All Things In Common

Multi-site worship / Discipleship

2009-07-07T09:30:00.003-05:00

I've talked to Rob once about the concerns I had about "i-worship" or "i-churches" and one of the big problems I've had is the "fellowship" - Here's what I mean: As limited as I am with technology and the advances in communication, I have experienced (as most have) the problem of misunderstanding, of not hearing one's tone, or seeing the smile or frown when someone speaks. I certainly have been misunderstood before - now maybe thats my fault as much as anyone's but I think its a legitimate concern. Plus, how does an i-church develop as a body? Fellowship? But then again I don't do a very good job the traditional way so who am I to criticize? Moreover, maybe my concerns simply arise because I'm not "fluent" in "i-speak"(i.e. myspace, facebook, twitter, etc.)

In spite of this, I like the premise of "multi-site" churches and internet campuses and realize that the cutting edge of the Gospel is much beyond any limitations I have - PTL! I found the following article on the blog Out of Ur and thought it interesting -

Webcam Worship

Spiritual formation in internet church.

The following is an excerpt from a chapter called "Internet Campuses—Virtual or Real Reality?" in the book A Multi-Site Church Road Trip: Exploring the New Normal, by Geoff Surratt, Greg Ligon, and Warren Bird (Zondervan, 2009). This picks up mid-chapter; so to bring you up to speed, we're talking about the strengths and weaknesses of internet campuses as they relate to spiritual growth and formation.

Even if a church does a good job of creating an engaging and life-transforming online worship experience, it may not be enough. What about the rest of what it means to be the church? When I pressed Troy [Gramling, senior pastor of Flamingo Road Church in Florida] with this question, he said that both physical and internet campuses are trying to do the same thing: help people take the next step from where they are to where God is calling them. “The first step is accepting Christ,” Troy explained. “That can happen anywhere. The next step is baptism, and we have discovered that can happen anywhere as well.” Indeed, in 2007 Brian Vasil baptized a new believer online for the first time. They didn’t use virtual water or a cheesy clip art graphic. It was the real thing.

A young woman from Georgia who had never attended any of Flamingo Road Church’s physical campuses gave her life to Christ during a service on the internet campus. She wanted to be baptized, so she contacted her campus pastor, Brian, via email. He spoke with her on the phone about her decision to accept Christ and about her desire to be baptized. Then he helped coordinate the event. She was baptized by her mother-in-law in the family Jacuzzi tub with the Flamingo Road internet family watching via webcam and rejoicing in the significant moment for one of their peers. That’s taking the next step. For those involved with the church, it was the real thing.

Troy indicated that the church’s internet team gets emails and calls all the time about similar decisions in people’s lives. He emphasized, “It’s cool when you see people take those steps. Even though it is online, it provides the experience of being part of the community.”

The next steps people are encouraged to take are bringing their lost friends to church and serving. The value of the internet campus in evangelism is immeasurable. And there are plenty of opportunities for people to serve, both virtually and in the physical neighborhoods of internet campus attenders. Online at Flamingo, people serve as greeters in the chat rooms. They pray with people following the services, and they do visitor follow-up during the week. These are just a few of the many opportunities to serve.

Some churches have even created scenarios that allow them to share in the sacrament of Communion online. Other churches are developing additional facets of ministry beyond weekend worship services. Some of the most promising initial developments have been in the direction of online small groups. Flamingo Road’s online small group ministry comes live from Brian’s home. Other churches have established online student and children’s ministries where kids, students, and parents are engaging in the life of the church.

In a bricks-and-mortar church, leaders can limit distractions and use a variety of tools to create experiences to connect people emotionally to the music and message. With an online church, that is much harder to do. The people attending your church online might be doing a million different things in the background while the service is in progress. Or they might be in an environment filled with distractions. The growth edge for internet campuses is their need to move their attenders to full engagement. Perhaps the most challenging part of the internet campus idea is the reality that when people aren’t physically in the room, as they are in a church sanctuary, you can’t control the environment.

Some of you may still be skeptical (as I was before I experienced church online). The question asked most often is, “How do you know that disciples of Jesus Christ are actually being made?” When I asked Troy, he brought me back to his definition of church as a process of taking one step after another along the faith journey. As a church, Flamingo Road measures growth and discipleship through steps taken. Baptism is a discipleship step. Financial giving is a discipleship step. Serving is a discipleship step. Inviting friends to church and talking to them about Christ are also discipleship steps. Many of these discipleship steps are no different than the steps used to gauge growth at a church with a physical campus. In some cases they are even measured or tracked in the same way.

Troy sees the use of internet campuses as an outpouring of his pastoral heart. He views them as a tool to reach and disciple people all over the world. “Now it’s hard for me to say I don’t care about what happens in Oklahoma or Idaho or England or Peru,” he says, “when I have the technology in my hands that can help me reach people in those neighborhoods.”

