Digital Worshiper

Serving Others is Fun! Who Knew?

noreply@blogger.com (Gabe Smith) — Mon, 19 Jul 2010 13:00:00 +0000

Before the onset of summer, I decided to find some places to volunteer my extra time. I have been serving in our student ministry at Fellowship Bible Church Arapaho for some time now, but recently our student pastor has taken a position at another church. This has necessitated our adult volunteers to step up and take on some more responsibilities. So this summer, I have been trying to spend as much time with the students as I can, and it's been a blast!

This morning Amy, Malcolm and I are headed out with some high school and jr. high students to serve a local ministry called Network to stock some of their food shelves. We have done it before and had a great time. It can be fun to serve others! Who knew?

Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers. - Galatians 6:10

So... Should the Episcopal Church Go out of Business?

noreply@blogger.com (Gabe Smith) — Thu, 20 May 2010 14:08:00 +0000

Should the Episcopal Church go out of business? That's the question George Clifford asks over at Episcopal Cafe, and I have to say it's an intriguing question. The church has been having problems for decades as it has gone through an identity crisis of sorts. In recent years, the factions within the church have started to splinter.

Photo by Metrix X under creative commons license.

This whole discussion is important to me. I've mentioned in passing that I grew up in the Episcopal Church and that my extended family is Episcopalian. Tomorrow, I will tell you more about my experience with the Episcopal Church, but this post is going to be long enough already. So, let's look at some selections from George's article.

From a sociological perspective, the Episcopal Church (TEC) has suffered both a striking numerical loss in membership (almost 30%) and an even larger decline as a percentage of the nation’s population (almost 60%). In 1960, TEC had 2.9 million members, equaling 1.6% of the U.S. population. Forty-eight years later, TEC had fewer than 2.06 million members, or only 0.65% of the U.S. population.

There are probably hundreds explanations for why the Episcopal Church has seen this decline in members over the years, but I would argue that this may not tell the whole story and that the facts may actually be much worse. Many non-denominational churches count attendance rather than membership because it is a more accurate representation who how many people are actually coming to church during any given period of time. If almost one million people are no longer members of the Episcopal Church, the actual attendance figures may be much lower than that.

The median average Sunday attendance in TEC congregations was 69 in 2008, continuing a long-term decline. My point is not that small congregations are of less value than large congregations are, but that small congregations necessarily devote a far greater percentage of their resources to maintaining their physical plant than do large congregations. In fact, keeping the building open and maintained often consumes such a large portion of available revenue that insufficient funds remain to pay clergy adequately, let alone fund ministry and mission programs. The building, instead of being a means to an end, becomes the congregation’s de facto raison d’être.

This problem is not confined to the Episcopal Church. The church where I attend made cutbacks in staff and missionary support recently due to financial issues. Church leaders are constantly discussing the wisdom of buildings as they relate to finances, but the Episcopal Church may have a unique culture that would hinder its ability to flourish outside of the traditional church setting. For example, on any given Sunday, I could probably find thousands of young churches who meet in gymnasiums, schools, and civic centers. I don't have the figures, but I would be surprised if any of those churches were Episcopalian.

First, fifty years from now the church in the United States (its worship, community, structure, facilities, and leadership) will almost certainly look vastly different than today’s church. The shift away from the way of being church that I personally cherish is already underway.

The problem with the Episcopal Church is not only due to external challenges as the church is dealing with internal struggles too. Just this past weekend, the Episcopal diocese of Los Angeles ordained the first openly lesbian bishop. The Episcopal Church is changing. Unfortunately, it's changing in the wrong areas and into the wrong direction. George understands that the forces of change are internal as well as external.

In the last couple of decades, thousands of mostly non-denominational congregations, many with rapidly growing membership and diverse patterns of being church, have emerged. Living in denial benefits neither God nor the growing non-Christian majority. Pro-actively adapting to a rapidly changing context and constituency will afford the church more leeway in defining and shaping its identity and form than reactively struggling to survive.

Many of these non-denominational churches have seen exponential growth and have not made the compromises that the Episcopal Church has. In my experience with the Episcopal Church, the church has not adopted a culturally relevant method of communicating the gospel message, but it has attempted to make itself culturally palatable by compromising on important theological and political issues. The point that George is making is that the church needs to adapt. I would argue that it's attempting to adapt, but is doing so in the wrong areas.

Second, TEC is not alone in facing these challenges. Other Churches – the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, the United Methodist Church, the Presbyterian Church (USA), and the United Church of Christ to name a few – have experienced similar, large declines and face parallel challenges.

And what do these denominations have in common? Generally speaking, they are primarily traditional churches who resist aesthetic changes, but seem apathetic to major changes in polity. They have shown signs of being willing to compromise values before compromising methodology. (I know, I know. Not all congregations in these denominations fit this description.)

Third, the real work of the Church – becoming God's people by striving to increase the love of God and neighbor – occurs primarily in local congregations... most of what happens at the diocesan and national levels is “overhead,” essential as a means to an end but not, per se, why the Church exists. Bishops, for example, perform critical tasks teaching, confirming, ordaining, organizing and deploying ministries but those instrumental tasks support the life and work of local congregations. As much as I love and appreciate my bishop, my parish does not exist to support him. Similarly, most diocesan and national staff offices exist as a means to support the life and ministry of local congregations.

