'Let our gentleness be evident to all.'

Inspiration for the following should go FIRST to God, according to the story's author, Melanie Reed, a writer (and friend) here in Central Indiana...

"A man was walking down a street at night and had no place to go. He was cold and hungry and he was lost. He saw 2 houses next to each other who still had their lights on. One had a cross in the yard but loud angry voices echoing out into the street. He caught part of the conversation. How could he not? The still night air amplified every sound. They were cursing out one of their brothers for having done something they thought he shouldn’t. One said he hadn’t done it. The other said he had. No one was really sure of the facts but they were awfully sure of how they felt about it. The second house had no loud voices, just pleasant music floating above the air. An occasional low voice was heard asking what sounded like a question and then another sounding like it was answering. He thought he heard what sounded like a door shutting very softly as if from a different part of the house maybe farther away from the front where the lights were. And then he looked up just in time to see another light go on in a tiny room near the roof. He smiled as the voices became hushed and gentle while the music continued below. He thought to himself, how dignified. I will go up to that door because I know they will treat me the same way when I enter."

****************

Neil's Ed. Note.... Melanie's story reminds me that our comments, our blogs and our other forms of public internet interactions should be 'seasoned with salt'. And that's easier said than done, given our human tendencies to take advantage of the moment at the microphone.

So let's all pray and work toward Christ-honoring conversations online. When 'hard things' sometimes need to be said, may they be done in private insofar as possible. And when public... for the sake of dispelling significant error... may they always be edifying to the whole body of Christ, and at the very least gracious at all times. And may those few occasions be greatly outweighed by our posts of encouragement as we 'stimulate one another to love and good deeds." (Heb 10).

My cousin Lynda uses an email-trailer that might serve as good advice for us here as well...

"People may quickly forget what you've said or done in this life. But they will always remember the way you made them feel."

"Let your gentleness be evident to all."
(Phpnns 4)

An Evangelical Manifesto?

What's all the ruckus about the recently unveiled 'Evangelical Manifesto'?

Here's a background article -- "Clarifying the Evangelical Manifesto".

And here's the site itself -- An Evangelical Manifesto. Check out the document(s). And watch the interviews.

What should we think of this -- is it significant? Yes. At the very least, it's a stimulus toward some serious reflection & conversation that needs to take place.

Do I concur with the 'manifesto'? Before answering, let me first refer you to 'An Evangelical Response' posted today by Dr. Al Mohler -- a non-signer of the manifesto -- so you can get another point-of-view.

In fact, here are all the 'EVANGELICAL & MANIFESTO' items that I've tagged around the internet recently.

And lastly, my thoughts...

• I'm always leary of something generated by a completely 'pale' group of folks. Apparently there were no African Americans are among the early-signers.
  
  
• Nor were there signers from the blogosphere. [...not counting the signers who are primarily pastors, albeit now blogging pastors] This manifesto is founded among the Christian MSM... the mainstream... the majority voice... current leaders of the Church today... which is 4% effective. [Read on, I'll validate that below.]
  
  
• I wince when I read a 'scholarly' document using the term 'idiots'.
  
  
• I wince when I compare the concise 'Summary' document which attempts to make a cogent argument, with the rambling Manifesto itself which seemingly adds 'something for everyone', much like any stump speech.
  
  
• And I especially wince when I discover it buried a highly significant line of demarcation drawn in the sand of the fuller manifesto, yet without mention in the summary. [read on below]
  
  
• However, like Dr. Mohler, I appreciate the document's objective, and a great deal of what's said therein. But a signature is not a vote of general confidence; rather it's advocating the entirety of what's written.
  
  
• And I agree with Dr. Mohler who effectively asserts that the document's ambiguity does NOT clarify -- thus missing its target.
  
  
• "Evangelicalism must be defined theologically and not politically; confessionally and not culturally."
  
  Hmmmm. Scripture leaves no room for an intellectual faith lacking practice. Thus a true theology absolutely must be evidenced by our actions. And individual practice always has corporate implications. Our neighbors may have little knowledge of what we think or believe; but they can see our practice. And if our practice walks like a duck and quacks like a duck, we can disavow all day our being labeled as a duck, but our actions on the whole define us.
  
  
• And btw, why do our neighbors not define us according to acts of compassion, and concern for their eternal enjoyment of peace with God? Dare I suggest we ourselves created the definitional vacuum and our neighbors simply filled it in according to what they've observed?
  
