Mister Nifty

I’ve been pondering modern media and the church and how intrusive we should allow media to be in our operations. Lately in our fair town, I’ve seen a church build a helicopter – The Jesus Medic Flight or something of that sort. I’ve also seen church billboards plastered with “Would Jesus Wear Jeans To Church?” and a girl wearing 3D glasses eating popcorn with blown away expression and a messed up hairdo to prove her excitement. Then we come to the annual Christian fest downtown where every church’s band plays contemporary songs and boast fancy light displays on different stages, while not one person is reached with the Gospel.

It seems as though everywhere I look these days, the church is trying to compete visually with each other and the secular society. I’m all for having a nice identity and presenting ourselves in a proper manner to the community, but I do have a problem when the media becomes the message. It also is an issue when the ambiance becomes the apex of the congregation’s visit rather than the presence and the Word of God.

One of the largest churches in the New Testament was the church in Jerusalem. Scholars tell us that the total congregation measured upwards of 80,000 people. By today’s standards, this would be a mega-church, even though they had no formal cathedral or church building. There are those who say we cannot compare today’s church with the New Testament church since we are over 2000 years removed. I beg to differ. We might have a different cultural society than Paul or James ever dealt with, but the principles of their operation still maintain.

For the Jerusalem church, the Gospel was foremost. The pure power and Word of God was the driving force behind this enormous church growth. One miracle was all it took and the word of the Gospel was spread like wildfire. Paul was said to have turned the world upside down. He did not have Twitter, Facebook, fancy lights, or even a business card with a cool logo. His transportation and communication methods certainly were archaic compared to today’s conveniences, but he affected his world with the Message of the Gospel. (more…)

I just read this fantastic article about “church marketing” by Brent McCraken. This is a must read for every pastor, staff and creative working for a church.

View The Article

(via @kjhouk)

Google is everywhere. It is plausible that almost every website you visit will be attached to Google somehow visibly or invisibly. Its footprint on how we communicate is simply massive and mind-boggling. Check out this video which better illustrates the point.

Whether we like it or not, Google is everywhere. Every click leads to another Google application, widget, or urchin. They have figured out how to permeate every part of the Internet with their message and method. There are no boundaries. They aim to index and control how content is served and analyzed on the net, and they’re doing an incredible job at it.

I was thinking about how this translates to the message and method of the Church. Can it be said of us that anywhere you turn in the community we are there? Can we look at any given neighborhood and see the footprint of a Bible study group or a prayer meeting? Can we go to any park and see the Message being preached? Can we walk into the projects and see the footprint of the church? Do we see a global effort in our community or just a territorial boundary that defines our small finite local effort? Do we have influence with the leaders and officials of our city? Can we say that every part of our region has been permeated with the Gospel where no one in our community can take a step without feeling its impact whether visibly or invisibly?

If a company can saturate a global network with method and message, even more so, we should do the same with the Gospel of the Kingdom.

When Internet Protocol or IP addresses were created 30 years ago, they created them using a 32 bit system. They never dreamed that we would ever run out of IP addresses. But, with the onslaught of smart phones and mobile computing, the world is slated to run out of IP address by next year. The developers of the current IP system never imagined the network would grow this big so they capped it at 32 bit. We are now facing a 128 bit system which would be similar to the USA forcing everyone to switch to HDTV signals. This would mean hardware and software tweaks worldwide.

How many times do we plan too small in our church structure only to find later that we should have increased our structure to match God’s vision and His harvest?

Listen to this interview explaining the IP shortage.

I found this study fascinating and fantastic. I think a lot of churches could learn from this behavioral study how to motivate their staff members and volunteers.

(via @stephenjudd)

Here’s an interesting read about frequency usage of wireless microphones. I might be a good idea to learn the law if your church uses a lot of wireless microphones so you keep your system up-to-date.  Also, it’s a great idea so you don’t get slapped with a fine for interference with the new digital television frequency range.

Read the Original Post at Video Maker