Adventures of a Web Evangelist

On facebook, I changed my profile name to put my n...

2010-10-06T21:35:35.219-05:00

On facebook, I changed my profile name to put my name and my wife's name. I actually don't like facebook. In fact, I hate it. I mostly just use it as a way to send emails to people.

I like twitter, but I can see how that can be used by Satan as a way to tempt too.

If a Christian says with pride, "An online affair can never happen to me," just watch, it will.

Thanks for your post.

I enjoyed the website. It's to the point. God ...

2010-04-09T01:26:36.448-05:00

I enjoyed the website. It's to the point. God does not tempt us above what we are able to handle.

It's possible that I know you from Toms River, NJ, but it doesn't matter. God bless you.

Nice post....sometimes you have to take a step bac...

2010-03-25T18:30:17.905-05:00

Nice post....sometimes you have to take a step back and remember that God already gave us the "How to" guide on being a Christian. (a.k.a. The Bible) We just need to open it up and read his directions. :)

In the USA: Look in a phone book or online and see...

2010-03-16T21:01:05.280-05:00

In the USA: Look in a phone book or online and see how many churches there are in every town and city; buildings bought and maintained for God's work, only to sit empty and unused most of the week; plenty of workers focused inward, or duplicating efforts outward. In a country of excess, the lost place their hope in government welfare programs, or often receive unscriptural attempts to "help." In short, there are too many laborers working in an ever-decreasing US harvest field.

On the other hand, India is crying out for workers to help reap the overwhelming harvest, those multiple hundreds of millions who have little or no hope at this time. In a land of poverty, materialism and government welfare does not yet offer a "blinding" hand.

I am a missionary-minded businessman who would like to see the church in India kept pure and unspotted. Can someone send me more information on visas, and what it takes to go to India? The Spirit of the LORD calls; He has knocked, and the door has been opened. Can someone help me go through the door? Contact me at baysisoflife@hotmail.com

It may be that your sole purpose in life is simply...

2010-02-21T18:24:30.130-06:00

It may be that your sole purpose in life is simply to serve as a warning to others.............................................

I revamped the non profit and shortened its name t...

2010-02-20T15:07:35.478-06:00

I revamped the non profit and shortened its name to "Christ Cares".
SEE CHRISTCARES.ORG

Paul would certainly use email, probably have a we...

2009-11-30T00:33:01.059-06:00

Paul would certainly use email, probably have a website about Jesus, but he certainly would not have a MySpace page because he would not promote the various perverted sexual ads, the seductive photos, etc. to the visitors to his MS page. MySpace is not the equivalent of the world community online.

I'm glad you're back blogging keep it up.<...

2009-01-12T19:38:00.000-06:00

I'm glad you're back blogging keep it up.
With Second Life increasing in popularity and sites like MySpace & FaceBook gaining users in all age groups internet evangelism is the not so new frontier.
Since I last talked to you I've even attended a virtual church!

I invite you to share your story at www.PowerUpLov...

2008-10-20T06:22:00.000-05:00

I invite you to share your story at www.PowerUpLove.com

God is everywhere, indeed.

Blessings...

I just happened to stumble on your blog. It's very...

2008-09-08T15:54:00.000-05:00

I just happened to stumble on your blog. It's very exciting to read about what you are doing. I hope that you are powerfully successful in everything you do!

Keith
www.impactevangelism.org

The LORD is my strength and my shield; my heart tr...

2006-08-01T16:51:00.000-05:00

The LORD is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in him, and I am helped. My heart leaps for joy and I will give thanks to him in song. Ps. 28-7

Be Blessed, Be Victorious!

Thanks Scott for your thoughts, interesting. God ...

2006-07-24T16:10:00.000-05:00

Thanks Scott for your thoughts, interesting. God Bless you.

Has anyone visited www.aajesus.org?
I thought it an interesting site.

IMPORTANT ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ON THE INTERNATIO...

2006-04-10T16:10:00.000-05:00

IMPORTANT ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ON THE INTERNATIONAL WEB MINISTRY STRATEGY.

