Church Apps - Michael Byrd
Church Apps – Michael ByrdTechnology can sometimes be a “four letter word” when it comes to how churches feel about it. The truth is, technology is what helps to spread the Gospel around the world faster than at any time since the days of Jesus. Amen!Think about this, 200 years ago, if you wanted to go and minister in, let’s say Africa. You would spend years preparing. Then travel for a couple of months or more, sailing on a ship, until you were finally there. You would not just do a weekend revival, get back on the ship and go home. No! You would spend many months, sometimes years, ministering there before you left. Then, with the invention of steamships, you could cut that travel time to a week or so! Praise God! Now, you could go over there, spend a few months and come back home. Often within the same year. With the invention of airplanes and commercial jet travel, you could go anywhere in the world in just a day or two! Praise God! Minister for a few days and fly back home. Maybe even in the same 7 day week!That’s what technology has accomplished! Amen! Using technology almost ALWAYS helps you to spread the Gospel faster, more often and a lot easier than at any time in human history!Computers now allow us to do this easier than ever before! IF you know what to do and how to use the technology.Unfortunately, many churches are not as proficient at this as they should be. Sometimes, it is the technology itself. For others, it’s the cost factor. For others it’s “new” and they are afraid of using it.Well, having been in online ministry since 2009, I’m telling you right now, the Lord allowed computer technology to be used in this day and time to help further the accomplishment of the “Great Commission” faster than ever before. It is not possible to minister around the world, anywhere there is an internet or wifi or cell phone signal – simultaneously, while you are sitting behind your computer or preaching from the platform in your church. Amen!“Well, what about the cost, brother Bob?”Compared to the cost of what it used to be, traveling, the hassles, etc. – it is very, VERY cost efficient.Anyway, to help explain all of this to us – including combatting the “cost argument” – our guest today is here to help YOU understand how YOU can become a part of “taking the Gospel to the world” through the use of technology. Amen!Michael Byrd has over 20 years of ministry experience spanning both, youth and children’s ministry in Mississippi, Tennessee, Texas and Oklahoma. He is passionate about children’s ministry and about the use of technology to “Get the Word Out” into all the earth. He is part of “ChurchApps” which is part of Live Church Solutions, a 501-c-3 organization that helps churches to utilize technology to be more effective in ministry outreach. Their website is https://churchapps.org and it has a lot of great information on there, which we will go over today.Church Apps, has a number of free and open source solutions to help you with some of the challenges churches face with technology, such as getting a website online, live streaming your services, tracking key information (such as attendance, membership and giving). Understanding that church budgets are often tight and every dollar is stretched to the max, they do not want to add to the stress and become a barrier to the church using technology to share the Gospel with the world.To explain how all of this is accomplished, help me welcome to the program, Michael Byrd.Michael, thank you for taking the time