Our gratitude goes to Dave Jackson, from the School of Podcasting, who took the time to talk with two podcasting newbies and offered encouragement, support, and affirmation. We only include a third of our conversation with Dave, which lasted almost an hour and a half. Dave spent the time to get to know us, coach us by giving us some podcasting tips, and just generally converse on small church ministry, life, and all things podcasting.
This is a very fun conversation that we think will encourage you in your life and ministry. He offers a critical analysis of the difference between his large church and small church experiences - so we say - "let's learn from what he says and seek to be better pastors, period." His evaluations really apply to churches of all sizes as we seek to love people, connect them to God, and graft them into Kingdom community. Thanks Dave, for being a real friend to so many in the podcasting and Christian communities. You can also find Dave at www.feedingmyfaith.org as he shares his spiritual journey with his listeners on the Feeding My Faith Podcast. Here is the latest episode of Feeding My Faith at the time of this posting. And... you can find him as the co-host, with Ray Ortega, on The Podcaster's Roundtable, a video and audio podcast where Ray and Dave are normally joined by Daniel J. Lewis from The Audacity to Podcast, as well as one or two other Roundtable podcasters they invite to talk with them. Here is their Podcaster's Roundtable YouTube Channel with all of their video shows. Episode Note: Jonny was late joining Dave and I in our conversation, so I, as usual, mock him just a bit when he shows up. The real story is that he was being a good husband and father while Dave and I were shirking our responsibilities! :) Do you know if there is such a thing as Pastor Porn Insurance? I mean, like stuff to protect you on the far off chance that you get addicted to pornography and have to quit the ministry – is there insurance for something like that? I've not heard of it, but then again, I (Jeff) wouldn't get it anyway. In fact, I decided to activate my faith and drop all of my insurance. I don’t believe that insurance allows us to live by faith. I dropped the insurance policy that protected everything I own in the parsonage I live in. If there is a fire, God will provide. I also dropped my life insurance policy. I believe that the church will care for my wife and family in the unfortunate instance of an early death. God provides through his people. We say that all the time, but do we really mean it? Activate your faith and drop your life insurance policy. Give the premium to missions and the credit to God.
I also dropped other insurance that I can’t admit to publicly, because legally I am supposed to have it. But the state does not rule me, and to have those policies does not allow me to live by faith. God will provide – how many times do we preach that?! We need to start living by it. Want to join me? Want to be a faith-filled pastor who practices what he or she preaches?! Yeah, I didn't think so. But that’s good. Because it would be crazy and irresponsible of me to do those things, right? It would be simply reckless for me to drop all my insurance. Because my premiums not only guarantee I have coverage, but Lord willing I will never have to collect, and those premiums will pay for the calamity in others’ lives. For the record, I did not drop all of my insurance. I was "telling a story". :) I am properly insured, and still live by faith! If it is so crazy for us to not have life, auto, homeowner’s, and health insurance – then why in the world would you live as though porn would never affect you? Why do you think porn won’t come and visit you like a heart attack in the night, or cancer at an early age? Why do you think illicit images won’t come crashing on to your computer screen after a careless click? You need porn insurance! Go ahead, make our day, do something! It’s called a router, properly set up. It’s called Internet service that is filtered at the company (demand that your Internet Service Provider provide this!) before it ever gets to your home. It’s called accountability software and teen level smartphone data settings. For the sake of your soul, your church, and your family… and the reputation of Christ in your community – activate your porn insurance! Netgear Routers have filtering protection on them – they are the only kind I buy. (No, I am not an affiliate marketer - Jonny and I get nothing if you by one, except happiness!) Do others have it too? I don’t know, because I always buy Netgear. I found a good thing and I’m sticking with it. Here is the router I bought for our church and my home, and right now I found it at 43% off at Amazon! Again, we don't get anything for this, it just works well for us. I’m not Superman, so I need to guard against the kryptonite that is pornography. When us pastors look at porn, we are not in our right minds, as Nathan Stob suggested in this week’s podcast. He said that “when we are sane” we should be setting up filtering and protection, aka porn insurance, and thereby be proactive. As pastors of 200churches, we have to do everything we can to protect ourselves from the myriad ways that the world, the flesh, and the Devil can take us down. Our leadership, shepherding of the church, and influence in peoples' lives depends on it. My leadership and your leadership in our 200churches matters huge in God's Kingdom! Hey you pastors – you men and women who have zero accountability and 90% isolation – change that! Get some insurance coverage to protect you from the ravages of pornography. Do it TODAY. Finally, if you've never subscribed to the 200churches Podcast on iTunes, you can do it here, and leave us a rating & review! Thirty years ago when I was a college freshman, less than 1% of college students owned a computer, actually, way less than 1%! It was a net positive if you owned an electric typewriter instead of a manual one. In my first church we did not have a screen in our facility and could not conceive of a computer in the church office. I don’t have to tell you that times have changed. But, for the better? Well, yes, of course for the better in the area of technology. However, while we can do things now in ministry we would not have dreamed of thirty years ago, there are also things we cannot do anymore because of technology. Here are at least five…
We cannot keep our people in the dark. Thirty years ago our people knew nothing of other churches, unless it was Charles Stanley’s church or Chuck Swindoll’s church. Those two guys were on the radio throughout the country. Other than them, our folks were in the dark as to what was going on in the church in America. All they had was Christianity Today or Moody Monthly, maybe a few others, but you get the point. Today, through the Internet, our people have every piece of information they could ever hope to want regarding the church in America – available instantly! We cannot be ignorant. As pastors, there is absolutely no excuse for us to stay ignorant for any amount of time on a subject we need to be informed on. While driving down the road, my wife and I often have a question, such as, How many people live in Poland? or What does supralapsarianism mean? or Who wrote Foxes Book Of Martyrs? or What is the temperature in Fairbanks, AK? With our iPhones either of us (her, if I am driving!) can find out instantly. There is really nothing we can remain ignorant about, with credibility. We cannot find a good reason to not communicate with people. Thirty years ago our phone line might be busy (the party line!) or we might not have been home when someone phoned or visited. Today, nope! Doesn't cut it anymore! We have no excuse to not be informing our people on what is up at our church, or to not be communicating with them regularly. There are actually too many options! We cannot tell our missionaries “see you in four years”. Again, with technology, we can communicate with virtually every missionary we support. For that matter, we can practically visit every one of them at one time or another. We cannot ignore new technology. If we ignore things like Facebook and Twitter, the Internet and smartphones, we are like the farmer who did not want a phone at his house, explaining “If anyone wants to talk with me, they can come right out here to the farm and see me!” The printing press made it possible to take the scriptures to the world, and the Internet makes it possible to share information instantaneously around the globe. If we ignore new technology, we are telling the world and the community we live in “we do not care about you!” This Wednesday, on Episode 23 of The 200churches Podcast, we talk about Five Technologies Every Church Must Engage With. Jonny also tries to bring Jeff up to speed on “The Facebook and The Twitter!” What is the single most significant way that technology has changed how you do ministry? |
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