A Different Kind of Demonstration

Tim Schraeder has an awesome post over on his site about a group of Christians who demonstrated at this years Gay Pride Parade in Chicago. This is a great article and I SO appreciate this group, they represent Christ well!!

Read the whole article: HERE

The Voice - New Testament - Book Review

Recently ThomasNelson sent me a copy of The Voice to review. The Voice is from the Ecclesia Bible Society and I wasn't sure if this would be an actual translation (NIV, ESV) or a Paraphrase (Message) and honestly, I still am not sure, I think it falls somewhere between.

I was somewhat skeptical at the beginning as some of the contributors are people who I don't always agree with theologically, however I felt that as a whole this project really came together nicely!

I appreciated the "arts" feel to it. They had contributions from songwriters, poets and story tellers and that really comes across.

It is easy to read and I think would be a great New Testament for many people. I don't think I would use it as my regular "Study Bible", but when I just want to sit down and read The Word, I think it could be perfect!

Overall I felt like it came across as very readable and very poetic. It does take some getting used to as some of the phrases have been changed, for example: "Messiah" is "Liberating King" - Nothing I disagree with but it can be a bit of a change.

I would say that if someone is looking for a fresh, readable New Testament, The Voice would be a good option.

You can find out more about The Voice at their website: www.hearthevoice.com

The Catholic Church gets on board with the iPad

Here is an article that was released today about how the Catholic Church is starting to use technology in their services.

I find this pretty interesting because most people would look at the Catholic Church and say that much of what they do isn't relevant to a modern world and this is an interesting approach to try and "update" the way that some things are done.

Here is a link to the article: iPad coming to church alters with daily missal app

How would it make you feel if your pastor got on stage with an iPad instead of with his paper notebook and printed bible?

Mobile Web & Social Media

A study came out today that showed 22% of the time people are on the web they are interacting with Social Media (Facebook, YouTube, Foursquare, Twitter.) Also, 1/3rd of people accessed the web via a mobile device in 2009. With these stats, why do so many businesses, organizations, non-profits and churches do such a poor job using these tools? Just "having a website" may not be enough anymore. You need to communicate with people the way that they are communicating.

Obviously mobile websites and social media campaigns aren't a good fit for everyone, however I think that overall they are an under-utilized form of communication.

Most businesses would say that having a website is very important, however 1/3rd of all web access is being done from mobile devices, yet VERY few businesses have a mobile website. Why is that?

Here is a great example of a mobile website: LifeChurch Mobile - It is simple, easy to use and mobile friendly. Accessing complex website from mobile devices can be a pain, and these basic mobile sites make it FAR easier for your audience to interact with you. You can also view their normal website here: LifeChurch

What about Social Media? Successfully using Social Media is more than just starting a Facebook page. That can be a great start, but it is just the tip of the iceberg.

Currently Facebook, YouTube, Blogger, Twitter and Wordpress are all among the Top 20 most accessed websites. It is obvious that this is one of the main ways that people are communicating.

Do you know of a business, organization, church or non-profit that is doing a good job using Social Media or Mobile Web to interact with their audience? Do you think that these are important tools? How would you like to see them used?