Pocket Audio Bibles bring peace and comfort by speaking God’s Word to America’s heroes in uniform

ALBUQUERQUE, NM/PRNewswire-USNewswire — Since 2008, Faith Comes By Hearing (FCBH) has provided more than 300,000 Military BibleSticks to this nation’s brave men and women in uniform — free of charge.

The small, portable digital device contains a dramatized recording of the New Testament and is distributed to troops through their chaplains. Since the program’s inception, more than 1,250 chaplains have requested BibleSticks and distributed them during pre-deployment briefings, counseling sessions, Bible studies, weekly chapel services, and upon direct request of service members.

“When we started this outreach in 2008, we had no idea the demand would reach these levels,” states Troy Carl, Faith Comes By Hearing vice president.

Initial production was a small run of just 1,000 units, which were quickly dispersed in a few weeks by the handful of chaplains who were the original participants in the program. As the word spread about the deployment-friendly devices, regular requests from other chaplains soon demonstrated that this was not to be only a short-lived outreach.

“We were — and continue to be — amazed by the demand (for BibleSticks),” says Carl. “And how could anyone ever say no to those who voluntarily put themselves in harm’s way to protect and defend our country?”

Having a desire to fulfill every request, the ministry has looked to a number of sources to find funding to meet the ongoing need. Among these sources are individual donors through Christian radio and TV campaigns, and thousands of churches from all across America that have sacrificially given in support of our troops.

“Many of our church partners have participated and given three and four times,” continues Carl. “There is clearly a heart for our military members throughout the American church.”

The ministry works with churches by providing video and printed material about the outreach that they can share with their congregations. While working year-round to meet the demand from chaplain requests, FCBH also focuses the project around holidays that are meaningful for those serving and their loved ones back home — like Father’s Day, which was just celebrated. Upcoming holidays include the Fourth of July and Patriot Day (9/11).

Churches can learn more by visiting MilitaryBibleStick.com, or by calling the ministry directly at (800)545-6552.

“We Parent More is at the nexus of technology and the New Evangelization,” says the app’s creator, Fr. John Belmonte, SJ, who also serves as the superintendent of schools in the Diocese of Joliet. “One of the Church’s key demographics is millennial parents, who, themselves, have incorporated apps into every facet of their lives from banking to exploring real estate to grabbing tickets for a movie — this app meets users where they live and invites them home to their local parish community.”

Functional on Androids, iPhones and Windows Mobile platforms, the free, web-enabled app offers young parents a variety of readily accessible parenting resources such as information on how to soothe a teething toddler to age-appropriate education activities for the little ones themselves. Fully integrating the masstimes.org data, the app is an invaluable tool for young parents to locate the closest Mass if the young ones delay their home departure. Parents who are new to a community can also peruse parish bulletins or connect with young adult groups and enter a parish for the first time with some familiarity and sense of belonging. If their parish hasn’t fully integrated their information into the app, users can access a variety of authentic, intuitively organized Catholic resources including the @pontifex twitter feed, USCCB materials and blog posts.

“There are 19 million Catholics between the ages of 19-34 in the U.S.,” notes Annie Krug, a parent herself and board member of the non-profit APPostolic. “The vast majority states their primary goal is striving to be good parents — we value it above career or wealth, and this app can help us all be better parents by integrating faith resources into a platform we already familiar with and use on a daily basis.”

The 2010 Pew Research Study, Confident, Connected and Open to Change, corroborates the notion that millennial parents are committed to improving their parenting. The study reflects millennial parents’ prioritization of parenting even above succeeding at marriage.

Combined with the growing trend of app use on mobile devices (a recent VentureBeat.com post noted 80% of mobile time for all Americans is spent on an app versus the web), the We Parent More app fits a crucial need at a critical time in the Church’s history.

The free app is available by texting PARENT or PADRE to 27126 from your mobile device. Visit online at facbook.com/weparentmore, www.WeParentMore.org or tweet at @WeParentMore.

