TECHNOLOGY AND THE GOSPEL
Recent studies show the traditional trails on which people are led to faith and church are growing narrower. Fewer families are active in a church, fewer parents acknowledge the Bible as a reliable source of information and guidance for living. Unchurched people have fewer friends who are involved in a church. How can Christians share the Good News about Jesus if the people we want to reach aren’t on the traditional trails of faith?
Technology is not new to Christianity. Technology has been employed in the service of the Gospel pretty much from the beginning. When the Apostles took the Gospel to Antioch, Athens, Rome and beyond, they walked on the technological marvel of the time: Roman roads. Almost 600 years ago, the printing press was invented and one of the first major works produced was the Bible. Not many years later, it was used to print Martin Luther’s “Ninety-Five Theses”. Luther called the printing press “God’s highest act of grace” because, more than any other device ever, it made it possible for literate people to read the Bible for themselves.
Lutheran Hour Ministries has launched a new media project, THRED. THRED is primarily based in online space. The aim of THRED is to provide opportunities for authentic, honest, and respectful conversations about life, faith, Jesus and Christianity. The name THRED has an interesting source. You may have a Bible with sentences colored red. These are the words of Jesus. THE RED are His words. TH-RED –> THRED –> THRED.org –> Lutheran Hour Ministries has built THRED to connect non-churched people in their lives and in their thinking, to open new perspectives from which to see the message of salvation through Jesus Christ. To light a path to the hope that the Gospel brings. Check out THRED.org now!
The THRED.org website will be the hub of THRED Gospel outreach – both a source of content and a platform for interaction. A visitor to the site can begin by exploring short articles or media about a broad range of topics – from marriage and family to depression and life purpose, to poverty and prejudice, to the existence of God and the truth about the Bible. Longer, in-depth articles are available and a visitor can browse authentic roundtable conversations by believers and non-believers about the Gospel. THRED is built not on the assumption that people who come to the site are in search of eternal salvation, but rather on the expectation that they simply have an interest exploring a perspective that’s different from their own.
We Christians need teaching, discipleship, and encouragement. From the beginning, the vision for THRED has been for it to be an environment that promotes reasonable thought and conversation. Different media, different look and feel, different presentation strategy for a different generation – but the same pure Gospel message.
As Christians, you are part of what God is doing through the Lutheran Hour Ministries. Your gifts and prayers make a very real impact on this ministry every day. Curious how you can partner with The Lutheran Hour Ministries in this new media project? “Like” the THRED Facebook page, share and engage. New content is posted daily on the page and you can share that content to join in open honest conversation about life, faith, Jesus and Christianity.
The Lutheran Hour can be heard every Sunday on radio stations
WCCO (830 AM) at 6:05am KRWC (1360 AM) at 7:30am
KDUZ (1260 AM) at 12:30pm KDHL (920 AM) at 6:00pm
Stay connected to The Lutheran Hour Ministries
Learn more…visit www.lhm.org
Men’s Network…www.lhm.org/mensnetwork
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Click on “Daily Devotion by LHM” at the bottom of any page within StPeterlc.