It is easy to take for granted that everyone knows the rules to follow when dealing with technology in the digital age. We get so used to the internet, email, texting, that we can forget that not everyone keeps up to date, or even understands the very basic rules of online communication.

Due to a recent spyware situation, I have decided to post a few tips to refresh our minds or explain to those who do not understand the way the online world now works. Some of these you will probably already know, but take time to read them anyhow. When we think we have it all figured out, we will find out we too can be led astray.

1. Refresher Course On Email

With the innovation of Twitter and Facebook, email is nearly a lost form of communication. It used to be everyone’s method of keeping in touch just a few years ago, but with the changes in networking, and cheaper ‘smart phones’ nearly everyone has adopted the quicker, easier forms of keeping in touch.

In fact, recent studies indicate that even cell phones are used more for texting than for phone calls. Even our most recent ancestors would be very confused if we told them we text our friends on a cell phone. A telephone was used for talking.

Texting was something you did by teletype or telegraph. And the idea that you could walk around with a telephone in your pocket? Unbelievable! But if they heard about the internet where we can see each other live around the world, talk as if we are in the same room, and send messages in mere fractions of a second, they would think it was some sort of alien form of talking. And they would be right.

However, it is a new day and as technology advances our forms of communication will  evolve as well. Who knows some day we may come back around to talking face to face, and a handshake will be a contract again.

But back to the refresher, and some basic tips in dealing with emails.

• Email was intended to replace letters. It should be used for keeping in touch with friends and family, requesting a transfer of either money or information in transactions, and yes, you can still send other files through email when there isn’t another source. It is meant for communication and exchanging data between two or more people.
• Email is not meant to share ‘cute photos of cats’ or other fun, cute, interesting topics,  all though that happens quite a lot. This is called spamming, and for the most part annoys others, or gets ignored. However, some spam is used for spreading viruses, so be very careful. You can lose friends this way.
• Email should always include a subject, to and from email addresses,  and whatever is meant to be shared. However, it can also share files that are harmful to your computer or harsh words to hurt us emotionally.
• Only use Email when what you have to say cannot be sent by text, is too large to be said on twitter, or when it involves a group of people. I realize there are people who are not comfortable with the other forms of communication, but if you have to question it, then call the person.
• DO NOT Click on Links in Emails unless you know where they are coming from or it includes an explanation from someone you know well. If the link looks unusual or goes to a website you are not familiar with do not click it.
• It is also not a good idea to open Emails that do not include a subject, even if you know who it is coming from. These could include viruses or spyware that can harm your computer.
• And as it is in any area of life, if it sounds too good to be true.. do not open, click on links, or respond to the sender.

There are many more rules of etiquette and safety in dealing with Email but if you follow just what I listed above it will improve your experience and help keep you safe.

Over the next few days or weeks, I will continue this series on Basic Communication In A Digital Age. Stay Tuned.

Have you ever really stopped and consider the ant?

Oh, I know we all do to some degree. We see them on our kitchen counter and immediately grab something to swat at them. Or perhaps we see some on the floor and look for spray to get rid of them.

We think of them as pests and dirty and do our best to get rid of them as quickly as we can, but have you ever really considered them or took time to watch what they are doing?

Randomness

I was watching some ants the other day. Well, I will be truthful. I saw a couple ants in my house, and I tried to get rid of it. It didn’t work immediately, and I found myself wondering why. I tried some bug spray, a few organic household remedies, and even asked a few people their suggestion. Nothing seemed to work. They were in a spot close to a chair in my house, never really deviated from the area too much, but I found myself watching what they were doing.

They seemed scattered. At first there was just the one heading off in some random direction. And before long there was two, then three, then a few more. They really seemed to be very individual. I didn’t notice much except they seemed to have no pattern to their direction. One would go this way, turn a couple wavy motions and seem to end up back where he started. Another took off in a different direction, and seemed to be going in a circle somewhat.

