This year, I launched a simple 1-step Bible look-up web app, http://wordof.gd/

This neat little shortcut service allows you to go straight to any Bible text and the specific translation you want right from the browser URL line.

It also allows you to confidently create shortcut url links to any specific passage you want that you can write on the fly for email, twitter, facebook, etc.

Think: Bible links for social media.

Currently the WordOf.Gd supports over 30 different translations including a Spanish version of the Bible.   Just add any bible verse(s) after wordof.gd/_______ and if you want a specific translation, just put the translation abbreviation at the end.

Because pastors and seminary students are often trying to reference and compare any Old Testament text to the original Hebrew language.  Someone recently commented it would be nice if you could pull up both English and Hebrew texts on the same page to compare using wordof.gd. . . Just like an interlinear bible you would pull off the shelf in hardcopy.

Ok, we can do that!

Read the rest of this entry »

Tonight I teleported over to the 1st Presbyterian Church of Second Life and joined a prayer gathering in the virtual world.

I’ve done church online, video chats, tokbox multi-user web conf prayer meetings, I’ve even been to LifeChurch.tv in Second Life before.

But this Second Life virtual reality prayer meeting was a first for me today.

10 people stopped by this evening as we gathered in a taize-style prayer mini-service in a circle of comfy (looking at least) floor cushions.

Here’s my first thoughts as I left the meeting tonight.

The technology seems to still get in the way of the experience.   Aside from voice chat not working for some members tonight, the learning curve for navigation, gestures,  audio-visual control, group chat, messaging, etc is all a challenge for new comers.

But if a church is to continuously attract new visitors, even in a virtual one, getting over the technical hurdles is one reality that needs to be addressed.  Of course, if you are more versed (spend more time) in this virtual reality environment, it would become infinitely more transparent. Perhaps ministry volunteers are needed to monitor and guide new visitors through the experience just as in off-line churches.  Perhaps more training can be offered via short videos or other methods on church websites, available before entering Second Life.

I realized that viritual church and church online are two completely separate things.  With church online such as www.lifechurch.tv or www.liquidchurch.com, the technology is basically transparent for most.  You are not bogged down continuously being reminded of the technology interface you are using to connect with others.  To give SL credit, I *was* handed a “newbie card” during the experience, which had some help notes to get me started on Second Life.  But most of it would be more useful only sif I had a sherpa guide next to me helping to decipher and lead me through it all.

The human connections are still real though.  Some of the concerns shared and emotions showed up big time.  One can’t help be frustrated that you want to be ever more present - be virtually there if you could.  (sorry, couldn’t resist!)

Bottom line is: Virtual church on Second Life still has a way to go before it is ready for mainstream exposure.

But in the meantime, digital explorers have found a place to roll up their sleeves and beat down a path for us for when we (and the technology) catches-up.

Right now, I’m in the midst of sermon prep, so this one caught my eye.

It serves as a nice little reminder that sermon series planning isn’t for everyone.

Perhaps you should stick to the lectionary unless you are really called to go it on your own:

The 2010 Winter Olympics are here!

As our family sat down to watch the opening ceremonies, we noticed a difference with these games.

The organizers chose to bring in the procession of nation teams early in the ceremonies, instead of the usual last spot in the evening’s program.  Typically, the athletes from all countries would have to hang out the entire night back stage or in parking lots waiting to come into the stadium.

The creative director wanted a communal, more intimate experience, even though there were thousands seated together this time around.  So this year, they brought in the different representatives nations from 82 countries toward the beginning of the program so that everyone could sit down together and experience it together — athletes, coaches and spectators assembling literally from all nations around there world in one place.

As we noticed this, I started to dream. . .

What if . . .

. . . the world came together every 4 years for Olympic-sized worship under one roof, one cross?

America’s favorite pastor and his church is now officially mobile.

One side effect of having this megachurch adopting the iPhone app platform for live online mobile worship is that this also basically legitimizes this medium of “doing church.”

The Saddleback Church iPhone app has links to Twitter and Facebook to keep you connected with Rick Warren’s social media web.  You can also view live streaming video of worship services at Saddleback Church.

When you’re on the go, there’s also an easy menu of recent video sermon messages which you can watch on demand.

