This Article is printed in the JulyAugust 2011 edition of the Adventist Messenger.

The Seventh-day Adventist church has always been on the cutting edge of technology.  When radio began in the early 1900’s, the Adventist church was there producing religious programing with H.M.S. Richards on the Voice of Prophecy. When TV began in the 1940′s, the Adventist church was there producing the first religious programing in color with William Fagal on “Faith for Today”.  Back during the Milleriate movement, Joshua Himes used technology in the form of charts and print media so effectively that people begin calling him “the Napoleon of the press”.

While attending Camp Meeting this July in the BC Conference, I had the privilege of talking with a pastor who, just like Joshua Himes, is on the cutting edge of technology.  Michael Campbell, lead pastor of the Wichita Seventh-day Adventist Church, uses many forms of technology to communicate, share and interact with the congregation on a daily basis.  He describes technology as a tool that multiplies his efforts to build community.

“I made a commitment to the church on my first Sabbath to communicate”, says Campbell, and he is aggressively following through with that commitment.  On that first Sabbath, he asked members for their name, phone number and email address. Within a month, he collected approximately 90% of the congregations emails.

With that newly created list of emails, Campbell started sending out a weekly email newsletter that He describes as “one of the easiest, simplest ways to communicate”.

Campbell says one of the challenges he faces is how to meet the needs of the younger generation.  He found that one of the best ways to do that is to engage them through another technology; texting.  He regularly sends out text messages to individuals he did not see in church telling them that he missed them and hopes everything is going well.  “It makes people feel more connected,” says Campbell.

During a sermon about Zacchaeus, the Tax Collector, he asked the congregation, “what would you do if Jesus came to your house today?”  He put his cell phone number up on the screen and asked people to respond by texting their answers.  He received about 30 responses including one from a 13 year old who said he would clean up his room and then bring Jesus in, make a root beer float and sit down to talk with Jesus about his spiritual life.  On the way out of church he gave Campbell a high five.

“It was amazing to see people sitting forward, engaged and listening intently because they had contributed something to the sermon”, says Campbell.

Another cutting edge technology that Campbell has used during his sermon is a live poll.   He displayed a question with multiple answers on the screen and had people text in their votes. “Texting provides a dynamic environment to engage the congregation with the church service,” he says.

The Wichita South Church actively uses social media.  In fact, they have a church position called, Facebook Coordinator.  Campbell says Facebook is a communication tool that his church regularly uses to send out notices of events and invites.  He says it serves as a gentle reminder of what is going on and gives people an opportunity to respond to the invitation.  Also, it gives you an idea of how many people are planning to attend the event.  “We also use Facebook to post sermon topics, ask a question or get feedback from people,” he says.

The Wichita South Church also uses the social medium called Foursquare for members to check in at church.  It acts as an online attendance tracker.  People can check in at the keyaus in the lobby or on a mobile phone.  The names of those who took the time to check in go into a draw for a price at the end of the service.

Campbell tells me they are currently working on a new design for the church website as well as an iphone app in the near future.

“God has used technology in the past, I’ve seen it. And He will continue to use it in the future,” says Campbell.

For more information about the Wichita South Seventh-day Adventist Church or to contact Pastor Campbell, visit their website at http://www.wichitaadventist.org.

This Article is printed in the January-February 2011 edition of the Adventist Messenger.

5 Free Online Tools For Ministry- Part 1 of 2

2010 is now another year in the past and another year closer to the second coming of Christ.  It is impossible to keep up with how fast time and technology pass by.

Did you know that the top 10 in-demand jobs in 2010 did not exist in 2004.
And, did you know that we are currently preparing students for jobs that don’t yet exist, using technologies that haven’t been invented, in order to solve problems we don’t even know are problems yet?  That is the society and culture in which we live.  There is no way to change it or stop it.

The busyness of life keeps us all moving in what seems like a fast forward pace.  A blur of events as the weeks and months tend to mesh together.  As we begin another year, I would like to share with you five extremely useful and powerful online tools that might help you to be more effective in managing your work, church, ministry and life in 2011.  And the best part about these online resources is that they are all absolutely free.

