InSite, March 2009

Help us with the Great eCommission

The Internet is quickly becoming a gathering place. No longer is news an individual experience, but breaking events and ideas are shared immediately among online communities. What this means for Christians is that we have a very unique opportunity to impact the world with the creation/gospel message as never before. To do that, however, we must understand how to reach the ‘net generation. Just as Paul was sent to the Gentiles, we can all get involved with social media online and reach around the world with the hope we have.

So, what is social media and how can Christians get involved? Social media is not a simple concept to pin down, since it can involve everything from commenting on someone’s blog to journaling your daily experiences from your cell phone. However, the idea is simple: sharing your thoughts, ideas, and projects with others on the Internet in online communities.

Sites such as Facebook and Twitter (follow us) make it easy to gather a group of friends or “followers” who are interested in your thoughts. You can let others know about the articles you’re reading or share your favorite verses of Scripture. YouTube, Tangle, and other video-sharing sites give you a venue to air your thoughts in creative ways. These videos often spark conversations from people around the world.

Here at AiG, we want to equip the church to join in the social media revolution. We hope that you will take the articles and videos that we have made and share them with as many people as you can to start discussions. In fact, we’ve made this easy by providing a ShareThis button at the top of every article or media item we publish (right next to the print friendly button). Simply click the button, and share the link through Facebook or MySpace, for example. You can also use our RSS feeds to list our articles directly on your website or blog.

New technology and new ways of conveying information give us new opportunities to share the message of Christ. We hope that you will heed the Great Commission and use the Internet for more than simply news and email. The fields are ripe and ready to receive the good news.

Preorder Newton’s Revised History of Ancient Kingdoms now!

What’s in Store for this Month?

Are you a big fan of biblically based studies of ancient history, such as Bishop James Ussher’s The Annals of the World and Floyd Jones’s Chronology of the Old Testament? Is Sebastian Adams’s Chart of History hanging on your study wall?

If so, then you’re sure to be excited about one of our latest products: Newton’s Revised History of Ancient Kingdoms. Yes, that Newton. While Isaac Newton is most well known for his contributions to physical science and mathematics, the pious Newton was also an eager student of many other disciplines, including history.

In Revised History, Newton cross-examines ancient writers, using their own words against them to expose their logical inconsistencies. He then develops a more sound chronology using the scientific method based on logic, observations, astronomy, and just plain common sense. He worked on the project for over forty years, but it was not published until 1728, a year after he died.

Visit the Answers Bookstore now to preorder your copy. It makes a great gift for the history buff in your family, too!

Question of the Month

M.P. from Cleveland, Tennessee, writes to ask:

Can I reuse your material on my own website?

Great question, and we’re happy to be able to answer that, in many ways, yes you can (albeit with a few easy-to-follow conditions).

First, we have a significant collection of material in our education and media sections, such as a wealth of presentation graphics, that can be used for free; we ask that copyright credit be given to Answers in Genesis and that you link to the address of our website, www.AnswersInGenesis.org.

As for articles, we ask that you use the first paragraph of the article you’re interested in, then provide a link to the article on our site. Ultimately, this saves work for you, too, since we are responsible for updating and correcting the text if there are any changes. (Besides, there’s no legitimate reason to keep a separate copy of the digital text when a link will suffice.) Another great solution to generate a steady stream of content is to add an automatically updating link to our daily article, Get Answers question, or After Eden cartoon. You’ll find out how to do all that at Link to Answers in Genesis.

By the way, if you’re an AiG supporter and you’re interested in sharing printouts or photocopies of our article text (not images), you may freely do so for the purpose noncommercial Christian education. (One key exception is anything we reprint from another source, in which case we cannot legally give our readers the permission to re-use the material.)

For full details on using our material, see Terms of Use.

Have a question for InSite? Let us know! (Be sure to mention that your question is intended for InSite.)

Did You Know?

The Answers in Genesis ministry is currently celebrating 15 years of God’s blessings (that is, its 15th anniversary). And while the AiG website is only fourteen years old, InSite is marking its first anniversary this month! That’s right, we have now had more than a year’s worth of InSite. We’ll continue to keep you informed about what’s happening on the AiG website.