The ministries in the Gospel.com Community organize information into 'topics' to help you find what you're looking for. Learn more
Christian website design: plan a Christian web site and assess your target audience
People sometimes ask me, “I’m a novice. How do I start to design a website for our church or Internet ministry.” I think most are expecting a crash course in HTML or web-page design. And those can be important considerations. But the most important are nothing to do with technology. I tell people, “The first thing to do is answer two questions:
1. Who’s your target audience?
2. And what’s your purpose?
http://internetevangelismday.com/starting.php
Parallel meanings, picture language and spiritual symbolism can communicate Christian truth
Every abstract concept must be turned into picture language if we are to understand it. Language is full of these metaphors and similes. Memory techniques create a set of memorable mind pictures for the same reason. The Bible uses this type of language constantly, or describes physical events which have spiritual meaning.
http://internetevangelismday.com/word-pictures.php
Postmodernism - how to communicate the Christian Gospel in a postmodern culture
‘Postmodernism’ is a word which simply sums up the way much of the world thinks today. It includes these viewpoints:
* There is no objective absolute truth. ‘Truth’ is what you believe it to be. Something can be “true for you, but not true for me”.
* ‘Choice’ is a big virtue in our consumer society. And choice extends to value systems, beliefs, and lifestyle choices. All are seen as equally valid. Choice of religous belief is by mix and match – whatever you feel comfortable with.
http://internetevangelismday.com/postmodern.php
Contextualization - we must contextualize to effectively communicate the Christian Gospel
Contextualization means, quite simply, communicating the gospel in understandable terms appropriate to the audience. All Christian communication should be contextualized. A Sunday School teacher using simple language and child-related illustrations, games, and activities, is contextualizing. A pastor sharing a message in a senior citizens’ home, with appropriate sermon illustrations and an understanding of the unique needs of old people, is using contextualization.
http://internetevangelismday.com/contextualization.php
Relating to the culture: effective Christian communication must relate to surrounding culture
There are right and wrong ways of relating to the culture around us. “Draw three large boats in relation to the sea: the first a submarine under the sea, the second a hovercraft above the sea, and the third a ship cutting through the sea. Imagine the sea is the culture that surrounds us and that the three boats represent three relationships Christians can have with culture. There are those who are submerged in it, those who hover above it, and those that are in it but not of it. Which boat most represents your relationship to the culture that surrounds you?”
http://internetevangelismday.com/relating-culture.php
Finding Christian themes and meanings in film and movies as starting point for evangelism using popular culture
Suppose God sent you a letter. And in it, He offered you a gift – a simple evangelistic approach similar to the parables that Jesus used. Something that would engage with people’s interests, and employ a common language and experience. Would you want to use it?
http://internetevangelismday.com/popular-culture.php
Christian artists - an open letter to all Christians in the visual and performing arts
The Web and the digital media are changing everything! It is not only that we have one more medium to use. This new medium is also transforming the way people think and communicate. For about 500 years after the invention of the printing press, we were living in a ‘print communication culture’. Then, from around 1950, radio and TV placed us in a ‘broadcast communication culture’. Now from the Millennium onwards, we are moving into a ‘digital communication culture’.
http://internetevangelismday.com/christian-artists.php
Pop and teens: using pop music as a start point in Christian youth evangelism
Since the 60s, most young people have listened to music for hours every day, read music magazines, and defined themselves and their culture by this interest. Music is the wallpaper of their lives and a very deep part of the identity of most teens. It shapes their worldview and defines them more than clothes, films, even TV. It is therefore a prime bridge point into youth culture. Is this potential being used for online evangelism? Very little.
http://internetevangelismday.com/pop-music.php
Best Christian web evangelism, outreach strategy and church ministry blogs and newsletters
Here are some of the very best third-party blogs and newsletters available on these subjects. We have grouped them by their particular focus, though there is considerable overlap in subjects covered.
http://internetevangelismday.com/christian-communication-blogs.php
Adult learning principles: how people learn effectively including in Christian environment
How best do people learn? It is an interesting question with some fascinating answers, because it has a high degree of relevance to effective Christian communication of the Gospel. Until relatively recently, all teaching strategies were developed for children. But now, considerable research has been done on the best ways to teach adults effectively. Indeed it is a subject that can itself be studied at undergraduate or postgraduate levels.
http://internetevangelismday.com/adult-learning.php