Party politics and Christianity

There are many dividers: red vs. blue, black vs. white, liberal vs.
conservative, etc. We're in trouble if we as Christians start to
view one as more Christian than the other. I've heard so much in
recent days about both McCain and Obama from Christians that seem to
suggest that Christianity always picks a side and fights for it.
Sorry, but I just don't see that in the Bible.

Here's my brief thought on politics... if postmodernism has any good
side to it, it's this: it can help us appreciate other ways of
interpreting the world, even inside our Christian faith. It at least
acknowledges that there are often more than one way to view things,
more than one interpretation. If we are humble, postmodernism can
correct our dogmaticism a little. I think believers in Christ have
to be careful to first represent who Jesus is, and then humbly hold
to their own opinions. In the heavily mediated society we live in,
KNOWING is hard; we need more humility in our approach to
interpreting the reality around us, especially political reality.
Otherwise, we'll just pick a side and join the shouting match.

In-your-face Online Pastoring: Porn-Again Christian

Mark Driscoll is releasing a book chapter by chapter online for free
about porn and Christian young men. (click on pic above) Besides the need for this
kind of honest approach from Christian leadership, this is also a
good idea because it's free but not pushed in your face... you have
to choose to access it. Pastors in this age need to be creative in
getting God's culture-ideas into the hearts and minds of this
generation... and Mark D. is doing it!

Intuitive computing: speaking into the cloud

Could the future of laptops do away with keyboards? I think so, and I don't think it's very far away. [This picture was found anonymously on some server; it looks like a prototype fusion of a Macbook and an iPhone.]

A couple technologies are really being fine-tuned right now that are
preparing the way for small but completely functional mobile computer/
phones. One is the concept of "cloud computing," where most
information is not stored on the pc anymore but, instead, online.
This allows for devices to be more like windows to knowledge than
warehouses for it. Second, voice-recognition software is getting so
adept that in 10 years typing will be as ancient as typewriters (my
prediction). At least, they will be second place to voice-reg, only
used for privacy.

So here's the central idea behind this post... technology is mimicing
human intuitive practice... touch, speech, etc. Instead of us having
to adapt to technology, technology is adapting to us, so we don't
have to learn how to type or create code. We simply speak to our
device which takes our speech into the air where our ideas float
around and are mixed with millions of other ideas. Anyway, it's
worth keeping an eye on.

New Kinds of Knowledge: The Internet as a Source of Qualitative Study

A new field of qualitative research may be emerging from the marketing/computer science sector. Tags, metatags, and user descriptors on the Internet are creating huge fields of data for researches to study trends and mass user opinions. So, in normal every day terminology, there could be an actual academic approach to studying user behavior on the Internet besides just statistics. Studying trends in the market by qualitatively analyzing tags is bound to transform mass media studies. [Thanks to a new favorite blog, thetrendwatch.com]

Text in church?

Last year, at the Future of Television conference in New York City, audience members could ask questions... and not just in your normal pick and point method. There were several hundred people at this conference! Actually, any person in the audience, at any time, could simply pick up their phone and ask a question via SMS. The questions would be filtered by someone with incredible wisdom and tech savvy, and some questions would be posted to a screen where everyone at the conference could see... prompting the speaker to respond if the audience felt it was a good question.

While this is supposedly cutting-edge, I found out that churches are already doing this! Mars Hill has supposedly done this in their youth services, while a church outside of St. Louis is using SMS in their main service. (Check out the article!) So here's the "postmoderner" question: how is this going to change the dynamic of preaching in the next 10-20 years if this catches on? Think of it! People can ask questions, get involved... and unavoidably, talk to each other during the service! It signifies the battle between inner reflection and constant connection... and yet, transforming the Sunday morning sermon into a conversation might just be the openness outsiders are looking for.

Original intent

When it comes to the Constitution of the U.S., most American Christians are quite adamant about how it is interpreted.  Most would insist that we should follow the original intent of its creators, and it is no different for judicial law, which seeks to protect the law from distorted variations of that intent.  (This article is a good example... http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=29647)

Many Christians would argue that the original meaning of the Bible is preserved throughout time and through the process of interpretation and cultural change... the Word is preserved.  It may be true that truth is preserved, but how easy is it to find that truth?  Many assume the Bible can be taken at face value.  I believe that, for much of the Word, this is true.  But it is also dangerous to assume that we understand or that the truth is there, plain to see.  Every text, even the Bible, requires that every reader interpret its meaning through their own eyes and in the context of their own experiences.  

So, what model of approaching Scripture will work?  If the truth is not always apparent, how do we know original intent?  And is the key to all things in that intended meaning?

The Big Switch

Some people would say that the switch from modern thought to postmodern thought was a big switch.  Others would say it is still happening.  Either way, it intrigues how that switch might play out on the Internet... not so much "Is the Internet a product of this switch?" but... "Can we observe culture change via how people use it?"  

Nick Carr thinks we can... he wrote a book called The Big Switch (no, it's not my term) and his basic premise is that the Internet is changing culture.  How?  Carr stated on the Sept. 25th "Colbert Report" (http://www.hulu.com/watch/36717/the-colbert-report-thu-sep-25-2008) that we are now beginning to think like the Internet in that we are simply open to the random updates and constant buzzing of meaningless/ful news and incessant option of the Internet.  So, we're losing our ability to concentrate.  As ridiculous as it might sound off the cuff, it gives me pause because I do find it a lot harder to settle down and just read a book or contemplate and write/journal.  

Of course, the younger you are, the more this applies to you.  Whether it's happening to you or not, it is happening to the lion's share of a generation, and Christians are gonna have to figure out how to communicate the timeless values of listening, waiting, meditating... no worries, though.  I think there will plenty of people hungry for a bit of inner sanctum.