I read an interesting blog today, written a couple weeks ago here on the homebrewedchristianity.comblog on the future of the church.  I have been thinking and talking to a number of people about this topic a lot lately.

The author of this blog (Deacon Bo) concludes that within the next 50 years there will be a 50% decline in Christians in North America.  Obviously this is speculative, but the reasons he lays out are:

• The majority of our church structures are carry over from a Christendom paradigm, combined with a lack of self awareness of this fact.

• Many Baby Boomers are retiring, and so no longer funding ministries.

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Re-entering my PhD program has caused me to think much about technology.  Two years ago, when I stopped my program, technology and Web 2.0 were at one place.  They have obviously continued to develop rapidly, and are now quite different than they were.

Issues of privacy are no longer as important or highlighted as they once were.  Below are two videos put out on youtube that illustrate the tension between public and private.  The first video is a humorous (yet poignant) looks at what happens when information that we readily display on facebook is asked of people in person.

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“In a world where publishing is effortless, the decision to publish something isn’t terribly momentous.”

In the academic world, when publishing something, one must correctly cite sources, doing thorough research, proofread carefully, edit, proofread again, wordsmith some more, and then finally publish.  There may even be some more editing and proofreading and editing in that process.

In contrast, in the blogging world, one must publish quickly, often, and still write with a fair amount of wisdom and yet brevity, to keep people interested.  I often times struggle with the tension of wanting to put out a blog more frequently, and getting ideas a bit more solidified in my head prior to doing so.  (You may notice this in the infrequency of my posts).

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Freedom! Jesus promised it, William Wallace screamed it, Americans buy it. But even though it’s one of the most used words in America, it seems terribly elusive. Remember what the internet was going to do? Free us from . . . snail mail? Commercials? Desks? Well, I don’t remember exactly, but it certainly was exciting. And liberating! Yeah.  

Fun to see the recent article in the Economist about a new software package called, yep, “Freedom.” According to Freedom’s website (macfreedom.com), “Freedom is a simple productivity application that locks you away from the internet on Mac or Windows computers for up to eight hours at a time. Freedom frees you from distractions, allowing you time to write, analyze, code, or create. At the end of your offline period, Freedom allows you back on the internet.”

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It’s 2009 and we’re all wired.  A lot of people are terrifically proud of how connected they are 24 hours a day.  Call me old fashioned but I’ve decided to put a bit of brake on the fast lane of electronic life.  Read on and let me know if any of this strikes a chord with you…

 

Having just returned from 3 weeks without Internet, I find myself tiptoeing back into cyberspace rather reluctantly.  I’m incredibly blessed that my life and work here in East Africa takes me into places that are beyond the reach of the electronic world.  I’m also blessed that here at my desk in the city of Arusha, I generally do have access, when I need it.  (More or less!)

 

But do I want it? That’s my question as I gingerly open my inbox, my blog, my facebook and my twittering.

Carlos Whittaker's blog, RagamuffinSoul.com reaches more than 7,000 people a day. The guy is on the front lines of the church and its role in a web-driven culture.  He's the Director of Service Programming at Buckhead Church which is one of the three North Point Community Church campuses in the Atlanta area.  He oversees all the Sunday adult experience and design and directly oversees all areas Hosting, Production, Creative, Video, Music, and Programming at Buckhead Church.  He also sits on the creative sermon planning team for Andy Stanley.

..More importantly, from the little I've interacted with him he's a great guy who loves Jesus and seeks the best for His people.

Yesterday was a crazy day for both of us, but we managed to find some time to talk (him from a Starbucks in Georgia and me from my office in California) and via the sweet technology of iChat video. Take a look:

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I just had my first class for the semester at Vanguard University. I teach a class on Addictive Behavior in their graduate psychology program. It's a fun class to teach, but I've noticed an interesting thing over the past five years since I started teaching.