(Same post, some of the typos fixed)

Hi Paul,

Great to hear from you. Your Christian Web Trends is an awesome resource for all those interested in tapping the power of the Internet for ministry. I hope to promote it once I get my own stuff established. It is found at:
http://blog.ourchurch.com/

"The two big challenges to that strategy is how do you select good, God-honoring people and how do you insure that they stay on the right track?"

Great points, both are of vital importance.

1. How to select God-Honoring pastors/misissonaries?

This is a great challenge. And you are wise to say that it would be very easy for a Christian to get scammed. Now it is very easy for someone to throw up a website and to send emails.

My Father, Ed Reese, is a Christian Author and Bible professor. Many years ago he received a message from some Christians in Africa who needed Bibles. I forget the exact details but I think they asked for $13,000 worth of my dad's "Reese Chronological Bibles" and promised they would send $7,000 in return. My dad is a very commited Christian who has a very trusting heart especially towards Christians. He sent the Bibles and got nothing in return - this caused a hardship on our family.

I also get those emails from Christian leaders in third world countries. It is hard to tell.

I've been an Urban Missionary for over 25 years ministering in poverty stricken areas and often I am asked for financial assistance for someone's finacial emergency. I have learned to:

1) Ask very direct questions,

2) To actually verify the situation with my own eyes,

3) Come up with creative solutions that do not involve handing someone cash,

4) Seek a long term solution instead of a temporary one - so the person does not end up back in the same situation in a few weeks,

5) *Very importantly to explain that just because there is a very legitimate need, IT DOES NOT MEAN that it is God's will for me to fix it - there is only one Savior. I learned this the hard way. In my earlier years I remember putting stuff on my credit card so people would not lose their apartment or something. Before the credit card I would pray... that once again is always my first step.

6) It's good to know of other resources available in the area to recomend that might be able to provide help.

7) It's good to establish guidlines ahead of time for dealing with these situations.

Anyway, I believe this experience will help us as we tackel this difficult issue.

There must be actual accountability. That is why we have chosen to include a partnership of three parties in our International Web Ministry Strategy. (Please see the origianl post)

There is:

1) The native missionary and their missionary efforts

2) Our organization (Reconciliation Resource Ministries / www.internetminister.org) to partner on Web Projects and to oversee the program).

3) An established missionary orgaization or church with a proven track record.

We are developing a network of established mission organizations that believe in our strategy and would like to partner with us. In the future it might be nice to increase the amount given to the established organization to insure a quality job in accountability and also help in the encouraging and training area.

However, if the same organization helps in the oversite to many pastors then it will become more cost effective for them - hopefully they will capture this vision as part of their core mission. (It is also important to note that this does not mean that there has to be a white American in charge to qualify as a mission with a proven track record.)

We are starting out with people or organizations I have met personally through my many years of mission service, and ministries that have a proven track record.

With this system, the "native pastors" will be in personal contact with three levels of accountability/encouragemnet partners:

1) Us - Reconciliation Resource Ministries / http://internetminister.org (Scott Reese and volunteers)

2) Those donors who actually provide the designated funds.

3) An established missionary organization or church in the area that can actually physically visit the native pastor.

It is also important that the missionaries stay on track and that people don't decide to become "missionaries" only for financial benifits.

Several years ago I went to Russia as part of a large group for a missionary outreach. This effort had a native missionary couple in charge of overseeing this effort. I can remember overhearing some of the other native missionaries talk about how they felt that this native missionary couple had lost touch with them and their burden for missions since they started to reeive American funding. They were living a luxurious lifestlye compared to everyone else. I'm not sure if it was true or not, but care must also be given to continue the accountability process even after they have jumped through the original hoops to get into the program.

"And, what advice do you have to other Christians who may want to support native missionaries but are unsure about their legitimacy or their qualifications?"

There are already some very large organizations that deal exclusively with native missionaries. There are pros and cons with working with them. They do specialize in it so I would imagine that they have good systems in place.

On the other hand, some deal with so many missionaries it's hard for an individual to have personal contact with the particular missionary they are helping.

As an example, I got a newsletter from one of these major native missionary groups. The lead story was about a native pastor who was martyred for his faith. I thought to myself that I can't help everyone in this world but at least I could try to encourage and bless this poor widow and her children. I contacted the agency and asked if I could have the contact information for the widow, or if I could designate a monetary gift & message of encouragement to that particular family through their agency. They were not able to help with either request. I'm not saying it wasn't true, but I was disappointed that I could not connect and help that family.