Remember, I was trying to kill them. So I would try some spray and when that didn’t work, some vinegar was suggested from a friend. Tried that, it did get a couple of them, but before long they were back and seemed to be more of them than before. But they all seemed to be going every which way with no direction. Just random patterns on the floor made by these tiny creatures. They didn’t really seem to have a purpose.

Purpose Driven

Surely there must be some specific thing they do. It does seem like they are going in no specific direction, but they can’t really all be headed no where can they? Maybe they just didn’t find what they were looking for, so they went somewhere else.

It made me think about our walk with God. Many times we see people enter our sanctuaries, come a few times, and then  they don’t seem to come back. In our daily lives we probably appear like we have no purpose. Sure, we go to work, buy groceries at the supermarket, look for clothes in the mall, but we can seem to all be individuals with no specific purpose just going through life.

We too, regardless of our faith and foundation, if we do not find what we are looking for, will go off in some other direction. Looking for something we haven’t found yet. Just like the ant, we do have a purpose, and we will keep looking until we find it.

The Purpose

Today, I saw an ant again. I thought I had gotten rid of them the other day, but apparently not. But this ant instead of roving along in some random direction was attempting to carry a piece of something. I looked closer and it must have been a small piece of a chip or a cracker he found somewhere. I really don’t know where. The place where the ants have been is tiled floor. I do my best to keep my house clean, so where that came from I don’t know. But this ant was trying to get the crumb of food from wherever he found it to somewhere else.

It was bigger than him by at least 5 or 6 times, and so it would move slightly, and then I would see him come around to the other side and it would move a bit of a different direction.

In a space of about ten minutes, that crumb went about six inches. Now, in relation to our size, that is remarkable. I don’t think any of us could move a car by ourselves a mile. Especially, if it didn’t have wheels.

But then I saw a big change. All of a sudden the ant had company. Not just one ant anymore but about ten.

They grasped onto the crumb that the one ant was trying to move. And it began to move again. Only this time they were moving much faster and working together to make it happen.

Unity

We all know that there is strength in numbers. Yet many times, we leave the work to one or two, and the rest of us just reap the benefits. This ant was moving a morsel of food from where he found it to his home. Where all the other ants are. It wasn’t just for his use but for all of them. And no, I do not know where they are all going. It is somewhere unseen, I have looked diligently. But the point is, when the one needed help instead of the randomness of their actions usually, they came together for one common purpose.

They were unified to get that food source back to their home so that they can all partake of it. How do they communicate? I have no idea. It seems in this age of technology, if our battery goes dead on our cell phone we are completely lost. I have seen people sit side by side and text each other back and forth, instead of talking. I guess it is still communication, but ants do not have cell phones do they? Yet they find a way to communicate.

Communication

Unity is good. The ants were swiftly moving the crumb from the place I first noticed it, to where it needed to be for the best use. Ants have six legs if I remember science. Yet, sometimes it can be hard for us to get where we are supposed to be with two.

Yet, here were several ants, each with six legs, which you would think would slow them down, (three legged races are not fast, try it) but they somehow were working in complete harmony together to move a foot or two very rapidly.

There had to be some form of communication that had a purpose. They didn’t question it. They worked together to achieve a common goal.

I wonder how different our own personal lives, our churches, our cities would be if we could come together for one common purpose and work together without division?

Would we be able to get our focus together and act as one unit? Or would we still be scattered and traveling in some seemingly random direction, when we are all still seeking the same goal?

Focus

Yes, I still plan to get rid of the ants. I need to. I realize that I do not want my home filled with ants, but for the moment I left them alone. Crazy? Perhaps, considering I will find a way for them to not find them again where they are. But, they were united in a common goal, and they were using the resources they had available to them to achieve it.

I don’t know what communication looks like to an ant. Do they talk? Print pamphlets? Have mental telepathy? Not really sure, but they roam around looking for something, and when they find it, they come together with a common purpose. They have a focus.