Posted by UrL Scaramanga on July 6, 2009

LAUGHING WITH GOD

2009-06-30T07:05:00.003-05:00

OK, I'll go ahead and ask "What do you think?" of this video - does a question make a sound if asked in a forest with no one around to hear it? ;-p

Lyrics
(I think I've got them right)

No one laughs at God in a hospital
No one laughs at God in a war
No one's laughing at God when they''re starving or freezing or so very poor

No one laughs at God
When the doctor calls after some routine tests
No one's laughing at God
When it's gotten real late and their kids not back from the party yet

No one laughs at God
When their airplane starts to uncontrollably shake
No one's laughing at God
When they see the one they love hand-in-hand with someone else
And they hope that they're mistaken

No one's laughing at God
When the cops knock on their door
And they say we got some bad news, sir
No one's laughing at God
When there's a famine or fire or flood
Chorus
But God can be funny
At a cocktail party when listening to a good God-themed joke
Or when the crazies say He hates us
And they get so red in the head you think they're 'bout to choke

God can be funny
When told he'll give you money if you just pray the right way
And when presented like a genie who does magic like Houdini
Or grants wishes like Jiminy Cricket and Santa Claus

God can be hilarioius - Ha ha - Ha ha

No one laughs at God in a hospital
No one laughs at God in a war
No one's laughing at God
When they've lost all they've got
And they don't know what for

No one laughs at God on they day they realize
That the last sight they'll ever see is a pair of hateful eyes
No one's laughing at God when they're saying their good-byes

Chorus

No one laughs at God in a hospital
No one laughs at God in a war
No one laughs at God in a hospital
No one laughs at God in a war
No one's laughing at God in a hospital
No one's laughing at God in a war
No one's laughing at God when they're starving or freezing or so very poor

No one's laughing at God
No one's laughing at God
No one's laughing at God
We're all laughing with God

Just playin'

2009-05-26T09:55:00.001-05:00

Have a Laugh

Going to the Shack

2009-01-20T08:34:00.002-06:00

Hey Everyone,
Just wanted to give you a "head's up" and try to get everyone "on board" and "up to speed" (how many catch phrases are you allowed in one sentence? :-)

So I've read The Shack and enjoyed it and I thought we might try to start a discussion about it. We can touch on some of the controversy if you want but I would rather keep it as positive as possible. I'm thinking we should start in a couple of weeks in order to give some the time to read it or at least begin. So, make some notes about what you liked, disliked, what touched you, etc. and keep watching for the discussion to start!
Love you all,
Keith

Ladies' Breakfast

2008-11-24T23:06:00.003-06:00

On November 15th, several of the ladies of the congregation met to fellowship over some yummy breakfast treats and hear an inspiring message from Connie Cummins, friend of Becky Collins who serves as a missionary in Thailand. Connie's message was unbelievable. Aside from her obvious sacrifice to live in a foreign country as a disciple for Christ, her message inspired us to live as an example for those around us.

Big thanks to Connie for her time and to Becky for introducing us to her dear friend!

All Things In Common

2008-11-15T10:15:00.002-06:00

The title of the blog is also the title of my sermon this Sunday (Nov.16). Here is a preview of one of the ideas I'm wrestling with: "Is unselfishness other-worldly?" Baby Jesus is the poster-child of what it means to be unselfish (leaving heaven) and the man Jesus is as well (the cross).

We read in Acts 2:44 that the early church "had all things in common" - some have called this communism, others have used it to steal in the name of God. Perhaps it is misused in other ways too.

I think those just reveal a "this-worldliness" instead of following the unselfish example of our Lord's "other-worldliness." This world simply does not understand this kind of unselfishness. For that matter, neither does much of the church. (Including me most of the time). More's the pity.

Blessings

Sermon Reactions for Sunday Nov 9 2008

2008-11-12T22:07:00.000-06:00

Sunday's sermon for November 9, 2008 was over Leviticus 10. It was a "tag team" sermon from Keith and Ben. What did you like about it? What did you not understand? Do you have questions about the speaker's viewpoints or do you have a different viewpoint?

A Blog's Beginning

2008-11-12T18:01:00.000-06:00

Hey, all! If you're here, I guess you are probably one of our members. If you aren't, please read our "about us" section to learn a bit about our history and our members. We hope this blog can be a place to have discussions, post concerns and prayer requests, share praises and pictures of events, and keep everyone posted about upcoming events. If you are a member and would like to join in posting, we will be glad to give you the sign in information. Otherwise, feel free to post comments on posts and lets get some good discussions going. So, here it goes!