None of the tools I am about to share is in any way connected with the Adventist Church.  The only reason I mention them is because their potential usefulness provides opportunity for effective communication and ministry.  Also, please remember that these online resources are available today but may be replaced by something better or not even exist tomorrow.  That’s the reality of technology.

Google Docs:

The first useful tool is Google Docs.  This application allows you to upload, create, share and manage documents, spreadsheets, presentations and images online. The files can be accessed from any device that is connected to the internet – a computer or mobile smart phone like blackberry and iphone.

To get started using Google Docs, all you need to do is create a free online account with Google (http://www.docs.google.com).  If you currently have a gmail account for your email, then you are already setup to use this service.

With the sharing feature of Google Docs, you can make a file public for everyone to see or private and give file access to only a few people.

For example, I use Google Docs in my ministry to share a contact list with the church clerk so that we can both access and manage the information.  When one of us makes a change the other person can see it immediately.  This provides us both with the most updated lists at our fingertips.  No more emailing a document back and forth. Our finished project list is in one place at one time, cutting down on a lot of wasted time and confusion.

Google provides other useful online tools that I am currently using for church management and ministry (Google Adsense for online marketing and Google Calendar for a daily planner & sharing church events).  I’m sure we’ll have the opportunity to discuss these another time.

Dropbox:

Dropbox automatically syncs the files you chose to it’s secure online server, providing you with backup, easy file sharing options, and access to your files anywhere there is an internet connection.

To start using the dropbox service, go to the dropbox website and create a free account that gives you 2GB of online storage.  The sign-up link I provided above will give you an extra 250MB of storage.

Another thing I really like about dropbox is that, just like google docs, it supports access and management of your files online through multiple mobile devices.

I personally use dropbox to print my sermon files from the church location and to share folders of files with several of my church team leaders.  I also like that dropbox provides the ability to create shareable online photo galleries and send large size files with ease.

Stay tuned for the other three tools that I will share in the next Messenger issue.

Click here to view Part 2

4.1 Billion.

That is the number of active cell phone users worldwide published in a March 2009 UN Report.  Approximately 60% of the world’s population have access to mobile phones and the number is rapidly rising each month.

The first commercial text message was sent in December of 1992.  Today, the number of text messages sent and received everyday exceeds the total population of the planet.

We are currently experiencing another technological shift that is directly related to mobile communication.

Steve Jobs, CEO for Apple Inc., announced in January 2010 that Apple sold 250,000,000 mobile devices called ipods.  It is estimated that they will sell approximately 45 million iphones in 2010 alone.

Smartphones, ipods, iphones, and the recently announced ipad, blackberry, laptops, 3G, 4G, Bluetooth, wifi, GPS, Social Networks, Twitter.  These are just a few of the terms you will hear mentioned in almost any conversation about current and future technology trends.

There are approximately 140,000 applications for the iphone and ipod touch available for download on the itunes app store.  Apple just announced that they recently reached 3 billion downloads.

With the rapid growth of better smartphones, cooler applications and faster mobile networks, how can we as Adventist’s take advantage of the digital mobile wave?

Hye Multimedia Ministries

Well, Eisen Montalvo, owner of Hye Multimedia Ministries (http://hyem3.com) located in Tucson Arizona, has thought long and hard about this same question and decided to do something about it.

Beliefs App

Eisen, is a computer engineer who created an iphone/ipod touch application that has been getting a lot of attention amongst the Adventist community and for good reason.  The application is called, Beliefs and it showcases all the biblical beliefs of Seventh-day Adventists.

In a recent interview I had with Eisen, I asked him why he developed this application.  He said, “Because I wanted to share our beliefs as Seventh-day Adventists with people that don’t know anything about us or have heard myths about the Seventh-day Adventist Church and would like to know the truth.”

A Beliefs app user from Australia, gave it 5 out of 5 stars and had this to say, “Best portable study guide out there! The supporting bible verses are awesome, well done to those who put this together.”