I thank God for these large organizations. My parents worked with Christian Aid mission and had good things to say about them. However I know very little about them. I know God has used them mightily to bring to the forefront the need to include native missionaries in a church's mission strategy. I strongly encourage Christians to add the support of native missionaries to their mission strategy though our efforts or through one of these large established organizations. I can't think of a time before in history when it is actually a realistic possibility for a single family to support a full time missionary.

I do hope that Christians and churches will consider partnering with us and our "International Web Ministry Strategy". (We're still trying to come up with a good name for it.)

Here are some of the strong points of our system.

1) Our three layers of contact with the native missionary as explained above. The financial donors of the designated funds will be able to communicate directly with the native missionary.

2) Our open financial accountability - each native missionary will have posted on our website or blog, exactly who supports them and for what amount. (Those who wish to remain anonymous will be given a generic username for the purpose of tracking these funds.) Also the distribution of funds will also be posted i.e. since you will be personally in contact with your native missionary you will be able to confirm with him that he received the designated funds.

3) Our program uniquely combines the three cutting edge missionary strategies listed in the blog and also supports three strategic missionary endeavors at the same time:

a) A native pastor / missionary is empowered to evangelize, grow a church, disciple, minister to the poor etc.

b) A Web Ministry to the particular country is developed in partnership with those who know that particular country, culture, and needs the best.

c)A good and established mission agency or church in the native region is also blessed.

4) We can also "customize" this strategy considering your specific burden and priorities.

As a example, let's say you or your church have a specific burden for a particular region. We will say the Philippines. Let's also say that to support your own particular denomination and it's beliefs are very important to you: i.e. "The Baptist General Conference" or "The Reformed Church of America". RRM would research and contact a denominational missonary in that region, explain our strategy, and endeavor to partner with them in the selection of and oversight of a native pastor. We can tailor this program to your specific needs or you can ask us to line up a native pastor through our contacts.

5) As time goes on and these strategic contacts grow, it will become easier to assure the accountability and encouragement aspects of this strategy.

No system is perfect and we are still working out the bugs.

We welcome your ideas, prayers, and support.

IMPORTANT ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ON THE INTERNATIO...

2006-04-10T15:35:00.000-05:00

IMPORTANT ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ON THE INTERNATIONAL WEB MINISTRY STRATEGY:

Hi Paul,

Great to hear from you. Your Christian Web Trends is an awesome resource for all those interested in tapping the power of the Internet for ministry. I hope to promote it once I get my own stuff established. It is found at:
http://blog.ourchurch.com/

"The two big challenges to that strategy is how do you select good, God-honoring people and how do you insure that they stay on the right track?"

Great points, both are of vital importance.

1. How to select God-Honoring pastors/misissonaries?

This is a great challenge. And you are wise to say that it would be very easy for a Christian to get scammed. Now it is very easy for someone to throw up a website and to send emails.

My Father, Ed Reese, is a Christian Author and Bible professor. Many years ago he received a message from some Christians in Africa who needed Bibles. I forget the exact details but I think they asked for $13,000 worth of my dad's "Reese Chronological Bibles" and promised they would send $7,000 in return. My dad is a very commited Christian who has a very trusting heart especially towards Christians. He sent the Bibles and got nothing in return - this caused a hardship on our family.

I also get those emails from Christian leaders in third world countries. It is hard to tell.

I've been an Urban Missionary for over 25 years ministering in poverty stricken areas and often asked for financial assistance for someone's finacial emergency. I have learned to:

1) Ask very direct questions,

2) To actually verify the situation with my own eyes,

3) Come up with creative solutions that do not involve handing someone cash,

4) Seek a long term solution instead of a temporary one - so the person does not end up back in the same situation in a few weeks,

5) *Very importantly to explain that just because there is a very legetimate need, IT DOES NOT MEAN that it is God's will for me to fix it - there is only one Savior. I learned this the hard way. In my earlier years I remember putting stuff on my credit card so people would not lose their apartment or something. Before the credit card I would pray... that once again is alsways my first step.

6) It's good to know of other resources available in the area to reccomend that might be able to provide help.