This describes the difficult balance of denominational churches. For the benefits that the denomination offers, do local congregations suffer? I don't have any data to back this up, but I would guess that when the economy is strong, the local congregation and the denominational higher-ups are both clicking along pretty well together. But as the money dries up, or attendance overall declines significantly, the local congregations no longer have the funds to operate their own ministries, much less support the bureaucracy that was designed to help them achieve their purpose in the first place.

Imagine … several small, geographically adjacent congregations of various Churches laying aside their idolatry of buildings and accoutrements to unite as the people of God, worshiping in homes, served by a single member of the clergy, and using their consolidated resources to engage in expanded ministry and mission.

How is this vision different than what many non-denominational churches and seminaries are already doing? Many non-denominational church plants start as house churches or at least meet in shared spaces like schools and are served by a single pastor.

Imagine … large and medium size, geographically adjacent congregations sharing a single physical plant while retaining their distinct identities, cooperating in diverse projects that might include feeding the hungry, offering different styles of worship, establishing an institute for lay spiritual formation, etc.

Larger non-denominational churches have congregations from various backgrounds, but I don't know if this is what George is promoting here. It sounds more like many churches meeting in one location (not to be confused with the satellite church model of one church meeting in many locations.) I'm not sure what this would look like if various churches were meeting in the same building while "retaining their distinct identities." I have heard of smaller churches joining larger churches, but rarely are they encouraged to retain their identities. Please leave me a comment if you know of a church that meets in this way. I would love to learn more about it.

Imagine … seminaries and judicatory staffs of different denominations consolidating to reduce expenses on physical plant and internal administration while better serving their constituent congregations.

At Dallas Theological Seminary I had classmates from dozens of different denominational backgrounds, and though we might have differences in opinion on church polity or methods of worship, we could not have been more unified on the fundamentals of the faith. Again, I don't know if this is what George is promoting, but it sounds pretty similar to what is already happening.

From where I stand, which is admittedly on the outskirts of the Episcopal Church, the church needs to find where it can adapt the methods without adapting the message. I would argue that this is true for any church.

Three exit questions:

1) Is the future of the Episcopal Church really as bleak as George makes it out to be?
2) What can other denominations and non-denominational churches learn from the struggles that the Episcopal Church is facing?
3) What are some ways that your church has adapted or needs to adapt in order to address cultural shifts?

I have not commented on the whole article, so do yourself a favor and go read the whole thing. George raises some interesting ideas for the future of the Episcopal Church.

Video: Missional Church... simple

noreply@blogger.com (Gabe Smith) — Tue, 18 May 2010 13:35:00 +0000

Here is a video that gives a pretty basic description of the missional church. Admittedly, it doesn't cover all the nuts and bolts of missional ministry, but, as the title suggests, that is not its purpose. When people talk about the "missional church," it can sometimes come across as being overly critical of "other" churches. I could see how people who are invested in attractional ministries might take offense to that video even though I don't think it was attempting to be critical.

Does it have to be an either-or thing?

Maybe attractional ministries can still bring people in to hear the message of Jesus Christ while people are going outside of the church walls to share the gospel.

This Video Has 5 Million Views?

noreply@blogger.com (Gabe Smith) — Tue, 11 May 2010 14:00:00 +0000

When archeologists in the future examine our civilization, they will not debate what signaled the beginning of our decline because they will unanimously agree it was when this video passed 5 million views on YouTube.

Yes, I know it was posted last fall. Mercifully, I was protected from this video until tonight.

I'm not an Apple Fanboy, but Droooooooool......

noreply@blogger.com (Gabe Smith) — Tue, 20 Apr 2010 14:24:00 +0000

Gizmodo has an iPhone. I know, I know, EVERYONE has an iPhone... except me. :`(

I think it's clear that I'm not a fanboy, but this isn't just any iPhone. It's the new iPhone that Apple hasn't released yet.

What's new

• Front-facing video chat camera
• Improved regular back-camera (the lens is quite noticeably larger than the iPhone 3GS)
• Camera flash
• Micro-SIM instead of standard SIM (like the iPad)
• Improved display. It's unclear if it's the 960x640 display thrown around before—it certainly looks like it, with the "Connect to iTunes" screen displaying much higher resolution than on a 3G
• What looks to be a secondary mic for noise cancellation, at the top, next to the headphone jack
• Split buttons for volume
• Power, mute, and volume buttons are all metallic

What's changed

• The back is entirely flat, made of either glass (more likely) or ceramic or shiny plastic in order for the cell signal to poke through. Tapping on the back makes a more hollow and higher pitched sound compared to tapping on the glass on the front/screen, but that could just be the orientation of components inside making for a different sound
• An aluminum border going completely around the outside
• Slightly smaller screen than the 3GS (but seemingly higher resolution)
• Everything is more squared off
• 3 grams heavier
• 16% Larger battery
• Internals components are shrunken, miniaturized and reduced to make room for the larger battery

I'm sure the throngs of Apple's followers will read things like "3 grams heavier" and "Tapping on the back makes a more hollow and higher pitched sound" as features, but a better camera with a flash and front-facing camera are a few much-needed improvements.

