In my first three posts concerning internet ministry (“What is it?,” “Evangelism and Discipleship,” and “Global Interaction“), I defined internet ministry as “the use of online services, apps, functions, and technologies in order to serve people with the intention of helping those people grow in maturity towards Christ” and concluded that even if we pursue evangelism online, our ultimate goal should be discipleship – that is, not simply making converts, but helping people maturing in their walk with Jesus Christ. Finally, I encouraged those involved in “internet ministry” to recognize the importance of personal, face-to-fact contact and example in discipleship.

In this final installment in my series on “internet ministry,” I would like to continue discussing the importance of “face-to-face contact and example” by talking about using online interaction to further facility discipleship.

When I use the term “interaction,” I’m talking about communication that takes place in both directions. Now, certainly, it is possible to help someone without this kind of two-way communication. For example, someone could post a teaching based on a particular passage of Scripture, and someone else reading that teaching could benefit, without further interaction.

In reality, this is similar to the teaching/preaching found in many churches today. A person hears a teaching/sermon, but has no further interaction and no deeper relationship with the teacher/preacher. The person hearing can be helped with this type of teaching/preaching, but the amount and type of help is limited.

The way the Jesus and others in Scripture practiced and taught it, discipleship was interactive, in the midst of sharing life together, with questions and answers and follow-up and discussion and argument and another example, etc. It is possible to include this type of interaction using online resources.

The problem is that many who post material on the internet consider the “posted material” to be the most important part of their work. In fact, that posted material is simply the beginning. Whether through comments or emails or phone calls or whatever, the further interaction with other people is often much more important than the posted material that began the further interaction.

Again, do not misunderstand me. Still, personal, face-to-face interaction with both important and necessary. But, using various means, internet ministry can be more interactive and, therefore, more effective at helping people mature in Christ and walk in a manner worthy of the gospel.

Of course, this also means that the way that we interact with people is as important (if not more important) than what we say (or write) in our posted material. If we react with hostility to someone who disagrees with us, it will completely nullify our post about the love of Christ. If we reject someone else, it hinders our message about the grace we have through Christ.

Finally, through interaction, we can demonstrate that we are also teachable – that we also need to be discipled – that we do not have all the answers – that God can and does speak to us and changes us through other people.

So, as we use online tools and resources to disciple others – that is, to help others grow in maturity in Christ – we should seek as much interaction as possible, always attempting to demonstrate the love of Christ in that interaction. In humility, we should admit that we do not have all the answers, that we are sometimes wrong, and that our relationships with others is more important than proving ourselves to be right.

1. Positiveness: The ability to work with and see people and situations in a positive way.
    
2. Servanthood: The willingness to submit, play team ball and follow the leader.
    
3. Growth Potential: A hunger for personal growth and development; the ability to keep growing as the job expands.
    
4. Follow-Through: The determination to get the job done completely and with consistency.
    
5. Loyalty: The willingness to always put the leader and the organization above personal desires.
    
6. Resiliency: The ability to bounce back when problems arise.
    
7. Integrity: Trustworthiness and solid character; consistent words and walk.
    
8. "Big Picture" Mind Set: The ability to see the whole organization and all of its needs.
    
9. Discipline: The willingness to do what is required regardless of personal mood.
    
10. Gratitude: An attitude of thankfulness that becomes a way of life. 

More than two-thirds (69 percent) of Americans believe the problem of hunger has increased in the United States during the past year, and women are more likely than men to have this sentiment (76 percent vs. 61 percent). In addition, nearly nine out of 10 (87 percent) are concerned about hunger in the United States, including nearly half (46 percent) who are very concerned about it.

“Despite the early indicators of an economic recovery, lingering unemployment and other lagging effects of the recession are causing more Americans than ever to go hungry,” said Jean Kinsey, a professor of applied economics at the University of Minnesota, and director of The Food Industry Center. “As the results of this survey indicate, hunger is a distressing and humiliating circumstance, but Americans agree it is not too hopeless to try to help.”

To help combat the problem of hunger in the United States, most people have donated both food (75 percent) and money (61 percent), and three in 10 have done volunteer work. The majority (80 percent) agree it is not hopeless to try to help eradicate hunger around the world and nearly two-thirds (65 percent) at least somewhat agree that Americans have a responsibility to help people in other countries who do not have enough food to eat.

“We are encouraged to learn that, despite troubling statistics about the number of hungry people around the globe, most Americans still believe that by working together, we can help end the problem of hunger,” said Craven.

Survey findings also outlined additional trends among Americans:

* A great majority of Americans (92 percent) at least somewhat agree that children should receive hunger relief first, no matter where they live.
* A great majority of Americans (92 percent) at least somewhat agree that, despite the recession in the United States, many people around the world are much worse off than Americans are.

