My Best Technology Tool for Ministry

I hate junk mail! 

I hate it so much, that I have spent the last 5 years of my life trying to get off of everybodies mailing list.  And, I have been pretty successful.  The few pieces of mail that make it through now, are usually discarded in the trash before I can even determine who they are from.  On the other hand, I recieve daily email, twitter and text message alerts from my bank, my wife, my kids, people and organizations that I follow on Facebook and Twitter, etc. etc. etc.

The way we communicate is changing. 

That's why I have invested in tools to help me communicate with those in my ministry.  With a shoestring budget, it just doesn't make sense to spend hundreds of dollars on postage, printing and paper.  Instead, I have invested a few dollars per month in an email solution that allows me to send high quality, professional communications to those I minister with and too.  And it works GREAT!

The email tool is Constant Contact.

I have been using Constant Contact for about two years now and I absolutely love it!  No more hours of trying to figure out Microsoft Publisher, guessing which copier button makes the front print on the back, no more runs to Staples for more copier paper, no trips to the post office.  It's just amazing!  I have much more productive time to spend thinking about what I am going to communicate to my audience and I have freed up a lot of valuable resources in the process.

The neatest benefit?  If my audience doesn't want to receive my email, then they simply click on one link and they are automatically unsubscribed.  Likewise, if they do like my content, then with one click they can share my newsletter with anyone in their social sphere. My contact list has grown from less than 100 to well over 1000 because of this tool.

And what about timing?  I can send a Constant Contact message in less than 3 minutes if I need too. The receiver can then choose when and where to open and read my correspondence.  In a matter of minutes, I can share a message with over 1000 people.  That's pretty effective!

By the way,  you can try Constant Contact for Free to see if you like it.  If you choose to sign up, use this link and we both get a $30.00 credit.

If you don't have the few dollars for Constant Contact, then there is another tool, SurfMonkey, available that is totally free.  I used it for a few months, but found Constant Contact to be so much richer and easier to use.  I will spend the money for a tool of this quality.

So how do you communicate with those that you minister too? 

RELEVANT

One of the most recent buzzwords around the coffee tables of preachers has been the word 'relevant.'

It seems that to be successful, even the oldest established churches need to discover this new concept of being relevant to the community.  So how do you do that?  Hire the best musicians in town?  Play the latest craze in music?  Hip-hop, rock, contemporary Christian?  Get a band?  Serve coffee?  These things aren't what make us relevant.  Rather, these are things that we consider "IF" we are relevant.

Relevant is not what we do!  Relevant is what we are! 

Relevant doesn't mean the music is cool. Relevant means that the heart is warm. If you want to be relevant to your community - Love them!  Start building a bridge today.  Maybe your bridge is a comfortable contemporary environment where new visitors can feel welcome.  Or maybe your bridge is a ministry where you serve your community with no expectations in return?  So they can know you love them. 

I am a Ministry Coordinator for a food ministry that exists almost solely for this purpose.  We give churches a tool to reach their community for Christ.  How? By offering a reasonable alternative to the escalating costs of food.  Our cooperating churches setup a food cooperative.  People come and purchase a box of groceries for about half its normal price.  They are met by friendly people that shake their hand, smile at them and most churches even have volunteers that will take the groceries to the car. 

We ask, "How have you been this month? Can I pray for you?"  Then we pray for them if they will let us, (almost all do!) and tell them we will see them next month.  Why?  Because we are relevant.  We love people and if the only way we can build relationships (bridges) into their world is through food - then we will feed them.

There are literally millions of ways that a church can reach out to the community.  The secret isn't whether or not you choose the right ways.  The secret is whether or not you really care enough to be worried about whether you have chosen the right ways.

Relevant - it's what we are!

Finding Your Way - You Have a Future!

Realize that you have a future!


Craig Groeschel says, "Every Saint has a past, Every Sinner has a future."

