Well, tomorrow ends one of my favorite apps that I have downloaded on my iPad. The Daily, a daily news app that is really innovative for its time, will cease to update after tomorrow's issue because they weren't able to get the subscriptions they were hoping for, and therefore cannot afford to keep going. It's actually a pretty upsetting thing for me. I mean, every day when I get to my office I flip through the pages and read the news from the previous day. Not only that, but a good majority of the news articles that I refer to from time to time in our blogs come from this app. It's like saying goodbye to an old friend, if that friend weren't actually a person and you couldn't actually have a conversation with the friend. But, I understand why they are having to shut down. It obviously takes a lot of work to publish the app with all of the video, news articles, sudoku games, updates, and the pretty intense graphic design that would have to go into making something like the Daily. Am I rambling yet?
There is a reason why today's blog post is about this really great news app shutting its doors and leaving the innovation that they started for someone to pick up and carry on at a later date. That reason is a humorous definition that I have heard from time to time. You could probably finish the sentence, but here is the whole thing for y'all that aren't in the loop...
Crazy - Doing the same thing over and over again expecting different results.
I'm not saying that the publishers of the Daily were doing the same thing over and over again, after all I have seen a number of the ways in which they were trying to increase their subscriptions. What I am saying is that sometimes it's time to lay down the sword, if you will, and move on to things that will be more beneficial.
Too many times, Christians keep plugging away with the same old things that used to work great, but now have weaned in their effectiveness. The first thing that comes to mind is the old film-strip-evangelsim. That type is somewhat out of date, so what is the option today? They have taken the same information and moved it to more effective outlets, like VHS and now DVD. That isn't a perfect example, because the information is still working great for gaining souls for Christ, but you get the idea.
What I'm saying is that sometimes The Daily should be our example in evangelism. If the way we are doing it isn't working, wouldn't it be crazy to keep trying to do the same thing over and over again?
When Jesus instituted what has become known as the Great Commission, He made it very clear that each individual is to be responsible for bring souls to Christ. If a person doesn't teach people in order for them to know their lost condition and how to fix the problem, then he isn't fulfilling the command of the Christ. But, many people say, "I just can't do that." First off, to say that Christ gave a command to an individual who cannot fulfill that command is to say that God isn't as loving as we think He is, because He would then be condemning that person. But, second, I believe that the common statement is simply showing a Christian not giving himself enough credit where credit is due! I mean, in order to become a Christian he would have had to know how to access salvation from God, so he does know and therefore can tell other people.
What I want us to think about is our personal work in bringing souls to Christ. When was the last time that your teaching effected someone's heart enough to bring them to obedience? Are you "stuck in a rut" and what used to work isn't working anymore? Are you even trying? If you are stuck, maybe it's time to switch it up and go about evangelism in a different way. If you aren't even trying, you are obviously meeting the definition of crazy... And no one wants to be crazy! Either way, if we keep doing the same thing that we, as a church, have been doing for the last 30 years, we will keep getting the same results - NO GROWTH!
Maybe it's time that we, as individuals, switch it up a little bit and go about our evangelism in a new way... Maybe, like my mom's bell-bottom jeans, it's time to go back to what used to work a long time ago but faded from effectiveness and is now back like they never left. Sometimes, history repeating itself isn't such a bad thing... except when it comes to leisure suits!
There is a reason why today's blog post is about this really great news app shutting its doors and leaving the innovation that they started for someone to pick up and carry on at a later date. That reason is a humorous definition that I have heard from time to time. You could probably finish the sentence, but here is the whole thing for y'all that aren't in the loop...
Crazy - Doing the same thing over and over again expecting different results.
I'm not saying that the publishers of the Daily were doing the same thing over and over again, after all I have seen a number of the ways in which they were trying to increase their subscriptions. What I am saying is that sometimes it's time to lay down the sword, if you will, and move on to things that will be more beneficial.
Too many times, Christians keep plugging away with the same old things that used to work great, but now have weaned in their effectiveness. The first thing that comes to mind is the old film-strip-evangelsim. That type is somewhat out of date, so what is the option today? They have taken the same information and moved it to more effective outlets, like VHS and now DVD. That isn't a perfect example, because the information is still working great for gaining souls for Christ, but you get the idea.
What I'm saying is that sometimes The Daily should be our example in evangelism. If the way we are doing it isn't working, wouldn't it be crazy to keep trying to do the same thing over and over again?
When Jesus instituted what has become known as the Great Commission, He made it very clear that each individual is to be responsible for bring souls to Christ. If a person doesn't teach people in order for them to know their lost condition and how to fix the problem, then he isn't fulfilling the command of the Christ. But, many people say, "I just can't do that." First off, to say that Christ gave a command to an individual who cannot fulfill that command is to say that God isn't as loving as we think He is, because He would then be condemning that person. But, second, I believe that the common statement is simply showing a Christian not giving himself enough credit where credit is due! I mean, in order to become a Christian he would have had to know how to access salvation from God, so he does know and therefore can tell other people.
What I want us to think about is our personal work in bringing souls to Christ. When was the last time that your teaching effected someone's heart enough to bring them to obedience? Are you "stuck in a rut" and what used to work isn't working anymore? Are you even trying? If you are stuck, maybe it's time to switch it up and go about evangelism in a different way. If you aren't even trying, you are obviously meeting the definition of crazy... And no one wants to be crazy! Either way, if we keep doing the same thing that we, as a church, have been doing for the last 30 years, we will keep getting the same results - NO GROWTH!
Maybe it's time that we, as individuals, switch it up a little bit and go about our evangelism in a new way... Maybe, like my mom's bell-bottom jeans, it's time to go back to what used to work a long time ago but faded from effectiveness and is now back like they never left. Sometimes, history repeating itself isn't such a bad thing... except when it comes to leisure suits!
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