The end of an era?

One day I decided I wanted to send an encouraging message to several people from church. From that day started a digital ministry I know has been a blessing.

That first text message was over eleven years ago. Initially, I would send a text every few days. Maybe it was a line from a sermon I preached. It could've been something I read or even a line from a hymn. Then I got more intentional about sending my own ideas. 

Then every other day turned into Monday-Friday. I reserved Saturdays for sending a psalm reading. And I told everyone to go to church on Sunday to hear a message.

People have repeatedly told me these daily texts have been meaningful to them. Some of the messages came at the right time. That is, when they needed to hear it. Not so much at 8:50am everyday (and 9:50am on Saturdays), but when they were dealing with something related to what we sent.

Where did I get these messages?

I got them, mainly, from paying attention. I would pay attention to conversations I had with people. There were several times I'd be leading a Bible study and say something that sounded like a daily text. Before I got sick, I'd go to the public library once a month to look at the latest magazines. The goal was to pay attention to what people were searching for in the articles. 

Okay, I'm not totally proud of the last source of my messages. From time to time, I'd look online at what a few other more-famous-than-me preachers were saying. I'd write something that corrected their theology :)

A couple of weeks ago I logged into the website I've used since day one to send these text messages. Here's the big announcement they posted.

So, now I'm on the search for a new service. The trouble is, it's expensive. Somehow I got away with spending $25 a month sending over 200 text messages a day. So far, the price for other services is up to six to seven times that amount. 

I'm grateful my churches have been able to afford me a reimbursable account. That's how I've paid for the messaging service. What I'll be figuring out now is if I can somehow pull off continuing this ministry. 

Pray for me. Pray I can get some ideas on how to make it happen at an affordable cost. If not, it's okay to let a ministry go. I'll let you know by the end of January 2025.

Stay blessed...john