Social Media Consulting Archives - Page 3 of 8

How to Pray When You Can’t

Every Monday, we get on Zoom to meet with people across the country and study the Bible. A thought-provoking question stirred our hearts and minds two weeks ago, and it was around Colossians 1:9a, “For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you…”

Paul’s struggle in Colossians 1:29 caused Gaye Austin, our teacher, to ask, “Paul says he is struggling for them but he is in prison…Paul’s purpose for his struggling: Paul wanted them to be unified especially now that the ‘heretics’ had sought to disarm their faith.” She asked us if we struggled for others.

The screen sharing paused. I turned off the recording. Normally, I don’t record our Bible Studies. The space is sacred to encourage sharing in a secure environment. We recorded this one for those who were out for Memorial Day.

Silence followed on the heals of the question of prayer. Some shared their heart on how they struggled to pray and asked their questions about how to pray

Prayer is worship. It’s a conversation. A lot of great resources exist online to guide you deeper into a prayer life. Here are some of my suggestions:

Daniel Henderson runs a prayer ministry. A former pastor taught me to start with praise because God is praiseworthy and make your asks last. You can check out Daniel Henderson on Facebook and here on his website. He wrote a book called, Transforming Prayer.
Meditate on the Bible. When you have no words, think of Romans 8:26: In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans. It’s okay to sit in a dark room before the day begins and just listen to what God might say to you. Just sitting in His presence, He knows our hearts. He knows our needs.
Some amazing people shared how God gets them up at 3 AM. They didn’t know why. The Spirit led them to use that time to pray for the names He put on their hearts. What’s amazing about this act are the answers to prayer in those situations.
Pray the Psalms.

One my all-time favorite ways to pray is…

Grab a backpack with water and snacks. Pack a Bible or make sure you have a Bible App installed on your phone and plenty of battery power. Budget in a few hours off from your day and hike to a place that you love. Sit a few hours in the presence of God and read the Bible. Have a conversation with God.

Zoom is one of many ways to use video conferencing to have face-to-face meetups in this 24-hour world, post-COVID19. I have attached a printable Zoom how-to guide to this prayer guide. It includes visuals and suggestions, plus links to Zoom. You can print it and keep it nearby. The guide answers some of the common problems that happen during a Zoom call from the invitees’ point of view.

Free How to Zoom Guide

Download Zoom Guide Here

How to Create a Digital Small Group

If a church is not engaging online with people viewing their live broadcasts, it is like turning on the television to watch a show or opening a newspaper. Church people are consumers. Naturally, most of our online churches over Mothers’ Day experienced a dip in attendance. As one social media expert said, the newness wore off. Online church is no different than the face-to-face church in that, when we go away on trips, when we sleep in, we miss church.

Here’s how to deepen the engagement of your church and reach people online:

Talk to people in the chat during the service. Train your congregation to talk to each other.
Share the live broadcast to local Facebook groups, but not in a spammy way. Instead, utilize a friendly introduction to invite conversation. Please make sure to check group descriptions to see if lives are allowed by the administrators. Respect admins of any groups.
Do a watch party later in the week of that Sunday’s service on your profile. Invite someone you are discipling to watch with you and discuss the sermon afterwards.
For people who do not like the distraction of the chat during service, encourage them to watch an earlier service and participate in the chat of another service. Be cross-generational.

Other ways…

Start a Facebook group for your church in collaboration with your pastors to compliment the work on the church Facebook page and other social media sites.
Start Whatsapp groups or text groups with your small groups to keep in touch more intimately during the week.
Have your Bible Study leaders do Facebook Lives in the group to talk about a weekly lesson. This can grow the Bible Study and keep the congregation in the Bible, too.
Use Zoom or Facebook Messenger to meet up if meeting in person is out of the question. Use them for one-on-one meetups so you are making eye contact rather than just a phone call. Even when we can meet in the face-to-face, video calls are great to do when it’s just not a good time to make the commute to see someone.

The point of social media was never to grow the church (though it can), but to reach people with the truth of the Gospel so they can grow in Christ. You can reach people all over the world, but you must desire this. Otherwise, online work is hard. It will wear you out without the right heart attitude.

The above picture is from a weekly small group that meets via Zoom every Monday. This Bible Study has been ongoing for the past few years.

