It's early on Saturday morning and since there's not much happening yet on Facebook ... I thought I would write about it! All joking aside, it's a topic that pastors ask me about often -- "How can I best use social media tools?" For our purposes, I'm going to limit the discussion to just three over the next three posts: Facebook, Twitter, and blogging. First a little background: social media has come a long way. Back in the early 90's, my first exposure to "social media" was through electronic bulletin boards and FIDO Net. Then along came listserves which allowed multiple people to create email discussions that would be broadcast to subscribers. I can still remember sending out a sermon request and having a pastor from Boston respond -- I thought that was the coolest thing ever! My next stop on the digital journey was Silicon Valley and a few…
Read More
There are songs that make me want to cry and then there are songs that make me cry. Yesterday I attended a prayer summit for area pastors. About 70-100 of us gathered at BridgeWay Church in Denver from a variety of church backgrounds and environments. The morning began with worship. That's when God got me (again). The worship leader began playing "How Great Thou Art." It's not the fact that I grew up singing this hymn that makes me emotional. I grew up singing lots of hymns, many of which I hope to never sing again. The reason is simple: "How Great Thou Art" was my mom's favorite hymn. On the other hand, the reason is anything but simple. When I sing "How Great Thou Art" I'm not just singing words -- I'm remembering. The melody alone is enough to make me think of mom. I can almost hear her…
Read More
Today is January 1, 2012. After today, there will be 365 (thanks to leap year) days until 2013. You know what that means? It's time to start Christmas shopping (just kidding!). One of the things I'm reminded about with each new year is this reality: opportunities are everywhere. 2012 will hold opportunities that didn't exist in 2011 because the relationships, circumstances, or responsibilities needed didn't exist yet. You will make new friendships, perhaps get new neighbors, or take on new responsibilities at work. Each change, no matter how seemingly insignificant, will open the door to new possibilities. You may also discover opportunities that were there the whole time but you didn't notice them. They were there but your perspective was different. You will see potential in existing relationships. At work, you may find the platform to chase your dreams. But here's an important point: it is not your responsibility to…
Read More
Enjoy this article from Seth Godin. ********************** Merry You can't be merry by yourself. Sure, you can be content, happy, possibly even delirious. But merriment requires a group, and that group is almost always a group you can see and touch, one that's sharing the same molecules of air, face to face. The digital revolution continues to get deeper, wider and more important. But it has made no progress at all at increasing merriment. That's up to us. Source: http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2011/12/merry.html
Read More
Years ago, I read a small book by Rubel Shelly and Randy Harris entitled "The Second Incarnation of Christ." It opened my eyes to new ways of understanding the nature of the church. First, a little refresher. The incarnation of Christ simply means "God became flesh" or "God in the flesh." In other words, when Jesus arrived in Bethlehem, that was no ordinary baby in the manger - it was God himself. Jesus was the living, breathing manifestation of God. When we talk about the church being the second incarnation of Christ, we mean that the church is the body of Christ. We are the physical manifestation of Jesus to the world. We become his hands and feet. Unlike the first incarnation, however, the second incarnation is far from perfect. I wonder how our attitude towards "the church" would change if we saw it as the second incarnation of…
Read More