Can twitter give your ministry’s effectiveness a step up? The church could learn alongside businesses that social media matters, because word of mouth can build or destroy a company or ministry’s PR impression, how people view them. Word of mouth is, after all, the way in which the gospel is spread—one beggar telling another where to find the Bread of Life.

It’s time for beggars to unite and network with others socially, offering something of value. For goodness sake, don’t enter the networks with a, “ya’ll come now, you hear?” attitude. This isn’t a place to issue blanket invitations to a church service or gathering. We’ve got to enter into a relationship with those we want to reach. Offer ourselves, friendship, a listening ear, an encouraging word, a big kudos for a job well done. Offer helps, tips, whatever, as long as it’s of value.

Should a church or ministry have a social media minister? Since businesses find great potential in social media as a cutting edge way to do business, it might benefit ministries as well. A ministry can make relevant connections and impact lives through social networks. I’m not saying all ministries or churches should engage social media as a method of reaching and touching people, but it’s a great way for ministries to engage and relate with those they want to reach and give them something valuable.

Here’s a video worth looking into. It’s Laura Fitton’s, @Pistachio, keynote address about twitter titled “Twitter for Business.” If I could rewrite the script, I would title it “Twitter for Ministry” and have every mention of business rewritten as ministry.

Think of

• the ways a ministry team could benefit with instant communication,
• the knowledge and understanding of the people you work with and those you want to reach, and
• the opportunity to share your vision and keep focus on your mission.

After watching the video, please share your opinion of the benefits social media can have on your ministry. Have you seen a social network ministry be effective, build relationships with opportunity for life change?

To view @Pistachio’s power point presentation.

I look forward to hearing your ideas.

Have you ever received a heifer gift? I did. I didn’t know whether to be offended or not. My brother gave it to me and the whole family laughed hysterically.

History
A little history makes the gift more understandable. Years ago as my creative husband cycled through his affectionate terms for me, he called me his “hot heifer.” Should I’ve been delighted he called me hot? Or punched him for calling me a heifer? My mixed emotion and reaction delighted him so much that name stuck for a while. He used it often and in front of others just to see my reaction again. My brother loved it and kept stirring it up even past my husband’s retiring of said pet name.

That was in the past and I thought gone forever, but my brother drew my name for Christmas. No, he didn’t get me a heifer, nor would that have made it my best Christmas ever. We aren’t so rural to be giving cows for Christmas. Although last year my sweet honey asked for laying hens, and I gave him “two French hens” that really were Rhode Island Reds. Whoohoo, fresh eggs on December 26th.

This Christmas
Instead, this year was almost stress free and definitely more relaxed. Instead of trying to find some gift for loved ones that already have all they need and most all their wants, we opted to try something new. Putting shopping stress behind us, we decided to give to a charity in the name of our loved ones. We spent time looking for a charity that matched the person’s likes, concerns, and personality. Then made the donation and wrote a card describing the charity and why we chose that particular one. It was fun.

For our thirteen year old who eats often, we gave to World Hunger. Our nineteen year old wanted a donation to the Pregnancy Care Center in their honor. Our sixteen year old got fresh water through Thirst No More. Grandmother sat at the computer and helped the three kids pick a Compassion International child to adopt. We now have Alejandro from Peru as a new son. He’s so cute! I gave my brother who plays lots of ball, a donation in his name to Texas Sports Reach, a ministry that goes into prisons, plays softball and shares the gospel with the prisoners. My wonderful husband received a donation in his name to the Ronald McDonald House to help families with very sick children.

Then my brother gave me my card…

The front of the card had a huge wildebeest-looking, foreign, something-or-other kind of cow on it. A little boy held the beast by a tethered rope at a river. Upon opening the card it read, “In your honor, a gift has been made to Heifer International to help struggling people around the world become self-reliant for food and income.”

Laughter filled the room. Oh my gosh, you’d of thought Jeff Foxworthy just told the best joke ever. Will I ever live that name down? Thanks to the loving men in my life!