Unlike them, many of us seem not to be focused. Just going through life. Our ministries also reflect this.  Sure, we do ‘our thing.’ But we keep going in some random direction trying to achieve the same goal without using what is available to us.

Do we get so focused on what we are doing that we don’t look for help to make the job easier? Or is it just that we don’t communicate well enough?

Tools

Yes, we have our Bibles. Some of us actually read them, and we attempt to share the word with those we meet. We come together once, or maybe a couple more times a week to focus on our purpose but the rest of the time, we seem just to be heading in random directions.

There are methods of communication available but most of us are so used to doing in the same way we always did, and even though it hasn’t worked as well as it could have, we keep going in the same random path.

We need focus. We need communication. We need tools.

We need to reach people where they are. So, where are they?

Nearly every home in the United States has at least one or two cell phones. Most of the phones have options to look  up information on the internet, or are connected through Twitter or Facebook.

Did you know that almost every home has at least one computer, and most homes have two or more? Even some of the most economically depressed areas of our communities has access to a computer at a library or school, if they don’t have a computer in their home.

Yet, only one, out of about fifty apostolic churches has a presence online. Yes, I will repeat that again. 1 in 50 apostolic churches are online.

Considering?

I am not saying you do not reach people, but you are missing a big segment of the population in your area. We head here and there, and do make some change, but we are moving slow, when we could be reaching the people where they are. And we could do it twenty-four hours a day.

Studies indicate that businesses are losing 75% of their business by not having a website online. Can you imagine that? They are only reaching 25% of their potential if they do not use a resource that really is available to all of us.

It works for ministries too. Imagine if you were reaching 75% more people than you are now?

Those who decide to take advantage of the tools available; website, Twitter, Facebook, have repeat business of 43% of those who come visit them.

Think about that in relation to your ministry.  If you reached 75% more people, and 43% became full time members of your church, how big of an impact would that have on your community? How many more people could be reached if your church was 43% bigger right now? Working together in unity, just how effective could your ministry be?

The ants achieved their purpose by working together. Individuals? Yes, but they knew how to use the resources and capabilities together to achieve a common goal. No longer just random hits here and there but accomplished task.

Consider the Ant.

If you are interested in talking to us about how having a website, social media account, or other services that will help impact your ministry we invite you to contact us. We can help you bring your resources together in one place to achieve the goals you have.

You can reach us by contact here.

Or you can also find us on Facebook, or follow us on Twitter for discounts and special exclusive offers for our followers.

God Bless You!

Ok, brace yourself. I know some of you saw the title or image and stepped back in disbelief.

The idea that I would say your website needs to be ‘born again.’

Some I am sure are scratching their heads, some think I am being sarcastic, and yet I think there may be a few who have an idea of where I am going.

I do realize some who are reading this may not even have a website. You either have not had funds available or do not understand the importance of a website for your church or ministry. We have covered the purpose in a previous article which is available to you. (Read more…)

You need a Born Again Website to be effective in reaching the lost with the message, as well as keeping your own membership up to date with what is going on in your church or ministry.

Continued from Part I

Really, for most of us, the internet has only been around about ten years or a bit more. The actual internet was created in November 1969 but almost no one had access and the internet as we know it didn’t really come to life until 1983.

Even then, most of us did not get online unless we got AOL and for the most part that was more of a network than what we know of now as the internet. The majority of us probably started getting online in the mid to late 1990s and then it was chartrooms or learning how to use email more than anything.

Essentially, the internet is always evolving. As technology and knowledge increases, so does our abilities, and what we can do with it. Most of us only dreamed about having a cell phone in the early 1990s, but now nearly every individual over twelve years old has one at their disposal. Same goes for the internet and computers.

In the United States, nearly every home has two or more computers and more than 75% of them are connected to the internet at least part of the time. it is the most effective tool of reaching masses of people. Yet, the message is not getting to them.

A Born Again Website?

So what exactly do I mean by a ‘Born Again’ website?

There were relatively few church websites online ten years ago, and until the rise of Google, it was hard to find websites unless you knew the exact url or address.

