Month: January 2008

Social networking and the church

So I don’t know if you’ve noticed or not – but there’s this phenomenon going on around you – Web 2.0.
I don’t know that anyone’s really settled on a definition of this new wave of Internet sites but I think everyone can agree on what it’s not – stagnant, outdated websites that simply push information onto people, rather than allowing them the opportunity to pull the information they want/need.

Think about sites like Flickr, YouTube, Myspace, Facebook, Wikipedia and Twitter where there’s a broad wealth of information and content that is typically user driven and user created. No more Mr. Corporate America telling people what they will and can’t read. Users are sharing content and connecting in new amazing ways.

Last week as Laurie and I were out and about I received an update via txt message from my mate Thomas over in Scotland. He was watching the final episode of 24, Season 6 with his wife.
I commented that I knew more about Thomas than most of my friends who live within a 30-45 mile radius of my home — and Thomas and I have never met in person. Thomas later commented that he knows more about Laurie and I than he does our next door neighbor – maybe a good thing and a bad thing.

As part of my job here at DCCCD we’ve been discussing our district’s and specifically our department’s Intranet presence. I was forwarded an article (must be a member to read) yesterday from Communication World that suggests most Intranet sites are built around early 1990 standards, not the new Web 2.0 ideas. I would hardily agree – at least of the few that I’ve seen.

Most companies chose to block Web 2.0 sites and applications from their users – I’m sure Laurie can give you an earful on how annoying that is for her where she works. She’s now blocked from visiting our own personal blogs and sites at work. She has to use a work around by using a VNC viewer to access the web over her computer and our DSL at home – very clever on her part.

The article in Communication World also suggests that because these Web 2.0 platforms work so well, people are finding their own work arounds for sharing information and building communities – even work related communities.

So what about our churches? Do we know folks we’ve met through Myspace or Facebook better than those around us at the ultimate community – our own church? And can churches use Web 2.0 ideas to build community – or should they?

After reading the article in Communication World it occurred to me, there may also be some Open Source Social Networking software out there. Sure enough – there is.
I found Elgg which looks like it’s super customizable (and also appears to have their entire website built around a Wiki). Could churches use software like Elgg to build their website, or at least expand on their current website? Or should churches simply build communities around social networks that are already out there?

I tend to believe we should be where the people are – not pulling them into separate realms or worlds but I don’t know. Maybe something like encounterSpace or iencounter would be beneficial. Right now our average attendance is between 180-250 each week. By far MySpace seems to be the most used social networking site used by folks at our church. We have 75 MySpace friends, we have 21 members in the encounter Facebook group and 4 or 5 people who have submitted photos to the encounter Flickr group. But would those numbers increase and communities form on a separate network “exclusive” for encounter folks? I don’t know. I participate in a semi-social networking site for geocaching but I don’t typically seek out other geocaches on places like Facebook and MySpace. Yet while my university offers an Alumni Social Networking portal, I’m more likely to connect with folks from UMHB through MySpace or Facebook. What do you think?

Huckabee on Colbert

Former Arkansas Governor and Presidential Candidate Mike Huckabee will be a guest on Comedy Central’s “Colbert Report” with host Steven Colbert on Wednesday, January 9, 2008.

Governor Huckabee will discuss his recent victory in the Iowa Caucuses, success in the New Hampshire Primary, and growing momentum for the campaign. (Check local listings.)

Looking forward to this. He was great on The Daily Show and Leno.
Haven’t watched the Letterman show yet but I’ll be sure to add this one to the DVR as well.

Understanding the Gospel

Josh sent me this via e-mail over the weekend. I’m assuming it was written or spoken by Rob Bell – but I can’t guarantee it was since I no longer subscribe to the magazine. Either way – love this… love it!

“We understand the Gospel to be how you are going to break yourself open and pour yourself out for the healing of the world.”
Rob Bell, quoted in an interview with Relevant Magazine, Jan.-Feb., 2008.

I think the problem is that when people say “church,” many mean religious goods and services where you come and there’s a nice inspiring talk, good coffee in the back, snappy music and everything ends up fine. Jesus speaks of His people who are willing to suffer and die so that the world can be healed – that’s an entirely different proposition. For us [at Mars Hill], if you can resolve the sermon in the course of the church service, then the sermon has failed. If you can resolve what’s being talked about just by listening to it, then something’s seriously wrong. The only way to resolve the church service you just experienced, and specifically the sermon, is that you’re going to have to go and wrestle with it and then live it out. Our interest is not in providing goods and services that will leave you with a well-packaged religious experience. We understand the Gospel to be how you are going to break yourself open and pour yourself out for the healing of the world.

A couple of years ago somebody I love very much, somebody very close to me, was addicted to cocaine. He was wrestling with suicidal thoughts, addiction, and was in a downward spiral. He was not going to make it. A group of us who love him begged him to come to my house. He came over, and we all sat in a circle in my living room and begged him to get help. We literally pleaded for his life. One of the guys in the circle said, “I’m here. I’m going to be with you every day through this.” Another person in the circle said, “You know what? You can come live with me. I struggled with addiction, and I know what you’re going through trying to get clean. You can have the downstairs bedroom in my house, and I’ll make sure you get up every day. I’ll make sure you get to recovery meetings.” Eventually, he was able to get clean, and since then has totally turned around.

