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Actions speak louder than words [06/04/98] Sometimes the best thing you can do when sharing your faith online is to offer a helping hand. As the saying goes "actions speak louder than words". As Christians we often spend a lot of time talking about Gods love and loving one another but fail to actually show it in practical ways. Whether it is sharing cool URL's, helping people create sites or even introducing them to a new bit of technology all of these things practically demonstrate the love of God in a way people can associate with. Asking open questions [01/03/98] Whether it is sharing in a chatroom or talking to somebody via e-mail the most important thing is to build a relationship with those you meet by striking up conversation. But how do you deal with people who by nature are not very talkative? One way is by asking open questions. For example, don't ask somebody if they had a good weekend because you could very easily get a yes/no response. Instead ask them what they did over the weekend. This requires a much more in-depth response and could spark a conversation or reveal things that you have in common which will allow you to begin to build a real and lasting friendship in which you have the right to share your faith. Patience is a virtue [09/11/97] One thing
that we have discovered as we have shared our faith online is that you
don't see results over night. It is important to think long term when
it comes to sharing over the Internet and to try and build long term friendships
instead of just relying on a website to do the work. Take time with people
and stick with them even when they seem totally opposed to the gospel.
Do not judge
[10/10/97] Avoid Jargon [19/09/97] As Christians we use an incredible amount of Jargon that means nothing to somebody who hasn’t grown up in the church. We therefore need to be careful to consider how somebody will interpret what we are saying. Using words like grace and mercy will only cause confusion and create the impression that Christianity is closed to outsiders. Think before you speak and explain everything.
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Know
when to move on
[01/02/98] Although A Voice in the Wilderness puts the emphasis on long term friendship evangelism instead of the "hit and run" approach it is important to know when to move on. When Jesus sent out the disciples he told them not to hang around and that if a town didn't accept the good news they should shake the dust from their feet and move on. We need to learn from this example and make sure we don't become distracted by those who haven't a genuine interest in the gospel message. Our advice would be to give a person 5 or 6 opportunities to demonstrate some interest in your faith. If after that they still seem uninterested or even hostile then it may be time to consider moving on. Set
realistic goals
[01/01/98] It is important when sharing your faith online to set yourself realistic goals. It is often easy when you first start to share your faith to become over enthusiastic and make loads of contacts in chatrooms, message boards, and through evangelistic sites. You can then become overwhelmed with trying to build friendships with that many people. The reality is that you will probably only be able to concentrate on 3 or 4 people depending on the time you have available. Building a friendship with somebody and sharing your faith can be a very time consuming process whether it is in the real world or online so be careful not to overburden yourself with talking to too many people. The right motivation [20/10/97] One of the most important things when sharing your faith online is to make sure you come to it with the right motivation. Be sincere as you take an interest in peoples lives. Your primary aim should be to build a friendship however that friendship must be sincere. If you are not really interested in those you talk to and don't really desire to know them it will be transparently obvious that you are only out to “convert” them. Honest is
the best policy [19/09/97]
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