Flu advice: a challenge to churches

CARMEL, Ind. - The state health commissioner’s advice for avoiding swine flu is forcing Hoosiers to rethink friendly greetings.

Dr. Judy Monroe recommends that people stop shaking hands as a way to minimize transmission of the virus, which has now spread to more than 10 states.

Shaking hands is such an ingrained practice that many people will likely find it tough to give up. Local religious leaders are pondering how to accommodate the advice.

“Makes people feel at home and it’s been a part of our religious practice too,” said Pastor Larry Hunt, Grace Apostolic Church.

But the fear of spreading the flu now has church leaders talking about what to do.

At First Baptist Church of Carmel, “we’re not going to dictate to people that they can or cannot shake hands,” said Pastor Joe Flatt. “It’s kind of what we are here.”

Full Story Here

Michael Roach to assume managing role at the Apostolic Report

 Since the inception of The Apostolic Report over a year ago Jeremy Lynch has been the managing editor of  the web-site and has been the reason for it’s success. Jeremy was elected as Pastor of Covenant Life Church in Stephenville, TX several months ago. We are very excited and pray that God would bless Jeremy and Covenant Life Church with tremendous growth. This new venture has limited the time Jeremy has been able to devote to the site. Effect today, Michael Roach will assume the managing duties of The Apostolic Report. Michael has been a vital part of the site and will continue the tradition of providing news features that impact Apostolic’s.

We want to say a special thank you to Jeremy for his burden and hard work. Jeremy will continue to support the site and he will continue to contribute in the future.

Thank you to all of the contributors of the Apostolic Report. You can find a list of contributors by clicking on the contributor’s link from our home page.

Thank you to all of the readers of the Apostolic Report. We look forward to continuing to serve you in the near future.

The Apostolic Report Celebrates One Year

This week “The Apostolic Report” is celebrating its one-year anniversary. This website launched one year ago on March 6, 2008; and, thanks to our readers, the website has grown beyond what we ever dreamed possible in only our first year.

For those of you who are faithful readers of AR, you may have noticed our post frequency has decreased over the past few months; this is mainly due to ministry obligations upon the part of our key contributors (new pastor, new position, etc.). There is just not enough time in the day for everything; and we’ve always felt that our local church and family obligations must come first. We apologize for the slowdown and hope to continue posting with more frequency in the future.  Thanks for your understanding.

And, as always, we are looking for more good contributors to AR. If anyone is interested, please contact us.

Below are some statistics from our first year of existence. We wish to thank all of our readers for your support during our initial endeavor!

•  868 Posts
• 1,097 comments
• 808 average page views per day
• 233.092 Visits
• 353,983 Page Views
• 483 Email and RSS subscribers

AR Special Report: Best of 2008

 

As 2008 comes to an end and a new year begins, it’s time to reminisce about some of our favorite stories and posts from 2008. Out of the hundreds of stories that our contributors posted this year,  we’ve chosen a few of our favorites.  We’ve also included the most popular stories from our readers. As always, be sure to click on our “Featured” page to see all of our featured stories, interviews, polls, and more.

We also have a new podcast that we encourage you to subscribe to. We plan on more interviews and features for our podcasts in the upcoming year. Click here for more information.

 

The Best of the Apostolic Report for 2008

 

Most Popular Story

Our most read story from 2008 recieved over 12,000 hits from the website alone, not to mention the e-mails and rss feeds. In May of 2008,  former President Bill Clinton visited a North Carolina United Pentecostal Church. Click here and here for the original stories.

Runner-Up for Most Popular Story

Our second most read story from 2008 (8,200 hits) is the news that popular social networking site, everyonesconnected, would be re-launched as Ubuti. In May, the website promised an improved version of EC with a completely new look and feel. EveryonesConnected had been very popular among Pentecostals.

The new look was not popular among it’s users, and proved to be a mistake, as the website has now completly shut down. Original Story

Most Popular New Website

The collapse of everyonesconnected helped lead to the rise of a new social networking website just for Apostolics. Everyonesapostolic now has over 36,000 members. Read our interview with the creator of the website here. You can join our group here:
http://everyonesapostolic.com/group/theapostolicreport 

Runner-Up for Most Popular New Website

Apostolic Live is a new video sharing site that was launched in March of 2008. Apostolic Live seeks to offer a Godly Apostolic venue for the sharing of Apostolic audio & video files. Their goal is to keep the site clean and wholesome and available to all Apostolics who wish to participate.  Click here and here to read the original stories.

