Today, Facebook flipped the switch on Len Sweet. Apparently a “hater” reported one of Dr. Sweet’s Napkin Scribbles podcast links as “hostile.”

It goes to show you that the power of the press is certainly alive. It also shows how the Internet has democratized everything. The power of one can shut down a megaphone for Xtianity with one simple email. We are at the mercy of the Google’s, Facebook’s and Twitter’s of the world.

Perhaps it is time to see the power of P2P networks and figure out how ‘the people’ can harness it for syndicating content via our micro-blogging venues. But that’s a whole different blog post.

Because of this one hater report, his iTunes podcast landing page URL actually got onto some of the major URL blacklist / spam lists for ISPs within hours — and it will stay blocked via various means until they do a manual review to wipe it off. (for example, tinyurl.com won’t allow you to create a shortcut URL to it because it thinks it is malware now).

Well in the meantime, here’s the actual podcast that got Len Sweet banned from Facebook and other places. Sit back and enjoy some censored content right now:

We won’t know what the original report had an objection to, but can you find anything in this podcast that might be deemed offensive or hostile?  Leave a comment below.

The constantly nagging question for the Church is where should it focus and what are the measures for success?

The old model has clearly been the ABC model for doing Church: How large is your attendance?  Are you building out the physical plant of your church? Are you drawing people into your buildings?  Are you creating ministries and programs that reinforce your church as the fundamental epicenter?  How are you attracting people to your church? And are people giving out of their wallets? Tithing? Sacrificing for the offering plates?

The big trap is when the Church- literally - is the focus, purpose and intention of the ministry.

Let’s make sure we’re packing the pews the more people!  Is this program or that program supporting our objective to position the church (its vibrant programs and ministries!) as the center of attention and focal point of the community?  Are we successfully teaching people to empty their wallets into the offering plate so that we can plan more programs?

But some are arguing for a new old model.  Leonard Sweet’s latest text, frames what the body of Christ was called to do within a simple, yet beautiful M-R-I model.

The intro chapter of So Beautiful: Divine Design for Life and the Church gives a taste of Sweet’s message. . .

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