Big Picture Time - The Church and Culture

Today I ask you to step back and consider the big picture and the context within which you use BlueTooth to make disciples of Jesus Christ. Check out the excerpt below from today's blog post by Dr. Albert Mohler--host of a radio show heard in about 100 U.S. markets. Though his column deals specifically with American culture, Dr. Mohler's biblical insights should also help those of you ministering in other Western countries...

"The Church has constantly been perplexed concerning its proper relation to culture. H. Richard Niebuhr traced five different patterns of cultural response in his famous work, Christ and Culture. The book over-simplified the issues and now looks awkwardly optimistic, but some of the patterns Niebuhr described are still evident. The Church has at times withdrawn from culture and sought refuge in attempted cultural isolation. At other times and in other contexts the Church has simply abdicated to the culture, thus reflecting the culture rather than proclaiming the cross. A myriad of patterns and be traced between these two extremes. The fact is that the Church has often exhibited several patterns at once, capitulating to culture on the one hand and seeking isolation on the other.

In candor, we must admit that the Church has been displaced. Once an authoritative voice in the culture, the Church is often dismissed, and even more often ignored. At one time, the influence of the Church was sufficient to restrain cultural rebellion against God's moral commandments, but no longer. The dynamic of the culture-shift marches onward. On the Protestant left, leaders have simply capitulated to the revisionist ideologies and surrendered revealed morality. On the evangelical wing, however, the greater temptation is to affirm biblical morality in principle, and wink at infractions as matters of merely individual interest.

The displacement of the Church is characteristic of the process of secularization, which has now so thoroughly altered the landscape of American culture. Though sociologists point to continuing high levels of religious activity and statements of belief--both of these in sharp contrast to other western nations--the truth is that very little of this activity translates into authentic discipleship, active church membership, and bold Christian witness."

Read the rest of Dr. Mohler's excellent post here. It's well worth your time. As you read, pray that the Holy Spirit will lead you to understand your culture and preach the good news of Jesus Christ "with great patience and careful understanding."

Has Your Ministry Sprouted Lately?

I know, strange headline. But the question pertains to a new technology that you don't have to possess an advanced computer sciences degree or be the church "techie-in-residence" to use to greatly impact your ministry.

What does this have to with BlueTooth ministry? It will help you easily produce cool content to Blue Tooth broadcast to your church neighbors, use at events, and much more!

Sprout is a new web-based program from the makers of ChipIn. ChipIn produces cool widgets to enable folks to give to ministries and other non-profits online. See the eye-popping Chip-In widget to the left of this post, through which you can give to Lucky Rock Ministries and keep this blog rolling. Check out a short video of the Sprout Builder demo launch here.

Sprout is nothing short of awesome! If you're like me, you want to create cool, interactive stuff for your website, emails and more that the Spirit might use to push believers and non-believers alike toward Christ. Unfortunately, even the best software, such as Flash CS3 doesn't make it easy to create "rich content." Thus, most ministry folks are left out in the cold.

Enter Sprout.

Sprout allows you to build jukeboxes, slideshows and other cool stuff through a simple drag-and-drop interface. Sprout even allows you to upload "assets" such as pictures, music files and sermon audio/video. For an example of what you, yes you, can do in just a few minutes with Sprout, check out the audio player found at the top-left of the recently-created Crown True Financial Freedom Stories blog.

Some of you more tech-savvy readers will find Sprout doesn't let you do all the really cool Flash fly-ins, etc. But Sprout isn't for the ministry tech gurus who know ActionScript, Flex, and Flash. It's for folks who want to create cool content on the fly.

One more thing...

Sprout also comes with click-thru tracking, to help you optimize your media for maximum impact. As the Spirit said through the Apostle Paul, "(make) the most of your time, for the days are evil," (Eph. 5:16).

Though Sprout is still in beta-testing, this program delivers. I strongly encourage you to sign up for a free account today and have some fun. And if enough of you ask for it, I'll soon post a mini Sprout tutorial.

Sprout often...

Blue Tooth Marketing for Christian Businesses...Make Some Money, Give to Ministry

I promised you I'd post another round yesterday, but seminary reading and company coming to town proved too formidable a duo. I digress...

This post is for all you Christian business owners. I just can't resist "tearing the roof off" of your techno-understanding, (sorry to steal your term, Francis Schaefer). Christian business owners need to wake up to new Blue Tooth revenue streams and use the excess cash to fund ministry.

A few Blue Tooth broadcasting possibilities...

1) Radio stations. We've all heard remote broadcasts at car dealerships. Imagine a radio station booking additional revenue by offering to broadcast on-site Blue Tooth alerts about the hottest vehicles. Suddenly the dealership is generating leads that they otherwise may not get, because most folks don't want to talk to a salesperson and just want the info on the car(s) they're interested in.

2) Grocery stores, coffee shops, bookstores (basically any retail outlet). Why aren't you using Blue Tooth to broadcast coupons, new merchandise, this week's specials, and so much more? Get a long-range dongle, buy some software, and amaze your nearby customers with your technical prowess and with the deals you're advertising.

3) Got an oil change yesterday. Now wondering why they're not setting themselves apart from the other oil change joint right across the street, by using Blue Tooth to broadcast their car repair specials.

4) Concerts. Use Blue Tooth to sell band merchandise right over the phone, to be mailed or picked up at the table in the back. Blue Tooth broadcast fan club subscriptions, album info, upcoming events, etc.

5) Movie theaters. Blue Tooth snack bar specials and opt-ins for your frequent movie watcher club.

The list goes on. The possibilities are endless. Praise the Lord! Make some cash and give it to ministry, (maybe the Lucky Rock).

By the way, if you're not sure how to manage your business or your money God's way, check out Crown Financial Ministries' great website and buy a copy of the classic CD series God's Principles for Operating a Business.