Most Talked About Post

A political cartoon on the website of the Washington Post that made fun of speaking in tongues surfaced in September. E-mails began circulating among Pentecostals encouraging each other to contact the editor at the Washington Post and voice their displeasure with the cartoon. See our story here.

Most Popular Category

With the election of 2008, it’s no surprise that our most posted in category of 2008 (besides General), was the Politics category. The Politics category had 148 posts filed under in 2008.  Click here to read several different ministers (from different apostolic organizations) respond to the 2008 election.

Most Commented-On Post

Our story on whether or not Sarah Palin had been baptized in Jesus’ name received 65 comments from our readers. Click here to read the story.

Most Popular Poll

Our poll question, “Should Apostolic Pastors Endorse Political Candidates?” was the question that received the most feedback from our readers. Click here for the original post. You can also click here to see many of our other polls.

Top Referrers from 2008

Special thanks to these websites for helping us spread the word about our website. People clicked on the most links from these pages to get to our blog.

1. http://www.everyonesapostolic.com 820
2. http://www.apostoliclive.com  800
3. http://ljoyetree.blogspot.com 658

Top Contributors from 2008

Special thanks to the hard work of these contributors. Without their dedication, this site would not be possible.

1. Jeremy Lynch – 288 posts
2. Michael Roach – 188 posts
3. Matthew Shaw  – 130 posts

The Apostolic Report Podcast

We are pleased to announce that the Apostolic Report Audio Podcast is now available in the iTunes store. If you use iTunes, an iPod, or iPhone, please consider subscribing to receive our podcasts automatically. You can now search for our podcast in the iTunes store. Just search for “apostolic” or “apostolic report.”

 

You can also subscribe to recive our podcast using other podcast players and readers. In addition, we have set up a podcast page where you can listen to the podcasts directly from this website. Just click here, or on “podcast” in the menu above.

 

Our audio podcast will feature exclusive interviews of Apostolic authors, artists, leaders, and other people of interest in the Apostolic movement. We may add future podcast content in the future.

 

Click on the iTunes picture below to add and sync The Apostolic Report podcast with the popular ipod and podcast software. You must already have iTunes installed. You can click HERE if the image does not work.

You can also copy and paste the feed location (below) into your favorite podcast player or reader.
http://feeds.feedburner.com/theapostolicreport

Six Months with The Apostolic Report

The Apostolic Report launched on March 6, 2008 and since that time we have seen a tremendous response from our readers. We want to thank all of readers, sponsors, and subscribers for their support. The first six months have exceeded our expectations and we could not have done it without your help.

Here are some interesting numbers from our first six months:

• 147,000 Total Page Views
• 86,000 Visits
• 621 Posts
• 332 Comments
• 300 Email Subscribers
• 45 RSS Subscribers
• 43 Categories

We are grateful for all the help of our full and part-time contributors. We want to thank our top four contributors with over 100 posts each. Without the hard work of Matthew Shaw, Michael Roach, Rick Perry, and Jeremy Lynch this site would not be possible.

If you are a regular reader of this website, please consider making a small donation to help us continue to grow this site. You can click HERE to make a donation using any major credit card.

You can click HERE to subscribe to our email updates.

We also have just released some new advertising rates. please click HERE for more information.

Thanks again and may God continue to bless the Apostolic movement.

The Apostolic Report Team

Have a Happy and Safe Labor Day!!

Labor Day: How it Came About; What it Means

Labor Day, the first Monday in September, is a creation of the labor movement and is dedicated to the social and economic achievements of American workers. It constitutes a yearly national tribute to the contributions workers have made to the strength, prosperity, and well-being of our country.

Founder of Labor Day

More than 100 years after the first Labor Day observance, there is still some doubt as to who first proposed the holiday for workers.

Some records show that Peter J. McGuire, general secretary of the Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners and a cofounder of the American Federation of Labor, was first in suggesting a day to honor those “who from rude nature have delved and carved all the grandeur we behold.”

But Peter McGuire’s place in Labor Day history has not gone unchallenged. Many believe that Matthew Maguire, a machinist, not Peter McGuire, founded the holiday. Recent research seems to support the contention that Matthew Maguire, later the secretary of Local 344 of the International Association of Machinists in Paterson, N.J., proposed the holiday in 1882 while serving as secretary of the Central Labor Union in New York. What is clear is that the Central Labor Union adopted a Labor Day proposal and appointed a committee to plan a demonstration and picnic.