7) It's good to establish guidlines ahead of time for dealing with these situations.

Anyway, I believe this experience will help us as we tackel this difficult issue.

There must be actual accountability. That is why we have chosen to include a partnership of three parties in our International Web Ministry Strategy. (Please see the origianl post)

There is:

1) The native missionary and their missionary efforts

2) Our organization (Reconciliation Resource Ministries / www.internetminister.org) to partner on Web Projects and to oversee the program).

3) An established missionary orgaization or church with a proven track record.

We are developing a network of established mission organizations that believe in our strategy and would like to partner with us. In the future it might be nice to increase the amount given to the established organization to insure a quality job in accountability and also help in the encouraging and training area.

However, if the same organization helps in the oversite to many pastors then it will become more cost effective for them - hopefully they will capture this vision as part of their core mission. (It is also important to note that this does not mean that there has to be a white American in charge to qualify as a mission with a proven track record.)

We are starting out with people or organizations I have met personally through my many years of mission service, and ministries that have a proven track record.

With this system, the "native pastors" will be in personal contact with three levels of accountability/encouragemnet partners:

1) Us - Reconciliation Resource Ministries / http://internetminister.org (Scott Reese and volunteers)

2) Those donors who actually provide the designated funds.

3) An established missionary organization or church in the area that can actually physically visit the native pastor.

It is also important that the missionaries stay on track and that people don't decide to become "missionaries" only for financial benifits.

Several years ago I went to Russia as part of a large group for a missionary outreach. This effort had a native missionary couple in charge of overseeing this effort. I can remember overhearing some of the other native missionaries talk about how they felt that this native missionary couple had lost touch with them and their burden for missions since they started to reeive American funding. They were living a luxerious lifestlye compared to everyone else. I'm not sure if it was true or not, but care must also be given to continue the accountability process even after they have jumped through the original hoops to get into the program.

"And, what advice do you have to other Christians who may want to support native missionaries but are unsure about their legitimacy or their qualifications?"

There are already some very large organizations that deal exclusively with native missionaries. There are pros and cons with working with them. They do specialize in it so I would imagine that they have good systems in place.

On the other hand, some deal with so many missionaries it's hard for an individual to have personal contact with the particular missionary they are helping.

As an example, I got a newsletter from one of these major native missionary groups. The lead story was about a native pastor who was martyred for his faith. I thought to myself that I can't help everyone in this world but at least I could try to encourage and bless this poor widow and her children. I contacted the agency and asked if I could have the contact information for the widow, or if I could designate a monetary gift & message of encouragement to that particular family through their agency. They were not able to help with either request. I'm not saying it wasn't true, but I was disappointed that I could not connect and help that family.

I thank God for these large organizations. My parents worked with Christian Aid mission and had good things to say about them. However I know very little about them. I know God has used them mightily to bring to the forefront the need to include native missionaries in a church's mission strategy. I strongly encourage Christians to add the support of native missionaries to their mission strategy though our efforts or through one of these large established organizations. I can't think of a time before in history when it is actually a realistic possibility for a single family to support a full time missionary.

I do hope that Christians and churches will consider partnering with us and our "International Web Ministry Strategy". (We're still trying to come up with a good name for it.)

Here are some of the strong points of our system.

1) Our three layers of contact with the native missionary as explained above. The financial donors of the designated funds will be able to communicate directly with the native missionary.

2) Our open financial accountability - each native missionary will have posted on our website or blog, exactly who supports them and for what amount. (Those who wish to remain anonymous will be given a generic username for the purpose of tracking these funds.) Also the distribution of funds will also be posted i.e. since you will be personally in contact with your native missionary you will be able to confirm with him that he received the designated funds.

3) Our program uniquely combines the three cutting edge missionary strategies listed in the blog and also supports three strategic missionary endeavors at the same time:

a) A native pastor / missionary is empowered to evangelize, grow a church, disciple, minister to the poor etc.

b) A Web Ministry to the particular country is developed in partnership with those who know that particular country, culture, and needs the best.

c)A good and established mission agency or church in the native region is also blessed.

4) We can also "customize" this strategy considering your specific burden and priorities.

