Bible Engagement Facebook style

Recently the mob I work for, The Bible Society, have undertaken major research into Bible reading habits. And to be honest the very low percentage of people reporting to regularly read the Bible is no surprise, what is a real shock is the absolutely tiny number of people who reported they discussed the Bible’s teachings with others, and that the Bible influenced them. This is serious cause for concern.I have founded a group in Facebook called Bible Crisis - Time to Act that aims to reverse this trend through a grass roots campaign of people making a commitment to engage with the Bible. One person commits to open their Bible and start the journey towards God centered transformation, who encourages others and so on.

I invite you to become part of this group and let others know about it.. become involved in changing the church.

To join Bible Crisis - Time to Act group click here.

Popularity: 3% [?]

The Art of Possibility Brought to you by the Holy Spirit!

My latest sermon preached as part of the Pentecost celebration in the Anglican Cathedral of Second Life.

The Holy Spirit has a huge role to play in our lives as Christians.. are you taking full advantage of the power of the Holy Spirit?  Press the play button to hear this encouraging message. Also available as a podcast, click here for the detail.
(timing: 9 mins)
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Popularity: 4% [?]

My Top Five Web Resources

An oldy but a goody…

From time to time I will re-post something that got a lot of attention.. and still is fresh enough to give another airing.

This one from Jan of this year:

Ok here are my top five web resources, all of them are free and very user friendly:

1…Facebook//

Facebook is an amazing resource for staying in touch with people in your network. Once you have joined you invite others to join by emailing them (Facebook makes this very easy.) Then you stay in touch by a ‘news feed’ where information posted from those in your network is summarized; such as thoughts or photos. You can also add a range of applications such as Scripture Union’s PrayLive, where you can record your prayers for friends to see. Facebook is very easy to use and I recommended it to assist in building community. CLICK HERE to check it out. CLICK HERE to visit my Facebook page

2…Flickr//

Flickr is a free photo storing and sharing site. You create an account, upload the photos from your computer to Flickr and then send the link to interested parties to check the photos out. This is very easy to use and an excellent resource. CLICK HERE to check it out.

3…Blogging//

Every ministry should have a blog. Whether aimed at the staff involved or as a communication tool with supporters, it is an excellent way of sharing your news and thoughts. But more than that a blog provides the ability for others to make comments. Sometimes questions, and sometimes statements. I was excited to receive the following comment today on my post on what makes a good sermon:

In the Anglican Church, where I have worshipped for 80 of my 87 years, I cannot recall hearing from the pulpit an invitation to remain at the Communion rail (or alternative) to make a decision for Christ. I would be surprised if more than 75% had actually asked Jesus into their lives - including Church Wardens! I think this aim should be considered in every sermon.

So here are my tips on blogging:

• Post three times a week

• Set it up so that people can subscribe to your blog. So when a new post is made, they get an email alert to check it out. I recommend feedburner as a simple way of doing this. To subscribe to my blog CLICK HERE

• Work out what the aim of the blog is and work towards that. Mine is ‘fresh thinking about Christian Ministry’

• Keep the posts short and make use of images plus the occasional video. Youtube videos can be placed in most blogs

• Be topical and interesting

• Wordpress or blogger provide free easy to use blogs. Once you have chosen your design all you need to do is add content!

4…Skype//

Skype is famous for being a free telephone service computer to computer over the internet. But I have found the quality of the phone conversation to be patchy. What I mostly use Skype for is the instant messaging. This is a real time text conversation.. so I type a message and they receive it instantly and can respond. Skype also allows you to send documents. But the coolest thing about Skype Chat is the ability to add up to four people to the chat conversation. So where I am chatting about an event that involves a number of staff, I will invite them to participate.. Very efficient and helpful. CLICK HERE to download it.

5…Second Life//

No surprises here for the regular readers of my blog!! Second Life is a virtual world where you are represented by a character and can walk around a three dimensional space. Communication is through voice and text. I am one of the leaders of a Church in Second Life. (For more information CLICK HERE). The power of Second Life is that it is somewhere between being physically present and chatting on the phone/instant messaging. A number of organisations are holding meetings in Second Life when meeting in person is difficult through distance or expense. But it is also an effective tool for delivering your mission.

To read some more of my thoughts on Second Life and ministry CLICK HERE.

To check out Second Life CLICK HERE.

Popularity: 12% [?]

Practical Tools to Assist in Dealing with Challenges

On the 4th of May I preached at Wellington Cathedral of St Paul. I outlined four tools based on passages from 1 Peter and Acts, to assist in dealing with the challenges and struggles in life. To download the text of my sermon click on the link below.

Practical Tools to Assist in Dealing with Challenges (73)

Popularity: 18% [?]

My first mention in a book

I was recently reading a new book called, New Vision which is a collection of New Zealand authors commenting on the church scene in New Zealand, and I had the bizarre experience of suddenly reading about myself! It was contained in a chapter by Steve Taylor called, ‘A Kiwi Emerging Church? Yeah Right!’ Here tis:

Popularity: 19% [?]

VIDEO INTERNET killed the TV star

If I was a TV or Film Executive I would be quite worried by the latest online video viewing statistics.

In the month of February this year the number of videos viewed online from US based internet users was a staggering 10 billion. And what is also amazing is that this is a 66% jump from the same time last year.

