Meagan Louise

Where Is The Church?

church-signs

As a church, we need to get on board with the social media tech trends the rest of the world is operating under. I’ve been attending Social Media Week Chicago, which has given me a plethora of insightful and inspiring information when it come to marketing and utilizing social media.

There was ONE faith based session. This was my moment. My the-skies-are-opening-and-I-see-the-light moment. But then the digital tech pastor speaking said, “We paid for 1 post. One. And it didn’t make a difference, so we don’t pay for anything.”

I might have publicly guffawed a little bit.

WHAT DID SHE JUST SAY?

Every question she answered, every moment she had the opportunity to talk about the position of the church, how to utilize social media for relationships, how to invite people into the community in a more wide-spread and meaningful way, she dropped it. Every. Single. One.

You guys. Where is our presence here? Why do we have ONE session, and that one session is totally lacking? Why aren’t WE the ones innovating, and offering solutions?

WHERE IS THE CHURCH?

Yes, Coca-Cola and Nissan and ESPN have big budgets and resources. But WHEN did that stop the church from being on the forefront of cultural change? Did Jesus ever stop and say, “Well, the temple of Artemis has more money than us, so we can’t influence as many people as them”

H-TO-THE-NO.

Jesus built relationships, preached from (free) mountaintops and changed people’s lives.

Sure, the millions of dollars would be great for data analytics, and marketing opportunities, but even if I had that to spend, I don’t know that I would. Because we have something that Coca-Cola and Nissan and ESPN DON’T have, and that’s LIFE CHANGE and a PERSONAL RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD. You can’t beat that. You can’t squelch that. People will forget a trending hashtag, but they won’t forget a story that drew them closer to Jesus.

So let’s educate ourselves in how to do this thing. Let’s become the experts on how to reach people online (because that’s where people are, you guys). Let’s win awards for social media strategy, and show the world how to impact people because THAT’S WHAT WE DO.

And it’s not for dollars or donations or publicity. It’s for relationships. If your motivation for jumping on twitter is to convert people to tithing, then you’re not a part of the same mission.

We’re here to be authentic, real, and reachable. This is where it gets messy, and it’s right where we’re supposed to be.

So how are you utilizing the tools so readily available to draw people closer to Jesus? This is our mission field, our people group. The church has been behind the times of being culturally relevant for far too long.

Here I am, Lord. Use me.

P.S. There ARE some great resources out there. If you want to learn more about it, check out That Church Conference and ChurchMarketingSucks.com

That Church Conference: What I learned about using social media in a Church environment

A few months ago, I was forwarded a church conference suggestion by a co-worker, and I thought, “Meh. What the heck…”

YOU GUYS. How highly did I underestimate the divine appointment that this conference, nay, this COMMUNITY was.

Communication and social media gurus from all kinds of different churches and businesses shared their wisdom and passion with us. Inspiring us to reach more people for the kingdom than we ever could with just our buildings.

Big picture: Social Media is not a megaphone to shout noise at people, it’s a telephone to connect, relate to, and draw in people. And if we’re not listening to people, we can’t minister to people. As a church, we have the amazing opportunity to reach millions of people via our online presence. If we choose to engage, we can get people’s attention that might not have thought twice about church, or really needed to hear that particular message that particular day.

The choppy waters of the 2D world is a new place for most of us, and we’re trying our best to leverage it for the gospel.

I can’t even tell you how great it was to sit in a room of like-minded people, all hungering for direction as we navigate our ships through the cumbersome channels of social media communication and digital strategy. The good news is that we’re all in this together. We’re offering lifelines and navigational tools to help pave the way. And even when we fail at it, we’ve got people around us to offer support and prayer.

If you’re looking for more practical things, email me at meagan.ranson@242community.com and I’ll give you ALL MY NOTES or go to That Church Conference next year. It’s worth all the things.

Brave Warriors

“Certain things in life are just downright hard. Singleness…Infertility…Job stuff…When our hopes and dreams are not meant, and our expectations get the best of us, we are prone to quit working at it and believing in (whatever “it” is). In those seasons, one of the greatest gifts is community. Friends that believe for more and hope for more than we can allow ourselves to. Friends that stand in the gap, point back to truth, encourage and get on their knees for us. Is there someone you stand in the gap for today?” – if:gathering

My heart swelled with a million “YES!”‘s when I read this this morning. I’ve been struggling with hopes and dreams not being met, and seeing the women around deal with the same thing. We all so desperately want to trust God with our lives, but can’t seem to ignore our own hearts in the process.

As women, we have the power to build up and the power to completely destroy. God has gifted us with influence, and emotional intelligence that we too often use for controlling, manipulating or seducing. Our deep desire to love gets warped through filters of insecurity and we find ourselves protecting ourselves from the very people that can help us.

I’ve been practicing relationships this year. When my insides tense up during conversations, I breathe deep and refuse to run. When an opportunity arises that is inconvenient, I put on my big girl pants and show up.

