Here’s a story I heard recently that is a lesson to all ministry leaders.

A large regional evangelistic event recently took place in South-West Sydney.

Praise God – many local churches got involved.

The ministry team of one church enthusiastically encouraged everyone in their church to invite friends.

On the day of the event, the members of the church gathered outside the venue. Lots of people had invited friends. Lots of people that is, apart from the ministry team.

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Fundraising and awareness-raising isn’t easy. I respect new ideas for using social media to do good.

But this kind of promotion makes me feel uncomfortable:

What do you think?

I’ve seen a couple of other similar examples – ‘Save a life and get a free book‘, and ‘Uncomfortable about child sponsorship incentive‘.

Pornography is a scourge on our society.

It destroys marriages, it distorts expectations, it damages lives (of viewers and ‘participants’), it devalues people made in the image of God, and it was never part of God’s plan for our sexual expression.

Melinda Tankard-Reist has written ‘Big Porn Inc – Exposing the Harms of the Global Pornography Industry‘.

She’ll be speaking about her book in Sydney on 21 November. For more information and to register, visit the Centre for Christian Living website.

For resources to help you and your family stay safe online, please check out the collection of online safety resources.

At the end of this month I’ll be speaking in Melbourne at the ‘In the Chute‘ conference.

The conference is run by The Geneva Push – an Australian church planting network.

I’ll be speaking on the topic ‘Technology and Teams‘ – taking a look at some of the principles behind selecting technology for ministry, and some of the tools (especially web-based tools) that I’ve found useful for ministry at Church by the Bridge.

Learn more about the conference here. It’d be great to see you there!

“The problem is I’m older now, I’m 40 years old, and this stuff doesn’t change the world. It really doesn’t.

“I’m sorry, it’s true. Having children really changes your view on these things. We’re born, we live for a brief instant, and we die. It’s been happening for a long time. Technology is not changing it much — if at all.

“These technologies can make life easier, can let us touch people we might not otherwise. You may have a child with a birth defect and be able to get in touch with other parents and support groups, get medical information, the latest experimental drugs. These things can profoundly influence life. I’m not downplaying that.

“But it’s a disservice to constantly put things in this radical new light — that it’s going to change everything. Things don’t have to change the world to be important.”

You can read more quotes from Jobs here. Check out the eulogy from his sister here.

I also recommend ‘Steve Jobs’, the Allure of Technology, and the Image of God‘ over at the Gospel Coalition.