Participants:
Series Code: TDY
Program Code: TDY018107A
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00:01 I want to spend my life
00:08 Mending broken people 00:13 I want to spend my life 00:19 Removing pain 00:24 Lord, let my words 00:30 Heal a heart that hurts 00:35 I want to spend my life 00:40 Mending broken people 00:46 I want to spend my life 00:51 Mending broken people 01:12 Hello friends. Welcome to 3ABN Today. My name 01:14 is John Lomacang, but you probably know that 01:17 if you're part of our family. I am going to 01:19 talk to the digitally deviced people today. 01:22 Don't ask me to say that again. If you have 01:25 a device, get it. If you have a cell phone, 01:27 get it. This program is revolutionary. This 01:31 is not a program you want to miss; I repeat, 01:33 do not change the channel. This is where you want to 01:37 be. If you have young people in your house, 01:39 go get them. Tell them to bring their devices 01:41 with them. This is a program that they want 01:44 to see. And if you're listening on the radio, 01:46 turn the volume up. I'm excited about our 01:50 guest today, because you know there's a 01:52 commission given by Jesus, "Go therefore 01:54 and teach all nations." Go unto all the world, 01:57 get the gospel to every kingdom, and that's the 01:59 facilitating effect to usher in the return of 02:03 Jesus. And so, we're going to talk about 02:05 creative ways of carrying the gospel to the world, 02:09 and I'm excited about our guest today. We are 02:12 getting reacquainted on a personal level, and 02:15 you'll meet her, some of you, for the very first 02:16 time. But before that, I want to thank you 02:18 for your prayers, your financial support of 02:21 Three Angels Broadcasting Network. I believe you 02:24 believe that God is using this network to 02:27 get the gospel out. And today, we're going 02:29 to talk about an additional way to get 02:31 the gospel to explode in this very challenging 02:34 generation. But before we do that, we're going 02:38 to be blessed with a song by one of my good 02:39 friends, Stephanie Dawn, and the song she's going 02:42 to be singing is "O Glorious Love." 03:04 In my darkness Jesus found me 03:13 Touched my eyes and made me see 03:21 Broke sin's chains that long had bound me 03:30 Gave me life and liberty 03:38 Oh, glorious love of Christ my Lord divine 03:46 Who gave Himself to save a soul like mine 03:54 Through all my days and then in heaven above, 04:02 My song will silence never, I'll worship Him forever, 04:11 And praise Him for His glorious love 04:24 Oh, amazing truth to ponder 04:32 He whom angel hosts attend 04:41 Lord in Heaven, God's Son, what wonder; 04:48 He became the sinner's friend 04:56 Oh, glorious love of Christ my Lord divine 05:03 Who gave Himself to save a soul like mine 05:11 Through all my days and then in heaven above 05:18 My song will silence never, I'll worship Him forever, 05:27 And praise Him for His glorious love 05:37 And praise Him for His glorious love 05:59 - Thank you so much, Stephanie; appreciate 06:02 it. This topic is about God's glorious love and 06:05 how He has, through that love, encouraged 06:09 us to get the gospel out so that people who 06:11 don't know Him can become acquainted with Him and 06:14 then receive the beautiful gift of salvation. On 06:17 that note, Felecia, good to have you here. 06:19 - Pastor John, good to be here. - Felecia Datus. 06:22 - Yes. - Good to see you again! - It's good 06:24 to see you! It's been a while. - Yes, my wife 06:26 and I, when we heard that you were coming 06:27 here, we said, "Wonderful!" Wonderful. Good to have 06:30 you here. You are on the cutting edge right 06:32 now of some moving methods that really 06:37 are encouraging a new segment of the 06:41 church and of our worldwide family to 06:44 get involved. Tell us about what you're 06:47 involved in; kind of give us a little bit of 06:50 your background, let people who are meeting 06:52 for the first time kind of find out who you are. 06:54 - So, a little bit of background... I'm from 06:57 the Bahamas. My family is from Haiti; my 07:00 parents do mission work in Haiti. So, I've 07:03 always had that drive for evangelism and 07:05 sharing the gospel - my siblings, as well. And 07:08 more and more- I do have experience in radio 07:11 and television, and I realize that I can reach 07:13 so many more people than by meeting people 07:16 on a day-to-day basis. So, I've been thinking, 07:18 "How do we combine evangelism and digital 07:22 gadgets that we have with sharing the gospel?" 07:26 And then a year ago, I met a gentleman who 07:29 had started a ministry, sharing the gospel, 07:32 promoting the three angels' message, promoting 07:34 the Advent message online. And so, that's 07:37 how I got involved with the Center for Online 07:38 Evangelism, and that taught me to combine 07:41 my love for mission and how everyone is on 07:44 their devices. - Wow. Wow. We live in a 07:47 device-driven world today. - Oh, yes; 07:48 absolutely. - You know, I was going to ask the 07:50 question, which you've kind of answered already, 07:52 but the most prevalent thing we have today 07:55 that we didn't have, in this number and this 07:57 mass 20 years ago, is... what? - We have it 08:00 right here. You have like, two; I have one. 08:03 We're all connected somehow. - We are 08:06 digitally connected. Every one of us is 08:08 connected by something. I've got an iPad, some 08:11 of you have tablets, but we are a digitally 08:15 connected, and some cases, digitally 08:17 distracted generation. - We are. But the thing 08:20 is, the wonderful grace of God is that He could 08:23 use where we are to reach us with His love. 08:26 So if a lot of people are connected there 08:28 on their devices, why not work through those 08:30 devices to share the gospel? In some homes, 08:33 everyone has a cell phone there. Also, computers, 08:37 there're tablets, there are laptops, there's a 08:39 television... What better way to reach people than 08:41 through their gadgets? - That's right. That's 08:43 right. And tell us about the Center of Online 08:47 Evangelism. Talk about that, because we- how 08:51 many people are online? I love that word - online. 08:54 As compared to offline. - Yes. So, it started 09:00 a few years ago. A gentleman named Ed 09:02 Wagner- he was traveling. He was on his phone and 09:05 he wanted to find out some Adventist churches 09:08 in the area, and he basically discovered 09:10 that our presence is not as strong online. 09:14 So, God blessed him with the idea to bring some 09:17 persons together, form a ministry so that we 09:20 can promote the Advent message, promote the 09:22 gospel online. So, it's a few years later; our 09:25 team has grown. We have like, 11 or 12 full-time 09:27 workers, we have interns, we have volunteers... And 09:30 our mean mission is to train people how to do 09:34 online evangelism. So, going into churches, 09:37 talking with church members and saying, "Hey, you 09:39 have Facebook, you have YouTube- why not use 09:42 those means to share the gospel, to share 09:44 what Christ is doing in your life?" We also 09:46 train ministries how to do Search Engine 09:49 Optimization- so, SEO. You can have a great 09:52 website, but if persons online don't know how 09:54 to find your website, then your content 09:58 remains hidden online. What we're finding is 10:01 that a lot of people, they're searching for 10:03 the truth. They want to know about the 10:04 Sabbath. They want to know about Bible study; 10:07 they want to know who Jesus Christ is. So, 10:11 when they go online, what are they finding? 