AR Poll Results: Apostolic and Democrat?

Can you be a Apostolic/Pentecostal and Democrat?

That was the question we asked our readers in our lastest poll.

New poll coming soon…

AR Survey Results: Favorite Apostolic Websites

 

The survey results are in! Discover the favorite Apostolic websites from the readers of AR. We divided the survey into three categories: General websites. Apostolic Blogs, and Church websites.

General Apostolic Websites

1. http://www.ninetyandnine.com  

2. http:// www.upci.org

3. http://www.endtime.com

4. http:// www.everyonesapostolic.com

5. http://www.apostolicsinglesnetwork.com

 

Other sites that recieved more than one vote: ApostolicClassics.com, FaithBuilder.us, E-LightInspirations.com, and ApostolicLive.com.

Apostolic Blogs

1. http://www.theapostolicreport.com  :-)

2. http://barnabas14blog.blogspot.com 

3. http://www.fullproof.us

4. http://www.inbythroughhim.blogspot.com

5. http://www.markpryor.org/journey

 

Apostolic Church Websites (In terms of style, content, etc.) 

 

1. http://www.thepentecostals.org
2. http://www.newlifeupc.org 
3. http://calvarytabindy.org

There was about a 30 place tie for the next spot. It appears most people just put their own church site here…

Featured Sponsor: Neckties Galore

 

Today’s Featured Sponsor is Neckties Galore.  

 

  

Neckties Galore is a wholesale company that sells 100% silk ties in dozen quantities. Neckties Galore has been wholesaling neckties for years and just recently moved to the world wide web.

 

These ties can be bought in dozen quantities and then resold. They are perfect for fundraisers, church projects, evangelistic projects, missions, retail outlets, mall kiosks, ebay auctions, and more.

 

When you place in order with Neckties galore, you can order stripes, abstract, solids or business ties. You will get assorted ties in that particular category

 

The neckties cost $48 per dozen ($4.00 each) and they sell for between $12 and $25 apiece. No Matter how many times you order there is only a $7.99 shipping charge.

 

Neckties Galore also offers a 100% satisfaction guarantee.

 

Whether you want a new necktie wardrobe, or wish to resell for a profit, Neckties Galore is right for you.

 

http://www.necktiesgalore.com

AR Announcement: Comments

 

When we launched this website, we decided to not allow comments on individual posts. This is not really a typical blog in that we do not generally offer up commentary or opinions about what we post. For that very reason, we thought that it would be better if we did not allow comments.

 

However, after thinking about it further, we have decided to allow limited comments on the posts. There may be times where you want to point out a mistake, add more information, or even post a link that contains more pertinent information. Sometimes, you may just want to give some general feedback on a particular post. As long as the comments are not controversial, they will be accepted. Our purpose is to make our readers feel more involved and give them the ability to provide input.

 

All comments still have to be approved by one of the editors, and we reserve the right not to publicly post a comment for any given reason. The comments are just meant for general feedback. Comments that are controversial or negative will not be approved.

 

Thanks for your support and your readership.

 

AR Announcement: Advertising Prices

Help sponsor this website by placing an advertisement for your business or website on the Apostolic Report website.

If you are just getting started with a business, this would be a great place to advertise to reach other Apostolics. Our advertising packages start out at only $50.00 for six months. Our reader and subscriber numbers are growing every day and because we only have web space for a limited number of advertisers, we encourage you to take advantage of these prices today.

Please email us at jlynch@theapostolicreport.com for more information on placing an ad.

Besides the two packages listed below, one time “featured ads” for conferences, special events, etc. can also be purchased. Please email us for more information on those rates. 

Package One

Package one includes the following: A small banner ad placed on the Apostolic Report website. The banner ad will be placed under the “visit our sponsors” section and will be a clickable link to your website. The banner will be left on the website for a full six months. The price for this package is only $50.00. Banner size needs to be 200X50.

Package Two

Package two includes the following: A larger banner ad on the homepage, a small banner ad that will go out in the daily email updates, and two featured posts. The “featured” post is an individual post that spotlights your business or website. It can contain as much information as you wish and can include more than one image. These posts will be kept near the top of the website for a 24 hour period. They will also be placed under a “visit our sponsors” post category for six months. Also, if you choose this package, you can increase the size of the banner on the website up to 200X200 pixels. The price for this package is only $100.00.

