So I was lying in bed last night, and checking Twitter before falling asleep. This is pretty normal for me, checking Facebook and Twitter one last time to make sure I didn’t miss any earthquakes or funny goings-on. I did do something different last night though.

I downloaded a new Twitter app for my iPhone because I have not been very impressed with the official Twitter app (formally known as Tweetie). While poking around, I saw it had a “nearby” feature. If that doesn’t make sense, it collects tweets that are within a preset distance from your current location. I don’t normally do this, but wanted to try everything on this app at least once. While browsing through these tweets, God spoke very clearly to me, “these break My heart.” I threw up this Tweet in response,

Can’t find brokenness around you? Use your Twitter app’s “nearby” feature.

There’s your local prayer list!

The latest 150 or so tweets that were within five miles of me truly broke by heart. There were talks of parties, pregnancies, drugs, broken hearts, the BET Awards and a multitude of other things. One man took it upon himself to be a veritable public announcement system. He was helping us all by suggesting ways to tell if you made a mistake by sleeping with someone, not because it is inherently wrong, but because she may have a disease.

New Orleans is a beautiful city. The Internet is a beautiful digital world. God is present, and active, in both. The Great Commission in Matthew 28:19f tells us to make disciples wherever we go, and the Internet is definitely somewhere many of us go. It is not time to get involved in online evangelism; it is past time to get involved!

My experience last night shifted my Twitter paradigm. Before going to bed, I spent some time praying for my city, and the brokenness within the people I had just witnessed. Is this something you would join me in? Not just for New Orleans, but for San Francisco, CA; Dallas, TX; Birmingham, AL; Seattle, WA; Portland, OR; Lynchburg, VA; Clearfield, PA; and wherever God has taken you to.

What does online ministry look like for you, or to you? Join in on a conversation about it, together we can be used by God to impact this online world. Like the horseback evangelists of the 18th and 19th centuries taking the Gospel to the farthest reaches of the United States–and ushering in a revival–we can ride the electronic waves to take that timeless message around the world. Who knows, maybe we can see a revival spread through the Internet.

Want to track with me on this path? Why not subscribe or join the conversation here, on Facebook or Twitter. God bless!