10:13 Are they finding the great content that the 10:15 Adventist church is creating, that the 10:17 members are creating? So, we're saying the 10:19 content is already being created; let's work with 10:23 Search Engine Optimization, SEO, to boost that content 10:26 so that when they do Google us or when they 10:28 do ask Siri, "Hey, what is the Sabbath?" or "Who 10:31 is Jesus Christ?" that our content were to 10:32 come up. So, that's why our ministry was founded, 10:35 and then we have our mean initiative Project 10:37 Caleb still basically with the aim and the 10:40 mission to promote the gospel online. - Tell us 10:43 why 'Caleb.' That's interesting, because 10:45 I have some ideas; I have a sermon called, 10:47 "Somebody's Got to Be Caleb." But this is 10:50 amazing that you brought a Project Caleb. - So, 10:52 we know the story. The Israelites were bound 10:55 to go into the Promised Land, and we almost see 10:57 Google, the first page of Google, as the Promised 10:59 Land, because statistics are showing that people 11:01 rarely go to the second page. But going back 11:04 to the Bible story, there was the Promised 11:05 Land, and God told the Israelites, "Go in. 11:08 There are a lot of giants, there are a 11:10 lot of enemies, but I've commanded you to go." 11:12 He said, "Do not be afraid of them. I will 11:14 give you victory over them." Caleb was going 11:16 ahead of them along with Joshua, and they 11:19 took over the Promised Land despite the 11:20 challenges, despite the giants, and they 11:23 ended up conquering the Promised Land with 11:26 God's help. So, we took that name, Project Caleb, 11:29 and we're saying that even though online, 11:31 there are giants-there's a whole lot of negative 11:33 content, there's a whole lot of information 11:36 that we don't want our children to have access 11:38 to-God promised to give us power, to give 11:41 us grace, to give us the Holy Spirit to 11:42 conquer that first page of the internet 11:45 to take over so that people can learn more 11:47 about Jesus Christ and the Advent message. - I 11:49 like the way you compared that, because the Promised 11:51 Land was inhabited by the Malachite's, the 11:53 Hittites, the Jebusites, the Perizzites - all 11:55 these foreign nations that were in adversarial 11:57 relationships with Israel. But the Lord 12:00 says, "I'm going to give you that land." 12:01 - Exactly. Exactly. So, it wasn't a space that 12:04 was empty; it was a space that was already 12:06 full, but with the enemy. God is saying, 12:09 "In this world, there's a whole lot of darkness." 12:11 And He says, "You are created to be a light; 12:13 you are created to be the salt of the Earth 12:15 on Google, on YouTube, on Yahoo!" And so, instead 12:19 of just shining the light where light 12:20 already is, God says, "Go into the darkness." 12:23 Go online, because half of the world's population 12:27 has access to the internet. 3.5 billion, in some way 12:31 or form, has access to the internet. So, if 12:34 we want to finish the Great Commission, if 12:35 we want to go out to all the nations, every 12:37 tongue, every race, every tribe, do it 12:40 using our gadgets. - That's right; that's right. I love 12:43 that! Because that's, in fact... I think recent- 12:47 I don't know if this picture's? yet, 12:49 but my wife and I, while we were in Bangkok, 12:51 Thailand and we were on the platform, getting 12:54 ready to take a train, and I looked around me 12:56 and I thought to myself, "Honey, look!" And I 12:59 think the picture's available here. This 13:00 is a picture of people standing on the platform, 13:03 one of the them, and I thought, I look to my 13:05 right; there are people on their phones. And 13:07 then to the left, I said, "Well, look at the other 13:09 crowd!" Yeah, the other one. There's a man 13:11 standing there, and he was on HIS phone, and 13:14 I was thinking- then I said, "But look to my 13:16 immediate left; look at this." And my wife 13:18 said, "Look at that. They're on their phones." 13:20 - Right. Precisely. - And this is what 13:22 you're talking about! - Everywhere you go. 13:24 I was just in the airport the other day. You're 13:27 on a bus, you're on a train- wherever you go, 13:29 people are face down. So, imagine trying to 13:32 reach someone, trying to say hello, trying to 13:34 greet them, trying to share your personal 13:36 story of what Jesus did for you. No one is looking 13:38 up. They can't hear you...BUT if we have 13:40 the gospel online, if we have what they are 13:43 searching for right there online, there's a way that, 13:46 while they are scrolling and while they are 13:48 searching, whether it's podcasts or they're 13:51 looking for videos, or if it's on Facebook, 13:53 they can find the gospel. - As a matter of fact, 13:56 I have a story. I don't want to take your time, 13:57 but it's a very quick story. A good friend 13:59 of mine who was Janet Jackson's entertainment 14:01 lawyer, that's how he found out about a series 14:03 I did called "Unclean Spirits." He said he 14:05 was searching for the Sabbath. He said, "And 14:07 you kept coming up. 5 times you came up, and 14:09 I said, 'Well, let me just see who this is. 14:11 Why does this keep coming up?'" And he 14:13 watched it, and now we're good friends as a result 14:15 of just being online - a series about the 14:16 occult and the entertainment industry, he says; and 14:18 he watched it. He and his wife watched it 5 14:20 times. Now, we're good friends because of the 14:23 fact that he was online, looking for truth, and 14:25 he said, "Your name kept coming up. 'Who is this 14:27 guy? I don't even know who he is.'" Now, that 14:29 way, the Lord opened the door to be able to 14:31 share the gospel with him. - Exactly. - And 14:33 that's what you're talking about! - Exactly! 14:35 And it's not only sharing that content; it's all 14:37 about connecting people who don't have access 14:40 to an Adventist church, for example. We're 14:43 finding that a lot of searches to YouTube, 14:45 for example, is coming outside of the United 14:47 States. And sometimes, these are coming from 14:49 countries where it's forbidden to share the 14:51 gospel - but they are online because they want 14:53 to know about who Jesus is. So maybe, they get 14:56 connected to your ministry, they find 14:58 your content, and then they want to form a 15:00 community. So, using our digital devices, we can 15:03 also start online Bible studies. We can start 15:05 prayer groups. We can start churches! Neville 15:08 Neveling, he received a net award at the 15:11 GAiN conference some time ago because he's 15:13 known for starting churches using WhatsApp. - Wow. 15:17 Online. - Yes. - What is GAiN? Is that an 15:19 acronym? - It is an acronym, and it's one 15:21 of the ways that different people in communication 15:24 and internet in the Adventist church come 15:26 together, again, to learn how to share the 15:28 gospel online and using the internet and digital 15:30 devices. - Wow. I mean, so this is a medium that 15:34 is fast-paced, hard-hitting, and what's nice about 15:39 it is targeting a generation that's 15:40 becoming increasingly difficult to reach. - Yes; 15:43 yes. And there are challenges, you know? 15:46 There are studies that's wondering whether 15:49 relationships are breaking down because 15:50 of our devices, but we're saying people 15:53 are already online. So, rather than trying to 15:55 get people off of their phones-and it's good 15:57 to have that balance of face-to-face conversation- 15:59 but we're saying to reach them where they 16:02 are, and that's what Jesus did. He went to 16:03 where the crowd was. So, if they're already 16:06 online, let's reach them there and then 16:08 also get them connected to a local church or 16:11 with a group of people in their area. - I'm 16:13 smiling because I'm thinking- so much is 16:15 exploding in my mind right now - the pastor. 