It's that time of year again when we start to make those New Years Resolutions. The Bible doesn't talk about New Years Resolutions, but if we as Christians want to add to our list of things to do there isn't anything wrong with it. As a matter of fact, the Bible has plenty of good things to say about setting goals; that is what resolutions are all about right?
"The plans of the diligent lead to profit," Proverbs 21:5. Christ also talks about planning ahead as a good thing also. This can be demonstrated in the way Christ talks about building a tower in Luke 14:28, "For which of you, intending to build a tower, sitteth not down first, and counteth the cost, whether he have sufficient to finish it?" Christ asks the question as if it would be a foolish thing to build something without first counting the cost. Actually it would be because the builder may not have enough to finish the task. A half built tower would have no purpose and the builder has now lost all of the money that he put into it.
So, it is good to make plans and set goals however, as we read in Proverbs 21:5 goals should be set wisely, "The plans of the diligent". When making New Years Resolutions be diligent and make them wisely. There is just a couple of things to consider for a Christian when making those resolutions.
Christ tells us in Matthew 6:33-34 that we should, "Seek first the Kingdom and His righteousness." The first thing that we should be planning to do is to seek God. The Bible tells us that the beginning of all knowledge is to first learn the will and ways of our God.
Plans should also be made with humility. James 4:15 says, "Instead you ought to say, if it is The Lord's will." In whatever plans we decide to pursue we should ask if it is the Lords will for our lives. The Bible can be a good guide to help determine whether a plan or resolution is the Lord's will for our lives.
When making plans we should first ask ourselves if this plan will help me to pursue the Kingdom of God. The second thought that should come to mind is whether it is the Lord's will for my life. Often times a Christian will see that if it is the Lord's will for their life they will also be able to see that it will help them pursue the Kingdom of God.
Happy New Years and have fun making those New Years Resolutions.
Monday, December 30, 2013
Saturday, December 28, 2013
Ministry in 2014: Victory Ministries
I'm really excited about the upcoming year. This will be the first year that I will enter the full-time ministry since I first answered the call into ministry in 2005. I have spent most of my adult life in the Army serving with four deployments. As a matter of fact, I answered the call into ministry while deployed to Baghdad, Iraq. Christ had been tugging at my heart long before I "surrendered". I just couldn't deny the call anymore and God demonstrated to me how much people really needed Him.
It isn't like I haven't done anything in the ministry for the past eight years. I first started doing pulpit supply at my home church after I answered the call into ministry. Later when I got injured sending me back to my home town I started a rehab ministry which I taught Bible classes to three faith based rehab centers. I later pastored a small rural church for a year and a half.
Since being called into the ministry I have many great opportunities to offer spiritual guidance to individuals. Many of these individuals were people that I met through revivals and the rehab centers that I taught at. I was also able to provide spiritual guidance to soldiers. Often soldiers would discover that I was a minister and would have deep spiritual questions especially while deployed.
I have had some great mentors over the past eight years and continue to seek mentoring guidance from those that have many years in the ministry. These great men of the faith have taught me a lot about what it means to be in the ministry from preparing sermons to day to day ministry activities. I have appreciated all of their guidance.
As far as preparing for ministry in a education setting I am currently working toward my Masters in Christian Ministry with a pastoral counseling cognate at Liberty University and Seminary. This desire to learn more about our Lord and the Bible actually started years before I answered the call into ministry. When I gave my life to the Lord in 1996 I didn't have a Christian background so, I took undergraduate classes in Biblical studies. My thirst to gain knowledge has just grown more and more.
All that has happened in the past eight years has lead me to an exciting start into full time ministry. My License In The Christian Ministry, Ordination In The Christian Ministry, experience, mentorships, and education will be very beneficial for the services that will be offered. My own injury that helped me to discover some great tools that helped me to live victorious which is Resilience will also be very beneficial.
Victory Ministries is an Itinerant Ministry that will offer Pulpit Supply to church leaders that need to take leave. Conducting Revivals to help encourage Christians to strengthen their faith in Christ. Evangelism: Sometimes churches need assistance in starting Evangelism Programs to reach others in their community. All of this is exciting, but I'm really excited about offering Resilience Training that will be geared toward helping Christians to live victoriously during adversity. This will also be offered for the youth ministry programs in churches. Many Christians (especially our youth) in our churches are struggling and need resilience tools to help them overcome their situations.
I just ask that you will be praying for God to open doors for Victory Ministries. I also ask that you will help me to spread the word about this ministry and if you know of any opportunities please let me know. Thank you for taking the time to read and have a blessed New Year!
Again, Services offered are Pulpit Supply, Revivals, Evangelism, and Resilience Training. I can be reached at rogergriggsministry@gmail.com and (502)370-0409.
