Okay, so that post title is a little misleading, so let me explain.

I’ve recently changed my Twitter philosophy (“Twitterlosophy”?). Before last Friday, I was fairly selective in who I followed (or followed back.) If I knew you personally, enjoyed a product or service you provided, or liked what you had to say, I would follow you.

Outside of that, most people fell by the wayside.

It wasn’t because you weren’t saying anything interesting, I simply could not keep up reading everyone’s tweets. I peaked at about 130 and finally had to give up my old approach.

Now, if you follow me, I will automatically follow you back. People like Tony Steward, Guy Kawasaki, Tony Morgan and, yes, even traditionally stingy Carlos Whittaker looks like he has adopted the “follow-me-follow-you” approach to Twitter. Something about this approach feels right, as I believe it is more faithful to the mission of social media, that being connection.

Keeping track of people whose updates I don’t want to miss is a little trickier now, but I’ve found a few ways to manage the task:

• Peoplebrowsr.com: This site allows me to place people into groups, so I add the “no-misses” to a group aptly titled, “Don’t Miss.”
• Tweetdeck: This application allows similar capabilities to PeopleBrowsr, but it’s a little cleaner and more dependable. Same thing applies: Create group. Add people. Don’t miss their updates.

With that, I still reserve the right to drop the UNFOLLOW hammer with no mercy. Here are the quickest ways to get dropped:

1. Your “following to follower” ratio is too low. Usually, these Twitterers are the most obnoxious ones, reducing Twitter to a popularity contest. Blech. Oddly enough, Christians are the worst offenders of this one. Follow more people. It will make you more interesting.

2. Endless self-promotion. I posted on this earlier, but suffice to say if the only reason you are on Twitter is to promote your “stuff,” you will get dropped. Letting us know what you’re up to and proud of is cool, “whoring” yourself out is not.

3. Swearing. Really? Use a Thesaurus.

What’s your approach to Twitter? Do you like to keep it small? Follow people if they follow you? Do you follow “celebrities” and if so, which ones? What makes you want to drop the UNFOLLOW hammer?

This past week, I fried the logic board on my MacBook Pro. I was assured by multiple Mac Geniuses that there was nothing I could have done to cause this, but I have my suspicions. (Have you ever heard the expression, “He knows enough about _____ to be dangerous”? I know enough about the inner workings of a Mac to be dangerous. That’s a whole different blog post.)

Being “Mac-less” this week has brought a much-needed breather from the computer world; a breather I didn’t think I would enjoy as much as I have. I am working on a computer in our Chapel and, at the end of the day when it’s time to go home, I get to leave my work at work. It’s liberating to be able to truly say, “I’m not going to get to that until tomorrow!” and mean it.

Without my laptop, I’ve been depending more on my iPhone to accomplish simple tasks when I’m not at the church. Email, websurfing, RSS reading, Twitter, all can be done from the palm of my hand. But while the iPhone is truly an amazing piece of technology, it won’t be replacing desktop/laptop terminals any time soon. At least not mine. Here’s some reasons why:

1. Size: No matter how much the iPhone can do, it’s still too small to become a viable option for computer replacement. From the keyboard to the screen to the web browser, people (read: me) need space to complete everyday tasks.

2. Video: The iPhone still cannot display Flash encoded video outside of YouTube. This, obviously, is not a case of “We Can’t” but more of a “We Won’t”. With more and more websites integrating video into their visual process, the iPhone will need to accommodate video before it can hang with its Big Brother, MacBook Pro.

3. Video Conferencing: My MacBook Pro has a webcam built in. This automatically allows me to transcend physical boundaries in order to connect with people in a real way. The iPhone, unexplainably, does not allow me to do this. Put a webcam on the front of the iPhone and give people a native app that allows them to webcast at a moment’s notice and then, my friends, we’ll talk revolutionary.

Don’t get wrong, I love my iPhone as much as the next person. It truly has changed the way that I approach my work and social life. But my MacBook will always be my MacBook and my iPhone will always be my iPhone, if that makes any sense.

What do you think? (And if you’re wondering, yes, that’s the front page of my iPhone.)

I mentioned this in an earlier post, but President Obama is a poster boy for Blackberry. Dude loves his device so much he refused to give it up when he became Commander-in-Chief. (Apparently when you’re the leader of the free world, people want to read text messages from the First Lady that say, “Pick up some milk on the way back from addressing the nation.” Who knew?)

One of the reasons that I “heart” our new President is because of his love for technology. Everybody said, “Sir, it’s time to hand over the Blackberry,” to which Obama defiantly said, “Security threat? Fine. Make me a new one that’s not.”

And behold, it was done.