BARNA GROUP — It seems not a month goes by without a social media brouhaha involving a high-profile Christian leader. Such was the case when a prominent pastor tweeted about the recent Oklahoma tornado in a manner that seemed to connect the deadly storm to an act of God’s judgment. In between such controversies, insightful blog posts or “retweetable” phrases also go viral. Social media is creating a new class of religious influencers. If you want to watch the modern Christian conversation unfold, just log onto Twitter or check your Facebook feed. The Christian community’s voice has become a substantial one in the social, digital space.

A new Barna study shows that, in the last two years, there has been a significant leap in the number of pastors and churches engaging social media. More than one in five American pastors (21%) say their churches use Twitter, up from only 14% in 2011. Facebook use in churches has likewise jumped from just over half (57%) to a full seven in 10. Pastors themselves are also engaged in online communication, with nearly one-quarter (23%) who use Twitter, well over six in 10 (66%) who are on Facebook, and over one in five (22%) who have a personal blog.

Tweets Everywhere

Twitter is becoming more pervasive. Tweeters use it to follow news, stay connected with friends and followers, react to live events, keep tabs on celebrities and participate in national conversations. Church leaders are no exception, and are using Twitter increasingly as a ministry tool. While both Twitter and Facebook gained church-based users in the last 24 months, Twitter’s growth has been more impressive: Facebook increased penetration among pastors 12% in the last year, while Twitter jumped by 77%.

About one-quarter of pastors are now on Twitter. Pastors of larger, more economically well-off churches are among the highest-using segments. More than one-third of pastors of churches with more than 250 people in attendance on average (34%) say they use Twitter, and a similar number of pastors in churches with an annual budget of more than $500,000 (35%) say they use Twitter. Age is also a major factor in Twitter usage among pastors. Nearly two in five pastors aged 29-47 (39%) say they use Twitter, compared to just 6% of pastors 67 or older.

Overall, just over one in five churches (21%) use Twitter. Larger churches — those with an average attendance of more than 250 people — use Twitter the most; nearly one half of those churches (44%) report using Twitter. And churches that have an annual budget of over $500,000 are even more likely to tweet — nearly half of them (46%) have Twitter accounts.

Those numbers are significant jumps over the results of a 2011 survey, when only 14% of churches and 13% of pastors say they used Twitter. The only group that hasn’t changed much in the last few years is churches with budgets over $500,000. In 2011, nearly two in five churches (39%) reported using Twitter, compared to 46% two years later. Apparently, large churches were well ahead of their peers in terms of using the micro-blogging service. Looking at the overall pattern, in only two years Twitter has gone from a narrowly used resource among faith leaders to a key communication tool for many churches and pastors.

The Social Network Meets Church Ministry

Facebook has become so ubiquitous there’s even been a movie (The Social Network) made about its origins. Facebook boasts more than 1 billion worldwide users, with nearly 170 million members in the United States alone. And the number of church leaders among these members is rising.

In 2013, 70% of churches report they use Facebook, compared with 57% in 2011. More than four out of five mainline churches use Facebook, compared with two-thirds of non-mainline churches. Larger churches tend to use Facebook heavily (83% of churches with more than 250 people in average attendance said they use Facebook) along with wealthier churches (86%). Comparatively, just more than half of churches with fewer than 100 people in average attendance (56%) say they use Facebook, and only half of black Protestant churches use Facebook.

About two-thirds of pastors (66%) say they use Facebook in their role as a pastor. Among pastors, the most striking difference in Facebook use is by age group: Nearly nine out of 10 of Buster (ages 27-47) pastors (86%) say they use Facebook, compared to just over one-third of pastors over the age of 65 (37%). Again, pastors of wealthier, larger churches tended to use Facebook more, though with less significant of a divide than exists among the same groups’ Twitter use.

Future Impact of Social Media

Beyond the adoption rates of these technologies, what is the mindset of today’s pastors regarding use of social media? Their rise is compelling many churches to incorporate these digital platforms into their ministry strategy for the future. In fact, more than two-thirds of pastors (65%) say they think social media will be a significant part of their ministry over the next two years alone. Comparatively, about one-third of Protestant pastors say they think social media is overrated and not necessary to their ministry.