It isn't like I haven't done anything in the ministry for the past eight years. I first started doing pulpit supply at my home church after I answered the call into ministry. Later when I got injured sending me back to my home town I started a rehab ministry which I taught Bible classes to three faith based rehab centers. I later pastored a small rural church for a year and a half.
Since being called into the ministry I have many great opportunities to offer spiritual guidance to individuals. Many of these individuals were people that I met through revivals and the rehab centers that I taught at. I was also able to provide spiritual guidance to soldiers. Often soldiers would discover that I was a minister and would have deep spiritual questions especially while deployed.
I have had some great mentors over the past eight years and continue to seek mentoring guidance from those that have many years in the ministry. These great men of the faith have taught me a lot about what it means to be in the ministry from preparing sermons to day to day ministry activities. I have appreciated all of their guidance.
As far as preparing for ministry in a education setting I am currently working toward my Masters in Christian Ministry with a pastoral counseling cognate at Liberty University and Seminary. This desire to learn more about our Lord and the Bible actually started years before I answered the call into ministry. When I gave my life to the Lord in 1996 I didn't have a Christian background so, I took undergraduate classes in Biblical studies. My thirst to gain knowledge has just grown more and more.
All that has happened in the past eight years has lead me to an exciting start into full time ministry. My License In The Christian Ministry, Ordination In The Christian Ministry, experience, mentorships, and education will be very beneficial for the services that will be offered. My own injury that helped me to discover some great tools that helped me to live victorious which is Resilience will also be very beneficial.
Victory Ministries is an Itinerant Ministry that will offer Pulpit Supply to church leaders that need to take leave. Conducting Revivals to help encourage Christians to strengthen their faith in Christ. Evangelism: Sometimes churches need assistance in starting Evangelism Programs to reach others in their community. All of this is exciting, but I'm really excited about offering Resilience Training that will be geared toward helping Christians to live victoriously during adversity. This will also be offered for the youth ministry programs in churches. Many Christians (especially our youth) in our churches are struggling and need resilience tools to help them overcome their situations.
I just ask that you will be praying for God to open doors for Victory Ministries. I also ask that you will help me to spread the word about this ministry and if you know of any opportunities please let me know. Thank you for taking the time to read and have a blessed New Year!
Again, Services offered are Pulpit Supply, Revivals, Evangelism, and Resilience Training. I can be reached at rogergriggsministry@gmail.com and (502)370-0409.
Tuesday, December 24, 2013
Saturday, December 14, 2013
Sharing
Do you feel like you deserve more or all that God has blessed you with?
Let me share a war story from the Bible of some people who also felt the same way.
1 Samuel 30:16-20 tells us a war story of David and how he was victorious over the Amalekites. The Bible tells us that the battle lasted from twilight the first day until the evening of the next day. That is a long time to fight! That means there is a possibility of that battle lasting for about 36 hours. But, David was victorious and The Lord was faithful in guiding David because David inquired about whether or not he should pursue them. In 30:8 The Lord said, "Pursue, for you shall surely overtake them and without fail recover all." The recovering that The Lord was talking about was the "spoil" that the Amalekites took from the land of the Philistines and the land of Judah.
David had six hundred men with him, but two hundred were too tired to cross the river Brook Besor (30:10). David left them there with the supplies which would actually benefit him to pursue the Amalekites because he had less weight to carry. So, it wasn't a total loss that those two hundred men stayed behind.
The Bible 30:18 tells us that "David recovered all that the Amalekites had carried away." He first inquired of The Lord of whether he should pursue and as noted The Lord said yes. Verse 18 also means that David wasn't just going after the Amalekites just to war against them and take their possessions. On the contrary he was fighting them to recover what the Amalekites had taken.
They were in fact victorious and they recovered everything. They also took spoil, their gains or wages from the war, such as the livestock. But, 30:22 says, "Then all of the wicked and worthless men of those who went with David answered and said 'because they did not go with us we will not give them any of the spoil that we have recovered." These men were strong, brave, and went with David into battle! But, the Bible says they were wicked and worthless because they were being greedy.
30:23 David says, "My brethren, you shall not do so with what The Lord has given us." David further explains that those who stayed behind with the supplies had just as important job as those who went into battle him. As noted earlier, it was beneficial for David anyhow because there was less weight and also too many men on the battlefield could have created even more chaos and "clutter".
-As a soldier of more modern wars I can tell you that we take care of our supply personnel. They have the arduous task of making sure that we "grunts" have everything we need to keep on fighting.
Not only did David feel that those who stayed with the supplies deserved their portion in the spoil, but he also gave some of his spoil to the elders of Judah, to those in Bethel, in Ramoth, Jattir, Aroer, Siphmoth, Eshtemoa, Rachal, Jerahmeelites, Kenites, Hormah, Chorashan, Athach, Hebron, and to all the places that David and his men were accustomed to rome (30:26-31). David knew the value in sharing what the Lord blessed him with.
