Outside The Box Ministry

CHURCHES TO HOLD WEB FOCUS DAY APRIL 27

“How can we use this new-fangled Internet thing to share the gospel?”  Christians are asking. A worldwide ‘web evangelism focus day’ is helping to provide answers. Sunday, April 27, has been designated as Internet Evangelism Day. Churches can download free materials from the Internet Evangelism Day website. These varied materials make it easy for churches to create a short presentation about online outreach on or near that Sunday. They can choose from a PowerPoint, video clip testimonies, drama scripts, music and handouts to create their own customized program lasting from one minute to 50.

Church leaders who have already used these materials are excited.   “This is a huge help for small churches such as ours,” writes a church leader from California.

The Internet Evangelism Day team emphasizes that web evangelism is for anyone, not just the technically gifted. “There are many ways to share your faith online, without any technical background at all,” says IE Day Coordinator Tony Whittaker.

Christian leaders are also enthusiastic: “I am glad to commend Internet Evangelism Day,” says Dr. John Stott.

Churches still have time to plan a focus spot on or near 27 April, or at any more suitable date during the year. More information is available at:  http://ied.gospelcom.net/index.php

Here is a great opportunity to get another exciting new book from Ted Dekker.   It is titled “Adam”.  Starting today if you purchase “Adam” from the following book dealers below, you get a great special-offer.

BORDERS - $10 coupon with purchase of ADAM
BOOKS-A-MILLION - $10 gift card with
purchase of ADAM
BARNES & NOBLE - 50% off Skin by Ted Dekker with purchase of
ADAM
AMAZON- $10 credit with purchase of ADAM

To get more information click here. 

Book Description:
FBI behavioral psychologist Daniel Clark has been made famous by his arguments that religion is one of society’s greatest antagonists. What Daniel doesn’t know is that his obsessive pursuit of a serial killer known only as “Eve” will end in his own death at Eve’s hand. Twenty minutes later Daniel is resuscitated, only to be haunted by those twenty missing minutes of life.

It soon becomes painfully clear that the only way to stop Eve is to recover those missing minutes by dying . . . again. What isn’t nearly as clear is just how many times he will have to die to discover the truth, not only about Eve, but about himself. Daniel will have to face haunting realities about demon possession in the modern world-and reevaluate his prejudice against religion-to stop Eve.

“As always with a Ted Dekker thriller, the detail is stunning, pointing to meticulous research in a raft of areas: police and FBI methods, forensic medicine, psychological profiling-in short, all that accompanies a Federal hunt for a serial killer. But Dekker fully reveals his magic in the latter part of the book, when he subtly introduces his darker and more frightening theme. It’s all too creepily convincing. We have to keep telling ourselves that this is fiction. At the same time, we can’t help thinking that not only could it happen, but that it will happen if we’re not careful.” - David M. Kiely and Christina McKenna (authors of The Dark Sacrament)

“FBI psychologist Daniel Clark is obsessed with capturing an elusive serial killer known only as Eve. Daniel’s compulsion has cost him his marriage and any semblance of a normal life. When Daniel is shot by Eve, his resuscitation 20 minutes later leaves him with no memory of his killer’s face, and he attempts to recall the memory by reliving his near-death experience. At the same time, the terrible and haunting story of who Eve is and how he became a killer is told in disturbing snippets throughout the novel. Dekker’s (The Circle Trilogy) latest supernatural thriller is both a character study and a highly charged suspense drama that shows Dekker at his best as he reminds us that evil is all around us. [T]his title will appeal to both Dekker fans and general thriller enthusiasts. Highly recommended…” - Library Journal

ABOUT TED DEKKER:
Ted Dekker is known for novels that combine adrenaline-laced stories with unexpected plot twists, unforgettable characters, and incredible confrontations between good and evil.  Ted lives in Austin with his wife LeeAnn and their four children.

Are you a teacher or know a teacher? Teachers can register and get Chosen and a book kit free for your classroom and school. Click here to find out more. You can download the first four chapters here and the study guide for the book here.

Here is description of “Chosen”.

Think with your heart and prepare to die for you have been Chosen.

