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****************************************************** webminister@webminister.com December 1999 - #2
IN THIS ISSUE:
****************************************************** This issue will cover the webminister's background, his views on history, religion and society, the need for change in the educational system at all levels, and his "Tentmaker minister friends." My name is Edward R. Barels and I have recently retired from Southern Christian University, where I taught "The Church, the Minister, and the Internet," "Accessing Information from Libraries and Internet," and courses in Ancient History. During the last eight years, I served as an Adjunct Instructor at Faulkner University (formally Alabama Christian College); teaching American and European History in their adult education and National Guard programs. During retirement, I am writing articles for publication on church growth and the Intertestamental history period (about 550 B.C. to 200 A.D) in the Near East including Christianity outside the Roman Empire. I am trying to maintain three web sites. 1. http://webminister.com. The webminister has a vision of church Internet ministries through effective church web pages, the use of the Internet as a tool for church planning, church administration, church leadership, and church growth. Within the next three years, the church growth section will have over 400 articles on church growth from leading journals and newsletters.. 2. http://thousandsofsermons.com. I inherited about 4000 sermons from David F. Juraschek, a member of the church of Christ who worked at George Mason University, and could not maintain the sermons on a state supported institutional computer, i.e., something about "separation of church and state." I have permission from various people on another 1000+ sermons. About 500 are already posted to the web site, which includes a fully searchable index together with the other two webminister web sites. 3. http://mindspring.com/~kkbooks/abc. Kay Newman, head Librarian at Southern Christian University, and I started building an index of Christian Resources and Internet Library aids for students and scholars. Kay uses this web site in teaching both graduate and undergraduate library research courses. In 2000, we plan to double the links to resources. Recently, I published an article entitled "Why Not the Internet?" in "Church Growth" magazine [http://4churchgrowth.com]. During the last two years, I lectured twice at Tennessee Valley Church Internet Conference and the first Midwest Christian Technology Seminar in Kansas City . Also, I delivered a paper on the use of the Internet as a ministry of the church at the Christian Scholars' Conference at Harding University. Some of the handouts include the following.
1. What to Put on the Church Internet Web Site http://webminister.com/churweb1/amina010.htm The "Newsletter from the webminister" was started in September, 1999, to promote methodologies in church growth, leadership and using the Internet as a ministry of the church. At present, over 1100 of the 1300 + e-mail addresses came from web sites. Approximately 8.3 percent of the e-mail listings no longer existed or were improperly coded in HTML on church web pages. At present, twelve ministers have requested their elders to subscribe. I have been encouraged by the 30 to 60+ e-mails received each month and the friendships that have developed. After graduating from college in the 1950's, I started out as a minister in a small country church. During the first month, I preached to an average 35 attenders and visited every families' homes. Then, I started looking for ways to use my Sunday afternoons before the youth meeting at 5:30 and church service at 6:30. I wanted to get to know the community, but was afraid to ask a lot of questions. So I started calling on three to five neighbors of a church family and then going to the church family to fill in information on a 4 x 5 card – name of husband, wife, and children, their ages, church affiliation, and date of visit. While I was staying busy, what I did not know at the time was that the church family was talking to their neighbors about me and then inviting them to come to evening services. Within a year, attendance was more than 85 per Sunday. I served as the open door for neighbors to discuss church. Before continuing this story, I want to introduce Dick who I saw this Summer after about a 10 year lapse. I met Dick at Summer camp after my senior year in high school. An elder of his church invited me to come and speak at their church on a Sunday. My message was based on an article my mother found in "Reader's Digest" about the meaning of the 23rd Psalm to a Basque sheep herder. That and religious training my parents had given me was apparently enough. Mother told me to just get up and talk to the people, don't worry about trying to preach. Well everything went as planned, but after 45 years Dick could still talk about the meaning of that sermon. This last summer I had the privilege of talking to one of his three congregations. This is how he introduced me: "I met Ed at church camp. One of our elders asked Ed to come to our church and preach. I still had another year in high school. So we got to be friends. He came to town and preached. And I decided I was going to go with him. That is how it began. So as like Paul said I am a debtor to the Jew and the Greek, but I am a debtor to the Jew and the Greek and to Ed here. Because if it weren't for him, I would have never become a preacher. And so at this time I will let Ed preach." I never expected those results to my first message. Today, Dick works by day and preaches every Sunday at two churches and a nursing home. This tentmaker minister drives an 80 mile circuit every Sunday and loves the Lord for his many blessings. Now back for the rest of the story of my first church. When time came for Daily Vacation Bible School, two children from a different church asked if they could come to our DVBS and be with their friends. Dick looks at me and said he had an idea and I added to it. After suggesting it to our DVBS leaders who were afraid of being short of teachers and drivers for picking up the the children, Dick and I decided to ask the children's parents to help drive and teach with our teachers. With about 20 children from our church family we finally ending up with around 80 with plenty of parents fellowshipping with church members. Dick and I visited every house in a four mile radius. The results: two children wanted to come, we needed more teachers and drivers, we had the leaders and the Bible School materials, we did OJT (On the Job Training) of both parents and children, we had six baptism in the creek across the road of the church building, and 15 to 25 more attenders at church every Sunday. I owe a lot to Dick for his Bible School teaching and our visitation program. We were only looking for parents to help and children to attend, but the results were evangelism and church growth. A number of close church friend a couple years behind me in high school have entered the ministry -- Jack and Gordon. My mother has seen Jack, heard him preach, and told me what he has done. Gordon, another tentmaker minister, has planted three churches. Like my Lord, he is a carpenter and builds churches in more ways than one. Each of us have entered the professional ministry and then gone our own ways. When one gets too busy with life, friends tend to drift away like being carried by the tides of life and drifting on the seas of this world. Another friend is named Dallas, who reads and studies the Bible two hours a day, six days a week at Shoneys starting at 6:00 A.M. For 19 years at Shoneys, he has held a Bible study class on Wednesday morning to anyone that wants to attends. From one to five attend this gathering. Dallas has planted five churches and baptized over 500 people. This is another tentmaker friend I have coffee with a couple times a month. And then there is Mark with whom we have kneeled and prayed together in his church office. This amounts to friends sharing the closeness of the Lord together. Nothing is like a small prayer group. Many more ministers, teachers, and tentmaker ministers and Christians have been my friends over the last six decades. God bless you all in the name of the Lord. I have presented my views on history, the major problems in religious education, the inseparable position of church and state on education and life, and life in general in a chapel message presented at Southern Christian University on June 5, 1996. I highly recommend reading it if you want to get to know the Webminister's views in "We Have an Awesome Message to Proclaim" . http://thousandsofsermons.com/sermons/writeser/ser00394.htm. This year few have asked the question whether a year zero existed 2000 years ago or whether the calendar went from One BC to One AD. But Who was It that divided time? Every time we say 1999 or 2000, we honor the birth of our Savior Jesus Christ. AD stands for "anno Domino" – the year of Our Lord. Christians, in general, honor the holidays of Easter, Thanksgiving and Christmas, while others look at them as days off work. Again, Who divided time? I now wish to close out for this year, decade, century, and millennium with my favorite Bible verses that honor the almighty power and glory of God our Savior. Now unto Him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy, to the only wise God our Saviour, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and ever. A-men -- Jude 24 25. In His Service,
Mr ED |