Tag Archives: Friendship

Cedar Blog

Artificial Intelligence in Ministry

Artificial Intelligence in Ministry

Recently, someone posted pictures on social media that an Artificial Intelligence generator created based on scripture. The pictures were amazing and thought provoking.

That made me consider what AI would write for my chips article this month. I thought it would be interesting to ask the AI Generator to “Write three paragraphs on the value of Christian Friendship.” What you see below is what the AI bot came up with in a few seconds.

Friendship is a bond in love through reciprocity, mutuality, and holiness. Friendship is essential to the Christian life for the church because it is a fruit of godly virtue, a gift of God’s grace, and a way of grateful obedience to God’s law. An essential aspect of Christian discipleship is friendship. Christians are called to love their neighbors as themselves (Mark 12:31), and friendship is one way that Christians can fulfill this commandment.

Friendship is important because love is greatest. God is love, and He is glorified by Christians who love wisely, rightly, and well in holy friendship. This love promotes the peace, purity, and unity of the church 1. The Lord knows there is value in earthly friendship, as well as fellowship. One place in the Bible where God tells us why having a good friend is important is in Ecclesiastes. There, we are told something simple but very profound: two are better than one 2.

In conclusion, friendship is an essential aspect of Christian discipleship that promotes peace, purity, and unity of the church. It is a bond in love through reciprocity, mutuality, and holiness that Christians can fulfill the commandment of loving their neighbors as themselves. Friendship is important because it glorifies God who is love and it builds us up and helps us grow 3.

  1. tabletalkmagazine.com
  2.  ministry127.com
  3.  crosswalk.com

What are your thoughts on using an AI generator in your ministry?

Lindsey Ungs
Connection & Communication Architect

Did you enjoy this article? Did you laugh, cry or learn something new? Let Lindsey know.

    April 2023 Chips, Cedar Chips

    This One’s for the Girls

    This One’s for the Girls

    Ladies, what does it take to find a good friend? I mean the kind of friend that you can call to watch your kids in the middle of the night? I mean the kind of friend that puts up with your bad habits and still wants to hang out all day. I mean the kind of friend that can hear your beat down tone of voice over the phone and who shows up with your exact coffee order.

    You don’t have a friend like that you say? You don’t know where do you start?

    This kind of deep friendship is built one conversation at a time.

    When was the last time you attended a women’s event? When was the last time you invited someone to coffee? When was the last time you allowed yourself to be vulnerable in conversation?

    I know these things are risky. I know you’ve been hurt before. I’m sorry that happened to you. The hurt makes us shut down and close off and say no more.

    What’s worse is that I can offer you no guarantees. No money back. No safety net of perfect connections.

    The only thing I can offer is a promise that it’s worth it and a suggestion that we are called to cultivate friendship.

    It’s worth it to lean back into that conversation. It’s worth it to attend that event. You are doing the work of cultivation every time you engage another person.

    Every time you say yes to attending that event (when you would have preferred to not risk it), you are saying yes to potential new friendship.

    I’m not promising you’ll walk away with a new bestie by night’s end. No. But, you may have started a conversation with someone that will eventually become the person you call in the middle of the night.

    Lindsey Ungs
    Connection & Communication Architect

    Did you enjoy this article? Did you laugh, cry or learn something new? Let Lindsey know.

      Cedar Chips, March 2023

      Puke and Friendship

      Puke and Friendship

      I got puked on recently by a child in our Children’s Worship Class. The picture below shows the location of the incident.

      I know it was meant to be because I was filling in for someone else that day. I had followed the very last child from the sanctuary to make sure everyone made it safely into the teal room. As I was walking into the room, this particular child was running out of the room crying. He ran directly into my loving arms…and proceeded to release the contents of his stomach on the carpet and also on my hair, shirt, jeans, and boots.

      It was meant to be. I’ve retold this story several times now. It always ends in laughter and smiles. These stories have great shock value, but also they bond us together as something we can laugh over.

      The carpet squares had to be changed out. Even though we did our best to clean it in the moment, or should I say AFTER the moment, the carpet was very brown.

      Telling stories that create laughter are a great way to help connect people. I’m not perfect at creating conversation or even knowing what to say, but I sure do enjoy helping people to build friendships.

      Friendships are built on trust. If we can all laugh at a newly shared memory, connection starts to form and grow into trust.

      From nothing more than a funny story, you can see a connection that leads all the way to friendship.

      Also, thanks to the person who changed out the carpet squares.

      Lindsey Ungs
      Connection & Communication Architect

      Did you enjoy this article? Did you laugh, cry or learn something new? Let Lindsey know.