With the new squared design, does anyone else think it looks sort of Droid-ish? Gizmodo even calls the new design "industrial." Motorola spent a lot of money positioning the Droid as the tougher alternative to the "prissy" iPhone. Perhaps Apple is trying to combat that image a bit. Then again, we're talking about a company who called this a computer.

And until Google Goggles comes to iPhone, even the new iPhone will still lack a certain level of coolness. Oh well. Droooooool.

A Note From a Father-to-Be

noreply@blogger.com (Gabe Smith) — Sun, 04 Apr 2010 13:00:00 +0000

I don't recall if I've mentioned it on this blog or not, but my wife and I love missionaries. Other ministries are wonderful, but in many ways, I see missionaries as being on the front-lines of the gospel, taking the message of Jesus Christ to people all over the world. We love missionaries, we respect them for the work they do, and don't tell them, but in many ways we're jealous for the work they get to be a part of on behalf of our King.

One missionary family in particular are Brad and Lindsey Bridges who are preparing to go to Uruguay with CAM International, and, at the same time, prepare for the birth of their first child within the next few days. I graduated from Dallas Theological Seminary with Brad, although he claims he graduated first since they went in alphabetical order. Lindsey beat both of us across the stage by a couple of years though!

Brad wrote a letter to his soon-to-be-born daughter that I want to share with you. In light of Easter 2010, the many changes the Bridges family will face over the next few days and months, and the amazing blessing this is after Brad and Lindsey faced years of infertility, I'm not sure if this could be any more perfect than it already is: A letter entitled simply "Dear Baby Bridges"

Dear Baby Bridges,

I love you. I can't wait to hold you. For years your mother and I have dreamed about the opportunity we have in the next week. In fact, I have a tear coming down my face just thinking about you.

About 3 years ago, your mommy and I were sitting at Olive Garden in Lakewood in Dallas, TX (its now called Alibaba). It was your mom's birthday, I told her I had a surprise birthday gift. After 3-4 gifts, I notified your mom that the last gift wasn't wrapped up. I asked her if we could start trying to have you. She smiled. She cried. She got so excited that I could tell she'd received an amazing gift. She graciously gave me time to get ready and I was ready.

After a long road of infertility that included some of the most painful moments of our lives (Surgery #1, Surgery #2, Review of 2009), we found out last August 2009 in Estes Park, CO at the YMCA of the Rockies that you were alive. You were growing inside of mommy. You were really, really, really little. But you were alive and we loved you already. You see, we'd been looking forward to you for years if not decades.

Over the last 9.5 months (or about 40 weeks) we've seen pictures andvideos of you swimming in mommy's belly. Today we saw your toes, ears, hair, head, spine, femur, breathing, and more at the doctor's office. He told us you're a gymnast. You've flipped inside of mommy. They call it breech. I don't really know much about it other than that your head is under mommy's ribs and your feet are below her belly button. You are adorable in there.

The real reason I'm writing you is to tell you about what's going on right before your birthday. We're not celebrating the birth but the death and resurrection of Jesus. You see, Baby Bridges, when you are born, you have something called original sin (Romans 5:12-21). There was this guy named Adam (see Genesis in the Bible) who sinned against God (ie he didn't follow God's instructions). Because of his sin, we are born and you'll be born with a sin nature.

As much as we'll look at you feel like the day you get here is perfect, it won't be. It will be a wonderful and a scary day. Even though you'll look innocent, you'll be born guilty because of Adam. We are going to be reading to you about Jesus. He's the guy that on Good Friday 2010 years ago died on a cross for you.

Scary huh? But don't be scared. He loved, loves, and will always love you (even more than us). He didn't just die though. On Sunday we'll celebrate his resurrection. That's a big word, I know. It just means that he said "bye-bye" to death. He obliterated death. He conquered it. He's more powerful than death.

Soon we'll be reading you some books by a friend of ours, Joey Allen, titled Big Thoughts For Little Thinkers where you'll here this same story. He's a good story teller and he draws funny pictures too. In the books, you'll learn the Gospel message: Jesus died for your sins Baby Bridges and He rose from the dead. That's right! He died for you and rose for you.

We love you, Baby Bridges. But He loves you more. He died for you. The most important thing you could ever do for your mommy and daddy is to place your trust in Him. You'll be hearing much more about him (even more than about the Tarheels).

We couldn't be more excited to welcome you into the world. Your mommy will definitely cry, you just wait. Mimi and Wally, Papa and Nana, and all your cousins and aunts/uncles can't wait to see you. You will melt our hearts. But this weekend our focus is on remembering the impact Jesus has had on us and so many others.

Know that we are not only praying for your safety but your salvation as well. Although we love you, He loves you more than we ever can. He's risen and you are coming.

See you soon, Baby Bridges.

