You may have noticed new blog posts have been hard to come by lately here on Christian Web Trends.

I was already posting  less frequently over the first three months of this year in an attempt to devote more time to some other projects.  Now we are short staff and I am trying to keep up with not only my own 50+ hour a week responsibilities but another 30+ hours of work I don’t do particularly well or quickly.  So, until we hire the Web Apps Developing Linchpin we’re looking for, I will probably only blog about a week.

This provides the perfect opportunity, though, to feature the writing and ideas of other’s who work and volunteer in the Christian/tech/communications field…

YOU!

Write a guest blog post.  It’ll give you the opportunity to gain some links to your blog/site, make some new contacts, build some relationships, build your reputation in the field, and I’ll love you more than ice cream (well, maybe; we’ll see about that last one).  More importantly, though, by guest blogging you get to help Christians and Christian organizations communicate more effectively.  That honors God and builds His kingdom. (And you don’t need to be a “expert” to do it)

What Christian/tech/communications issues have been on your mind lately?

• Feel like there’s a tool being under-utilized?
• Got a communications success story to share?
• Got some tips that will help others communicate more effectively?
• Just want to encourage other believers on the communications front lines?

You can learn more about guest blogging on Christian Web Trends here.

I read a blog post by Scott Ginsberg yesterday titled Are you a Consumer or a Creator?  In the post he writes,

Lately, I’ve grown bored with consumption… Now, I’d rather write a book than read one. Now, I’d rather publish a podcast than listen to public radio.

In Where Good Ideas Come From, Steve Johnson says, “When ideas form in this hunch state, they need to collide with other hunches.” In other words, great ideas don’t take place in isolation.

My best ideas happen when I learn about other people’s ideas and those ideas combine with my ideas and help to refine and reshape them.

This blog post is a good example of that. How did it come about? Scott wrote the post mentioned above, then Ken Hagler (aka @jedipastorken) ”consumed” that post and linked to it in a post he created, @techreligious read and tweeted Ken’s post, and @NewMediaAtUnion retweeted that tweet. I saw @NewMediaAtUnion’s tweet read both Ken and Scott’s posts which led me to write this one. Did you follow all that?

You will never reach your full potential if you are solely a consumer of content. You will also never reach your full potential if you attempt to be solely a creator of content.

Your greatest opportunities lie in being a collaborator.

Read, listen and watch those who share their ideas freely. Freely share your ideas in blog posts, podcasts and videos. Collaborate in chats, discussions and group projects.

This is how ideas that change the world are developed, embraced and advanced.

Agree? Disagree? What are you doing to collaborate these days?

Here’s your opportunity to be a collaborator. Share your thoughts on this post in a comment. Tweet it and/or share it on Facebook or G+. Or maybe you want to take it one step further and blog about consumption, creation and collaboration yourself.

Internet Evangelism Day is set for 29 April, as the culmination of Digital Outreach Month. IE Day is both an annual focus day and year-round resource guide for digital outreach. It has always been our suggestion that churches (or other Christian groups) build a digital evangelism focus into their events or service sheets on or near that day. In previous years, although this could be an eye-opening challenge, actual involvement in digital evangelism or ministry was not something that many church members were likely to take up. The options were somewhat limited, time-consuming, and needed technical or writing gifts.

No longer! Social networking enables any online Christian to naturally share resources that explain some aspect of the good news, and start conversations with those they are already linked with. So at last, an IE Day presentation can suggest practical ideas and opportunities that most church members can use right now.

If you’d like some help with what to share with the folks in your organization on Internet Evangelism Day, the IED website has some great  suggestions.  Here are  14 digital ideas to share with your church on IE Day 

What are your thoughts on Internet Evangelism Day?  Are you planning anything for your organization?  If so what?

Just firing off a quick note here with the latest news for those of you who participate in our partnership/affiliate program.  (If you’re not a partner yet, take a look at how you help us help your friends and website visitors achieve their mission online and earn some cash in the process.)