The land of the Forest Dwellers has been decimated by the Horde under the watchful eye of the vilest of all creatures, Teeleh. Thomas Hunter, supreme commander of the Forest Guard, is forced to lower the recruitment age of his army from 18 to 16. From among thousands, four new recruits are chosen to lead–and perhaps die–for the greater good.

The chosen four are sent on a quest to prove their character, but their mission takes a dramatic turn when they are intercepted, sword to secrecy, and redirected to a different endgame. Now they must find the seven lost Books of History. Books that have power over the past, present, and future. Books whose words are alive. Books sought by the Dark One that control not only the destiny of their world . . . but that of ours as well.

The Search for the Lost Books of History – Heroes Wanted:
To learn more about the nationwide treasure hunt to find the lost books and to sign-up, go to http://booksofhistory.com/. Grand prize for this treasure hunt is a 2008 Chevy Cobalt!

New Advance for Church Websites
Free Church Site Evaluations Now Available Online

Summary
Churches can now receive a free customized 15-page report about their websites, enabling them to develop strategies to reach outsiders in their communities.
And this year’s international web outreach focus day - Internet Evangelism Day - will be used by churches around the world on Sunday 27 April 2008.

“How can our church website help us reach out into our community?” Churches often find it difficult to know how to build sites that will engage with outsiders in their area.

A new online tool has been released by Internet Evangelism Day, which provides churches with a free 15-page evaluation report. Users assess their own website by answering 55 simple questions in the tool questionnaire. Their customized report is immediately displayed online, ready to print or save. Its recommendations are tailored with specific practical suggestions, based on the questions that were ticked. View the design tool here:
www.InternetEvangelismDay.com/design

A church site which has been prioritized for non-Christian visitors can be remarkably effective in reaching the community. “Week in, week out, more visitors turn up at our church on a Sunday because of the website, than anything else,” writes one growing church in London UK.

Church leaders have welcomed this new resource:

“This competent evaluation tool and rating service provides a valuable service to churches and Christian ministries that will help them strengthen their effectiveness in outreach through the Internet.” - Dr. Sterling Huston, Director, North American Ministries, Billy Graham Evangelistic Association.

“Most church websites are not evangelistic. The new Church Website Design Tool can help rectify this problem. This is a wonderful tool.” - Dr. Bill Gordon, Evangelism Response Center, North American Mission Board.

“There is no silver bullet for a great ministry site. However, this checklist is an invaluable tool to identify critical areas for improvement. Every church should study this regularly and act on it!” - Gary McClure, LifeWay Ministries.

This Evaluation Tool is just one of a range of pages at www.InternetEvangelismDay.com that help Christians learn to use the Web to reach the world. Internet Evangelism Day also encourages churches to hold a web awareness focus day on or near 27 April 2008, to explore this huge potential. Their site offers free downloads (PowerPoint, video clips, drama scripts and handouts) so that churches can create a custom program of any length from two minutes to an hour. “I am glad to commend Internet Evangelism Day,” says Dr. John Stott.

Website: www.InternetEvangelismDay.com

Internet Evangelism Day is an initiative of the Internet Evangelism Coalition, a group of major ministries involved in web ministry, based at the Billy Graham Center, Wheaton.
Interviews available: InternetEvangelismDay.com/publicity
Photos available: InternetEvangelismDay.com/photos
Recommended photo for this item: InternetEvangelismDay.com/churchphoto
Additional articles - ready-made material and MP3s: InternetEvangelismDay.com/articles
Leaders supporting IE Day: InternetEvangelismDay.com/supporting

With the research in visual media trends it was hard to pinpoint a trend that has continued for a long period of time. However, with the increasing development, availability and cost effectiveness of technology most of the current trends reflect a more common global use of portable, internet enabled devices. The key categories for visual media trends include the youth culture, social media, user generated content and more personal choice for media content.

The biggest consumers of media today are youth. Youth in the U.S. age 12-17 increased their television viewing by 3% in a year (eg. Nielson 2006). Across cultures youth are using visual media to interact, teach and share their experiences with each other.

