All over the world, groups of people from every nation gather for prayer and spiritual fulfillment. These physical gatherings were once the only way for people to hear and preach the gospel. However, even something as old-fashioned as Sunday School could use a little bit of technology now and then to help spread the word farther and wider.
At comF5, we integrate video into everything we do. With our LiveF5 product a church, or any religious congregation, is able to hold live broadcasts of sermons, classes and events which not only manage to reach people from far away, but those who are sick or simply unable to attend physically for whatever reason. LiveF5 also allows you to store your live recordings so that people can review them later or just review what they may have missed.
With MailF5 and MarketingF5 you are able to place video inside your newsletters and email updates which allows you to convey not only the words of the gospel, but your passion for the gospel. It also lets you speak to your members, not just send them text, outside of the normal meetings.
With comF5 your congregation does not need to sit together in order to be together.
The gifting's within others continue to amaze me. As Paul reminded the Corinthian church that they were part of a body and each one has gifts differing. I must admit the older I get the more aware of this one thing I am becoming - We, in and of ourselves, can not expect to thrive relying solely on what we know or what we are gifted to do. We Need Others - it is the way God made us.
So then why is it, when I encounter someone with a gift that inspires me do I catch myself wishing that their gift were mine? Instead, the mature response should be that of celebrating the gifting's within others and giving them credit for what they have that I do not possess myself. I find the need to remind myself once again that the gifting's in others are intended to strengthen and encourage me which really is the way it is suppose to be according to Paul's admonition in I Corinthians 12.
Baring my soul today, I must admit that in the past I have actually found myself hiding the gifts that I have found in others from people I know, so that my gifting's would be exalted in the minds of others. When I hide your strengths to make me look special, important, smarter or valuable something is wrong....talk about insecure.
So I encourage you - look around you today. Take time to consider the gifting's within those you live with, do church with and work with...it just might surprise you what they have that is being taken for granted. Together with Christ, the Holy Spirit and His Word people were given to you for your benefit. You can not thrive and succeed without them, for they are your God intended supply of strength in the areas you are weak in - they are a supply of wisdom in areas you lack in - they will see things from their perspective that you will not see without them - they have people skills you do not possess - they can throw a party you could never throw - they know about technology that you are completely ignorant of - they have ideas you will never dream - they have experience in areas that you have never experienced - they see solutions you do not see....
Rhema Alumni Family - Valuing the gifts within others is a great gift to give yourself.
So while I was reading the most recent Michael Hyatt blog post I found myself thinking - wow, I wish I could write as prolific as he and come up with topics like he does....but then I was reminded, we are not all gifted alike....so instead of trying to be like him I will just pass on a recent post that blessed me - I hope you enjoy gleaning from his gifting's as I have this morning.
Have a great weekend from all of us here in the Rhema Alumni Office - we love you and pray for you...
Nine Ways to Properly Host a Guest Speaker
By Stephanie Bell
1. Find out what your guest likes. Snacks (candy bars, crackers, cheese), drinks, mints, etc. Have a welcome basket made for them and put in their hotel room prior to their arrival. If their wife is traveling with them or they are a woman minister, have a basket with candels and/or bath and body products in it.
2. What kind of honorarium should you give? Don't expect your offering to be a sufficient amount for your speaker. If you cannot give a sufficient amount, don't ask them to come. A lot of traveling ministers live off of their honorariums. Can you live off of $100 a week for you and your family? Most likely the answer is no. Always ask your guest what they normally receive for the type of meeting you are having and give them that amount or more. Have their check ready to give them before they leave. Never send the check in the mail. Idea: Start taking an extra offering once a month for three months before the meeting!
3. If you're not prepared to spend a little extra money and time, you are not ready to have a guest speaker in. It is going to take money! Remember, How would you want to be treated? If you treat a guest well and take care of him/her, he/she will be able to minister better.
4. Once they arrive before the meeting, give the speaker time alone. Don't assume they want to go and visit with everyone in the church. 99% of the speakers would like to have time alone before they preach.
5. Give your guest the choice of going to eat after service or to your home. Don't plan it - ask! Sometimes they may be too tired to go eat and they will just want to go back to the hotel.
6. When you have a male guest don't have a female pick them up or vice versa.
7. Hotel's - Most guests would rather stay in a hotel than your home. Yes, it's cheaper for you if they stay in your house, but they won't have privacy to prepare for the services. Don't put them in Motel 6, if this is all you can afford, you're not ready to have a special guest. You don't have to spend $100 a night. You do need to go look at the rooms before you have your guest come. You can find a nice hotel for $90-$125 a night, easy. A plus for your guest would be to check the heat/air before your guest arrives to make their room comfortable.
