Christian Websites and Pop-Up Ads

 It might be early in the year for a rant, but here it comes anyway. I was doing research on a topic on several Christian websites and struggled to do anything for all the pop-up ads that  kept appearing on my screen. Some of them blocked half the page so I couldn't read anything until I did something with the pop-up, and in some cases there wasn't even an option to delete it. I just had to go off the page without reading the article.

I understand the need to monetize a site, but it was ridiculous at the number of pop-up ads on these sites. I tried to visualize a non-Christian trying to learn more about Christianity running into this problem. Such a person would come to the conclusion that the site wasn't nearly as interested in providing information as it was in getting their money. That mindset already exists in the thinking of many non-Christians (and some Christians as well).

Along with the commercial pop-ups there were also those offering a free resource, again with no way to delete the pop-up. Those "free" resources requires your email address which will lead to your inbox being filled with more offers. No thanks.

Very seldom do I research a topic on secular sites and have to deal with unwanted pop-ups. They may have offers for consideration, but they are not usually preventing anyone from reading the article.

Some of my Christian friends need to re-consider their use of pop-up ads. It really does not project a very good image.

Preparing for 2023

Sunday will be the first day of a new year. Are you ready to lead your church in 2023? If you are one of the pastors who are still waiting for things to return to normal after Covid you are not ready to lead your church into the new year.  That normal no longer exists nor will it return. Much of what you learned in seminary for how to lead a church is now outdated and will do you little good. Leaders have to find a new normal because pre-covid days will not return to the church.

Thom Rainer wrote a very helpful little book in 2020 called The Post-Quarantine Church that should be required reading for all church leaders. At 111 pages it easily readable in a day or two, but I encourage you to spend more time than that with this book. As I read it I felt like the author clearly understood the changes Covid has brought to the church. In this post let me address just one chapter in the book, the one on doing ministry in a digital world.

Most smaller churches never considered putting their services online prior to the Covid quarantine. Suddenly, many of those churches began exploring how to stream their services on social media or on hastily developed web pages. Overnight many pastors became tele-evangelists! Rainer's organization estimates that more than 100,000 churches that never had an internet presence developed one during the pandemic. The church I now serve as Transitional Pastor would be included in that number. Churches had to learn a lot to begin streaming their services, and many of continue to learn how to improve that internet presence. 

Many churches probably assumed that once the quarantine was behind us we could forget streaming our services. Surprise! Many in our congregation never returned to live worship services but continue to faithfully watch our online services. While we may have once considered our digital ministry to be an emergency stopgap it is now being seen as an important part of our ministry. In fact, it is more than that. Rainer writes in this book, "As we move into the post-quarantine church era, the challenge is how best to reach people and serve them on the digital mission field." Beside that statement I wrote in the margin, "The digital world is a new mission field for the church."

The author suggests that churches realize that we are now dealing with three different groups. One is digital only, one is digitally transitioning, and the third is dual citizens. In addition, we continue to have those members who physically attend the worship services of our churches. If you are only focusing on those physically present each Sunday you are missing out on ministering to an important group of people.

As you prepare to lead your church into 2023 make sure you are considering all the groups Rainer has identified in this book. If you ignore the digital opportunities you now have you will miss an important group of individuals God has given you.

If you have not yet read this book you need to do so. You can order it through Amazon by clicking on the title above. Yes, I will receive a small payment if you do that, but if that bothers you let me know and I'll send you a check for those pennies I'll receive from Amazon. Have a great New Year!

You can follow me on Twitter and Facebook

Every day I post links to about 18 different blog articles that focus on ministry and/or leadership.  These come from the dozens of blogs I review each day looking for helpful information that I then pass on to my readers.  This is one more way I try to resource bivocational and small church leaders although leaders of much larger churches will probably find these articles interesting and helpful as well.

These links are posted on Twitter which then puts them on my Facebook page as well.  You can follow me on Twitter @DennisBickers.  In addition to these links I occasionally put other information on my Facebook page so I encourage you to friend me on FB as well.

Do you work while on vacation?

I used to tell my co-workers that I would be checking e-mails while I was away on vacation, and I did, several times a day.  I would also work on this blog and post articles on Hootsuite to be put on Twitter at night after my wife went to sleep.  It didn't really bother me that much because it didn't take much time away from our vacation, and most of what I did was late at night when I was the only one up anyway.  Two years ago I finally stopped doing that, and I have the motel we often stay at when we're on vacation.

We used to go to Panama City Beach for vacation, and we often stayed at the same motel.  We had not been there for a few years until deciding to return two years ago.  Reservations were made at the same motel.  It wasn't until we were in our room that I realized that this place didn't offer free wi-fi.  I was not a happy camper!  They charged about $25.00 a week for a wi-fi connection.  I'm too cheap to pay for something that the vast majority of places offer for free so I had to go the entire week with no Internet connection.  By the end of the week I realized I enjoyed not being able to connect to the Internet.  I still had e-mail and texting capabilities on my I-Phone so we could stay in contact with our children, but I couldn't work.  The one time I wanted to check something on Google for our personal information, I simply went across the street and parked in McDonald's parking lot while I got the info we needed off their wi-fi.

For too many years as a young pastor I thought I had to be available to our congregation even when I was on vacation.  How arrogant is that?  None of us are that important.  Do we really think our churches can't get along without us?  I guess I did at one time, but I got over it when I realized the cemeteries are full of indispensable people.  If you think the world can't get along with you, just die and see if the world stops.  Along the same line, what crisis do you think will occur if you don't respond to an e-mail or check your Facebook account while you're on vacation?  Chances are...none.

On my Twitter feed today I have an article by Michael Hyatt on how he unplugs while he's on vacation.  You can read it here.  I like most of what he suggests.  The one thing I do differently is that I don't leave phone and e-mail messages telling people I'm away for a week or two nor do I publish that on Facebook or other social media.  I don't post pictures of the things I'm doing on vacation until I get back.  No sense in telling some people that your house is empty for a few days.  I do agree with his recommendations that we unplug while we're away so we can recharge and enjoy our time away.

I hope you are planning some time away this year for yourself and your family.  You need that time, and so do they.  Even more, my prayer is that when you go away you get away.  No work.  No Internet.  Just take time to breathe and enjoy life and your family.