The most growth over the last few years in media trends has been in the area of relational social media. Social media is any communications format where the users publish the content (eg. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_media). Most of this media is Internet and mobile device driven. Social media provides a new way to interact with others. These methods are becoming even more preferred over e-mail. More than 70% of Americans age 15-34 (eg. http://www.frankwbaker.com/mediause.htm) are using social networks online. The most trafficked social websites include Facebook and MySpace. This demographic is choosing text messaging on their cell phones and computers over live conversations. Also, there is new interest in what is called “virtual community” in which social networks are being created through the website Second Life.

User generated media content has grown in popularity. The idea was first made popular by YouTube, which gave the ability for someone to upload “home made” videos to the website for the whole world to view. YouTube became the 5th most popular website in 2006 with over 100 million video viewed daily on the website (eg. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/YouTube). The major television networks and major companies have created advertising campaigns centered around user generated videos. New websites like Joost.com are hosting network and cable television shows that you can watch on your computer and through various widgets users can interact with their friends about the show they are watching.

Christian’s use of media continues to grow. According to Barna Research there are a greater number of Christian adults that are experiencing through media than through a local church. Two out of three adults used a least one form of religious media- radio, television or books in the last month. Were as six out of ten American adults attended a church service in the last month (eg. http://www.barna.org/FlexPage.aspx?Page=BarnaUpdate&BarnaUpdateID=116). Christian parents over the Christmas season purchased media products like CDs, DVDs and video games for their children under thirteen even though they didn’t feel comfortable with their purchase. The Christians in the United States were likely to spend up to $1 billion on these products despite their concern over the moral content for children under 18. Also, Christian television continues to draw interest by viewers and today one out of every six adults are spending time on faith-based websites. There is more interest by the younger generation and certain groups of people in these types of websites over watching faith-based television or listening to Christian radio. (eg. http://www.barna.org/FlexPage.aspx?Page=BarnaUpdate&BarnaUpdateID=184).

I want to wish you a very Merry Christmas.  I pray that God gives you a blessed New Year.

It has been some time since my last post.  I have been busy working on a very exciting outreach strategy that utilizes short films to start spiritual conversations.

As part of my ministry work with The JESUS Film Project (a ministry of Campus Crusade for Christ) we have been testing the use of short films for outreach around the world over the last two years.  With the field test that we have done we have found what worked the best in one-on-one, small group and large group settings.  As a result, we have produced a DVD with 11 short films that will soon be available to purchase.  My team lead a seminar a few weeks ago at the National Outreach Convention in San Diego sharing and showing how a church can use the short film DVD to reach their community.

I am excited about all the potential uses with the DVD tool.  Some churches are using it for church planting and established churches are using it to reach their community.  The DVD is subtitled into 9 languages too.  To find out more about the Short Film Stategy visit the Global Short Film Network website.

I will be heading to the Catalyst Conference later this week. This is the first time for me to attend, but I am looking forward to it.  They are expecting around 10,000 people to attend.

If you are not familiar with the Catalyst Conference it is “a three day leadership experience like no other. A unique approach to programming and learning, defined by fun, dynamic attendee experience, leaders are personally challenged to become “change agents” within their organizations for the ongoing creation and emergence of the church.”

You can find out more information on their, very interactive, website. It may not be to late for you to sign up. If you have attended before, I would love to hear your throughts about the conference.

Ministry Marketing Coach is about to start a series of articles on marketing secrets for nonprofits.  A few things you will learn:

• How to develop a marketing plan for your nonprofit
• Get the inside scoop on nonprofit publicity tactics
• Leverage the power of research on a tight budget
• How to use marketing to get people to adopt new social behaviors
• Positioning your nonprofit for the future

You can follow the series by subscribing to the Ministry Marketing Coach RSS feed here.

Several month’s ago I became familiar with Creo Productions.  They are a full service video production company located out of Michigan.  Some of the work they have done includes producing videos to promote books.

They combine narration with graphics to communicate in a short period a time the central message of a book.  They are very powerful in comparison to reading a synopsis for a book.  You can check out some of their work on their website.

They have produced videos for Greg Stielstra, author of “Pyro Marketing” and Michael English’s “The Prodigal Son Comes Home“.

On a side note, you can download a complete audio version of Pyro Marketing from Greg’s website for free.