My friend Ralph Wilson of Web Marketing Today and Joyful Heart Renewal Ministries has been a web marketer and pastor for years now. One of the things that I really respect about him is that he is an expert in web marketing, consults with businesses, and also puts into practice some of his skills for online ministry.

One of the more interesting and successful things he’s done is a virtual Bible study. He uses a combination of autoresponders in his email software and a discussion board. Every so often he launches a new study series and anyone in the world can participate. Once the study is launched it becomes perpetual because they are always available and when you register you’ll get your lessons emailed to you in order.

The format works like this:

• Each Saturday you’ll receive the lesson for the week.
• Throughout the rest of the week you can receive a question from that week’s lesson to think about and answer (this is optional).
• You can log onto the discussion forum to answer the questions and interact with others.
• On Fridays you’ll receive the link to a 20- to 30-minute audio teaching that sums up the passage you’ve been studying that week.

It’s been very successful for him and I’ve personally benefited from previous studies (though I confess I didn’t always log on and take full advantage).

Dr. Wilson will be launching a new 8-week study entitled James: Practical Christianity. Disciple Lessons from the Letter of James next week. As of yesterday, he’s had 1,258 sign-ups from more than 54 countries. Oh yeah, and it’s free.

I encourage you to sign up so that at a minimum you can see how to use this technology for ministry. At the most, you might go a bit deeper in your walk with God!