Archive for the ‘Engage’ Category
16May
To you, Lord, belong greatness and power, honor, splendor, and majesty, because everything in heaven and on earth belongs to you. Yours, Lord, is the kingship, and you are honored as head of all.
~Chronicles 29:11, CEB
Pinterest featue in Metro - 27th February 2012 (Photo credit: Great British Chefs)
By Tami Heim
Social media enthusiasts are enamored with the momentum of Pinterest. The number of men jumping on ‘boards’ is growing. Brand marketers are quickly and strategically infiltrating this network wherever they can. Big brands, intent on converting images into new revenue and profits streams, populate the daily flow of images.
Meanwhile, for those of us on the lookout for every opportunity to #LiveSticky, Pinterest is yet another place to share and live out our faith. On this platform every board holds the possibility of becoming a glorious reflection the God we serve.
Captivating images create conversations and conversations birth more shared experiences. Community happens, relationships form, inspiration abounds, and with a dose of intentionality, Pinterest creations introduce others to the One true Creator. Spirit-filled faith cannot be contained. It seeks to flow directly from our lives into the lives of others. On this rapidly growing social media platform, the current is strong.
10 Amazingly Easy Ways to Live Out Your Faith on Pinterest
Tags: #LiveSticky, Boards (magazine), Facebook, faith, Google +, Lord, Pin, Pinterest, social media, StickyJesus, twitter
Posted by Tami Heim. Posted in Culture, Engage, Equip, Uncategorized
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26Mar
By Tami Heim
Who is Phillip Randoll?
It’s a question many are asking around the Nashville area. Old school mystery, intrigue, and suspense populate the posts on social media sites. They attract the curious and cause buzz to build.
Investigate all the pieces and you find a story unfolding through twitter and Facebook status updates. A blog, videos, posters, and yard signs are carefully designed to catch your attention. Cryptic messages flow with just enough information to pique your interest in the fortunate death of a man no one claims to know.
As clues surface daily, it becomes clear there’s only one way you’ll discover the Truth and the whole story about this man named Phillip Randoll…
Tags: Baptist, Christ, Easter, Easter Sunday, Facebook, God, Jesus, Phillip Randoll, Religion and Spirituality, Social Media Outreach
Posted by Tami Heim. Posted in Culture, Engage, Equip, Uncategorized
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7Mar
1.7 Billion and Growing
By Tami Heim
Important NOW
Keeping perspective in a world full of high-tech and high-touch shiny gadgets demands enormous energy and capacity. The velocity of change can blur your daily thinking about what’s most important – if you let it.
And what’s most important in all of it? Right now One Spirit-filled voice has everything it needs to reach millions with a single post and click.
Coming Soon
Tags: Acts 1:8, Christ, God, HolySpirit, Judea and Samaria Area, NLT, online evangelism, social media, Wi-Fi
Posted by Tami Heim. Posted in Culture, Engage, Uncategorized
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4Jan
First in a three-part series on parents, teens, and Facebook.
by Toni Birdsong
One of the most common questions I get asked by parents is if it’s okay to let their son or daughter have a Facebook page. The first thing I do is gage where they are emotionally with social media. Then I listen. To their concerns. To their hearts. It’s a really big deal. Facebook has added an unexpected—and sometimes overwhelming—dimension to parenting today.
The good news is that God has given us as parents everything we need to lead these beautiful, expressive, swift-moving digital natives He’s entrusted to our care.
To clarify, this series is written to Christian parents in general and does not address the exceptions that exist in every family.
In general my answer to the Facebook question is yes. You should let your teen have a Facebook page if and only if you intend to monitor it—consistently. For teens today, Facebook is a vital connection channel where life, friendship, art, memories, music, and conversation intersect hourly—whether parents agree with that, or even like it.
That doesn’t mean that Facebook is a free-for-all graffiti wall for kids to write or post anything they feel like. Proverb’s directive to Christian parents to “Train up a child in the way he should go” extends to the digital hallways and hangouts.
Tags: bullying, Christians online, digital natives, Facebook, How-To, internet safety, parenting, social networks, teens
Posted by Toni Birdsong. Posted in Culture, Engage, Equip
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26Dec
The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told. Luke 2:20, NIV
They remembered. “Glory to God in the highest heaven"
By Tami Heim
By any chance, did you wake up wishing Christmas lingered a little longer this year? I did. I’ve been thinking about the shepherds and the afterglow they experienced seeing the heavenly host of angels and then gazing on the face of the baby Jesus. I image they shared the story of that night often and every time they did it brought them new comfort and joy. I simply refuse to surrender the sacred sweetness of this Christmas season. Will you refuse, too? I’m making some choices today and invite you to join me.