8. Find out if your guest prefers to rent a car or have you pick them up. If you are picking them up: make sure your car is clean on the inside and outside. Find out how much luggage your guest will have and make sure your car is big enough to put it in.
9.Often a guest minister will be told that the host church will be "looking after" the hotel. But when the guest checks in, he/she is asked for a credit card. There has been a mix-up of some kind and the front desk is not aware that the host church is responsible. If the guest minister can provide written confirmation that the host church is paying the hotel, that is helpful. In other cases, the host church is paying for the hotel and meals, but not phone calls, etc. This should be clearly stated in the invitation letter. Also whether or not they can charge meals to their room number. Another thing is that if they are ministering in another country other than the US, it should be made clear that they are being paid in the currency of the host country, unless otherwise arranged.
Most importantly, communicate with your guest speaker before they come on the arrangements you have made for them concerning the hotel and honorarium so you are able to have a fulfilling meeting with your guest speaker.
In the last few weeks a lot of attention was drawn to the new book "Love Wins " by Rob Bell. A friend of mine read the book and said his conclusion was that Rob Bell did not have anything biblically solid to say, but rather his book was basically a giant question on Hell with a question much like Eve was given in the garden by the serpent who said " Did God really say you will die? ".
Many people love Rob Bell and his style because they say he makes people think and causes people to doubt things and wonder. Adam and Eve were provoked to question what God first said and looked what happened to them and in turn us. And after they were posed with a question about what God originally said they changed their minds and made a bad decision and we are all still all dealing with sin because of it. Adam & Eve intoxicated their minds with another influence beyond God’s.
The bible is very clear from Old and New Testaments that God will hold each soul accountable in the end. God also makes it clear in the Bible that the way to destruction is wide and the way to peace is narrow and very few find it. Jesus did not say that everyone will find peace and the narrow path, but few would be on it. Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. Matthew 7:13
It is true that God loves everyone and that Jesus paid a price for everyone's sins so that whosoever wanted Him, the narrow path, forgiveness ,release and eternal life would not be denied.
1 Peter 5:8 says to the followers of Jesus , " be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour."
Let me pose a Rob Bell style question to you in reverse? Does God's Word really say you have to be sober minded and alert about an enemy? Certainly God will not let anything happen to those he loves. I could write a long article or even a book trying to convince believers that God's power, grace and strength will never allow anything bad to happen to His children, but that would not be true to life or the scriptures. Just ask the marytrs someday.
I won't write anything like that because I know that the full council of the Word of God teaches a balance between divine protection and personal responsibility.
What does it mean to be Sober minded and Alert? In today's world the roaring devil is still out seeking whom he may destroy.
In the Gospel of John 3:18 it says," whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son." The only solution to our present state of damnation is to turn to Jesus Christ and trust Him and receive His offer of escape. If we accept Him and follow and stay sober we have great hope and so much more. If we reject, get sloppy and careless and get intoxicated in our minds with the philosophies of this world then we are warned we will be devoured by an enemy. A sober mind is a mind & heart that feeds upon the Word of God, meditating on it day and night. Psalm 1:2 But his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night.
Jesus commanded us to go into all the world and makes disciples. That mission is so broad in methodology, yet so focused in purpose. Jesus also taught on how to make disciples by a 3 part step. 1. Testimony through water baptism. 2.Instruction through teaching. 3. Mentoring through example. The applications for all of these can be done in through technology with the exception of water baptism of course. Even though technology is lowest form of communication and in person ministry is the highest form of communication it is nonetheless communication and should be considered with its present ease and accessibility for so many ministries.
The local church should be focused on making and reaching others for Christ where they are physically located and where they can develop meaningful relationships face to face. That is the highest form of discipleship making. However discipleship / mentoring does not have to be limited to the highest form and especially so when the recording of that highest form can be shared without much effort or in some cases no effort as the lowest form of communication.
James O Davis in a seminar I attended once said, “the lowest form of communication is predictability”. The highest form of communication for the preacher is proclaiming the gospel. So if people can predict what will happen before it happens because it happens that way so often then we communicate predictability as the lowest form of communication. If our disciples making efforts are also predictable why would we not try to share them beyond our Control Zone of personal influence?
As a local church of Jesus in your community you have a mission to reach others for Christ right where you are physically located. Granted you send missionaries out beyond your area and support them. But aside from that, if you’re lowest form of communication (predictability) and highest forms of communication (preaching a new message) can be captured and spread around the globe with little effort and little expense why would you not do it?