16:17 You mentioned the Promised Land. Well, 16:19 there's another statement, "Can any good thing come 16:21 out of Nazareth?" - Precisely. - You know, 16:23 you could call the phone, "Nazareth." 16:25 "Can any good thing come out of Nazareth?" 16:26 So, really, there're so many ways to approach 16:31 this topic where people are just- they're not- 16:35 some people go to- I was watching an article 16:37 just recently. Actually, a magazine article where 16:39 they talk about how college students, it's 16:43 impacting their ability to stay up in class, 16:46 because many of them sleep with their phones 16:49 right next to them. - Right. - They might 16:51 not have the ringer on, but they put it on their 16:53 chest so they can feel the vibration if somebody's 16:55 texting, or they sleep with their face turned 16:57 toward it. So, what our lesson's saying is- 17:00 I like what you said, because somebody might 17:02 say, "Well, they are already addicted. Why 17:05 do we want to get them addicted?" We 17:07 want to go unto the bars and lead them to 17:08 Christ. - Precisely. Precisely. - Talk about, 17:11 we want to meet them in their place of addiction 17:13 to give them freedom. - Right. And the aim is 17:15 not to leave them online; the aim is to reach them 17:19 through the devices that they have but get them 17:21 connected to a church family, get them connected 17:24 to someone else in their area so that 17:27 they can grow together. So, yes. We understand 17:29 that. We acknowledge that there are addictions, 17:31 but we still believe that the Holy Spirit can 17:34 work through that - work through their 17:35 computers and their laptops and their cell 17:38 phones to get them connected to a church 17:39 family. - Wow. And now, talk about the platforms. 17:42 You talked about some of the ways that this is 17:45 happening, like you mentioned. Well, we 17:47 know about Instagram, we know about Facebook; 17:49 but amazingly enough, almost monthly, or 17:52 maybe even more reoccurring than that, there are 17:56 new platforms opening up. So, while people 18:00 are saying- I remember there was a time. Remember 18:03 ...what was it, MySpace? - MySpace. There was 18:06 also hi5. I don't know if anyone remembers 18:08 that. - When MySpace came out, it was like, 18:10 "MySpace..." And then all of a sudden, they 18:12 said, "Well, that's just for teenyboppers." 18:14 Then whatever came out after that, but then 18:17 Facebook seems to be the overarching platform 18:20 right now that everybody's targeting. - Yes. So, 18:22 there is- you can reach people through social 18:24 media, so that's Facebook, Instagram, SnapChat, 18:27 Twitter, LinkedIn, all of these social media 18:29 platforms. And then you have the video-sharing 18:32 platforms; that's YouTube and that's 18:33 video. Then, you have podcast, then you 18:36 have blogs. We're finding a greater and greater 18:38 percentage every day of Americans, for example, 18:41 who are spending a lot of internet time reading 18:43 blogs. So, that's social media, there's YouTube, 18:46 there're blogs, there are podcasts, and then 18:48 there are websites. So, all of these platforms can 18:51 be used to share the gospel. But then we're seeing 18:54 even if you do have a platform, Search Engine 18:57 Optimization, or SEO, is still important, 19:01 because that's a major part of what we do. 19:03 It basically includes training or teaching 19:07 church members, church leaders, how to optimize 19:10 their website. It's like having a building 19:13 or having a house and not having the address 19:15 up, so people don't know how to find you. - Good. 19:17 - I remember there was this one time I was 19:19 invited to a potluck after church, and I 19:22 went to the house and a dog came, you know, 19:24 barking at me. I was at the wrong house. 19:27 So even though I wanted to go to the house, I 19:29 went to the wrong address. And a lot of times, we 19:32 find that's what's happening online. 19:33 - Internet address. - That people want to 19:35 find our content, but they're going to the 19:37 wrong websites because they don't have an 19:39 address; they don't know where to find us, 19:41 and it's because we're not practicing SEO, or 19:43 Search Engine Optimization: using the right keywords, 19:47 having meta descriptions, and other factors that 19:50 can help people find our content. - I want 19:52 you to break this down for the illiterate-meta 19:54 descriptions. Talk about that for a moment. You 19:56 know, meta data. Go ahead. - So, meta 19:57 descriptions. For example, when you go 19:59 on Google, for instance, if I want to find black 20:03 ties and I Google 'black ties,' what's going to 20:08 happen is that I'm going to find 10 results on 20:11 the first page of Google. And right after, like, 20:14 a bold on the Google search result, there's 20:17 a little bit of a description-there's 20:18 a meta description. And before we click, 20:21 most people, they're reading that short 20:23 summary to find out whether they want 20:25 to click on that website. Now, Google is searching 20:28 your website to find out if you have these 20:30 summaries. If you have these summaries, it helps 20:33 you rank a little bit higher. And that's not 20:35 the only thing; there are so many other things 20:37 that can help you rank higher on Google so 20:40 that people can find your content. - Okay. 20:41 So, in other words, the initial...what's 20:46 the word I could use here?- the initial 20:47 invitation. - Precisely. - In some cases, pastors- 20:51 at least, I'm not going to speak for everybody, 20:53 but I live in the world of communication-they 20:57 say you have 15-20 seconds to get your 20:59 audience's information. So, don't spend and 21:01 say, "Well, uh, so glad to be here. My 21:03 name is John Lomacang. I'm so glad to have 21:05 you here. I'm so glad you're here for the 21:07 weekend." It's like... Okay, we know who 21:09 you are! Don't tell us who you are; we got 21:12 the sermon, we have the bulletin, we see 21:14 the sermon title... Boom. - Get right to it. - Start 21:16 by saying, "You know, it's possible to walk 21:18 with Jesus and not even know Him." 21:20 - Precisely. So, that could be a meta description. 21:22 I don't want to go too much in using 21:24 those technical terms, but what the Center 21:26 for Online Evangelism does is, for example, 21:28 we go into churches and we train you how 21:30 to do this. We provide the services; we provide 21:33 the resources to train someone who never 21:35 heard the term 'Search Engine Optimization' or 21:38 'meta description.' We train you how to do 21:40 this. Why? Because God has given you a particular 21:43 story. He has given you the gospel, and you have 21:46 that responsibility now to share it. And 21:48 sometimes, we want to share it, but we 21:50 don't know how to do it-especially in a 21:51 digital age, and that's why we exist. - And 21:53 you know, Felecia, a lot of people don't 21:55 realize that they are drawn by these devices, 21:59 even the person that watches television, 22:00 they might say, "I don't have a cell 22:01 phone, I don't have an iPad, I don't really 22:04 want any of these"- but if they watch 22:05 television, the same principle applies. The 22:08 people putting commercials together, they pay 22:10 millions for that 15 seconds on Super Bowl 22:12 Sunday. My wife worked for a company in New 22:15 York City years ago- Coca Cola, actually, 22:17 and all they did was price advertising. 