1) New Site.  At the beginning of the year, we launched the new OurChurch.Com website.  We designed it to Start With Why, meaning the first and most important thing we tell people is why we do what we do – to help Christian organizations achieve their mission online. We also designed it to be simpler, cleaner and brighter.  The results have been excellent as we’ve seen a jump in new sites built with our web builder and record numbers of requests for phone consultations about custom website design and search engine optimization.  That means a greater percentage of the people you refer to us via link or word of mouth are working with us and earning you a commission.

2) New Graphics. Along with the redesigned site, we also created some new graphics for you to use on your site to refer people to us.  Take a few minutes to update the graphics you’re using.  We’re confident they’ll produce more referrals as well.

3) Commissions Paid.  Commission checks for Q1 earnings have been mailed.  Yea!

That’s it.  We’ll keep it short and sweet this time.  Thanks for partnering with OurChurch.Com and working with us to help Christian organizations achieve their mission online!

In His Service,
Paul Steinbrueck
OurChurch.Com

Instagram is mobile app that allows users to take a photo, apply a digital filter to it, and then share it on a variety of social networking services, including Instagram’s own, where “followers” can “like” and comment on those images. It was named “App o f the Year” for 2011 by Apple and recently exceeded 30 million accounts. For its first 18 months, Instagram was only available for the iPhone and iPad, but earlier this month they released an Android version. Shortly after that, they were purchased by Facebook for a whopping $1 billion.

While Instagram is often referred to as a “photo sharing app,” in reality it is much more than that. In addition to posting their own photos, people sometimes also post photos taken by others, funny images, quotes, screenshots from their phone and text. And some people don’t post anything at all, they just “like” and comment on what others post.

Because of that I think it’s more accurate and beneficial to think of Instagram as a social network where images are the primary medium.

With that in mind and Internet Evangelism Day only 4 days away, let’s talk about ways we can use Instagram to share our faith online. Here are 12 I came up with:

1) Post pics of creation.  Give God the praise.

2) Post pics of Christian community. Share the fun and love you experience at social events at church, things you do with your small group, etc.

3) Post pics of serving in your community. When you serve the poor, paint a house or join in a community service project, take and share photos.

4) Post pics from missions trips. Missions trips are especially good opportunities for great photos because they often provide the opportunity to mix in beautiful pictures of the creation, culture and people of another country.

5) Post quotes from scripture and Christian authors. This is a little trickier than the previous suggestions because you have to upload the images to your phone. (Watch this video tutorial to see how its done)  But once you figure it out, any time you come across a good quote image its quick and easy to save and sync it to your phone.

6) Post pics of Christian art. Instagram is a visual medium. Sometimes art – whether it’s paintings, stained glass, sculpture or other – speaks louder than words.

7) Post pics of the people you love & things you like.  In other words, be a real, authentic person.

8 ) Encourage others with a Tweegram.  Tweegram is a companion app to Instagram which you can download in the app store.  It enables you to type a message and post it as an image to Instagram much like you would post a tweet to Twitter

9) Listen and engage with others. Remember Instagram is a SOCIAL network. Don’t just broadcast. Follower your friends, family and people in your community who use IG. View their pics, comment, encourage them.

10) Mention your faith in your Instagram bio.

11) Post your testimony and/or a gospel presentation on the site your profile links to. In your Instagram profile, you have the ability to include a link to a website. You can use this to link to your blog or personal website where you can tell the story of how God has transformed your life and can transform theirs as well.

12) Create an Instagram profile for your church.  If your a pastor or church communications person, you can create an Instagram account for your church and do just about all of the above on behalf of your church.

If you’re on Instagram, look me up. Username: pdstein

Are you an Instagram user? If so, post your IG username below.

What do you think of the suggestions above? Any really resonate with you? Got any other ideas for using Instagram to share your faith online?

