Thursday, October 21, 2010

Tweeting in church....is it from the devil

Hi There,


I have after a tech conference been very deep in though about technology in the context of church. Is technology the next evolution to bring us closer to each other or seperate us even further from reality and from what really goes on. If we have people in church tweating does it distract from hearing God or help us understand him better. If church was on the internet instead of a building....would you attend and does it really matter? These days we are so stuck on facebook, twitter, youtube, mixit and various other sites can we use these to reach out and do what Jesus said.......Love each other and by this they will know that you are my disciples. Maybe all these social tools are a cry for love. A cry to be a part of something bigger than yourself. something that makes you feel loved and worthwhile.


I read about a church that did prayers over skype. Another one used twitter in the church service, others used these tools to communicate more and more to people in the church. It's nice to have scriptures on the wall in powerpoint.....but when was the last time you took your bible to church and read for yourself? Does this technology make us lazier?


Being a self confesed computer geek i love gadgets. Especially ones that server a real purpose. (iPad does not fit the profile....sorry :-)  


Does having an electronic bible somehow make you more spiritual. It's funny how many people have e-sword and use it for search. When they want to ready they pull out the book. It just seems better. Maybe I am just too old. (ever though how all the electronic bibles could dissapear overnight from amazon and your kindle if they wanted to.....)


In the electronic age there are so many people who can make decisions that have far reaching affects on society without really caring. I read an article on Woolworths and how they pulled the plug on all Christian magazines in the stores because someone high up was offended by an article. Due to pressure the magazines are back. This would not happen with a dicator such as the antichrist.


Ever though of the possibility of not getting a visa or entry to another country because your facebook profile says that you are a christian or that you supported something the goverment did not like. At the same time we have the possibility of reaching people we could never reach before. The internet is full of people looking for something bigger, someone who can care, someone who can fix their hurts. we have the chance to find those people and to make a difference in their lives. How do we do that? I am sure we all have some idea's. So here is the challenge. Think of a way to use the internet or technology to reach people. Not to bible bash them sensless but to express love and care and show them God. Send me an email or comment on the blog. Let's see if we can not only get some idea's but maybe try them.


Cheers for now.


IHM (In His Majesty's Service)


Greg Hay

Tuesday, October 19, 2010

Fasting over and others

Hi There,


Truth be told i finished fasting quite a while ago. I did not make the 40 days as planned. I made 11 days. It was still worth it even though it was shorter than expected. i got closer to God and that's what counts. It was a great fast. It's the only one i did this year and was way better than expected. This was due to all the prep work i did. Next year i will do a fast and maybe even a few more. Maybe i'll lower the sights and try to hit 20 days first. Do the 40 days later. I guess we will see next year...i could add this to my new years resolutions but it's probably a bit early for that.


After the fast i also got the privledge to Preach at church again. It's great to Preach and I do enjoy it. I just get nervous inside realising the responsibility that comes with it. The scriptures are quite clear on what happens to those that lead people astray.....it's not a pretty ending for them. So yes, when you preach, speak, lead a home cell or do any stuff related to speaking on God and teaching people there is a huge responsibility to get it right and not only get it right but to say what God wants to say. It's great to open you mouth and waffle but if it's not what God wants it's probably better just to keep quite.


So it was with great care that i planned what to preach on. I felt attracted to two topics but was more drawn to one. This is normally one of the ways God leads me to a topic for a sermon. So I had my sermon which was around fathers and God as your father. Many people get freaked out by this as they associate God in the same light as their earthly father. Sad thing is that God is the perfect father. He is most likely quite different to your earthly father who at the end of the day should reflect God as the father. Unfortunatly we probably get it wrong quite a bit. I got quite a bit of feedback from people after church so it seemed to have gone down well. I though it would as there were some worship songs that tied into the theme and the worship leader did not know what i was preaching on. Breaking of bread also tied in the scriptures around God knowing you in the womb. So i guess God had a message for a few people.


Something else that struck me this week was how priveledged some of us are. A young girl came to home cell for the first time. She has had a rough life. She had 13 siblings. 10 have died. Her father has also died. Her mother has problems with alcohol and her brothers battle to get work while she does what she can to help with her work while still doing night classes to finish matric and feed her child......It's like a tv show. Yet it's here in SA. There are many more people like this in SA and the question is "What r u doing about it". More importantly and probably a bit of a cliche "What would Jesus do?" and since we are his embassadors and a reflection of him and a reflection of our Dad...God....What would he want us to do.


I read a blog this week where some christians and non christians were arguing quite strongly about how christians act weird and try to be too spiritual and not do anything practical or real. So i guess in the cases above....what can we do practically. Prayer is great, But sometimes people need a bit more. The scriptures say that they will know us by the way we love each other. It does not say by the way we pray or fast or do other things. So Love once again is the motive.


I have been reading acts and noticed how practical the early church was. Someone needed food they made a plan. Someone needs heling they prayed for them and they were healed. They baptised and evangelised eveyone and no-one was without need. In our churches do we have people without need? If the answer is no then we have probably messed up. As the early church no-one had need because veryone stepped in to sort it out.If we have needs it's because we don't step up and relly on God and work as a community to support those around us.


oh well..... Enough rambling...


That reminds me. Been at Tech-Ed this week. Other than all the work related stuff do you know how technology can reach people for the church in ways we never expected and i suppose it will be used by the antichrist in the last days to control and destroy the people of God. (He fails......read the book)


Cheers


Greg Hay