Attitudes toward social media’s importance correlate to age. While more than seven in 10 of pastors ages 28-47 (72%) say they believe social media will be a significant component of their church’s ministry, just four in 10 pastors over the age of 66 think the same. In fact, a majority of pastors over the age of 66 (52%) believe social media is mostly overrated and won’t be that important to their churches over the next few years.

More than three-quarters of pastors of large churches (77%) say they think social media will comprise a significant part of their ministry over the next two years, and about that percentage of pastors of churches with annual budgets in excess of $500,000 (79%) say the same. Among pastors who are currently serving in a part-time or volunteer basis, on the other hand, only 41% say they believe social media will be a major ministry priority.

This attitude has shifted over the last two years. In 2011, only about half of pastors (51%) said social media would be a major part of their church’s ministry. That means there has been a 27% increase in the percentage of pastors who believe social media tools are important to leverage for the sake of ministry.

Still, despite more openness, many pastors seem to be missing some of the most powerful ways in which digital tools can be deployed. The vast majority of pastors (94%) say they have not asked church attenders to tweet, text or email questions for answering during a live service.

Using Social Media in an Age of Radical Transparency

“Social media is here to stay, especially as younger leaders come to be senior pastors,” comments David Kinnaman, president of Barna Group and the director of the Barna study on social media. “While many churches have embraced the platform in recent years, there are plenty who haven’t. The research suggests many faith leaders and churches are still resistant to social media or are using it without realizing its full potential. For example, at its best, Twitter helps people have real-time conversations about ideas and events that are important to them. Yet many churches don’t allow for a two-way engagement — using it instead as merely a vehicle for announcements. While many churches may be uncomfortable encouraging such digital interactions during their worship service, there are plenty of ways to engage with people and events (both local and global) on Twitter throughout the week.

“When used properly, social media should make organizations and leaders more transparent and more connected with the people they lead. In other words, using social media properly should make leaders more social. These platforms should be used to facilitate a conversation, not simply be a broadcast tool.

“Even as faith leaders take social media tools more seriously, there are at least two challenges. The first is to believe what happens in the digital space doesn’t count as real ministry. Most churches seem to be realizing this would be like shutting off the telephone or not having email. The equal and opposite reaction is also incorrect: to prioritize digital efforts above others and to equate digital tallies as indicators of ministry success. For example, the number of Twitter followers is not the same thing as a discipleship headcount. Learning to fine-tune the tension between these extremes — and dozens of related digital-ministry challenges — will be critical in the months and years ahead.”

This news item originally appeared on the Barna Group website. Follow David Kinnamen and Barna Group on Twitter: @davidkinnaman / @barnagrou, and find Barna Group on Facebook (“Barna Group”).

By Bob Allen (Associated Baptist Press)

ASSOCIATED BAPTIST PRESS — Former Arkansas governor-turned-media personality Mike Huckabee asked Southern Baptist pastors to consider whether tax breaks from the government are worth the accompanying restrictions on political speech.

The former pastor and president of the Arkansas Baptist State Convention said June 10 at a pastors’ conference prior to the Southern Baptist Convention annual meeting in Houston that recent reports the IRS targeted certain groups for greater scrutiny should cause great concern about religious freedom in the U.S.

“The recent revelations that the Internal Revenue Service has been targeting people of faith — people who are conservative, people who are pro-Israel — and have been picking out the parts of belief and speech and faith that government seems to approve and that which it doesn’t approve has brought up a very important reality that I think, sooner or later, as believers, we need to confront,” said Huckabee, host of a top-rated Fox News Channel weekend program.

“You may not clap real loud for this, but at least hear me out and think about it and pray about it,” he said. “I think we need to recognize that it may be time to quit worrying so much about the tax code and start thinking more about the truth of the living God, and if it means that we give up tax-exempt status and tax deductions for charitable contributions, I choose freedom more than I choose a deduction that the government gives me permission to say what God wants me to say.”

