How to use Pinterest and Instagram for the Glory of God {Social Media and the Gospel}

Today in the Social Media and the Gospel series, I get to talk about two of my very favorite things! Pinterest and Instagram!! :) Do you use them? Let's be friends! I'm here on Pinterest and @angipratt on Instagram.

Now, isn't it true that God can use all things to bring people to himself? So why not two of the fastest growing Social Media sites? Today I want to talk about some practical tips for how to use them for the Glory of God. If you want more tips check out Laura's blog where she wrote about practical tips to use Facebook and Twitter and Blogging for the Glory of God.

But before I start I want to share a quick thought. Both Pinterest and Instagram are tricky things. There is so much potential, both to spur us on and to cause us to stumble. But the issue is not with the sites themselves, it is with our hearts. {Laura wrote about it here}. For out of the overflow of the heart, the mouth speaks, or pins, as the case may be. We display what is on our hearts. So before we begin pinning and instagramming, we must make sure that God is the one in control of our hearts and minds.

So now that Jesus is ruling our hearts, let's pin for His glory! There is so much I could say about Pinterest but I'll try and keep it concise. Here's some tips:

1. Pray for your followers! Prayer is always step number one is using Social Media for God's glory!
2. Give credit where credit is due. The internet is a sneaky place and as believers we don't want to even be close to stealing. Honor others with your pins, don't repin unless it comes from an original source. Here's a great article by my friend Amanda from I Am Baker about Pinterest Etiquette
3. Ask engaging questions. I recently put up a quote about waiting on God's timing with the question "When was a time you had to wait on God?"
4. Link to Twitter. Twitter is often a more extensive network than Pinterest but you can reach both sets of followers by tweeting your pins. It also may make it easier to continue the conversation when you ask a great question.
5. Comment! Ask questions and build relationships. Remember the 4 Sound Barriers? To share with a non-Christian you must first get into a conversation. I've found that questions are the best way to truly engage!
6. Pin God's Word. We know that God's word does not return void. So saturate your boards with the Living Word of God.

I've actually met some really really great friends through Instagram! It's such a neat way to really connect with someone because you see their heart come through their pictures. You can encourage and pray for one another. You can also rejoice with those who are rejoicing and weep with those who are weeping. Here are some practical tips for using Instagram for the Glory of God.

1. Pray! Yep same thing as above. Begin with prayer and pray often!
2. Take pictures of beautiful things and credit the Creator. All things can be beautiful, but we know as Christians that every good and perfect thing is a gift from above. Perhaps you could share a verse along with that picture of a beautiful rose? Or thank the Lord publicly for the good things He's given you?
3. Ask for prayer. Take pictures of situations where God is working and ask the body of Christ to come around you. When I was at the Uniquely Made Women's Conference, I took a quick shot of the small groups and within moments people around the world were praying!
4. Share with your Facebook and Twitter followers. By doubling or tripling up on your networks you increase the potential to reach people.
5. Ask questions in your captions. Things like "What do you think about the Bible?" with a picture of your morning quiet time. Or "Where is the source of beauty?" with a lovely sunset. The posibilities are literally endless!
6. Make friends! Not only with other believers but non-believers too. I've seen God use my relationships to build up other believers and extend the love of God to non Christians.

 What tips do you have? How have you all seen God work on Instagram and Pinterest?

Like I said above, I could probably talk about Social Media and the Glory of God for days. I could probably even fill up a whole book....

Oh wait! I am! :)

My sweet friend Laura from BeholdingGlory.com and I are writing an e-book this summer! It should be out this fall. Would you pray for us?

We're beyond excited!

Social Media and the Gospel {It's all about Relationships}

Oh, I hope you friends are being blessed by Social Media Week! I am excited to see what God is going to through it. On Friday, I'll be talking about tools and how to use them to share the Gospel. What would you want to see? If you want to make sure not to miss anything you can subscribe over on the sidebar.

Also make sure to check out Laura's blog today too!

So how do you share the gospel in real life? What steps do you need to take to reach and impact someone's life for Christ?

One of the tools that we use in our ministry to help explain the steps that you need to take are the Four Sound Barriers.

Number one is Get into a conversation. Just meet someone! You can't see someone come to Christ if you don't know someone right?

The second sound barrier is Transition into a Spiritual Conversation. You can have great conversations all day long but if you never bring up spiritual things, you won't see people come to know Jesus. You could easily ask questions like "What has your experience been with Christianity?" or "Do you have much of a spiritual background?"

The third is Transition from Spiritual Conversation into Gospel. Let's say you've been having a great chat about what you each believe spiritually but if you never get into the actual gospel message, you are robbing people from the opportunity to respond. You can check out a basic gospel presentation on my sidebar.