The Beliefs application is also a great tool to help Adventists refresh their beliefs and to provide a quick resource for answering questions from friends or co-workers.

The application is very easy to use and has a simple layout.  The start page shows a list of Adventist beliefs and allows for each one to be selected.  Once a topic is selected, the iphone/ipod touch user can read the information on their device screen along with any associated bible texts.

Bible Gateway supports 101 Translations

The bible texts are sourced through the well known online bible resource called, Bible Gateway (http://www.biblegateway.com).  Eisen says that using Bible Gateway is “the main feature of the application because it is a well known online verifier of bible verses that support Adventist beliefs in any version of the Bible available.” Bible Gateway currently supports 101 translations featuring 54 languages.

Another potential use for the Beliefs app could provide evangelist’s a great tool to reinforce the biblical teachings as new bible students are able to do further study on a topic from their iphone or ipod touch device.

With the iphone being available and used world wide, Eisen says he has seen approximately 2000 downloads since November 2009 when the application was first put on the itunes store.

He said these downloads of his Beliefs app have come from approximately 44 countries. The top 5 countries being United States, Mexico, United Kingdom, Australia and Canada.

The Beliefs app is currently available in English and Spanish. Eisen tells me that there are future plans to develop a French version as well.

More Information

For more information about the Beliefs application you can contact Eisen through the Hye Multimedia Ministries website (http://hyem3.com).  To down the application to your iphone/ipod touch, search for it through the itunes store.

Here is the original post:
Global evangelism and digital media

I remember when I was young, my dad would setup a camcorder on Christmas morning and video tape us kids running down the hall into the living room to open our gifts.  Oh, the excitement of it all.

The video camera my dad originally used has been obsolete now for about 15-20 years.  It recorded the video onto something called a “VHS” tape.  As the years went by, the camcorders changed (VHS to mini-VHS to Hi-8 to DVD to HD) and the video revealed something very interesting.  As I look at the gifts we received back then and compare with the gifts kids receive today, I see the transition into the technological age.

Technology has changed many other things about Christmas past.

Like those digital Christmas cards you can create on the computer.  Insert a picture of the family from your digital camera, enter in as many email address as you like, and press send.

Gone are the days of having to write a personal message on every paper card with an ink pen.  Gone are the days of having to buy Christmas stamps and sending a Christmas greeting and family photo by snail mail.

Amazon

And what about Amazon.com?  Amazon has changed the way many people do their Christmas present planning.  You create an account and start adding to your “wish list” or start buying for someone else.

• A new iphone (my old model is already obsolete because it doesn’t take videos and the internet connection is too slow).
• A blue-ray DVD player (“With Full HD 1080p output and the ability to decode the latest HD audio formats… for the ultimate entertainment experience.”)
• A new digital camera (with 10.2-megapixel, image stabilization and 10x optical zoom)

“Wish List”

Others can look at your “wish list” online at Amazon’s website so they know what to buy for you.  Or as Amazon words it, “to make sure it’s something you really want.”

Amazon might have perfected the “wish list” in past years, but they didn’t invent it.  Christmas wish lists have been around for a long time and no doubt technology will be at the top of most lists this December.

But putting aside all the technology and gadgets for a moment, we must not forget the real meaning of what Christmas is about.  We must never let technology stand in the way of our personal relationships with loved ones or distract from our focus on Christ.

Don’t be like the innkeeper who missed Jesus because he was too busy.  Turn off the cell phone for a while and power down the computer.  Make time for the Lord.

And don’t run your life like the Roman Empire, who missed Christmas because other gods took the place of Christ in their lives.  Put down the xbox and Wii, switch off the TV.  Allow nothing else to take the place of worshipping Jesus Christ.

On my wish list this year, “I wish you Jesus”, because when I wish you Jesus I wish you everything: joy and peace and forgiveness and salvation and abundance and purpose and prosperity and eternal life. When He’s the Lord of your life, His presence is all you need. It is my prayer that you not only connect with Jesus this Christmas season, but that you cling to him the rest of your life.

