[NYTr] God-Blogging USA

[All the News That Doesn't Fit]

Talk2Action - Jan 2, 2008
http://www.talk2action.org/story/2008/1/2/135225/8787


Godblogging USA

By Bill Berkowitz

Conservative Christian evangelicals see blogging as `a unique
opportunity for the spread of the Gospel' and a way to `impact [the]
culture for Christ'  

When Al Mohler, the President of the Southern Baptist Theological
Seminary and nationally syndicated talk radio host, addressed the
relatively small but enthusiastic audience at GodblogCon 2007 in Las
Vegas in early December he pointed out that "the new media" was "a
missiological opportunity to which we are obligated."

Mohler emphasized the importance of taking "the new media seriously,
not making it a bulletin board for isolated, disconnected, reckless
ideas, snarky comments and anonymous diatribes, but rather, a place
where seriously-minded Christians do the seriously-minded Christian
thing and make serious Christian arguments in a serious Christian way
with love and with charity, with boldness and with courage.

"Should Christians go into the wild, wild, west? Yes," said Mohler.
"But we need to go in understanding that there is no sheriff. But that
doesn't mean that we do not have a higher accountability, certainly we
do.

"Don't write anything that you wouldn't want your parents, children,
pastor or lost neighbor to read. That would certainly change a lot of
what many of us are tempted to do. Use language that you can live with
over time in terms of accountability. Don't make hit and run attacks
and write for more than today. Let your horizon be more than a 24-hour
period or the week. Write knowing that someone somewhere is going to
find your blog on some future day, and don't be embarrassed. Think
before you post. If at all possible, have other eyes that look."
GodBlogCon 2007

Mindful of the power of the "new media" - blogs, podcasts, and
social-networking sites - organizers of the GodblogCon 2007 ("Calling
and equipping all Christians to engage culture through the new media")
recently concluded its third annual conference in Las Vegas. (The event
was held at the same time as the BlogWorld & New Media expo.)

According to its website, the conference aimed to "equip" attendees
"with a working knowledge of new media techology and how to employ new
media tools quickly and easily to expand the reach of your ministry
most effectively to impact culture for Christ."

One blog for every 151 people on the planet

As of mid-November, there were 109.2 million blogs - up from 94 million
in August - floating about the Internet according to Derek Gordon, vice
president for marketing of the San Francisco, California-based
Technorati, the Internet search engine for searching blogs.

In an interview with the Chicago Tribune, Gordon pointed out that the
109.2 million figure means that there "is one blog for every 151
people" on the planet, based on the July 2007 estimate of 6.6 billion
people.

While the creation of blogs continues to experience a massive growth
spurt, readership is not growing nearly as fast. Gordon estimates that
99 percent of all blogs get no traffic in the course of a year: The
vast majority of blogs "exist in a state of total or near-total
obscurity," Gordon told the Tribune.    

Technorati's stats notwithstanding, people will continue creating
blogs, many hoping that somehow their voices will be heard above the
chatter and clatter. At their best, political/religious blogs provoke
discussion in entertaining and informative ways. Over the past few
years, blogs have broken important news stories, often pushing the
mainstream media to take up issues it likely would have disregarded or
overlooked.

Some blogs draw thousands of visitors a day; some bloggers even manage
to carve out a living.    

Setting down Christian roots

GodblogCon 2007 was all about setting down Christian roots in the "new
media."

Speakers at the Las Vegas conference included Mohler, ("Pioneering the
New Media for Christ: Understanding the Impact and Opportunity that New
Media presents to thoughtful Christian Communicators); John Mark
Reynolds, Founder and Director: Torrey Honors Institute ("Taking Your
Ministry to the New Media: The Pastor As Godblogger"); Rhett Smith,
College Director: Bel Air Presbyterian Church ("New Media Ministry to
the Myspace- Facebook Generation Employing New Media Technologies
Effectively In Youth Ministries"); Joe Carter, Director of Web
Communications: Family Research Council ("Identifying Impact In Culture
for Christians In New Media"); Bonnie Lindblom, Moderator:
Intellecuelle - A Blog For Christian Women ("Communicating Biblical
Womanhood: Ministering to Women Through New Media"); Paul Spears,
Assistant Professor: Torrey Honors Institute ("Trafficking in Substance
a Blogging Dilemma: The case for Blog Euthanasia"); LaShawn Barber,
columnist Washington Examiner, ("Writing Well in the New Media").

TowersOnline, the news service of The Southern Baptist Theological
Seminary, reported that Mohler, who blogs at albertmohler.com, "said
the explosion of the Internet blogs has revolutionized communications
in the past decade and has birthed a unique opportunity for the spread
of the Gospel."  

 "Accountability is very important. We need to make sure our blogs are
accountable to the Christian church. Someone ought to be able to call
us on this. Our fellow Christians involved in our local churches ought
to be reading our blogs and checking up on us to make sure we are
telling the truth in a wholesome, compassionate way.

Lisa Anderson, director of public relations and publicity for Focus on
the Family, attended the conference and, according to FotF's
CitizenLink.com, "was impressed by the immense opportunity available to
Christians via blogging and social networking."

Reporting on GodblogCon2007, the blog Pam's House Blend asked: "Does
anyone else besides me feel like God and Jesus are being repackaged and
marketed for the 18 to 34 demographic?  Are these folk trying to save
souls, or are they developing a web enterprise system for soul
acquisitions?"