And the last is Ask for a Decision. It's not enough to merely know that Jesus is real and died for your sins on a cross. You must make a decision. Most good tools have this included, but make sure to reiterate that there is a personal choice to make.

If you have a desire to see someone in your life know Jesus in a personal way, you must go through these four barriers with them.

But what about if you want to see God use you to share the gospel through social media?

Is it any different?

No way! People are still people even if they are hiding behind a computer screen. The gospel still requires relationships and intentionality.

If we want to see people come to know Christ through Social Media then we have to actually be social! Funny huh? :)

But one of the things that I think is easier online than in real life is actually meeting people and starting the conversation. Just think, you can click on any hashtag on Twitter and meet other people with similar interests and start a conversation! How often can you do that in real life?

You have to be even more intentional with starting and continuing conversations and transitioning through the sound barriers but ultimately it's the very same!

The gospel requires relationships and love! Not that we necessarily have to know someone for years before we share the gospel but we do have to know them. The great thing about Social Media is that those relationships are built even quicker!!

God wants to use you to share his message of salvation! His heart is that all would come to the saving knowledge of Him, not excluding those we know on the internet.

What ways can you think of using Social Media to transition through sound barriers and build relationships? Have you ever seen Social Media used in someone coming to know Jesus? Tell me your stories! :)

Linking up with these amazing women:

We are THAT family, Women Living Well, Good Morning Girls

Social Media and the Gospel {Into the Mission Field}

Wow, it feels like an eternity since I've blogged! But let me tell you that God has been doing neat things! I've been hanging out in the south-west corner of Colorado with 20 of the most amazing college students! We've done crazy things like rappelling, white water rafting, hiking through the wilderness, sharing testimonies in front of churches and sharing the gospel on the streets of Durango. You can check out all the crazy adventures in picture form by following my instagram @angipratt :)

These two weeks of ministry are often some of my favorite for the whole year. It's so fun to see students grow and mature in such a short period of time. So please forgive a tiny blog absence! :)

Buuuuuuuuuut!!! I have something exciting to share! This is Social Media Week!! This whole week Laura and I are sharing about how Social Media can be used to share the Gospel and glorify God. Make sure to go and check out her blog too!

I just have such a heart for social media. I really and truly believe that it is one of the most strategic ways to reach people for Christ in our current time. And such a privilege that we get to use it everyday!

Okay, so isn't it neat that God has uniquely placed each and every one of us in a specific place, in this specific time for a reason? In Acts 17:26 it says that "...he determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live."

God, in His infinite wisdom, has placed us in this age of technology and social media intentionally for His glory. The question comes down to how well we steward this gift.

We live in a social media savvy world. 98% of millennials (people aged 18-30) have a social media presence. And get this, if Facebook were a country it would be the 3rd largest in the world!

People spend more time on social media sites than any other website. Things like Facebook, Twitter, blogging, Tumblr, Instagram, Pinterest, etc.

So if people are going to the internet and spending significant portions of their lives there, then why should the message of the Gospel be absent?

Didn't Jesus say to go into Jerusalem, Judea, Sumeria and to all the ends of the earth? So is there anywhere we shouldn't go to preach the gospel?

No way!

Have you ever paused to consider the internet a mission field?

Isn't a mission field just a place where people are gathered who have a need for the saving love of Jesus?

So go forth! Go into the internet and preach the good news!

This is our mission field. We can use the time, talent, and treasure that God has given us to reach people on the internet.

We've all been stewarded with a specific sphere of influence in the internet. So how are you using what God has given you to share the gospel?

Do you know the definition of successful evangelism? Bill Bright said it this way: "Successful evangelism is taking the initiative in the power of the Holy Spirit and leaving the results up to God"

When was the last time you took the initiative to share with someone you know on the internet?

Think about it this way, each person you encounter through social media is a window to a much bigger world. Once they log out, they have friends, family, and co-workers who also need the gospel. If we can make ripples on the internet, they will turn into waves in real life.

Stay tuned this week (you may want to subscribe on the sidebar!) for some really encouraging stories, tools, and ideas on how to use social media to glorify God. And, there will be some super duper exciting news on Friday!! {Don't forget to check out Laura's too!}


So what about you guys? What do you think about Social Media and the Gospel?

Linking up with:

Rejection {Creation Revealing the Glory of God}

So when Laura asked if I wanted to post about Creation declaring the Glory of God I was excited but also had zero idea what I was going to write about. I am the least nature-y person alive. But the more I processed the things God was already teaching me, the more I saw how he created our bodies to display his glory.

