Frying The Airwaves

The winds of God’s spirit used the Global COVID-19 Pandemic to blow throughout the nations and our lives at a blistering, vicious pace – altering the lives of virtually every soul on the planet. What we consider normal for Church has been obliterated forever. Almost every person on the planet finds themselves fighting to piece together what their life is going to look like on a daily and weekly basis. “The Church” consists of people who build it through the patterns of their collective lives. The Church will also never be the same again. Under the sovereignty of God and His mighty hand, this Global event has forever altered how we will view, approach, build, strengthen, and communicate within the Church. The Church has always taught “true worshippers” (John 4:23) to “follow” Jesus, to “share” His Message and the importance of the “post” hanging over His head. The Church’s use of our computers, tablets, and smartphones can make our following, sharing, and posting more impactful if we learn to use all of the various resources electronically to do what Jesus and His followers did by word, mouth, pen, and feet. 

This modern-day pandemic showed all of us four intriguing truths:

• The speed at which a concept or change can be evangelized throughout the entire world (without the use of technology)
• There is power is one person affecting everyone they come in contact with
• The fastest way to spread anything is for one person to pass it to another, then for each them to spread it to everyone they come into contact with and so on
• The power of unity – in plan and action – can conquer any challenge: seen or unseen

The 34 churches in 6 Geographic Regions listed in the New Testament all followed and tracked the growth and expansion of all the Churches because they subscribed to the Apostles letters in all the churches. The Disciples in the First Century were able to encourage, counsel, correct, admonish, and stay connected by hand-written letters. These letters were hand-copied by re-writing them over and over again – then delivered by foot, donkey, horse, camel, boat, and on occasion chariot. Delivery would take weeks or months. The priority of keeping the churches informed and unified prompted the disciples to make “Herculian” efforts to communicate with each other. They thoroughly read any communication sent to them and passed it onto others. I call this the “1^st Century Letter Delivery Effort.” Consider the following scriptures in teaching your congregations about the importance of staying connected and unified:

• “…we are sending Judas and Silas to confirm by word of mouth what we are writing…The men were sent off and went down to Antioch, where they gathered the Church together and delivered the letter. The people read it and were glad for its encouraging message.” Acts 15:25-27, 30-33
• “After this letter has been read to you, see that it is also read in the church of the Laodiceans and that you in turn read the letter from Laodicea.” Colossians 4:16
• “I charge you before the Lord to have this letter read to all the brothers.” 1 Thessalonians 5:27

We in the 21^st century can use smartphones, tablets, computers, websites, social media, audio/video conferencing, electronic documents, and electronic letters to do “Even Greater Things” – getting our letters to virtually every individual disciples through the “airwaves.” Putting the “1st Century Letter Delivering Effort” into sending and reading every letter about our churches – then getting these teachings out to the entire world is what we call “Frying the Airwaves.” Just as the Apostle Paul unleashed some of the most impacting lessons from the cold, stone, and dirt floors of a few prisons, every one of us can make a Global Impact. God did not give humanity smartphones so they could make dumb posts, centered around their self-interests!  Imagine what God can do if every Disciple (even if the only tool used is a smartphone) makes the “1^st Century Letter Delivery Effort” and “Frys the Airwaves!”

The CyberMinistry is a collection of skilled, driven, tireless workers/warriors who build and create “virtually” EVERYTHING, our church & movement leaders create and build physically. Like in the times of Nehemiah, they always carry both a tool and sword. This vital Ministry proves the Church is not a building, but a Global Spiritual entity on the Visible continents and the invisible continent.

• CyberMinistry touches every area of Ministry, augmenting, enhancing, maintaining, backing up, centralizing, promoting, and propelling the work of every Ministry.
• We do not have Volunteers, but CyberWorkers. No one Volunteers with the Lord. We all do everything as if working for the Lord, not as if it is a non-profit – Colossians 3:23.

