Tag: Church of God Newsletter

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Going Viral at Church

Cartoon of a pastor at his pulpit. There is a "Quarantine Area" sign at the front. The caption says, "That was the day Pastor Don's sermon went viral.

When I drew this month’s cartoon for the Church of God newsletter, I was thinking of how the coronavirus has dominated our news so far in 2020. It appears it isn’t going away anytime soon. Something viral can have good as well as bad connotations.

It seems the goal of most Internet influencers is to have something that goes viral. That makes someone an influencer after all, doesn’t it?

This week, the church I attend has experience a little viral moment. I’m quite proud of my local church, Salem Church of God, and our congregation’s generosity. We’ve raised over $40,000 to help local schools pay off school lunch debt across the Miami Valley! We have been able to help nine school districts so far!

And on top of that, it has caused our church to make the local and national news!

Here’s a link from ABC News

Here’s a link from WHIO TV 7 in Dayton

There are times when it is good to go viral. I hope the pastor in my cartoon gets things figured out before he has to spend two weeks on a quarantined pulpit.

Cartoon of a pastor at his pulpit. There is a "Quarantine Area" sign at the front. The caption says, "That was the day Pastor Don's sermon went viral.

I drew this for the February 2020 Church of God Newsletter.

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CHOG News church cartoons Newsletters

Working the Bugs Out

Cartoon of two men standing in water. One says, "We have some bugs to work out before we live stream the service."
Published in the January 2020 Church of God Newsletter

Let’s face it! If you start something new, there will always be some bugs to work out. No matter how well you plan, you can’t expect to make allowances for every conceivable obstacle.

  • Technology never quite works the way you expect
  • There will be some misunderstandings between the team
  • Get used to expecting the unexpected
  • Weather and other natural causes may strike without notice
  • You may not realize how many people are affected by the launch or know how they will react.
Cartoon of two men standing in water. One says, "We have some bugs to work out before we live stream the service."
Published in the January 2020 Church of God Newsletter

If you’re waiting for perfect circumstances, it will never launch. Even if you are able to plan for every possible obstacle, you’ll be disappointed because most of them will never come to be.

Expect a few bugs if you launch anything new. Be fine with it. It’s part of the process. Success comes from addressing the bugs and working them out. Flawless launches may mean you set your goal too low.

I drew this cartoon for the January, 2020 Church of God Newsletter.

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Christmas creativity holiday motivation

Ugly Christmas Sweaters

Cartoon of two men. One has a red and green sweater. He says, "No, this isn't my Ugly Christmas Sweater. It's just my sweater!"

I love seeing kids grow up! Whether they are four-year-olds or fourth-graders, they follow a predictable path. in early elementary, most feel free to express themselves in art. They are most comfortable in their own skin and don’t mind sharing their opinions. It doesn’t matter whether it is socially acceptable or not. A four-year-old is going to tell it like it is in their eyes!

But a fourth-grader becomes very self-conscious. They don’t want to call attention to themselves. They want to fit in. They want to do the “cool” thing. A four-year-old may love to wear an ugly Christmas sweater. A fourth-grade will be mortified if he or any member of his family would do such an audacious thing that solicits attention.

Cartoon of two men. One has a red and green sweater. He says, "No, this isn't my Ugly Christmas Sweater. It's just my sweater!"
Featured in the December 2019 Church of God Newsletter

A four-year-old is bursting with creativity. Most fourth-graders will have nothing to do with it because true creativity makes you stand out. Yet, standing out is where the magic happens.

I hope you have a lot of fun this Christmas. Be the one who proudly wears the ugly Christmas sweater. Reach out to a friend or family member you haven’t heard from in a while. Don’t worry about whether someone thinks your sweater us gaudy or you’re too loud when singing your favorite Christmas carol. Just enjoy the time. You’ll find that it will allow most people around you to do the same.

Categories
church cartoons motivation

Flagrant Use of Emojis

Cartoon of a pastor with a disgruntled couple. The wife says, "He can't express his feelings. he even uses emojis incorrectly!"

Emotions are tricky things. We all have them. It’s how we express them that gets complicated. In the workplace, it can get even dicier.

  • Do you let someone know you are going through a hard time?
  • Will it be used against you?
  • Is it appropriate to shed tears of joy when a coworker brings in doughnuts?

One thing I know for sure is the use of emojis at work is still considered inappropriate in most places. A smiley face just doesn’t look right in an email discussing the next round of employee appraisals.

You can try your hand at it if you feel daring. But I have a feeling there are too many guys like the one in today’s cartoon that can’t discern when it’s appropriate to use certain emojis and to whom.

Emojis require interpretation. The sender and the receiver of a message need to be on the same page when communicating. Is the communication clear? Can a heart emoji be misinterpreted as sarcasm or a sincere love? Know your audience before you send that emoji of a pig or a cow!

I drew this for the November 2019 Church of God Newsletter.

Cartoon of a pastor with a disgruntled couple. The wife says, "He can't express his feelings. he even uses emojis incorrectly!"
Categories
church cartoons

Electronic Giving is NOT E-Waste!

Cartoon of a guy lugging an old PC. Another guy says, "Electronic Giving doesn't mean you donate your old PC!"
© 2019 Kevin Spear. Published in the October 2019 Church of God Newsletter

Cartoon of a guy lugging an old PC. Another guy says, "Electronic Giving doesn't mean you donate your old PC!"
© 2019 Kevin Spear. Published in the October 2019 Church of God Newsletter

I noticed this has been an issue anywhere I worked with more than twenty years of history. There’s an old PC in the corner. There are old hard drives, zip disks and even floppy disks. Does anyone remember the old 5 1/4″ floppy disks? They still make great coasters. But they’re not very good for storage these days.

Today, you can get a 64mb flash drive for the same price an old floppy once cost and it could contain the equivalent of 42,667 floppies! Yes, I did the math. You can get a 64 mb flash drive for about $2.00 USD today (October 20, 2019). That is what I remember floppy drives going for in the late eighties and nineties. They carried about 1.5 kb. Alas, that old hardware, software and storage devices aren’t useful anymore. So please don’t donate them to a church or charity. They don’t need your ancient e-junk!

Electronic giving has been a thing at the churches I’ve attended for over five years now. You can have funds withdrawn to your account and not have to worry about bringing cash or paper check for the offering plate. When I’ve heard the phrase “electronic giving” from the pulpit, I’ve often wondered what if would look like if someone took it literally and placed a flash drive in the plate as proof they actually gave something!

I drew this for the October, 2019 CHOGNews.