How to Add Depth to Your Postings With Photography

“Photography takes an instant out of time, altering life by holding it still.” – Dorothea Lange

Stock photo sites provide a wealth of beautiful photographs for your blogs and social media. We should strive to provide our own photos. They tell a better story. As the Digital Engagement and Disciple-Making Coordinator with WorldVenture, I have access to photos from all over the world. For WorldVenture, they make ideal Scripture image posts, support blogs others (or I) write, and give depth to updates and prayer requests.

Two years ago, I bought my first professional camera. I had been on social media for years. The massive libraries on Pixabay, Stocksnap, and Unsplash served my many blogging adventures well, but I wanted to go deep in my stories. I wanted to capture real people, real landscapes, and I wanted to tell their stories with detailed, good quality shots a smartphone was unable to provide. Authenticity is about transparency. In the church or mission organization, this is an important part of storytelling.

A picture of a door accompanying a verse about knocking is just a door until you realize it is a door of an ongoing ministry who sees answers to prayers all the time. A Scripture image comes alive, especially to those that know that ministry.

When I teach churches and individuals to use photography in their own social media posts, I don’t discourage the use of their smart phone. People connect emotionally and they connect even with the less polished posts as long it is emotional.

First, you can go to Google Drive on your phone and create folder to store your photos for quick and easy access to them for on-the-go posts. Create sub-folders named Spring, Summer, Sadness, Happy, or whatever will help you find specific photos for specific updates.
During the week, if you don’t use a social media poster like Hootsuite to schedule them, you can post your thoughts and add the appropriate image from your Google Drive folder.
Take the best photos you can, keeping your hands still, and getting familiar with the camera settings on your smartphone. Experiment with different light settings.

Don’t worry about having a plan for your pictures. Take pictures because something is beautiful. Take pictures because it brings you joy. Pictures intensify an experience and help you notice things you otherwise wouldn’t have noticed. Pictures are a visual story. Whatever you post online, make sure the picture supports your words and your words support your picture, like a children’s picture book.

5 Ways to Use Social Media to Help You Through COVID19

The first time I went shopping during April’s COVID-19 shut down was like a scene out of M Night Shyamalan’s Signs. The family went to town to get out of the house after their strange crop circle and encountered surreal face-to-face conversations. The only thing normal in April for me was being home and hiking. Going out to do errands added stress to my life due to several factors, including the mask or no mask people, the shortages of food or toilet paper, and the many rules associated with some shopping centers. Fear felt like a dark cloud over our small town and impacted social media. Afterall, social media is a visual expression of a person’s heart.

What if the only thing you can control is you and your environment? And, what if doing that helps other people fight their fears and live a faithful and fruitful life?

It starts with your social media.

Post statuses that remind you what God has done in the past and what He is doing now to keep your heart focused on the only calm in the storm. “Joshua also used stones to help God’s people remember His goodness. After wandering in the wilderness for 40 years, the Israelites experienced the power of God to roll back the waters of the Jordan River, enabling them to cross over and take possession of the Promised Land. Joshua then commanded them to build a memorial of stones as a public testimony of what God had done for them … stones that would remind them to keep on praising Him.” (The Stones of Remembrance)
Snooze or unfollow sources that contribute negatively to your mental health. At least, severely limit your exposure to that news cycle if you wish to stay informed. Stay informed to only know how to pray or how to help. Change your reason for watching updates as fuel for you to exercise your faith in the community. A great example observed online was how a church dropped by goodies to an older couple suffering from severe exposure to the COVID19 virus.
Get outside. In some countries, rulers have greatly restricted people’s movements. If you can get outside, it’s important to make the time. While outside, use your pictures to capture God-moments, like a bird, a family, or something that makes you smile. Post about it online and tell people why this was a happy moment for you. Post about it slowly. Don’t photo dump. Instead, use the photos on your phone to post each day and to share about that photo. This goes back to the first point in this list.
Use technology to build connections both new and old. Use video conferencing to just hang out with your church friends, to read together, cook together, or just hang out and talk. Watch a movie together. Use this time to go to your friend’s social media and comment on their stuff. Participate in your church’s page or group’s online conversations. Your words can disciple at this time. If you are focused on others, you are less focused on what you cannot control.
Mind your own business. Resist the urge to post about what other people are or aren’t doing. Resist the urge to comment on posts that complain. Snooze them.

How can I support you in prayer? Leave a comment or message me on social media.