  
• Nor are we known as 'a house of prayer', as Jesus indicated we should be. Hmmm. Does this at all relate? Maybe we'd better move on and not think about that. Let's get back to politics.
  
  
• In the political realms, any label worth consideration must have big numbers in tow. And a mere 4% demographic slice isn't worth labeling. But let's get honest here. According to Barna Research, only 4% of Americans hold to a 'biblical worldview'. [And btw, thankfully those 4% tend to reflect a high degree of living out their faith transformatively.] Even Barna's reasonably-narrow theological definition for his 'evangelical' category encompasses only a few more percentage-points -- now building the total up to appx 8% of all American adults. But Pew Research and others count self-described evangelicals upwards of 25% or higher. Now we're talking! This 'notional' label is worth political consideration.
  
  My point: The small amount of theologically-defined, practicing evangelicals are seemingly willing to be conglomerated with... and even out-weighed by... the greater numbers of non-practicing, notional evangelicals... in order to be recognized as 'successful'. After all, what pastor in his right mind preaches about the ineffectiveness of the Church? He'd be fired before lunch. But talk about the 42% of Americans professing to be 'born-again', and he can keep his job another year. Aha! We're successful! No need for repentance. Long live King Notional and Queen Status-Quo! And by royal decree or manifesto, we're declared 'free' of cultural accountability. Silence that young lad. The 'dirty little secret' of evangelicalism's invisible outworkings must remain unspoken in this legendary kingdom called the American Church.
  
  Translation: The small number of staunch evangelicals holding to a biblical worldview CAN demonstrate transformation. But 4% is inconsequential politically. Unfortunately though, in order to merge with others and thus attain politically significant numbers, we have to sacrifice evidence of a transformed characterization. Thus the only remaining characterization of the label is a political one. And evangelicals are seemingly too vested in the status quo to actually rebel, revolt, repent, or otherwise bite the paradigm that feeds us.
  
  
• And what shall we think of this paragraph buried in the manifesto yet without mention in the 'summary'...
  
  "All too often we have disobeyed the great command to love the Lord our God with our hearts, souls, strength, and minds, and have fallen into an unbecoming anti-intellectualism that is a dire cultural handicap as well as a sin. In particular, some among us have betrayed the strong Christian tradition of a high view of science, epitomized in the very matrix of ideas that gave birth to modern science, and made themselves vulnerable to caricatures of the false hostility between science and faith."
  
  Wow. Did they really say that in writing and sign it? Ironically, despite apparently being one of these anti-intellectual caricatures, Dr. Mohler surprised them by actually reading the fuller blah-blah-blah manifesto, and noticing for us that we've been denigrated. [That means insulted, folks. I looked it up.] Maybe this is a clue why they didn't seek out any signatures among the African-American community who frequently tend to read their bibles at face-value.
  
  
• Even if we can lay aside misgivings about the framework of the document, and its insults to some of us wanting to simply read & practice what we think we understand God is communicating to us plainly... what about the core of the manifesto's argument for the leveling of the civic playing field?
  
  "In a diverse society, it will always be unjust and unworkable to privilege one religion."
  
  Wait a minute. Our American sense of civility did not somehow evolve via a survival-of-the-fittest principle. It is not the purely secular concept these signers conceive. Rather, it was designed in the early years of the American Experiment as the result of a Christian understanding of good & evil. That is, our version of civility comes from biblical instruction about God's perfect (and patient) sense of love, mercy... and justice. It is NOT a product of a humanistic 'majority rule' mindset. Rather, the majority may be trusted to rule only when adhering to the altruistic principle of looking out for your fellow man: "Do unto others...", knowing you'll end up giving more than you'll receive. [You cannot count on others treating you equally well.] Jesus knew that. And our fore-fathers knew that. And many self-sacrificially died defending that principle.
  
  
• "Thy Kingdom come; thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven." How can we pray this in private, yet advocate for a perfectly level playing-field for all religions... preferring none in the public square. I full well accept for the moment that we live under a compromised constitution; I'm not calling for its overthrow. But I question aloud whether Christian leaders should be heralding a high goal of some concept of sterile civility, absenting themselves from overt advocacy of Christian principles over those of other world religions.
  