22:19 And when the Super Bowl came around, 22:21 people were willing to pay millions for that 22:23 15 or 20- if you get 30 seconds, you're 22:25 talking about massive amounts of money. 22:27 - Yes; yes. - And they don't spend- they don't 22:30 say- they don't have a talking head to talk 22:32 to you for 30 seconds. It's gotta be fast-moving, 22:35 lock you in, keep you looking, and they have 22:37 to choose keywords that will be of interest 22:39 to you, and before they even choose 22:41 those keywords, they've researched massive 22:44 amounts of data to say, "What is everybody 22:46 looking for?" - And people are spending. 22:48 Organizations, businesses out there in the secular 22:51 world are spending thousands of dollars 22:53 every day, every month- millions of dollars every 22:56 single year so that they can reach people 22:59 with a message that, sometimes, does not 23:01 even have any eternal value. - Right. - So 23:03 how much more emphasis should we place on using 23:06 the means and the methods to reach people. You 23:09 know, there's a passage in the Bible we were 23:11 talking about that sometimes, the children 23:12 of the world are more faithful in certain 23:15 things than we who have this light and 23:17 we who have this message. So, why 23:19 not put more emphasis in sharing the gospel 23:21 online? - You know, the other thing about- 23:23 there are parents that might say, "I'm trying 23:26 to find ways to get my daughter off of 23:29 her cell phone, my son out of his bedroom; 23:33 his computer is his new god..." We're 23:35 saying, okay. We'll go into that bedroom 23:38 and find him for you. [laughter] Okay, 23:41 that's what you're talking about. - Right. 23:42 - We'll say, "That's where he is," or 23:44 "That's where she is"; we're coming after 23:46 them to give them a new direction of- I 23:48 want to clarify that, because sometimes, 23:49 people might say, "You know, they're buying 23:52 into this same thing, too. Look at what 23:53 they're doing." We're not buying into it 23:56 anymore than Jesus bought into being 23:58 a harlot or a publican or tax collector or 24:00 winebibber, but He met people where 24:02 they are and I want you to emphasize that. 24:03 - And we also want to say that since, 24:05 for example, your teenagers are already on their 24:07 phone. Why not train them to use their phone 24:11 to use that time to share the gospel with 24:13 their peers? For instance, with my phone, I remember 24:17 some time ago I met this lady who was 24:19 offering a support class to help women 24:22 who struggled with abortion - you know, 24:24 dealing with the pain and finding healing in 24:26 God. And I said, "What do you think of us 24:28 doing a Facebook live video and us talking 24:31 about this?" I had no idea how it was going to receive. 24:36 I'm thinking, "Okay, maybe 10, 20...up 24:38 to 100 people will watch this interview." 24:40 It turns out that that video alone had thousands 24:43 of views and shared so many times. We had 24:46 persons, after watching that video on Facebook 24:48 live, contact that lady and said, "I have 24:51 been struggling. Can I please talk to you? 24:53 Can you please pray with me?" And so we're 24:54 saying, your teenagers are on their phone - 24:56 fine. We do want to reach them, and then 24:58 we also want to train them how to use their 25:00 gadgets to share the gospel, because that 25:03 may be the way that the Holy Spirit can 25:05 reach them. - That's right. A device doesn't 25:09 necessarily have to be evil in and of itself; 25:11 it's what you do with it. - Precisely. It's 25:13 just like money, you know? Money in and 25:16 of itself is not something that's bad; it's not 25:19 something that's evil. If you are using it 25:22 to spend- if you were spending it on a whole 25:25 lot of things that's frivolous and that 25:26 has no value, has no meaning, or it's being 25:28 used to destroy lives, then it becomes 25:31 something that's bad. However, imagine if 25:34 you have a whole lot of money and you use 25:36 all of that money to feed the poor, to help 25:40 the homeless, and you use it to share the 25:42 gospel - then, it's used for good. We 25:44 look at digital devices the same way. - That's 25:47 right. And instead of trying to fight the 25:50 tide, you redirect the tide. - Right; right. 25:54 - Somebody said, "You could get angry with 25:58 the ocean or you could turn that raging wave 26:01 of water and direct it into a power plant 26:05 and light up a city." And I think what you're 26:07 saying is, there's a wave that's been 26:09 roaring against households. You want to redirect 26:11 that. I think of the Grand Coulee Dam; 26:14 I think of a lot of these large water 26:17 dams around the world where you can't stop 26:19 the river, but you can say, "What can we do 26:22 with this ever-present resource?" - Right. - So 26:24 that's what we're talking about. What 26:25 do we do with this ever-present resource? 26:27 - And the other thing is, imagine if all of 26:29 us, you know, as Christians, we came offline and we 26:32 said, "We're not going to do social media 26:34 anymore; we're not going to go on YouTube anymore." 26:36 What we actually do is that we make that 26:38 darkness even more dark because we're 26:40 removing all of that light. We are in the 26:43 world, but we're not supposed to be of the 26:44 world. So, we are on social media, we are 26:47 on YouTube; we're already on these 26:49 platforms. Let's use that, then, to saturate, 26:52 to introduce Jesus Christ more and more- 26:54 the Advent message, the great content that 26:57 we're creating. Why not find a way to 26:58 promote that, to boost that, so that it could 27:01 push down some of the negative things that's 27:03 already online that our children are being 27:05 exposed to? - That's right. And so, if you 27:07 put the word- and some of you might even want 27:09 to practice that. If you put the word- 27:12 I mean, we have devices here; we're not going 27:14 to practice this too long. But if there's 27:15 a particular topic you're looking for, 27:17 we might say, "Okay, well, just open up your 27:18 phone and go to Google or go to Yahoo!" or 27:20 whatever platform you might have. Go to Facebook 27:22 and just type in a particular word of 27:24 a truth that you're looking for - does it 27:26 show up? And if it doesn't, that's what 27:28 Felecia's all about. - Right. - She's saying 27:30 it doesn't show up, because you haven't 27:31 done SEO - Search Engine Optimization. 27:34 - Precisely. - Hadn't done that. - Right. 27:37 - So, that's what we're saying. If you're looking 27:39 for something and it's not able to be found, 27:41 it's because it hasn't been optimized. - Right. 27:43 - And that search word hasn't gotten to the 27:46 place where you're giving it priority on 27:49 the internet. And it's amazing that you pointed 27:51 this particular fact out- I mean...okay. 27:54 Confession is good for the soul, hard on 27:56 the reputation. [laughter] I am a gadgetarian. 