For Apostolics and Pentecostals, the numbers were very low on who had a website. I do recall The Pentecostals of Alexandria had one, and they were a sustaining force for me in a time of need.

Most church sites were very simple, with a name on a free host, most of which I cannot even remember anymore, and they consisted of a welcome, maybe an image if you knew how to code html, and contact information. They worked, but weren’t pretty to look at.

A short time later, homestead, geocities, and other hosting services showed up with drag and drop layout where you could make a ‘pretty’ site, and most church sites used what was cool at the time.

Remember these?

Animated crosses, fish, sometimes colorful headings were a big part of what most church websites added to their websites to make them ‘stand out.’

Granted, many of the images and icons were much more grainer and pixelated than this cross, but businesses, churches, or individuals, we all had to have the cool images and logos.

But still most churches didn’t use a professional web developer and relied on the skills of a student who knew some html code or was learning some in school to learn ‘how to design.’ And frankly, even the technology and software that was available to professionals was expensive and still relied on some very basic designs and layout. Let’s face it. Websites were ugly and mostly useless.

The sad thing is, some still are. Some churches and ministries have not updated their website since they first made it. The site on the left is an active site that I took a snapshot of today. It has not been updated since 2001, and I hope they didn’t pay anyone to make it. Links are broken, there is no real information on the front page other than the name and an address I blocked out. The green part is links for advertising.

Old sites had lots of advertising links on the sides in order for the free hosting companies to make money. Many of them went under simply because the truth is, not very many people actually click those links, regardless of what advertisers and seo marketers tell you.

Image links are what people click on, simply because as we are all taught as children, ‘a picture is worth 1000 words.’ Websites are no different. If we think about it for a moment, it is all advertising.

The site on the right (new site) is much easier on the eye, information is easier to find, and the images grab your attention. The likelihood is that you are going to stay on the website if you are looking for information much longer than you would on the other site.

A Born Again Site

So, here we are. What is a Born Again site?

To be born again, you must grow, change your lifestyle, adapt to the environment, and live differently. How does that apply to your ministry or church website?

Some decide they will use what tools their organization offers and pay them, but most items on their website look exactly the same as the churches in other cities and states that belong to the same group.

In fact, there are some churches I know of that when someone changes the top of the page on a church site in Indiana, the churches who use this same company in California, Florida, even Idaho have the exact same image. There is no individuality and it doesn’t always apply to the people you are trying to impact in your own city.

We don’t always grow the same, look the same, act the same, or have the same needs when we are born and begin to grow, so why should our church website and ministry? Growth and change are vital to being Born Again.

Build a new website? Yes, that would be the biggest change, and very beneficial to your ministry. You can hire someone to design, or redesign your site. A good designer/developer can help increase your visibility and impact your ministry and effectiveness. It really helps if people are talking about your website and church or ministry to get the message spread.

But you don’t have to.. shhh, don’t tell anyone! A church designer telling you that you do not have to hire someone. What is the world coming to?

Give Your Website A Checkup!

There are a few simple things you can do that will help as well, without costing a dime. You may have to invest some time, or find a member in your church to do so, but it will help bring growth.

1. Check for broken links (menu, references, etc.) and fix them.
2. Fix any images that do not show up, or add in new ones.
3. Check to see if your contact information and emails are still correct.
4. Is your logo on the page the same as what you use on your business card?
5. If you are on a free host, is it the same hosting address as what you have told people?
6. Has your website been updated in the past week, month, six months?
7. Do you have the capabilities to either add messages or video to your website?
8. Does your website share the gospel of Jesus Christ in an understandable way? (Many do not share the gospel at all.)

There are many more things you can check, but right away these will make a difference in your site. However, there are also things you can add to your site to make it more effective.

Add some or all of these options to your ministry.