  [Subsequent Note: FINALLY! Someone else is raising this issue. See N.T. Wright's article in the Washington Post.]
  
  
• Ok, so let's try to apply the theory espoused by signers of the manifesto...
  
  What are we to think of, and do about, opportunities to right certain societal wrongs... such as abortion-on-demand... or exploitation of the poor, the aliens, the widows, the orphans? How 'civil' would we have been during the Holocaust? Who gets to define 'civil'?
  
  
• Even 'theocracy' needs to be better-defined by the document. Who wouldn't want a community governed by God? So I'm assuming the signers are only referring to the poor use of the term... ie, the one with a negative connotation of the word... a community governed by the Pharisees, for instance. Alternatively, true 'theocracy' is what we pray & work toward... and would never be considered 'sinful' or 'unjust'. Would it?
  
  Dr. Huffman's video interview says "We're people of the Book". So I ask: Does the Book in any sense teach the positive practice or goal of pluralism? Or the unjustness of a truly-Christian nation?
  
  "Blessed is a nation whose God is the Lord." How much do you really love your neighbor? Do you want that for him or her?
  
  
• It's interesting that the signers recognize an inability globally to implement this 'civil public square' goal. Does it betray a practical unwillingness to place their faith so ultimately in mankind? So why be so willing to do it in the U.S.? Perhaps it has something to do with their subconscious reliance on our Christian sense of civility, as founded by our forebears.
  
  
• Letter to Diognetus -- It may be instructive reading for all of us, as relates to the issue at hand.
  
  
• Or this great article by Marvin Olasky, including the excerpt below... [ht: Barry Bowen, ChristianHeadlines.com]
  
  A reading of the New York Times through the mid-1870s shows that editors and reporters wanted to glorify God by making a difference in this world. They did not believe it inevitable that sin should dominate New York City or any other city. They were willing to be controversial. One Times anti-abortion editorial stated, "It is useless to talk of such matters with bated breath, or to seek to cover such terrible realities with the veil of a false delicacy . . . From a lethargy like this it is time to rouse ourselves. The evil that is tolerated is aggressive."
  
  The editorial concluded that "the good . . . must be aggressive too."
  
  
• Or this Colonel Doner article taken from the book, "The Samaritan Strategy". [ht: Barry Bowen, ChristianHeadlines.com]

Consider these scriptures as they may apply... Eph 6:10-20... II Cor. 10:4-5.

Bottom line: 'An Evangical Manifesto' has brought a great conversation to the surface -- thank you. But I can not at all agree with it in entirety.

Jesus is Lord... and I believe we're called to pray and work on earth toward that certainty. To be an early sign-off is to suboptimize the (whole) Great Commission.

I have a small number of friends among these early-signers. If you're reading this, I hope you'll reconsider.


************
[Speaking of 'friends', here's a related post by a friend from my Coral Ridge days. I suspect many of you can imagine Dr. Kennedy's input, were he alive today. He undoubtedly would have devoted an entire Coral Ridge Hour presentation to denouncing this 'manifesto'. After all, he too was apparently among these 'anti-intellectual caricatures' and 'useful idiots'.]

[My followup article... "Evangelical Elite?"]

Wrigley, Snickers, and Buffett... a Winning Combination

Oh, and a World Series win.

Have You Heard?

Here's the 'piece de resistance' of my typical week. It's 'Ask Anything Saturday'... at the Unleavened Bread Cafe...



Special hat-tip to this segment's producer...



Ellen Spencer, Graphics & Design. Ellen was one of our completers of Crossroads Bible College's "New Media for Urban Change" course -- learning to implement today's tools to help transform lives & communities in the name of Jesus Christ.

The 'Ask Anything Saturday' internet-training program is just one of the weekly activities at the cafe, which is a multicultural ministry serving their neighborhood (truly) in the heart of Indy's inner city. At 10am each week several volunteers come have breakfast with cafe neighbors, and get to know them as they interact, asking many questions about the internet. And we tend to learn from each other along the way.

It's a lot of fun as you can see from the video. In this particular case, while we're waiting a few weeks for construction in the community room to finish, we were test-driving a new little camcorder and taking turns with it -- could you tell? LOL. Lots to be learned from this first venture with it, huh? *smile*

These volunteers have become known fondly as the 'Indy Christian Geeks', deploying the 'Each One Teach One' methodology... and thus neighbors now are showing other neighbors how to surf, email, and even publish online using the AskAnythingSaturday.com wiki.

