CLASS 7: THE USE OF SOCIAL MEDIA NETWORKING AS A TECHNOLOGICAL PLATFORM IN ADVANCING THE GOSPEL:
INTRODUCTION:
Technology has become an indispensable medium through which more and more people are connected and communicate through both low and high-end tech means. Communicating and staying connected with dispersed relationships today are enabled and enhanced through technology. Therefore, it goes without saying that technology has made the world a global village where the barriers of distance, language, culture, tradition, ethnicity and interest have been eliminated.
The use of technology in reaching our respective spheres of influences and constantly being abreast of relevant information from our great ministry (The BLW Nation) has become imperative and must be fully utilized.
Today, media technologies such as the Internet and the social media are increasingly shaping every sphere of our professional, social and cultural life, creating new and interconnected media arenas and relationships. This phenomenon called technology also provides a platform for us Christians to “hold forth the word of life”. Our desire as Christians should be to make wise use of technology to propagate the gospel and expand the kingdom of God wherever it can best help.
Just as the subject of ‘technology’ is wide, so also are its applications, dimensions and benefits but for the purpose of this class, we would be focusing on the use of SOCIAL MEDIA NETWORKING as a technological platform in advancing the gospel.
The Psalmist prayed to God in Psalms 67 verse 2 (TLB) saying…
“Send us around the world with the news of your saving power and your eternal plan for all mankind”.
The Lord also instructed every believer in the great commission in Matt. 28 vs 10-20 (KJV) to…
”Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you…”
The concern of previous years of how we are to go around the world with God’s saving power, teaching the nations the principles of the kingdom has been taken away by technology. The world and indeed nations have been delivered into our hands, and with the tap of the finger, God’s saving power is available to millions from one location.
Overview of Social Media and Social Media Networking
SOCIAL MEDIA
Social media is best understood as a group of new kinds of onlinemedia, which share most or all of the following characteristics:
Participation:social media encourages contributions and feedback from everyone who isinterested.
Openness:most social media services are open to feedback and participation. They encouragevoting, comments and the sharing of information
Conversation: whereas traditional media is about “broadcast”, social media is better seen as a two-way conversation.
Community:social media allows communities to form quickly and communicate effectively.Communities share common interests, such as a love for photography, a political issue, fashion, sports, culture, etc.
Connectedness: Most kinds of social media thrive on their connectedness, making use of links to othersites, resources and people.
SOCIAL MEDIA NETWORKING
These sites allow people to build personal web pages and then connect with friends to share content and communication. Social media networking is the grouping of individuals into specific groups, like small rural communities or a neighborhood subdivision, if you will. Social media networking is filled with millions of individuals who are looking to meet other people, to gather and share first-hand information and experiences about life events.
Many of these online community members share common interests in hobbies, religion, politics and alternative lifestyles. Once you are granted access to a social networking website you can begin to socialize. This
socialization may include reading the profile pages of other members and possibly even contacting them. The friends that one can make are just one of the many benefits to social networking online. Another one of those benefits includes diversity because the social media networking gives individuals from all around the world access to information. This means that although someone can be in Africa, but could develop an online friendship with another person in Denmark or India.
Examples are:
Blogs
Perhaps the best known form of social media, blogs are online journals, with entries appearing with the most recent first.
Wikis
These websites allow people to add content to or edit the information on them, acting as a communal document or database. The best-known wiki is Wikipedia.
Podcasts
Audio and video files that are available by subscription, through services like Apple iTunes.
Forums
Areas for online discussion, is often around specific topics and interests. Forums came about before the term “social media” and are a powerful and popular element of online communities.
Content communities
Communities are social media platforms that organize and share particular kinds of content. The most popular content communities tend to form around photos (Flickr), bookmarked links (delicious) and videos (YouTube).
Microblogging
Social networking combined with bite-sized blogging, where small amounts of content (‘updates’) are distributed online and through the mobile phone network. Twitter is the clear leader in this field.
