Online Journal - Page 15 of 45

3 Reasons Why You Should Get Involved in Social Media

I shared with 50 women at Grace Baptist Church’s Women’s Luncheon on May 5:

Pastors of less than 100 congregants are usually bi-vocational.
When a pastor says he is part-time, he is being paid for part-time, but working full time.
Depending on where you get your data, there is 1 missionary for every 200,000 to 400,000 people. That is a lot of friend requests on Facebook. It is difficult to give that many people (if not impossible) quality interaction.
The church is still polarized regarding social media.
Average 300-people churches don’t have a large staff. Therefore, it is difficult for one pastor to do both discipleship and run a church by himself.
Shared about my new role with WorldVenture. It is not uncommon for non-profit organizations to have their social media person do multiple duties. This supported position is important as my duties focus solely on social media and technology, including mobilizing the church to serve online in missions alongside WorldVenture.
A generation gap is widening. In our post-Christian generation, we need our Senior Adults online more than ever.

Here are the main 3 reasons to get involved with social media and technology:

Missions need all of us involved in discipleship. Every Bible-believing church. Every solid Christian.
Lack of discernment and vision is destroying American Christianity. American Christianity is losing influence. With only 7-20% of Americans measurably active in their Christian faith and Bible illiteracy reining, using social media for teaching and discipling is a priority.
People move from different countries. They have retired from missions. They know a second or third language. Family relationships are international. People in church like this are important for online discipleship and sharing of the Gospel.

**To ask me to speak to your church, please email me or leave a comment. You can send a comment through here: www.worldventure.com/nhahn.

Book Discussion: The Downfall of American Christianity

The first police cruiser pulled up in front of the park, followed by another police officer striding across the lawn. Two men lay beneath a tree, curled around their belongings, on top or near their own human excrement. I sat on the park bench across the way with the book, Hope of Nations opened in front of me, distracted by the scene unfolding. At the encouragement of both police officers, the two men eventually stumbled off in two different directions. It’s not exactly Mayberry here.

Every day there are real-life illustrations of Hope of Nations’ sentence on page 24, “A post-truth society is the only logical end of a post-Christian society.” Some of the points he brought up so far:

American college professors prefer not to hire Christians.
Journalists are not reporting news through the lens of ideologies.
Both Democrats and Republicans are struggling in a “truth-based war of ideologies” within their own parties.
Experts say America is 70% Christian. His sources indicate there are actually only 7-20% of meaningfully active Christians in America.
Most people don’t know the history of Christianity.

But, it was his chapter of 1938 Germany that struck me the most. On November 9, 1938, the Night of Crystal exploded in Germany. Formerly peace-loving Germans burned 260 synagogues, destroyed 7,000 Jewish-owned businesses, and mobs of architects, professors, brick-layers, etc murdered dozens of individual Jews. Wilhelm, Corrie Ten Boom’s brother saw Nazi Germany coming because he understood the power of ideas. Christians need to understand the power of ideas and see what they read through the lens of ideologies.

At this moment in time, the power of ideas stream through your social media, manipulated by people schooled in marketing and communication. All have an agenda, even the groups we agree with politically. However, Christians can take back that power by making the Christian ideology more important than their own agendas through online sharing of the hope we have in Christ with people who don’t have a relationship with Him.

But first, are we someone people can trust? Are we discerning in what we post? Do we exercise self-control in how we respond or react online? Are we researching what we post before we post? Don’t take this lightly. If we always post or send information that later becomes disproven by other websites, how can people trust what we say when we talk about Bible verses and Christ? This went through my mind as I sat in the park, reading this book.

Watching the second man stumble away from the tree, a slave to his next high or his next drink, I wondered what decisions and circumstances brought him there? If Hope of Nations says only 7-20% of Christians are measurably active in their faith, and growth of Christian ideology in the future will be the result of births, not conversions, it’s urgent the Church body step up in this age of social media and technology. Thom Rainer said it on his blog that real church growth happens when a church is focused on evangelism. Otherwise, he said, it’s just a recirculation of the saints going from church to church.

Let’s change this.

Learn more about what I do and how you can support a missionary organization: www.worldventure.com/nhahn. Book given by the publisher to review.

Book Discussion: Hope of Nations by @JohnSDickerson

“They (Oxford Dictionary) noted that our society now defines truth by feelings rather than by facts.” John S. Dickerson “Hope of Nations”

Reading books on culture and being in culture helps a person serve online. I rarely read introductions in a book, but this one is necessary. When Dickerson spoke about a parent bringing his child to a bondage sex fair in California and how morality has shifted, becoming skewed, I see that every day online (in Facebook groups most notably). The past solid Christians are aging out of influence. Dickerson’s generation will see a rise in brutality and violence. What can we do now?