Catch the vision: If you look across the citywide 'Church @ Indianapolis' and see the digital divide, the multicultural divide, and God's eternal divide... all starting to close... you might be seeing just a little of the impact of this little cafe in the heart of Indy.

[Stay tuned... it will also soon be felt on the eastside, as two new community computing centers are joining in... Victory Village Shoppe and the Kingdom Cafe.]

And it's (nearly) all for free. While you have to pay a little for the best pancakes in town, the cafe offers free hugs, free smiles and free wifi. And the training is also free. Oops, I mean $1 million... unless you train someone else. And anyone can help. Or Ask. Any Saturday.

"How To PAY ATTENTION... in an Information Explosion"

[click to the slideshow] [or the video]

Thanks to Scott Wilder creating video-clips from today's BarCamp Indy 2008... thus making this post possible...

My presentation was deliberately scheduled to the be last one of the day, hoping that we'd be able to consider all the new technologies we learned today -- and it was a ton -- yet still be able to be able to distill it all down to the 'useful few' that can truly help us prioritize our daily actions.

At least that was the goal. *smile*

In an interesting twist of 'fate' (providence), my friend Alex Conner presented immediately before me... on virtually the same topic... called "Simplifying Your Life... In Spite of Technology". Alex took the exact opposite approach that I took... LOL... primarily running his daily activities through his MS Outlook. So, you'll see, as the video starts, we're kidding about starting the "First Annual BarFight Indy". LOL.

Enjoy the video (no slides).

Enjoy the slideshow.

[Subsequent note: We cover this topic in "New Media for Urban Change" course, and have now inserted another academic video there which you'll very likely want to see, as well as some emerging articles on the topic.]

Comments anyone?

It's finally here... 'BarCamp Indy 2008' !!!

'BarCamp Indy 2008' is finally here!

Welcome. It's an 'unconference'. It's unconventional. It's unexpensive. We ARE the presenters. We make our own rules. And we pay ourselves -- ie, it's FREE!

And it's all about LEARNING from each other... about TECHNOLOGIES. We have short presentations, each followed by intense fast-paced discussion.

And it's about trying something different -- practicing our flexibility, to enhance our ability to 'innovate'.

You can see more in the wiki today. And stay tuned at BarCampIndy.org.

You'll see there, for instance, that we're STREAMING LIVE TODAY... and we plan to archive videos from today's presentations.

And everyone who's blogging, photo-blogging, video'ing, etc.... is tagging their items as 'BARCAMPINDY'. Check out who's doing what!

*****************

Me personally? I'm blogging & tagging things a number of places.... but actually taking notes in our 'Ask Anything Saturday' wiki as SHOW-NOTES for today's internet-tv broadcast.

Jesus said it first: "Tweet Others...."

[Lord forgive me... but surely you knew it was coming....]

"Tweet others... as you would have them tweet you."

Ok, I've been following some of my innovative friends who are major advocates for Twitter. It's not merely my 'monkey-see-monkey-do' mentality -- sometimes I just don't understand things right off, but I greatly respect the person strongly recommending it. [You ever do that?]

So I signed up at Twitter.com (as 'indychristian' -- what else?). And I've toyed with it from time to time, not really catching on just yet. And frankly, I'm STILL not positive I know how the Lord would want me to use it in my own personal information strategy. But again, it's because I so highly respect these guys ahead of me. So sometimes I somewhat blindly stand on their shoulders. 'Faith', huh? But not BLIND FAITH... they have a reputation of coming-through for me. [Got any friends like that?]

And btw, in the past, that's usually worked out really really well. Choose your friends wisely, my parents always told me. When I've done that, it's worked well. When I haven't, it hasn't.

Ok, so Twitter is incredibly simple. Too simple even, for me to catch onto very quickly as to why it could POSSIBLY be so valuable. If you go there and sign up, you'll see it pretty much allows you to make a one-line message available to anyone who 'follows' you... ie, your group of friends. Think of it perhaps as a status-update. "I'm headed to http://UBcafe.com", for instance. Or... "We just went live at http://AskAnythingSaturday.TV." These 'tweets' can even go through to my friends' cell-phones, if they've set it up to do so.