Daddy

Brad, you can't do stuff like this. You're making the rest of us other daddy's look bad, and you haven't even changed a diaper yet! Thank you for sharing this letter to little Baby Bridges. We can't wait to see her soon!

Missionaries need your prayers and support. Please pray for Brad, Lindsey, and Baby Bridges as they navigate some fun changes in the next few days.

On another note, I'm not above begging. Brad and Lindsey are the real deal. They love people, and they love Christ. Both of them have an excellent handle on communicating the Word of God to people, and a passion to see transformed lives. As I am writing this they are looking for 5 more people to partner with them at $100 per month. Please consider helping out in whatever way you can. I know it would be a blessing to them and a blessing to you as well.

If you'd like to learn about Brad and Lindsey's journey or would like to know more about their ministry, be sure to check out their blog or contact Brad on twitter. Also, please prayerfully consider partnering with Brad and Lindsey. You can email Brad directly or you can donate through CAM International's secure online gift form.

Book Review: Buried Alive by Roy Hallums

noreply@blogger.com (Gabe Smith) — Wed, 31 Mar 2010 01:32:00 +0000

What would you do if you were held captive for 311 days? What if your captors placed a hood over your head so that almost the entire ordeal was spent in nearly complete darkness? What if you were placed in a small underground holding cell that was cemented shut for days on end?

Roy Hallums, unfortunately, knows the answers to those questions. In Buried Alive, Hallums recalls the 311 days he was held hostage in Iraq. He recalls being moved from place to place, keeping track of the days by listening for the morning and evening prayers, and the physical, mental, and emotional trauma of his captivity.

The first thing that stands out when reading this book is how quickly it jumps into the action. So many other stories like this would include several chapters leading up to the kidnapping, but the reader knows something big is coming when the first line of the book reads "The traitor's name was Majid." Through the course of the kidnapping and captivity, the reader learns about how Hallum's family in the United States dealt with the news of his capture, and the reader also learns a little bit about how the United States military and intelligence agencies deal with these types of situations.

"Entertaining" is not a good word to describe a book like this, but it did keep me turning the pages late into the night a few times. The pacing of the story helps to break up the emotionally difficult portions of Hallums ordeal by changing focus from Roy to his family every few chapters. The writing is not complicated, but I felt like this helped the story move as if Roy Hallums was telling his story in person.

Buried Alive will gives the reader a cursory understanding of the hostage-taking business in Iraq and illustrate some of the cultural differences between Iraq and America. One should not expect anything too profound relating to these topics as that is not the focus of the book, but it does help the reader to better understand the situation Roy Hallums faces during his captivity.

Although Thomas Nelson published this book, I did not notice any overt spiritual component to the story. Other readers may find this frustrating, however I found this surprisingly refreshing because the story is powerful enough on its own.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from Thomas Nelson Publishers as part of their BookSneeze.com book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Clothing Optional Church

noreply@blogger.com (Gabe Smith) — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 16:35:00 +0000

I have long defended various approaches to ministry. Maybe I'm a prude, but I don't think I can defend this one.

(HT: Museum of Idolatry)

Unfortunate quote: "I'll put our chapel up against just about any other church around."

Umm.... please don't.

How We Ninja'd Facebook to Connect With Students

noreply@blogger.com (Gabe Smith) — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 14:45:00 +0000

When I started volunteering with my church's student ministry, our student pastor Jeff Jones mentioned to me that we need to find a way to use Facebook to keep in touch with students more. We had a Facebook group, but it wasn't really achieving the desired goals. Here was the issue and how we solved it.

Issue 1: Groups vs. Pages
The Facebook Groups predate the Fan Pages and groups, in my opinion, are not nearly as powerful as pages for a few reasons. (Pages still don't have all of the features that I would prefer, but they seem to work better than groups.)

Groups are too passive in relation to the people who are members of them. They have discussion boards, picture sharing, and links, but the user has to actively seek out the group page to see what's going on. I am a member of 39 groups and I can't remember the last time I read anything related to them.
Groups are impersonal. A group is like a party where everyone showed and was kind of talkative at first then the conversation died and you're all just standing around staring at each other. The page gives the ministry (or organization) a personality and allows you to kind of stoke the discussion.
A page acts like a person in the Facebook world. Almost anything you can do as an individual on Facebook, you can do with a page. Almost. You can update your status, create events, upload photos and videos, and most importantly, you can use apps. (This will be important later.)
A page isn't perfect. There's still a lot you can't do with a Facebook page such as send a mass mailing to everyone's Facebook inbox or schedule status updates.

Issue 2: How to Specifically Reach Our Students
We knew that the status updates would be useful, but on any given Facebook home page most people only see the last couple of hours of updates. How would we send status updates at opportune times to reach students? If you update the Page at 1:30 pm on a Tuesday, almost no student is going to see that because they're all in school. (Who are we kidding, right? They're all checking Facebook at school on their phones, but let's just pretend.)

Solution: Here's where the ninja part comes in.
So we decided to create a Facebook Page for the student ministry because we felt that it would serve us better than the group had. Once the page was set up how we wanted it, we sent a message to everyone in the Group inviting them to join the Page and explained some of the reasons. The biggest reason was because we could use status updates to keep people thinking about the week's lessons and to send out reminders about upcoming events.

