Distribution and Transport

I was doing some reading recently about distribution channels. The new ways of getting information distributed to those that need it. I came across the following. I am not sure of the source of this but I like the concepts. It is a great time in history to be alive.

“In 1893, a ten thousand dollar Congressional appropriation established RFD or rural free delivery. Up until that point, rural Americans had to ride their horse into town to pick up their mail at the general store. RFD provided mail service to rural residents for the first time.

Two entrepreneurs named Aaron Montgomery Ward and Richard Sears spotted a business opportunity. They saw a new distribution channel for their products. They produced so many catalogs that they were the second most widely read books in the country behind the Bible at the turn of the 20th century. They redeemed a new medium--rural free delivery--and turned it into a distribution channel.

That is what podcasting and webcasting and blogging are all about. Jesus told us to go into all the world, but he didn't specify how. It used to be traditional modes of transportation--ships, horses, and airplanes. But digital technology is a new mode of transportation, a new distribution channel, a new medium. We've got to redeem every technology and use it for God's purposes! The message is sacred, but the medium isn't.

A few distribution channels:

Podcasting is circuit riding at the speed of light.
Blogging is digital discipleship.
Video technology turns screens into postmodern stained glass.
Websites are virtual front doors.
Email is word of mouse.

As new technologies emerge so do new distribution channels for the gospel.

What a time to be alive! Our generation has greater potential to fulfill the Great Commission than all previous generations combined.”

I am sure that my grandparents, who witnessed the advent of the automobile and airplanes had these same feelings of excitement about transporting distribution.