27:58 I said it. I'm a gadgetarian. But that's who I always 28:02 have been. I am a person that's a 28:04 gadgetarian. Recently, however, my wife and 28:07 I have been freed. We said, "We're not 28:09 getting the newest phone, because the 28:10 one we have right now is working just 28:12 fine." You know, if you get the iPhone 9, 28:14 iPhone 10, whatever- iPhone X... Well, what's 28:17 the difference between iPhone 7 Plus? Sorry, 28:19 advertisers; not a whole lot of difference, 28:21 except if you want like a point of 5 28:24 seconds faster. - Right. Or something new. 28:27 - Yeah, there's always something- but realistically, 28:30 it still does what the phone is designed to 28:32 do. - Right. - And phones today- this 28:35 is something else with a parent, 'cause 28:36 growing up, the phone today is not just a 28:39 phone anymore; it's the means by which 28:42 you access the other person's mind. - Wow, 28:45 yes. - Talk about that. - Yes. - How to get- 28:46 this is what you're really trying to do. 28:48 - Yes. - You're not trying to get them- 28:49 you're not trying to meet them here and 28:51 stay here; you're trying to get here. 28:53 - Yes. So, for instance, this is an example that 28:56 I can give. Let's say you want to have an 28:57 evangelistic series at your church, talking 29:00 about Daniel and Revelation. And we 29:02 know that a lot of people have come to 29:04 know truth, come to be introduced to the 29:06 message through Daniel and Revelation studies. 29:09 So, you can either spend thousands of 29:11 dollars on printing some fliers to give 29:14 out in homes and so forth, OR you can go 29:17 online and spend some money on Facebook ads, 29:19 for instance, and target a specific area. So while 29:23 the people are on the platform searching and 29:25 scrolling, they can come across that ad 29:27 for the Daniel and Revelation study; 29:29 maybe decide to write a blog about it or you 29:32 decide to have a short video about it, as well. 29:35 They can click on that, become more 29:37 curious, find out about your church, and get 29:39 connected to your church so you pull 29:41 them from off the website or off of their phone 29:43 and walking into your church. So, that's a 29:46 way to access them - access their minds. 29:49 We don't want to make it sound really you're 29:51 manipulating people, but it's a way to 29:53 reach them because we're finding... - Advertising. 29:55 - ...more and more people, if they see 29:57 a flier on their windshield or on their door, what 29:59 happens is that we take that and it goes 30:01 right into the garbage. - Say, "Who did this 30:03 to my car?" - Precisely. But, definitely, people 30:06 are not opening their doors as much. - That's 30:09 right. - They're not. But they are more 30:13 willing to click on something that seems 30:15 interesting on their phone and it grabs 30:18 their attention, and then they'll be willing 30:19 to visit your church and get more acquainted 30:22 with the gospel. - And it works. We're talking 30:24 about digital advertising, also. A lot of times, 30:26 you've mentioned something (which I 30:28 don't want to run too far past) - how many 30:31 dollars are spent on printing evangelism. 30:35 - Right; right. - And that's another thing 30:36 you're talking about. What's the statistics? 30:38 I mean, 2, 3... If you get 5% of the people 30:42 that you sent fliers to, you're really 30:44 high on the pole. You know, you're talking 30:46 about 1-3% of the people that receive 30:48 fliers going to respond. If you send out in a 30:51 city of 125,000 people, if you get 200 people 30:55 at your meeting, those statistics are extremely 30:57 low...but you put it on a device. - Right. 31:01 - You've increased- I mean, if you could 31:03 follow that digital meta data, you could 31:06 see it's exploding everywhere. - And 31:08 we don't want to downplay the traditional means of 31:10 evangelism. It's definitely important, because... - It 31:13 reaches a certain audience; that's the 31:15 key. - Precisely. The world we're seeing- 31:17 for example, if you read the book Steps to Christ 31:19 and you realize it's a really good book, 31:21 and I want a thousand of my friends on Facebook 31:23 to read Steps to Christ, maybe you can order 31:26 a thousand Steps to Christ books...but it's 31:29 already online. So, why not spend an hour, 31:31 for example, on Sabbath afternoon and say, "You 31:33 know what? I'm going to reach out to a few 31:35 of my friends." Start that relationship and 31:37 share with them the blessing that Steps to 31:39 Christ has been with me. So, without having 31:41 to go outside, knocking on doors or spending 31:44 a lot of money on Steps to Christ books and sending 31:46 it to them, and there are instances, for 31:49 sure, where you want to mail a book or a 31:52 gift to someone; but you can reach so many 31:54 more people with sharing it online. - That's right. 31:56 And young people- another way- right now, my mind 32:00 is like I'm on a highway. I'm like, 90 miles an hour 32:02 in my brain. And thank you for speeding up my 32:04 intellect in that particular... Because we are a generation 32:08 driven by devices. - Right. - So, we have 32:10 to understand what the benefits of those devices 32:12 are and what the negative sides of those 32:14 devices are. And because it's already being used 32:16 negative- and I like the point you mentioned. 32:18 You said, "We can say this thing is evil!" 32:21 Just like the Pharisees said. "Those scribes and 32:25 tax collectors and harlots and publicans 32:27 and winebibbers are evil! Stay away from 32:29 them." But Jesus found a way to reach out and 32:32 embrace their community so that they can not 32:36 be fearful of who He is. - Right. - So, we're 32:39 talking about not converting TO the 32:43 community but entering into a community where 32:47 people, in many cases, don't know that they 32:49 have this deep and abiding need. - Right. 32:52 Precisely. And Jesus was able to meet those 32:54 people because He went where they are. He was 32:57 willing to go into their houses. He was willing 32:59 to go where they were gathering. He did not 33:03 eat with the rulers and with the scri- 33:05 well, he did in some instances; but we're 33:07 saying if we want to reach the people that 33:09 Jesus Christ died to save, we have to go 33:12 where they are. They're already searching for 33:15 Him; they're already searching for truth. 33:17 And a lot of times, they are not finding 33:18 the information that they need to find 33:21 because we are so hidden far down in 33:23 the Google search results. So why not 33:25 give them what they're searching for already? 33:26 - And something I'm going to do 33:28 at my church...bulletin... Some pastors could 33:32 say to all those young people in their 33:34 congregation- all those mothers and fathers 33:37 who have nieces and nephews and maybe 33:38 grandchildren that are in that age group where 33:41 they're already on a cell phone. If you said 33:43 to them, "Hey, come to church with me today!" 