Huckabee said it may be time for churches to say: “Keep your deductions. Keep the exemptions. We stand more faithful with what God would have us to say, and we choose our freedom more than our financial benefit.”

“I must be very honest and tell you; I have never given a dime to God that I gave solely because it was a tax decision,” Huckabee said. “And if you’ve got people in your church who are giving because it’s a tax decision, then they ought to keep their money. They need it more than God does.”

Huckabee, who finished second to John McCain for the Republican nomination for president in 2008, said the GOP should not take conservative evangelical votes for granted.

“I’m not here to be political, but I want to be prophetic and clear in saying this,” Huckabee said. “Of late, the Republican Party has tried to tell those of us who are evangelicals that maybe we need to dial it back a little bit when it comes to issues like the sanctity of life and the holiness of marriage and maybe just ease off.”

This news item originally appeared on the Associated Baptist Press website.

“Well, I’ve got a news flash for the GOP,” he said. “I plan to take my last ride in life on a white horse, not on an elephant and not on a donkey, and I will stick with the word of God and if the party, any party, goes a different way, I stick with Jesus. I believe he is forever.”

Bob Allen is managing editor of Associated Baptist Press.

Thomas Nelson is producing the mass-market paperback edition of You’ll Get Through This exclusively for The Salvation Army to provide to individuals in crisis. The $5 special edition will include an introductory letter, plus a 16-page insert featuring stories of people who have made it through difficult times with the help of The Salvation Army.

Max Lucado will also be the featured speaker for a Salvation Army event on September 11, 2013. Billed as You’ll Get Through This: A Night of Hope and Remembrance, it will be held at the Centennial Memorial Temple in New York. Invitations will be offered to those directly affected by the 9/11 attacks, Hurricane Sandy and other tragedies.

This live event is expected to have more than 1,500 attendees and will feature a performance by the Salvation Army Greater New York Youth Band and Chorus. With the help of in:cast events, this special night will be simulcast to local churches and small groups throughout the U.S. and via The Salvation Army network to its many corps.

Max Lucado is the leading inspirational author in the U.S., with more than 100 million Lucado products, including 80 million books to date. Max and his wife Denalyn, call San Antonio, Texas, home, serving Oak Hills Church for 25 years.

Thomas Nelson, Inc., part of HarperCollins Christian Publishing, is a world-leading provider of Christian content for more than 200 years. Thomas Nelson is headquartered in Nashville.

CBA, the Association for Christian Retail, is the leading association for providers of Christian products to reach all people. It supplies vital connections, information, education and encouragement to Christian resource providers.

The Salvation Army, an evangelical part of the universal Christian church established in 1865, has been supporting those in need in His name without discrimination for 129 years in the United States.

In my previous post, I revealed a critical — yet overlooked — trait of executive pastors. I will do the same for worship pastors in this post.

A good worship pastor knows how to lead artists. Indeed, observing a worship pastor lead a group of artists is a work of art in itself. Worship pastors often get labeled as innovate yet quirky, creative but peculiar. Let’s be honest — many fit the label. But quite frankly, I believe far too many churches squelch the creative passion of artists for the sake of mundane familiarity. True worship art (or perhaps more correctly, artful worship) is always accompanied with risk.

While I value the creative world of worship pastors, most do something that is entirely overlooked by others: They create the framework for worship. Within the artful expression of worship is a structure built almost entirely by the worship pastor. My worship pastor teaches doctrine first, then how to sing. He cares more about theology than music style. Praise team practices, orchestra practices, and choir practices are more about practicing the doctrine of the songs than performing the songs.

The best worship pastors build a structure within every worship experience. Even the most unstructured expressions of worship should have a framework of sound doctrine. The body should feel worship, but the body should also respond to worship. Most any music (good or bad, artful or artless) will rouse or rile the emotions. The best worship experiences, however, stir a desire to follow Christ. This response cannot happen apart from good doctrine, and worship pastors are responsible for laying this foundation on which the worship experience is built. When the framework of worship is based on sound theology, the creative ways in which to glorify God are endless. He is the God of creation, after all — of things created and things yet to be created. It’s a shame too many churches rely on banal creative processes detached from solid doctrine. It’s what ultimately kills worship (not style).

