Everybody wants to change the world … so why can’t we?

Unless you’re a really hardened cynic, I think it’s fair to say that most everyone wants to do good, even if don’t always act on it or even if we don’t really know what that is

It’s obvious that social good is hot right now. Google’s All for Good, Twitter’s Twestival and all sorts of micro-sites are tapping to that desire for people to “contribute.” The web’s core values of collaboration and creativity; its smart, curious, and socially savvy users; and its astounding network effects have created fertile soil for social activism that dares to change the world.

So why don’t we do more as the church to embrace Jesus command to do good to others as an evangelism opportunity?

I’m convinced that when people stand shoulder to shoulder with sold-out believers “working out” their salvation, that the gospel will get preached in dramatic ways. In fact, I think the church should choose personal missions above financial mission work wherever possible for this very reason.

One of the most joyful moments of my life as a newspaper editor was my decision in 2005, under the prompting of the Holy Spirit, to send a curious, spiritually seeking reporter to Hurricane-Katrina ravaged Mississippi with two Christian congregations who were ministering there.

She returned with a deep, profound, life-transforming understanding of Christ that led her to become a member of her church, be baptized in Christ and eventually become a part-time children’s ministry worker.

I think there’s plenty of opportunities for us to engage with people who want to do good locally, since who knows local communities and there needs better than local churches? Why are we leaving this to the United Ways and the Rotary Clubs of the world?

Mission activity energizes local congregations, gets them focused on the point of living for Jesus and gives us an opportunity to talk about Jesus — and build the relationships with non-believers who may later be interested in finding out a little more about why we choose to live such other-focused and sacrificial lives.

We can start by registering what missions opportunities we do have on search engines like All For Good. And then we can start designing and executing high-contact, flexible and inspiring missions opportunities in our local communities.

What’s stopping us?

Filed under: community, evangelism, volunteers , community, evangelism, social action

Reflections on an amazing beta test of the NewSpring Web Campus

NewSpring has a history of launching things before they are ready. I guess that’s our way of making sure that we’re desperately depending on God.

Joshua hit the wall

At 2 a.m. Sunday, NewSpring’s creative director/web strategist/sometime front-end coder, Joshua Blankenship, had admitted defeat.

The all-important chatroom on the NewSpring Web Campus wasn’t functional. Joshua told me later he wasn’t expecting that we could move forward with our beta test at all. Next week’s launch was looking iffy, too.

God had other plans.

Today’s web campus “private” beta was successful beyond everyone’s wildest dreams.

What started out as a closed test broke-out across Twitter world in an unplanned way after someone in Overland Park, Kan., twittered about it.

We decided to embrace our “public” beta, and we ended up with nearly 250 visitors in our two services. We saw only a few minor issues, most of them user-interface related, and most of them known beforehand.

It was tremendously encouraging to receive so many positive reviews from our techno-evangelist friends in the “Big C” church.

But from the campus pastor’s point of view, I was even more amazed — and humbled — at how brilliantly our video production and web staff and 20-strong volunteer team performed today under considerable pressure, without much practice, with a total unity of purpose.

From the beginning, our volunteers — most would admit not being technologically sophisticated at all — were willing to believe on faith that God was in control of our Web Campus and would bring glory to himself through it. More than one volunteer shed tears of joy today when they finally saw what was possible.

Video producer Will Rodes (left) and Web genius Joshua Blankenship working the web campus chatroom

Volunteers Tim and Rhonda Evatt

Volunteers Micah Swift, Elaine Payne and Lynn Whitfield

Amid all the techno-chatter, there were some amazing stories:

• We had two people watching from hospital beds who received encouragement and prayer.
• We had one couple burst into tears while they watched video of baptisms in the web service stream.
• We had another person, struggling deeply, stumble across the campus while randomly surfing and receive comfort and prayer from two others who had experienced a similar heartbreak.

The web campus ministered to people. It was authentic. It was grace.