Seems innocuous enough. Nobody has to 'follow' you if they don't want to. So really, it's only for those who really MIGHT, for who knows what reason, WANT to 'follow' me. Funny thing though -- innovators LIKE to follow others, to see what's fresh, new and should be tried. After all, the speed of life has accelerated -- and the only good way to stay up on important matters is to collaborate with others who prioritize similarly... and share their lives with you.

Hmmm. There's bound to be a Bible lesson here somewhere.

Anyway... today perhaps I understand a little more about the value of Twitter as a quick communication tool among social-connected innovative types. I realized that it MIGHT be a great tool for quickly spreading an important message, and helping it to then spread virally further. I'll tweet a short message and cite a particular site to go to. And whoever believes it's important enough to pass it on, does so.... and adds their link at the bottom of the page being tweeted.

Example: Today I tweeted... "Tweet Others... http://cityreaching.pbwiki.com/Community+TV"... alerting them to the Community TV concept that just went LIVE... [and it's using national collaborative wiki so we could work TOGETHER on it.] If anyone cares, they can likewise pass it on, and add their link at the bottom, effectively endorsing the concept. AND... it's an indication of who are our most 'collaborative' types who like working together to reach our cities for Christ.

In fact... visit "TweetOthers.com" to follow the crowd to whatever site might be spreading virally at the moment. [You'd like to help?]

Oh, oh oh oh oh.... here's a Bible lesson...

"Jesus, thank you for taking the weight of my sins and letting me stand on your shoulders as the only way I could ever hope to reach heaven. May I someday learn and be able to emulate your self-sacrificial nature. Amen.

Video: "Christmas at the Coxes"

Humor: "Facebook For Old Folks"... Feb. 27, 2008

[I wish I could take credit for this, but I can't. Hat-tip to Chris Forbes.
Click to visit the site and read some of the hilarious entries there.]



******************

Those of you who know me know that I have a special affinity for helping train our senior citizens. After all, I AMMMM one according to AARP -- but unfortunately not per my favorite restaurant or the IRS.

So I've been asked to do an internet presentation for our friends at the Mid-North Shepherd Center, February 27th. Come join us. But you'd better bring your ID -- They card! *wink*

Personal Internet Coaching Available...

If you're reading this page, chances are good that you already know my heart for helping 'driven Christians' learn & leverage the power of this new ministry tool we call the internet.


Neil Cox, Founder, IndyChristian.com
Blews.Network, and CityReaching.org

If you recognize a need for getting your skills sharpened, perhaps a $50 house-call could help you get a jump-start toward one or more of these proficiencies...

• email efficiency.
• wireless at home or ministry.
  
• getting your ministry site seen.
• or your sermons heard.
• obtain an online 'spokesperson' for your site.
  
• understand 'why' Facebook... and help you get started.
  
• save & share 'tags' with your ministry staff or even with your church members.
  
• starting your own blog, podcast or video-cast.

In fact, here's a quick win...

• We'll develop an RSS feed for your ministry TODAY...
  to help people automatically stay abreast of new articles, announcements, sermons, photos & videos at your site.
  

[Guarantee: How far we can get in any one coaching session varies person-by-person. But satisfaction is guaranteed for any session -- we're trying to create a situation where there's virtually no way for you to lose.]

Group training rates available.

And we have a ton of other technologists available depending on your needs.

So just call... 317-490-1255 (cell me anytime)

"The Audience Is Up To Something."

Definitions shift. Or perhaps more to the point, people shift. And technologies shift. We tend to lump it all together and tritely call it the 'paradigm-shift'. Or we lean on the current buzzword, 'new media'. It somehow distinguished itself from 'old media' or mainstream media.

Or at least, it used to.





Also read... "The Audience Is Up To Something"... at The Long Tail.

And importantly, some of us discuss it in the setting called 'The Church'... ie, the body of Christ-followers.

The stereotypical discussion has gone like this... Pastors holding the Sunday microphone are being drowned out by blogging members who are often cynical of that highly-controlled institutional voice... and its staid consequences: mediocrity and ineffectiveness in the (real) mission at hand... the Whole Commission.

Seven days a week, these bloggers comprise 'the long tail' of The Church... and some even foretell of a coming 'revolution'... a day of reckoning... when the (not really) 'local' church will become more accountable to the scriptural model we read about in the New Testament. They describe an 'interactive' model of The Church. One where multiple inputs and spiritual gifts are valued.... and made available to each other throughout the congregation. You know, like the Bible describes.