In summary, for $100.00 you get a larger banner on our website and a small banner in the daily email update for a full six months. You also get two “featured sponsor” advertisements that spotlights your business or website.

AR Announcement: Guest Contributors Needed

The Apostolic Report has been online for two months now. During that time, we have made over 250 posts, had over 13,000 visits, and had over 27,000 page views.

We are excited about the growth of this site. We truly want this website to be a great destination for Apostolics to visit on the Internet. You can help The Apostolic Report continue to grow in several different ways.

First of all, we need guest contributors. It is impossible for us to be able to find all of the great stories in Pentecost. You can help us by sending links or stories that might be a good fit for The Apostolic Report. If you attend a special event or large conference and would like to do a story about it, send it to us. All we ask is that any submissions be free of author bias and opinion.

The basic rule is that they should be written as much like a news piece as possible. Read the “About this Site” page for more information and to see our purpose statement. You can just send us a link, and we will do most of the work. Or, you can write up an original news story, and we will leave it as is, crediting you as the author. We reserve the right to do basic editing of submissions for length, clarity, spelling, grammar, and style.

There are way too many conferences for us to be able to do a story or post about each individual upcoming conference. Therefore, we may do an occasional post that contain several conferences for the upcoming month. Keep in mind that AR is not a place for free advertising.

If it is a news story about Apostolics, or that Apostolics might find interesting, please send it to us at
submissions@theapostolicreport.com
We truly do need your help. You can do original news stories, links to other news stories, interviews of people in the Apostolic movement, tech tips, interesting websites, youth stories, political news, book reviews, and much more.

Help us get the word out

The Apostolic Report has been online now for six weeks and during that time we have received over 7,600 hits. New people are finding out about this website everyday.

However, in order to really “get the word out” about this website, it is going to cost some money. We need to advertise in magazines and other websites. There are a number of good sources that we can place small ads in to make sure that more people know about this site. The problem is, some of these advertisements can be quite costly.

Don’t worry, we are not about to start an extensive fundraising campaign or anything, but we do need your help. We are asking that the faithful readers of this website consider sending us a donation through paypal.

The contributors of this website work really hard to keep this site one of the most updated Apostolic blogs on the Internet, and I’m sure having thousands of more readers will motivate them even more.

So, please take just a few moments and send in a donation today and let’s grow this website together!

PayPal is a Web site that accepts credit card and bank transfer payments on behalf of AR. You do NOT need to set up a PayPal account to donate via PayPal. Visa, MasterCard, Amex and Discover are accepted. If you do not wish to set up a PayPal account, just look to bottom left of the donation page and click continue. It will be located directly under the section entitled “Don’t have a PayPal account?”

Keep in mind, the fee charged by PayPal for payments is 2.9% of the transaction plus 30 cents per transaction. For example: On a $10 donation, the fee is $0.59 or 5.9%. PayPal accepts non-US accounts and funds.

Click HERE to donate now!

Thanks you for your giving,

The Apostolic Report Team

Celebrating One Month of Premier Apostolic News Service

The Apostolic Report is celebrating completing its first month of providing news to the Apostolic community.

After announcing on March 6, 2008 that they would attempt to provide an online center for Apostolic news,
The Apostolic Report, also known as AR, experienced great hit totals. March the 7th was the day with the highest hit totals at 817, while this past Friday came in a close second with 726.

Reader’s interest was piqued by posts about politics, technology, religion, local churches, and Apostolic organizations. Features such as interviews, Tuesday’s tech tip, and Wednesday’s website of the week, also provided readers and subscribers with original news topics and posts. Speaking of subscribers, after one month, AR’s subscriber list now stands at 112 readers. Looking forward, we encourage all of our readers to take advantage of our subscriber program.

Amidst all the news, there were typo’s, errors, and technical glitches. However, with your patience, each misstep has allowed us, the AR blog team, to learn how to serve the Apostolic community better.

The Apostolic Report is very excited about the future of the Apostolic Church. We believe strongly that God’s church is alive and well, and doing mighty exploits. We want to be apart of that, by informing and equipping the Apostolic community with news. Let us pray that together, this gospel will be shared to the whole world.