Schedule your Status Updates!
Since pages don't allow you to schedule updates (!), I set out to find a way to make it happen. And here's how it works.

1. Set up your Facebook Page how you want it. All nice and shiny. (Here is ours.)

2. Set up a Twitter account for your ministry. ("But my students don't use twitter!" I know. Just hang with me.) (Here's our Twitter page. Notice there's only 1 follower and it's me.)

3. On your personal Facebook profile install the Facebook app called "Selective Tweets." You'll be able to link it to the pages that you are admin for.

4. Link your newly created Page to your newly created twitter account using Selective Tweets. Make sure you click "Save Changes" at the bottom of the screen.

5. The setup you have right now is pretty good. You can type something into your twitter page (if you have any students who use twitter, even better!) and as long as you end it with the #fb hashtag, it will appear almost instantly as a status update on your new Facebook Page. Don't worry. The app removes that #fb thingy when it posts it on Facebook. Now, let's take it up a notch.

6. Create an account at HootSuite.com and link it to your newly created twitter account. The resulting homepage will look something like this.

7. HootSuite has a cool feature that allows you to schedule tweets.

8. Congratulations! You've just ninja'd Facebook! Now you can schedule tweets to go out at a certain time, which will, in turn update your status on your Facebook Page at the scheduled time. The process works like this.

Bonus: Moving Beyond the Obvious
I can feel a "So what?" coming from all of this, so let's explore some of the ways this could be useful.

Birthdays - send personalized birthday announcements to students in your ministry
Event promotions - You have a retreat coming up 6 months from now? Go ahead and schedule the status updates to get your students excited about it. They'll post automatically while you're running around finalizing all the event details.
Stay connected while away - Are you taking a few days off? You can keep your students up to date without having to break up your vacation to update the Facebook Page.

If you use this for your ministry or business, let me know! If you have any questions or need help setting it up, I'd be happy to give you a hand with it. Either leave a comment or send me a tweet!

Let's brainstorm! What are some other ways this could be useful? Post your ideas in the comments.

Introducing the iPad: As iPhone Users Age, Apple Releases Large Print Edition

noreply@blogger.com (Gabe Smith) — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 20:23:00 +0000

The typical iPhone user has now aged almost 3 years from the day they purchased their first iPhone (most of them are on their fifth one by now) and they are now the age that they used to call "old" and "out of touch." Apple, in it's wisdom, released a large print version of the popular smart phone.

"Sometimes have to blow in it to make it work."

Apple has some of the most loyal fans on the planet and the tech giant knows how to keep them coming back. Today Apple released their much-awaited tablet device. Although it was supposed to revolutionize everything that has ever been created ever (Apple's products always do that), the large-edition iPhone dubbed the "iPad" failed to wow the Apple fans sufficiently. Oh every last Apple fan will buy one the minute it is released, but they won't be fainting in the streets in anticipation.

Aside from the numerous jokes being made on Twitter and Facebook about the name (think feminine hygiene products) and concerns about proprietary AT&T internet access, the iPad does include... wait for it... speakers and a microphone! ooooOOOOoooo!

Do you notice anything missing from the trending topics in the hours after Apple announced a product called the "iPad?"

Finally, as computers go, you just can't find one with 64 gig of memory at the low price of $829. This thing is a steal!

(Picture via: New York Times Live Blog)

Colt McCoy Keeps Perspective - Post-game Interview after the BCS Championship Game

noreply@blogger.com (Gabe Smith) — Fri, 08 Jan 2010 12:57:00 +0000

Colt McCoy has a perspective few would after injury in the BCS Championship Game. I doubt I could have had such an admittedly emotional, but God-glorifying response to the circumstances Colt faced last night.

Also, be sure to watch Colt McCoy's video with Sam Bradford on I Am Second. I promise it's worth the few minutes of your time.

Avatar - You Can Fly, You Can Fight, You Can CAW CAW CAWWWW!

noreply@blogger.com (Gabe Smith) — Mon, 28 Dec 2009 17:12:00 +0000

Not since the invention of pornography itself has a director achieved the level of disparity between the visual experience of an audience and the story itself as James Cameron has accomplished in his latest film Avatar. I would be remiss not to warn you of potential spoilers in the next few paragraphs, but if you have been part of the movie-going public for the past three decades, nothing I can write is capable of spoiling Avatar's altogether predictable story.

Fundamentally, Avatar is Cameron's retelling of the 1991 Robert Williams classic "Hook" with heaping portions of FernGully: The Last Rainforest, Dances With Wolves, and Capitalism: A Love Story thrown in. In Hook-like fashion, Jake Sulley (the only name you will remember from the films long list of forgettable characters) is forced to interact with a seemingly inferior people-group that is facing down an evil, but technologically superior, race. After a beautifully-shot montage, Jake becomes aware that although the blue tree-folk appear to be developmentally delayed with nearly every respect to their society, their hippy-ish qualities are appealing and deserve his protection. Unfortunately for the blue people, the audience could not be more apathetic about their plight; Smurfs garnered more emotional investment from viewers than these people. In Dances With Wolves the audience found itself pulling for the frightening-in-the-first-hour-but-lovable-in-the-second-hour native-Americans; in Avatar, however, the audience did not seem to care who lives or dies as long as the victor promised more awesome 3D action.