To me that is church. Church is when you are sitting in your living room with people who would give their lives for each other. So I don’t have any time or tolerance for nice services where we feel good about ourselves and give a little bit of our money to some people over here or there. To me, church is the people whom you are journeying with, and I think we are already seeing all sorts of new understanding of what that looks like. It has nothing to do with the building you’re meeting in; it has nothing to do with the name. It has nothing to do with how great your website is – it’s about the new humanity. It’s about people connecting with each other at the deepest, deepest levels of our being.

You have to challenge everything, and people should challenge Mars Hill. We have these giant services with thousands of people, and I think that public gatherings beyond 10 or 20 should be questioned.

It’s about to get fun!

Ok… so remember some of my tech goals for this year?

How about this one: Find out how to combine multiple RSS feeds into one

Turns out there are multiple third-party sites that do this for you – but none seem to be backed by any big players. I know – I’m picky. I also couldn’t find instructions on how to build my own application with PHP or other code languages.

But then… (cue the Hallelujah chorus) … I found Yahoo Pipes! I’ve seen other people post about the site before but didn’t see a use for it at the time and ignored it. But I think Yahoo Pipes will be the answer I’m looking for – for now.

I’ve already created a new feed for all you RSS junkies. The feed combines my blog feed, my Flickr feed and my Twitter feed. I suppose I could include an RSS feed from my Wiki but by the stats on the Wiki site, I doubt many of you are interested in it.

I’m also building an RSS feed that combines all things Casa de Blundell. With this feed you’ll be able to see Laurie’s latest blog posts, my Flickr pictures, her Flickr pictures, my latest blog posts and my Twitter posts (as well the friends I follow) all from one RSS feed. The other cool feature is they (should) all be sorted by the order they’re posted. So if I post a blog at 8:03 a.m. about last night and Laurie posts a blog at 8:05 a.m. and a picture at 8:07 a.m. you’ll be able to see right away without having to visit multiple websites or scan multiple RSS feeds.

Overkill? Probably. But I figure if it’s there – why not make it available.

So if you’re dying to get started, simply click on the link below and subscribe in your favorite RSS reader. We’ll run these pipes for a few weeks and see how the interest is. Maybe we’ll keep it going, maybe not. Who knows.

Jonathan’s RSS feed
Casa de Blundell RSS feed
My Yahoo Pipes Profile
Learn more about Yahoo Pipes

Justin Farmer to leave WFAA

Uncle Barkey reports that half of WFAA’s (Channel 8 ) newly joined morning anchor team will be heading back home to Atlanta.

“Hometown girl” Cynthia Izaguirre returns to the city that raised her on the same day Justin Farmer decides to go home home again, too.

Except that Belo8 wasn’t planning on his surprise departure from the station’s increasingly important early morning Daybreak. The announcement came just a few hours after Farmer and Izaguirre had teamed for the first time on Friday’s program. They were supposed to be teammates for years to come.

“This isn’t about leaving WFAA,” Farmer said in an email sent early Monday morning. “This has been a great ride on many fronts. This is about going home to WSB in Atlanta. I learned to shoot and edit in that place. I was born and raised in Atlanta. My family and I thought long and hard about this decision and make it with conviction. With that said, I am glad to have a number of months left at WFAA. This place is all class and Cynthia and I have a lot of work to do.”

Fast and Easy Pizza Dough and Sauce

We haven’t posted any new recipes lately but we do have several new ones we’ve tried that we really liked – just have to take some time to post them. I need to get Laurie to post her spaghetti pie recipe, potato casserole and toffee recipe before too long. Although she may want to keep those as “family secrets.”

But here’s a nice quick recipe I found today that I want to try out. I’ve got a good recipe for pizza already but this one looks good as well

Via wise bread:

Pizza Dough (15 minutes for prep)

  • 1 teaspoon rapid-rise yeast (if you use the kind that comes in packets, you need about 1/2 of a packet per batch of dough)
  • 2 teaspoons kosher salt
  • Your favorite pizza spices — I use about a teaspoon each of garlic, dried onion, basil and ground black pepper
  • 1 1/2 cups water
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil, plus an extra teaspoon
  • 3 cups all-purpose flour (plus extra as needed)

In my largest mixing bowl, I combine the yeast, salt, and spices. I add the water and 2 tablespoons of olive oil and give it a quick stir. I add the flour a cup at a time. After the second cup, I usually can’t stir in any more flour and have to switch to kneading it in. I knead until the dough is smooth. If the dough is too sticky I add flour in slowly until it smooths out. I pour the remaining olive oil into the bottom of the bowl and roll the dough around until the oil coats the outside of the dough. I cover with a damp cloth and stick the whole bowl out of the way to rise. It should double in about 2 hours.

For pizza, I preheat the oven to 500 degrees Fahrenheit. I form balls out of the dough and roll them flat on a floured surface. I place the pizzas on a lightly greased baking shet and pop in the oven for about 15 minutes. The cooking time entirely depends on the thickness of your crust and how many toppings you pile on — thin crust pizzas can take as little as 8 minutes.

For calzone, I preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Set up is essentially the same up to the point when I start adding toppings. Toppings go into the middle of the dough and the dough gets folded over them. I then pinch the edges shut. If they aren’t staying closed, trying running your finger over the edge with a little water, then pinching. I then bake them for about 30 minutes.

Read more (including the sauce recipe)…