Computer Question
I’ve been on my computer all day for the first time in a few weeks working on some things for my church.
How many hours a day would you say you’re on your computer?
The New Age – Part 4
Hey, guess what I’m doing right now. Come on, guess, just this once…
I’m creating content, the number 4 way that is changing the world and my world right in front of our eyes. The freedom and ability of all of us to do what we can do when we like to do it at a low cost (if any). So I blog because I like to write. WordPress or blogspot or typepad give us the “freedom” and the platform to blog and to start a conversation about life or religion or politics or any number of topics that we may associate ourselves with. Facebook and Myspace give us the freedom to start a web site about ourselves that can interact with other web sites that talk about our friends. And with google, I can have the weather, a map, all the blogs I read, my to-do list, my news, my calendar, my podcasts from Fellowship Church, and any free itunes downloads I can have access too all on the same page. And it’s all “created by me.” (Everything but the codes)
And this is just the social aspects of it. New academics can join the Wikipedia community and write (or rewrite) essays for the encyclopedia version of things that we want to know about like William Wallace and The War of 1812. New reporters can make a name for themselves without having to interview inside of any newspaper establishment. Computer programmers who want to go beyond the scope of their jobs can do so on their own time solving problems in “open source” software communities. Bible teachers can now wax eloquent with their own studies in places like You Version. Retired? Thats a thing of the past if you want to keep going. I read a story recently about a retired scientist who had retired from a company and then got involved with solving “open source” problems offered on the web by the scientific community. He solved problems to the tune of $25,000 a pop.
And this is in our hands. We now have more tools to do what we love and to create content. Sure we might have to still stay up late and write or solve or search or draw, but the point is this – we can create content and be a part of something bigger than ourselves, and do it with things we love to do. Now the only question is…
Special thanks to those of you who have helped “create” this discussion on where our world is going.
Sunday Morning Recap
The internet on my computer is down,but I had to find myself on another computer to share with all who will listen about yesterday’s service. It was Fellowshipable! Not sure if this is a word, but go with me.
Before the service I thought we were going to get hammered in attendance because so many people have been on vacation and doing their thang, so I brought a few members of the team together (Al and Billy) and told them that no matter how many people we have in this room, we will do what God would want us to do if the room was packed. Then I prayed with them, and felt much better.
But alas, it’s not just that the room was packed, but the spirit in the room was unbelievable. It was electric! Here are some of the highlights of the morning service for me:
*We finished the “One prayer” series. This has been amazing and couldn’t have finished on a better note.
*The band, led by Al, had a smooth sound yesterday right off the bat. They started the service with a jazzy blues jig, and never slowed down.
*Going up to welcome our attenders for that day, and just watching more and more people come in the door. I wonder if North Point has (relatively speaking) thousands of people coming in late. Just to let everyone know, our service really does start at 10:30 am now.
*Getting to worship (with music) without being distracted by a whole lot going on.
*The Production team played this video that showed all the churches participating in One Prayer this year.
I have been saying all along that 1,200, then 1,300, then 1,400, then 1,500 churches were along for the ride, but seeing it scroll in front of them made those numbers come to life!
*The crowd cheering two times in that video: When Fellowship Church’s name scrolled by, and at the end of the video.
*Craig’s message or his prayer for the church was “Make us one” and all I can say was how it evidently impacted our church. Even on video it connected in a way that was clear by the end of the service.
*Our church commiting in their prayer and singing to be one in heart and purpose. POWERFUL!
*At the end of the service during the last two songs, I went to an office and knelt down and prayed for our church. Then the band played and for the first time ever, I couldn’t hear Al and the band – only the church as a whole.
*You need to know that several people in our church community gave up their time to serve on Saturday in the spirit of One Prayer and picked up trash to give back Tacoma St in Worcester for the kingdom of God. We prayed together, and had a great time too. Here are some pics:
*Next week, we’ll have the “Party in the Park”. Our morning service will be outside at 10:30 am! Save for rain of course. Bring a blanket or a chair, and invite some friends. Afterwards we’ll have a potluck dinner with your choice of games or talking or whatever you want to do!
Medium Well
John 15:13
“Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.”
Depending on who you are, you like to be in certain kinds of relationships. You’ve probably said or heard things like this:
“I like having lots of good friends who I can be around all the time” or
“I only have a few very close friends, who I share my life with” or
“Wow, I hate people, and especially you Marty.” (please don’t say this, as I would be greatly upset)
Your relationships make up the person you are, and this is not a bad thing, but no matter which one of these (preferably not the last) you are, let me challenge you to go beyond a cultural mandate and do what people don’t expect of you.
For instance, the first statement is where I live. I used to have tons of friends, and none of these relationships were very deep. Then a friend challenged me on this, and I “worked on it” – developing closer ties to individuals.
“sorry, she doesn’t count in this question, but she can cook up a storm.”
Or if you are one of those people who have a few close friends (not counting your computer, your mom, or a bottle of Jack Daniels), it might be worth going outside of your comfort zone to reach out to more people.
How do you like your relationships cooked?
Monday Moments
Welcome to Monday Moments!
HERE are the guidelines. If this is your first time giving your “One shining moment, PLEASE take time to read them. It will save us both a lot of time.
To join me, do a post today (or a post you’ve written from last Monday to Sunday) sharing something tht has happened to you this last week - anything funny or interesting, crazy, fulfilled, too busy, hilarious, wistful, or any number of out of the ordinary happenings that made you happy or miserable last week. Put a link in your post to this post permalink (not my general URL) and then put the permalink of your post (not your general URL) here at the end of this post. Thanks.
Tell me your “Inspired by the truth” story every Monday…
Yesterday, as I mentioned here, I encountered a virus on my computer the likes of which I haven’t seen for a for about 5 years. I was doing some google searching on “authentic community” in preparation for the next four weeks at Fellowship, and I came across a web site that looked like it “could” be useful, with a video on the front page that said I needed to access a “Flash player” to download it.
I’ve downloaded a flash player or a shockwave player or an adobe reader lots of times and just figured this was another one of those times, which it was not, because when I pressed the button, it brought up a popup that said I had let viruses into my computer and “do I want to run a virus scan immediately?” The immediate answer, by the way, should be no. But in a fit of reaction, I hit yes. Hitting yes to this,and not the first pressed button, was indeed the thing that released the virus onto my computer.
Earlier I was thinking of a good way this could be used as an object lesson or as a point to make about life, but really I just remember how ticked off I was that I could instantly make that decision and allow a crappy virus onto my own laptop, and how I wasted a whole morning trying to fix this mess I created.
So no lesson here today, except to be careful kids, of the buttons you press on your computer. It could end up being more trouble than its worth.
Until next time…
