Posted on 09/28/2007 7:02:48 PM PDT by Terriergal
Virtual communities are the new haven for believers coping with 21st century culture.
Fri, Sep. 28, 2007 Posted: 12:48:16 PM EST
Virtual communities are the new haven for believers coping with 21st century culture.
Whether it's for confessions or a sense of support, today's believers are flocking to the Internet, where they discover thousands of others struggling as Christ followers as they are.
"Our culture wants us to conform," said Ed Young, lead pastor of Fellowship Church in Grapevine, Texas, in a sermon this past Sunday. "God wants us to be transformed."
And transformation, the megachurch pastor indicated, begins with the mind.
The 23,000-member Fellowship Church, which currently has five campuses, launched one of its biggest sermon series this month and a major campaign to reach out to its surrounding communities. "I need 2 change" is the latest series that's drawing thousands of Christians to a newly launched virtual community – www.ineed2change.com.
On the Web site, visitors submit brief notes of commitments on what they want to change about themselves, sometimes confessing bad habits or a sin they want to get out of.
"I need to stop lusting over a married man that I used to date prior to his marriage and stop those thoughts immediately!" states one Post-It note submitted on Wednesday.
"I need to think about what to say before actually saying it," reads another.
Young sees incredible potential and phenomenal change coming out of the campaign, as he indicated in his latest sermon.
He warned church attendees that change doesn't come easy for a believer but to reach success, one must go through the conflicts, persecution and temptation.
"So often when we experience resistance, we resist because of the resistance," said Young, noting that many falsely believe change is automatic and bail out during the process before the breakthrough.
It's all in the mind, the pastor stressed.
"We don't check our brains at the door when we become Christ followers," he said. "The battlefield is in the mind" and renewal or renovation is of the mind.
Believers are encouraged to take anything they know they need to change and submit their stories online. They're only "one click away from discovering what true change is all about," said Young.
The virtual community is also open to those outside the church. Billboards in the traffic-dense areas around Dallas, Fort Worth, and Miami – where Fellowship's other church campuses are located – are advertising the Web site and online visitors are also encouraged to "Spread the Change" by posting flyers, e-mailing friends the Web address, and performing random acts of kindness.
Diane Winston, professor of religion and media at the University of Southern California, says online communities are the "next frontier" for religious organizations, according to The Dallas Morning News.
Last August, LifeChurch.tv which claims nearly 20,000 attendees on 12 different campuses every week, launched an online confessional to go along with a sermon series on secrets people often hold. MySecret.tv became widely popular with thousands of anonymous confessions submitted both from church members and people outside the church.
Winston calls the virtual communities "brilliant from a marketing perspective" as the Web is used to "fish" for potential members.
"But it's also very 'me-oriented,' which appeals to folks who are turned off when religion seems 'holier than thou,'" she told the local Morning News.
At Fellowship Church, the vision is simple – to reach up, reach out, and reach in.
While anticipating change in its church community and surrounding neighborhoods, Young reminds the believers that it is ultimately God who is The Agent of change.
Lillian Kwon
Christian Post Reporter
Ed young is a Oneness pentecostal (anti-trinity).
Whether it's for confessions or a sense of support, today's believers are flocking to the Internet, where they discover thousands of others struggling as Christ followers as they are.
That's just poor writing, for one thing.
Looks like Ms Kwon has bought the "I'm not a Christian, I'm a 'Christ Follower'" nonsense too.
visitors submit brief notes of commitments on what they want to change about themselves, sometimes confessing bad habits or a sin they want to get out of.
Yeah, we all know that if we psych ourselves up enough about it, we can break any stranglehold sin has on our lives. It's all up to us! I think I can, I think I can, I think I can... Hey, did Norman Vincent Peale teach this Ed Young guy?
"So often when we experience resistance, we resist because of the resistance," said Young,
Gee. That's deep.
noting that many falsely believe change is automatic and bail out during the process before the breakthrough.
Nah, I think they bail out when they get tired of trying to do it on their own strength and realize they've been lied to that using psychological tools and gimmicks (like journaling and signing commitment cards, making resolutions etc) can break sin's grip rather than true repentance inspired by the Holy Spirit through the preaching of the unadulterated Word of God.
Ecclesiastes 1:9-10 That which has been is that which will be, And that which has been done is that which will be done. So there is nothing new under the sun. Is there anything of which one might say, "See this, it is new"? Already it has existed for ages Which were before us.
Get a load of this. Are you surprised?
***I think I can, I think I can, I think I can...***
Did you hear about the New Age “engine that could”?
He went around saying “I visualize I am able, I visualize I am able...”
Ed young is a Oneness pentecostal (anti-trinity).
Sure about that? I'm looking on the Church's website, and seeing mostly a generic evangelical Statement 'o Faith. I thought they were SBC (Southron Baptist).
I see that they had known and for sure Oneness guy T. D. Jakes in to talk or preach or whatever it is they do there.
"Our vision for Fellowship Church is simple. We exist to Reach Up, Reach Out, and Reach In. These three are the biblical mandates of the local church.""
Repeat after me: Pure preaching of the gospel, right administration of the sacraments, exercise of church discipline.
"So often when we experience resistance, we resist because of the resistance," said Young, noting that many falsely believe change is automatic and bail out during the process before the breakthrough.
Somebody's been reading too many business "leadership" books.
read later
CC&E
AMEN.
CC&E
Are you sure about this, Terriergal?
Young Jr. is (maybe was) Southern Baptist (albeit, unfortunately, of the seeker-sensitive/emergent type) and I know that he has had T.D. Jakes, who is a Oneness Pentecostal, speak at his church...but I don't think he is one himself.
You do God’s work here. Thank you.
He and his church are Southern Baptist in background and affiliation. His theology is more typical watered down megachurch backed up with a rock band. http://www.fellowshipchurch.com/beliefs
If you have anything to back up your conclusion, I’d like to look at it.
Ed Young Jr. is a disciple of Norman Vincent Peale. His father is more sound in his doctrine, but also a manager of multiple churches within the fellowship of Second Baptist in Houston. There is nothing in Scripture to support this claptrap approach to “growing” the church. The senior Young was (may still) project his face onto big screens at his satellite churches to deliver the message, having forgotten the Truth Jesus tells us - that the message is more important than the messenger.
Jr. is adrift.
He certainly is.
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