The hand-and-glove relationship between senior pastor and worship pastor must begin with a passion for God’s Word. In most churches, both the worship pastor and senior pastor share the stage during a collective gathering, each before the congregation about half the duration of a worship experience. The whole of the service should be rooted in theology, not just half. Spontaneous or liturgical, traditional or contemporary, great worship pastors elevate doctrine over performance and theology over creativity. In doing so, the structure of the worship service stirs not only the emotions, but the soul.

Sam S. Rainer III serves as president of Rainer Research (rainerresearch.com), a firm dedicated to providing answers for better church health. He also is the senior pastor at Stevens Street Baptist Church in Cookeville, TN. He writes, speaks, and consults on church health issues. You can connect with Sam at @samrainer or at his blog, samrainer.wordpress.com.

WASHINGTON/Pew Forum On Religion & Public Life — The geographic origins of new legal permanent residents in the United States have shifted markedly during the past two decades, according to a new Pew Research Center analysis of U.S. government data on immigration. A total of 41 percent of new green card recipients in 1992 came from the Asia-Pacific region, the Middle East-North Africa region or sub-Saharan Africa. By 2012, more than half (53 percent) of new green card holders were from those regions. Conversely, the annual percentage of legal immigrants coming from Europe and the Americas has decreased. Well over half (59 percent) of all new legal immigrants in 1992 came from Europe, Latin America and the Caribbean or North America. By 2012, fewer than half (47 percent) came from those regions

With this geographic shift, Pew Research estimates that the religious makeup of legal immigrants also has been changing. The study finds that while Christians continue to make up a majority of legal immigrants to the U.S., the estimated share of new legal permanent residents who are Christian declined from 68 percent in 1992 to 61 percent in 2012. Over the same period, the estimated share of green card recipients who belong to religious minorities rose from about one-in-five (19 percent) to one-in-four (25 percent). This includes growing shares of Muslims (5 percent in 1992, 10 percent in 2012) and Hindus (3 percent in 1992, 7 percent in 2012). The share of Buddhists, however, is slightly smaller (7 percent in 1992, 6 percent in 2012).

These are among the key findings of the new study by the Pew Research Center’s Forum on Religion & Public Life examining recent trends in the geographic origins and religious affiliation of immigrants to the United States. Because the U.S. government does not keep track of the religion of new permanent residents, the figures on religious affiliation in this report are estimates produced by combining government statistics on the birthplaces of new green card recipients over the period between 1992 and 2012 with the best available U.S. survey data on the religious self-identification of new immigrants from each major country of origin. These data come primarily from the New Immigrant Survey, a 2003 survey conducted by migration experts at several academic institutions that asked new green card recipients about their religion, among other questions.

The full report is available at pewforum.org. For information on religion among migrants —not just in the U.S. but globally — see the Pew Research Center’s 2012 report “Faith on the Move: The Religious Affiliation of International Migrants.”

WASHINGTON /PRNewswire-USNewswire — Emergency responders are trained to make quick decisions that will protect people and save lives when a natural or man-made disaster occurs. And, this is a skill that comes in handy for anyone running a small organization. Images from the recent tornadoes in Oklahoma remind us that being aware of one’s surroundings, staying calm and using wisdom in the midst of a ferocious storm makes the community more resilient.

The ability to properly lead becomes increasingly difficult in times of disaster. So, in addition to making a preparedness plan, it’s also a good idea to discover ways to take charge while staying focused on what’s important — the safety of your employees and clients, and a speedy recovery for your operations.

Join Agility Recovery and the U.S. Small Business Administration in a live online discussion on Tues., June 11 with former FEMA Administrator David R. Paulison. He’ll talk about joining FEMA in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, how he managed the leadership challenges, and will provide tips on how to be prepared for any kind of disaster.