33:44 They'll say, "Ugh..." They'll listen to a 33:46 sermon... No. Actually, we want you to come 33:48 with us because there's something after church 33:51 that's all about cell phones, all about 33:55 using your devices. Matter of fact- and 33:57 there might be young people that are not 33:59 even members of your church, and you'll say, 34:02 "You have friends?" "Yeah." "Do you have 34:05 friends that you text all the time?" "Yeah." 34:06 "Invite 'em all. Tell 'em we're going to 34:08 do something crazy good this afternoon, and just 34:11 get, maybe, the fellowship hall, and you have like, 34:14 85 young people there..." Okay. Exponential- 34:18 check this out. We talked about this. Let's 34:20 look at the exponential numbers that are 34:23 represented there. How many friends do 34:25 your friends have and their friends' 34:26 friends have and their friends' friends' 34:28 friends' have? And that word is used in a very 34:31 realistic way; but I love that, because 34:33 Jesus said to His disciples, "I no 34:36 longer call you my disciples, but I call 34:38 you My friends." - Right. - So, Jesus was involved 34:40 in friendship evangelism a long time ago. - Yes. 34:43 - So, you get them together and say, 34:45 "This afternoon, here's what we're going to do- 34:46 we're going to get this particular topic online. 34:49 I'm going to give you the media," and this is 34:53 what you're talking about. - Yes. - So, 34:54 this afternoon for the next 15 or 20 minutes 34:57 or 30 minutes, we're going to have the 34:59 largest evangelistic series ever known to 35:02 this community. Is that great? - And 35:04 you get everyone involved, because 35:05 there are many of our members who want to 35:07 get more involved in missions, but they 35:09 can't go overseas. And usually, we equate 35:11 mission with going overseas...you know? 35:13 Because of life, family, work, and so forth. 35:16 But now we're saying, "Listen; you don't 35:18 have an excuse to not share the gospel." If 35:20 you have a cell phone, if you have a laptop, 35:22 if you have a tablet, you can participate 35:25 in mission and evangelism. Just be staying at home! 35:28 We're not saying just stay at home; you still 35:30 want to go out and meet people. - Right. 35:32 - And so, we're giving everyone an opportunity 35:34 to fulfill the Great Commission that Jesus 35:36 already gave to us. - The other thing is, 35:39 there are some people that want to communicate 35:40 a message. You know, a lot of people like to 35:42 preach. And I have seen on the internet-'cause 35:44 I am on the internet; so many of my sermons 35:46 are there-I've gone to the internet and I've 35:48 seen some horrible content...things that 35:52 are- sermons that, even though I'm a pastor and 35:55 I understand my Bible, they have put it together 35:57 so cheesy. [laughter] That you don't even 36:01 want to watch it. And it's got like, 3 hits. 36:07 This is something else- we also want to teach 36:09 people how to prepare your media to be appealing 36:15 online. Is that something that Center of Evangelism 36:17 does also? - Most definitely. And that's 36:19 why I absolutely love the team that we work 36:21 with, from Ed Wagner, our founder, with Dave 36:24 and Carl and Amy Laney. What we're 36:26 teaching... The best example that I could 36:28 use is this. I remember a few years ago, someone 36:32 was searching for me on Facebook and they said, 36:35 "Hey, I added you on Facebook." And I said, 36:36 "Well, I didn't see a friend request." They 36:38 said, "But you accepted!" I went on Facebook and 36:41 I found out that someone had created an account 36:43 in my name. They were using my pictures, and 36:46 this person was actually on Facebook like they 36:49 were me! I reported it, but that profile was 36:54 still there. I said, "You know what? The 36:56 only way that I could get people to think 36:58 that I'm the real me and not this other 37:01 person is for me to start being more 37:03 active and communicating with people so people 37:06 can tell the difference between my content 37:07 and this other page that's not me. And 37:11 what we're finding is that sometimes online, 37:13 someone may go and search and they're 37:15 looking for the Sabbath truth or they're looking 37:18 for Adventists. We want to make sure that they're 37:20 finding the content that's really from us; we want 37:23 them to find our profile. So, the Center for Online 37:25 Evangelism is saying, "We can train you how 37:28 to do that," to make sure that they are 37:30 finding the content that you're already 37:31 creating. - Right. So, Center of Online 37:35 Evangelism has a website. We're going to talk about 37:37 that at the end of the program. - Yes. 37:39 - We'll give people the information so 37:40 they can go there. Now, these workshops- 37:42 are these workshops that your team travels 37:45 to local churches to do, or is there a place 37:47 that they could go online like in a forum, "We'll have 37:52 a workshop today at 6 o'clock online and 37:54 teach you how to do this..." What are some 37:56 of the ways that you're training people how to 37:58 do that? - There are several things that 37:59 we're doing. We do have the workshops, 38:00 and we do- for example, a church can send us 38:02 an email. We'll have that information up or 38:05 they can call us and say, "Hey, we do want 38:06 the Center for Online Evangelism to come in 38:08 and show us how to be present online, how to 38:12 improve our website, how to start our YouTube 38:14 channel." So, there are the workshops. 38:17 Then, we have our Facebook page where, 38:20 every day, we're sending out little tidbits or 38:23 advice and we're saying, "Hey, you can implement 38:24 this." But for now, one of the things that's 38:27 really instrumental in what we're doing is 38:29 our newsletters. So, when someone subscribes 38:32 to the newsletter, the one who puts it out, 38:35 Amy Prindle, what she does is, every week, she 38:38 writes a blog and she shows you exactly what 38:40 you need to do to optimize your website 38:42 or how to put in best practices into what you're 38:46 doing. So, there's our website, there's social 38:49 media; we do have our webinars constantly going 38:53 on, we have videos training people how 38:55 to do this, then we have our newsletters, and then 38:57 we actually do the services ourselves. 38:59 So, if you're saying, "You know what"- 39:00 you are willing to spend the money or 39:02 to donate and you want to get someone to do it 39:05 for your church, then we also offer those services. 39:09 We create resources. One of our workers, 39:12 Amy, she created an entire manual, training 39:15 people who have never heard about SEO how 39:17 to do SEO. So, starting from the very basics, 39:21 and she walks you through how to implement SEO 39:24 for your church or your ministry or your school. 39:27 So, there are various ways that we train 39:30 people to do this. - So, are there online videos 39:32 that you can click and say, "Today, we're going 39:34 to talk about how to get started." - There 39:36 are online videos. Once you go to our 39:37 Facebook page... Right now, we are on Facebook. 39:40 We're trying to branch out to other methods, 39:43 but sometimes we spend so much time training 39:45 people how to do it that we're not on all 39:47 of the platforms. But once you go on Facebook- 39:49 we have a YouTube channel that's growing- 39:51 there are a lot of videos that you can 39:54 click on to teach you how to do these things. 39:58 One of the most important ones was 40:01 a collaboration that we did with Jamie 40:03 Domm from the North American Division. 40:04 She's the social media strategist there, and 40:06 she walked us through some very important 40:09 points that churches need to remember with 40:11 starting a social media page, because it's not 40:14 just about going on Facebook, but then you 40:16 find out there's a negative comment that 40:19 comes on your Facebook page about your church. 