The Internet evangelism ministry of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, marked a milestone this past weekend as the 5 millionth person indicated a decision to accept Jesus as his Savior through their evangelistic online presence at PeaceWithGod.net.

According to John Cass, BGEA’s Director of Internet Evangelism:

Overall, more than 20,000 people each day are viewing a presentation of the Gospel via BGEA’s online evangelism platform. For decades we have worked to fill venues with people so Billy, Franklin or Will Graham can proclaim the Gospel. The way we look at it, this is similar to welcoming a full arena to hear the message on a daily basis. The difference is that our audience may be in Russia, or Saudi Arabia, or other places where we may not normally be able to go.

The article goes on to report in October 2014 alone, 45,000 people in Iraq, 34,000 in Syria and 33,000 in Saudi Arabia experienced the Good News of Jesus Christ through PeaceWithGod.net.

Amazing!

Kudos to the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association for having the vision for this and putting the resources towards it. Praise God for providing the dramatic results!

There can be no doubt that God can and does great things through people online.

Read the full article on Christian Post

What do you think? Does it inspire you to take action?

Paul Steinbrueck

Co-founder & CEO, OurChurch.Com

Paul has been the CEO of OurChurch.Com since its founding in 1996, combining his passion for faith and technology to lead the organization.

An accomplished writer, Paul has authored over 2,000 articles on faith and technology, featured on platforms like ChurchLeaders.com, The JoyFM, and his personal blog, LiveIntentionally.org.

Beyond his professional achievements, Paul serves as an elder at Journey Community Church and is deeply engaged in his community through his involvement with the Florida Sheriffs Youth Ranch and the Safety Harbor Chamber of Commerce. He is a contributing author of the book Outspoken! Conversations on Church Communication. 

steinbrueck.org

The post Billy Graham Website Reports 5 Millionth Decision to Follow Jesus appeared first on Christian Web Trends Blog: Church Websites, Design, SEO.

According to Barna Research, 84% of Americans say they pray at least once a week.  With such broad acceptance, talking about prayer a very non-threatening way to start a conversation about spiritual things – both offline and online.

One of the first things I did today was to post to Facebook, Google+ and Twitter…

Today is National Day of Prayer. What are you praying for today? #ndop

(Go ahead and share/retweet)

I’ve already gotten dozens of responses!

And I’m being intentional about responding to those who answer the question I posted.

So, how about you… what are you praying for today?  And are you making the most of the National Day of Prayer to spark spiritual conversations online?

Paul Steinbrueck

Co-founder & CEO, OurChurch.Com

Paul has been the CEO of OurChurch.Com since its founding in 1996, combining his passion for faith and technology to lead the organization.

An accomplished writer, Paul has authored over 2,000 articles on faith and technology, featured on platforms like ChurchLeaders.com, The JoyFM, and his personal blog, LiveIntentionally.org.

Beyond his professional achievements, Paul serves as an elder at Journey Community Church and is deeply engaged in his community through his involvement with the Florida Sheriffs Youth Ranch and the Safety Harbor Chamber of Commerce. He is a contributing author of the book Outspoken! Conversations on Church Communication. 

steinbrueck.org

The post National Day of Prayer – A Great Spiritual Conversation Starter #ndop appeared first on Christian Web Trends Blog: Church Websites, Design, SEO.

Chances are you’ve been to or at least heard of churches who have live nativities around Christmas or a live donkey for Palm Sunday. They are not new ideas.

Adam and his church asked themselves…

What could make the experience really special? Was there a way to use it as an outreach opportunity?

In a Leadership Network blog post he explains:

The day came and as people walked up to church, we had Buddy the Donkey in front of a simple backdrop of straw bales, and a professional photographer (who’s one of the most outgoing people I know) ready with her camera. It was a clear win for everyone—kids got to pet the donkey, and parents got a cute picture. We explained that we’d upload all of the pictures to our Facebook page immediately after the services and encouraged people to tag themselves.