Again, borrowing from Hook, Jake-the-outsider challenges the alpha-male of the blue people and becomes the leader of the blue people, although we later discover that Jake has access to some kind of high-explosives or something, so that could have had some influence on his political ascendancy. There is no Tinkerbell character per se, but all of the blue people have glow-in-the-dark features that make them less Tinkerbell and more Black Eyed Pea.

Avatar

Not Avatar

Much like Rufio, leader of the Lost Boys, the former alpha-male of the blue people (who has a name, but nobody cares what it is) recognizes Jakes true heart and heroically sacrifices himself for the cause. Cameron fails to include inspiring lines like "Looky, looky, I've got Hooky" and "You can fly, you can fight, and you can CAW CAW CAW crow." And, yes, Avatar's dialogue would have been improved with lines such as these.

The story surrounding the marketing of this film is that Cameron has had the desire to make Avatar for the past 30 years, but technology is just now capable of allowing him to see his vision attained. I find this hard to believe considering the heavy-handed preaching the audience receives about the current wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. A religious people lives on top of vast amounts of a valuable mineral deposit called "unobtainium" (seriously) and this primarily caucasian military-industrial complex invades their land in order to obtain the "unobtainium." The following phrases are actually used in the film: "shock and awe campaign," "we will fight terror with terror," and the blue people call themselves "martyrs" at one point. With marked efficiency, the military, whose stereotypical leader spends the entirety of the film wanting to blow crap up, achieves a swift victory striking the political heart of the blue people which causes the warring clans of blue people to unite in order to aid the clan who was attacked. Outgunned, the blue people form an insurgency because, as one of them explains "We know these mountains better than they do."

Cameron is not satisfied to simply lecture his audience about the Iraq war; he uses his film as a platform to push his environmentalist and anti-capitalist agendas. The evil capitalists (who, we are told, "destroyed their world" such that in their world "there is no longer any green left" presumably because the evil capitalists so thoroughly raped mother nature back on earth) viciously attack the blue people who appear to function within some sort of utopian communal monarchy. Cameron's lecture culminates in a scene in which a giant pollution-spewing tree-chomping machine tears through the jungle that is a shot-for-shot remake of the Hexxus from FernGully: The Last Rainforest.

Capitalism

The most frustrating aspect of the film is dropping $15 to see a movie that incessantly preaches about how evil capitalism is. In this case it is especially maddening because James Cameron's films have earned in excess of $3 BILLION not including Avatar. Yeah. He despises capitalism. Can't you tell?

In the end, Avatar is full of eye candy, but, like candy, the calories are empty. The visuals are the best I have ever witnessed in a film, but the plot, dialogue, and characters are uninspired and yawn-worthy. I would recommend seeing this movie simply because each shot is so beautiful and the 3D effects are superb, but if you decide to see it, make sure you go to the theater because you will be disappointed watching this one at home.

Saitek Eclipse II Keyboard Spacebar Repair

noreply@blogger.com (Gabe Smith) — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 13:28:00 +0000

My Saitek Eclipse II keyboard had a couple of pieces break. The space bar became very wobbly. You had to push it exactly in the middle or it wouldn't register a keystroke. So after searching around to see if there was some way to fix it, I came across this blog that described how he contacted Saitek, and they helped him out.

So I contacted Saitek and they sent me some replacement parts. The video below shows the repairs. Big thanks for the great customer service from Angelo at Mad Catz/Saitek!

I highly recommend their products and the customer service was outstanding!

Droid's Newest Ad Calls iPhone "Tiara-Wearing Digitally-Clueless Beauty Pageant Queen"

noreply@blogger.com (Gabe Smith) — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 13:34:00 +0000

I've enjoyed watching Droid go after the iPhone almost as much as I've enjoyed the Verizon vs AT&T ads. (I love seeing head-to-head capitalism at work!) Here's the newest Droid ad which targets the iPhone as a style-over-substance device and positioning the Droid as the performance phone of choice. How the two phones actually match-up remains to be seen as the iPhone has a 2 year head start, but Droid may have a chance against the smartphone juggernaut.

The cult of Apple will be out in full-force defending their favorite toy. Will the noise of the Apple fanboys be enough to hold iPhone's ground or should we expect to see Apple directly counter-attack the Droid a la the Mac vs. PC ad campaign?

Freaky Arrow I Saw While Driving

noreply@blogger.com (Gabe Smith) — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 04:02:00 +0000

I was driving past a fast food restaurant and I saw this crazy arrow on their drive-through lane.

Chrome OS Looks Very Nice

noreply@blogger.com (Gabe Smith) — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 04:08:00 +0000

It's still in it's early stages, but this video of a demo of Chrome OS is very promising. It looks and feels like working within a browser (Google Chrome, natch) but with a little Apple-ness thrown in.

