This morning I attended a session by David Bruce of HollywoodJesus.com. David is Passionate about People. He shared some of his philosophy about ministry that really made an impact on me. He shared a philosophy of ministry that makes so much sense.

1. Respect the Natives

2. Respect the Culture

3. Respect their Stories

4. Look for redemptive analogies

He said that these ideas came from a Book Titled Eternity in Their Hearts by Don Richardson. Then he made a statement that slapped me across the face with its truth. “We do not use missionary principles in our own culture”. Wow what a summary. I have been starting to get a bit of perspective on the importance of community. They are where we are and where we have been put. Thats where we are missionaries. We may not change the world, but we can change someones world.

Thank you David, for letting Christ use you to change mine.

After doing a little session shuffle, I wound up this morning in a session by Kent Shaffer from ChurchRelevance.com. The session was titled “Communication Without Words”. Kent convered many aspects of design and the power of the environment. He presented many examples of how the outside world uses design, and made connections to useage in the church and minstry arena.

It is a fantastic presentation. So often people forget that design and art are important. The medium is so powerful. Is say alot.

I need to stew on this one. Lots of Great information. Fantastic session.

Notes from the other sessions that I have attended are coming soon. I would like to organze them and reflect on them a bit more before I post them. Right now I am sitting in a session by Rod Martin. Hope it will Make Gods Geeks a better place.

This week I am attending the Internet Ministry Conference in Grand Rapids, MI. The first session I am attending this morning is about Second Life. Second Life is a 3d simulation environment. Many would argue that it is simply a Game, but the truth is that it is much more. All of the characters in second life are real people, spread all over the planet. From a ministry perspective, that makes it a very interesting place.

One of the new features of secondlife is voice chat. I think that makes a huge difference to tangibility of the second life environment.

Now, Second life is an open simulation environment, so there is a lot of freedom. So, just like real life, there good and bad. Sin is there and common. The anonymity, just like many places on the internet, tends to boil it down and focus Things. The protection of the internet allows the social barriers to be broken down. That is true for sinful motivations, as well as spiritual. Those lowered barriers can facilitate spiritual growth and change in a very different way. SL is a place that requires wisdom, I would not send a child into SL unattended. That said it is a huge mission field.

HOWEVER, Second Life is not THE answer for internet ministry. I feel very strongly that it is very important not to bank on one platform for evangelism. If we do that, when that technology changes, all of our efforts become irrelevant. It is more important to have a philosophy, rather than a technology. If we can embrace the idea of communities that can exist on a time and space shifted plane, we can begin to change the approach to not just ministry, but people.

But Second Life IS cool.

Probably some of you have seen this before, or something similar. I can’t resist passing this on since it is so very appropriate for the times. By the way you see he is using a MAC!! Click the picture to blow it up.

Tags: Mac, God, God’s Inbox

I recently started a couple user groups near where I live. I thought this would be a great way to get involved within the community and do ministry. Meetup.com is an online tool that allows you to take the social networking concept and bring real people together collectively at a decided place around a common interest. I think this brings the cynics of online ministry to a better understanding of  how one can do ministry in an online context. I to often hear that you can’t do effective ministry online, without that personal touch. Well this tool will make those cynics a little happier where it blends both methods of ministry together. All are welcome to join the two Meetups that I have created. I will keep you posted on what progress is made at these two meetups.

Take a look at this interesting video from Rob Bell at Mars Hill.
What do You think?

Since the democratic debates were on TV tonight I thought it appropriate to ask the question, who do you think Jesus would vote for? All the candidates have their faults but which one do you think stands out of the pack and represents more in line what Jesus would do if he was a earthly president. I don’t have an answer for you but I do have a link that tries to cover the candidates and where they all stand on issues. Go down each listed item and ask yourself where would Jesus stand on this topic. I personally liked the comment that Senator Mike Gravel said tonight. He said if you want to find out the true intentions and a good candidate follow the money trail. Because of the the original sin (Greed) committed by the Satan himself, we live in a world where money drives our decisions and outcomes. Instead of allowing us to be sucked into the downward spot of consumerism let’s follow Christ example and look at what Christ did for us.

Tags: Mike Gravel, Democratic, President, Debates, Jesus, Consumerism, Greed, Candidates, Sin, Satan

With the Latter-day Saints advertising and marketing on TV and Radio so much, this brings about the question why aren’t other ministries using the power of mass media to bring about awareness and image building. I don’t like dealing with the media, but because of the reach and power it has, it can be a wonderful opportunity for you to tell everyone who you are. So I was very pleased to find “Spot Runner” where they make it easy for you to advertise on TV/Radio and do it cost effectively. Keep me aware of your experiences with this service like all the many services I talk about.

Tags: Latter-day Saints, Spot Runner, TV, Radio, Advertising, Marketing

A few weeks ago some friends and I attended part of the Buzz Conference held at a Church coffee shop in Washington D.C.

National Community Church has created a church that is very innovative and is thinking outside of the box when it comes to doing ministry. I didn’t get to attend all the sessions, but National Community church did post some of the sessions online in audio and video format. I would strongly recommend this conference to anyone involved with ministry. Their story is worth checking out and a inspiration to the ones that want to make a difference in today’s postmodern world.

Tags: Buzz Conference, National Community Church, Washington D.C., Postmodern