The feedback we got from kids, moms, dads and grandparents was truly wonderful. Buddy was a complete hit! But what happened later that day on Facebook was like nothing we’d ever seen before. We had 20,000+ hits in a matter of a day and a frenzy of shares, tags, likes and comments.

Countless faces joined us the following Sunday for Easter (and beyond), simply because they had seen pictures of their friends’ kids, siblings’ kids, and everyone else’s kids on Facebook.

How awesome is that?!?

Read the full post here and give Adam and his church props in a comment for the innovative way they created engagement on their Facebook page.

What other ways could churches create engagement and do outreach using Facebook?

Paul Steinbrueck

Co-founder & CEO, OurChurch.Com

Paul has been the CEO of OurChurch.Com since its founding in 1996, combining his passion for faith and technology to lead the organization.

An accomplished writer, Paul has authored over 2,000 articles on faith and technology, featured on platforms like ChurchLeaders.com, The JoyFM, and his personal blog, LiveIntentionally.org.

Beyond his professional achievements, Paul serves as an elder at Journey Community Church and is deeply engaged in his community through his involvement with the Florida Sheriffs Youth Ranch and the Safety Harbor Chamber of Commerce. He is a contributing author of the book Outspoken! Conversations on Church Communication. 

steinbrueck.org

The post A Donkey, Facebook & Church Social Media appeared first on Christian Web Trends Blog: Church Websites, Design, SEO.

Sharing the gospel with strangers wasn’t something that came naturally to me. As a matter of fact… I was a nervous wreck the first time I did it. I was part of a ministry team that trained us in sharing the gospel. Then, as a team we went to the mall once we were properly trained. I did end up sharing the gospel. But I wasn’t very “good” at it… and God didn’t seem like He was present in any special way.

Actually I spent the whole summer sharing the gospel with strangers and no one came to know Christ through these efforts. You might not find that to be very strange since we were, after all, sharing with strangers. But the other people on my team were leading others in a sinner’s prayer and introducing people to a relationship with God and I wanted that.

But what we had learned during that summer stuck with me. And instilled in me was a strong desire to share my faith with others and to see others come to know God through me. What a humbling experience that is.

So I went back to college in the fall…

I had lived for more than twenty years and grown up in the church all my life… how could I not have brought someone to a relationship with God in all that time? I was in my dorm one day and I began playing an online video game. The other person I was talking to was a deaf boy from the Baltimore area. I asked him if he had ever been to church. He said that he had… but that no one ever told him what it was all about and he couldn’t really hear what was going on. I told him I was studying to be a pastor. And I asked him if he’d like me to tell him. He was intrigued. And I was ecstatic.

So I shared the gospel with this boy. I didn’t seem nervous. I didn’t stutter. I looked up Romans Road and had it on the right side of the monitor in a separate window. And I shared the gospel with him articulately. And he said He wanted to be a Christian. And I prayed through the sinner’s prayer with Him. He accepted Christ that day. And I was able to hide behind a computer screen the whole time. And God used me and it felt great.

If you’ve never shared the gospel before…

You should start doing it as soon as you finish read this article. I got my haircut the other day and immediately began talking to strangers about what Christ did for them on the cross. But now it comes more naturally and feels more conversational. The more we do it, the easier it becomes. And sharing your faith online is a great first step for many. If you haven’t tried it yet… it’s definitely a growing experience.

To read more articles about how to spread the gospel online, click here.

AndrewKetterly

My pen name is Andrew Ketterly. I’m a pastor of a fairly conservative church. Having a blog and a pen name allows me to say some things that might be too controversial for what my specific church is ready for. But I want to blog about relationships. And how to love the way God wants us to love. I’d love it if you stopped by and left some feedback.

http://lovevsmodernromance.blogspot.com/

lovevsmodernromance.blogspot.com/

The post How the Internet Helped Me Share the Gospel Successfully appeared first on Christian Web Trends Blog: Church Websites, Design, SEO.

