technology

Christianity / culture / people / technology — 11 Comments
24
Mar 09

What is inappropriate for a Christian?

Saw a tweet last week and for some reason it just stays in my head. Basically, it was a Christian author trying to network on twitter for an upcoming book project. However, the tweet was something like: Does anyone know how I can unlock “Brand X” phone so I can use it with a different phone company? The way I received that request was as if they had asked, “Can someone please give me a link to some pirated software?” or “Help me find a link to a song on Limewire so I don’t have to pay for it.”

I’ll come clean and let you know that I have downloaded things that weren’t in keeping with licensing agreements in the past. Also, I will confirm for you that I agree it is illegal to do so. However, I wasn’t encouraging others to help in my endeavors nor did I ever publicly solicit information to help me with such downloads. Yes, I know that I still engaged in illegal practices by the letter of the law.

The thing that strikes me in the instance of the tweet looking for a way to hack a phone, is that it was very public and it was in-essence an unsolicited testimony of an illegal action. It just seemed so contrary to the mission of this person looking to expand their readership through social networking.

If other people do it, does it make it okay for us (who should be above such things) to engage in? Are we okay if we sneak in under the radar and believe that God isn’t watching? If we truly believe in our hearts that we aren’t potentially causing someone else to stumble, then it should be okay? Jesus commands us to follow the law of the land in addition to the laws of the Lord. Jesus also gave us grace and mercy in this regards. Does that make it okay then? Am I feeling a little disconcerted and a little convicted here for no reason? If it’s not a big deal to broadcast to the world that we are looking for help to break a tiny little inconspicuous law, then where do we draw the line?

I’m just from the camp that believes we should do what we can to not give ammunition to those outside of grace to try and use our own actions against not only us, but all of Christianity. I also believe that we should do what we can to not make it look like it’s okay to break the law in any regards. It just sends a message to others that I don’t want to be associated with. This is purely my perspective and I’m not trying to pass judgment on other or convince you that I am without error in this issue.

What are your feeling on this matter? I’d be interested to know if I’m the only one that takes notice of such things that some could consider to be trivial.

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technology / the idea camp — 1 Comment
4
Mar 09

The Idea Camp: Post-camp Thoughts…Technology And Social Media

social-media-techOne of the things I was really looking forward to at The Idea Camp was a chance to hear people bouncing ideas off of each other, especially in the area of merging technology with the church. In the end, not a lot of ideas were really opened up, but many people came with lots of questions. In particular, the questions were about technology and social media.

It seems that people are hearing about twitter, yet not quite understanding it. It seems some are hearing about facebook, but not quite getting it. Unfortunately, I truly believe that if we don’t keep up with the pace of tech and social media we will get left behind. Some are willing to let the rest of the world pass them by.

I must admit that as technology oriented as some people think I am, I am really behind the times. I started with myspace and didn’t like it, but found that the kids in my youth ministry wouldn’t return calls or emails, but would reply to myspace messages. Then I tried facebook about 2 years ago and hated it. It was so plain and everyone else’s page looked the same…it was homogeneous with no personality. However, I soon realized that once again, friends that wouldn’t respond to email or phone calls, were responding to facebook messages. So, I adapted and have learned to like facebook because it is convenient and I can update through my cell phone while on the go. Next came twitter, which was just so boring and voyeuristic. I signed on with twitter July 31, 2008 and after barely breaking 100 followers last December, I now have over 770--an increase of about 670 followers in just the past two months. I’m not even really trying. It’s taking off like crazy with more new connections being made daily! These are people I wouldn’t ordinarily get to meet without a tool such as twitter.

iphone-thumbnailAt some point, with cell phones such as the iphone being able to do just about everything a notebook computer can do, email will be obsolete completely and even sms messaging could fall by the wayside as twitter and facebook take over.

As speakers were on the main stage, we in the live audience and all viewing the streaming webcast could use cell phones to text message the speakers with a question that would get answered. Programs and schedules were not printed and distributed online in advance of the gathering. Off-site meetings for lunch were coordinated via tweetups. It was quite a sight to see so many people moving along the conference halls knowing where they were going because they were plugged in.

