I've Been Infiltrated!

I don't know how it happened or why, but Prodigal Jon over at Stuff Christians Like must have gotten a copy of my preaching calendar. Granted, the preaching calendar isn't under lock and key, but I have to wonder, "Why me?"

The evidence first presented itself upon arriving from church today. I sat down to read my fun blogs (my ministry blogs can wait until Monday), and what did I see? Prodigal Jon flaunting his recently-discovered knowledge of my preaching plan.

The evidence:
Yesterday Prodigal Jon posted this
#181 Preaching 87 Week Long Sermon Series on a Single Book of the Bible
Prodigal Jon clearly knows that today I preached sermon #50 from the book of Mark. Seriously. I started preaching from Mark on May 20, 2007. Today's sermon was from chapter 11 verse 12-26. Just wait, it gets better.

Mark 11:12-26 deals with one of the more famous events in the life of Jesus Christ. And what do you suppose Prodigal Jon's other post from yesterday was? You have to see it to believe it.
#179 Referring to that Jesus Clears the Temple Verse When You Get Angry

I just have one thing to say.

I'm onto you, Prodigal Jon!

Seriously though, all of you need to go over and subscribe to his blog, "Stuff Christians Like." It's a fun blog to read and really makes us laugh at ourselves.

Fundamental Functions of the Online Church (Part 6 of 6)

We've been discussing the Fundamental Functions of the Church. So far we have seen four functions and today we will discuss the final function: Evangelism

The online church must perform evangelism in some way and I believe this is one of the functions that is the easiest to perform in an online environment. While some people may take on a different persona in online environments, many people are actually more open to discussing spiritual matters an online context.

The Great Commission compels us to go into all the world and share the gospel of Jesus Christ. Nowadays the world is actually at our desktop. We must share the message of Jesus Christ in the online worlds as well.

How does your church do evangelism? How can you share the gospel of Jesus Christ through the use of online environments?

Fundamental Functions of the Online Church (Part 5 of 6)

As we continue in our discussion of the Fundamental Functions, we look at the cross-over function of Service.

It's a cross-over because the New Testament community took care of those within the fellowship (see Acts 2:45), as well as those who were outside of the community (see James 1:27).

So can the online church participate in the fuction of service? If finances can be considered part of service, this poses no problem whatsoever. For example, after the 2005 Sumatra Tsunami the website, MethodistRelief.org raised $445,000 in the first five days. While this may not be a satisfactory form of service to many, it does help achieve the goal.

The phenomenon of the the "flash mob" shows that the internet has the power to motivate people to action, even for seemingly meaningless activities. Perhaps the online church could utilize this type of mobilization share the love and compassion characteristic of a thriving Christian community.

What do you think? What are some ways the online church could perform the fundamental function of service?

Fundamental Functions of the Online Church (Part 4 of 6)

Continuing in our discussion of the Fundamental Functions of the online church, we now turn to InReach. Although we already discussed InReach a little bit, since .5 of it reaches into worship in the area of discipleship. I see discipleship as an overlapping function that unites UpReach and InReach.

InReach - Fellowship

The Fundamental Function that rests securly in InReach, however, is Fellowship. Fellowship appears to be primarily focused on encouraging other believers, caring for them, and building them up. While it may have a secondary role of pushing someone toward UpReach, the primary task in InReach.

The online church may not be able to have your traditional potluck dinners or your weekly gatherings around a cup of joe, but I do believe that real fellowship can happen through digital media. I believe that as technology improves this idea will become more and more a reality in many people's lives. Of course mobile devices and text messaging are already very popular and easy ways to stay in touch with friends and family constantly.

A few popular web services that already help people stay connected are:
Skype - offering computer to computer voice and video communication in real time
AOL Instant Messenger (AIM) - a standard in text-based instant messenging
Yahoo Messenger and MSN Messnger- like AIM, but with the added bonus of voice communication
Twitter - quick updates from your friends either from computer or via txt message on a mobile device
TeamSpeak or Ventrilo - voice communication popular with gamers. Provides different rooms for large groups to be broken into smaller groups for better organization/communication.

What are some ways you keep in touch with people in real time? How could you use this technology to facilitate fellowship within your church?