Just like the Gospel, the Saddleback iPhone app is free.

Valentine’s Day is upon us which is when you have the opportunity to display your LOVE.

Here’s one way to share your love of God, love of others and love of Twitter all in one place — your Twitter background.

Go ahead, follow the instructions below to get the latest free Twitter background with a valentine theme here at Godvertiser.com’s Free Christian Twitter Background Series.

How to upload a custom background to your Twitter account:

1. Log in
2. In top navigation bar, click Settings (or go to http://twitter.com/account/settings)
3. Click the last settings tab, Design
4. Select a template, change your text and background colors, or upload your background image
5. Save your changes

If you end up using one of our free Christian Twitter backdrops, make sure to leave a link to your Twitter profile and share it with us!

As technology advances the Church continues to evolve with it. There is a small but growing contingency setting out to define the frontier for the Church in the virtual world. Church online has moved beyond live online interactive broadcast worship. It now includes full church communities within Second Life and other similar virtual world platforms. I was able to get Neal Locke a current scholar completing his graduate work at Princeton Theological Seminary to help weigh in on the legitimacy of virtual world churches with respect to those with claims to the Reformed tradition of the Church. His guest post below is just a tip of the iceberg, and hopefully will open some eyes and spark some new creative thoughts for church leaders of the future.

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As the proliferation of online communities like Facebook and Twitter continues to attract widespread attention and commentary, a more subtle revolution is taking place that will have more far-reaching consequences for church and culture—the advent of virtual reality.

Projections by researchers in the technology industry indicate that 80% of active Internet users and Fortune 500 companies will be engaged in some sort of virtual reality platform within two years.[1] Analysis of current participation shows that well over 100 million people already are.[2]

As people continue to migrate into these virtual worlds, they bring their institutions with them—in the prominent virtual reality world of Second Life, for example, there are already presences maintained by major universities, corporations, government agencies—and churches.  The legitimacy of churches that function entirely in online virtual worlds has been the subject of much debate in the past year, and this will no doubt continue for some time. Reformed churches, however, are confessional, and thus guided by our our confessions. This seems an appropriate place to begin when exploring the issue of churches in virtual reality: How do the confessions define church? What do they have to say about presence and worship that transcends presence? How do they speak to the church in the midst of cultural, technological, and social upheaval? The reformers who wrote the confessions—even those in the last century—likely did not anticipate the particular reason for which these questions are now being raised, and yet their work displays a remarkable understanding of human nature, society, and theology. In this way they offer both guidance and example for those who seek to be the church in the virtual world.

To begin to explore these questions, I believe we need to take a look at different ways in which the Confessions describe or speak about the church, especially those ways that highlight a dualistic tension between two seeming extremes. This will be helpful in raising a wide variety of ways in which the Reformed heritage intersects and intertwines with issues surrounding churches in virtual reality. In addition, the classic Reformed “Marks of the Church” can be used to see how online churches measure up.  As the church in a virtual reality is further defined , a look at other distinguishing “marks” of the church hinted at, but not prominent in the Confessions can be read with an eye toward those that seem to hold particular promise for fresh expression in online churches.

For churches in virtual worlds, there are still many challenges, both theological and practical.  But the weight and thrust of the Reformed Confessions does not seem to condemn participation in them, nor does it seem to deny their legitimacy. In fact, the bold spirit of innovation in which many of the Confessions were written seems an argument in favor of new and experimental types of churches.

And yet, the Confessions do caution and admonish, striking a careful balance between a Roman church that refuses to be reformed, and Anabaptist churches who have gone too far. Perhaps this is the via media that Reformed churches in virtual worlds ought to seek out—not hanging back, but neither striking out empty-handed. Let them take the cherished Confessions along, freshly elevating neglected sections from newly digitized pages, but still finding familiar ways to proclaim the Word, administer the sacraments, and exercise discipline.

They will be a pixelated people, dispersed yet gathered, and visibly set apart by the God whose grace fills and transcends all of creation (including technology) to reach the elect in every time and place.

[footnotes]

1 Gartner Research, “Gartner Says 80 Percent of Active Internet Users Will Have A “Second Life” in the Virtual World by the End of 2011”; available from http://www.gartner.com/it/page.jsp?id=503861; Internet; accessed 20 January  2010.