SBA has partnered with Agility to offer business continuity strategies at its PrepareMyBusiness website, featuring past webinars and additional preparedness tips.

The SBA provides disaster recovery assistance in the form of low-interest loans to homeowners, renters, private nonprofits and businesses of all sizes. To learn more, visit here.

WHAT: “Leading With Resilience During a Disaster” — A presentation led by David R. Paulison, former FEMA Administrator, followed by a Q&A session

WHEN: Tues., June 11 – 2 p.m.-3 p.m. EDT

HOW: Register here.

A few years ago, I met the head of a successful software company at a conference in Los Angeles. His business card had his name and his title: “Chief Encouragement Officer.” This was a man who understood a lot about leadership and what it meant to become an encourager.

Studies have shown that people are naturally attracted to positive people. When we have the opportunity to encourage and speak words of affirmation and praise, we draw people into our circle of influence. Leadership is all about influence, and we earn it when people are drawn to us.

Leaders also know that being able to coach and provide correction requires earning trust and support. By accentuating the positive and encouraging people, we earn the right, as well, to identify course corrections and improvements in task and process. Leading through encouraging means that we always find the positive, we always affirm, we always bless.

Ephesians 4:29 gives us some great advice: “Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.”

All too often, we believe we need to “have the tough conversation” when actually we believe, deep down, that strong leaders need to be tough and also need to demonstrate that toughness from time to time. That isn’t true, and it isn’t helpful in leading others.

There are ways to coach and correct — by using words that are encouraging and uplifting.

Ken Behr is an executive pastor at Christ Fellowship, Palm Beach Gardens, FL. www.gochristfellowship.com.

In many churches, the senior pastor leans on the executive pastor more than any other person.

The executive pastor position is often paradoxical. Executive pastors feel the tension of submitting as a subordinate to the senior pastors, while at the same time leading with a high level of influence. Their roles can change quickly, since they’re the ones often tasked with adding structure to their senior pastor’s vision.

Executive pastors become the operations of the big picture. In this way, executive pastors find themselves in the unenviable position of being the Jell-O others are trying to nail to the wall.

On a personal note, I’m thankful for my executive pastor. He’s tough and serious. He always has my back.

Much good material exists on the qualifications and strategies of an executive pastor. And there are different types of executive pastors, as well. Some focus more on finance. Others focus more administration. Some have a strong teaching role. But, I believe all executive pastors must possess a critical — and often overlooked — trait to accomplish their ministry: intuition.

The executive pastor must be able to get inside the senior pastor’s head.

You can be brilliant at finance, administration, management and teaching. But, without an intuitive discernment about the feelings and opinions of the senior pastor, an executive pastor will have difficulty executing anything. Executives execute. You can’t get things done without understanding the views of the senior pastor.

This close relationship requires access and openness. If you’re a senior pastor, and you’re not giving your executive pastor access to your schedule, vision and thoughts, then don’t expect anything to be executed properly.

Additionally, senior pastors must be open with their executive pastors. When the executive pastor finds out about something at the same time as everyone else in the church, the time to execute properly shrinks dramatically.

The intuition to finish the thought of a senior pastor is a critical trait of an executive pastor. As a senior pastor, I value this intuition more than any other trait in my executive pastor. Most capable people can learn finance, administration and management. But, intuition is a true gift.

If you’re currently looking for an executive pastor, of course you should match skill set with job description. More importantly, however, pull back from the résumé and job description. Ask yourself, “Can this person get inside my head? Am I willing to give this person access to almost every part of my life?” The best executive pastors are intuitive leaders who also happen to execute well.

Sam S. Rainer III serves as president of Rainer Research (rainerresearch.com), a firm dedicated to providing answers for better church health. He also is the senior pastor at Stevens Street Baptist Church in Cookeville, TN. He writes, speaks, and consults on church health issues. You can connect with Sam at @samrainer or at his blog, samrainer.wordpress.com.