Some of you would say, "But Tony, I messed up! You don't understand, I _____ (fill in the blank)." And I would say, "So What!" You would argue that all those other Christians are so great.

Listen to me - Every Saint has a past that they wish they could hide or do over. Life is messy and you just get some of it on you no matter how hard you try.

BUT Every Sinner also has a future! God has a bright future planned for you!

The great theologian; Nicholas Sparks, says in his work The Notebook - “Just when you think it can't get any worse, it can. And just when you think it can't get any better, it can.”

When Adam and Eve messed up, God didn't forsake them. They changed the nature of the relationship, but God didn't forsake them. As a matter of fact, in the judgement God pronounced that he would defeat satan once and for all through Eve's decendents!

In Jeremiah 29:11 we here, "For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."

In Psalm 118:1 we here, "Give Thanks to the Lord, for he is good, his love endures forever."

Expecting that God has used us up is completely contrary to Scripture.

The Bible tells us in Hebrews 13:5-6 "Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.”[a] 6 So we say with confidence, “The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can mere mortals do to me?”[b]


Realize that you have a Future with God!

Finding Your Way -

Finding Your Way starts with:

Discovering where you are!

In Gen 3:9; God calls out to the man: "Where Are You?" and Adam says: "I heard you in the garden..."  While the translation that says, "I heard your voice" isn't necesarily a bad one, it's probably not the best one either.  In this passage is best translated literally as, "I heard the sound of you."

Adam heard the familiar sound of God.  It might have been God speaking and calling out his name that Adam recognized, or it might have been the footsteps of God coming for the usual afternoon stroll through the garden.  Either way, Adam knew that sound.  It was the sound of God!  Normally, he would have ran to the sound.  But Adam was changed and now he was hiding.  Adam isnt' really embracing what has happened.

If you are worried that you have outlived your usefulness. If you are concerned that you have missed your opportunity. If you are distraught that you have failed God, those things are actually clues that the Holy Spirit is moving you. You may have failed? But that doesn't mean that God is through with you. He wants you to find your way again.  He wants you to rejoin him for daily fellowship.

This may be a little bit of a rehash from a previous post, but let me suggest three steps for Discovering Where You Are:

1) Address the issue! This starts with listening to the Holy Spirit speaking to you. Do a self inventory. Right now, pray, "Father, where am I?" Is there anything that is holding me back?


In Genesis 3:13 God addresses the issue. He says, "Adam and Eve, What have you done!?" Instead of backing away, God hits the problem head on.  He is setting the example for us.  If you have messed up, admit it.  If you have faulty thinking, ask God for forgiveness.  Don't hide, face up to it.
2) Deal with the temptation. Adam and Eve were removed from the garden immediately and a gatekeeper was setup to keep them from entering the garden and making things worse. Gen. 3:22-24
Setup Gatekeepers in your life.  Nothing compares to having a small group of friends to walk your journey with you; to hold you accountable and to hold you up!

“But remember that the temptations that come into your life are no different from what others experience. And God is faithful. He will keep the temptation from becoming so strong that you can't stand up against it. When you are tempted, he will show you a way out so that you will not give in to it.” 1 Corinthians 10:13 (NLT)

Ask God for help:

Dear Lord,

You know the temptations that I am facing today. But your Word promises that I will not be tempted beyond what I can bear. I ask for your strength to stand up under the temptation whenever I encounter it. Your Word also tells me you will provide a way out of the temptation. Please, Lord, give me the wisdom to walk away when I am tempted, and the clarity to see the way out that you will provide. Thank you, God, that you are a faithful deliverer and that I can count on your help in my time of need. Amen

3) Learn from the experience. The most important result and the most exciting part of the story is that God immediately set out to bring restoration. He set in motion a plan to bring about a savior. Genesis 3:15, God tells the serpent that He will use the woman's offspring to "crush your head". In verse 21, God made garments of skin to cloth Adam and Eve. We find Him meeting our needs, covering our shortcomings and pointing us in the right direction. God is more concerned about the situation than you are. So learn from the experience and move forward.