2 Kzero Worldswide, “Looking across the metaverses. Total registered accounts.”; available from http://www.kzero.co.uk/blog/?p=1832; Internet; accessed 20 January 2010.

Most Christians haven’t had the chance to hang out in the local Jewish synagogue or travel to Israel extensively. Thus, you may not have ever seen an original handwritten Torah scroll up close and in person, fully unfurled. Notice the handling of the scroll itself so no fingers actually touch it.

To see the entire Torah written in Hebrew freehand, not by machine was and is awe-inspiring in itself.

Take a quick looksie:

We get so excited about the latest and greatest versions of the Bible that sometimes we forget to reflect about the Bible 1.0.

I can’t believe my eyes.

My PC is now a MACINTOSH computer. Seriously.

And all I did was follow the installation directions that came with the Accordance for PC I recently received from Oak Tree Software to review.

Basically, whenever I want to run Accordance, all I have to do now is rev up my Mac emulator (called Basilik II) via a desktop shortcut, just like any other application:

Then a full-screen Macintosh computer comes to life on my PC:

After “start-up,” you get a full Macintosh desktop, complete with top of the screen menus and its own virtual hard drives (which you configure during installation) and all. You’ll notice my Accordance Folder open on the left of the Mac desktop with all my Accordance goodies ready to run:



And just as if I’m running Accordance on the Mac, I can launch the actual bible study application by clicking on the Accordance icon:



And voila!



I must say that the installation documentation was one of the best manuals I’ve used for installing software on a Mac or PC. And because we have to install and configure the Basilisk II Mac emulator application on the PC before you can install Accordance for Mac (on the PC which thinks it is a Mac!), there’s risk of getting derailed or discouraged along the way. But this documentation had detailed screen shots for *every single* move you make between inserting the install DVD to getting to run accordance for the first time on the PC. It was super easy.

Now I just have to go back to the Training DVD which came with the package and start to watch some intro videos so I can get a good handle on the application. If the training is as well thought out as the installation docs, I’m completely excited to engage with the Accordance platform training DVD. Afterall, who likes going through instruction manuals? But so far, these guys have made it super simple to follow-along. I kind of understand why Mac users tend to rave about Accordance. Now there doesn’t seem to be a reason for PC users not to do the same!

Are you an Accordance user (either on the Mac or PC)? Got any tips for me as I dive into the text (my current anchor text to exegete is Luke 11:5-13)? Please leave them as comments below!

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Disclosure of Material Connection: Here’s some legalspeak about sponsored posts. . .I have not received any compensation for writing this post other than a complimentary review copy of the software package mentioned. I have no material connection to any of the the brands or products/services mentioned in this post. 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.”

Mosaic Church has made the finalists in this year’s television commercial showdown sponsored by Doritos:

The church, led by Erwin McManus, has already won $25,000 for becoming one of the 6 finalists. The masses were invited to vote for their favorite over at www.crashthesuperbowl.com. And the winning tv commercial will not be announced until the actual Superbowl commercial is run during the Superbowl.

Erwin McManus explains in this video clip a little about their tv project, and why they want you to support their cause over at www.VoteForCasket.com

The 30-second spot is bringing a lot of attention to Mosiac Church. The big question of course is if this type of engagement with secular culture is worth it for the church and the Church (with a capital “C”). Of course, any church pursuing this sort of mass-media tactic to gain attention will garner a lot of support and criticism at the same time.

“Phil Cooke, a Christian producer, filmmaker and author has commented about Mosaic’s tv commercial:

Nobody’s going to fall on their knees and accept Jesus as a result of this spot. But advertisers on Madison Avenue spend millions on a Super Bowl spot because they know it influences people,” said Cooke, the producer. “It might not get someone converted, but I think it will get someone to say, ‘Maybe there is something I ought to investigate.“‘

source:FoxNews

I leave you with TWO QUESTIONS:

• What do you think of the actual tv commercial?
• Did Mosaic cross the line by spending their time, money and energy toward this contest?

Please share your reaction and thoughts in a blog comment below.

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UPDATE @ 7:09 PM SUPERBOWL SUNDAY. . . IT AIRED! Congratulations Mosaic Church, congratulations to the Church.