Street to Street by Fred Lynch

A monthly message from Fred Lynch.

Street to Street by Fred Lynch

Now's the time to mend those Networks

December 2005

Now that you've made it to December, you finally have a chance to breathe right? I know it was only a joke. If you're the typical city lovin'; one life at-a-time changing; always on call, energizer wannabe type person you'll probably find a way to get your hands into some extra work that you know you won't be able to finish before the year is up. But here's an idea to help your network work smarter (not harder) for the new coming year. I call it taking time to mend your network. You recall the story of Peter & Jesus' first encounter in Luke 5 where Jesus calls Peter to follow him and become a fisher of men. Before the great call, before the miraculous catch of fish the bible says that they were over on the side cleaning and 'mending' their nets. Think about that: preparing for a great catch…they just didn't know how close they were to the catch. I'd like to encourage you that the coming year could have a great catch of young souls ahead for you but now is the time to prepare by mending your nets. Take out some time to connect and re-connect with friends in your local network whom you may not have had the chance to talk with in the hustle and bustle of everyday ministry.

Now I know one of the biggest fights with taking time to connect with all of your homies is the issue of time. That's why the tool of online networks pays off so well. There are some great tools out on the internet that can keep you updated with your network of friends and save you time by broadcasting notes or updates. One of the most popular packages is Plaxo. Here's their spill and how it works: each year over 40 million people in the U.S. move and when they move, one in three will change their phone number or e-mail. Well after a year like 2005, you know you have people all over the place and it takes too much time to try to stay updated, well plaxo does it for you. This is one of the best online contact services that keeps you connected and all of your contacts updated all for $Free.99! That's right the cost is free to get plaxo, just go to www.plaxo.com and check them out. Of course more services come with more fees, but this would be a great way to dive into a new package over this holiday season where you can re-connect with people to prepare for the new coming year. There are even alternatives to plaxo like Actual Contact that works seamlessly with Outlook. The point is this: Make sure that you take some time to catch up with people who share your passion, you'll be the better for it in the end and ultimately your community will be the better because you'll have a mended network that's ready for the revival.

Well since you're updating your network contacts how about doing it with style and sending a personalized e-card for the holidays? Another useful online ministry tool has been designed and I'd like to share it with you. It's found on the Koinonia House site and it's a great way to re-connect with friends. Here is the link or just go to www.khouse.org and visit the entire site. Go check it out.

Freddie Freebie: If you're on the 'techy' side of the spectrum and would like to design your own Christmas e-card, check out this software package called e-card Xpress by clicking this link or just go to my website and visit the download page for many other goodies.

Sharing the gospel from 'Street to Street',

Fred Lynch III
GodStyle Productions

Fred Lynch is the founder of GodStyle Productions, a ministry committed to changing youth culture. For more information on Fred, visit his website or check out his latest project, The Epic (the gospel of John translated into rap).

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