Have you seen the e-mail entitled “What if we treated out Bible like our cell phone?” (author unknown)
“I wonder what would happen if we treated our Bible like we treat our cell phone?
What if we carried it around In our purses or pockets?
What if we flipped through it several times a day?
What if we turned back to go get it if we forgot it?
What if we used it to receive messages from the text?
What if we treated it like we couldn’t live without it?
What if we gave it to Kids as gifts?”
What if Teachers caught kids using it at school (mine added)
“What if we used it when we traveled?
What if we used it in case of emergency?
This is something to make you go .... hmm ... where is my Bible? Oh, and one more’ thing. Unlike our cell phone, we don’t have to worry about our Bible being disconnected because Jesus already paid the bill. (And) And no dropped calls!”
I really do want to ask how we share the gospel; the Good News in this modern day? How do we reach the lost and make disciples in this present time? In the olden days (when I was a boy) I look back and know I was surrounded by the Gospel message. I got it from my parents and grandparents. From my Preacher (who was my father); from my Sunday School teachers; from people in my community and even from Teachers at School who told of the gospel story in some way or another. But now our world seems so different, and I wonder how we can share the gospel with this new world?
With the internet new words have emerged: We no longer just call it mail, but now (I let my congregation answer these, if they know them) ______ (E-mail). And with the invention of e-mail, other new words have developed – No longer revenge, but when you get someone back over the internet it is called ________ (E-venge). The Urban Dictionary defines evenge as “(n.) A violation of [netiquette]…” Did you get that? Not etiquette but netiquette! No longer just flirtation, but if you do it over the internet it is called e-flirtation.
Again the Urban Dictionary gives it a definition and even uses it in a sentence: “To flirt electronically, via virtual communications such as text or internet. “She blushed imperceptibly when she realized that he had crossed the threshold into eflirtation.”
So the question I want to ask, is how to we make disciples and share the gospel in an e-Gospel world? In other words, an internet and technology savvy world? How do we share the good news with people who now communicate in different ways? I thought I was being original with my "eGospel idea, and then of course I Googled it and found things like "egospel.com and igospel"! So much for my original thoughts!
When a mother tells me of taking her daughter, and her daughters friend to San Antonio, with the daughter in the front seat and the friend in the back seat, and not a word was spoken the entire trip, but the two girls were texting back and fourth the entire time.
Now here is my answer… We have to use every means available to us to share and spread the Gospel:
TEXTING: What if you shared the Gospel with someone through a text? Now I’ll tell you the truth, I thought I had come up with this original idea, and I was searching for some kind of word to go with texting, sort of like “evangexting” Which really didn’t work. And so in my original idea I Googled the words evangelism and texting and I found 42,000 hits. Things like “Texting for God” and “The Lord is my textmate” ( http://www.socialscience.t-mobile.hu/dok/8_Ellwood.pdf )
I know, I know, some of you are thinking, "No, the Lord is my Shepherd"... but in this day and age when people text back and fourth can you think of someone better than to be communicating for God? So maybe the Lord should be our "textmate"!
At an evangelism conference leaders declared “Evangelists and youth outreach leaders, panelists agreed, have to start texting with cell phones and participate in the technology that the younger generation is so heavily reliant upon.
“They don’t expect us to live there,” said Mark Fey, director of Christian Worldview and The Truth Project for Focus on the Family, “but they expect us to show up there.” http://www.christianpost.com/Missions/Evangelism/2008/10/evangelism-leaders-give-tips-to-reach-millennials-14/index.html )
So much for my creative idea… Okay well I have another one. (This could backfire) Pull out your cell phones, and get ready to text. (I actually just did this with one person, but feel brave if you can) I want you to text one person in your address book whom you know today needs encouragement; a youth; someone needing the good news and simply put J.L.U. (I goggled it and I think no one else is using it but Justice Leauge). And when they ask you what it means, you say “Jesus Loves You”!
And start texting the Gospel messages to the children of this age: (Note: Interestingly I used three youths to text, on in each of the three services. They each texted a friend J.L.U. and each received the response "What?". To which they texted "Jesus Loves You" and each of the responses said "Okay!"
INTERNET:
On the Internet I’m on Facebook. I did not ever think I would be on Facebook, but I have come to love facebook. It is a means of staying in touch with friends, etc. I have also found it a wonderful place to share God!
Many people post what they are doing, and sometimes, thank God, those posts are more real than the person ever shares with you in person. People post that they are struggling with a decision; or they’ve had a bad day.
Story 1 – A Pastor (Show Powerpoint)
Pastor:(Day 1)…is home in ... I’m tired and strangely overwhelmed
Response 1: Life is overwhelming...sometimes often. Especially when you are a pastor. And, when you are tired. Sounds very normal. Take care.
Pastor: (Day 2) …is still freaking today!
Response 2: May the SPIRIT of the Lord be with you!
Response 3: Go to this link and listen to Praise You in the Storm http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uHdcyue0bSw
Pastor: (Day 3)Thank you all. Keep the prayers coming.
Story 2 – A 23 year old Teacher/Coach
I started noticing this 23 year old was posting verse to his status bar, for example:
Feb 12th - Proverbs 3:5-6 “Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; 6 in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight”
Feb 11th – 2 Thessalonians 3:3 “But the Lord is faithful, and he will strengthen and protect you from the evil one.”
Feb 10th - Joshua 1:9 “Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go."
Feb 9th - Deuteronomy 31:6 “Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the LORD your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you."
Feb 8th - Isaiah 41:13 “For I am the LORD, your God, who takes hold of your right hand
and says to you, Do not fear; I will help you.”
So on Feb 9th, I emailed him and said “good verse” and what he responded took my breath away:
23 year old: “Thanks scott!! one of my close friends was diagnosed with leukemia. She attends church with myself and britni so i put those verses up to give her support”
I cannot think of a better internet witness than that!
Story 3 – One of our own (Chery & Kendall White)
Cheryl: Feb 4th - “The test that we had run is the Quad Panel Screen, it is the test that sees if there is anything wrong with the baby and 98% of the time they come back positive but then there is nothing wrong. It scares people to death. My cam back that I had a 1 in 42 chance of my baby having Trisomy 18. Trisomy 18 causes severe mental retardation and most babies do not live.”
On Feb 8th – Our Crossroads Service (all 70 of us) stopped the service and gathered around Kendall and Cheryl Kay and laid hands on them and prayed for Cheryl and the baby to be healed.
Cheryl: Feb 9th – "the tests results were good and the color is pink!!!!
(some responses weren’t included for time)
Response 1: God is good...What a blessing! I cannot tell you how much I enjoyed Sunday..
Cheryl: Sunday was awesome, you do not know how much that meant to me. I love you so much your prayer meant the world to me!!!
Cheryl: That was the most touching thing I have ever had done for me. I did not realize that I had that many people that cared for me!!!
Response 2 (mine): It was so amazing to pray together and to trust God together and to see the results together!
Cheryl: You do not know what you did for me yesterday, it was amazing!!! I love you so much. Thanks for showing me Gods greatness!!!
Response 3 (from someone who was not at the service): Somehow I must’ve been there, too. And what a day it was.
Can you imagine this witness became so great on facebook that someone who wasn’t even at the service felt like they were caught up in what God was doing, and that they must have been there.
We must share the gospel, when we can, and by whatever means we can, for as long as we can! We must make disciples in this e-gospel world!
