Good Friday - virtual

Yesterday, driving to an event, I heard a song for the first time: “The real Jesus” by Downhere.

I was talking to a few youth pastors about whether Jesus had failed, particularly when measured by our standards of ministry success. After all, he started with big crowds, then had people leave, then got down to the last 12, then one of those turned him in, then the rest ran away. Today that would get a youth pastor, well, not so much fired as told, “we’re going in a different direction.”

I also talked about how Judas would have been the perfect kid to have on a short-term missions team. He was responsible and involved and even had come back from a little tour with another disciple pretty pumped about ministry. Of course, he had his own agenda of how a new king should work, how a real leader would upset all the religious structures. When it was clear that Jesus wasn’t going to do things the way Judas thought they should be done, Judas turned him in. I’m guessing Judas felt betrayed and that’s why he responded in kind.

I think that we have these pictures, like Judas, like ministry strategists, of how Jesus should have acted, how he should have run things, how he could do things now. And I think that maybe they aren’t the real Jesus.

I mean, you have pictures of how you think I should act. And I don’t live up to your pictures. But that doesn’t make me less me. It just means I don’t fit your picture of me.

I went looking for the song today and found this video version.

Somehow it fits.

Christmas Aftermath

After taking a walk around our neighborhood last night with Nancy, I borrowed our daughter’s new camera and walked again this morning.

Music: “Have yourself a merry little Christmas” by Little Thom at music.podshow.com

Download File

an invitation to talk about peace

For more information, go to the wiki for this project

or to the blog.

How’s that for options?

technorati tags:peacetalking

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slide sharing resource

Ever post so you remember something yourself? That’s this post. I just saw great slide sharing on the web on this post from Nancy White. When I get to a stable computer (the one here at home keeps rebooting) I’ll try this with one of our sermon shows. I’m guessing that I could use it for other stuff as well (sample backgrounds I create, announcement loops, etc.)

By the way, the article itself is pretty good, examining our struggles as earliy implementers of new media in organizations.

technorati tags:slidesharing, newmedia, presentation+software

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That’s what i’m talking about

People are always talking about needing peace, or just wanting peace and quiet or trying to find the answer to world peace. But when we find it, what does it look like? I’m a visual kind of guy. I want to see what people are thinking. So I’m trying an experiment.

Over at peacetalking.pbwiki.com is the invitation to post video blogs about peace. I’m looking videos about peace…what does it look like, where do you find it, is it impossible at some stages in our lives (preschoolers and peace for example).

Read what I’m wanting, shoot a vlog post, go to the wiki and point to it. Let’s see what happens.

I’ll be blogging about the project at peacetalking.wordpress.com as well.

technorati tags:peacetalking, videoposting

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finally, the product

I finally quit working on the video last night, having a couple more important things to work on-like materials for the service for Sunday. We had a couple of videos for the service, the slides for the song and the sermon.

I came back to it this afternoon and in relatively short order got this produced. I’m cross posting it…for the background go to Love In Deed.

The relevance here is that Chris has been pushing hard for community-based reporting. And he’s right. I stood in downtown Fort Wayne yesterday watching traffic for a funeral, a Children’s Choir uniform sale, and the Barr Street Market. I realized how much is happening at a local level that affects the lives of people locally and which is never talked about on broadcast media at all.

It may show up on community access TV, but I don’t get cable. It may be in the paper, but maybe not. It may be in a weekly paper, but I never read that.

I know that no one may read this, either, or watch this video. But maybe, just maybe, someone will. And that will be more viewers than saw any video about this event on the local news.

hmmm.

Thanks for the push, Chris.

technorati tags:newmedia, community+reporting, citizen+embedded+reporting, hopeful+media, community+2.0

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Pushing and providing

Smoetime this summer, Chris and I started talking with each other using digital voice mail. We each have a K7.net account and leave messages for each other. Audio posts, Chris called them. In fact, he produced a podcast of some of our conversations. If it hadn’t been for his pushing into new media, I’d still be, well, not busy.

Recently, our pastor started a series of messages talking about how God provides for us. Though God calls us to care for the poor, and does acknowledge that there can be financial blessings, his promises are to provide what is needed.

This is a comforting thought. If either poverty or prosperity was the measure of being in good standing with God, the other group would always feel pressure. Instead, we can depend on God to provide what we need at the time it is needed (not to be confused the the time at which we want the need to be met!).

I asked some people to call their stories in to my K7 number, and this is what they said. (We got their names from our attendance sheets where we asked the question, “Has God provided for you?”)

A new way to capture stories and share them with other people and a way to involve more voices in the services (and to do it within a week).

Thanks to these voices.

technorati tags:k7, chris+brogan, FMC, provision

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New media

Today I shot video of a guy who successfully negotiated the foster care system. By successful, I mean that he graduated from college, works, doesn’t blame anyone for failure, and is leaving in two days to spend two years with the Peace Corps.

We’ll turn the video into a small distribution DVD. If I’m good, I’ll figure out how to create a podcast. Although the market is small, the potential influence is huge–inspiring kids who are in the middle of the system with an example of someone who has survived.

That’s a new media kind of project. Helping people tell stories. So I’m guessing that makes me part of the grasshopper dream.

technorati tags:new+media, grasshopper, foster+care, grasshopper+new+media

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Influence

While cleaning out the garage yesterday (enjoying an at home vacation), I was listening to NPR interviewing Chris Anderson about his new book, developed form an article in Wired, Wired 12.10: The Long Tail. Anderson’s point is that with digital media, customer niches of 1 can be served.

He pointed out in the interview that YouTube videos can have greater viewership than cable programs and are created by a kid with a video camera in the backyard. I’m starting to come slowly to the realization that influencing relatively small groups of people is not failure. The measure of success for digital media cannot be based on the broadcast networks. It must be based on changing lives.

Anderson is writing about entertainment. I’m less concerned about amusing people than about inviting them to think, challenging hearts to get engaged. However, I’m challenged today to start thinking about how a not-for-profit or a ministry or a church can use new media–with it’s lower production costs and greater local focus potential–to tell stories of life change.

technorati tags:nonprofit, newmedia, ministry, video

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Another video idea: Men’s ministry

A video to talk about men's ministy at the church, particularly in light of the new focus on relationship building. This is ideally, of course, to run in the service, but we could distribute copies for men to watch at home.

• If we start with an explorer kind of guy talking about having found a video buried in a box.

• We could have older guys talking about history, about what it meant to be a guy with guys. Even if we had a couple of vets talking about being a part of a squad.

• some younger guys talking about meeting every week for Bible study

• John talking about the vision for men relating to men.