Tasks for Locking Down Your LAMP Website:
http://www.developer.com/open/article.php/3884381/article.htm
FACEBOOK - Wordpress plugin that puts a Facebook 'Like' button on every blog posting
and page:
http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/fblikebutton/installation/
CONTACT FORM - Add an Ajax contact link to your site:
http://www.willmaster.com/library/web-development/ajax-contact-form.php
SOCIAL MEDIA icons for your webpage:
http://www.communicatejesus.com/2010/03/looking-for-social-media-icons/
SCRIPTS - Top 10 simplest and most lightweight scripts on the Web:
http://www.hotscripts.com/blog/top-10-simplest-lightweight-scripts
HOW NOT TO SWEAT the mobile office:
http://www.loosewireblog.com/2010/04/how-to-not-sweat-the-mobile-office.html
BROWSER WARS - Another Milestone:
http://www.loosewireblog.com/2010/05/the-browser-wars-another-milestone.html
VIDEO CLIPS AND YOUTH MINISTRY
Get your youth group working on some scripts! It's fun and easy.
http://vimeo.com/11475706
COMMUNICATING EFFECTIVELY
TEN SIMPLE WAYS TO LOVE YOUR COMMUNITY - Challenging common-sense advice from Anne
Jackson:
http://flowerdust.net/2010/04/16/ten-simple-ways-to-love-your-community/
USING CHURCH SIGNBOARDS EFFECTIVELY - valuable advice from professionals:
http://www.internetevangelismday.com/blog/archives/1839
GEORGE ORWELL on writing better:
http://www.communicatejesus.com/2010/03/george-orwell-on-writing-better/
FREE B-BOOK on social networking, and a look at effective strategies for sharing the
good news:
http://www.internetevangelismday.com/blog/archives/1798
BURNING LABELS AND BUILDING BRIDGES - do our shorthand labels still work?
http://www.internetevangelismday.com/blog/archives/1787
TELLING IT SO IT MAKES SENSE - contextualization without compromise:
http://www.internetevangelismday.com/blog/archives/1770
FAITH_BASED TV ADS earn industry honors. In a thoughtful and interesting way, they
invite Canadians to check out a new website and consider serious questions about life.
http://smr.newswire.ca/en/samaritans-purse-canada/unique-faith-based-tv-ads-earn-industry-honors
MAKE YOUR SITE USABLE
Jakob Neilsen, usability guru, says that research confirms that a conventional site
layout, with menu at the left, is the most usable. "You deviate from conventional layout
at your peril."
http://www.useit.com/alertbox/horizontal-attention.html
Also take time to understand how web users cope with 'the fold' - the bottom of the
screen:
http://www.cxpartners.co.uk/thoughts/the_myth_of_the_page_fold_evidence_from_user_testing.htm
TAILEND ô¿ô
"Dear Facebook member: It has come to our attention that certain users..."
http://chianca-at-large.blogspot.com/search?q=facebook
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