can Christmas bring people together?
Christmas celebrates the coming of Christ into the world. Jesus shows us what God is really like, and shows us what He wants for people. “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.” (Luke 2:14)
Jesus shows that being spiritual is being engaged in the real world. A real Christian faith is so much more than prayer, Bible reading, attending worship services. And, the Christmas story ought to bring peace and good will to all kinds of people.
Yet, only 7% of U.S. churches are racially diverse.[*]
Q: Why? What are the reasons for its being so low?
A: There are three things, and it depends on the group that we’re talking about, but there’s history, there’s culture, and then there’s social networks. [emphasis mine]
Social networks. The sociological factors that affect church life often go understated, often rationalized in theological constructs. Watch the entire interview from PBS Religion & Ethics:
[*] Religion and Ethics interview with Michael Emerson, author of People of the Dream: Multiracial Congregations in the United States; researchers regard a “mixed” congregation as one with at least 20 percent of its members providing racial or ethnic diversity
Aside: for fans of The Office and/or those who can laugh at their own religions, watch the God, Inc. series over at YouTube; note the difference between “really Christian” and “sort of Christian”]
group video chat without software download
[update 12/17] As this chart shows,
tokbox spiked as a trend on twitter just 2 days ago, when Tony Steward and crew gathered 50+ people for a group video chat, and locked up browsers everywhere. Watch this one — it could well be the beginning of a viral movement, and not an anomaly. Would be sweet to see another video from Lauren*. + catching on I tell ya, there’s a tokbox multi-user video chat at churchstaffbreakroom.com now. [/update]
[update 12/17 5pm PT] Tokbox is temporarily down. Another sign of viral movement, eh?
Remember the Twitter whale? Sometimes a website being down means the website is getting more popular and the server can’t handle all the people who want in. Or, a website being down means hardware or software failure. [/update]
I had signed up for a tokbox account months ago, but didn’t have people to try it out with. So my account signup sat buried in the inbox.
Now webcams are going more mainstream. I noticed (almost?) every laptop at the retail store (starting with the letter B) had a built-in webcam, even the tiny 8″ netbook. And then to hear 2 of my non-tech colleagues get webcams and using Skype for the first time in their lives. (!)
Now that webcams are mainstream (and having broadband internet becoming common helps the cause), I googled for a free web-based multi-user video chat web app. I don’t want to mess with software downloads and installation. I don’t think non-techies want to mess with software either. So, to find tokbox again was a treat. Too bad it locks up when all the CPU cycles are eaten up.
aside: yes, Tokbox handed out tacos outside of Yahoo last week to spread info about their job openings, and spread the good cheer
get the latest in church innovations
One of the things that Leadership Network is known for, is its regularly published newsletters about the latest in church innovations. In the past, that has taken on the form of NetFax, Church Champions Update, NEXT newsletter, Into Action, etc. I still hear about them when I meet (older) leaders at conferences.
The current iteration is something called Leadership Network Advance, a free bi-weekly email newsletter with the latest in church innovations. So we’re clearly on the same page, innovation in ministry is any new change of practice that improves performance. Take a look at the current version:
Subscribe to get Leadership Network Advance conveniently delivered to your inbox; every other Tuesday is when you can expect it hot off the (digital) presses. [disclosure: I work at Leadership Network]
Obama deserves mobile web access
While interaction is what makes the web more webby, I’d like to think there are more ways to use the web/ internet.
What I’m thinking of is inbound web content. That is, one-directional internet; you could even call it mobile broadcast.
For years, the President of the United States can freely turn on cable tv to watch CNN or Fox News, so why couldn’t the POTUS pull out a modified blackberry device or gphone or iPhone and get mobile web content?
Having worked at a telecomm company in the past, I’ve heard colleagues say that the said company provided customized telephony to the White House. So, it’s already been a business and government precedence set for custom services to be developed. And, there are cell phones now that get their built-in cameras turned off, right?
It’s reported that Obama will be the first president with a computer on his presidential desk [mobile ver] in that Oval Office. That computer is most likely going to be a MAC. Will Obama using a Mac accelerate its adoption into mainstream? This month was the first time that Windows dropped below 90% market share. [aside: this blog post was composed on 2 Apple products, iPhone and MacBook Pro]
I think he oughta have a unidirectional mobile smartphone to receive near instant inbound web stuff. That’ll keep the questions about the Presidential Records Act moot, and we can keep technological progress progressing. I’m with Bill Brenner, that Obama’s BlackBerry is no security threat: Taking it away could isolate him from the real world.
NOTE: I confess that I haven’t kept up with the news on developments with this issue, so I don’t know if it’s already been resolved. Someone can quickly fact-check and inform me in the comment section.
Yeah, there are possibly many more ramifications and implications that I haven’t considered. Want to voice how frustrating it is for me to see how the laws of the land isn’t able to keep up with the ever-changing ever-developing digital technologies. We’re in an increasingly paperless society.
free webinar on top 10 church innovations
Churches and ministries are constantly having to make adjustments in the midst of a changing society to better serve the people in its surrounding community. It’s good to surface for air once in a while amidst the consumingness of ministry life, and compare notes with what other churches are doing. This Thursday is a free webinar for just that.
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