1. Get a YouTube account and add videos. (nearly every cell phone has some video recording capability, and its Free)
2. Start a photo gallery (Flickr has free options)
3. Create a Facebook Page for your ministry.
4. Add a Twitter account to help keep your site current, as well as notify your members nearly instantly of schedule changes, prayer requests, and information.
5. Start a blog (pastor’s thoughts, messages, etc. Blogger is Free)
6. Add links or widgets from these services to your site to keep information more current.
7. Make sure your  website is regularly updated so that there is always something new to offer.

And if all else fails, hire a designer. You would be surprised how affordable we are and how we can help make your ministry more effective.

Then you too can say that you have a ‘Born Again’ website!

I started working on this article a couple months ago and failed to do the most important thing everyone who works on a computer knows. When you are working keep saving, and do not try to go backwards. This also could apply to our Christian Walk…

Too many times we get caught up in being busy and trying to get the job done that we forget to save. It is easy to get sidetracked with the work of God to actually forget that one of the primary purposes for us to live a Christian life is to win souls. Yes, it is vital that we serve God because He first loved us, but how can we love something or someone and not want everyone else to experience it?

We know the scriptures. ‘He that winneth souls is wise; Go ye into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature; ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me.’  Most of us want to see our family and friends saved, and many do have an actual burden for souls. It is a part of our makeup as Christians. It is a part of our apostolic doctrine.

Jesus told Nicodemus in John chapter three, ‘Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again.’ Being born again is crucial to our salvation. Without being born again, we are eternally lost.

Now I realize that none of us who are apostolic would ever tell anyone they don’t need to be born again. There are some who think that just living a good life, being nice to one another is good enough. There are many more that believe that regardless of our activities His grace will be enough to save them.

While I would never discount His grace and mercy, Jesus himself said, ‘Ye must be born again.’ He did not leave room any error in judgment. Multitudes of people believe that the bible is just about telling them what they cannot do. There are a lot of practices that we follow that are not in scripture that we many times consider part of the walk of holy living. Yet, this is one area where it can be said, this is a no no. This is a must do. Ye must be born again.

I realize this is not a problem for most of us.

The Great Commission

However, when the Bible also states that we should go into all the world and preach the gospel, we relegate that portion of scripture to our missionaries.

Most churches support some sort of plan raising money to send other people to people we will never see. We feel that by donating our money that we have accomplished this task. Many churches place a great deal of focus on reaching tribal areas in Africa, Asia, Europe, usually sending our missions minded members  to the major international cities members. While it is great to be passionate about trying to help out in those areas we believe we will never visit ourselves, we are sadly lacking many times in reaching those just across the street in our local communities.

Sure we may ‘witness’ when an opportunity presents itself. Perhaps when we know our friend has gone into the hospital for a surgery or when we hear about a member of their family passing we may offer our prayers, but lets admit it, we are not near as proactive as we used to be in reaching out to others.

All of us mean well I am sure, but do we use all the potential available to us in trying to win souls? Do we use the tools that are in our grasp to reach into areas we may not have opportunity to go ourselves?

Easy Ways That Reach The Lost

While there is no specific way that is more impacting that others, there are many methods that most of us know about but probably do not use.

• Tracts/Revival Brochures
• Newspaper/TV Advertising
• Home Bible Studies
• Community Bake Sales
• Church Carnival/Charity Events

With the exception being mentioned in a sermon in our churches, or the occasional testimony of how this person was giving a friend a home bible study, it has been ages since I have heard of these methods being used by most Apostolic or Pentecostal churches. I am not sure why because honestly most of them cost very little.

But there is an even easier way to reach in the lost in your community, and even around the world. You may have the potential to reach some relative in a far off land simply by having a website for your church or ministry.

Embrace Technology!

If you are reading this article it is either by a computer, e-reader, smart phone, or someone printed it out for you to read. Almost everyone from the time they are very young has the opportunity to use a cell phone, play video games, or check email. And while some of us might deny it, lets face it, everyone really is on Facebook, or for sure has family members who are.