Remarkably, to their credit some pastors have readily embraced this new user-level tool. They've created blogs themselves. And some have become very popular -- their digital voice now reaching many times more listeners than their church microphone.

But allow me to ask for your discernment about the heart and hinge of this very matter...

Question: At what point does a 'blog' become just another controlled institutional voice?

That is, when does it become just another ONE-WAY mechanism? (albeit cleverly leveraging this low-cost, hi-speed tool-of-choice of the common man)

I suggest this may well occur when its sound becomes as finely tuned as their microphone, such that no feedback enters the sound-system. It's a pure stream. The signal-to-noise ratio is superb. And the blog-er is elated.

But is the Church? And is the mission well served?

This week, a USA Today article [ht:MondayMorningInsights] references SBC President Frank Page -- who soared to power on the wings of the blogosphere... but now has "soured on the blogs' incendiary approach to issues of church governance and religious expressions."

Page: "For Christ's sake, stop."

Sure, Frank. Now that blogging has served your purposes. You're now atop the SBC leadership hill. Let's turn off the comments.

Not dissimilarly, popular reformed blogger Adrian Warnock reports... "It is now almost a week since I made the decision to stop comments here on the blog. In the next few days I will also be deleting all the old ones. I have to say that, so far, I have not missed them."

And he goes on to make the stereotypical case of 'the guy who buys ink by the barrel', or the pastor who preaches from a one-way microphone. He's busy. He can't be bothered by the masses who follow him.

Adrian says II Timothy 2:22-26 has encouraged him in this approach. Interesting... What about this portion of it...

"And the Lord's servant must not be quarrelsome but kind to everyone, able to teach, patiently enduring evil, correcting his opponents with gentleness."

Ok, we all realize 'comments' can be troublesome at times. [translation: time-consuming]. But likewise emails. And phone calls. And children. And hospital visits. [...not to mention that thing of the past called 'home visits'.]

So where is wisdom here? Perhaps the same place it's always been...

"Be quick to listen. Slow to speak. And slow to become angry."

Listen to this perhaps... 96% of American adults have spoken. They don't hold to a biblical worldview. [Barna Research]

Given 200 years of 'the American experiment', the traditional church model has become at best, 4% effective. And our cities look like it. Something has to change. And that something is us... the Church.

So I ask you, pastors.... Have you been deploying the best possible learning mechanisms in your church or blog? Research has consistently shown that 'lectures' produce very little 'learning'. Even using the best of technologies, one-way communication is seldom particularly effective. Apparently the best learning styles include 'interactive' participation.

And if that takes more time and energy... well? No, let me instead pose the issue this way...

Pastors... while you're preaching to tens or hundreds or maybe even thousands... what is to be learned from the millions of young people on your back rows (or not in church at all), who are all the while 'texting' each other? Who is the REAL leader? And what is REAL 'leadership'?

Something has to change. And that something is us. The Church. And the way we (ALL, TOGETHER) 'do Church'... 7 days a week...

...connected... and interactive !

Lamentations...

Lam. 1:1 "How deserted lies the city, once so full of people! How like a widow is she, who once was great among the nations! She who was queen among the provinces has now become a slave. Bitterly she weeps..."

The Wiki Encyclopedia of City Reaching

Ok, it's official now -- CityReaching.org has now grown into the "Wiki Encyclopedia of City Reaching".

Make sure you contribute what YOU know about YOUR CITY... as respects the Great Commission there. The goal is to accelerate the mission by being better connected & knowledgeable about what's going on in our cities & neighborhoods.

Vacation: Sail Away

**********************

Photos from the Chesapeake and Baltimore's Inner Harbor

No words are enough.

[Journaling in the wake of the news today that D. James Kennedy has now passed into eternity...]



Twenty years ago my Illinois pastor coerced encouraged me to accompany him to Ft. Lauderdale to a week-long 'evangelism seminar'. When I got there and realized we'd actually be going out into the streets, talking with people about Jesus... I was mortified. But then seeing lives changed in front of my very eyes... my life changed. I came home different. And my life path that week took a hard-right turn... (admittedly with uphills, downhills, and S-curves). What I do today & everyday now is a result of EE helping me learn to share the Good News of Jesus Christ.




