With the Inauguration of Barack Obama as the 44th President of The United States On Tuesday we witnessed the culmination of a 2 year campaign to relentlessly use social networking and to harness the power of the internet in an unprecedented way. President Obama successfully used viral networking to get his message of “change you can believe in” to millions of Americans and then rode the technological wave all the way to the White House. Using websites Such as Facebook, Myspace, and Youtube, and other technological tools such as email, text messaging, and instant messaging, President Obama’s campaign, the most technologically savvy is history, went viral and built an interconnected, grassroots following that was committed to putting him in office.
If a political campaign can ride the wave of “social networking” and “viral marketing” all the way to the White House, then the people of God must learn how to harness that power in order to advance the Kingdom of Heaven. When the church was still in its infancy, Paul used everything that the culture had to offer to spread the gospel message to an unbelieving world. In Athens Paul used cultural symbols and quoted popular philosophers in an attempt to share the good news. When God sent him to the gentile world Paul used all the cutting-edge technology at his disposal (boats) to sail to distant ports and take the gospel with him. If the church is going to be effective in ever-changing technological world we must learn to effectively use the cutting-edge mediums available to us.
As a Christian I believe that God has called me to go and make disciples, just as Jesus first called his followers to go and make disciples, and he has been calling all Christians to go and make disciples ever since. But maybe the go for me and for Jacob’s Well will take us to places that we have never gone before, maybe it will take us to cyberspace, to social networking websites like Facebook and Youtube. Maybe, just maybe the great commission for us for today isn’t simply a cal to go, perhaps it is a call to “Go Viral!”
Thursday, January 22, 2009
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
Hope We Can Believe In
January 20, 2009
What does the inauguration of Barak Obama as our 44th president mean to you? Are you more optimistic about the future? Are you more hopeful? More than at any other time in my life it seems that the younger generations have been invigorated by a wave of optimism. Despite bleak economic forecasts as well as difficulties both at home and abroad, many who once thought that political involvement was only for other people are finally getting involved and are starting to believe that maybe they too can have a seat at the table. No matter what your political leanings, I think that you will agree that this is good for America. It is good for people to have hope, to believe that they can make a difference.
I believe that people long to live lives of significance, people want to believe that what they say, think, and do matters. I believe that if we as the church want to impact the younger generations we need to take this lesson to heart. We need to learn to listen, James 1:19 implores us to be quick to listen and slow to speak. All too often we as Christians think that we have all the answers, so we forget to listen to the questions. We forget that Jesus values people as much as he values truth. When he encountered the Samaritan woman at the well in John 4, he listened to what she had to say, he didn’t simply start blurting out truth, he responded to her concerns and then gave her a glimpse of hope. If there is anything that we can learn from the inauguration of President Obama today it is that we need to learn to listen to those whom we hope to reach, to make sure that they feel heard and then we can share real hope that they can believe in.
What does the inauguration of Barak Obama as our 44th president mean to you? Are you more optimistic about the future? Are you more hopeful? More than at any other time in my life it seems that the younger generations have been invigorated by a wave of optimism. Despite bleak economic forecasts as well as difficulties both at home and abroad, many who once thought that political involvement was only for other people are finally getting involved and are starting to believe that maybe they too can have a seat at the table. No matter what your political leanings, I think that you will agree that this is good for America. It is good for people to have hope, to believe that they can make a difference.
I believe that people long to live lives of significance, people want to believe that what they say, think, and do matters. I believe that if we as the church want to impact the younger generations we need to take this lesson to heart. We need to learn to listen, James 1:19 implores us to be quick to listen and slow to speak. All too often we as Christians think that we have all the answers, so we forget to listen to the questions. We forget that Jesus values people as much as he values truth. When he encountered the Samaritan woman at the well in John 4, he listened to what she had to say, he didn’t simply start blurting out truth, he responded to her concerns and then gave her a glimpse of hope. If there is anything that we can learn from the inauguration of President Obama today it is that we need to learn to listen to those whom we hope to reach, to make sure that they feel heard and then we can share real hope that they can believe in.
Saturday, January 3, 2009
Happy New Year!
Happy New Year! 2008 is now behind us and 2009 lies ahead. This is a pivotal year in the life of our new baby church. In a few weeks we will have our first “preview” service. There is so much possibility yet so much fear and anxiety. What will it look like? Will people like it? Will people come? These are all questions that are yet to be answered, but they are not the most important questions. The most important question that we must ask is: “How will we lift up and exalt Jesus?” Whatever happens with Jacob's Well the most important thing is that Jesus is glorified.
Jesus is the whole reason that Jacob’s Well exists, He is the reason that I want to start a new church and I hope that He is the reason that people will come check us out. Our plan is not to become the next mega-church, it is not to become the most trendy place to be on a Sunday morning, it is not to be a place where we come and feel good about ourselves for attending church. No! Jacob’s Well is going to be a place where people live life together, in community, seeking to live like Jesus lived - knowing God, loving people and transforming lives.
As we embark on a new year it is my hope and prayer that we will conciously and intentionally put Jesus first. At Jacob's Well we talk about being a "missional" church, to us that means that we live like missionaries in our culture. We are missionaries in our neigborhoods, we are missionaries in our workplaces, we are missionaries in our schools. Everywhere we go we need to see our primary goal as knowing Jesus and making him known to others.
As we embark on this new year, I want to invite you to join me in resolving to lift up and exalt Jesus in all things - to live missionally in 2009. I want to challenge you to start a top-10 list! Start by picking 10 people you know who don't yet know Jesus and commit to praying for them every day. If you don't know 10 people who don't know Jesus start with 5 or however many you know and then be intentional about building relationships with these unchurched neigbors, co-workers, and classmates. Next I want you to spend time with these people, invest yourself in them, get to know them, love them the way Jesus loves people, take them out for lunch or for a cup of coffee, share your life with them. Finally, I want you to invite them to join you for church, or a bible study, or have a dinner party for them and some of your Christian friends. Do whatever you can to expose them to Christian Community where you and others can be transformational in their lives.
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