The Idea Camp protwitter-logo-thumbnailved to me that I need to stay connected with others and continue to develop my networks. I got a chance to connect with several people that I had only known through twitter such as: @charlestlee, @djchuang, @jonathanhochan, @cynthiaware, @laurencetom, @marcpayan, @gregatkinson and @scotthodge. Social networking facilitated conversation and connection, but I have to admit that meeting face-to-face really solidified these friendships. I am now a real face that had a chance to engage with them in dialog and vice-versa. Even some people that I had not connected with previously, but followed on twitter came up to me and introduced themselves such as @joshchow and @nellechang.

I’m learning a lot through my journey in social networking and using technology and new media. have a funny feeling that we haven’t even scratched the surface yet and there are more exciting new ways to connect coming on the horizon. I’m looking to implement some of these technologies for open communication within our church plant later this August.

Do you have any takeaways from The Idea Camp in regards to tech or social media? Maybe you have an interesting way you are implementing tech into your ministry? I’d appreciate seeing your ideas so please comment with them!

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church / church planting / church relevance / Dave (personal) / leadership / ministry / missional / preaching / Sacramento / technology — 3 Comments
22
Oct 08

Video killed the radio star, but what about the preacher?

As I’ve been thinking more and more about leading a missional community through Revolution Church Sacramento next year, I’ve also had thoughts about video preaching as part of what we do. Coinciding with these thoughts was a blog post by Perry Noble that reinforced his position that video teaching honors God and connects with people.

When we did our first month of preview services to share our vision with the members of our mother church, it was video preaching for 3 weeks, with me preaching 1 week. We participated in the One Prayer with LifeChurch.tv which many of you know about already. I was so totally blown away by the quality of the preaching from Perry Noble and Steven Furtick that I was hooked. I mean, I think I can be a pretty funny guy, but usually I evoke a laugh or two during a message while Noble just raised the roof and kept it up the whole 30 minutes. The guy seems like he isn’t even trying, yet he causes us to fire on several emotions in just one message. All this and he wasn’t even in the building! How can a guy in South Carolina talking about eating big, buttery biscuits and people believing or not believing in the power of Christ connect so well with us here in California? I don’t know how or why, but I just know what I saw and how people responded and it was amazing and incredible. Pastor Furtick is another one of those guys that doesn’t seem like he is trying, yet he can convey passion about watching an ice cube in such a way that you never thought possible all through the power of Christ in his life and his love for seeing people hear the gospel and come to know the saving grace of Christ. I was teary-eyed during the last half of his message and again, he wasn’t even in the building!

Can a guy like Noble or Furtick cause things to be stirred up here in Sacramento through video preaching? I think they could. As Revolution Church Sacramento takes shape and launches next year, we are looking to connect with a younger generation for Saturday and/or Sunday evening service. Mostly singles and young couples. However, could we partner with a great visionary preacher like a Pastor Noble or Pastor Furtick (or a Craig Groeschel or Ed Young, Jr. or…) and provide a gathering for families on Sunday mornings and see the kingdom grow even more? Could being missional and putting our faith into practice and sharing the love of Christ with the world be the glue that binds us together, even though we have two different worship styles, with two different meeting times, and two different demographics? I’m beginning to think we could. I’m feeling like the work that needs to be done here in Sacramento is far greater than what I could do even on my best days, and that partnering with another ministry with someone that can lead the way through their preaching and teaching while we work to connect people into service could honor God hugely. Who says that multiple services on a weekend must be the same exact message with the same exact preacher every time?

Maybe this is just another one of those dreams too big for the moment or my abilities. Could be that my mind is wandering and this isn’t what my thoughts should be on these days. However, I just can’t help but feel like this is worth some prayer and discussion and seeing what God would have me do here. My preaching doesn’t really translate well to video, but I’ve seen others with the gift for it and know that it’s being used to make a big impact on people in awesome ways. Just consider me more than a little intrigued at this point.

I invite your prayers and thoughts on this.

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technology — No Comments
1
Sep 08

google releases web browser (chrome)

With so many people flocking to google’s apps such as gmail, maps, and picasa as well as its news reader for keeping up with blog posts such as this one, it makes sense that google enters into the browser wars. For me I tend to do everything with one computer and am online with a broadband connection 90% of the time so I don’t particularly care for having to log into google every time I want to check email or catch up on blogs. However, I just updated to Firefox 3 so I could take advantage of some cool add ons that required version 3 and I don’t like it at all! I’ve been loyal to Firefox from day one, but now I’m looking to switch.

Unfortunately Chrome by google isn’t initially going to be available for us Mac users. When are people going to learn that Mac users are the important ones? Hahahaha :)

Read the full article from BBC News here.

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