And of the 10 billion, 8.7 billion videos involved strange dances or skateboarders crashing, (ok so I made that stat up ; ) ).

For February alone, each average US internet user spent a total of 3.4 hours watching videos online.

A staggaring 72.8% of internet users viewed video online and the average online video viewer consumed 75 videos in one month which is around 3 videos a day! (To view the research click here.)

One ministry that is making excellent use of online video is the American Bible Society, principally through their program, Share Your Story. Check out an example of their work by clicking here.

But one of the qualities of the online video is the ability for the ordinary person to share a story. One of the most popular videos on Youtube is a very moving phone call between a 13 year old boy and a radio station which has so far been viewed more than 7.6 million times and received some 1,500 comments. Check it out below.

Popularity: 21% [?]

Forget the multi-purpose worship space lets build a Cathedral!

Interesting research out of the US shows that a majority of unchurched Americans prefer churches that look more like a medieval cathedral than a more contemporary, multi-purpose church building.The research was undertaken by LifeWay Research for the Cornerstone Knowledge Network (CKN), a group of church-focused facilities development firms. Ed Stetzer, director of LifeWay Research and LifeWay Christian Resource’s missiologist in residence believes that the unchurched may prefer the more aesthetically pleasing look of the Gothic cathedral because it speaks to a connectedness to the past.

Whereas Opie56 believes the attraction to Cathedrals is

being in a place that demonstrates being >set apart<. Walk into almost any of the contemporary or mega churches and ask yourself: “What is the real difference in this room and a convention centre or theatre?” You have the high-powered concert-grade sound systems, video, stage lighting, comfortable seating with cup-holders. Where is the simplicity, the aura of mystery? Can you really just sit and soak in the presence of the Almighty? On the other hand; yes, we who frequent the “traditional” spaces need to take the power that inspired and brought those same spaces into being, and put it into our lives. In short - give me the traditional space, but be sure there is life there, also! (taken from the comments on the research click here to view.)

This is supported by one of the respondents in the research who stated, “I don’t like modern churches, they seem cold, I like the smell of candles burning, stained-glass windows, [and] an intimacy that’s transcendent.”

In the frenetic pace of life and the fragmented community we experience, a traditional church building communicates a connection with God (transcendent) and with a long and grounded history. We are becoming more and more attracted to the traditions of the past, but we also continue to be attracted to what the present has to offer.

Perhaps we need to develop a church where the building is traditional, the practices are traditional, but that also acknowledges the contemporary expectations of access to technology, convenience and global connectivity.

Though I am not unchurched, I find myself resonating with the research. A number of years ago I decided to visit St Paul’s Anglican Cathedral in Wellington, where I found myself in tears, deeply moved by an encounter with God through the choirs singing and the Cathedral’s awesome interior.

In conversations with the Dean, Frank Nelson I shared my experience and my thought that the Cathedral had something very special to offer. The issue as I saw it was that most weren’t aware or interested enough to come and experience the worship. We started to chat through possibilities, could we offer the Cathedral service on the web some how? Film it and stream it? Podcast? I shared with Frank the hugely popular Pray as you Go website and suggested we could do something similar. And then I discovered Second Life.

In Second Life I saw the opportunity to offer Cathedral worship within a technology rich environment and so I planted an Anglican Cathedral. We started services in July 07 and presently offer three services, a Bible Study and several discussion groups a week. (for more information click here) But this is not the end of my thinking, I am still interested in how we can fuse the best of the traditional with the needs of the contemporary to connect with the society around us.

But that will be a future blog post…

Popularity: 24% [?]

‘Tyndale and technology: faith in a virtual space.’

In this sermon I preached this past sunday in the Anglican Cathedral of Second Life I draw on the amazing story of William Tyndale and the missionary approach of Paul as described in Acts 17, to discuss the challenges and approaches of sharing Christ’s love in a virtual space. Also check out the slide show with snaps from the service..

Message is 13 mins long.
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| View | Upload your own

Popularity: 25% [?]

Creative promotion

I think this is very clever.. with the current interest in all things environmental a shoe maker has created an environmentally friendly shoe that aims,

to better the environment by efficiently utilizing the natural resources of this world. With three guiding elements of “Made From”, “Recycled” and “Reground”

Also check out the very creative promotion strategy below, which incorporates the green emphasis well.

It would be good to highlight creative ways ministry can be promoted.. have you got any examples?

Popularity: 27% [?]

Virtual networking.. the next tentative step?

For what seems like ages I have been banging on about the next stage of the net quite possibly being virtual (for more click here) which in practice would be about entering a website in its three dimensional form rather than just viewing a flat presentation of photos and text etc..

My idea is that you would be able to interact amidst a virtual community of people; which could be people who are part of your ministry or business. As an example you could participate in a virtual office where you would walk over to a colleague who may well be physically located in another city and have a voice chat, share documents etc..

Right at the cutting edge of this transition to the virtual is the Australian outfit ExitReality. Aside from having a seriously ill conceived name (leave reality? huh? ‘EnterReality’ or some such wording would have been better) they have come up with a product that enables you to view your social network of choice (such as Facebook MySpace or a range of others) within a virtual setting. What is exciting about this is that it is another step towards seeing the virtual become the internet platform.

Check out the very cool video on this below.
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Exit Reality from Duncan Riley on Vimeo.

Popularity: 31% [?]