As a example, let's say you or your church have a specific burden for a particular region. We will say the Philippines. Let's also say that to support your own particular denomination and it's beliefs beliefs are very important to you: i.e. "The Baptist General Conference" or "The Reformed Church of America". RRM would research and contact a denominational missonary in that region, explain our strategy, and endeavor to partner with them in the selection of and oversight of a native pastor. We can taylor this program to your specific needs or you can ask us to line up a native pastor through our contacts.

5) As time goes on and these strategic contacts grow, it will become easier to assure the accountability and encouragement aspects of this strategy.

No system is perfect and we are still working out the bugs.

We welcome your ideas, prayers, and support.

Scott, it's exciting to read about the progress yo...

2006-04-10T08:13:00.000-05:00

Scott, it's exciting to read about the progress you're making with Inernational Web Ministry. You make an excellent point that often times for the same money it takes to send one US-based missionary we could support many native missionaries. The two big challenges to that strategy is how do you select good, God-honoring people and how do you insure that they stay on the right track?

I receive at least a dozen emails every week from people claiming to be pastors in 3rd world countries spreading the gospel of Jesus. Many of them create websites on our site at OurChurch.Com. Genuine Christians are so loving and trusting that they are vulerable to scams. I know some of the people sending these emails and building these websites are legitimate but others are scammers, and frankly I can't tell the difference.

Scott, what standards and processes are you using to ensure that the native missionaries you support are legitimate Christ-followers and have the character and gifts to be missionaries?

And, what advice do you have to other Christians who may want to support native missionaries but are unsure about their legitimacy or their qualifications?

I also know that legitimate native missionaries with a passion for sharing the gospel with their community are going to face oposition and temtation from Satan. It seems to me that a vital part of most missions organizations is the encouragement and accountability they provide to their missionaries.

What if any accountability are you going to provide for the International Web Ministry missionaries you support?

God's blessings on you and your ministry as you work to leverage this new technology to more effectively spread the gospel globally.

In His Service,
Paul Steinbrueck
OurChurch.Com
Christian Web Trends Blog

Hi Scott. I came across your blog today because I...

2006-03-01T14:59:00.000-06:00

Hi Scott. I came across your blog today because I saw that you signed up as a partner at OurChurch.Com. You may have seen that we started our own Christian Web Trends blog a couple weeks ago. I find the idea of "bridge sites" very intersting. I'd like to blog about it sometime, and am curious about a few things.

Is the concept and term "bridge sites" something you came up with?

Are you aware of any bridge sites that already exist? If so, do you have any first hand accounts where people were able to share the gospel?

I'd also love to hear in more detail how to have a natural spiritual conversation on a bridge site. I can see it on certain kinds of sites, but I'm having a tough time grasping how you segue on a site about sports or free English lessons to a spiritual conversation.

In His Service,
Paul Steinbrueck
OurChurch.Com

Thanks for your thoughts Scott. I look forward to ...

2006-02-14T19:11:00.000-06:00

Thanks for your thoughts Scott. I look forward to following your blog and other sites. Here is something for you to think about as you prepare these sites: Take a look at
http://landofcanaan.info/book.php
and let me know your thoughts.
Thanks.

God Bless Your Ministry!
tprecious

2006-02-09T22:18:00.000-06:00

God Bless Your Ministry!
tprecious

God Bless You,
Wonderful Opportunity To
Get ...

2006-02-09T22:15:00.000-06:00

God Bless You,
Wonderful Opportunity To
Get The Word Of God Out!
Praying for you as you do God's Will!
Prayer Warrior

HELP! That is the best way that I can say it right...

2005-12-26T18:21:00.000-06:00

HELP! That is the best way that I can say it right now concerning what is about to happen here in New Orleans.

Undoubtedly, the whole nation’s attention was upon New Orleans and the whole Gulf Coast in the wake of Hurricane Katrina and the devastation that followed when our levee system failed and we found New Orleans 80% under water!

Well, the attention that we were getting has decreased and the type of attention that is being paid to the city now is not the attention that will truly have the biggest long term impact.

While the Mayor, the Governor, the President, FEMA, the Army Corp of Engineers and a plethora of other private and governmental agencies argue and debate on the rebuilding of a city—the Church needs to instead be focusing on the unprecedented Harvest and Revival opportunity that this has presented the Gulf Coast and this Nation.

