Monday, March 4, 2013

SPIRITUAL SOCIAL MEDIA


If you are on this blog, you are the target audience of this post.

Most of you will understand the term "social media", and how it has changed the way most people in the world not only spend their time online....but how they interact period. From Facebook to Twitter to all of the similar websites out there, we can not only communicate but interact as communities of varying interests. Certainly not everyone who gets on the Internet is necessarily addicted to social media, but nearly every does indeed have at least one account.

There has been a rise in churches who use these sites to keep their members connected and informed. Matter of fact many congregations use their traditional website as more or less a simple information tool geared toward outsiders, while using some form of a social media site to have actual interaction and information sharing.

While you can do so much on a site like Facebook, there is always the knowledge that your spiritual information and dialogue is competing with so much other information and entertainment. Your best attempts to reach out into your members' online presence to encourage spiritual activity runs the risk of being overwhelmed and pushed to the periphery. We also know that social media has the same dark sides and temptations that many other facets of the web feature.

Fortunately there are some pretty cool services that have most of the features of a service like Facebook and Twitter, but are created to be primarily used for spiritual purposes. They contain built in applications that are useful for sharing church information, encouraging online Bible study in various group settings, prayer lists, calendars.....the list is almost endless.

I have begun to work on some sites for the Soldier Creek congregation that I believe have great potential for not only keeping members of the congregation as a whole informed and connected....but to also be a good tool to encourage Bible study and devotional activity for families no mater how close or far apart they are. You don't have to be a heavy user of the following to be a member in good standing of Soldier Creek, but I would encourage you to check out the following sites and see what they have to offer for your spiritual online activity. I'd use my laptop or desktop to sign up for these accounts - we'll talk about the apps a little later in this post.

1. FIRST, you will need to do is visit the website of Logos Bible Software using your desktop or laptop. Their main product is a very comprehensive Bible study software program that I have used in my ministry and Bible study since 1993. They feature all kinds of products that greatly enhance your study and lesson preparation. I could go on and on about that program, and would be happy to demonstrate what it can do in person.

But for now, DON'T BUY ANYTHING.  Simply click the "sign in" at the top right corner of the screen to sign up for a free Logos account. Once you have a Logos account you will have access to numerous Bible study aids. They have a pretty nifty free Bible study app for pretty much all of the gadgets (iphone, Android, Kindle Fire, etc.)

2. But the logo you need to look for on the Logos page looks like this:


This is the logo for Faithlife. Faithlife is a "Christian" social media site developed by Logos. By following this link you will again sign up for another account - a Fatihlife account. Once you have a Logos and a Faithlife account, look around to get yourself acclimated. You'll see that it has a Facebook feel to it in that there is a wall for messages, groups you can join and related information on the right side of the screen. The links below are some areas set up especially for Soldier Creek members:

Soldier Creek Church of Christ group.    This will be developed as a general site for the whole congregation. Once you get your Faithlife account, type in the search box "Soldier Creek Church of Christ." Faithlife will take you to this page, where there will be a "ask to join" button. Notice the calendar button, where a lot of our activities are listed on the calendar at this group site. Eventually, I will list topics and questions here for any Bible class or sermon that I present. This will also have a prayer list if you choose to add the prayer list "widget" to your wall. Literally the possibilities are endless for what we might do with this group if we have enough interest.

Soldier Creek youth group: This will be geared toward our youth group activities, Bible class notes, Bible studies, LTC info and a calendar. Now the next group is where this gets interesting, and where this has very practical spiritual possibilities for your family.

Richter Family Devos:  I've left open (for a time) a page that I've put together for my family and our devotionals. Notice that I have a reading plan that all of us can keep up with on our own devices, a calendar of church-related events for the kids and other info. This part of Faithlife excites me - an online means to interact with our kids and their faith in an online setting.

I can't emphasize enough how important this could be. Our families are more wired and spend more time on computers with each passing day. Our young people have never known a world without the internet and hand held internet-capable devices. None of us need too much convincing to acknowledge that there is much negative in the online world that attacks not only our kids faith but their work habits, attention spans and so much more. Having an inlet to our kids electronic world, a spiritual inlet, is a strong tool.

My kids are taking to Faithlife, and are more interested in using their online Bible for our family devotionals. My son has the Faithlife app on his ipod touch, my daughter has it on her Kindle Fire and my wife has it on her Android phone. Our Faithlife family devo page is becoming a very valuable tool in reaching out to, and being involved in, their spiritual development in an online world they love.

 Next is the 2nd big part of Fatihlife.

3. The Faithlife Study Bible:  The Faithlife groups have this online study Bible as its backbone. Click on any scripture reference anywhere in Faithlife and you are taken to Biblical references, articles, charts, photos and even videos that are linked to specific Bible passages. You can make your own online notes about Bible verses, and groups can use the Faithlife Study Bible to make their own notes, questions and study guides. This online study Bible paired with the Faithlife social media capabilities makes for a unique opportunity to further your spiritual life via machines you might use everyday. Faithlife is probably the best way you'll ever utilize your technology.

4. Get the app:  So now you bring it all together by using your Logos and Faithlife accounts to use the Faithlife site and study Bible on any of your technology you choose. Obviously everything is bigger and easier to use on your laptop/desktop. Your kids, however, probably prefer their portable technology. So you can download the Faithlife apps and use every aspect of the service free of charge on the following platforms (click to go to the sites where you can download the apps):

Faithlife on Android (Google Play store)
Faithlife on iTunes (iPhone and iPod Touch)
Faithlife on Kindle Fire (Amazon store)

It seems like a lot to digest, but I'm fairly confident that you will catch on to these apps and experience quickly. Don't hesitate to contact me if you need any help or explanations (okiecardinal@hotmail.com). I'd also love your input as to how you'd like to see our church use Faithlife.