The ministries I have been in have been sharing for now over 10 years over the internet. I could tell you story after story of how many different touches I am aware of just by sharing what we already do over the internet. Before the internet was Radio and TV. Those forms of communication were cost prohibitive for the majority of churches. With the advent of the internet the majority of churches are without excuse now. We should all be taking advantage of these tools for His honor and glory.
The objections we can drum up for not considering reaching others for Christ beyond our control and direct influence usually boil down to selfishness, inconvenience and intimation of the unknown. If we are already going to teach and preach locally why not splash that influence and anointing wherever the Spirit of God may direct it? If you have watched any type of spiritual content on recorded or live media and learned something, then you just justified why you should do the same.
Last but certainly not least is the example of Jesus spending time with his disciples. When Jesus was teaching anyone of His disciple He always had the others disciples around listening to that conversation. Rarely do we find Jesus doing one on one ministry accept for Prayer with the Father and very few random examples. Even though a comment might have been directed to one disciple in particular the rest of the disciples observed and caught the splash over by default. What a great example Jesus gives of having influence beyond the target. If we target our local community while also spreading that influence through broadcasting and social media, God can reach more lost and discouraged souls than had you not given opportunity to splash and multiple your influence.
In our local ministry we know we have had impact and influence through audio/website/blog and video broadcast around the world. If you would like suggestions and ideas based on your equipment and budget constraints I would be glad to consult and direct. When it comes to communication on the internet the lowest form of communication is print and the highest form of communication is live and interactive video. Let’s reach our world for Christ and not limit what God will do with His word when released beyond our direct control.
Peter Migner is a pastor in Florida who also does personal digital consulting for churches and pastors. You can reach him and review his blogs at www.petermigner.com
So you pastor a large church and you only have so much time to get it all done. Or, you pastor a smaller church and work a full time job and only have so much time to get it all done. Whichever pastor you are, you are busy and desire to be as effective as possible with the same 24/7 as the next guy right? You keep hearing about all the latest tools and sometimes it gets a little crazy trying to discern what you have time to learn in order to save money and time.
I want to suggest 4 tools to use for consideration for effective touches with less than 3 hours a week. These digital touch tools you likely already own and use. Those tools are your phone, a text, the mailbox and video email.
Regardless if you have 100 or 2000 people in your church those people would so appreciate a personal touch by their senior pastor at least once a year. We all realize that in this post modern culture that the door to door personal visit is almost gone. However, there still does exist those personal visits for the hospital call, tragic situation, counseling and the random builder generation visits. The surprise visits or random drop in calls are quickly becoming a thing of days past.
So how does the contemporary pastor touch every member in a year regardless of the size of the ministry up to 2000 people? Some folks can be personally touched in different ways and feel just as loved and touched as the next person with a different method or tool. So instead of breaking people into groups I will break tools into groups and you can place the people you have under those respective touches that they would identify and appreciate most. Start touching once a week or on special days and see the blessing you will become to strengthening the body of Christ. Birthday and Anniversaries can be your back up to assure you touch everyone once a year.
~Digital Touches~
The Phone : Call those people in your church who have a special birthday or anniversary with a quick 15 second greeting and a brief prayer. Put those days in your phone or calendar to remind you and many of those you can do between appointments. If they are talkers and you don???t have time to get caught then use one of the next 3 tools.
Text Message : It???s easy to have a standard prayer or Happy something with their name in it under 160 characters. Send a text message and it might hit them at just the right moment in the day. For them to know their pastor had them on his or her mind at that special time is hugh. It???s easy and quick and depending on the age and how often they use text it is just as effective as hearing your voice and for some more so.
Card in the Mail: For years I used them until the advent of email and then got away from it. But with technology there are some great tools. My favorite time saver is now SOC. I have sent out over 1500 pieces in the last 3-4 years. I can blast the same card to lists at special holidays too. I can do many personal typed cards months in advance and have it programmed to send a card, postcard or even include gifts with cards with my signature just in time for that special day in the mailbox. For under a $1.05 per greeting card ( stamp included) it is a pastor's gift to send a real card without having to leave your desk top. Last of all but not necessarily least is the email but with a personal touch beyond the common.
Video Mail: ComF5 offers a great tool for sending emails with audio and/or video or both imbedded in your email message. I started using that over 5 years ago and I have had amazing comments over the years. This allows your voice or face or both in front of theirs in a very personal way while you still control the time factor.
Schedule your time accordingly once a week and look at your people and who would appreciate which touch the best along with which touch saves you the most time and you will keep the touch of ministry balanced within the digital age without losing your mind.
Peter Migner is a pastor in Florida who also does personal digital consulting for churches and pastors. You can reach him and review his blogs at www.petermigner.com