Mobile social media
When social media is used in combination with mobile devices it is called mobile social media. This is a group of mobile communication applications that allow the creation and exchange of user-generated content. Due to the fact that mobile social media runs on mobile devices, it differentiates from traditional social media as it incorporates new factors such as the current location of the user (location-sensitivity) or the time delay between sending and receiving messages (time-sensitivity).
The Importance of Social Media in Today's world
Its is estimated that 2.08 Billion of the world’s population are active in the virtual community - the internet, and 5.2 Billion use mobile phones. This figure is projected to double by 2015.
• It provides us with a whole new way to stay connected and communicate with a global audience at a moment’s notice;
• Now we can reach and influence hundreds of thousands of people with a single post;
• Nowadays Social Media (SM) has succeeded in quickly breaking down personal, cultural and proximity barriers;
• It has helped open up a whole new world of conversational opportunities;
• It helps expand our social circles and explore new horizons through our online connections;
• Through SM news/information spread and are accessed faster;
• Through SM, we can bring about the change we want in our society and even in the larger world faster.
The Christian and Social Media
Some are of the opinion that as Christians we should not use SM. But because the control lies in our hands as Christians, it can be used for good.
Just as our Lord Jesus Christ used the power of social networks to build the Church from twelve disciples in a small community to hundreds of millions around the world today. We also, as Christians are to carry on the tradition like social networks in our own culture through opportunities in cyberspace with social networking sites like Yookos, Facebook, blogs, You Tube and Twitter, among others.
Now through SM (from our home/city/nation) we can evangelize and make disciples in another country without the need of physical appearance. As Christians, we must adopt the SM as a new way of reaching people. Technology has helped tear down the geographical borders that once divided us, making it easier to reach out to many people at once through SM. Whereas in years back missionaries traveled for days on end to get to their destination to spread the gospel, the interconnectedness that SM sites create makes it easier to access many people with the gospel at once in our generation.
Many can be saved, healed, strengthened and transformed just by being exposed to the transforming power of the gospel of Christ that we share/publish through SM sites. Always share:
 Testimonies of your personal Christian life/salvation;
 Pictures from our inspiring church programs/services where the power of Christ was demonstrated;
 Recaps of our Pastor’s messages (from ROR) that has blessed you.
BIBLE REF.: Titus 1:5; 1 Cor. 9:22; Psm. 68:11 (TLB)
How To Use Social Media
Our conducts, practices and use of language in communicating on SM platform as Christians should be different.
 Post no wrong/unedifying communication
 Have a purpose – to influence and impact with your SM community with our message.
 Make an impact with your communication
 Don’t just have a presence, be active on the SM platform
 Create and share contents
 Get people to join your SM platform regularly
BIBLE REF.: Phill. 2:15, 16b; Eph. 4:29
Using Smart Phones, Tablets and Other Mobile Devices To Spread The Gospel
Interconnect and rebroadcast messages, upload pictures and share testimonies of impact from our church or cell programs on social media by using these devices
 Practical demonstration by the teacher
 Encourage the students to come to class with internet enabled phones/mobile devices
 Let everyone participate

In Christ Embassy, we believe strongly that Technology is primarily for the propagation of the Gospel. Technology and all its best advantages are suited for the Work of the Ministry. Therefore in Christ Embassy, we are foremost users of existing technology and creators of new technology for the furtherance of the gospel.
For this reason, it is desirable for every member of our Churches to have sufficient knowledge of our Ministry Technology Platforms and Apps, and how to use them for personal growth, access information, contribute and share information, and how to use them to reach souls and disciple others.
The two learning features of this Class are:
i i. Play out of a Tutorial Video that introduces our major Ministry Technology Platforms and Apps, with emphasis on how to download, signup, use for evangelism and share with others.
ii ii. A practical download Session with the Students using their own Phones.

The prerequisite for this class is that every member should have an internet enabled phone for the practical. Since it is expected that some Students may not be in possession, the Church should provide them with demo phone sets for the practical sessions so everyone in Class has a device to work with. These demo handsets are not to be taken away, so they are available for the next Class.
VIDEO TUTORIAL SEGMENT (Play out of Approved Ministry Video)