We had a great time enjoying one another and escaped all the stress of Christmas shopping. I was amazed at how relaxed Christmas could be. I think we’ve stumbled upon a great tradition for our family.

I’ve got a very painful heartache this morning.

I’m broken for the broken.
Crying for those who no longer cry.
Hurting for those devalued, feeling unloved.
Empty Christian shells without joy.
Desperately needing love.
Little girls and boys behind grown-up eyes.
Drying up. Crying out. Is there hope?
I love them.
I want them to know the love I’ve found.
I . . .
I can’t do this alone.
I can’t fix the lack of love.
There are thousands, tens of thousands, millions of them.
They sit in Bible class with us.
They check our groceries.
They walk the streets, homeless.
They live in man-made mansions.
They’re everywhere.
They’re single.
They’re married.
They’ve got relationships galore, but remain alone.
They hide behind destructive behavior.
They mask the emptiness with productivity or success.
They just want to be loved!
Believers and unbelievers alike.
I feel so broken.
I weep.
Oh God, how can I do any good?
The need is so desperate and vast.
I am only one.
Shall I stay at home and cry in my robe?
What can I do or try?
Should I blog this heartache of mine?
Or is it way too personal?
“How can they hear without a preacher,” You say.
Oh God, give me a megaphone!!!
Help me love them.
Love them all.
 

Social Networks & Kingdom Influence

When we offer something of value in networking, we gain influence. We all have something of value—an opinion, an experience, or a warning, and we can find a voice in social networks to increase our influence.

Several companies influenced me recently. I joined twitterland without knowing much about it or it’s powerful connectivity to the real world. After signing up for iContact’s free opt in e-mailing account, I had some issues getting the thing to work. I pursued the old route of e-mailing support and began waiting. Waiting. And waiting. Then I tweeted, “trying to figure out iContact.” It was a status update with no expectations. But amazing results happened. I got a response back from James Wong, @CommunityMGR, with iContact offering his assistance. He wasn’t blowing smoke either. I told him my problem, what I wanted to do, and he went above of his job description and helped me get up and running with my e-newsletter. iContact Support got involved after Mr. Wong worked his magic. Twitter allowed real conversation and assistance with a friendly/community atmosphere. A company is only as good as its real relationships with its clients. As a result, I paid for an upgraded account. This same scenario was repeated this past week. I sent a query to support then remembered twitter. I tweeted and Mr. Wong was at the rescue once again, long before support responded with a blanket that would never have given warmth—a useless response. Twitter replaced support hotlines and sold me as a client.

If only Blackberry had the same kind of service. I got nothing from Blackberry when I twittered, Googled, or asked in the AT&T store. Arg! Hate the lack of customer service. It felt like no one cared. Grrrr! I wanted to throw the thing through AT&T’s window. Satisfaction guaranteed! Wonder if iPhone’s people have better service?

Two examples of influence, one is great. The other’s horrible. I want to be a customer of those with great influence and I want to be a person of great influence, offering value to others. It’s important that we use our influence for God’s best interest especially in social networking. (ie. Don’t throw the Blackberry.) Kingdom people should use Kingdom influence to glorify God and we have a great opportunity to do so in the arena of social networks like Facebook and Twitter.

Ed Stetzer, a man of Kingdom influence from LifeWay, posted a great blog about Social networking. He expounded his best practices—what he does and what he doesn’t do in social networking.  Check out Anti-Social Networking.

Here’s a couple of links to free resources that may be useful to help spread your influence:

•    Downloadable e-book about Facebook for use in ministry influence Facebook for Pastors.
•    Downloadable e-book about Twitter for use by non-profits Twitter Jumpstart: The Complete Guide for Small Non-Profits
•    Downloadable audio book about marketing for your message or book PyroMarketing

 Let’s be Kingdom influencers of God’s good! Our best foot forward in the most relevant systems. God is awesome!