Should Christian's isolate or infiltrate? If you say the former you're off on this, but why do you feel we should isolate ourselves from unbelievers or potentially good tools for personal evangelism's sake? Weren't we told to go into all the world for Christ's Great Cause? Shouldn't believers carefully and lovingly employ the best tools for the highest purpose? Why not? Or should fishers of peeps boldly go fish uncompromisingly with these tools n effective bait.. that the fish so to speak actually like.. or merely hide in a cave n just talk about it? I mean listening first and us going where the people actually gather and are biting.. if you will?
Social Media ministry will never replace face to face ministry--both have their place and I prefer the later really.
But we all have limited waking hours, limited days here, and limited physical energy. But if I can possibly encourage two people with the same amount of time, words and efforts as I would use to encourage one person, then why wouldn't I want to do that? If I can possibly encourage or win 25 people with the same amount of time, words, and efforts as I would use to encourage or win one person.. then why wouldn't I want to do that? Somebody took the time in '77 to minister to me and I was changed. And if they were talking to many of my fellow high school buds.. we all could have responded together. We all could have been regenerated inside that day. And we could all gladly spend forever and ever and ever and ever.. together! But sadly, some of my surfer buds are already gone. I hate drugs, and sickness, and drunk car wrecks. Not really sure where they all went.
“Sitting down, Jesus called the Twelve and said, 'Anyone who wants to be first must be the very last, and the servant of all.'” Mark 9:35
“Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves.” Philippians 2:3
“Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” Matt 28:19-20
You know that the world uses bait that often hurts people, but we can wisely use bait that doesn't promote anything bad for em at all. Lately, I like using nature photos, eclectic new music (if the lyrics aren't destructive), current world affairs info and news reports.. for yes, bait to provoke em towards Christ. What have I used in the past? I've used open-air concerts, skateboard contests, sports and youth drama events.
The effective Fishers I know (and some of em go after real fish too), still use bait. I say, let's prayerfully use all the effective tools that we can to do things with excellence ..as unto the Lord!
"He (Jesus) said to them, 'The harvest truly is great, but the laborers are few; therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest.'" —Luke 10:2
"World evangelization in this generation!" —The Urgent Cry of the Student Volunteer Movement
Are there serious dangers on the web? Yes, and we must steer clear and avoid any spiritual compromise at all costs. We all need the Lord daily to guide us..each and everyone of us with our personal convictions.
Not all Christians or people should even be on the web. Sounds crazy but it's true. The net—what's it for? I say it's for spreading hope, for people-uplift.. yes, up outta the dark sea of gloomy mire n lostness.. for the best kinda fishing ..for peeps. It's not primarily for "establishing a brand" (nothin' wrong with a brand per se) or for decorating and making things look nice. What would a true angler of people tell you? He or she would say use the tools you have and make every day count while you have the gift of time.
What do want to use the net for ..before our leaders give it away from the USA over to say the UN? What's your purpose and goals with it? What social networks..if any.. do you use today?
Do you have a vlog (with video), a blog or what? Why don't we choose to be concerned for what God is concerned about--people. God, please help us care like you care for them.
There are tools not yet created. Why can't we all use the many different tools we have now in seed-casting for the Lord, and just get His great Gospel out there much farther?
Facebook stats at the time I originally posted this back on 02/04/09:
* The average FB user has connected with 120 friends on the site
* More than 15 million users update their statuses at least once each day
* More than 3.5 million users become fans of 'Pages" each day
* There's more than 850 million photos uploaded to this site each month
*More than 24 million pieces of content (web links, news stories, blog posts, notes, photos, etc.) are shared each month
* More than half of Facebook users are outside of colleges
* The fastest growing demographic is those 25 years old and older
* 2.6 billion minutes are spent on Facebook each day (worldwide)
* There are more than 2 million events created in FB each month
* There are more than 19 million active user groups existing on the site
Think about it again.. those people each have needs still today.. needs that God really wants to address because He loves each one. And we Christians should have a sense of urgency and compassion in helping them where we can ..without becoming pushy or any manipulating. Our worship of the Lord is most important, but I'm also convinced that we still need to use every decent technological means available to us for respectfully getting His Message out! Our time is so limited. Now here's an update of Social Media stats for ya...