How to Transition to a New Normal Starting Now

Every day that I peruse the local Facebook groups, I see distressing comments, hopelessness, fear, and anger; a lot of anger. People are threatened by what they can’t see. It makes them irrational, reactionary, and even hoard leaving many facing product shortages. The home chef must get creative with the ingredients they can find, and the future looks dire with long food lines, more government restrictions, unemployment, increased homelessness, and heavier business and individual debt. There’s a lot to be angry about. We can’t control what’s happening, but we can control how we respond. I believe we are missing the lessons God has in this current COVID19 season in order for us to prepare for a new normal.

Right now, WHAT we do is critical to HOW we transition to the new normal at the end of this COVID19 season.

This includes…

Learning new tools in technology. Some are now isolated, leaving it to the church to find creative ways to keep the congregations connected for those marginalized by technology. There’s no shame in asking for help in getting online.
Sharing memes isn’t enough. Conversation is more important. How are you holding conversations online with cultural Christians, non-believers, and your church family? Private and public communication means are available. Don’t be afraid to be you online.
Create new Bible reading habits. Many free or low-cost Bible studies are available right now to download. Hold an online Bible study with a friend, one-on-one. With many out of work, there’s plenty of time. Grow your faith during this dark time.
Double-check your information. We can take five minutes to do a Google search to find out if what we are sharing is true. A recent conversation about a quote reminded me that even something as simple as a quote found online needs research to ensure that what I am sharing is true. Check multiple sources with good reputations. If people can’t trust us with information unrelated to the Bible, how can they trust us when we share the Good News?
Audit your social media. Does it reflect your face-to-face life and does your face-to-face life reflect a Biblical life? Are we right with God?

What are you consuming online and how is it feeding your soul?

A BBC show inspired me to lose weight. They had a family keep a food diary for a week and afterward, the BBC put all the food on a table for them to see. Because of this, the family changed their eating habits and became different people physically and mentally. We are what we consume online. Use your social media to meet the needs of your audience during this COVID19 and as a tool for yourself to grow closer to the Father. This is a time for nonbelievers to see how we respond to a crisis as people of faith in person and online. At the end of this season of life, maybe we can emerge a better person than when it started.

Maybe it’s time to start some new habits? Thoughts?

______________________

Two people shared their responses to my Facebook post related to this blog:

“I had been working on being mindful of my words and posts; so this just makes me more aware. I want to be a light in this darkness and exude calm to a frantic world. Are the two compatible? Somehow I believe that they are.” – Trudy

“It is my hope and prayer that the better habits, the compassion for others, the stronger faith would not dim over time after this trying time. It is my prayer now, that the dark world would see God’s light shine through and that people would come to Jesus Christ. That God’s word would continue to be proclaimed throughout the world. That many workers come to the fields to spread God’s truth.” – Boots

Jeremy’s Courage

(picture was taken in Georgia)

When I first “met” Jeremy in 2019, it was on my friend’s Facebook Live of their church service. I heard his soulful worship of the Lord, and from my friend, heard about his heart and how it beats every day for God, his family, and his church. In flying out to Georgia to train his church in digital discipleship, I was looking forward to meeting with him.

What is so amazing about Jeremy?

In 2019, he used a flip phone to type out bible verses to his friends, family, and neighbors. If you don’t remember or have never owned a flip phone, that is dedication! When we met, we talked about how to do that more efficiently. I encouraged him to seek out responses to his texts. After my visit, he eventually got a smartphone.

Today’s text from him references 2 Corinthians 12:9:

But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.

The following prayer from him is emotional, humble, and shows how Jeremy draws his strength, not from himself, but from the Father.

“Dear God, I experience many moments of weakness in my daily life. I thank you that I can totally rely on your strength to move forward and do the work you have called me to do. I take glory in my moments of pain and weakness, because you give me the strength and resolve to carry on, the same way you did for the apostle Paul and the rest of the believers who proclaimed the gospel. I choose not to give up because I know you are always with me. In Jesus’ name, I pray. Amen.”

People don’t connect with the cerebral. They connect with the emotional. So, bear your heart in the little things. Do things for others because you love the Lord and the Lord has taught you to love them. Be courageous enough like Jeremy to be vulnerable with others.

How to Prepare Your Congregation for Digital Ministry

A successful digital ministry team at your church is built on a foundation of love for their community and the world. Without this motivation sustaining them, digital ministry is every bit as difficult as the face-to-face. Your digital team will need encouragement and prayer.

