Cookies help us display personalized product recommendations and ensure you have great shopping experience.

By using this site, you agree to the Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.
Accept
SmartData CollectiveSmartData Collective
  • Analytics
    AnalyticsShow More
    sales and data analytics
    How Data Analytics Improves Lead Management and Sales Results
    9 Min Read
    data analytics and truck accident claims
    How Data Analytics Reduces Truck Accidents and Speeds Up Claims
    7 Min Read
    predictive analytics for interior designers
    Interior Designers Boost Profits with Predictive Analytics
    8 Min Read
    image fx (67)
    Improving LinkedIn Ad Strategies with Data Analytics
    9 Min Read
    big data and remote work
    Data Helps Speech-Language Pathologists Deliver Better Results
    6 Min Read
  • Big Data
  • BI
  • Exclusive
  • IT
  • Marketing
  • Software
Search
© 2008-25 SmartData Collective. All Rights Reserved.
Reading: What Jesus Christ Tells Us About Social Networking
Share
Notification
Font ResizerAa
SmartData CollectiveSmartData Collective
Font ResizerAa
Search
  • About
  • Help
  • Privacy
Follow US
© 2008-23 SmartData Collective. All Rights Reserved.
SmartData Collective > Uncategorized > What Jesus Christ Tells Us About Social Networking
Uncategorized

What Jesus Christ Tells Us About Social Networking

ariherzog
ariherzog
7 Min Read
SHARE

Evangelizing the Gospel as the communications director for a Chicago church, Tim Schraeder guest posts today at Church Marketing Sucks about the importance to bridge the gap between the pulpit and the congregation–through text messaging.
As texting transforms the relational landscape of our culture, we’re beginning to see how it’s influencing the way the church communicates.
While […]

—
Thank you for reading! If you enjoyed this, please consider following more tips by RSS or email delivery. | Twitter | FriendFeed | Email

More Read

Poor Data Quality is a Virus
Spice Up Your Spreadsheets: Boosting BI with Google Spreadsheets
Change management – a means to an end
The First Date
Getting More from Analytics Through Mainframe Data Virtualization

DevotionEvangelizing the Gospel as the communications director for a Chicago church, Tim Schraeder guest posts today at Church Marketing Sucks about the importance to bridge the gap between the pulpit and the congregation–through text messaging.

As texting transforms the relational landscape of our culture, we’re beginning to see how it’s influencing the way the church communicates.

While many churches have jumped on the Twitter bandwagon, others are taking it to the next level, incorporating texting polls and Q&A sessions into their weekly services as well as using text messages as a vehicle to communicate announcements and church news throughout the week.

This reminds me of a blog post I wrote last year about Ray Matthews and his concept of the Good News Network.

Utah State Library’s government information coordinator wrote a blog post in November 2004 about the connection between Jesus Christ and social networking.

To Jesus, the church was the community of believers. It wasn’t a building, it wasn’t an organization, it wasn’t a corporation. The church was not a place nor did it own any property. It’s unfortunate, but institutions calling themselves churches have embellished to the point of distraction those simple teachings of Jesus to love God and to love your neighbor as yourself. The true church remains the community of believers.

Is it any surprise that blogs and social networking sites have sprung in recent years with names like ChurchCrunch, LinkedIn Jesus, LDS Media Talk, and the Christian Social Network?

Echoing my blog post last summer about why you are an ambassador of social networking, here are some more tenets from Ray Matthews in 2004:

Social networking facilitates real-world and online conversations. Each of these technologies helps us bridge the six degrees of separation in finding others with similar goals and interests. We just need to apply this knowledge to loftier purposes. It’s high time we used what we know for a higher purpose than dating, deal making, and job hunting. How about world peace? Maybe that generation of Miss America contestants had it right after all.

I’ll call this repurposing of social networking the ‘Good News Network.’ The Good News Network needs no place, no domain, no trademark, no sponsors. It needs only open access and to be built on standards — standards to converse one language with another and standards to programmatically exchange information. It consists of you and I, our friends, friends of friends, and those yet to be brought into our circle of friendship.

The Good News Network has two functions: to promote conversation and action. We converse by sharing the good news, our faith, and our belief in the goodness of humanity. And we act. We act in small ways, in big ways, but always in individual and personal ways, to share the good news of universality and peace and to promote well-being.

We speak multitudes of languages, we live in diverse regions of the globe, and we comprise all races and nationalities. In this day and age that is unique in history, we can all converse, we can join a global conversation, and we can meet in the virtual living room or the virtual temple of our choice.

So back to the age old question, how do you change the world?

Start by entering the conversation. In your blogs, in your chat rooms, in your networks, in your music, in your poems, in your art, in your families, and in your communities — tell your story. Let your voice be heard. Sign on in whatever way makes sense to you in order to make a difference. As the marketers say, create a buzz. In the sense of paying it forward, start something in your own way and in your own voice. Start a conversation that will spread, that will continue, that will penetrate the hearts and minds of the power brokers.

Those in high places will join us. They will, as Saul of old, see the vision and join the conversation. Perhaps in fulfillment of ancient prophecy, those with ears to hear will find each other, and they who are confused will recognize the voice.

Shower of lightTim Schraeder is spot-on that Twitter is one way for church communities–communities of believers–to connect with each other, but it’s not the only way. Text messaging is an easy alternative, especially if people have cell phones. Congregants can silence their ringers and turn off their vibrators and still share in the joy of prayer on an additional, electronic level.

The next time you attend church, synagogue, or mosque services and spy your son texting with his friend 10 pews back, how about you give him the benefit of the doubt? Your son may be doing what Tim suggests… and it may be something you should do, too.

When I randomly noticed Ray was on Twitter, I sent him a message last month, pointing him to the July 2008 blog post I wrote about him. Yesterday, Ray replied with kindness.

Welcome to the Good News Network.

Photo credits: bogenfreund, David Paul Ohmer

—
Thank you for reading! If you enjoyed this, please consider following more tips by RSS or email delivery. | Twitter | FriendFeed | Email

       


Link to original post

Share This Article
Facebook Pinterest LinkedIn
Share

Follow us on Facebook

Latest News

sales and data analytics
How Data Analytics Improves Lead Management and Sales Results
Analytics Big Data Exclusive
ai in marketing
How AI and Smart Platforms Improve Email Marketing
Artificial Intelligence Exclusive Marketing
AI Document Verification for Legal Firms: Importance & Top Tools
AI Document Verification for Legal Firms: Importance & Top Tools
Artificial Intelligence Exclusive
AI supply chain
AI Tools Are Strengthening Global Supply Chains
Artificial Intelligence Exclusive

Stay Connected

1.2kFollowersLike
33.7kFollowersFollow
222FollowersPin

You Might also Like

Social Media Expert Panel Discussion (Video)

1 Min Read

Signs Your Technology Is Outdated

4 Min Read

Answer to OTP Bypass: Out-of-Band Two-Factor Authentication

8 Min Read

Analogue Business with a Digital Facade

8 Min Read

SmartData Collective is one of the largest & trusted community covering technical content about Big Data, BI, Cloud, Analytics, Artificial Intelligence, IoT & more.

AI and chatbots
Chatbots and SEO: How Can Chatbots Improve Your SEO Ranking?
Artificial Intelligence Chatbots Exclusive
data-driven web design
5 Great Tips for Using Data Analytics for Website UX
Big Data

Quick Link

  • About
  • Contact
  • Privacy
Follow US
© 2008-25 SmartData Collective. All Rights Reserved.
Go to mobile version
Welcome Back!

Sign in to your account

Username or Email Address
Password

Lost your password?