What do you get when the Commander-in-Geek wants a wireless version of Fort Knox? This:

This, in a word, is awesome. Encrypted everything. More buttons than a spaceship. A wicked piece of machinery.

I love this guy for no other reason than his quiet, confident, respectful defiance of that way things “have always been.” Obama’s shaking things up, and it’s starting with a Blackberry.

So check it out. Get “free“!   

Are you using a keyboard right now? Did you peck away at letters in front of you to navigate to BeDeviant.com? According to some people who use the Internet a lot, keyboards and laptops will be a thing of the past in as little as four years. From Yahoo! News: “Step aside, keyboards, laptops, and 9-to-5 jobs. A survey of more than 1,000 Internet activists, journalists, and technologists released Sunday speculates that by 2012, those quaint relics of 20th century life will fade away.” Read the rest of the article here.

A little while ago, I wrote on the future role of the digital world in the life of a pastor. It got some attention, appeared in the Chicago Sun-Times, and generated even more ideas for me personally.

Since then I’ve done a little more digging, a little more connecting (with very cool people like Rhett Smith, Anne Jackson, and Tony Steward) and realized, as I put it to my senior pastor, “We don’t even know how deep this rabbit hole goes.” With a dozen or so churches with Internet campuses (and many more contemplating the move to the web), the Church is looking at the Internet as a viable option for true Christian community.

The Denver Post wrote a fascinating article on the role of technology in the church. Among the gems in the piece, this one surfaced as particularly poignant:

“Church is not the Internet or a building — it’s people.” If the notion that a virtual community can be as real as a physical one seems crazy, you may be showing your age.

Thanks to online shopping, online dating, online social networking and online darn-near-everything-else, many young Americans don’t distinguish between their friends from school and those from Facebook.

These youngsters just see them all as friends, said David Kinnaman, president of the Barna Group, a consulting firm that conducts survey research for churches and other religious groups.

In fact, Kinnaman’s firm predicts that by 2010, 10 percent of Americans will rely exclusively on the Internet for their religious experience.

10 percent. 10 percent! Clearly the Church is facing a change that it must adapt to or face extinction in its current form. American Christians need only look to Europe to see where the U.S. will be in 15-20 years on the coasts; 20-25 years in Middle America. Will the American megachurches of today become the stoic shells of the now abandoned tourist-attraction cathedrals of Europe? They will if the U.S. church does not begin to speak the language of the culture surrounding it. That language, undeniably, becomes more digital by the day.

Rhett Smith points out that the “front door” of churches is no longer a “physical” one:

Do we even realize that the physical building isn’t the front door anymore, but that the online world is the front door? If you don’t have a strong [online] presence, or aren’t telling a good story online, which is the front door–will you be able to bring people from the online world, to the physical front door of the church?

The line between “offline” and “online” is beginning to blur, if not fade altogether. People under 20 don’t view life in “off-” or “online” categories, it simply is “life.” If you (and your church) don’t begin to understand and learn to speak the language of this younger generation, no amount of catch-up and “digital cramming” will help in as little as five years.

Are you seeing these patterns in your church? Do you believe the virtual church can replace the physical church? Or, does technology need to be a means to an end and not the end itself?

I’m attending a free webinar tomorrow where Lifechurch.tv’s Brian Donaldson and Flamingo Road‘s Brian Vasil will be taking a closer look at Internet campuses. These are guys who work at churches that are pioneering Christianity’s move to the digital world. It’s a “no-miss” and I’d encourage you, if you have any interest in this at all, to attend as well. Your church will thank you for it (eventually).

Additional Resources:

Rise of the Social Media Pastor on Digital.Leadnet.org

Social Media Pastor Or Pastor with Social Media on Levite Chronicles

WhatsYourTweetWorth.com says mine’s worth $8.04 per month. What’s yours?

Biggest surprise: Probably the biggest surprise of the past week has been putting our townhome up for sale and putting an offer on a new house! It’s kind of taken the Wise household by surprise, but through a series of events we found an amazing deal on a brand new house and had some interest in our townhome. It’s been a whirlwind, but exciting as well. Interested in moving to West Des Moines? Check out our home at tinyurl.com/wise-house!

Favorite new music: My favorite of the last week has been an odd mix of techno and indie ambient shoe gazer stuff. My wife brought home “Ultra 2008″ (opens in iTunes) home from work the other day (she teaches dance). I threw it in and was surprised by how much I liked it. Reminds me of my college days as a dive-bar/dance club DJ. Hammock’s new one “Maybe They Will Sing for Us Tomorrow” (again, iTunes) has been on repeat as well. Great studying music.

