- livingthedash.tv

I tuned in last night for some of North Point Online’s first online gathering. North Point Online officially launches on Sunday, August 16th.

Senior Pastor Andy Stanley and Campus Pastor Jeff Henderson introduced the new online community and talked a bit about the strategy, mission, and vision for this new experience.

North Point Online “will offer live worship, practical teaching, online discussion groups and much more.”

So exciting to see churches like North Point, Lifechurch.tv, Newspring, my own church home, Woodlands Church, and many others leveraging technology to….

1) spread the message of Christ

2) connect the members of the body of Christ

3) communicate with church members and attenders

Here is a video introducing North Point Online…..

North Point Online – Promo 1 from North Point Media on Vimeo.

Is the future of the church online?

I think the answer to that question should be YES.  Actually, the answer must be YES.

Otherwise, an offline, disconnected, unnetworked Church will become increasingly irrelevant to an online, connected, networked world.

How tragic would that be?  For the one body that is tasked with spreading the message of Jesus Christ, the most relevant message of all, to be seen as irrelevant by the world.

Nick Charalambous, the Web Campus Pastor for Newspring Church explains why the church must engage online in a guest blog post on the Lifechurch.tv Internet Campus blog………

We’ve got to be where everyone is, use the communication tools everyone else uses, and share what Jesus has to offer wherever people expect to find “knowledge for life.” And in our foreseeable future that will be defined by the web.

No. 1 The gospel of Jesus is good news, and like all news and information, the way we share what is going on in our lives has forever moved online. Ubiquitous wireless and ubiquitous connectedness will mean that practically everything we do, buy and discuss will speak to a large audience about us and about what we value. Everyone will have the communications permission of close relational ties and we’ll have the reach of traditional “broadcast” media.

No. 2 Jesus’ grace is human-shaped, carried by individuals not institutions. In a networked world where relationships, our “work” and resources are all leveraged by the web. The church (that means you and me) will have the means again for the first time since the dawn of the industrial age to create and foster communities of grace that can care for one another, disciple one another, meet needs in the name of Jesus and evangelize his name in a radically personal way.

No. 3. The church is meant to be kingdom-minded, and the power of the “network effect” will force all churches and ministries to work in a de-centered, collaborative, crowd-sourced fashion that will create more practical and theological unity and, along with it, more scale, more social influence and more dramatic witness.

I invite you read the rest of Nick’s post and let me know what you think.

Is the future of the church online?

I love the Church.  The bride of Christ.

And I love technology.

So the area where the Church and technology collide is an exciting place to me.

Some people say you can’t do church online.  I disagree.

In fact, I am minutes away from doing church online.

I am unable to physically attend my church this morning because one of my boys is sick.  Fortunately, today is the launch of the Newspring Church internet campus.

A few other options for internet campuses….

• lifechurch.tv
• Central Christian Church

So what say you?  What do you think about church online?

One of my favorite blogs is Swerve.  It is a blog focused on leadership, technology, and innovation by Craig Groeschel and Bobby Gruenewald of Lifechurch.tv.

This past week, Craig Groeschel did a series of posts on the 4 Styles of Leadership.

1 // Relational Leaders – These leaders motivate others through personal connections.

2 // Visionary Leaders – These leaders move people by painting a picture of what “could be.”

3 // Administrative Leaders – These leaders move the ball forward by organizing groups of people with clear boundaries, expectations, and accountability.

4 // Innovative Leaders – These leaders find new ways to accomplish old objectives.

Go check out all 4 posts on the Swerve blog.  Craig lists the positive qualities and the potential challenges of each style of leader.

I think my dominant style of leadership is Innovative Leadership and my secondary style of leadership is Administrative Leadership.

What are your dominant and secondary styles of leadership?

We kicked off the One Prayer series at church this weekend with a message by Pastor Craig Groeschel of Lifechurch.tv

Craig started off by asking the question……..

What would it take to unify the Church?

We must recognize that we have One Enemy

The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; John 10:10 (NIV)

Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.  1 Peter 5:8 (NIV)

We must have One Heart

All the believers were one in heart and mind. No one claimed that any of his possessions was his own, but they shared everything they had.  Acts 4:32 (NIV)

“A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.  By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”  John 13:34-35 (NIV)

We must have One Purpose

Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit..  Matthew 28:19 (NIV)

And then he said something that left me sad because we have so far to go, but hopeful because we can go so far………

If the Church were one, let me tell you what God could do:

By Monday, starvation could be eliminated.

By Tuesday, every person could have clean drinking water.

By Wednesday, everyone with a medical need could receive attention.

By Thursday, poverty could be eradicated.

By Friday, every orphan could receive adequate attention

And by Saturday, the whole world could not only know the name of Jesus, but they could see him.

If we became one.