Read the Bible. Seek to understand and apply it both to your online and face-to-face world.
Explore why you feel a lack of urgency for your community and the world to know Christ.
Audit your social media. Is it an accurate depiction of you and your faith walk? Are you having real conversations with people online? Or are you hitting the share button more than the comment button? Are you reflecting Christ in your responses or reactions to others? Are you expecting unbelievers to live as believers? Are you thinking like a missionary?
Living out your faith is being different than your culture. Are you allowing sin in your life? Are you understanding who God is and seeking His face?
It’s the little things, too, that make a difference. Unbelievers do acts of kindness. You could say it’s a trend. What makes our acts of service and kindness different than others? What makes us different?
Serve online. God has given us this great tool to further love others. The church is still grappling with social media and feels a love/hate relationship with it. Add to this the marketing tactics used by Christians to sell a product, like cloaking a number to make it look like a local one, is not a good testimony. Jesus doesn’t need marketing help. He needs us to live in obedience to His calling in our lives. Reflecting this online is powerful.
Make time for people you don’t know on and offline.

I stopped reading this book for now because you can’t read a book like this without a highlighter. More blogs on this book later!

*Book given by publisher to review.

Active Online Ministries

The Bible Study Project

Consider joining, or starting one and be listed on this website. Click here.

Roots Writers and Social Media Critique Group

The website was formerly under Cataclysm Missions Intl LLC. It is now under my new digital discipleship role. The website is located here, but it will be updated later this week with the same information as on the previous website. It will always have a link here directing you to their own website. It has its own brand. I co-lead it with Sherry Rossman. You can find her website here.

Saying Goodbye

Today, I began the process of ending a ministry I began in 2014 called, Cataclysm Missions Intl LLC. The bank account will be closing this week. I’ve closed all its social media. The website will be taken down. Incorp, my registered agent, is doing the paperwork to terminate the LLC with the State of Arizona. Like a pattern for a new outfit, I created it to show WorldVenture what digital discipleship could look like, and now it has accomplished that mission. I say goodbye to it with peace in my heart.

My new role with WorldVenture can be read here: www.worldventure.com/nhahn.

I will write more about it. Meanwhile, enjoy the pictures from Saturday’s speaking engagement at Grace Baptist Church in Chino Valley, Arizona.

3 Takeaways From The Big Idea

Church Communications partnered with Brentwood Baptist Church in Nashville, Tennessee to create The Big Idea Conference. A conference for church communicators. Because church communications bleed into other job titles, like people who work with and for other ministry organizations, I felt it was worth it to attend as a WorldVenture worker.

The swag bag was excellent. Any technologist would smile at the contents:

A mug. Everyone knows coffee is part of what makes us creative and awake.
An idea book that became my new vision book to scribble in.
A key chain.
And a gadget I am sure will come in handy with my phone.

Networking with other communicators was helpful. The breakout sessions were great. I was texting our pastor and WorldVenture ideas that came from the breakout sessions and speakers. Facebook’s Nona Jones was useful especially when one considers Facebook’s recent publicity. From the speakers and breakout sessions, I came away with ideas and revelations:

Nona’s speech reminded me that God is corraling all the techies in the world. Without any word ahead of time, we are on the same page as far as digital discipleship.
Old sermons can be useful. Create short “sound bites” with words to create online discussions.
Senior Adults need to get involved in their church’s online activity. Our younger generation needs them. Some churches are not moving forward because of how new digital discipleship still is in the traditional church world. We need our solid Bible teachers online in this era of Bible illiteracy. We need “grandparents”.

The new vision will be announced during the Women’s Luncheon on May 5 at Grace Baptist Church in Chino Valley, Arizona.

3 Mistakes in My Blogging Journey

In 2015, I ended my blog. For years I built it up as a book review and personal blog site, oftentimes pouring my heart out on the screen, hoping someone might care. I met a lot of people in the blogging community, and some I am still friends with online. Today, I permanently deleted my blog.

Years ago, I had printed off the old blog so the work was not wasted. The old book reviews remain on Amazon. The great articles and guest blogs are gone. More importantly, I began a new brand in 2015 and God continues to expand that vision as a worker with WorldVenture.

Here is what I learned from my first blog:

Organize your menu simply. Make it easy to find the articles. I kept re-branding my blog every couple of years, creating a mess on my menu.
No Regrets. I have no regrets about any blogs I wrote. The pain was immense. Finding comfort in the Christian blogging community was like breathing in the fresh mountain air. For those considering blogging your heart, consider the people around you. Do you have self-control and boundaries and legal knowledge to blog smart? Will blogging your heart help you with the situation or hinder your healing? Not many Ann Voskamp’s exist today. When the blog became more about writing and book reviews, I should have begun a new blog.
Website Name Matters. I called it thewritelife2. I wish I had used my name for easier Google searches or used a name to create a sense of place on the website. But, then I was a newbie at the whole website and social media thing.

To those of you who followed my blog regularly, your friendship inspired me. I hope you are enjoying my new direction.