And I saw all this through learning about dating.

Sometimes in dating, and in life, we’re rejected. Nothing is always a “yes”

And when you put your {heart on the line} it’s scary and the fear of rejection is real

But do you know the medical definition of rejection?

{read the rest over on Laura's blog}

Links I Love (well mostly love)

Yay! Happy Saturday friends!

This week has been hoppin'! Crazy neat things have been happening here in the interwebs. But also in my life!

I'm getting ready to head to Durango on Monday for a whole month! CRaZY! But I'm also super pumped. I love the people I work with so so so much. They are practically family :)

Don't worry I'll still be blogging as much as I can. In fact... my awesome and smart friend Laura (@laurakrokos) and I are doing a series together! Social Media and the glory of God.


I.AM.SO.EXCITED.I.THINK.I'M.GOING.TO.BURST!

It will be awesome. May 28-June 1. Get excited. Also there will be a super exciting announcement coming at the end of that! You might want to subscribe over on the sidebar thingy if you don't want to miss it. (Trust me, you don't want to miss it ;-) )

So anyways, here's what I'm lovin this week. (Or at least what I want to share, one of these I actually don't love at all)

• COMPASSION BLOGGERS!! Oh man, have you been following? They're in Tanzania (aka where Jesus first started working in my heart!) Oh you'll love them. Go and read, but bring kleenex, especially for this post by The Nester
• This post by my friend Sara. Beautifully written prose on motherhood
• A beautifully un-traditional, counter-cultural, Jesus loving marriage. You NEEEEEED to see Ian and Larissa's story. (ahem. Bring more kleenex)
• This makes me weep but in a totally different way. My heart hurts for the state of New York. They have made viewing Child Prnography legal. I literally want to punch someone because it  makes me that sick. I have seen the children this affects first hand. Please, I implore you, if you live in New York, write your congressperson and ask them to protect children.
• And just because I can't have everything on my link love be all weepy, here's a picture of a cute cat:

Hope you guys have a fabulous weekend! Leave a link you're loving in the comments :)

xoxo

A letter to my Journal

I think I've told you all about Korina before, (in this post actually) but she is a dear dear friend of mine and I was lucky enough to spend Christmas with her family this past year. And y'all, she gave me the best present I think I've ever gotten!

Let me tell you, gift giving is my love language. A well planned and carefully thought out small token of love will make me melt.

So when I unwrapped this beauty:

I just wept with thankfulness. Seriously bordering on the ugly cry, I was just so thankful.

And can you believe that she made that? Seriously, it is the most beautiful journal I've ever seen. She took the picture on the cover and did some crazy artist magic to ink it to the cover. And that handwriting! Oh have you ever seen something more beautiful?

Seriously. I'm starting to tear up again just thinking about her love that went into this precious gift of mine.

Well because the OCD in me wouldn't let me start a new journal until the old one was full, today I wrote in it for the first time.

And I wrote a letter.

"The first entry in a new journal always feels so foreign. Like my pen is trying to figure out who you are.

But soon sweet friend, we'll be inseperable. You'll know my heart, my desires, my prayers. You'll travel with me wherever I go. You mark another chapter in my life.

With each new journal possibilities seem endless. You remind me that each new day, each new page, is a fresh start. You are grace. Praise the Lord for His mercies are new each morning

You, dear friend, are new. So foreign in my hands and yet so familiar in my heart. Your now blank pages will soon be covered in my chicken scratch thoughts. But as you go from empty to full, so will I. You will see as the Lord molds and shapes me. You'll witness my fears and rejoice in my triumphs.

I don't know what words will fill you dear friend only that they will come as the Word fills me"

Linking up with Laura

Delightful Inadequacy

So I could start this post with a snarky comment about how I should have blogged more (ahem at all) last week but I think you guys deserve better.

Truthfully, I just didn't feel like I've had anything to say. My mind has been a blank abyss of nothingness (too redundant?) and I don't want to write just to write.

I want my words to mean something.

Sometimes I get caught in this trap of the "should do's". I should blog. I should organize. I should share the gospel. I should be more intentional. I should, I should, I should.

And that quickly spins into guilt and shame.

While none of those things are bad, in fact they're all very good things.

But they spur on that little voice in my head that says "You're not good enough. Work harder"

I lose sight of grace.

I lose sight of freedom.

I lose sight of the cross.

But then a kind voice reminds me "You aren't good enough. You'll never be. But I am. But I AM"

But he said to me,  

My grace is sufficent for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness"

Linking up with: Far Above Rubies, On Your Heart, Finding Heaven, Lessons from Ivy