Maybe you have been blessed with something that you feel that The Lord has given it to you and not anyone else. The Lord blesses us so that we can share with others and as you can see from David's experience the more the better!
Let me share a war story from the Bible of some people who also felt the same way.
1 Samuel 30:16-20 tells us a war story of David and how he was victorious over the Amalekites. The Bible tells us that the battle lasted from twilight the first day until the evening of the next day. That is a long time to fight! That means there is a possibility of that battle lasting for about 36 hours. But, David was victorious and The Lord was faithful in guiding David because David inquired about whether or not he should pursue them. In 30:8 The Lord said, "Pursue, for you shall surely overtake them and without fail recover all." The recovering that The Lord was talking about was the "spoil" that the Amalekites took from the land of the Philistines and the land of Judah.
David had six hundred men with him, but two hundred were too tired to cross the river Brook Besor (30:10). David left them there with the supplies which would actually benefit him to pursue the Amalekites because he had less weight to carry. So, it wasn't a total loss that those two hundred men stayed behind.
The Bible 30:18 tells us that "David recovered all that the Amalekites had carried away." He first inquired of The Lord of whether he should pursue and as noted The Lord said yes. Verse 18 also means that David wasn't just going after the Amalekites just to war against them and take their possessions. On the contrary he was fighting them to recover what the Amalekites had taken.
They were in fact victorious and they recovered everything. They also took spoil, their gains or wages from the war, such as the livestock. But, 30:22 says, "Then all of the wicked and worthless men of those who went with David answered and said 'because they did not go with us we will not give them any of the spoil that we have recovered." These men were strong, brave, and went with David into battle! But, the Bible says they were wicked and worthless because they were being greedy.
30:23 David says, "My brethren, you shall not do so with what The Lord has given us." David further explains that those who stayed behind with the supplies had just as important job as those who went into battle him. As noted earlier, it was beneficial for David anyhow because there was less weight and also too many men on the battlefield could have created even more chaos and "clutter".
-As a soldier of more modern wars I can tell you that we take care of our supply personnel. They have the arduous task of making sure that we "grunts" have everything we need to keep on fighting.
Not only did David feel that those who stayed with the supplies deserved their portion in the spoil, but he also gave some of his spoil to the elders of Judah, to those in Bethel, in Ramoth, Jattir, Aroer, Siphmoth, Eshtemoa, Rachal, Jerahmeelites, Kenites, Hormah, Chorashan, Athach, Hebron, and to all the places that David and his men were accustomed to rome (30:26-31). David knew the value in sharing what the Lord blessed him with.
Maybe you have been blessed with something that you feel that The Lord has given it to you and not anyone else. The Lord blesses us so that we can share with others and as you can see from David's experience the more the better!
Friday, December 6, 2013
Don't Worry
"Then He said to His disciples, "Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat; nor about the body, what you will put on." Luke 12:22
When we read the Bible it tells us to not worry and it is difficult to not worry in times like this. This is a very important aspect of resilience though it may be one of the reasons resilience is lacking. Remember resilience means to "bounce back" during times of adversity. When worry is present during difficult times the ability stand strong and push forward will lack.
The first and foremost reason for Christians to not worry is that you have a God who cares for you. 1 Peter 5:7 says, "Casting all your care upon him; for he cares for you." God who created you will sustain you during every season of your life including the difficult time that you are facing.
The second reason to not worry is because God thinks you as His creation is very valuable. Christ goes on to demonstrate in Luke Chapter 12 that the birds have everything that they need and YOU are more valuable than they. It is obvious that God cares for the birds because he gave them food to eat and a place to sleep. If He did that for them He will most definitely do that for you because you are His prized creation.
The third reason to not worry is that Christ is leading you. Hebrews 2:10 describes Christ as the "captain" of our salvation. A captain is someone who leads his men to victory during battles. That is what Christ does during our times of adversity "leading us to victory".
It is difficult to not worry, but do remember that the God who created you cares very much for, He thinks you are His most prize creation, and Christ is leading you to victory during this difficult time. May Peace surround you!
When we read the Bible it tells us to not worry and it is difficult to not worry in times like this. This is a very important aspect of resilience though it may be one of the reasons resilience is lacking. Remember resilience means to "bounce back" during times of adversity. When worry is present during difficult times the ability stand strong and push forward will lack.
The first and foremost reason for Christians to not worry is that you have a God who cares for you. 1 Peter 5:7 says, "Casting all your care upon him; for he cares for you." God who created you will sustain you during every season of your life including the difficult time that you are facing.