OurChurch.Com is looking to add a web applications developer to our team. But not just any developer.

We want someone who Seth Godin would describe as a linchpin.

There are millions of coders out there. If we just wanted someone to write code, we could write requirements and hire just about anyone to follow instructions. We could even outsource work like that to Russia or India.

But we want someone who shares our passion for helping Christian organizations achieve their mission online. And we want someone who takes initiative, solves problems, creates value, makes connections, and can see the future. We want a linchpin who is also great at leading the development of web applications.

If you’ve developed a successful free-lance website development business, and you’d like to go from impacting a handful or organizations on your own each year to being a part of a team that impacts thousands, we’d like to talk to you.

If you’ve got mad developer skills, have been creating apps that have been making your secular company boat loads of money, and you dream of putting those skills to work helping churches and Christian ministries, we’d like to talk to you. Here’s the official job description…

OurChurch.Com… exists to help Christian organizations achieve their mission online. We do this by providing web hosting, design, marketing, and advertising services. We are excited to add to our team an innovative, experienced software developer who shares a passion for our mission.

Linchpin? We’re looking for someone who as Seth Godin describes takes initiative, solves problems, creates value, makes connections, and can see the future. We want someone who will say, “This is where OurChurch.Com should be going and this is how we get there!” and not “Just give me the requirements and let me write code all day.”

The Work: This person will lead the development of future generations of our NE1 Web Builder, WHMCS/WHM/cPanel-based web hosting services, Joomla and WordPress based custom website development services, and other projects. This includes writing software in a Linux server environment that utilizes PHP, MySQL, HTML, CSS, and Javascript. Most projects will require leading other staff and/or hiring and managing outside contractors. So, the job requires project management skills including the abilities to write requirements, create and adhere to a schedule, assign and delegate tasks, develop and perform tests, write documentation, and manage people.

Character: The individual must have a friendly, positive attitude, be very patient, and not easily frustrated. He or she should view the position as more than just a job but as a ministry of Christian service helping other Christians in ministry.

Social Media Voice: This person should not only be familiar with social media, but have an active, reputable voice on Twitter, Facebook, and blogs.

Hours: The position is that of a full-time salaried employee. Typical hours will be Monday-Friday 8 AM to 5 PM, though there may be occasions when evening and weekend work is required. OurChurch.Com supports a family-friendly work schedule accommodating time off for family needs whenever possible.

Location: Individual will work from their home preferably in the Tampa Bay area and be available and able to commute for occasional meetings and company activities (6-8 times a year). The person must be able to work from home with minimal interruptions.

If you’re a linchpin, and you’re excited about the possibility of collaborating with our team and leveraging your talents to help thousands of Christian organizations communicate more effectively. Please email your resume, cover letter, and links to a portfolio or projects you’ve completed to jobs (at) ourchurch (dot) com.

At 8:32 PM Saturday night, professional golfer Bubba Watson tweeted to his 275,000 followers:

Thanks everyone for the support! 3 reasons tomorrow will be #awesome, 1. Jesus has risen 2. See my new baby boy & my wife 3. Masters Sunday

April 7, 2012 8:32 pm via EchofonReplyRetweetFavorite

@bubbawatson

bubba watson

Twenty-four hours later Bubba was wearing the most prestigious threads in all of sports – A Green Jacket – having won the Masters in a playoff. In his acceptance speech, he thanked his “Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.” That was captured and shared in the YouTube video below.

Tuesday, the Huffington Post published an article about it: Bubba Watson Shares His Christian Faith After Masters Win (VIDEO)

And as I write this on Friday, @BubbaWatson has gained a quarter million new followers since that tweet Saturday night (at 526k and counting).

Since we’re focusing on the topic of sharing our faith online in the weeks leading up to Internet Evangelism Day (April 29), what can we learn from all this?