[Visit DJamesKennedy.org]

http://DoYouKnowForSure.com

Facebook... Not just a site... It's a PLATFORM

I realize it's perhaps more obvious to some, than to others. But Facebook.com is not just a destination website... it's the Windows of Tomorrow. Web3.0, if you will.



[more later... stay tuned... but not here -- go to Facebook and ADD me as a friend.]

My Church On Trial... The jury's in.

Wondering why I've been so quiet here lately? I've been over trial-blogging at MyChurch.org -- beta-testing it to see if I'd want to recommend throughout our various networks. After all, MyChurch.org is one of the new web2.0 social networking sites specifically for Christians... exactly the sort of new tool which will be helpful in reconnecting the 'Church' here in the 21st Century.



Well.... THE JURY IS IN !!!
It's EVERYTHING I expected and MORE.

Here are the high-level answers why...

• Why social networking for churches will work.
• Why MyChurch for my particular church will work.
  

And here's why I just plain LIKE MyChurch.org...

• You can't help but love the folks that run it. Joe Suh and the whole gang are personable, authentic and truly innovative Christ-followers anxious to make a difference in the way we 'do church'.
  
• It's totally web2.0... and thus the functionality improves as web functionality in general, improves.
• Unlike MySpace, you don't have to put up with a ton of garbage. Or even lots of ads. A number of MyChurch folks also have MySpace sites to be 'salt & light' out there; but much of their real blogging takes place at MyChurch.
  
• And unlike MySpace, you're not just an individual blogger there... you can easily attach your blog to a particular Church of bloggers. [Visit my church's start-up site there, for instance.]
• And they use community-mapping features to identify churches (and the bloggers associated with them) here in your own community. This is more important than most people realize, even!
  
• It's really really easy to blog there.... personally... and also add your post to your church's collaborative set of blogs for the day.
• And because of using RSS feeds, I can also automatically pull in my IndyChristian.com's posts into my blog-posts at MyChurch. Fantastic flexibility!
  

Bottom line...

MyChurch.org is...

"MySpace On A Mission".

Be careful opening items from missionaries !

A missionary friend of ours sent us an email with this in it...



It's now trapped in my LCD screen and I can't get it out !

Help.

*******************
[Nancy... I'm gonna get you for this. LOL. That is, once I figure out how to get it out of there.]

Take a chance. Help me understand... 'random'.

Is 'random' anything like 'magic'?



Somebody please help me understand... 'random'.

I looked it up at Wikipedia...



"The word random is used to express lack of purpose, cause, order, or predictability in non-scientific parlance. A random process is a repeating process whose outcomes follow no describable deterministic pattern, but follow a probability distribution.

The term randomness is often used in statistics to signify well defined statistical properties, such as lack of bias or correlation."

'Random' lacks a cause?

Show me something... ANYTHING.... anything at all in the whole universe that you can absolutely say with confident certainty... "There is NO 'cause' for such & such."

So if I click Wikipedia's 'Random Article' link in the margin... it will somehow generate a page... for which there is no cause or predictability as to the outcome?

Whoa. Dude! Amazing! Presto chango... Page X !!!

How many of you believe that? [I have a little piece of ground in Florida I'd like to interest you in. Email me.]

Might we meet the creator of such a program? Would he agree that there absolutely is no cause nor predictability involved?

A 'random-numbers generator' has a creator. And he knows the cause (and pattern).

There are three possible camps of people who DON'T know the cause or pattern:

• Those who cling to their belief that there absolutely is 'no cause'.
• Those who admit to simply being ignorant of the cause, and don't care to find out.
• And the inquisitive, who see it all as a riddle, and look diligently for the answer.

Oh... and there's one more thing that troubles me...

What does that other thing mean there at the Wikipedia entry...

"Randomness has an important place in science, philosophy and religion." ?

***********************

Author's Notes...

[Much of this sort of thing has driven me to start writing out my own personal 'Science Apologetics' thought-train. That is, document out loud what I believe in this realm, and why. It's been an interesting endeavor -- one I'd advocate. Try writing a cogent apologetic yourself, and let me know what you learn along the way.]

[Subsequent Note: R.C. Sproul has apparently written on this very topic in his little book called "Not A Chance". Click to read the first chapter online. Maybe even watch this video-clip as Sproul interviews Ben Stein. Ht: Tony Kummer, Said At Southern]

What were YOU THINKING !

Ann Coulter


Us.