The second reason to not worry is because God thinks you as His creation is very valuable. Christ goes on to demonstrate in Luke Chapter 12 that the birds have everything that they need and YOU are more valuable than they. It is obvious that God cares for the birds because he gave them food to eat and a place to sleep. If He did that for them He will most definitely do that for you because you are His prized creation.
The third reason to not worry is that Christ is leading you. Hebrews 2:10 describes Christ as the "captain" of our salvation. A captain is someone who leads his men to victory during battles. That is what Christ does during our times of adversity "leading us to victory".
It is difficult to not worry, but do remember that the God who created you cares very much for, He thinks you are His most prize creation, and Christ is leading you to victory during this difficult time. May Peace surround you!
Thursday, December 5, 2013
Social Media For Ministry
This blog is usually written for hope, resilience, and living victoriously however, I have written the do's and don'ts for Christians on social media and today I want to write about social media marketing for ministry's. Effectively, social media done right is ultimately resilience, hope, and living victoriously for the Church (ministry) or those who see the posts written by the social media manager.
A question may come to mind why write this post about social media and ministry or why do I need to market it? The first reply is "Why not"? If you take a look around, the world is winning. One reason the world is winning is because they market to anyone and everyone. The church is being drowned out by advertisements everywhere by the world and they offer what the world desires.
On the other hand the church really has what people really yearn for and that is Hope. Yet, for many reasons the church isn't doing what it needs to reach those people. Maybe, some church leaders or administrators feel that they shouldn't "have" to do what the world does. Or maybe, there are those who feel like we should only be associating with our own cliché; the church and it's people.
While in the military I pursued a degree in information technology and an area that I really liked was marketing and social media. I did several consulting "side jobs" to help people with building an audience with their social media. I feel like social media is one of the greatest tools to reach the world with any product especially if it is Hope and Jesus Christ. But, while researching for a current project that I'm working on I discovered that there was very little material on marketing and social media for ministry's.
There are a couple of reasons why there is very little material on the subject. The first is that in the past we marketed our churches and ministries by foot and snail mail (at least that is how we did it when I first became a Christian). It's still effective, but we need to enter the 21st century. The second reason is that marketing and social media is a new game for all organizations in general. In the marketing and IT field we are learning more and more everyday about social media capabilities and marketing with it.
Let me first give a brief background to the internet and social media (I don't think I need to give a history of Christianity). As far as the "internet" is concerned it has been around for many years. One of the first public internet services was offered by CompuServe in 1969. The first email was delivered in 1971. In 1978 one of the first web based "bulletin" boards was created and was actually one of the first "virtual communities". The following year in 1979 Duke University and the University of North Carolina both offered the same type of "bulletin boards" so that faculty and students could interact.
It wasn't until 2002 that the first "social media" site was launched which was Friendstar after the dot.com bubble burst in 2000. The following year in 2003 MySpace was created and launched. MySpace really started the trend in social media for individuals.
In 2004 Facebook was created and launched for Harvard. The following few years other social networking sites was created and launched trying to scrape to the top. However, in 2009 Facebook became the top social media site with the most users.
This year, 2013, social media has seen some of the best activity since the conception of it; with no end in sight for it. YouTube averages about 4 Billion views per day, Facebook has over 1 billion users, and Twitter has over 500 million registered users. YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter are the top ranking social media sites, but there are countless others out there on the world wide web. Others include Tumblr, Flicker, LinkedIn, Reddit, Google+, Pinterest, and many more.
With those kind of stats wouldn't it be smart to tap into the social media game to reach the world for Christ and let the world know about your church. The whole point for social media really is about having a presence on the web isn't it? Most usually! Everyone that I have talked to and helped with their social media they always say that they want to be noticed on the web. The only way to do that is to either pay lots of money or be patient and be very active on it.
First things first! Yes, the easy part is opening the free account, throw a picture up, and just start typing. But, there should be care into how your social media site looks. That social media site represents you and/or your organization. It should look professional and when there is a new status or tweet added there should be few or NO! grammatical errors. People will make an assumption of the organization that your site represents by the way it looks.
There are several ways to make your social media sites successful. Many organizations will spend a ton of money on social media using the extra tools that help to do analytics and paid advertisements. A few of the tools are Addvocate, Swayy, and Compfight. Most of all the good tools such as the one's mentioned may start out with a free trial period, but usually end up being very expensive. The free tools tend to be very inaccurate and not work very well at all.
The cost for advertisement can also be very high. Advertising will cost more than running an ad in the local paper. Often when you start a new website they will offer social media advertising "bucks". Usually it is a low amount and will not get you past a day or two of advertising.
So, what do you do on a budget or with no money? I have taken new social media sites and made them noticed on search engines within a couple of weeks; this takes time and patience. (At the time of writing this if you Google searched my name, Dale Griggs, my twitter would be the first to come up in the feed). Below I will share the most basic ways of doing that while still maintaining your Christian "status".