Yet for some reason many Apostolic/Pentecostal churches have not taken advantage of this opportunity. I am not sure if they are afraid of technology, or they think it costs too much. With the exception of a few remote areas in the jungles overseas, for sure nearly everyone is aware of the internet and computers.

Can we honestly say Jesus would not want us to be online? Sure there are areas online that none of us should venture into. But Jesus said to go into the highways and byways and compel them that my house might be full.

Jesus was always reaching out to the sinners. Whether it was crooks, murderers, prostitutes, or even into those in government positions. No one was above Him reaching out to. If you knew your brother was being beaten up in  a  bar downtown somewhere, would you sit there waiting to see if he came home, or would you go down there and try to get him out?

Jesus was all about reaching out, shouldn’t we be?

Does Your Ministry or Church Have A Website?

I am sure many of you can answer yes. Do you know the website address so you can point someone there? Do you ever go and look at it yourself?

However, there are many churches and ministries who rely on word of mouth. They have no website to point friends, family, or visitors to. And lets be real here.

There is not a day that goes by that you do not hear about a website. Nearly every food package in your pantry has a website address on it. Our bills, our banks, our child’s school, they are all online. If we want to find anything from a doctor to a plumber, chances are most of us go to the internet.

Sure, we have phone books, but most of us don’t even know which drawer we stuffed it in when it was dropped at our door. Better than 90% of homes in the USA have at least one internet ready computer, television, or other device. And if you don’t have that, you have a cell phone. And nearly all cell phones have internet capabilities. So I ask again does your ministry have a website?

Yes We Have A Website

Some churches embraced the technology quite a few years ago. They had their church location, maybe a few photos, service times and was hosted on some free internet site. Some still have their websites, but there were many who seemed to think the internet was a fad or just didn’t see the importance at the time.

A lot of companies offered free hosting for churches because they realized the importance of sharing the message, but I was amazed how hard it was to find Apostolic or Pentecostal churches online.

And it still is.

We don’t even think about going to Facebook to share photos or play games anymore. For many it is a daily habit. It has almost become as common for many as breathing. And even more people, whether for business reasons, or keeping in touch with friends use email every day.

It is common now if you meet someone in a supermarket and talk about your business, life, or church for them to ask if we have a website, or a Facebook page.

Many of us can say yes we do have a website. We paid XYZ Marketing Company $1200 to list us in the Yellow Pages and to create a page where people can find some information about our church seven years ago. But, let me ask you, has your church website been Born Again?

The Macarena, Mello Yello, Silly Putty, and the Edsel. Most of us have heard those words before, but we may not remember what they are. Maybe they are faint memories in our minds, but perhaps we remember them fondly and wonder what happened to the day when it was common.

It wasn’t really that long ago for the Macarena, and yet I am sure if you ask some people today what the Macarena was, they probably think you add cheese or some tomato sauce to it.  It was a song and a dance, or actually hand and body movements.

It was very well known in the late 1990s and even the most sheltered person had heard mention of it, or had done it themselves. But here we are just a few years later, and its not in our minds anymore unless we are part of the few who may look back and smile and try and do it. It is merely a memory for most, and a word for others but they aren't sure what it means. For a few of those words, even the spell check on my computer thought I had misspelled some other word.

Is that how we see the church? Is that how your ministry is thought of?  Does it still have an impact like it used to? I remember when….

Sound familiar?

There was a day when everyone knew where the church was and what they taught. There was a day when many of us were  made fun of and called holy rollers, but when tragedy struck, it was the holy rollers they called for prayer.

We used to knock doors and pass out tracts. Many times we didn’t even advertise in the newspaper because we were active in the community and people knew who we were and where to find us. We were known for all night prayer meetings, joyful singing, sometimes having services where bobby pins were flying, and in almost every church there was that one sister who would wail and moan like a fire engine.

We were the church where everyone secretly wondered about, but  it was so different from every where else they wouldn’t be caught dead in our services. We were outcasts but everyone knew where we were.