Today I’m going to…
Tags: Angel of the Lord, Christ, Christianity, Christmas, Gloria in Excelsis Deo, God, holiday, Jesus, Luke, New International Version, Opinions, Religion and Spirituality
Posted by Tami Heim. Posted in Christ, Engage, Uncategorized
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20Dec
When we join our hands together, the world will see the cross. (Thanks to reader Kimberly McCarthy --@Kmac4him -- for sharing this photo after she read this post.)
My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you.
~ John 17:20-21
by Toni Birdsong
Mother Teresa said if we have no peace it is because we have forgotten that we belong to each other.
She understood that changing the world—really changing the world—isn’t a solo sport. And so it goes with sharing your faith online.
Getting people to follow you, post on your blog, or give you a few dozen “likes” a day isn’t going to bring the world to repentance; nor will upping your Klout score fling wide the gates of heaven. But what if believers worked together online? What if we were firing on all cylinders instead of just a few?
What if our collective Love made people stop in their digital tracks. And stare. At Him.
Tags: believers online, church, Mother Teresa, prayer, unity
Posted by Toni Birdsong. Posted in Culture, Engage, Uncategorized
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8Dec
by Toni Birdsong
You may not own a home or even your own car. But if you’ve got a blog today, you’re sitting on a very valuable piece of property. With the trust in traditional media declining and trust in social media channels on the rise, bloggers today have undisputed influence. This moment in time is especially true for Christians who are brand advocates for history’s most powerful message—the gospel.
Think about it. Some blogs get more visits each day than churches get on Sunday, giving some bloggers more influence than some pastors. While that’s certainly not the intended goal, it is the reality.
Tags: blogging, Christian blogs, Christians online, churches, How-To, John Piper, online evangelism, Steven Furtick
Posted by Toni Birdsong. Posted in Christ, Engage, Equip, Uncategorized
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30Nov
Luke 7:37-39
By Tami Heim
Jesus commands His followers to love God and love people. Every connection He makes serves to emphasize this point. By invitation, He forgives, redeems, and introduces His Kingdom in real-time.
When one of the Pharisees invited Jesus to have dinner with him, he went to the Pharisee’s house and reclined at the table.
~ Luke 7:36, NIV
Jesus loves and leverages the power of story. With them, He resets cultural boundaries, rocks the status quo, and accentuates a love beyond the law that few comprehend. Stories with unprecedented compassion and forgiveness relocate hearts to foreign and uncomfortable places. His holy agenda permeates what He says and all He does.
Tags: christian, Christianity, God, holy spirit, Jesus, Luke, New International Version, online ministry, Pharisee, sharing faith online, technology and faith
Posted by Tami Heim. Posted in Christ, Culture, Engage, Uncategorized
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17Oct
May I be pleasing in Your sight.
May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, O LORD, my Rock and my Redeemer. ~ Psalm 19:14, NIV
By Tami Heim
One evening while trying to get my mind around how Google + fit into my social media routine, I found myself in pause mode. An intense conversation between a small group of men caught my attention.
Dialog bounced back and forth like a Michigan hockey puck. Each person took his shot at vehemently recanting all the things he hated about Facebook. For me, hate is a strong word, but I found myself stuck there, nonetheless, listening.
Tags: Christ, Facebook, faith online, God, Google +, holy spirit, Jesus, Jesus Christ, Lord, O LORD, social media, Sticky Jesus
Posted by Tami Heim. Posted in Culture, Engage, Equip
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14Oct
By Toni Birdsong
It feels good to be with friends. We feel loved around people who affirm and encourage us. And, we feel safe—even empowered—when we strike the sweet, unmistakable note of common ground. For Christians, fellowship in the body of Christ can be one of the purest, most powerful forces we experience here on earth.
But what happens when we spend all of our time with people just like us when we log online? Blinders form. Exclusion creeps in. Well-worn digital paths emerge. Soon, we become blind to the brokeness and deaf to the need that pulsates around us.
As believers, we have three callings while we walk the earth:
- To know God and enjoy His presence personally. Deut. 4:29-31
- To worship God and grow within a body of believers. Phil. 2:1-4
- To share God’s Truth and love with the people who still don’t know Him. Acts 1:8
Tags: body of Christ, Courage, digital outreach, evangelism, prayer, share your faith
Posted by Toni Birdsong. Posted in Engage, Equip, Uncategorized
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