What is Realtime Church?

Realtime Church isn't a church. There is no building. There is no congregation. There are no elders... so go ahead and say it. It's not a church.

Beyond that, we are not pushing doctrine. You're not going to find pages filled with us trying to convince you of our point of view.

No building, no congregation, no weekly meetings, and no doctrine. Hmmmm. So it's just a website?

The bottom line is this. Many religious organizations say they want to help hurting people. Almost as many struggle to help hurting people's immediate physical needs. That's what Realtime Church is here to do, network people, organizations, churches... whatever... to help people's immediate needs. Its social networking that actually does something... "Social Networking for Social Justice" if you will. That is the doctrine that we are pushing here, the doctrine of help-people-in-critical-circumstances.

So Realtime Church uses whatever technology is available to keep people aware of what critical needs/situations are occurring in realtime-- a steady feed of ways that we can help. And Web 2.0 is making it possible. Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Digg, mobile apps... people are more plugged in and sharing more about themselves than ever before. And this trend will only continue to grow. Let's use that connectedness to make our world a little bit better. Now that's ambitious.

The things that we all failed to do in the past don't matter. All of our grand schemes for the future aren't really the most important. What are you doing right now? In the next minutes -- in the next few hours, what simple little things are you doing to make a difference? That's what Realtime Church wants to do, help you be available right now.

Matthew-

I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.

Acts-

All the believers were together and had everything in common. Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need.

James-

Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress...

It's Getting Hot!

It's not even officially summer yet and we've already had a couple hot ones. It's a lot easier for some of us to stay cool than it is for others. Sometimes you'll even hear of older or sicker people dying from not being able to keep cool in the extreme heat.

We've already heard several people needing a way to stay cool. Providing someone with a way to beat the heat is such an easy, tangible way to improve their life. If you live in the Grand Rapids area and you have an extra fan or window unit, e-mail us at help@realtimechurch.org.

You can mail or drop the item off at:
2951 Coppergrove Dr. NE
Grand Rapids, MI 49525

If you're dropping it off, make sure to arrange a time. Let's do this!




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We Need Cribs In Phoenix

There is a small crisis pregnancy center in Phoenix called " With Child." They are in desperate need of cribs. This is an exciting project to work on, because there's nothing hypothetical about it. Babies need cribs... 10 cribs to be exact. They also need bassinets, high chairs, and baby wipes.

This is an amazing opportunity to help a mother and a child with something as basic as a place to sleep.

If you live in or near Phoenix, or if you are interested in the project e-mail us at help@realtimechurch.com

Or to check their website out, go to... http://withchildphx.org







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>>> New Venture

There are several reasons for the lull in communication from Realtime Church. The biggest reason is that we have been working on a whole new venture.

What would Realtime Church look like if it was based in a local church? The answer is Realtime Crossroads. Crossroads Bible Church in Grand Rapids, MI has a team that has slowly been changing its benevolence fund into something more grassroots, open, and proactive. Having the ability to respond in such a realtime, impactful, and local way is a whole new angle.

This doesn't change anything about Realtime Church. We are still ready to punch someone in the face if they get in the way of us taking care of critical needs. But it will be amazing to see what God does using some of the same stuff that RTC does, but on a local church level. Awesome!







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Coming out of the Closet

Why are people so afraid to talk about them? They're not naughty. Are you supposed to be embarrassed to have them? Is it because they have to do with butts? Let's be blunt. Hemorrhoids have been ruining my life.

It is something that people in wheelchairs have to worry about. In the very beginning of January, I started hurting so bad that I couldn’t even sit in my wheelchair. I had to lay flat bed. Two doctors visits and five surgeon visits later, I finally had surgery on March 10. It's been a long recovery, but I'm finally getting to the point that I can stay out of bed for most of the day.

By far it has been the most difficult time in my life other than when I broke my neck in January of 2007. I am a 33-year-old man. I have responsibilities. I have goals. I have a family that needs me. To be stuck in bed, lying flat on my back day after day for almost 3 months has been defeating. It's been exhausting. Many times, it has left me crying out to God, wondering if I will spend the rest of my life on my back.

It has been so much work for my wife. It has taken a toll on my kids. And it has made it impossible to do Realtime Church.

That has been the reason for the lack communication from Realtime. Many many needs have gone unanswered, I'm so sorry. The reality is, most of the time, I didn't even read the e-mails or messages for weeks or months.

We did have a hugely productive Christmas, and now we're gearing back up for a spring and summer.

So the lines are open. Let's keep turning social networking and technology on its ear to help people in crisis! Are you or someone you know experiencing a significant need? ! What’s going on?

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Sweet Saraiah

Saraiah is the baby daughter of Jeremiah and Veronica. She was born January 4 with Down's Syndrome and severe heart defects. After much prayer and consultation with medical professionals, Saraiah's parents decided to take her home, expecting her to live anywhere from a few hours to a week. Four months later, Saraiah is doing well.

So what can Realtime Church do for this family? PRAY! This sweet little girl needs our prayers. Very specifically, pray that the left side of her heart grows so that surgery will be possible. Pray for Saraiah's mommy and daddy. They are going through an extremely difficult situation and need to continue to have the emotional stamina to face each day.

We will keep you updated, but for now- PRAY!

Facebook -click here to get more detailed info about Saraiah

How Are We Doing?

Your response to families over the Christmas season was amazing. The Realtime church community has proven that we can band together quickly to make a difference in peoples lives using Facebook, Twitter, e-mail, and the Internet in general.

Here are two pictures of the gifts that you donated to families this Christmas. The first picture went to Eric and Amy whose family was not going to have much of a Christmas because of Amy's recent accident.

The gifts in the second picture went to Janine, whose daughter with Down's syndrome had her gifts stolen two days before Christmas.

Amazingly, you helped raise over $3200 for a swing set for Kate McRae.










Realtime church has been going for a couple months now, and you have already done amazing things. Beyond the situations above, we have helped in a renovation project and we have been a place for people to post their critical health needs. But there is so much more to do.

What can we do better?

The biggest problem that we encounter is that we have to seek out projects to work on. Not that we mind the work, but it seems that out of the thousands of hits on our site, people are afraid to post critical situations. While we are not an organization that pays bills or mows lawns, you never know how influential we can be when we all band together.

We need to develop a Realtime Church culture where people are constantly scanning their surroundings for critical situations to post?

What needs are out there?

help@realtimechurch.com





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joshbuck.org

After Josh's accident on January 18, 2007, he never started blogging. Shelly did all the blogging at first, and she did an amazing job. Even after they bought the domain joshbuck.org it was just a link to their family blog that Shelly wrote. This past August, they moved Shelly's blog to ourbigmess.com and now, for the first time since his accident he is blogging at

www.joshbuck.org

He may or may not have anything good to say, but it will probably be entertaining and slightly inappropriate.







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Heather...

Heather is 27 and she lives in Colorado Springs, CO where she teaches theater and dance. Several years ago she began to get pinched nerves which led to back surgery and she has now been diagnosed with Neuropathy, which is a degenerative nerve disease that attacks the nerve's ability to control the muscles.

She experiences intense pain and things that were once simple like climbing a few stairs, now take a momentous amount of work. She has to get injections every week, see numerous doctors, have blood work done, and do physical therapy to manipulate her muscles and nerves.

This young woman is facing such a world of struggle.

Please be in prayer for her. Pray that the everyday tasks in life aren't too difficult. Pray for peace. Pray that the right people come around her to support her.

If you live in the Colorado Springs area and want to know more about how you might help Heather, e-mail
help@realtimechurch.com
stating that you'd like to know more about Heather.







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