Jesus Saved My Soul…Online

     So last night I went to Church in Oklahoma, and I was back for work at 9 today… I encountered online worship for the first real time last night and I don’t know what I think about it.
      Lifechurch.tv is one of the best online churches out there and i decided to give it a whirl. They were talking about Elijah and a couple of friends of mine where logged on so I thought that while I was watching Deadliest Catch. It was an interesting feel because while I was watching Mark preach there were a number of other conversations going on in the chat panel.
      It was a very different experience to be watching a sermon and multitasking like that.  Well maybe that wasn’t the strange part.  Maybe doing it and having everyone else doing it too was the strange thing 🙂 Then toward the end of the service there was a virtual alter call where you could click to raise your hand to accept Christ.  There was a little counter of people who raised their hands and I don’t know how I felt about it.  I really wanted to click the “raise your hand for Jesus” button just to see what happened (if there would be any follow-up with me or anything else.  In the end I was strong and resisted the temptation to get saved again (maybe next time). 
     I am so interested in this internet church idea.  Do you think that there can be just as authentic community online as there is in person?  What does fellowship look like for an internet campus?  Do they have virtual baptisms, funerals, weddings, communion, and potlucks?  I can only imagine a fellowship event of Call of Duty LAN Party or something where participants would blow each other away (with all the love of Christ). 
     What are your thoughts about this internet church thing?