FACEBOOK
INSTAGRAM
TWITTER
LINKEDIN
PINTEREST
Hey, I'm a novice-user really. I get busy with other projects at times. Yes, I'm certainly far from being an expert in this arena but I will challenge you just the same. I'm merely a learner, a bibliophile, a simple servant wanting to help more saved sinners and lost ones. I want to do my part so that I can spend eternity visiting with the Lord and "poking" all my Fbk peeps and other buds up there in heaven. Years ago, I remember telling my friend David this, "Our God of Grace often gives us a second chance, but there is no second chance to harvest a ripe crop."
You have your field. and I have mine. Lord Jesus, please help us not be pulled down or away from You by any of the many influences out there. Amen.
Let's believe and roll up our sleeves together to do the work! You've had tests and now a testimony. You know Jesus died on the cross for the sins of the entire world and then came out of that hole in the dirt. So let's also climb out of the hole if you've been in one.. and start telling people about Christ and His finished Calvary-work. Sure, go public with Him—out into the harvest fields and tell It.. movin' It all from theory to the pavement to the peeps. Yes, take It to the people in their language with God's wisdom. Head knowledge alone and circling the righteous wagons so to speak just isn't enough. Let's apply the truth we've heard, "For we are laborers together with God..." (1 Cor. 3:9).
This is partly from my older article -- here's the Whole Entry. facebook.com/shareJesus Fish4Souls.org
What do want to use the net for ..before our leaders give it away from the USA over to say the UN? What's your purpose and goals with it? What social networks..if any.. do you use today?
Do you have a vlog (with video), a blog or what? Why don't we choose to be concerned for what God is concerned about--people. God, please help us care like you care for them.
There are tools not yet created. Why can't we all use the many different tools we have now in seed-casting for the Lord, and just get His great Gospel out there much farther?
Facebook stats at the time I originally posted this back on 02/04/09:
* The average FB user has connected with 120 friends on the site
* More than 15 million users update their statuses at least once each day
* More than 3.5 million users become fans of 'Pages" each day
* There's more than 850 million photos uploaded to this site each month
*More than 24 million pieces of content (web links, news stories, blog posts, notes, photos, etc.) are shared each month
* More than half of Facebook users are outside of colleges
* The fastest growing demographic is those 25 years old and older
* 2.6 billion minutes are spent on Facebook each day (worldwide)
* There are more than 2 million events created in FB each month
* There are more than 19 million active user groups existing on the site
Think about it again.. those people each have needs still today.. needs that God really wants to address because He loves each one. And we Christians should have a sense of urgency and compassion in helping them where we can ..without becoming pushy or any manipulating. Our worship of the Lord is most important, but I'm also convinced that we still need to use every decent technological means available to us for respectfully getting His Message out! Our time is so limited. Now here's an update of Social Media stats for ya...
- Count: 1.49 Billion Active Monthly Users
- Reported Date: June, 2015
- Launch Date: February, 2004 (Zuck needs to go check again)
YOUTUBE
- Count: 1 Billion Active Monthly Users
- Reported Date: March, 2013
- Launch Date: May, 2005 (Unfortunately, it's been over a year since Google's YouTube released any official usage statistics.)
GOOGLE+
- Count: 540 Million Active Monthly Users
- Reported Date: October, 2013
- Launch Date: June, 2011 ("Ghost town? Yes..now gone. Yes, dead and buried. Google+ surpassed Twitter and LinkedIn and other networks for a time to become the third largest social network in the world. FYI: These numbers for Google+ do not include YouTube or Gmail which I love, or any of the other Google services. Thanks to: thesocialmediahat here.)
Google's other stats? They're astonishing!:
- 1.5 billion registered users
- 300 million people active in the stream
- 1.5 billion photos uploaded weekly
- Count: 400 Million Active Monthly Users
- Reported Date: September, 2015
- Launch Date: October, 2010 (Owned by Fbk. In March of 2014 they reported 200 million active monthly users, and by December they were reporting 300 million. After another 9 months, they'd grown by 100 million once more. Not only is that a stunning rate of growth, but that also puts them neck-and-neck with Twitter for the #4 slot among social networks.)