So even if this is the first you’re hearing about it, you can write a blog post about sharing your faith online, tweet/share someone else’s post about it, or start a conversation in social media  by asking a question like, “What do you think about sharing your faith online? Have you done that? How did it go?”

Evangelism… Yes, There’s an App for That

A lot of people are apprehensive about trying to explain their faith to their friends.  “What if it comes out all jumbled?”  “What if I sound like I don’t know what I’m talking about?” “What if my friend asks me a question I don’t know the answer to?”

Intervarsity Christian Fellowship has developed the New World Gospel Presentation mobile app to help with that.

Based on material from True Story by James Choung, this free app helps you illustrate the main points of the gospel message by drawing four “worlds” on your screen.

Suggested dialogue and Scripture references are included for each world to help you explain the gospel as you draw.

The opportunity to make a decision for Jesus Christ and join his mission to heal the world is presented at the end; a suggested prayer is included.

Features 

• Draw each world by tracing its outline as you explain each step.
• Save or erase your drawings.
• Flip each of your drawings over for suggested dialogue and Scripture references.
• Offer a suggested prayer to Jesus for those who want to commit their lives to Christ.
• Email a PDF recap of the New World Gospel Presentation to follow-up after your discussion.

The app is available for iOS (iPhone, iPod, iPad) and Android.

What do you think?  Could this app help you share your faith more easily? Could it help your friends or the people in your church or ministry share their faith?

Paul Steinbrueck

Co-founder & CEO, OurChurch.Com

Paul has been the CEO of OurChurch.Com since its founding in 1996, combining his passion for faith and technology to lead the organization.

An accomplished writer, Paul has authored over 2,000 articles on faith and technology, featured on platforms like ChurchLeaders.com, The JoyFM, and his personal blog, LiveIntentionally.org.

Beyond his professional achievements, Paul serves as an elder at Journey Community Church and is deeply engaged in his community through his involvement with the Florida Sheriffs Youth Ranch and the Safety Harbor Chamber of Commerce. He is a contributing author of the book Outspoken! Conversations on Church Communication. 

steinbrueck.org

The post Intervarsity Introduces Evangelism Mobile App appeared first on Christian Web Trends Blog: Church Websites, Design, SEO.

There are 2+ billion web users, and over 5 billion people use mobile phones (increasingly these are web-equipped). The Web is not just another means of communication, but a hyper-medium that subsumes, links together, and enhances all previous media.

It’s in this context that Internet Evangelism Day takes place this Sunday, April 21.

Internet Evangelism Day is…

… NOT a single day in which Christians are encouraged to share their faith online – we should be sharing our faith online every day.  Rather it is an awareness day in which churches, schools and other Christian organizations make a concerted effort to inform their people about the myriad of opportunities and resources available to help in the sharing of our faith online as well as challenge and inspire each other to be more intentional about making the most of these opportunities and resources.

We at OurChurch.Com have blogged a lot about IEDay and ways to share our faith online in the past.  Here are some links to some great ideas!

• 20 Ways to Share Your Faith Online
• 14 digital ideas to share with your church
• 12 Ways to Share Your Faith Online with Instagram

What are some ways that you’ve shared your faith online?

Is your church or ministry doing anything to raise awareness about sharing our faith online on Internet Evangelism?

If not, there is still time.  And at the very least, you can champion the importance of sharing our faith online by blogging about it and sharing stories and ideas in social media.  You can do that, right?

Paul Steinbrueck

Co-founder & CEO, OurChurch.Com

Paul has been the CEO of OurChurch.Com since its founding in 1996, combining his passion for faith and technology to lead the organization.

An accomplished writer, Paul has authored over 2,000 articles on faith and technology, featured on platforms like ChurchLeaders.com, The JoyFM, and his personal blog, LiveIntentionally.org.