As part of Hormel Foods’ commitment to hunger causes, the company made cash, in-kind and equipment donations totaling $3.9 million, and donated 81,000 pounds of protein, providing charitable meals for 430,000 people last year.

Methodology
The 2009 Hormel Hunger Survey was a telephone survey conducted Oct. 9-12, 2009 by Opinion Research Corp. The random sample included 1,003 American adults and the margin of sampling error is +/- 3 percentage points at the 95 percent confidence level. Hormel Foods acknowledges Jean Kinsey, a professor of applied economics at the University of Minnesota, and director of The Food Industry Center, for her input.
About Hormel Foods

Hormel Foods Corporation, based in Austin, Minn., is a multinational manufacturer and marketer of consumer-branded food and meat products, many of which are among the best known and trusted in the food industry. The company leverages its extensive expertise, innovation and high competencies in pork and turkey processing and marketing to bring quality, value-added brands to the global marketplace. The company is a member of the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index, and in each of the past 10 years, Hormel Foods was named one of “The 400 Best Big Companies in America” by Forbes magazine. The company enjoys a strong reputation among consumers, retail grocers, foodservice and industrial customers for products highly regarded for quality, taste, nutrition, convenience and value. For more information, visit http://www.hormelfoods.com

How to Strengthen the Church One Believer At A Time!

Whether you have been serving Jesus for decades, or if you find yourself new to the faith you can help strengthen the church as a whole. Over the years I have realized there are some common threads that runs through vibrant, healthy, growing churches.

And, I believe if the individual believer can implement these five pillars they will strengthen themselves…thus strengthening the local church…which strengthens the body of Christ.

There are Five Pillars of Strength every beliver should practice, and every local should offer to those involved. Teach these principles and watch what happens!

PILLAR I: Prayer! Prayer is where we tap into the power of God. Act 2 the disciples gathered in the Upper Room…the power of God falls…thousands come to Christ! Prayer brings power!

PILLAR II: Worship! Worship is the time we most often encounter Gods presence. Scripture declares that God lives in the praises of His people. Worship helps develop intimacy with God.

PILLAR III: Word! Faith is built as we learn the Word of God! Get in the Word on a regular basis.

PILLAR IV: Fellowship! We need each other! I have found that healthy churches create opportunities to develop healthy Christian relationships.

PILLAR V: Involvement! God has given each of us a gift that we may utilize to serve within the body of Christ. Every believer should be involved in some aspect of the ministy of the local church.

“In the American church—most often—it’s the exact opposite, our “Product” is flawless (and I mean flawless), but our market research is usually lousy. That, too, is embarrassing! After all, George Barna can’t be expected to do it all! There are a couple of things that would help this situation and they both involve a really honest discussion. “

As I scanned across the net today I came across this quote from Doug Lawrence and I thought it was pretty on the money.

In most cases not only dont we ask the questions so we can be “better” at “doing church” but in most cases we rarely are willing to think in terms of improvement because “it has always been done this way”

So in the spirt of change here are 10 sample questions. Can you think of any others we should ask? Be sure to leave a comment either way

# Were you looking forward to coming to the service?
# Did you do anything to prepare for being in worship today?
# Do you think you could have spent your time better if you had stayed at home?
# Given the complexity of your life, what would do instead of church?
# If we were offering premiums (and we’re probably not going to), what would be the “tipping point teaser” for getting you here every week?
# Generally speaking, do you feel welcomed when you come to our services or do you think we’re pretending to be glad to see you?
# Do you get anything out of worship that lasts past Tuesday when you come here?
# Do you wish somebody had asked you these questions years ago when you first started coming to church?
# What are folks saying about your attendance at church, and does it bother you when they’re critical?
# What’s the one thing you wish that we (the church) would finally “get” about you?

If you would like to read the complete article take a look here http://is.gd/8Cyqm at Church central.

—Doug Lawrence is a nationally recognized speaker and consultant who helps churches create intentional and engaging worship experiences utilizing his more than 35 years of “deep trench” worship leadership in prominent mainline churches. You may reach him at dlawrenceconsult@mac.com. Or, if you wish, call 1-650-207-8240 for calendar availability.

I recently was challenged by God concerning my personal prayer life. Not my preparing to preach prayer life, not my in front of the folks before or after church prayer life, not my visiting the sick prayer life, but my personal time with God prayer life.

You know, the one no one but God and you will ever see or know about for real!

So, I asked myself the questions: How much do I pray? How much should I pray?

I thought I would ask you, whats up in your prayer life? How much is a reasonable expectation we should have for our time in prayer? If you had a complete day with nothing on your schedule, how long would you pray?

The topic of this post could just as well have read, what do we really believe! I say that because even as church leaders, in general our actions don’t match our theology or doctrine. What a difference from the days of Peter, Paul, James, and John. Or even from more recent examples like William Seymour and the Azusa Revival congregants.