Gone are the days when a person can say, “I’m not very tech-savvy” and think they are going to accomplish much. The time is now for every Disciple of Jesus to Revolutionize the Way We Evangelize! The scope and utter power the technology God has entrusted to us is beyond the comprehension of any one individual. Also, beyond our understanding is just how much God can do through every individual Disciple who takes full advantage of what God has put at our fingertips. We must call every Disciple to three overriding goals:

1. “Follow” Jesus and “Subscribe” to the Gospel
   “‘ Come, follow me,’ Jesus said, ‘and I will make you fishers of men.’ At once they left their nets and followed him.” Mark 1:17-18
   • We must teach our congregations to allow Jesus and His Gospel to interrupt their plans for that day, so they can “Follow”, “Subscribe” and “Like” every churches Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, Instagram & LinkedIn Account
   • Every Disciple of Jesus needs to subscribe to all bulletins, mailing lists, and newsletters: https://goodnewsemail.com/
   • All of the churches should read every letter (email, post, etc.) written to the churches

2. “Share” the Good News 
   “We not only eagerly shared with you God’s Good News, but we also shared with you our own lives. That’s how much you’ve come to mean to us!” (1 Thessalonians 2:8 The Voice)
   • Every Disciple should document and articulate their “Acts 8:26/Acts 17:26” conversion story and encouraged to “share” the good news of their conversion. Why would someone not want to share this good news on every social media account they have, inviting everyone they know to contact them to learn more? 
   • This is the breakdown of an “Acts 8:26/Acts 17:26” Conversion Story:
     • What the Angels did to help them meet a disciple
     • What lengths did the Disciples go through to share the good news with them. 
     • Being shown the “Good News”
     • Responding, “Why shouldn’t I be baptized?”
     • The story of why they are now rejoicing

3. “Post” the Message
   “After they had finished nailing Him to the cross and were waiting for Him to die, they whiled away the time by throwing dice for his clothes. Above his head they had posted the criminal charge against him: THIS IS JESUS, THE KING OF THE JEWS.” (Matthew 27:35 Message Version)
   • All disciples should be taught Jesus is Lord of their lives, which includes what they post to their Newsfeeds on their Social Media accounts
   • Every Disciple should be posting as much as they can about everything happening in as many of the churches as possible. Consider how the disciples shared the message in any and every situation:
     • “For we cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard.” Acts 4:20
     • “I pray that you may be active in sharing your faith, so that you will have a full understanding of every good thing we have in Christ.” Philemon 6-7
     • “Those who had been scattered preached the word wherever they went.” Acts 8:4
     • “These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.” Deuteronomy 6:6-9

The leadership of a church must be mindful to call the people to learn the basics online safety, web browsers, the use of their smartphone and some common apps, documents, spreadsheets, presentations, basic photography and videography so all can participate in properly representing Christ on the “invisible continent.” Just as they did in the first century, we must become good writers, articulating what we are used to saying by mouth. This requires heading the following scriptures:

• “Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.. Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice.” Ephesians 4:29-32
• “Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity. Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone.” Colossians 4:5-6
• “Show proper respect to everyone: Love the brotherhood of believers, fear God, honor the king.” 1 Peter 2:17

Just as with traditional Ministry: You must teach everyone to put the “1^st Century Mail Delivery Effort” into their online efforts to share the Gospel. Send them out. Call them to use their talents and multiply themselves. Teach them to become all things to all men. Help them see they can making the teachings of Jesus attractive. Give them deep convictions that evangelism is love for God and follow up is love for their hearers. Let’ all allow the winds of the Holy Spirit (John 3:8) to blow us into the digital age of Virtual Church and CyberMinistries – until every last soul has heard, and we complete the mission of Jesus to evangelize the nations in our generation!

Ron Harding
Lead CyberEvangelist of the SoldOut Movement’s Global CyberMinistry / Evangelist: ATLICC

May 15, 2020

Use of the following technical setup will reduce the extremely high cost of online storage for Videos/Pictures and allows for local management of content and data, while still having the infrastructure for centralizing the data of a family of churches who are committed to presenting a unified worldwide presence.  