- Count: 316 Million Active Monthly Users
- Reported Date: June, 2015
- Launch Date: March, 2006 (Great for breaking news and Twitter continues to grow.)
VINE
- Count: 200 Million Active Monthly Users
- Reported Date: September, 2015
- Launch Date: January, 2013 (Owned by Twitter)
- Count: 187 Million Active Monthly Users
- Reported Date: April, 2014
- Launch Date: May, 2003 (LinkedIn is one of the oldest and one of the least rapidly growing.)
- Count: 100 Million Active Monthly Users
- Reported Date: September, 2015
- Launch Date: March, 2010 (A mil! This was published in The New York Times, and was confirmed by Pinterest. FYI: Every network agrees that an active user is one who took some action within the past month.)
Other Social Network User Counts:
- VIADEO - 60 Million
- VIMEO - 170 Million
- TUMBLR - 420 Million blogs
- SLIDESHARE - 60 Million
- FOURSQUARE - 55 Million users
- FLICKR - 92 Million users
- SNAPCHAT - 100 million
- STUMBLEUPON - 30 million
- DIGG - 8 million
- DISQUS - 150 million
- ELLO - 1 million
- MEERKAT - 2 million
- PERISCOPE - 10 million
- MYSPACE - 50 million
- QUORA - 2.9 million
- REDDIT - 169 million
- TSU - 3.5 million
- WHATSAPP - 800 million (Whatever tool you use, go for it! Go for Him--Jesus and for others. Go to and with Him where He leads you. So what quotes come to mind?)
"For with God nothing will be impossible." —Jesus, Luke 1:37
"The church that does not evangelize will fossilize!" —Oswald J. Smith
"Consider the call from the throne above, 'Go ye,' and from round about, 'Come over and help us,' and even the call from the damned souls below, 'Send Lazarus to my brothers, that they come not to this place.' Impelled, then, by these voices, I dare not stay home." —Jim Elliot
"Whatever we do, it is because Christ's love controls us. Since we believe that Christ died for everyone, we also believe that we have all died to the old life we used to live." —Paul, 2 Corinthians 5:14, nlt
Hey, I'm a novice-user really. I get busy with other projects at times. Yes, I'm certainly far from being an expert in this arena but I will challenge you just the same. I'm merely a learner, a bibliophile, a simple servant wanting to help more saved sinners and lost ones. I want to do my part so that I can spend eternity visiting with the Lord and "poking" all my Fbk peeps and other buds up there in heaven. Years ago, I remember telling my friend David this, "Our God of Grace often gives us a second chance, but there is no second chance to harvest a ripe crop."
"The evangelistic harvest is always urgent. The destiny of men, women, and nations is always being decided. Every generation is strategic. We are not responsible for the past generation, and we cannot bear full responsibility for the next one. But we do have our generation. God will hold us responsible as to how well we fulfill our responsibilities to this age and take advantage of our opportunities." ~ Billy Graham
You have your field. and I have mine. Lord Jesus, please help us not be pulled down or away from You by any of the many influences out there. Amen.
Share, speak, write, post, explain, teach and preach the Word--"So faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ" (Rom. 10:17).
“He personally carried the load of our sins in his own body when he died on the cross” 1 Peter 2:24
LISTEN, THERE IS A WAY INTO LASTING PEACE WITH GOD AND HE HAS A NAME.
Let's believe and roll up our sleeves together to do the work! You've had tests and now a testimony. You know Jesus died on the cross for the sins of the entire world and then came out of that hole in the dirt. So let's also climb out of the hole if you've been in one.. and start telling people about Christ and His finished Calvary-work. Sure, go public with Him—out into the harvest fields and tell It.. movin' It all from theory to the pavement to the peeps. Yes, take It to the people in their language with God's wisdom. Head knowledge alone and circling the righteous wagons so to speak just isn't enough. Let's apply the truth we've heard, "For we are laborers together with God..." (1 Cor. 3:9).
This is partly from my older article -- here's the Whole Entry. facebook.com/shareJesus Fish4Souls.org