Life is hard. No matter who you are or where you are, WE ALL STRUGGLE. I want to stand guard for my friends who are suffering, and help them heal their wounds. I want to rise up and fight for the women who are being hit by the bullets of the enemy. I want to, and I want THEM to want to.

WE WERE MADE FOR THIS.

None of us can do this on our own, because we weren’t designed to. My friend Amy has such childlike faith that she cuts through my doubt and wonder and points me back to truth. My friend Cazi has such tenderness that she is often like a salve on my wounds and helps me not be ashamed of my scars. My friend Melissa has a passion that fiercely protects and helps you realize that you’re not alone.

I can’t do LIFE without them. Or at least not very well.

There are so many other miraculous women in my life, and we all bring something to the table. A table that would otherwise be very sparse were we trying to fill it on our own. I am so grateful that they are in my life, and that they let me into theirs.

My prayer is that God will continue to develop strong communities of women, that we would stop competing for a bigger piece of the pie and start fighting for a BIGGER PIE. That we would realize the power and promise of community, and step into it. That we would look outside ourselves to the people right next to us. That we would stop pretending like we’ve got it together while we’re actually spiritually and emotionally DYING, hoping that someone would just freaking SAY SOMETHING.

Well be the first to say something. Offer a piece of yourself to someone, and see if they return it back. If they don’t, it’s okay. We’re not all brave warriors immediately. But if they do, KEEP OFFERING and KEEP RECEIVING. Because “how good and pleasant it is when God’s people live in community.” (Psalm 133:1)

Grace, Given.

I’ve been hearing a lot about grace lately. When the same word or idea presents itself over and over again, eventually my ears perk up and I realize that there’s something for me here. At first, it was the fact that I have RECEIVED grace, and Jesus died so that I could have it. He bore the weight of all of my sin, forever, so that I could be blameless before God. This is a big deal. Then it became the idea that if I have received grace, I should also GIVE grace.

Jesus told this story of a guy who owed a ton of money (like a TRILLION dollars worth of money), and after begging and pleading, the king actually forgave him of it. He gave him GRACE. Then this dude went out to people who owed him money, (like a couple hundred dollars) and even after they begged and pleaded, he threw them in jail until they could pay. Once the king heard about this, he was furious! Grace etiquette had been broken. This guy received grace at a high cost, but when given the opportunity to extend grace, he chose not to.

I had to ask myself, what do I chose? I thought, surely I choose to extend grace.

Jesus was waiting for me to ask this question.

Not an hour later, I got a phone call from someone I haven’t talked to in over 9 years. For good reason.

Long story short, when I was 18 my great-grandmother passed away, leaving me a trust fund my grandparents had set up for me when I was born, and everything in their home. Including furniture, pictures, clothing, jewelry. All of this was stolen from me, by family.

I ended up with a couple pieces of moldy furniture, and some costume jewelry that they claimed were wedding rings. My aunt was wearing my great-grandmothers wedding ring as she asked me to sign that I had received everything in full.

I was young, and naive. Thinking that people who once loved me, would always have my back. I was wrong. And I got screwed. My grandparents had a lot to give, and a lot to be taken…and it was all taken.

I didn’t care about the money, except that Babu and Papap wanted me to have it. They thought my education would be paid for, that they were setting me up for my future. I wanted to wear my grandmothers wedding ring on my wedding day. I wanted to sit in the chair my great-grandfather sat in EVERY day and smoked his cigars in. I wanted to hold pieces of them that reminded me of my time with them. The glass grapes my sister and I always got yelled at for playing with. The mink scarf Babu would delicately place on my shoulders as I twirled in her mirror. Memories of summers spent with grandparents. History. Family.

This phone call, was from one of these family members. All of the sudden, I realized I had NOT forgiven them. Even though it didn’t harbor on my mind, one second of their name appearing on my phone flooded my heart with anger and bitterness.

I was reminded quickly that those who receive grace, extend grace. And all of the sudden that question I had asked earlier was given a different answer. When given the opportunity, do I withhold or extend grace?

I didn’t like my answer.

Jesus said that we should forgive over and over and over and over. Seventy times seven. But can I forgive this transgression, just once? Forgiveness is not free. If someone steals from me, and I forgive them, I am saying, “It’s okay. I’ll pay the cost.”

What a difficult thing to say. But Jesus did. For all of us. The cost of offering us grace was death. I mean, someone FREAKING DIED FOR ME, and I can’t let a few thousand dollars go.

So I’ll think I’ll be focusing on grace. Memorizing it. Swirling it around in my mind, and absorbing what it means. Maybe if I soak it in, I can pour it out. Not forgiving, not offering grace, those are chains I put on myself. I want to be free.

Jesus. Thank you for offering me grace. For forgiving me the millions of times I’ve needed it. For dying for me so that I can come to you clean and new. Help me to see what that looks like, and help me to offer that same grace to the people around me. I want to rejoice in opportunities to extend grace, because it’s opportunities to be like You. Bless my family. Heal my family. Soften their hearts to receive love. Never stop chasing after them, and never let them forget that they too are forgiven. No matter what.