From a technical perspective, a church should have the following setup:

• A Brand:
  • A set of images used on for all web, social media, mobile app, documents, presentations, print, clothing, etc. 
  • Upon creation of the brand, all images need to be created for all web, social media and print.
• A Website with a unique domain name (chicagoicc.org):
  • A Content Management system, like WordPress, should be used to build the site
  • Your Website is where the majority of your content (except event pictures) should reside, making your Website the central repository of Bulletins, Internal Documents, and internal Pictures
  • Posts, pictures, and pages should have Featured Images, Categories, and Tags so they are prepared for sharing across all Social Media Platforms and be picked up by Search Engines.
  • Links from all types of content should be shared from your Website to Social Media
  • Social Media should be where event pictures and all videos should reside. Your Website should use plugins to “pull” those pictures back from Social Media into Photo Albums on your Website
  • If you use a content Management system, it should be configured to instantly post that content to all of your Social Media Accounts – every time you publish
• Social Media Management Tool:
  • Great options are Hootsuite or Sendible
•  Livestreaming Service: 
  • Livesteaming is one of the most enticing activities you can do in CyberMinistry because of the pull it has on people. They listen more intensely because of the possibility of seeing mistakes and seeing the true unedited personality of the speaker.  
  • Both YouTube, Facebook, Instagram and Twitter (Periscope) all offer free Livestreaming
  • I recommend a Livestreaming service: Vimeo or livereating.com to do the following:
    • Push your stream to multiple platforms at once
    • Do simulated live, with a pre-recorded video
  • Do not miss the priceless opportunity to engage your audience during a livestream:
  • • Set a point-person for each platform to do the following:
      • On Facebook: Have your people do watch party, inviting their friends to watch with them. This allows them the same opportunity to have a private chat with their guests, simulating the same experience as having a friend at Church with you. It’s also easier to track true attendance for following up and praying for those people
      • Welcome every person watching by name
      • Call others to welcome that same individual
      • Send each person watching a private invite to connect after the livestream, asking for their contact information and asking for their feedback on the live event

•  YouTube Channel:
  • Your video content should reside on YouTube and links shared to Social Media. All other Social Media Accounts can be used for a collective repository of Event Pictures.
  • According to our Patrick Boea – the CyberEvangelist of Marketing/Advertising for the SoldOut Family of Churches – YouTube ads are the most effective tool in reaching our lost world
  • YouTube should be a 2nd main platform to push all Livestreams. This is a place to gauge (through the comments) the long-term impact and acceptance of what you are teaching
• Instagram:
  • Primary personal photo/video social media account for millennials, sports figures and those in the entertainment industry
  • This can be a powerful platform for Livestreaming
• Facebook Page:
  • Primary Social Media tool of most churches. Facebook should be used for Marketing campaigns tailored to your current followers for keeping them tied in
  • Facebook should be the main platform to push all Livestreams. This promotes conversation and engagement with the audience
• Facebook Public Pages for the Lead couple:
  • All church content from the churches page should be shared on these public profiles to capture the audience following the leaders
• LinkedIn:
  • LinkedIn is your connection to the corporate world and where employees of the Church can freely evangelize, just as those ins the business world share their products
• TikTok:
  • Tik Tok is a place to share videos from all members of the Church, giving a funny human touch that builds family
• Twitter Account:
  • Twitter is the primary Social Media account used for Press Releases and making a Worldwide Reach
  • If you choose to livestream her, be sure you are ready for a primetime, worldwide audience
• MailChimp:
  • The most used Mailing list company for all those who want everything in email

• Online storage for backup of all corporate files:
  • Backblaze.com offers unlimited space for $6.99/mo
• Software:
  • Microsoft Office 365: $59/yr
  • Adobe Creative Suite: $35/mo
• Audio/Visual Equipment:
  • 4K Video Camera: $1,000-$3,000
  • Digital Camera: $1,000-$2,000
  • 5 Microphones, Active Speakers, Live Sound Board
  • Pocket Recorders to capture Audio