Now if you go into just about any city, there isn't an apostolic church or no one knows where it is. Most of us were called Pentecostal then, but now when you mention Pentecostal everyone’s thoughts, including our own,  is about the charismatic churches where they jump, shout, maybe get the holy ghost, but bless God, they are not like we are. Hmmm, same message, same Jesus, maybe even same holy ghost baptism, yet, because we aren’t sure about them, they don’t have the truth. Yet, the people in the community know where that church is, just like they used to know where we were.

Who is there?

When we talk about marketing the ministry, our first instinct is to back away. It sounds like a foreign concept to us, or maybe something that isn’t quite right. We preach soul winning in our churches, but we don’t knock doors, most don’t teach bible studies, and whether or not we admit it, most of us do not testify at work. Oh sure, if someone asks us where we go to church we may tell them, and we may pray for them if we hear of their trials and tragedies, but to actually walk up to a person and talk to them about Jesus? ‘No way! I could lose my job. They might think I am weird.’

The bible likens soul winning to planting a garden, but generally we consider soul winning an individual thing. ‘Its Brother Bebop's job to win people to God, after all he seems to always bring someone.’

However, how many private gardens have you seen where there is only one plant growing? Usually there is several of one type, and its repeated with lots of other plants, flowers,  or vegetables. We produce after our own kind, so I am asking what is in your garden? It is the whole church’s responsibility to plant, water, take care of, and harvest the crops. God never intended one person to do it themselves. The scripture even says, ‘one plants, one waters, and God gives the increase.’ Our churches should be a mixture of all kinds of people in all stages of growth.

However, we have become complacent in our active ‘ministry.’ We are comfortable with just those who seem to know where our church already is. It is just too much effort to actually do something ourselves, and of course, they should all 'look like’ me.

Just today while returning from a trip to the store it was pointed out to me by someone with me that they had seen two groups of Jehovah Witnesses out knocking doors. I saw a couple of guys at someone's door, but honestly whether or not they were JW, Mormon, or someone else I cannot be sure, but I do know they were no one I recognized, so they weren't part of my sphere of Christianity.

We know what ‘our group’ looks like and sadly, we seem to ignore everyone else, even those that used to be a part of us. We make assumptions on their level of godliness based on rumors, our own ideas, and the way they look.

Chances are they don’t even know we are a Christian, let alone where our church is. So what do we do to change that?

Marketing Your Ministry

Marketing seems like such a foreign concept to us. We have all these ideas of what it might be, but when it comes to ministries and churches it is really very simple. A few of the ideas below you might actually recognize.

• Door Knocking – well no one does that anymore
• Bake Sale – not those in the lobby of the church but actually in the community
• Spaghetti Dinner– let them know you are there, even if you are taking up donations for some mission, charity, or celebration
• Car Wash – raise money for youth events instead of taking it from the parents
• Home Bible Study – we preach it but do we do it?
• Advertise in Newspaper, TV, or Radio – we are here to reach the lost right?
• Church website, postcards, prayer request cards, funeral services – you get the idea

This list could go on and on, but to me it is sad that most of us think marketing our ministry is going to cost a lot of money, but most of the above would actually raise money or at least tell people we exist. It is much easier than most of us are willing to admit.

So what really is the problem?

Well if we are honest, it only comes down to one of two reasons. Or perhaps both.

1. We are lazy.
2. We don’t care about souls.

That’s it!

Yes, I work as a graphic designer. I can give you a good deal on a website, printable marketing items for your ministry, helping you create a Facebook presence,  but to me its more than about the few dollars I would receive. It is about the souls and my desire for them to know Jesus like I do.

If you are really interested in seeing more souls saved and what you can do to change the image of your ministry, then contact me and lets have a conversation. Consultations  and quotes are always free. You might be surprised how affordable my services are, but you might also learn that reaching into your community isn't as hard as you thought.

Isn't it time you made an effort in Marketing Your Ministry?

Behold, I stand at the door, and knock. Rev. 3:20