40:21 How do you handle that as a digital 40:23 missionary? What do you do when someone starts 40:26 attacking you, you know? So, she walked 40:28 us through how to do that. We also have a 40:31 podcast, as well, where we interview different 40:33 digital missionaries or people who are 40:35 doing evangelism in the digital space. So 40:39 whether they are communication directors, 40:40 graphic designers, videographers, producers- 40:44 everyone who's doing something digitally, 40:46 we believe in learning from each other. So, 40:48 that podcast is also provided from the Center 40:51 for Online Evangelism to train people to learn 40:55 more about online evangelism. - Wow. 40:57 Wonderful. I mean, that's a lot, because- 40:58 talk about the word 'blog.' Somebody might 41:01 say, "What is a blog?" 'cause there's some 41:04 people that have not heard some of these 41:06 terminologies. - Yes. So, basically, a blog- 41:09 it's like an article. You go online, you 41:11 want to find out more information about, 41:13 let's say, black ties. We were talking about 41:15 searching Google for black ties. You will 41:17 find a lot of stories instead of offering you 41:19 black ties at a discounted price. They will also have 41:23 a blog or a section where they write 41:25 articles about black ties. "How do you tie 41:28 a tie?" "Why is it important to wear 41:31 a tie?" So, a blog is where you have a lot 41:36 of different articles that's expounding on 41:38 a particular topic or a particular subject. 41:41 We know a lot of people prefer reading 41:43 sometimes to listening or to watching videos. 41:46 I prefer to read, and so I love going on blogs. 41:49 So, that's how we can understand blogs. - That's 41:52 good. It's a continually- it's an ongoing information 41:56 platform that keeps- and some people do 41:59 personal blogs. They'll say, "Well, here's my 42:01 travel blog. Today, I'm going to be in 42:02 Rome. Next week, I'll be in Thailand. Next 42:04 week, I'll be in Africa." - Right. - And they 42:06 get these followers. There are also, in 42:09 this media-driven generation, there are 42:11 also online actors that are getting more 42:15 hits than real actors. And when I say, "real 42:18 actors," people that are involved in Hollywood. 42:19 - Yes. - There's this online Hollywood that's 42:22 happening nowadays because people are 42:23 finding ways of driving people to their particular 42:25 blog or their video connections. - Right. 42:28 And it's because a lot of them already 42:29 have the tool that they need to get them online. 42:32 So, rather than having to go to a radio producer, 42:35 you can start your own channel on YouTube! 42:38 So, if you are... Maybe, it's the Women's Ministries. 42:43 If it's Women's Ministry at your church and they 42:46 want to reach more women, instead of 42:48 having to go to a TV channel and say, "We 42:50 want to have a show for women!" You can 42:52 use your cell phone, for example, you prop 42:54 it up on a tripod, and there you begin 42:56 to craft various shows that deal specifically 42:59 with women, you upload that to YouTube, and 43:03 you distribute it and you have your show; 43:06 people are constantly following you, you're 43:08 getting more and more subscribers - up into 43:10 the thousands or millions without having to go to 43:13 already established agencies. - That's 43:15 right. And that's happening! - Right. 43:16 - You know, what Felecia's talking about 43:18 is actually happening. My wife and I, our 43:20 Sunday mornings are just so much fun, 43:22 because it's a time where Sabbath is 43:24 over, Monday hasn't started... Our Sunday 43:26 mornings is like, we just relax, we read 43:27 together, and we go online together. We 43:30 say, "What is new? What can we learn?" She goes 43:32 on news feeds, I go on news feeds, we go 43:34 on digital feeds, we just... We are both 43:36 very internet-savvy in that sense. We try to 43:38 figure out what is on the cutting edge, what's 43:40 happening right now, what do we NOT know? 43:42 And we're looking at video platforms where there 43:44 are some people that have like, 1.2 million 43:46 followers or 55,000 43:50 people following them and we wonder, "What 43:52 are they doing?" And there really is- there's 43:55 a science to it. You could either be the 43:57 quirkiest, most odd person that you just 44:00 sit there and talk about all of your 44:02 problems all day long. And strangely enough, 44:04 there are people that just want to hear you 44:05 talk about your problems all day long because 44:06 they are identifying with... - Precisely. 44:09 It's about being relatable, and people are searching 44:11 for something online that relates to what 44:15 they are going through. Our church is catching 44:18 onto this and realizes the importance of having 44:20 that online presence. So, that's why the 44:22 Center for Online Evangelism, a while 44:25 ago, started a partnership with the 44:27 General Conference, specifically the communication 44:29 department and at the NADN, other ministries 44:32 within the Adventist church, because we 44:34 realize people are already searching for 44:36 this content and they want something that's 44:37 going to be relevant, that's going to impact 44:41 something that they are going through. And 44:43 so, definitely- if you have a story, 44:45 Jesus did something in your life, helping you 44:49 to overcome abuse, you can start a blog as the 44:52 Holy Spirit leads you, start a YouTube channel, 44:54 Facebook, and then, of course, you want 44:56 to do the SEO and share that, and you can have 44:58 someone say, "I went through that and I want 45:01 to try out Jesus. I want to see what the 45:02 gospel can also do for me." - That's right. And 45:05 there are people that drive in their cars- 45:06 I'm talking about various ways, and this is... 45:08 What we're talking about here today is 45:10 creative ways. You've got to be creative. 45:12 You know, the Bible talks about being 45:14 wise as a serpent, harmless as a dove. 45:17 We have a powerful message, but as you 45:19 pointed out earlier what the Scripture 45:20 says: sometimes, the world is using 45:22 methods that we try to avoid and overlook 45:24 and think it's evil, when in fact, it's 45:26 what you do with these things that make? 45:27 - Precisely. And going onto, you know, people 45:30 finding relevant content, when we read Ellen White 45:33 books, for instance, a lot of the principles 45:36 that she teach, obviously based on the Bible, can 45:38 relate so much to what we go through. So, why 45:42 not optimize that content? And that's why we're 45:44 also working with the Ellen White Estate so 45:46 that when people search these various topics, 45:48 whether it's relationships, they can find Ellen White's 45:52 book on, like, Letters to Young Lovers, or 45:55 if it's starting a home, they can find 45:57 her book The Adventist Home, or they want to 45:59 find out about end-time events, they can find 46:01 her books. So, we work also with the 46:03 Ellen White Estate to optimize that content 46:06 to make it more visible online so people can 46:08 find things in her writings that they 46:11 can relate to that can help them draw 46:13 closer to Christ. - But you're talking about 46:14 young people that are married when you say 46:16 "young lovers," right? - Yes, yes, yes. - Exactly. 