*As mentioned above, make your social media sites look professional. Whether you believe it or not eventually those sites will be found on search engines and when people find them they will make a judgment about your organization from the way your sites look. If someone is new in town and they are looking for a new church they will go to the web and search. If the site looks awful more than likely they will find another church to attend. There are a lot of people who travel that look for churches to attend because they are missing their regular home church. APPEARANCE IS EVERYTHING!
*Note: Your ministry and/or church social media sites should display links to other social media sites and especially the website of the ministry or church. The physical location should also be displayed as well.
*After the appearance is up to par you have to gain followers otherwise you DO NOT have an audience (or a presence on the web). You can follow all of the people you want, but when you put up a new status no one will read the good things that you will be putting out there. This is more the case on sites like instagram, twitter, and tumblr. On facebook you need to get people to like your page otherwise no one will read your status's.
When trying to get followers the free way the only way to do it is to follow others. In most cases people will follow back.. that is a huge deal on twitter. The best way is to find like minded people such as others in the ministry and follow some of their followers. The work other than putting status's on your social media comes in by maintaining a good followers and following ratio. It is key to stay within 50-100 followers either more or less. It is wise to un-follow those who do not follow back unless you actually want to follow them. Find those inactive accounts as well and un-follow them.
Note: There are many people including ministers and ministries that will buy followers that are inactive. The only need for buying followers is to boost the followers number because again appearance is everything.
Does it matter who likes or follows your social media site? What if they aren't Christian? On one hand it does if you are partaking in their behavior (check out my Do's and Dont's for Christians on Social Media). On the other hand you are on a social media site and it is true on there as it is in the world; you may be the only Gospel they see or hear.
Should I only follow people locally? It is a social media site so, I say yes and no again. You obviously want local people to follow your social media, but odds are "if" you are wanting to boost your social media efforts you will need to go beyond your local area. If you are a Christian or a ministry your first ambition should be to reach others for Christ. So, if someone a thousand miles away accepts the Gospel because of one of your status's or tweets you may not have helped fill your pews, but you helped the Kingdom.
Not only just those who may happen to accept the Gospel, but if your status's or tweets are good they will get shared or re-tweeted. If someone with 10,000 or more followers share your status chances are someone locally will see it even if they aren't following you. Again, it goes back to travelers that are looking for a church to attend for a Sunday or even for the summer. ALOT of people are on social media (as stated above) and many of those travel and when you have represented the church well they will remember that when looking for an out of town church to attend.
Note: In the ministry there is no such thing as "target" marketing! Everyone is the target whether local or not or believer or not. It should be every Christian's desire to reach everyone with the Gospel!
*Ok. So, the social media site looks good and you're starting to get an audience what's next? Status's and tweets! First you will want to share or tweet status's that represent your church or ministry well. Your status's will also need to share event's that is going on at the ministry or church. Think of it as a bulletin board.
Another good thing to share is links to the ministry website and sermons. This allows people to further discover what the ministry or church is about. Finally share status's that others will enjoy and share on their social media sites (or re-tweet). This help's to gain more of a presence on the web and social media. After all, isn't that what we should be doing.. Making Him Known!
This just skimmed the top and is definitely not all there is to the social media "trade". Hope this will give you a great start. Don't hesitate in contacting me by e-mail at: rogergriggsministry@gmail.com for any assistance and questions.
A question may come to mind why write this post about social media and ministry or why do I need to market it? The first reply is "Why not"? If you take a look around, the world is winning. One reason the world is winning is because they market to anyone and everyone. The church is being drowned out by advertisements everywhere by the world and they offer what the world desires.
On the other hand the church really has what people really yearn for and that is Hope. Yet, for many reasons the church isn't doing what it needs to reach those people. Maybe, some church leaders or administrators feel that they shouldn't "have" to do what the world does. Or maybe, there are those who feel like we should only be associating with our own cliché; the church and it's people.
While in the military I pursued a degree in information technology and an area that I really liked was marketing and social media. I did several consulting "side jobs" to help people with building an audience with their social media. I feel like social media is one of the greatest tools to reach the world with any product especially if it is Hope and Jesus Christ. But, while researching for a current project that I'm working on I discovered that there was very little material on marketing and social media for ministry's.
There are a couple of reasons why there is very little material on the subject. The first is that in the past we marketed our churches and ministries by foot and snail mail (at least that is how we did it when I first became a Christian). It's still effective, but we need to enter the 21st century. The second reason is that marketing and social media is a new game for all organizations in general. In the marketing and IT field we are learning more and more everyday about social media capabilities and marketing with it.
