• Tuesday, December 30th, 2008
• Written By Luke Gilkerson
• Categories: Accountability Software, Pastors and Church Leaders
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Youth Ministers Find Accountability Online

Below is a video conversation among three youth ministers about accountability and how they use the Internet.

This is a great conversation for a number of reasons:

1. It brings up the importance of finding good accountability software. Pastor Joe mentioned that he uses X3watch, and Tim mentioned that he uses Covenant Eyes. It is great when someone chooses to be accountable on the Internet, no matter what product they use.

That being said, it is important to find a quality accountability software. X3watch is free, but like most free things, you get what you pay for. When it comes to this (value), Tim wrote in another post, “X3watch has a free version of their accountability software, but Covenant Eyes is much more fool proof.”

• Covenant Eyes’ dynamic website rating system means that it will catch even the hints of sexual impurity online, not just blatant pornography. This raises the bar for surfing your values online.

• Covenant Eyes also monitors many Web browsers, unlike X3watch, which only monitors a few browsers.

• Covenant Eyes accountability partners can view reports online 24/7, not just wait for an emailed report to be sent to them.

• Covenant Eyes also offers the program for free for those who need it.

2. It brings up the importance of face-to-face accountability. Merely receiving a report of Internet activity is not the be-all and end-all of accountability. There are so many things accountability partners can have a conversation about.

3. It brings up how Internet accountability is a testimony to others. When others know you are willing to be vulnerable and open about your life, your failures, and your integrity, this helps to establish trust and authenticity with friends, church members, or a spouse.