5 Lessons About Sharing Your Faith Online

1) Bubba didn’t wait until he was a Masters champion to start using Twitter. He’s been tweeting since October 2009. You don’t need to wait to connect with people on Twitter either.

2) Bubba isn’t a pastor. As far as I know he doesn’t have a theology degree. He’s not an evangelist. He simply lives out his faith offline and online. You can do the same. You’re plenty qualified.

3) Bubba didn’t wait until he was a Masters champion to express his faith online. He didn’t just thank Jesus when he won. He expressed his faith regularly before then. And when the opportunity came and all the world’s eyes and ears were focused on him he did not have to come up with a strategy to share his faith, he simply did what he’s been doing for years.

4) Bubba didn’t film and upload the YouTube video. He didn’t ask the Huffington Post to write about him. He didn’t ask me to write this post. When you’re using social media, you never know how your message might get amplified by others you’re connected with.

5) Bubba doesn’t broadcast, he engages. Look at his tweets. He actually listens and replies to people. That tells me that he gets it. That he cares about people. More importantly, that tells the people he @replies to that he cares too.

What do you think about Bubba Watson, his Masters win, sharing his faith online and off, his use of Twitter?

What learning points do you come away with?

Digital media has transformed the world in the last 15 years. Now more than half the world is connected to the Internet via mobile phones. This has provided unprecedented opportunities for us to connect, live out our faith, and have spiritual conversations with people across town, across the country, and across the world that were never before possible.

Internet Evangelism Day (IED) is an annual focus day to help raise awareness of the opportunities for Christians to share their faith online. This year’s IED is Sunday April 29.

The hope is that…

• Churches, bible colleges, outreach teams and other organizations will use Internet Evangelism Day as an opportunity to teach their members, students and staff about the online outreach opportunities.
• Organizations who are doing outreach will strategize about ways to expand their outreach online
• Organizations that are online will strategize about how they can use their online resources to reach more non-believers (rather than just focusing their efforts on believers)

The Internet Evangelism Day website is full of resources for individuals and organizations that desire to pursue one or more of those three objectives above. The site also includes the Digital Evangelism Issues blog, which provides news and insight.

I strongly encourage you to read this post on the IED site to learn about all the resources, events, and other things going on for this year’sIED.

We at OurChurch.Com are proud to say this is our 7th year supporting Internet Evangelism Day, and as we have been doing for the last 4 years we’ll be focusing our blogging and social media on Internet evangelism issues all this month leading up to IED.

What comments or questions do you have about Internet Evangelism Day?

Are you planning any events for your organization?

If you are looking for an amazing, inspiring Good Friday/Easter video to share with your friends, I don’t know that it gets any better than this! David Garibaldi is unbelievable!

David Garibaldi: Jesus Painting from Thriving Churches on Vimeo.

Easter is the biggest day of the Christian calendar and one of the best opportunities to share the good news about Jesus with the people around us.

We live in a world of instant communications, and so even though we are well into Holy Week, there is still time to use the communication tools available to us to impact people with the Easter message.  Here are 7 last-minute  ideas I came up with:

1. Create a Facebook Event for your church’s Easter services.
2. Share the Facebook Event for your church’s Easter services on your personal Facebook profile.
3. Call or text that last minute invitation to a friend to join you at church Sunday morning.
4. Initiate spiritual conversations on Facebook, Twitter and Google+ by asking questions like “What does Easter mean to you?” “Will you be celebrating Easter? If so, how?” “When you read the account of Good Friday who do you identify with most – Jesus, Judas, Peter, someone else?”
5. Post an inspirational Easter video to Facebook or Twitter
6. Facebook/Tweet/Instagram a photo from an Easter sunrise service with one last invitation for people to join you at a later service.
7. Really listen to the people you’re connected with online. Celebrate with those who are celebrating Easter. But also Look for people who are down and could use encouragement, for people who are struggling and could use some help, for people who have questions and could find answers in God.

Do any of these resonate with you?  Got any additional ideas?