It's an 11 min video, but if you don't have that long, make sure you watch the first couple of minutes just to see the 7 second load time on this baby, which they claim they are trying really hard to cut down even further.

Windows killer? Leopard killer? Not hardly. But for the average user who wants a simple interface and a very natural computer experience, this could be a very nice option.

Atlanta Flood

noreply@blogger.com (Gabe Smith) — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 20:49:00 +0000

Atlanta Flood…Relief

Posted using ShareThis

Atlanta Flood

noreply@blogger.com (Gabe Smith) — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 20:49:00 +0000

Atlanta Flood…Relief

Posted using ShareThis

Two Online (And Free) Conferences This Week

noreply@blogger.com (Gabe Smith) — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 10:00:00 +0000

This week my 9-month-old son, Malcolm, and I will be participating in two different conferences. I know what you're thinking, "Taking a 9-month-old to a conference? What's wrong with you?" Well, they're both webcasts so we'll both be participating from our living room!

One is called "The Nines" which begins tomorrow at 9:00 am (get it? 09-09-09 at 09:09). The list of church leaders speaking at this event is too long to list here, but trust me, it's a powerhouse group of people. How will so many speakers get a chance to speak? Easy. They each get 9 minutes, naturally! I believe registration is still open for this event, if you have time to participate in even a portion of it.

The other is called "The Forum" and is the result of a partnership between LifeChurch.tv, Southeastern University, and 316 Networks. It is a two-day webcast conference with talks from loads of leaders from ministries, new organizations, and businesses.

So be sure to follow me on Twitter and join the conversation if you're participating in either of these events.

3 Reasons Twitter is On the Verge of Breaking Big... Or... You Know Dying Completely

noreply@blogger.com (Gabe Smith) — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 11:00:00 +0000

Tonight I was out with some new friends talking about the virtues of Facebook, Twitter, and other social networking sites when I said this sentence, "I have the feeling Twitter is here for the long run. I think it will really start to break big soon."

Booting up my computer I see this article pop up on Tech Crunch: Why Don't Teens Tweet? We Asked Over 10,000 of Them.

The article is good. You should definitely open it in another window and read it. But the conclusion of the articles is

-SPOILER ALERT!-

"Most teens don’t use Twitter because it doesn’t enable them to do anything they can’t already do elsewhere, which is the same reason most adults don’t use Twitter. It has nothing to do with any teen-specific concerns like texting plans or safety. It comes down to something more simple: delivering value beyond Facebook and MySpace — a competitive moat that Facebook is bridging one move at a time, from the Everyone button to the acquisition of FriendFeed to the centrality of the stream itself."

Which tells us that...

1. Twitter Does Not Offer Anything Sufficiently Unique

Immediately the thought came to mind, "How do people describe Twitter to the non-twitter user?" Almost universally I've heard, "It's like updating your Facebook status, but you only get 140 characters to do it."

And the crazy thing is, Twitter seems to be aware of this fact, as evidenced by the Twitter App on Facebook that lets you update your Facebook status via Twitter. So it's no longer "like" updating your Facebook status; it IS updating your Facebook status.

If the marketplace really views Twitter in this way, then as much as it pains me to say it as an avid Twitter evangelist, I'm afraid Twitter needs a course correction before it finds itself marooned on the shores of the ever-growing borders of Facebooklandia.

But if it becomes marooned like FriendFeed did, the Twitter bosses probably wouldn't mind too much considering Twitter would go for far more than the $50 million FriendFeed cost to Facebook.

2. Businesses ♥ Twitter... and are Confused by Facebook

You see, Facebook isn't all a bed of roses though. As far as I can tell Twitter has given brands something that Facebook has yet to deliver: a reliable means to connect businesses with their consumer base.

You might say, "But Facebook has pages!" To which I say, You're right, but the pages interface is weak and pages offer little means to connect with users without coming across as spammy.

Consider this:

Zappos
Twitter - 1.2 million followers
Facebook Page - 2,200 fans

Google
Twitter - 1.4 million followers
Facebook Page - 37,000 fans

Southwest Airlines
Twitter - 530,000 followers
Facebook Page - 76,000 fans

Twitter offers businesses a relatively easy means to connect with a passionate base and Facebook does not. If Facebook wants to put the death nail in Twitter it must become more business-friendly.

3. The Twitter Business Model Still Not Clear
Last year Facebook brought in $300 million in revenue, but Twitter has only recently developed a revenue stream and stands to post only $4 million profits. (By comparison, DigitalWorshiper.com has produced precisely $0 since Q1 2008.)

This does not indicate that Twitter lacks a bright future; it just means the future is not clear for Twitter yet and right now, Facebook is laying the financial smack-down.

So is Twitter on the ropes? Probably not yet, but I think Twitter will need more than five smooth stones to take down the Facebook Goliath.

Wireless Electricity is a Game-Changer

noreply@blogger.com (Gabe Smith) — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 19:34:00 +0000

I've always said that the greatest invention of my life will probably be the development of widespread wireless electricity. Imagine no more batteries (or constantly recharged batteries). Imagine your iPod never running out of juice. Imagine your laptop being truly wireless all the time.

