June 2007

The release of the iPhone yesterday caused hundreds of local Apple enthusiasts to wait in line for a chance to be one of the first to own the newest piece of technology.  Not surprisingly, many of those who waited were the iGeneration's early adopters.

My 12 year old daughter, who's a vj, interviewed many buyers but here's a clip I recorded using a macbook and old school iSight cam of buyer number 1, Jeremy Bachrach, in a line made up of hundreds:

You can read about Jeremy's iPhone ebay plans in text here in the New York Times. 

iPhone Release Day - Worldwide reaction?…   Comments? 

Last night I was with the ladies at our Women's Summer Bible Study and we were just having a blast.  We're taking The Patriarchs DVD series by Beth Moore and it requires a substantial amount of cross-referencing so our Bibles were getting a rigorous workout.  There's nothing like the sound of 50 women frantically searching for scriptures on a hot summer night.  

Anyway, while we were deciphering a bit of Hebrew and cross-referencing verses in the New Testament, it occurred to me: 'The way Beth is teaching, she's basically hyperlinking only without the distinction of automatic instant access.  We've got to turn there instead of click.  Furthermore, we'd all like to add our personal comments and impressions.'  And I pondered the sheer joy of how much more there is to come…

This morning Swerve (Lifechurch.tv) announced a new online application called YouVersion designed to harness some of that hyperlinking capability and allow Bible users to Web 2.0 (users add to & socialize) it.  There's no official timeline but they're working on it.  Gives a whole new meaning to scripture applications, huh?

The only thing about it I'm not so excited about is the name, but I'll get over it.  After Time Magazine got through with us last year, I'm pretty tired of the 'You' word. 

Here's what I'd call it: EnterActs - get it?

Kim Meyer is counting backwards to Innovate 2007 and she has a podcast (along with Granger executive pastor Tim Stephens) to prove it.  First episode went live last week and although I haven't listened yet, I do know she talks to uberblogger Guy Kawasaki who'll be at the September event. 

Innovate 2007, a Wired Churches.com production, is designed to give leaders ideas about how to make a permanent mark in the world.  Ironically, Guy just had all his marks erased by having his virtual presence upgraded through photo retouching thanks to Pixilu Imaging.  

Yes, everybody's doing it and now thanks to the all knowing Google Analytics even I can sort the technical profile of this month's visitors at The Digital Sanctuary. 

Average time per visit, 6.24 seconds and no, I will not discuss my bounce rate.

Correction: 6.24 minutes, not seconds. 

Innovation in education is the passionate pursuit of the UK-based organization Futurelab.  Their bi-annual magazine, VISION, offers possibilities about the future of learning via digital technologies.  Futurelab's  newsletter is one I regularly dive into when I need to get some perspective.  One of the best ways to anticipate future developments in any area of society/culture is to evaluate what's happening in areas other than the one central to your focus.  Cross-disciplinary approaches prevent myopia.  Assessing what's happening in business, education and science gives us perspective about the Church.

Check out this excerpt from an article in the current VISION entitled: The new basics: changing curriculum for 21st century skills regarding the future of education. Is it just me or can you replace "school curriculum" with "church mission statement"?

"…..There are signs that this type of thinking is becoming the 'new common sense' about curriculum, and is reflected in various initiatives to reform the school curriculum. An example is the RSA's curriculum Opening Minds: Education for the 21st Century (www.rsa.org.uk/newcurriculum). Opening Minds challenges current curriculum and teaching and learning practices, and makes suggestions about what an alternative school curriculum might look like. It starts from the assumption that there is a growing divide between the current school curriculum and the experiences and demands of the outside world - Opening Minds argues that it is not a matter of changing ways of teaching but about the content of the curriculum, which it argues is fundamentally out of date, slow to react, fragmented and ill-suited to children's needs.

The Opening Minds curriculum recommends the abandonment of subject areas and their replacement by a set of competences that students will acquire through a range of experiences. The focus is on understanding and doing rather than acquiring a body of knowledge. It makes use of new technologies to promote flexible learning and teaching styles and the release of creative energy - in other words, it promotes independent rather than 'receptive' learning."

Wow! I'm so tempted to quote a bunch of scriptures here but I'm gonna let you do it instead.  Ok, just one:

But prove yourselves doers of the word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves.  For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks at his natural face in a mirror for once he has looked at himself and gone away, he has immediately forgotten what kind of person he was.  James 1:22 - 24

Your turn scholars…

No, I'm not talking about a room filled with gadgets, gaming systems and technology designed to serve the youth in your church.  I'm referring to a brand new alternative to spending time on Facebook or MySpace online. 

Since today’s youth use the web extensively and have a voracious appetite for social media, some innovative individuals at FaithStreams Network have put together a new social networking service.  Their YouthRoots.com site is designed to serve as a safe haven for young people looking for an alternative to free-for-all sites.  YouthRoots acts as a digital youth room where kids who have faith-based world views can connect and hang out online.  Additionally, congregations and their members can find one another electronically.

Their theory - "By providing an appropriate forum, you can give your church youth group all the benefits of interacting on the web, while keeping the hazards to a minimum.  As importantly, YouthRoots.com creates a venue for youth leaders to use the online community to interact with, involve, and inspire deeper faith connections for members of their congregations and communities."

This might be the first time you've heard the words digital youth room but it will not be the last.

There are several controversial aspects that inherently surround such sites.  Would it be a better idea not to separate Christians into their own social networks?  (YouTube vs. GodTube)  Should they spend online time populating Facebook and MySpace missionally?  Are kids too vulnerable to do this? 

Additionally, what makes up a safe haven?  Who monitors it and with what are the criteria for concluding it's "safe"?  I noticed The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints in the Faithstream's partners list.  Many mainstream Christians would challenge how safe this is for their kids.  What do you think?

Dr. Billy Graham's website keeps crashing due to traffic jams following the passing of his dearly beloved wife, Ruth.  You can visit the site yourself and most importantly, consistent with today's interactive worldwide dialog, leave your comments on the share your thoughts link.

I'll leave my favorite observation about Ruth, a woman I consistently associate with radiant joy, here:

Although she was the wife of a globally-respected Baptist minister and evangelist, Ruth declined to undergo baptism by immersion and remained a loyal, lifelong Presbyterian. 

I mean how many Christian leaders do you know who house different denominations under one roof? 

Ruth, may your personal choices be a standard for us all to act on the opportunities God gives us to build bridges rather than insist on sectarianism and to live our lives based on conviction not custom.