Christmas morning we will unwrap our presents, but eventually the novelty of it all will wear off.  The present that was once so precious to you will end up stuffed in the closet or handed off to someone else.  A newer version of your latest gadget will arrive that has more megapixels, or is smaller, or faster, or has better battery life.  In time, your Christmas gifts will mostly be forgotten.  But God has given us the ultimate gift—the gift of His Son Jesus Christ who will “save His people from their sins”.

Matthew 1:21-23, “And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name JESUS, for He will save His people from their sins.”

Don’t miss Christmas this year.  As Watts and Handel once wrote, “Let ev’ry heart prepare Him room.”

What’s on your wish list this Christmas?

It is often said that “all roads lead to Rome,” and in fact, they once did.  The Romans built a network of roads that were one of the greatest engineering accomplishments of their time.

The Roman road system spanned more than 400,000 kms including more than 80,000 kms of paved roads.

Although the Roman road system was originally built for the speedy movement and accessibility of the Roman troops throughout the empire, it was also used for many other purposes.

Purpose of Roads

The roads provided an opportunity for trade.

The roads made travel and communication possible that allowed for the spread of the gospel.

Rome’s impressive and enduring transportation network was of such an extent that it stands as a historical example of a connective technology linking together a globalized empire, transforming education, communication and evangelism.

Just as the Roman road system in New Testament times enabled the rapid spread of the Gospel, so also the Internet has become an effective worldwide channel for evangelism.

Let’s look at Matthew 24:14 and explore how God is using the Internet as an evangelistic tool to spread the gospel.

Matthew 24:14, “This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all the nations, and then the end will come.”

Traditionally, preaching the gospel to the “whole world” has been viewed as one person in front of another person, face to face, or one person in front of a group.

But, we are fast approaching a technological phenomena where preaching the gospel, as Matthew 24 says; “in the whole world”, will soon become a digital reality.

1.6 billion active Internet users

Statistics tell us that there are currently 1.6 billion active Internet users across the world with the potential for about 3.5 billion over the next 2 to 3 years with the increase in mobile Internet devices like the iphone and Blackberry.

Millions are looking for answers about God and a spiritual connection. Since the Internet is a “pull” medium, unlike literature and radio which are linear “push” mediums, the Internet is their front line source for information.

The Internet generation of today may never step foot into a church building or bible presentation but are willing to seek out answers in the quiet hours of their home or during their lunch break at work.

The Internet Church

Walter Wilson, in his book, The Internet Church, says this, “Questions about God can be asked in complete privacy on the internet.  The Internet displays no culture, no race, no gender, and no age.  It provides a seeker with the ability to navigate his or her way to the foot of Calvary’s Cross.  You can explore the internet in search of answers without having to reveal who you are.”

The Internet sees no country borders.  Your church website can be viewed by someone living in Vancouver, BC and Hong Kong, China both at the same time.

God is doing something incredible.

As Christians, we must not be afraid of the Internet or see it as just a technology of networked computers.

We must see the Internet as an evangelistic tool that God is using to tell the world about Jesus.

We must recognize that we live in the digital communication age and learn to use the Internet as an effective worldwide channel for evangelism as never before.

“I will be making your church website my online virtual church from now on”

In 2006, while I was pastoring in Aldergrove BC, I inquired about a certain software program that would help in the administration of the computer training classes we were offering to the community.

I sent an email to an unknown person who was located in Australia and after several emails back and forth, I explained who I was, and gave him the website address to our church.

After a few more days, I received an exciting response.

He said this, “I checked out your website and watched a video of one of your sermons.  It touched my life in a very powerful way. You see, my wife is a Buddhist and I am a Christian.  She doesn’t want me attending church.  I want you to know that I will be providing you with 10 licenses of our program for your computer lab free of charge and I will be making your church website my online virtual church from now on.”

From the Roman highways to the information highway, God has been using technology to spread the gospel.

Zechariah 4:6, “Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the Lord of hosts.”