Eric Giler, CEO of WiTricity may have the solution.

As for that "bundle of wires" beneath your desk; wireless electricity will really only get rid of about 3-5 of the wires (monitor, CPU, and peripherals), but the vision for mobile devices is brilliant!

My next big idea? Contact lenses with a HUD that gives you information on demand. Or even does something like this.

5 Ways to Avoid Sharing the Gospel Ever Again - Part 5

noreply@blogger.com (Gabe Smith) — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 14:00:00 +0000

5. Create a Christian Alternative for Every Facet of Life

A long time ago, there were Christians in the world. Do not be alarmed! They were in the world, but they were not of the world. We modern Christians have learned the dangers of being of the world so well that we have taken ourselves out of the world completely. Let's run down the list shall we?

We work at Christian businesses,
watch Christian movies,
listen to Christian music,
hang out at Christian coffee shops,
go to a Christian mechanic,
shop at Christian stores,
eat at Christian restaurants (shout-out, Chick-fil-a!),
read Christian books,
wear Christian clothes,
only drink things Christians should drink,
only say words Christians should say,
have Christian friends,
work out at Christian gyms,
visit Christian websites,
listen to Christian podcasts,
show our kids Christian television (while we watch Lost),
attend Christian day cares (assuming your mother is a heathen and thus, works. (totally joking there.))
go to Christian schools (or for the truly pious, homeschool)
go to Christian colleges,
play in church sports leagues
go to Christian ~~dances~~ creative movement classes,

But there is one place that we have not been able to successfully Christianize, and I think you know where I'm going with this. Why do we have to commute every morning with the world? Isn't that a temptation to sin? I mean, how am I supposed to be Christlike when everyone is cutting me off in traffic? Can't they see my Christian bumper sticker and know that I'm really in a hurry because Jesus needs me to get somewhere soon no matter how many pedestrians have to be hospitalized? I'm on a mission from God!

That's why I propose Christian highways. It would be like the HOV lane, but instead of having to have another person in the car, you have to have at least 5 Christian bumper stickers and a minimum of 2 must make a joke about people going to hell.

I propose we call it the HOmM lane for "Heaven on my Mind." Or maybe the "Fastlane to the Father." That way we can be a witness to the lost people around us and never have to interact with them again!

This is part 5 of the 5 part series "5 Ways to Avoid Sharing the Gospel Ever Again." In order to dispel any confusion out there, these posts were satirical. I have nothing against any of the Christian cultural things we do, we just need to step outside the bubble sometimes when we're not on mission trip in a foreign country and notice that there is a dying world all around us.

It Should Work Correctly Now

noreply@blogger.com (Gabe Smith) — Sun, 23 Aug 2009 06:38:00 +0000

I know what you're thinking, "He spent a month 'changing' the design only to land back right where he started?" Well, that's kind of the case, but I fixed some of the coding that was giving the template problems before and I kind of like this template the best of those that I've found, so I'm sticking with it.

Let me know if it ever freaks out and I'll try to stay on top of it.

(Image source - Flickr user Carlos.Guerrera)

Design Changes Still in the Works

noreply@blogger.com (Gabe Smith) — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 00:30:00 +0000

I've been working on this when I have time for about a month, but I'm still not happy with this blogger template because it won't allow me to add gadgets on the side-bar. So now I'm looking at another template.

I know it's not cool to constantly be shifting the layout around, but the limitations of blogger combined with my complete lack of web-design skills necessitate the amateurish approach to this.

Don't worry, I'll keep updating, but the aesthetics may be lacking until I get this worked out.

In the meantime, subscribe to the Digital Worshiper feed so you won't miss anything again.

Update: I'm even more dedicated to this now because my wife saw me tweaking the site in FireFox and she said, "That looks much better than it's ever looked. Usually the words are all jumbled at the top." Knowing she uses IE I realized there is a problem between browsers. Chrome was also making it look funky.

Sorry for the jumbled mess it's been the last few weeks. I will get a new layout up soon and will get it all tested so we won't face this problem again. (Hopefully!)

5 Ways to Avoid Sharing the Gospel Ever Again - Part 4

noreply@blogger.com (Gabe Smith) — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 13:00:00 +0000

4. Only Speak in Sentences that Can be Cross-Referenced in the Bible (And Say the Reference)

The best part about this approach is that it actually accomplishes two Christian life-goals at once: 1) Making yourself look far more biblically literate than anyone else in your church
2) Never having to share the gospel again.

This one takes some practice, but I promise it will help you never speak to another non-Christian again, if you just think about a few common circumstances in which you will need to draw upon your superior biblical prowess.

Example 1: You've wrapped up the 2 and a half hour service at your church and spent the next half hour dissecting the worship leader's choice to sing the alternate tune to "All Hail the Power of Jesus' Name." Now your friend says, "Hey it's 1:30 and I'm getting hungry. You want to go grab some lunch?" A normal person might say, "Yeah I'm starving, let's go to that new Mexican place." But you're not a normal person, so you reply with, "Man does live by bread alone. Matthew 4:4."

For bonus points, just use the King James Version.