Here are some suggestions to build a foundation for a future digital team at your church:

Your leaders must support it from the pulpit down. Digital ministry cannot be treated as a second-hand ministry. Your digital team and the online congregation members touch every aspect of your vision and mission in your community and missional endeavors. It’s also the new word-of-mouth.
Engage your Facebook Live and Youtube Live Viewers. During communion, the pastor addresses the online crowd to encourage them to participate from home. Ask a question for the online viewers to answer in the comments by directly engaging with them. In both ways, you are treating your online viewers as part of your congregation.
How do your Elders/Deacons/Pastors talk about social media and other technology in its use to share the Gospel? In one-on-one conversations, talk social media and technology up. Identify the obstacles within your congregation to digital ministry and address them. Share positive stories of how others used social media or other technologies to share the Gospel. Don’t ignore the concerns over social but address those concerns.
When preaching, connect biblical application to technology. Use your words to guide your congregation in living for God both online and face-to-face. Maybe share some examples of others who have done this and how it was perceived. Inspire your congregation to share the Gospel online in meaningful ways through conversation and updates.
Don’t marginalize the Senior Adults. Instead, use their lack of knowledge about technology to pair them with someone in the youth group. The Senior Adult can mentor the youth while learning from them how to use Facebook to share their stories (or how to take a good selfie and start a conversation on Instagram).

As you hear your congregation begin to explore technological options, look for people who are willing to be part of your digital team. Churches need to get beyond marketing their church online to making disciples throughout the globe, and the need to train churches to do this is urgent. Church staff is already overworked. Most social media communicators are serving in many different roles and don’t have time to focus only on making disciples. Often, small churches are dependent upon their pastor to post online. Missions will come from the church if only we would stir from our slumber.

How can I help you help your church serve in mission?

Image by Jan Vašek from Pixabay

How to Stop Adding Garbage to the Fire

Eli Pariser (What Obligation Do Social Media Platforms Have to the Greater Good) on Ted Talks Daily said, “Facebook right now I sort of think of as 1970s New York. The public spaces are decaying, there’s trash in the streets, people are mentally and emotionally warming themselves over burning garbage, and the natural response is to hole up in your apartment or consider fleeing to the suburbs.” This comment was received with loud applause and laughter.

In all honesty, the very people applauding are probably contributing to the decay of the social media space. What Eli suggests is creating responsible digital spaces in the way that cities build towns. To most that sounds like censorship, and as administrators of Facebook groups have soon discovered, moderating, not censorship, builds a productive and safer online community.

Towns have parks, public libraries, town halls, and the spaces are regulated or moderated. What he suggests is coming with Virtual Reality where you are facing the person you are talking to in a space you have created that encourages better discussions, supportive environments, and a place to worship if that doesn’t exist in your country. The problem is in people.

We cross boundaries, make assumptions, and refuse to change our behavior even if that may convince someone to understand our point of view. Hence, the applause in the video reminds me we are always great at sharing things we think other people need to learn but forget the humility of admitting when we are wrong.

So, how do we create a better digital space?

Exercising self-control in the face-to-face is just as important in the digital world. Measure your words.
Research what you share to sustain moral authority, so people believe you when you talk about the Bible.
Don’t react. Respond. In fact, the beauty of social media is the lack of obligation to respond quickly. We can instead choose to get back to the conversation when we have emptied our minds of damaging and defensive emotions. How many times have we imagined what we could have said later? Social media gives us those options.
Refrain from humor others won’t understand.
Create parks, town halls, libraries, cafes, and other conversation-friendly spaces online to meet a need, create a bond, and build a friendship.
Most importantly, don’t assume you have the right to tell someone how to live. Build trust first. Think about mentoring the person rather than trying to make a mini-you.
Be teachable.

Social media may make you feel like fleeing to the suburbs or holing up in your apartment (i.e. leaving social media).

Don’t.

Digital discipleship is investing your time online in real conversation using whatever technology is available and finding ways to meet in the face-to-face. Transforming communities in the face-to-face starts with our behavior online and who we choose to share our life with. Instead of burning garbage, let’s instead build a real fire that warms the soul and shines a light into the darkness with the sweet aromas of friendship, love, and truth.

Image by Rudy and Peter Skitterians from Pixabay

5 Reminders on Social Media

Seth Godin wrote in The never-ending ratchet of conspicuous consumption, “The only way to do well is to refuse to play.” He said this towards the end of the blog about consumerism and social media. He also said, “Earning trust outperforms earning envy.” As a social media person, creating content and doing organic engagement on WorldVenture’s social media is about creating trust and posting meaningfully. But, what about you–the person who isn’t a marketer who wants to use their personal social media for outreach and meaningful engagement?

