Cuddling. Yeah, cuddling. Did you know that using social networks produce the same chemical in your brain as “spooning”?

Sometimes referred to as the “cuddle” chemical, oxytocin — a hormone produced in the brain — stimulates feelings of trust and security, reduces anxiety levels and may even produce positive sexual side effects. It sounds like a miracle drug, so how does one get their hands on it? Perhaps, simply by tweeting.

Weird, but true.

ChurchCrunch recently did a post that features a short video from Chris Brogan. Chris asks the question, “Are you connecting [on the social web] just to connect, or do you have a purpose?” In other words, it’s really easy to mindlessly shuffle from social network to social network, getting the “high” of connection with no real purpose.

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Having my iPad now for about a month, I feel like I’m just starting to explore some of its abilities. The popular critique of the iPad has been that it’s a beautiful piece of technology without a problem to solve.

I beg to differ.

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This 60-ft. statue of Jesus at a Cincinnati church burned to the ground after being struck by lighting:

Charred remnants remained this morning, June 15, of the large Jesus statue iconic to Interstate 75 that was destroyed following an apparent lightning strike during a thunderstorm late Monday night.

As one on-looker said, “It was like God striking God. Jesus striking down Jesus … I like the irony.” Here’s a picture of the statue burning:

This is a guest post by Mike McArthur. I asked Mike to share his experience after reading some of his posts, particularly this one. Check it out!

“We are too small to be able to afford to pay a pastor, the church will have to close.”

Bad call!

Employing a pastor is not a necessary requirement of a healthy church. In many cases it is really a convenient way to make life easier for the elders and church members.

Many small churches are struggling to balance budgets, yet the last expense to be cut is usually the pastor’s salary. As an elder myself I would never want to make a pastor redundant, but after our part-time pastor resigned a year and a half ago we did not employ anyone to replace him. Despite some doubters, our congregation is still thriving, we have an excellent Sunday school program, great sermons and heartfelt worship singing each week.

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Um, what?

Let’s face it: Most Christian conferences, at some point, get boring.

You know what I’m talking about:

• The one guy who’s presenting only because he’s family friends with the senior pastor of the church the conference is being held at.
• The fatigue of the cross-country road trip to get to the conference starts to set in. Sleepy… Getting… so… sleepy…
• The pastor who insists on preaching a three-point, 60-minute sermon when he’s been told to only go 20 minutes.

Boring.

But I found myself at a conference last year that was unlike any I had been to before. STORY. STORY held my attention from beginning to end (maybe it was the city-wide search for free copies of the Divine Conspiracy?) and this year looks to be even better.

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Your church should have a Facebook fan page. If they don’t already have one, you should start it. Yes, you. (As the saying goes, “If not you, who? If not now, when?”)

You’ve probably heard the stats by now, but just in case you haven’t:

• More than 400 million active users
• Average user has 130 friends
• People spend over 500 billion minutes per month on Facebook
• Average user is connected to 60 pages, groups and events
• About 70% of Facebook users are outside the United States

As you can see, there are a lot of people using Facebook. People near. People far. People who live in your city or town and may not have heard about your church.

You really should change that. Like, now. The good thing is that it’s easy. Real easy.
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When I presented at Faith Lift earlier this month on the digital pastorate, I met two types of people:

1. Those who were overwhelmed with what I was presenting.
2. Those who were eating it up.

While the second group is important, the first group matters most to me. Digital ministry can be absolutely paralyzing. “Where do I start? How do I maintain my efforts? Who do I get permission from?” One of my goals is to make digital ministry less debiliating and more invigorating. Make it accessible to all.

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We’ve scoured the web and found the best links, videos and articles for you to enjoy. Onto this week’s best….

• An adorable picture of my son. Yes, I’m being that guy.
• Your brain on computers. This article gave me serious pause for my web habits.
• A dad yanks his kid’s tooth out with a model rocket. As awesome as it sounds.
• Still holding on to the hope that society will one day return to the cutting edge technology of the type-writer? This ingenious invention combines old with the new. Check it out.
• You need to celebrate mistakes, not hide them. This article tells you why.
• Like the Internet? Well, too bad. A ‘Net “kill-switch” bill has been proposed in Congress. Yes, they’re for real.
• A phenomenal essay on the Open-Source Church by my friend and fellow blogger, David Housholder.
• Some Mormons came to our door. I didn’t want to be nice, but their kindness forced me to be. How an iPad changed the way I see Mormons.

Check them out. Read up. Get in the know. This is the week that was in pop web culture. And don’t say we never gave you nothin’! PEACE.

I suppose there are more graceful ways to handle the Fred Phelps, Westboro Baptist-types, but probably none funnier than this.

If you can beat ‘em, yell at ‘em about pancake mix.

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