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"A CHURCH CANNOT CONTROL WHAT ITS MEMBERS LISTEN TO ANYMORE. . ."

One of the most important items on the internet in recent time is religion. Hence there is a wide range of preaching and other gospel messages received through this medium. It is therefore a fact that a church now cannot control what its members must hear be it on the lines of doctrine or otherwise. This was disclosed by the Vice president of Trinity Theological Seminary, during a media day of prayer and networking spearheaded by the Lutheran Media Ministry in collaboration with the Religious Broadcast   department of the Ghana Broadcasting Corporation and other Christian media organizations. “ A church cannot control what its members Listen to anymore so by the time members appear in church, they may have already heard two or three sermons already”. He said.
He called for the recognition of the power of internet and for it to be used appropriately to advance the course of Christ. This, he believes the charismatic and Pentecostal movements have realized and are using greatly to their advantage unlike the historic mission churches which use it as a place of putting historical information on the church and about their leaders.
“Unlike the historic mission churches into their emphasis on liturgical, doctrine and sacramental orthodoxies, the Pentecostal / charismatic churches tend to be more intentionally evangelical. So for them, the radio, television and internet are media for Christian outreach and membership recruitment in fulfillment of divine mandates to win the world for Christ. Although the historic mission churches also use the media  these days, they have virtually restricted their presence to the traditional newspapers and churches magazines. Again an electronic media is used for the purpose of public relations than for intentional evangelistic purposes,” he  Said.

He urged Christians and the church as a whole to saturate the media, including the internet with God’s presence so as to weaken the influence of the world and other immoral activities that have made media a very dangerous area for spiritual warfare. “The Holy Spirit can use television, radio and the world wide web as media for influencing lives in the world,” he added.

PROJECT JOEL LAUNCHED

It is an undeniable fact that young people make up the majority of most communities. These young people unfortunately suffer many influences due to various forms of societal forces that exist currently. They are left with no option than to search for answers to these and other societal challenges. Who would provide the answers?

The Lutheran Media Ministry,  mindful of the situation and also in an attempt to provide answers to some of these questions launched a Youth Ministry Program dubbed ‘Project Joel’. The launching formed part of the 3rd Biennial convention of the Lutheran Youth Organization at the Ghana Secondary Technical School(G.S.T.S), Takoradi.

Project Joel is an effort of the Outreach centers of the International Laymen’s League to reach young people of our time with the clear message that, although there exist a problematic situation that marks our society it does not have to continue. In these circumstances, young people are called to change and not to act as passive persons who receive and assimilate everything without question.

In the speech read on behalf of the Hon. Western Regional Minister, the Chairman for the occasion expressed concern about the rate at which society is becoming highly sophisticated and its adverse effect on the youth of today. “The youth of today find themselves in a world that is rapidly changing as a result of advancement in civilization. Modernization has brought about a number of challenges that confront our society. A number of negative influences or practices are wrecking havoc on the moral fibre of the country.” He lamented. He however lauded the efforts by the Ministry to help arrest this precarious situation and encouraged other religious organizations to follow suit. He states, “The Lutheran Media Ministry should be congratulated in coming out with this noble initiative to reach out to the youth and equip them with the right attitudes and values that will make them responsible adults in future”.

The director of the Ministry in his key note address called on all youth to help make the project a success. He expressed his gratitude to the Lutheran Youth for giving the Media Ministry the opportunity to launch the project during their convention.

The youth present promised their support and collaboration for the success of the project through a speech delivered by a representative of the organization.

Rep of the Western Region Minister, and the director of the Lutheran Media Ministry