Beyond his professional achievements, Paul serves as an elder at Journey Community Church and is deeply engaged in his community through his involvement with the Florida Sheriffs Youth Ranch and the Safety Harbor Chamber of Commerce. He is a contributing author of the book Outspoken! Conversations on Church Communication. 

steinbrueck.org

The post Internet Evangelism Day is April 21. Are You Ready? appeared first on Christian Web Trends Blog: Church Websites, Design, SEO.

Global Media Outreach

This is a great example of how God is at work online.

It also demonstrates the importance of creating good Christian websites that

• Rank well in search engines
• Are easy to use
• Clearly communicate the gospel
• Are available in many languages

It also shows the significant impact any Christ follower can have as online missionary.

What do you think?

Paul Steinbrueck

Co-founder & CEO, OurChurch.Com

Paul has been the CEO of OurChurch.Com since its founding in 1996, combining his passion for faith and technology to lead the organization.

An accomplished writer, Paul has authored over 2,000 articles on faith and technology, featured on platforms like ChurchLeaders.com, The JoyFM, and his personal blog, LiveIntentionally.org.

Beyond his professional achievements, Paul serves as an elder at Journey Community Church and is deeply engaged in his community through his involvement with the Florida Sheriffs Youth Ranch and the Safety Harbor Chamber of Commerce. He is a contributing author of the book Outspoken! Conversations on Church Communication. 

steinbrueck.org

The post Online Missionary Saves a Soul and a Life appeared first on Christian Web Trends Blog: Church Websites, Design, SEO.

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?

Paul Steinbrueck

Co-founder & CEO, OurChurch.Com

Paul has been the CEO of OurChurch.Com since its founding in 1996, combining his passion for faith and technology to lead the organization.

An accomplished writer, Paul has authored over 2,000 articles on faith and technology, featured on platforms like ChurchLeaders.com, The JoyFM, and his personal blog, LiveIntentionally.org.

Beyond his professional achievements, Paul serves as an elder at Journey Community Church and is deeply engaged in his community through his involvement with the Florida Sheriffs Youth Ranch and the Safety Harbor Chamber of Commerce. He is a contributing author of the book Outspoken! Conversations on Church Communication. 

steinbrueck.org

The post 14 Digital Ideas to Share with Your Church on Internet Evangelism Day appeared first on Christian Web Trends Blog: Church Websites, Design, SEO.

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?

Paul Steinbrueck

Co-founder & CEO, OurChurch.Com

Paul has been the CEO of OurChurch.Com since its founding in 1996, combining his passion for faith and technology to lead the organization.

An accomplished writer, Paul has authored over 2,000 articles on faith and technology, featured on platforms like ChurchLeaders.com, The JoyFM, and his personal blog, LiveIntentionally.org.

Beyond his professional achievements, Paul serves as an elder at Journey Community Church and is deeply engaged in his community through his involvement with the Florida Sheriffs Youth Ranch and the Safety Harbor Chamber of Commerce. He is a contributing author of the book Outspoken! Conversations on Church Communication. 

steinbrueck.org

The post 12 Ways to Share Your Faith Online with Instagram appeared first on Christian Web Trends Blog: Church Websites, Design, SEO.

[blackbirdpie id=”188786304648093697″]

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?

Paul Steinbrueck

Co-founder & CEO, OurChurch.Com

Paul has been the CEO of OurChurch.Com since its founding in 1996, combining his passion for faith and technology to lead the organization.

An accomplished writer, Paul has authored over 2,000 articles on faith and technology, featured on platforms like ChurchLeaders.com, The JoyFM, and his personal blog, LiveIntentionally.org.

Beyond his professional achievements, Paul serves as an elder at Journey Community Church and is deeply engaged in his community through his involvement with the Florida Sheriffs Youth Ranch and the Safety Harbor Chamber of Commerce. He is a contributing author of the book Outspoken! Conversations on Church Communication. 

steinbrueck.org

The post 5 Lessons about Sharing Your Faith Online from Masters Winner @BubbaWatson appeared first on Christian Web Trends Blog: Church Websites, Design, SEO.