Use Twitter for Evangelization

Twitter is the third most used social network in the planet. It is reported that it gets 55 million monthly visits from all over the world. I first tweeted in October 2007. My very first tweets were updates of my whereabouts and what-abouts. Then in May 2008 I began tweeting inspirational quotes from well-known authors. Five months later I started posting biblical quotations as tweets. Last July 16th I posted my first prayer tweet. Since then I’ve been tweeting nothing else but prayers.prayertweet

My Twitter and Facebook accounts are linked in such a way that every time I post something on my Twitter account, the tweet automatically appears as my status in Facebook. Many of my Facebook friends respond to the prayer tweets, and based on their comments and on the “who likes this” list I feel that the online prayers have made a difference in their lives. Some of them respond with an “Amen” or another prayer. While some others ask me to include them in my prayers. There are also those who say that they will live out the prayers.

The prayer tweets have not only deepened my relationships with my online friends, they have also allowed me to minister to them. Praying for and praying with people can be as authentic an experience online as it is in the real world.

This experience convinced me that Twitter is a useful tool for evangelization. I am aware that a good number of people are already using Twitter to spread God’s Word. If you are planning to use Twitter to evangelize others, here are some topics/themes that you might want to focus on:

1. Passages from the Bible
2. Thanksgiving prayers and intercessions
3. Quotes from saints and pontiffs
4. Inspiring words from Christian authors
5. Excerpts from Catholic Social Teachings and other Church documents
6. Your personal reflection on faith and life

10 Lessons I Learned from FarmVille

FarmVille is a Facebook game which allows members of the popular social network to plant, grow and harvest fruits and vegetables as well as raise animals on one’s virtual farm.

I only started playing FarmVille five days ago and, as of this writing, I am now at level 14 with 45,431 coins and 4248 XP. You can say that I am a dedicated farmer. Most of the animals and trees I own are gifts from fellow farmers. The more I play FarmVille the more I enjoy the real-time flash game. One time I had to reschedule my dinner to harvest my crops on time.

Here are ten lessons I learned while tending my virtual farm.

1. Growth takes time, effort, and lots of patience. You cannot hurry the crops. Or make your cows produce milk in seconds. Growth is neither sudden nor easy. It is a process which requires that one step be completed successfully before proceeding to the next.

2. There are always elements that will try to stifle your growth. In FarmVille you have to deal with leaves, weeds, and crows. I real life you have to deal with difficult situations and people who discourage you and try to pull you down.

3. But don’t worry about leaves, weed, and crows – your neighbors will always come to your aid. Look around, you are never alone. Believe in the goodness of others.

4. Helping others clean up leaves, scare off crows, or kill weeds not only give you extra coins and XP but also make you a better neighbor. Whenever I receive messages like this – “Hiya, Fr.! Just look at these leaves! Would you help me rake them up?” I always click “yes”. My main motive is not to gain more coins and XP but to return the favor to people who have also helped me keep my own farm clean and healthy.

5. The more gifts you give, the more gifts you receive.
This is true in FarmVille. This is also true in real life. It was Orison Swett Marden who said “We must give more in order to get more. It is the generous giving of ourselves that produces the generous harvest.”

6. If you don’t harvest on time, your plants will wither. Just as in FarmVille, to succeed in real life you have to do the right thing at the right time.

7. You can share your triumphs with others. In Farmville you can share your rewards in the form of bonuses. I know of some people who regularly check their Facebook feeds to see if any of their friends have recently won any ribbons. For there they will find the option to earn a bonus from them. The better the ribbon the more coins you will get.

8. You need to work hard to get what you want and need. Aside from plowing, planting and harvesting and dealing with leaves, weeds and crows, you also have to budget your time and coins. You also need to buy the right seeds, trees and animals for optimum profit. Believe me, it can be complicated. If you want to succeed in FarmVille you have to work hard. If you want to succeed in life you have to work harder. As David Bly puts it – “Striving for success without hard work is like trying to harvest where you haven’t planted.”

9. You do not become a Good Samaritan through a single act of kindness. You need to help other farmers hundreds of times before earning your Good Samaritan ribbon. In the same way, you do not become a good person just by doing one single act of goodness. You need to be a good person, a “good samaritan” repeatedly and consistently.

10. After a harvest there must plowing and sowing again. Such is life. The end of something is the beginning of another one.  And I hope that as you complete one step in your life may you begin the next one as a person who has matured and learned his lessons. Always do your best. What you plant now, you will harvest later.

Running Priest Launches "Online Parish"

Fr Robert Reyes is popularly known in the Philippines as “Running Priest” because he runs to make the Filipino people aware of the pressing social issues affecting the country. He has recently launched a website called “Parokya sa Web” (Web Parish).

In “Parokya sa Web” you’ll find Fr Reyes’ homilies as well as his views on the social issues he is passionate about. Visitors can post prayer requests on the site and listen to alternative Filipino songs.

There is also an “Angelus” chatroom where Fr Reyes leads the Angelus at the appropriate time each day. The running priest’s latest videos and photos are also available on the website.

The Blogger's Prayer in the Bikol Language

Dios na samuyang Ama. Ika mamomoton, maheherakon asin maimbodon.

Pakosoga an samong pagtubod asin pagkamoot saimo tanganing gamiton mi an blogging bilang kasangkapan sa pag-otob kan saimong kabotan. Logod kami magin bloggers nin katotoohan asin tagapamareta nin katoninongan.

Searching for a Bible Blog Directory

I have a new favorite search engine. The best thing about it is that it is fast and uncluttered. Another good thing about this google-based tool is that it has no advertisement. It’s difficult to find a website that doesn’t sell you anything these days, so goosh is a real treasure. Yup, goosh is the name. It is short for google shell.

One of the phrases I typed in this evening was “bible blog directory”. And in less than a second, goosh gave me exactly what I was looking for – 1bible1.com, a bible blog directory. 1bible1 lists a good number of bloggers from different parts of the globe who write about the Bible and about Christianity in general. It is far from being a comprehensive directory, but it is a good place to start if you are looking for Bible bloggers.

Firefox Download Day

Firefox wants to set a Guinness World Record for the most software downloaded in 24 hours on June 17, 2008. And I have just pledged to download my most favorite browser to help make it come true. As of this writing, 876,074 people from all corners of the globe have already vowed to download Firefox 3 on Download Day.

You too can make your pledge by clicking here. I am writing this post using Firefox 3 Beta 5 running on OpenSuse 11 RC1 and I can attest to the fact that Firefox really gives you “increased security, blinding speed and cool new features that will change the way you use the Web.” Firefox is absolutely free, no strings attached.

If you want to watch a demo of the features of Firefox 3, please click here. If you want to know what else you can do to help spread Firefox, visit this page.

The Blogger's Prayer in the Mangyan Language

Mahal Makakaako kawo gid ti maawaon, totoo ag mapagmahal sa kanmi, maghagad kami kanmu awat na pabaskugun kanmi pagsarig ag pagmahal sa kanmu, bilang usa ka blogger’s. Mana inda ay magamit gid nimi angay sa Kanmu pagkaibgan, mana maging blogger’s kami katotohanan ag manpalagnap kapayapaan.