You don’t have to play the game.

Trends are wonderful things for pages and groups, but personal social media should remain personal, original, and meaningful. Here are five ways to engage and create without exhausting yourself. You are not me. Be you.

Rest and read. Creativity needs rest. It needs new inspiration. Go to an art museum and learn about artists. Take up photography. Do some gardening. Quilt. Take a walk. Nap. Buy a book on Amazon that is different and challenges your thinking.
Budget your time on social media. Do a short social media fast (no more than a day or two). Watch a movie without picking up your phone. Read a chapter without checking Facebook. Nap with your notifications turned off.
Post Bible Verses. When using Adobe Spark or Canva, create Bible verses from images you have created or from copyright-free image sites, like Pixabay.com. This is a healthy break when you’ve run out of things to talk about online.
Interact more than post. If we get too caught up in the monster of creating original content, we can miss the important conversations. Don’t worry if you have nothing to post. Instead, find someone to interact with online. Maybe you can invite them to meet you for coffee? Post only when you feel led, not because you have to post something. Idea: Share another person’s post with a meaningful response on your personal social media.
Use Facebook Live to take a walk and invite others to walk with you virtually. Have a conversation with them.

When churches have digital teams who use their personal social media to reach out to their community and the world, a person on the team can feel overwhelmed, especially when they are not a marketer. As a social media person, I feel the pressure, but I tap into the mass amount of information that is within WorldVenture for inspiration and take regular breaks to keep what I post fresh and new. As Seth Godin says, “The only way to do well is to refuse to play.”

Happy posting, friends!

How to Create More Meaning

“Some activities are pleasurable and doing them is inherently rewarding. Others are difficult to do, but pay off with happiness or pleasure in the future. Some other things are important to do, even if you never get much from it. I worry that the news has none of the characteristics that make something worthwhile. It’s not fun, it causes anxiety, it gives you a warped sense of reality, and people who watch it are rarely going to DO anything with the information they get … So why do people engage in it? Its sensational nature makes it feel important when it’s not.” – From Here

Recently, our small town landed in the news. Our kids are dying in DUI incidents on the roads, more than one shooting again due to drugs or alcohol, and each day I see whiskey bottles and needles on the sides of streets. “Instead of feeling awful for people in unfortunate circumstances, you can volunteer.” The above article says at the end. The whole article is about creating more meaning.

What the author is not suggesting in Step Away From the 24-Hour News Cycle is ditching the news cycle altogether. Instead, the author challenges the reader to do something. But, what?

The information superhighway can overwhelm us with the needs in the world if we don’t learn to sift through what information we choose to let inside our heart. Instead of focusing on the whole problem, the numbers of nameless people in and out of recovery, the tragedies, wars, and natural disasters, follow this advice—focus on what YOU can do; not what you CAN’T do.

What can you do?

Pray for guidance where God would send you and act on it.
Use your social media to create genuine friendships. Post updates that not only reflect the kind of Christian you are but allow people to latch on to what you have in common with them (Matthew 5:13; Psalm 14:3; Romans 8:8). Got Questions goes deeper here in being Salt and Light.
Because Social Media is a visual storyboard, a person must think visually and literally when conveying meaning. Look at your favorite fictional books, photographers, and painters. Why do certain shows or specific blogs attract you more than others? The common denominator is emotion. If I were to approach someone in the face-to-face and say, “I’m going to do a prayer fast today,” it would come off as ego talking. When you post this online, you are inviting someone into that dialogue and painting a story using graphics and words. Every status and photo is a chapter in your life that you choose to include others in and live as an example through discipling each other.
As you build your friendships online, consider meeting that stranger in a public place for coffee during the day. News stories occasionally share the horrors of doing such a thing. We can either be afraid and immobile or be discerning in where and who we meet.
Pick a culture and learn about it. Find groups of that culture online and get involved in conversations.

Transforming a community isn’t done by hoping someone else will do it. It takes a deliberate joint effort from a congregation, leadership, and missionaries using all the communication tools in front of us, including face-to-face. The next time you see a news story you are tempted to share, wait.

Read the whole article,
Google volunteer opportunities in and out of church areas that reach out to that demographic,
and share a solution with the story.

Get involved in someone else’s story and be part of the change you’d like to see in your community.

Thoughts? Can I pray with you?