HELP! Is how one could simply break down the vision that Paul received when his brother needed him to come to Macedonia at a pivotal time for that region.

Acts 16:9-10 says, “And a vision appeared to Paul in the night. A man of Macedonia stood and pleaded with him, saying, Come over to Macedonia and help us. Now after he had seen the vision, immediately we sought to go to Macedonia, concluding that the Lord had called us to preach the gospel to them.”

When we began our work full time here in New Orleans in 2003, the Holy Spirit spoke to us that (He) “was sending REVIVAL upon the Gulf Coast of the USA and that we needed to network with the Body of Christ in preparation for this time” Luke 5:1-7

In a couple of months, February 24-28, 2006, RAVEN Ministries will be hosting their 10th annual Mardi Gras Outreach in New Orleans. This is a gathering of believers from all over the country who come to share the LIVING WORD with a DYING WORLD.

In the months since Katrina we have personally seen approximately 400 people come to the Lord Jesus Christ in the French Quarter and on Bourbon Street. The “harvest is ready to be harvested but the labors are too few.”

Please come and help us! You can get more information and contact us through our website at www.BigGrace.com and then click on the Mardi Gras Outreach button or you can email me, Pastor Troy D. Bohn, at ravenmail@cox.net or call me at our offices anytime at 504-304-6535

We NEED you here with us for this time. THIS is where we can break the back of the devil over this city and see revival spread throughout this nation—but we need your help to do it.

Great link. Thanks.
I'm starting to appreciate ...

2005-12-24T09:31:00.000-06:00

Great link. Thanks.
I'm starting to appreciate the good work we can achieve throug blogging mainly by reading your wonderful work. Keep it up!

I think that this is a really good way to reach ou...

2005-11-30T20:31:00.000-06:00

I think that this is a really good way to reach out to other people since the web is frequented by a lot of people. This is a good chance for a lot of people to be introduced to God.

Scott, I think the background color is a little "d...

2005-10-12T12:44:00.000-05:00

Scott, I think the background color is a little "dark", personally I would recomment a lighter color that is easier on the eyes and reflects a more upbeat feel.

I find it interesting that a person could voice th...

2005-10-12T12:41:00.000-05:00

I find it interesting that a person could voice their warped view of porn and yet is logged in as "anonymous."

Why I ask is this person afraid to post their name. Is it that their wife would not approve of such talk?

I have seen personally no good come from porn, in my youth I was exposed to such venues and vises and have struggled with the effects of such since, porn shows unrealistic persons/acts that don't happen in real the world.

Porn is very damaging and should not be allowed.

Thank you
Matthew "Steve" Medlen

I think it is just my messed up, upstairs computer...

2005-10-11T12:22:00.000-05:00

I think it is just my messed up, upstairs computer. It has real issues... If you notice this blog rendering in a weird way, please let me know

Adventures of a Web Evangelist

On facebook, I changed my profile name to put my n...

I enjoyed the website. It's to the point. God ...

Nice post....sometimes you have to take a step bac...

In the USA: Look in a phone book or online and see...

It may be that your sole purpose in life is simply...

I revamped the non profit and shortened its name t...

Paul would certainly use email, probably have a we...

I'm glad you're back blogging keep it up.<...

I invite you to share your story at www.PowerUpLov...

I just happened to stumble on your blog. It's very...

The LORD is my strength and my shield; my heart tr...

Thanks Scott for your thoughts, interesting. God ...

IMPORTANT ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ON THE INTERNATIO...

IMPORTANT ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ON THE INTERNATIO...

Scott, it's exciting to read about the progress yo...

Hi Scott. I came across your blog today because I...

Thanks for your thoughts Scott. I look forward to ...

God Bless Your Ministry!tprecious

God Bless You,Wonderful Opportunity ToGet ...

HELP! That is the best way that I can say it right...

Great link. Thanks.I'm starting to appreciate ...

I think that this is a really good way to reach ou...

Scott, I think the background color is a little "d...

I find it interesting that a person could voice th...

I think it is just my messed up, upstairs computer...

God Bless Your Ministry!
tprecious

God Bless You,
Wonderful Opportunity To
Get ...

Great link. Thanks.
I'm starting to appreciate ...