Let me first give a brief background to the internet and social media (I don't think I need to give a history of Christianity). As far as the "internet" is concerned it has been around for many years. One of the first public internet services was offered by CompuServe in 1969. The first email was delivered in 1971. In 1978 one of the first web based "bulletin" boards was created and was actually one of the first "virtual communities". The following year in 1979 Duke University and the University of North Carolina both offered the same type of "bulletin boards" so that faculty and students could interact.
It wasn't until 2002 that the first "social media" site was launched which was Friendstar after the dot.com bubble burst in 2000. The following year in 2003 MySpace was created and launched. MySpace really started the trend in social media for individuals.
In 2004 Facebook was created and launched for Harvard. The following few years other social networking sites was created and launched trying to scrape to the top. However, in 2009 Facebook became the top social media site with the most users.
This year, 2013, social media has seen some of the best activity since the conception of it; with no end in sight for it. YouTube averages about 4 Billion views per day, Facebook has over 1 billion users, and Twitter has over 500 million registered users. YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter are the top ranking social media sites, but there are countless others out there on the world wide web. Others include Tumblr, Flicker, LinkedIn, Reddit, Google+, Pinterest, and many more.
With those kind of stats wouldn't it be smart to tap into the social media game to reach the world for Christ and let the world know about your church. The whole point for social media really is about having a presence on the web isn't it? Most usually! Everyone that I have talked to and helped with their social media they always say that they want to be noticed on the web. The only way to do that is to either pay lots of money or be patient and be very active on it.
First things first! Yes, the easy part is opening the free account, throw a picture up, and just start typing. But, there should be care into how your social media site looks. That social media site represents you and/or your organization. It should look professional and when there is a new status or tweet added there should be few or NO! grammatical errors. People will make an assumption of the organization that your site represents by the way it looks.
There are several ways to make your social media sites successful. Many organizations will spend a ton of money on social media using the extra tools that help to do analytics and paid advertisements. A few of the tools are Addvocate, Swayy, and Compfight. Most of all the good tools such as the one's mentioned may start out with a free trial period, but usually end up being very expensive. The free tools tend to be very inaccurate and not work very well at all.
The cost for advertisement can also be very high. Advertising will cost more than running an ad in the local paper. Often when you start a new website they will offer social media advertising "bucks". Usually it is a low amount and will not get you past a day or two of advertising.
So, what do you do on a budget or with no money? I have taken new social media sites and made them noticed on search engines within a couple of weeks; this takes time and patience. (At the time of writing this if you Google searched my name, Dale Griggs, my twitter would be the first to come up in the feed). Below I will share the most basic ways of doing that while still maintaining your Christian "status".
*As mentioned above, make your social media sites look professional. Whether you believe it or not eventually those sites will be found on search engines and when people find them they will make a judgment about your organization from the way your sites look. If someone is new in town and they are looking for a new church they will go to the web and search. If the site looks awful more than likely they will find another church to attend. There are a lot of people who travel that look for churches to attend because they are missing their regular home church. APPEARANCE IS EVERYTHING!
*Note: Your ministry and/or church social media sites should display links to other social media sites and especially the website of the ministry or church. The physical location should also be displayed as well.
*After the appearance is up to par you have to gain followers otherwise you DO NOT have an audience (or a presence on the web). You can follow all of the people you want, but when you put up a new status no one will read the good things that you will be putting out there. This is more the case on sites like instagram, twitter, and tumblr. On facebook you need to get people to like your page otherwise no one will read your status's.
When trying to get followers the free way the only way to do it is to follow others. In most cases people will follow back.. that is a huge deal on twitter. The best way is to find like minded people such as others in the ministry and follow some of their followers. The work other than putting status's on your social media comes in by maintaining a good followers and following ratio. It is key to stay within 50-100 followers either more or less. It is wise to un-follow those who do not follow back unless you actually want to follow them. Find those inactive accounts as well and un-follow them.
Note: There are many people including ministers and ministries that will buy followers that are inactive. The only need for buying followers is to boost the followers number because again appearance is everything.
Does it matter who likes or follows your social media site? What if they aren't Christian? On one hand it does if you are partaking in their behavior (check out my Do's and Dont's for Christians on Social Media). On the other hand you are on a social media site and it is true on there as it is in the world; you may be the only Gospel they see or hear.
Should I only follow people locally? It is a social media site so, I say yes and no again. You obviously want local people to follow your social media, but odds are "if" you are wanting to boost your social media efforts you will need to go beyond your local area. If you are a Christian or a ministry your first ambition should be to reach others for Christ. So, if someone a thousand miles away accepts the Gospel because of one of your status's or tweets you may not have helped fill your pews, but you helped the Kingdom.
