Twitter Lunch

Yesterday I had lunch with someone who, though has been our church for about as long as I have (12 years) I have had relatively little contact with until recent.  What changed?  Part of it is that both of our wives now serve together in the same children's ministry area, but more of a driving force was online means of our blogs and social networking sites of Facebook & Twitter. 

Through these various means we discovered that we had similar interests in current events and books.  This would lead to short discussions at church and then yesterday a more designated time to build this friendship. 

I share this because I know social networking sites, in particular, have drawn criticism for further causing people to live less engaged and isolated lives -- living off of pseudo cyber-relationships.  And this is probably warranted to some extent.  However, I have found the opposite to be true.  These online helps have actually allowed me to further engage in my friends lives and for those whom I have had a relatively casual relationship up to this point -- knowing what is going on in their lives through their Facebook profile page or their tweets has given a great way to engage in conversation with them when I see them in person.

In additon the first web page I open every morning is twitter.  It gives me an idea of how those whom I am following are doing and I use it has way to gain insight on how to pray for them.

For those who have been naysayers or have been reluctant to try out Facebook or Twitter -- I hope this may prod you to reconsider.

Comments

[Rod Kaya]

Chip,
thanks for the encouragement. And you and your family are playing a vital role in having "It: being present at our "Model church."

Rod

[chip]

Rod - I have to echo and fully concur with your comments. Like you I have found new friends that where previously just acquaintances and reconnected with old friends, through the online community.

I was surprised but love the fact that so many from our 'model' church are a part of the social networking explosion.

Keep up the great work and continue connecting us with the 'model' church. God truly is working through you my friend - Keep IT, cherish IT, and never, ever let go of IT.

[Rod Kaya]

Evonn,

thanks for your feedback -- your insights are great -- you should do a post on it. Just copy what you commented.

See you twittering.

Rod

[Evonn]

This is a great post, Rod.

I love Twitter. And you are right, it is a great way to stay connected throughout the day with friends and family. Recently I was at SeaWorld and sent a tweet that I was there at a particular show. A few minutes later, a friend found me in the crowd. She had seen my tweet on Twitter. Yesterday, my dog was injured and I quickly posted a prayer request to pray for Cami - and instantly multiple people responded and were praying for her (she is on the mend-yeah God!)

Twitter is so easy and fast to use - from the web or text. It can post to Facebook or your blog/webpage - and because posts are limited to 140 characters, a sentence or two is about all you can post at one time, so it is quick.

I've been singing about Twitter to several friends and family members. I think I am just going to email them all a link to your blog to encourage and inspire them, the naysayers, to sign up for Twitter.