All I can say is “Thank you, Jesus!”

I don’t know how I got to be in this place and in this time, amid an extraordinary, unexplainable move of God. I’m all too ordinary. All I can do is praise God for his grace on me, and our church, and beg that he continues to shine his face on our ministry.

We had nearly 200 salvations today at NewSpring’s three physical campuses, bringing the year’s total to 650.

Join with me in praying that, with the help of the web campus, the number of those placing their trusting in Jesus for the first time will be multiplied by 1,000 times this year.

Filed under: community, ruminations, social media, volunteers, web campus , community, evangelism, icampus, icampus rollout, web campus, web campus rollout

NewSpringers “get it” when it comes to our web campus

I can see why the concept of online church would make some people cautious.

I understand that folks are skeptical about whether you can have true online-only community.

And I expect some folks to be plain dismissive.

But as I pointed out in a comment on Church Crunch recently, I’ve been pleasantly surprised by the response I’ve gotten from regular church members here at NewSpring about our web campus.

When I cast vision Sunday to our launch volunteer team (of all ages, backgrounds and technical aptitudes, mind you) that the web campus is a legitimate way to do church, I braced for at least some resistance.

Zip. Nothing. Nada.

Thought you might want to read some of the encouragement I have gotten from them via email.

“I am so excited about our new web church. I think it is going to go through the roof.” – Cheryl

“For years I’ve heard people say (who were tired of standard church) we watch (TV preacher) for church .. webcampus will offer much more to people in that position, I’m excited.” – Mike

“Looking forward to this spectacular ministry” – Gloria

“At first I didn’t really know what to think about it (except that I wanted to be a part of it in some way) but now I am just really excited to get it cranked up” – Micah

Yes, NewSpring Church is awesome.

It has awesome, can-do, ready-for-anything members who believe God is HUGE and wants us to use everything at our disposal to round-up his lost children.

That’s the answer for why we’re growing like crazy, in case you’re wondering.

But you knew that already.

Filed under: volunteers, web campus , icampus, icampus rollout, web campus

Meet Blaine: The true miracle of tech is unlocking the power of God in people

I haven’t been a pastor very long (and I don’t yet have a real flock, so to speak) but God has been gracious enough to give me a chance already to taste one of the greatest and unexpected joys of the job: Seeing how God can use me to help others live in the fullness of who God made them to be.

Today, I added a volunteer to the NewSpring web campus team, Blaine, an Anderson University student, who is simply a walking miracle. A man who is the grace of God.

In the carefree prime of his teenage life, on short-term leave from the U.S. Army Reserve, Blaine took his muscle car for a joyride on S.C. 81 in Anderson County, near Easley. The single-vehicle wreck, which occurred at speeds estimated at more than 90 mph, should have been fatal.  Blaine spent time in a coma. The doctors said that if he did survive, it would be in a permanent vegetative state.

But by the mercies and the power of God, that’s not how the story turned out.

Instead, he recovered his motor skills to the point where he can walk unhindered. He maintained all his brain function, right down to his fluency with French and his conversational Spanish. His only “disability” is that he is mute and has one withered hand.

That’s OK. When he’s out and about he can still hold his Jornada computer in his good hand and type out his conversations with the one protruding finger from his other hand.

And when he’s at home and hooked up to the Internet, that’s all he needs to handle live prayer on the NewSpring web campus. There he’ll be able to actively encourage potentially thousands of other believers in their time of confusion or need to trust and believe in the power of God to make things new.

Many of us evangelize the power of technology for the gospel. But for me, it’s just not how far we can carry the message of Christ that is so God-inspiring about our future. It’s all the people who will get to carry that message who would have been unable to a generation or two ago, whether through their “disabilities” or their social circumstances.

The body of Christ has many stories like this. Share them here, share them there, share them everywhere. Just share them.

Filed under: community, ruminations, volunteers, web campus , community, social media, web campus