46:18 [laughter] To just qualify that, because somebody- 46:20 "Young lovers!?" you know? And so, here's 46:22 the communication aspect of it. You 46:24 could take quotes each day, the quote of the 46:26 day. How people that have subscribed to, 46:29 maybe... I don't want to mention any particular 46:32 ministry, but they have subscribed to a particular 46:34 ministry, and today, they get their- my wife 46:37 has a verse pop on her phone every day, 46:40 the verse of the day. This is what we're 46:41 talking about. When you get people to subscribe, you 46:44 are evangelizing them because they have given 46:47 you access. In short periods of time, 15 46:51 seconds, 20 seconds... A minute today is a 46:53 long time online, and one of our evangelists, 46:56 I think John Bradshaw, has that, you know, his 46:59 quick minute every day. - Yes, yes, yes. - So, this is 47:01 what we're talking about. A minute is a lot of time 47:03 in our world today. - Yes. Sam Neves who works at 47:07 the General Conference in the communication 47:08 department used an example that I heard 47:10 about. He said, "So many times, we spend 47:13 a lot of energy trying to reach a green fruit 47:15 that's on top of the tree and ignoring the 47:18 low hanging fruit that we can just 47:21 reach out and pick. There are low-lying 47:24 fruit, people, who are already searching, 47:26 who are already hungry for the Word, so why not 47:29 be online where they are already searching 47:32 to bring those people in and then, in time, that 47:37 green fruit on top of the tree will come down 47:39 or we will devise other means to reach that, 47:41 but there are so many other low hanging fruit. 47:44 Creating that content, those one-minute videos 47:47 or a short blog or a podcast, whatever it 47:50 is, to reach the low-lying fruit. - That's right. 47:52 Part one- but today, just part one. Tomorrow- 47:54 and leave a cliffhanger. - Yes! [laughter] - You 47:57 might wonder, "Whatever happened to...?" I'll 47:59 tell you tomorrow. They're going to 48:01 tune in. And even how to put the hook, because 48:05 evangelism really is a part... Jesus used a 48:09 perfect example. Peter was on this side of the 48:11 boat, getting no results. So, we're teaching people 48:15 in this sense of the digital age to do what? 48:17 - Go on the other side. - That's right. - Precisely. 48:20 You know, there's a website. Whenever I 48:22 do worships, I refer people to that website, 48:25 because what it does is that it tells you what 48:27 people are already searching for on Google 48:30 related to a particular topic. And we're saying, 48:33 "Based on the results that you find on that 48:35 website..." So, let's say someone is looking 48:38 for- I'm using that black tie example 48:40 again. You can type in 'black tie,' and 48:42 that website shows you dozens, even hundreds 48:46 of questions that people are typing into Google 48:48 related to black ties. So, what we're saying 48:51 when we train you how to do digital evangelism 48:53 and optimization is use the same questions 48:57 or the same keywords that people are typing 48:59 into Google and match that into your article 49:01 rather than using a vague term that a lot 49:03 of people would not be familiar word; use what 49:06 they're already searching for so that Google could 49:09 help bring your content and match it with their 49:11 search results, because one thing that we're 49:14 finding that happens a lot with content 49:16 creators in the Adventist church is that we use 49:18 a lot of vocabulary or terms or jargon that 49:21 people who are not Adventist are not 49:23 familiar with. So, if they did not grow up 49:25 hearing the term 'remnant' or 'health message' or 49:29 'new start,' they're not going into Google 49:32 to type in 'new start,' but they are typing in, 49:34 "How can I be healthy? How can I change my 49:37 diet?" So, if you start a blog on health, for 49:39 example, you type in exactly, or you can 49:42 use as your title or as your lead, what 49:44 they're typing in that helps drag them to your 49:47 content. - That's right; look at the hot words 49:49 on the internet. For those of you that 49:51 think the internet is this big, evil guy 49:52 that's hanging out in your community, it 49:54 really isn't. Tongue- in-cheek Algor? didn't 49:57 create the internet. Here we are: we're 49:59 living in an age where we have in our possession 50:02 probably one of the most powerful means by which 50:07 we can communicate. We can either ignore it and 50:09 say that it's destroying our children's lives, 50:12 or we could say to our children, our young people 50:14 in our churches, the children in our school, 50:17 the young people in our colleges and universities, 50:19 the guy next door, "Hey, bring your friend over! 50:22 I know you go over to his house and play video 50:23 games. Let's do something different today. Let's 50:25 find a way to take that very platform 50:27 and reach out." Anything else that you might have 50:29 not covered that you think is very important 50:31 to those who are watching and listening to this program. 50:34 - I definitely want to emphasize the work and 50:37 power of the Holy Spirit, because sometimes, when 50:40 we start talking about online evangelism or, 50:43 sometimes, we use terms that people are not 50:45 familiar with or even going into a field that 50:48 a lot of people are not familiar with, we tend 50:49 to get overwhelmed. At anything that overwhelms 50:52 us, we want to stay away from it, or anything 50:54 that we don't understand, we want to stay away 50:56 from it. But we want to emphasize with people, 50:59 the Holy Spirit makes various avenues, various 51:02 methods, available to us, and then He promises 51:04 in Acts chapter 1 verse 8 that He will pour out 51:07 His power when He gives us His Spirit so that we 51:10 can be His witnesses in Judea, Samaria, to 51:13 the ends of the world; but now, He's saying, 51:15 "You'll be My witnesses on Facebook and YouTube 51:17 and Instagram and Snapchat..." That's the end of the 51:21 Earth right there. So, it's all about the power 51:24 of the Holy Spirit, because at the day, you could have 51:28 the high-tech gadgets, you could have all of the 51:30 editing software, you can the great content, 51:33 you could know how to do all of this stuff, but 51:35 if it's not the Holy Spirit leading and 51:38 guiding you, you won't have that result. Because 51:41 at the end of the day, it is the Holy Spirit that 51:43 produces the result, and that's what the 51:45 Center for Online Evangelism is passionate about. - We're 51:49 going to come back in a few minutes, but the 51:50 information that you need, you might want to invite 51:52 Felecia or anyone a part of the Center 51:55 for Online Evangelism to come to your church 51:58 or school. Wherever you might be, you say, "I want 52:00 to find out what an SEO is, how to optimize our 52:03 church website, how to make our presence known, 52:05 here is the information that you need. - Sharing 52:11 the gospel in our device-driven world can 52:14 seem daunting, but the Center for Online Evangelism 52:17 is ready to help with some great ideas. If 52:21 you would like to invite them to present a workshop 52:23 to your church or youth group, or if the Holy Spirit 52:26 impresses you support them financially, please 52:29 visit their website, CenterForOnlineEvangelism.org. 52:37 You may call them at (451) 236-4960, or 52:43 write to Center for Online Evangelism, 52:46 1867 Williams Highway Suite 255, Grants Pass, 52:51 Oregon, 97527. |
Revised 2019-02-26