Seminary: I’ve been forced to move to the triage method of studying. I am taking three classes this quarter (which counts as full-time) and that translates into a ton of reading. Simply put, there aren’t enough hours in the day! The balance is good, though, and I haven’t found myself getting too overwhelmed. That’s good.

Most excited about: I’ll be heading to Chicago to hang out with Brother Deviant, my bro Ryan “Peep” Wise. We’ll be hitting up Giordano’s, catching the Hawkeyes game at a bar in Wrigleyville, checking out a Bulls game, and engaging in activities steeped in overall “dudeness”. Should be a lot of fun. Not looking forward to the solo drive, though. Look for Twitter updates, especially once I hit the 3G goodness of Chicago.

Favorite new Twitter-er: He’s under the radar now, but @MarkSchlaf is ’bout ready to blow up! I don’t know very many people who can gracefully incorporate the word “earworm” into their tweets, but @MarkSchlaf does it with ease. Follow him. You will be pleased. (On a List-O-Mania sidenote, last week’s “favorite new Twitter-er, @jameseliason, was featured in mad stories this week in the Des Moines Register’s Juice. Way to go!)

Are you a list person? Type A, perhaps? If you like things organized in list-like fashion, check out the List-O-Mania archives for more listed commentary on culture, theology, and life.

God is seriously blowing my mind.

I’ve recently come across the term, “Digital Pastor” and I really like it. I really like it.

There was an event that happened earlier today, something called #churchtechcamp. Basically the conversation consisted of asking the question, “What does God want to do through the new digital media?” Things like Twitter, Facebook, Mogulus, Second Life, the iPhone, and more.

Rhett Smith points out that the times are a-changin’ for those who call themselves pastors:

“I love ministry…I was and am a pastor, so I love pastoring. But I also think that technology is allowing us to do things differently in a very easy way…communicate, organize, etc, etc. And hopefully the congregation can do this without having to go through all the traditional, hierarchical church structures that have for too long consolidated “power” in the hands of a pastor, exec. team, elder board, etc.

Instead, I think it will put the “power” back in the hands of the congregation…and the pastor will act more as a facilitator, shepherd for the community. But I think that is a great thing.

And maybe we need to rethink the whole role of pastoral leadership in this country anyways.”

Amen, bro. Amen.

Technology is allowing us to approach life in an entirely new way, the church included. Luther had the printing press. We, as the 21st century church, have the Internet. The question becomes will we allow God to breathe through these new mediums and bring his life-changing reality to people in new and creative ways?

#churchtechcamp made the Twitter blog today (and for the record, that’s a big deal.)

Chris Brogan, a faith blogger (amongst other things), is listed in the Top 100 blogs on Technorati.

LifeShare, a recent web ministry event co-opted by Lifechurch.tv and Carlos Whitaker, blew everyone’s expectations away by linking countless numbers of believers over the internet in an effort to “become the church” online.

If you’re in ministry, are you prepared to engage a culture in a completely new way? Are you prepared (or willing to be prepared and/or prepare others) to translate the message of Christ using a fully digital language? If “digital” is not your native tongue, will your accent betray you to a generation that is desperate to know that God is real?

In the meantime, hit me up on Twitter and we can talk about it. In 140 characters or less, of course.

There are numerous variations of this all over the place, but I thought I’d add one more blog to the pile … It’s the BeDeviant.com List-O-Mania!

Favorite New Ministry Websites
I recently stumbled upon NeueMinistry.com. I like it because the content is interesting and it’s geared towards people in ministry. People like me. CollideMagazine.com looks really promising, as does Des Moines’ own VeritasMag.com. Content for normal Christians who find themselves in the normal, everyday world.

Favorite Twitter Follower
I find myself looking forward to @paul_stewart’s updates as of late. He’s always got something good to say. Good use of linking back to his blog, precise updates, and he doesn’t update too much. Nothing’s worse than a Twitterer who tells you when they’re getting up to go to the bathroom, how their fantasy football team is doing or how bored they are. One word for those people, ” BUH-LETED!” (Of course, if you want to follow me you can do so here.)

Favorite iPhone App
Air Sharing is an app that says what it does and does what it says. It turns your iPhone into a wireless hard drive and works as advertised. Oh yeah, it’s free! Much better than pricey (and fickle) competitor DataCase.

Worst Upgrade of the Week
The new Facebook bites. It’s counterintuitive (something we Mac users depend on), it’s ugly and it hides all the stuff that I love about Facebook (read: Flair).

Favorite New Twitter Tool
Twitthat! is a nifty tool that lets you tweet what you read. Simple, easy and useful. Now I can let people know when I’m reading the latest post from JakeBouma.com or Swerve.

Here ends the List-O-Mania. What are you diggin’ in your world?