email discomfort
engraving authorship unknown to me.
email discomfort
I believe Jesus values properly-managed emails,
and He considers email to be one of many doors
between the Church and the unsaved masses.
Having said that, please read on...
Anyone expected to use email in the line of duty often greatly dislikes email,unless waiting for an answer from an email they sent.
This include pastors.
Pastors might be tempted to think, "Jesus never had to deal with emails."
But Brothers, Jesus never had a cell phone either - and you likely cherish your cell phone when you need to make a call. Yet, Jesus knew better than any mere mortal what it meant to have a crowded life. Look at the engraving and consider Jesus' life.
1) Jesus lived with 12 men pretty much full-time, from what I've read.
2) Once his ministry hit full speed, crowds followed him everywhere.
The only times he could get a bit of space was:
a) when he went to pray in the middle of the night.
b) when he flogged the merchandisers in the Temple court.
c) When he hung on the cross. (and even then, he had a group of trolls mocking him)
So, I would say that Jesus perfectly understands:
the pressure from people who contact you,
be they complete strangers, or siblings,
wanting something from you,
with pure or impure motives,
that will likely remember no kindness once you have helped them,
and may well turn on you after they get what they want
or talk trash about you if you don't give them what they want.
And yet with everything Jesus went through, he still made himself available
in ways that were common and customary for his time and place in history.
So, a question:
Does a truly great ministry in today's world include the internet and for email?
or
CAN any truly complete ministry even happen in today's world without the internet and email?
More below....
EMAIL
Jesus walked...
It seemed that pre-resurrection, Jesus walked everywhere.
His post-resurrection appearances prove that He could have translated Himself as he chose,
but he walked.
Many Christians avoid personal interactions.
But Jesus walked among people, and I believe email is one way
for the church to walk among the people.
EMAIL
Heavenly or Demonic...?
What would C.S. Lewis have said about emails,
if email had existed when he wrote The Screwtape Letters?
if email had existed when he wrote The Screwtape Letters?
Six Questions that CS Lewis might have asked:
1) Does Satan love email, so all churches should shun it?
2) Does Satan hate email, so all churches should embrace it?
3) Does Jesus hate email, so all churches should shun it?
4) Does Jesus love email, so all churches should embrace it?
5) How might Jesus see outreach-email as a positive?
6) How might Jesus see outreach-email as negative?
I challenge 'The Screwtape Letters' fans to write a chapter on the use of emails, pro and con,
from the perspective of a Senior Tempter.
How Jesus and Satan view email is most important.
'We have been bought with a price', and it is our duty to use tools that produce results.
Does email win souls? That is the question.
I disagree with the notion that personality matters when choosing good tools.
If a man wants to be a carpenter, he needs to treasure his hammer. Simple, no?
Some pastors embrace email, many simply accommodate it, while other avidly despise email.
Why this chasm in every denomination over email?
Either some pastors are wasting good ministry time on email ministry
or the others are disregarding souls by shunning a useful ministry tool.
How can a denomination stay cohesive and prosper the Kingdom
if they can't agree on good tools vs. bad tools?
And I'm sure that in some cases, email is like a toilet plunger,
it is a last resort, because it is the only option left...
unless we pretend that one clogged toilet doesn't matter.
And listen, I was a church maintenance man for over a decade,
and I KNOW how big a fuss just one plugged toilet can cause.
especially in the women's restroom.
The toilet plunger is a valuable tool.
And anyone willing to use it - has value.
(But go into any church, and you will find that anyone who despises the humble toilet plunger
also looks down on the person willing to use it. - and that will preach, Brothers.)
eric j. rose
EMAIL
A missing tool...
See the two photos?
I am a carpenter.
These are non-power hand tools from my tool bag.
The photo on the left has 15 tools
The photo on the right has 14 tools.
Can you see which tool is missing?
Can you name that tool?
Most people don't own one or even know what it is.
It's not a tool I use every day.
but still, it is a very important tool when I need to do exactly what it does.
No other tool can exactly take its place.
I do poorer work when I need it but don't have it.
My tool bag is incomplete when I don't have it.
This is my opinion when churches that don't keep a reliable website presence
or don't publish their email address - a valuable tool is missing.
I admit it. I love using my carpentry skills as a basis for writing Christian stuff,
'cause no one can dare say that a carpenter is automatically unqualified to speak about ministry.
EMAIL
While a lot of churches try to be available to people like me - by using the email icon,
I don't know how to use it. My computer isn't set up for it.
(I have 3 email accounts, one for work, one for ministry, and one for personal stuff
and am afraid that the email icon might key-up the wrong email account.)
While you may ask, "How is that our problem?"
Well, churches need to recognize that inabilities come in different forms
And for me, although I create websites, I struggle with using the internet
and cannot use every function common to younger people.
I was in my 40s when personal computers became available,
and wasn't immediately drawn to them.
Like handicap ramps, churches need to accommodate those of us
who stumble over certain internet functions that others can leap through.
I need your email address printed out so I can cut-and-paste.
EMAIL
which email address?
When a church advertises an email address on their national website
sometimes they use the pastor's email address.
But when pastors move, and if they don't tidy up when they leave,
the old church still has that email address on the local or national listing site,
with the expected consequences.
I regularly received opt-outs from pastors saying they were no longer at that church.
Each church should have their own email address, apart from the pastor.
I tried to send out over 10,000 emails to churches to advertise
iDontWantGod.com. (beside emails sent for from FatherlessMale.com)
Happily, I got a few return emails (25-50) emails, affirming their support.
Sadly, I probably get 10-25 times as many 'mailer daemons'
telling me the mail is undeliverable to the email address that I copied and pasted.
And...personal email addresses on Church Facebook accounts look unprofessional
when an email address line is something like,
pipsqueaksunclejoey@ladeedamail.com