Not only just those who may happen to accept the Gospel, but if your status's or tweets are good they will get shared or re-tweeted. If someone with 10,000 or more followers share your status chances are someone locally will see it even if they aren't following you. Again, it goes back to travelers that are looking for a church to attend for a Sunday or even for the summer. ALOT of people are on social media (as stated above) and many of those travel and when you have represented the church well they will remember that when looking for an out of town church to attend.
Note: In the ministry there is no such thing as "target" marketing! Everyone is the target whether local or not or believer or not. It should be every Christian's desire to reach everyone with the Gospel!
*Ok. So, the social media site looks good and you're starting to get an audience what's next? Status's and tweets! First you will want to share or tweet status's that represent your church or ministry well. Your status's will also need to share event's that is going on at the ministry or church. Think of it as a bulletin board.
Another good thing to share is links to the ministry website and sermons. This allows people to further discover what the ministry or church is about. Finally share status's that others will enjoy and share on their social media sites (or re-tweet). This help's to gain more of a presence on the web and social media. After all, isn't that what we should be doing.. Making Him Known!
This just skimmed the top and is definitely not all there is to the social media "trade". Hope this will give you a great start. Don't hesitate in contacting me by e-mail at: rogergriggsministry@gmail.com for any assistance and questions.
Tuesday, December 3, 2013
Finding Peace
1 Corinthians 7:15 "..But God has called us to peace."
Psalm 34:14 "Depart from evil and do good; Seek peace and pursue it."
The time between Thanksgiving and Christmas can be hectic. Along with the chaos there will be many filled with grief, sorrow, and depression. It should be a joyous time of year, but the truth is there will be some that will be missing loved one's that have gone on to their eternal resting place. There will also be some that won't be able to partake in the commercialized part of Christmas because they are broke (and that depresses people even more).
It is sad that we have commercialized Christmas so much that it will depress some that much. We all know that Christmas is all about Jesus and His birth and we give to honor Him because He gave us so much. At least that is what Christmas derived from and that is what it should be about. So, what can we do to help ourselves or others during this time of year? Encourage ourselves and especially encourage others to seek peace. (This is a major piece of Christian Resilience).
Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 7:15 that "God has called us to peace". We have peace first and foremost because He sent His only Son to take our place on that cross so that we can be right with Him. He sent.. That is the day that we celebrate Christmas. Because He sent His Son we can be forgiven and no longer be separated from Him.
However, as Christians we should seek that peace that we have in God. As the Psalmist says, "Depart from evil and do good..". That is truly what Christ saved us from isn't it; our sin (evil)? In order to obtain peace we have to first turn from our sin (180 degrees) and start a new path in our lives toward the good that God has called us to. When we have made an honest effort to turn from the sin in our lives we can pursue peace; that is, chase after it as if that is all we want!
"What does the dark have to do with the Light?" The two are contrary to one another and neither can exist in the presence of the other. There will either be Light or darkness. It is the same concept with our lives. We will either pursue evil or we will pursue peace, but there can not be both because they are enemies of each other.
You may be thinking, "Well it isn't evil that is causing me or others to grieve". Remember, "God has called us to peace". We can not allow the worries of the world to drown that peace. Whether it is grief due to the loss of a loved one or the lack of funds we must find peace with it for ourselves and others that are in our lives. It's alright to remember those that aren't with us anymore, but it can become bondage to allow the memories to weigh us down and rob us of our joy and peace. (Bondage to anything is evil).
What about the lack of funds to partake in the commercialized Christmas? I will first say that Christmas (or Thanksgiving for that matter) isn't about buying the biggest and best stuff. It is celebrating the birth of our Lord and Savior. Do what you can and if you can't do anything at all that is fine because as a Christian God gave you the best present of all and that is peace of being right with God.
Please, find peace during this time of year and enjoy the peace of God.
Shalom ~Dale Griggs
Psalm 34:14 "Depart from evil and do good; Seek peace and pursue it."
The time between Thanksgiving and Christmas can be hectic. Along with the chaos there will be many filled with grief, sorrow, and depression. It should be a joyous time of year, but the truth is there will be some that will be missing loved one's that have gone on to their eternal resting place. There will also be some that won't be able to partake in the commercialized part of Christmas because they are broke (and that depresses people even more).
It is sad that we have commercialized Christmas so much that it will depress some that much. We all know that Christmas is all about Jesus and His birth and we give to honor Him because He gave us so much. At least that is what Christmas derived from and that is what it should be about. So, what can we do to help ourselves or others during this time of year? Encourage ourselves and especially encourage others to seek peace. (This is a major piece of Christian Resilience).
Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 7:15 that "God has called us to peace". We have peace first and foremost because He sent His only Son to take our place on that cross so that we can be right with Him. He sent.. That is the day that we celebrate Christmas. Because He sent His Son we can be forgiven and no longer be separated from Him.
