Pastor Nimmons on "The Forum" Radio Show

Recently, I was given the opportunity to be a guest on "The Forum" radio show on WRDT 560 AM to talk about the "Virtual Reality"; Cyber-Bullying, hacking, and other types of intimidation of social networking websites like Facebook, Twitter, Myspace, and the like. This opportunity was due in large part to the re-connecting with a childhood friend, Charles Johnson, who is also one of the hosts of the show.  The idea for the show was to open up discussing some of the abuses and horror stores associated with social networking websites and then close with how we are using these sites to inspire, uplift and spread the message of Jesus Christ.

But, the topic of "Cyber Bullying" is not a aberration but it is becoming more and more a problem the more popular sites like Facebook, Twitter, Myspace, and the like become. What is happening is that these sites are being used as tools to intimidate, stalk, bully and ultimately destroy the lives of those unfortunately targeted as prey. One such instance occurred earlier this year in January in South Hadley Mass, where 15yr old Phoebe Prince, who came to this county from Ireland because of its opportunity and promise found herself a victim of texting sexual comments, Facebook, etc. One day while walking home from school some kids drove by her as she walked by hurling insults and even threw an energy drink at her. She kept walking home and when she arrived home, Phoebe walked straight to her closet and hung herself because of the weeks of torment. Christina Long's another example of this kind of abuse. Christina was a 13yr old, who was strangled by a 24 yr old married man. This happened after their initial meeting in a chat room, which lead to e-mail and even phone calls. They eventually met up and he strangled her, leaving her body face up in a nearby neighborhood river. These are just two of the countless number of horror stories that stem from socializing and networking over the world wide web. For some it has caused them to become leary of these media outlets and have chosen not to get involved. And, for others it is caused a greater awareness and caution as they continue using these social networks to exchange information and to network with people across the globe. As of late the government is now stepping into to create legislation and convict those guilty of "Cyber Crimes." In the case of 15yr old Phoebe Price, nine (9) teens were eventually charged with violation of civil rights, criminal harassment, disturbing of school assembly and for 2 males a charge of statutory rape, because of the sexual content of the harassment.

While there are some who are using these social media outlets for "Cyber Bullying" there are others who are using it in a positive fashion, myself included. Our segment of the radio show dealt with just that, we are attempting to populate the world wide web with positve, inspirational and aspiring messages about Jesus Christ. The motto of our personal ministry website is "Reaching 21st Century Young People, With 21st Century Ministry," We are attempting to parallel our ministry tools to meet with the needs of this unique generation of young people. And, so we are connecting with youth on Facebook, Twitter, Youtube & now Skype to spread the message of Jesus Christ. We have a growing catalogue of videos that can been seen on our Youtube Channel PSTRNIMMONSTV (www.youtube.com/PSTRNIMMONS). People can log on and see video footage of bible lessons that we teach for the campuse ministry Young Apostolic Students for Christ (YASC) along with other ministry events, interviews, music videos and much more. We have recently added this channel to our personal ministry website www.michaelnimmons.com, which includes, PSTRNIMMONSTV, The Pastor's Perspective (our blog), Powerpoint / Media Downloads, and much more. From our site you can follow us on Facebook, Twitter and subscribe to our videos on Youtube as well as subscibe to our weekly blog. We are trying our very best to wins this loss generation for Jesus Christ.

We are extremely grateful to God for this gift of creativity and innovation, and we intend to use it to give Him the glory. We are looking to partner and network with people of like mind and passion, and you are encouraged to visit our website to find out more about us and to see how this ministry can be a blessing to you. We would like to hear from you about any suggestions or comments on how this ministry has blessed you, and what areas would you like to see us pursue in the future? What other social networking sites would you like to PSTRNIMMONSTV on or apart of? What are some of your ideas on how we can expand the reach of the ministry? We would love to hear from you.

Finally, we would like to send special thanks to Charles, Ginger, Joe & Janice who are  the hosts of "The Forum" radio show on WRDT 560AM for the invitation to be apart of the show. And, we look forward to coming on again to share with you all in the very near future.

As always we encourage your comments, questions, criticisms and words of encouragement. Let us know how this ministry has been a blessing to you. Enjoy the video and we look forward to seeing you in Cyber Space.

Be Blessed

Pastor Nimmons
www.michaelnimmons