Don't be like Jim!  Friday at quitting time, Jim said, ‘Boss, have you got any extra work I can do tonight?’ Sure do but I can’t pay you overtime. That’s okay, I just don’t want to go home. Why not? Well, I’ve been in the doghouse since last night. I see...Why? What did you do to deserve that? I still don’t know, it must be one of those woman things. I was minding my own business relaxing in front of the TV.

My wife enters the room & asks, "What’s on the TV?"

And honestly, I swear all I said was, "Dust!"

She’s been mad ever since!

Join the conversation! 

Do you have failures in your life that have become great learning tools?

Free Books!!!!

I am sure that you know by now that Kindle and Nook both have applications that run on PC, mac, iPad and iPhone, etc.  Start building your electronic library today!

Check out these sites for free ebooks.  (PS I am not reimbursed in anyway for these references.  Likewise, I do not particulary endorse any of these links either.  I am simply sharing a resource for free books that you might be able to use)

http://www.ereaderiq.com/free

http://www.freeebooksdaily.com/ (list changes daily/periodically)

http://www.gutenberg.org/ (Classics)

Join the conversation!   
 
What resources have you found that offer quality books for free? 
 
Comment below

Finding Your Way Again

Where are you?

January is historically a time for fresh starts, New Year resolutions and personal inventory.

I find myself taking a personal inventory every year at this time. Typical questions are along the lines of  "What did I do last year?",  "What do I want to accomplish this year?" and "What is holding me back?"

I have noticed that most (but not all) New Year resolutions are a response to something we don't like about ourselves or our environments.

It is only natural to address shortcomings, failures and setbacks. This is the case in one of the most famous Christian stories of Scripture, the account of Adam and Eve.

In Genesis 3, Adam and Eve make the worse decision of their lives. There's only 2 trees that God told them to stay away from and in direct disobedience to God, they eat fruit from the tree of knowledge of Good and Evil.  The story begins with Eve standing in the garden, stroking the mane of one of her pet lions, gazing at one of the trees which Adam told her was off limits because God told him not to eat from it, and not to even touch the fruit from this tree.  

She is surely wondering why?  Why this tree?  Why this fruit?  What is so special about the fruit from this tree that we can’t even touch it?  As she contemplates this question along with “Wonder what Adam wants for supper?”, in walks the serpent. The short story is that Eve messes up by eating the fruit and Adam, who is apparently along for the shopping trip at the farmer's market, also messes up when Eve passes him the fruit.

What happens next - They cover up, they try to fix it themselves, they deny the seriousness of it.

Their is this period when they are in denial.  "Maybe it's not so bad."  "Maybe I can just run away from God and hide."  "Maybe I can explain it."

But then Adam hears the sound of God.  Soon after, in a hair-raising moment, God says, "Adam, Where are you?" (Gen 3:9)

I often wonder how God felt when He called out to them? What did His cry sound like? Was it the "ADAM!" with an inflection like that of a mother that sees her child hiding after he wrote on the wall with his new crayola crayon? Or was it more of a call of desperation like that of a parent that just discovered their child missing?

I can only conclude that God is surely a just God.

So, here in the beginning of time, we see Him setting up a recovery program.

The first intervention of sorts!

And at extreme personal cost to Himself.

Maybe you are worried that you have messed up so bad that God won't use you anymore?  Are you riddled with some type of guilt?  The psalmist new this feeling when he said, "My Guilt has overwhelmed me like a burden too heavy to bear."  Psalm 38:4 (King David)  

Wherever you are today, I have some really good news for you...God isn't through with you yet.  If you are still here, then you are still useful!  If God was finished with you, He would put you out of your misery.  But you are still breathing so you are by default still useful to God.  

You just need to Find Your Way Again!

So how do we find our way?  The next few posts will deal with how we can get back on the right path.

"What New Year Resolutions are you trying to tackle this year?"  Comment now.