- Contact with people. Regular emails from me get to every member of the church on email. I get so much positive feedback about this. Church members really appreciate being kept in the loop and like the encouragement during the week.
- More Contact with People. Facebook and similar networking sites provide a great opportunity to interact with those I minister to both far and wide. It has been great way for me to keep up with friends in ministry who I don't see very often. See my blog on rules for George's Rules for Facebook.
- More productive Bible study and preaching preparation. Bible study programmes make the finding of texts so quick. That leaves more time for framing the message, illustrating and applying the message.
- Reading. I have not yet bought an electronic reader but I do use Kindle for Mac and for iPod Touch. Recently I moved to Australia from the USA and had to put my library on what turned out to be a very slow boat. 3 months later & I still have not received the shipment. However all my commentaries are on my MacBook Pro and all the books I have purchased in the past 6 months are on my Kindle software. Haven't missed a beat. It is so good to have all your library (eventually) on a device I just put in my satchel.
- Blogging as therapy. I don't think anyone reads my blogs but it is such good therapy for me. It really helps me process what is going on in my life and ministry.
- Church Websites have some effectiveness but nowhere near as much as I would like. I design and implement websites and have found them to be only effective in the following ways. A cyberspace sign post. When looking for a church in an area most people will google it. If you don't have a website you won't show up on the list. A source of recent messages preached at your church. I find people use this a lot. Also gives potential visitors a feel for your preaching. Other than that church websites can be pretty useless. Pet Peeve: if your church is going to have a website, please keep it up to date. It really sends a destructive message when you don't.
- Helps me get out of the office. When I had an office I was constantly interrupted by sales phone calls, people who thought I didn't have anything to do, door to door sales people, cleaners etc. An office was helpful as well but for those times when I need to get away from the annoyances but yet still stay in contact, my mobile phone and a laptop with a mobile broadband internet connection or a wifi hotspot made it possible.
One final thought: WARNING: Do not become a techno geek preacher. The rule for illustrations and visual aid also applies to technology ie. any technique that attracts attention to itself rather than the message is not only unhelpful, it is counter productive. Remember, ministry is a people to people thing, not a people to computer thing.
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