A snip from Flickering Pixels (How technology shapes your faith) by Shane Hipps:
The Internet is a lot of things, but it is emphatically not a neutral aid. Digital social networking inoculates people against the desire to be physically present with others in real social networks — networks like a church or a meal in someone’s home. Being together becomes nice but nonessential.
What say ye, readers? Agree or disagree? Let’s discuss.
This insert was in our church bulletin today. I smudged out the phone number and address, since I don’t have permission from the Stanton General Store to broadcast this throughout Internetland.
I love this idea, an open table harvest buffet. Did you catch the end of that first paragraph? Today, we sometimes lose track of this meaning as commercialism has unfortunately overtaken this spirit of giving and sharing.
Sometimes?? How about all the time too often? (Edited to fix my cynicism.)
Does your church do something like this for the Thanksgiving holiday? It’s interesting to note this event isn’t sponsored by a church, but by a general store. Methinks there are generous folks living a bit north from me. (I must meet them as soon as possible!)
And to my New Jersey readers: if you want to attend, let me know and I’ll set you up with the phone number and address.
I’m behind in my reading and late on linking this at 5 Minutes for Books. Below is what I’m working through right now:
Community is a hot buzz word in the church.
My first Driscoll book.
Love that title, and really LOVE the subtext.
That’s it for me for October. Be looking for my next On My Nightstand list at the end of this month.
Or zoom zoom.
I have two interesting finds for you today, the first is:
From the website:
To celebrate the 30th anniversary of the New International Version (NIV) of the Bible, the best-selling translation with more than 300 million copies in print, Zondervan has launched Bible Across America, a cross-country RV tour. Bible Across America features an RV, piloted by a four-person team, that is traveling across the continental United States, making stops at churches, universities, retail stores and special events where people are invited to contribute a verse to complete a handwritten Bible – America’s NIV.
You can follow the tour with Twitter too.
And ROOV, an “online community that connects like-minded individuals around their shared experiences and passions within their church and city.”
I think ROOV has great potential, but for it to work, it needs lots of folks to use it. So, go check it out and add me to your friend list.
Have a great weekend!
Okay, friends, I’m ready to put a blogroll back on my front page. Who wants in?
For a while I’ve had a modest list on a separate page, but I was never quite happy with that. Too out-of-sight, out-of-mind. Too much like banishment. I like the idea of a blogroll, and I always check out blogrolls when I visit a new blog, but I don’t care for the long list that most blogrolls become. (Gee, how many times can I say blogroll in one sentence??) Quite simply – I find them overwhelming. Who takes the time to weed through a blogroll the size of the Mississippi River?
Enter the Better Blogroll widget. Check it out – every time you refresh the page, new blogs are listed. Scanable content, baby. Sweet. With a shorter list, It’s easy to find new blogs and click through.
So, who wants to trade links? Drop a comment and I’ll add you. You can see my pretty new blogroll at the bottom right corner of this page. I’ve labeled it community, because to me that’s what a good blogroll is – a fellowship of kindred spirits that enjoy reading and discussing what we share via writings, videos and pictures.
HT: Shane at Caffeinated Thoughts, who happens to be a High Calling Blogs member. Friends – I (heart) the High Calling Blogs community.
Help a girl out, will ya? I just joined MyBlogLog this past weekend and desperately need folks to fill up that new widget on the bottom right of the screen (RSS friends, come over to see what I’m talking about). Right now I only have two blogger friends signed on, making my widget look sparce. It looks weird, all that black space with no faces looking back at me. Or off to one side, as Lynn is doing.
And perchance you have no idea what MyBlogLog is – here is the link to educate yourself. It seems like a fun and easy way to foster community at your blog. If you are on MyBlogLog, join my community and I’ll return the favor. Thank you!