About 5 years ago the Lifeway research team released a survey that found the majority of pastors were dissatisfied with their personal prayer life.

According to Lifeway pastors reported the following fact, the median amount of prayer time per day is 30 minutes.. Although younger ministers are much less satisfied with their prayer life, they spend about as much time in prayer per day as do older ministers. Lutherans and Presbyterians tend to spend less time in prayer than do those from other denominations, while Pentecostals and Methodists spend more time than average.

Yet, in a 2009 survey the same organization reported that 50% of pastors spent 14 or more hours preparing for their sermons each week.

A review of these statistics clearly point out that we would fail the Jesus question of “Could you not tarry one hour”. I am convicted on this issue. I must do better!

I have started rearranging my personal time with God. Sometimes we just have to take a refresher course on our fundamentals and get a practical, step by step, track to run on.

For me, I have dusted off Dick Eastmans classic “The Hour The Changes The World” and Virkler’s “Dialogue With God”. I will keep you posted as God give me more revelation in this area.

If you need a prayer diagram, I will gladly send you one. Just send an email to 1000churches@aweber.com

SOOOO….. whats up in your prayer life? How much is a reasonable expectation we should have for our time in prayer? If you had a complete day with nothing on your schedule, how long would you pray?

Don’t get spooky on me, I know that time is NOT the only factor for effective ferverent prayer. But Jesus noticed the clock as a measure. I think it is reasonable that we do the same.

Prayer, Christianity, Jesus, God, Religion and Spirituality, christian prayer, Pentecostalism, Methodism, baptist, william seymour, azuza revival, prayer disciplines, hour prayer

Unfortunately, I think much of what we call worship that honors God is entertainment that pleases flesh. Our society is fixated on performance and entertainment. The order and cadance of the music, in some places is scripted to bring our soulish nature to it highest level of responsiveness.

How far is our preaching from that which would put people to sleep so hard that they could fall from a window. As preachers we are especially adept at arousing the emotions of those who hear us. That may not be bad in and of itself, but has our content been watered down to the point of bland non-controversial doctrine in order to satisfy the sensibilities of the congregation?

Our altar calls at times depend on emotionalism rather than conviction of sin and wrong. We make promises to people that I question as biblical. We tell them that if the come to Jesus all their problems will be solved. That’s not true in my life, is it true in yours?

Trouble is I dont know which is what, myself!

In Him,
JMb <><

Bishop James 'I Feel God' Brown
The Internet's Favorite Pastor
Visit My Blog http://www.ifeelgod.org
http://www.1000churches.org - Kingdom Ministry
http://www.fromchurch.com - Ministry Tech

Stay In Contact with me
facebook: http://facebook.com/bishopifeelgod
twitter: http://ifeelgod.org/twitter
myspace: http://myspace.com/ifeelgod

Jesus, Church, God, Religion, Spirituality, Service of worship, worship, worship music, 1st century, Apostle, Ministries, Christianity

I really wish that I did not, but I have a problem with written prayers, from some book, being read over me.

I trust the Holy Ghost in the person who is praying to be effective, not the words of someone who could be an old drunk writing prayer words for who knows what reason.

I would prefer for you to just pray for me, out of YOUR heart, you cannot get it wrong, the Holy Spirit will fix up what you mess up, just pray.

btw, I am not oppossed to books on prayer used for training newbies and new believers. I cut my teeth on Could You Not Tarry One Hour” but it was a template for prayer which taught people how to use the Lord’s Prayer as a model for prayer and not a rote prayer. But many of these prayer book and spiritual warfare books give prayer to be read verbatim.

How do you feel about this?
Can a prayer book prayer qualify as “praying in the holy spirit”
Have Charismatics & Pentecostals now taken the prayers ot Catholics?

Each Tuesday we have a open call-in session dealing with issues leaders face in ministry.

On Tuesday Nov 17 Bishop Brown was especially moved by the crisis he saw many men and women of God undergoing. Here is the audio of that broadcast

Did You Read This ?

YOU CAN DOUBLE
YOUR CHURCH ATTENDANCE NOW!

Pastors & Church Leaders!

What is the one thing you MUST do this year in order to grow your church and prevent members from leaving?

Is Your Church or Ministry Growing?

Are Your Offerings In Decline?

Is Your Worship Attendance Now Less Than What

You Would Like It To Be?

STOP!

Here is important information you simply
MUST know in order to DOUBLE . . . even TRIPLE
your attendance and membership . . . !

Get More Information Here
http://1000churches.org/ourchoice/doubleycasale.php

bishop,brown,christian,church,encouragement,leadership,pastor,bishop james i feel god brown,bishop james brown,i feel god