Social Media and Sharing the Gospel   

Although I'm as tech-savvy as anyone, and more than most (since I've been building and maintaining computers for 25 years for churches and schools, and worked three years at Concordia Seminary's Tech Services), I've managed to mostly avoid social media for the most part, only checking my Facebook page once-per-month or so.  However, I don't think that's necessarily a good thing any more.  Especially after reading the newest report by our Lutheran Church--Missouri Synod's Commission on Theology and Church Relations (CTCR) about Social Media and Sharing the Gospel.  You can download it here(but remember to come back and finish this post!): Recommendation Letter with CTCR Report

The Lutheran Church--Missouri Synod has ALWAYS been at the forefront of utilizing newer technologies and media as tools for spreading the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  For example, when radio broadcasting was new in the USA (begun in 1920), the Lutheran Laymen's League (begun in 1917) began plans for a Lutheran radio broadcast, and aired the first broadcast of "The Lutheran Hour" in 1930, numbering it among the first few national religious broadcasts in the nation.  Our Synod's TV program, "This Is the Life" (originally called "The Fisher Family") first aired in 1952, among the first religious TV programs to air nationally.  When satellite TV was a new technology, the LCMS had a channel.  And although not social-media, but certainly related, the annual entry of Lutheran Hour Ministries for a float in the Rose Bowl Parade is the longest-running by a religious organization, and currently the ONLY religious organization allowed for a float in the parade (being "grandfathered" in because of our long-standing presence).

Not to bore you with history, but with such great history of using the "social media" of the day to reach out to as many as possible with the Good News of Jesus, who am I that I should resist it?

I don't need to make excuses for having a blog.  Maybe I'm just convincing myself... At any rate, I get a lot of comments about my monthly church newsletter articles, "Pastor Prince's Ponderings," that people really enjoy reading them, and so I thought, maybe you'd enjoy a few more ponderings once or twice a week.  It would be a good way for me to put into words some of the many things that I am studying during the week, since, even for my sermons, you're only getting 10% of what I studied to put that sermon together.  I study lots of of other things, too, during the week, to put together Bible Studies and, on the side, as I work on my Ph.D. dissertation on "the ultimate enemy of God and His people in the book of Daniel," which leads me into lots of other topics as I explore what the LORD says through His prophets Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel as well.

So "bookmark" this page and check back regularly, and I'll have lots of interesting ponderings (more than this first post) about God's Word and about our life together as His people!