Jesus Facebook Page Beats Out Lakers, Bieber, Gaga
So what’s more engaging than Justin Bieber, Lady Gaga, Twilight, and apparently the Los Angeles Lakers?
Jesus Daily, to be exact.
Taking the top spots in All Facebook’s – the unofficial Facebook resource page – weekly rankings, religious pages continue to dominate and infiltrate the charts.
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Pages like “Jesus Daily” and “The Bible” fall above American pop stars and much beloved sports teams as the “Most Engaging Pages,” demonstrating that religious faith is still much a part of the culture today, regardless of what many believe or rather, don’t believe.
With over 5,108,270 fans and 2,127,067 interactions, “Jesus Daily” maintains the number one spot for a second week in a row, with “The Bible” close behind at second, moving up rapidly on the list, recording over 7,015,719 fans and 1,119,413 interactions.
The goals of both pages are similar, with the former challenging others to “strive to follow Jesus daily by contemplating His sayings daily,” and the latter hoping to see the Word of God shared across Facebook.
Mark Brown, founder of “The Bible,” shares his vision on YouTube and provides testimonies of how the simple page is touching people’s lives.
Started just two years ago in 2009, Brown wanted to encourage people to go deeper into God’s presence and into a deeper relationship with God. He knew that one clear way this could be accomplished was through reading and being immersed in Scripture itself.
“In [these] pages you don’t encounter just words, you encounter the Holy Spirit. God works through those words, with the power of the Holy Spirit transforming us,” Brown relayed. “The Bible isn’t about information, it’s about transformation – us being more of what God wants us to be.”
Seeing the potential in Facebook two years ago and desiring to go where people would be, the Australian CEO of Bible Society New Zealand, started the page where he and now several other volunteers all over the world post small passages of Scripture throughout the day.
Simple right from the beginning, the page remains the same two years later and has grown tremendously since.
Brown, also an Anglican priest, attributes all the success to God, whom he genuinely believes has blessed the page and grown it for one purpose – to glorify Him.
One of the aspects of the page the Aussie absolutely loves is that it is filled with people who are full of questions, people who constantly challenge his and many others’ faith.
“I want them to be here. What a wonderful opportunity. We don’t have to go out and find people asking questions about our faith; they’re coming to the page in droves.”
“There are lots and lots of people who ask questions, some of them ask very challenging questions [and] some of them can be very rude. [But] at the heart of it, they’re struggling [or] ... they might just be having an intellectual exercise, having fun.”
Sharing a testimony relayed to him by a volunteer, Brown recalled how one of those questioners entered the page to “have a go” at the Christians and to challenge what the skeptic thought were “silly thoughts.”
But the more questions he asked, the more answers he received which resounded as something genuine and real about the Christian faith. Eventually, the man gave his life to the Lord, through the simple Bible page and through his questioning.
“This is the vision,” he expressed. “To draw people deeper into God’s presence and to see people grow in their relationship.”
Brown’s goal for the page is to reach 10 million fans, “not for any sense of numbers, whatever that means, but to influence a generation to grow deeper in their relationship with God and to share the good news of Jesus.”
Started the same year as Brown’s page, “Jesus Daily” also began in 2009, founded by Dr. Aaron Tabor who was motivated by a similar desire.
“Two years ago, I saw a need on Facebook for a page that focused on Jesus Christ – the other pages focused broadly on Christianity,” Tabor told The Christian Post.
“For me, the excitement comes from a personal relationship with Christ. Focusing on His Words daily is the inspiration behind ‘Jesus Daily.’”
With a more specific goal in mind, Tabor shared with CP that his mission is to help 50,000 people annually accept Christ as their personal Savior.
“We focus on bringing in Seekers through the viral nature of Facebook by asking Jesus Daily members to LIKE, SHARE, and COMMENT on the content we post. This spreads the message to their Friend’s List and spreads further from there.”
Having recently begun to measure the number of those who have come to know Christ through their website, Tabor reported of 1,434 salvation decisions made, just in the past 10 days.
“People are hungry for a relationship with God, particularly during these rough economic times, wars, uncertainties, and the breakdown of a family unit. People are wounded emotionally and need Christ to heal their broken hearts.”
As a physician himself, Tabor understands the need for healing, not just spiritually, but physically and emotionally as well. “Jesus Daily” offers visitors the chance to post their prayer requests, which the group together “lifts up to the Lord.”
Though many support the page, as evidenced by the growing number of followers, several people have attacked and continue to harass the site and the people on it as well.
Nonbelievers have littered the wall with pornographic images and pictures of starving children, and mock those who request prayers for illnesses.
“I’ve been shocked at how mean the Atheists are that attack our site,” the Johns Hopkins graduate wrote to CP. “It just shows how dark the human spirit is and verifies Biblical truth that mankind loves darkness more than light.”
Regardless of all of the hateful acts that permeate the site, however, Tabor is confident that God is using Facebook to spread the Gospel.
“We hope that Jesus Daily is the Light on social media to fulfill the Great Commission by sharing the Good News globally.”
Currently, there are over 600,000 members in the Philippines and Indonesia, and hundreds of thousands more in Africa.
The page has also just released a free iPhone app where people can enjoy Scriptures, prayers and praises “on the go” worldwide.
Whether or not the increasing number of fans on pages like “The Bible” and “Jesus Daily,” or even others like “Jesus Christ” and “Dios Es Bueno!” which stand lower on the list, is a true indicator of the number of those being saved, no one is certain. But many are praying and hoping so.