However, as Christians we should seek that peace that we have in God. As the Psalmist says, "Depart from evil and do good..". That is truly what Christ saved us from isn't it; our sin (evil)? In order to obtain peace we have to first turn from our sin (180 degrees) and start a new path in our lives toward the good that God has called us to. When we have made an honest effort to turn from the sin in our lives we can pursue peace; that is, chase after it as if that is all we want!
"What does the dark have to do with the Light?" The two are contrary to one another and neither can exist in the presence of the other. There will either be Light or darkness. It is the same concept with our lives. We will either pursue evil or we will pursue peace, but there can not be both because they are enemies of each other.
You may be thinking, "Well it isn't evil that is causing me or others to grieve". Remember, "God has called us to peace". We can not allow the worries of the world to drown that peace. Whether it is grief due to the loss of a loved one or the lack of funds we must find peace with it for ourselves and others that are in our lives. It's alright to remember those that aren't with us anymore, but it can become bondage to allow the memories to weigh us down and rob us of our joy and peace. (Bondage to anything is evil).
What about the lack of funds to partake in the commercialized Christmas? I will first say that Christmas (or Thanksgiving for that matter) isn't about buying the biggest and best stuff. It is celebrating the birth of our Lord and Savior. Do what you can and if you can't do anything at all that is fine because as a Christian God gave you the best present of all and that is peace of being right with God.
Please, find peace during this time of year and enjoy the peace of God.
Shalom ~Dale Griggs
Monday, December 2, 2013
Resilience
Today more than ever people are spending more money on self-help guides to help them during tough times. They are searching for ways out of situations such as grief, weight, addiction, and the list goes on. Times seem to be even tougher on people due to the low and slow economy. During the holiday season people will become even less resilient.
It is my belief that to overcome any situation a person needs to first be resilient. Resilience means to have elasticity or to bounce back. This is the quality that people have when they are facing tough challenges and it seems they aren't affected by those situations at all. It may be that someone has lost a job, but every time you see them they are smiling as if they had a million dollar job.
It isn't because that person is special and has a secret that no one else could ever obtain. They have learned to be resilient either on their own or through counseling and/or training. Most people have that ability to be resilient and when faced with a mountain they figure out how to climb it or just go around it. Others that seem to be struggling during challenging times have the ability to be resilient, they just don't know how to be.
For those who aren't naturally resilient, They can learn to be resilient; they just need guidance and encouragement. What does it benefit for someone to be resilient? They have a better quality of life. They are able to more quickly overcome situations. When both people in a marriage are resilient that marriage has a better chance of lasting. Finally, being resilient means that families are happier. AND it is better to master the skills to be resilient before challenging times hit!
The fact is that 2014 is expected to be another bad year for many; if not worse! I wished it wasn't that way, but it is our jobs as Christian's to help our brothers and sisters to be resilient and to overcome situations. Whether it is from depression, sickness, or sin Jude tells us, "And on some have compassion; but others save with fear, pulling them out of the fire, hating even the garment defiled by the flesh" (Jude 22-23).
If there is any way I can help please do not hesitate in contacting me. I'm a Christian Minister who has had extensive resilience training and have learned it though my own life experiences. I can be reached at (502)370-0409 or rogergriggsministry@gmail.com.
It is my belief that to overcome any situation a person needs to first be resilient. Resilience means to have elasticity or to bounce back. This is the quality that people have when they are facing tough challenges and it seems they aren't affected by those situations at all. It may be that someone has lost a job, but every time you see them they are smiling as if they had a million dollar job.
It isn't because that person is special and has a secret that no one else could ever obtain. They have learned to be resilient either on their own or through counseling and/or training. Most people have that ability to be resilient and when faced with a mountain they figure out how to climb it or just go around it. Others that seem to be struggling during challenging times have the ability to be resilient, they just don't know how to be.
For those who aren't naturally resilient, They can learn to be resilient; they just need guidance and encouragement. What does it benefit for someone to be resilient? They have a better quality of life. They are able to more quickly overcome situations. When both people in a marriage are resilient that marriage has a better chance of lasting. Finally, being resilient means that families are happier. AND it is better to master the skills to be resilient before challenging times hit!
The fact is that 2014 is expected to be another bad year for many; if not worse! I wished it wasn't that way, but it is our jobs as Christian's to help our brothers and sisters to be resilient and to overcome situations. Whether it is from depression, sickness, or sin Jude tells us, "And on some have compassion; but others save with fear, pulling them out of the fire, hating even the garment defiled by the flesh" (Jude 22-23).
If there is any way I can help please do not hesitate in contacting me. I'm a Christian Minister who has had extensive resilience training and have learned it though my own life experiences. I can be reached at (502)370-0409 or rogergriggsministry@gmail.com.
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