I’ll level with you: I’m doing something new.

I left my job in parish ministry last week and began to work full-time in the field of social media and ministry. While continuing my role at the Center for Church Communication, I’ve really started to dig in to what it takes to be effective with social media as a church and/or ministry.

That work is taking place with the good folks at Monk Development. Up to this point, those of us in the faith social media world have gotten good statistics on why we should be using social media in our faith organizations, but we’ve never really seen what is effective.

That’s about to change.

At Monk, we’re on the cusp of some breakthrough concepts and insights that we can’t wait to share with your and your team. We’re already starting to partner with churches and denominations around the country to bring them more of the what of social media instead of just the why.

The why has been covered. We’re interested in bringing value to you and actually showing you and your organization how to go about putting together a strong social media presence.

If you’re at a point where  your church or ministry is ready to pull the trigger on a website redesign, web or social media strategy or starting an online community for your congregation, please get a hold of me. I believe the information and practical strategy that Monk can bring to you will bring your church/ministry communication and organizational clarity.

Like I said, hit me up if this is of interest to you. Otherwise, check out what we can bring to your table. You keep focusing on building the relationships. Let us focus on the technology. Sounds like a good deal, yeah?

Part of the drag of transitioning out of a job that I’ve been at for the past seven years is the dreadful process of moving files. I’ve amassed quite the collection of digital goods over the years, and they’ve usually resided on one of the many work computers I’ve had. Documents, media, notes, pictures, random files—you name it, it’s on my work computer hard drive somewhere.

As I’m moving things over from my MacBook 17″ to my newly purchased MacBook Air 13″, I’m realizing how happy I am with the decision to invest in cloud technology. For instance:

I use MobileMe to transfer all my computer’s settings and apps from the old to the new. I also use it to easily transfer files remotely between all of the Wise family computers (Back to My Mac, yo!) I know people give MobileMe a hard time, but I’ve really enjoyed the service.

I use Google Docs to keep all of my various work-related documents, both personal and collaborative, in one space.

I use Evernote to keep all my ideas in one place. I cannot tell you how freeing it is to open up Evernote for the first time on a new laptop and see all of your files, nice and synced and ready to go!

I used Rdio and Grooveshark to keep my music rolling through the whole process. Grooveshark still has a way to go, but they allow you to upload your own collection to the cloud, which is a huge plus. Rdio lets you stream pretty much any music you can think of on your desktop, through the web or using one of their apps. Very easy.

And finally, I use Dropbox to sync my Home folder with the cloud. With the 50 gb updgrade, I can sync my Mac home folder to the cloud using Dropbox and access it from anywhere. In my opnion, Dropbox is the most important cloud app out of all the ones listed here. You need Dropbox. Trust me.

What used to take a whole day now takes an hour at most (excluding the initial transfer using Migration Assistant). Just download a few apps and your new computer is up and running in no time. All hail the power of the cloud!

What apps am I missing? What do you enjoy the most?

That changed, however, when I saw the stats from Mary Meeker’s presentation on Web 2.0. The information she’s presenting, even if it’s 25% correct, this is some really wild stuff! (Note: I have no reason to doubt the authenticity of her statistics, simply for hyperbole’s sake!)

Take for instance the slide below:

If you can’t read it, here’s the data:

1. If you combine all the iDevices, they account for over 120 million mobile users across the globe.
2. To put that in perspective, Netscape in it’s heyday was reaching~50 million users in the same amount of time.
3. Similarly, AOL was reaching approximately 20 million people in the given time frame. (This seems almost unbelievable to me. Remember how crazy we all were for AOL?!)

The top line on the graph really floors me. It highlights the meteoric rise of the mobile Internet through iDevices. This has implications for everything we do online. Everything.

Have you noticed this in your own life? Do you find yourself using the mobile web more and more and the “desktop” web less and less? Equal usage? Vice versa?

Talk to me.

To try it out for yourselves:

1. Download the posters here.
2. Go to the website here.
3. Point poster at webcam and watch the hilarity ensure.

Has anyone seen other augmented reality apps/websites that work well?

I was thinking of solutions to combat Internet pornography addiction the other day. While there is some good software on the market already, I see a need for a reliable, fool-proof solution. Something that combines technology with a true desire to help people who struggle with this addiction.We all know the stats, Internet porn is a plague that lots of people, both inside and outside the church, struggle with.

Like I said, there are some solutions out there but I think there’s room for something different. Something dependable and tamper-proof. Something that’s installed blindly and only able to be administered by the person you designate.

This idea’s for free. If you’re in development and see a way to make this happen, go for it. It’s all yours:

• Automatic Screen Capturing. The program would run in the background. You’d be unaware it was active for the most part, and that would be a good thing. The software would capture your screen image at random intervals throughout the day. You’d have no idea when your screen was captured, thus leading to the accountability part. If you know that someone could potentially see what you’re looking, you may be less inclined to surf to the places you don’t want to go. Knowing that someone else will see what you’re looking at is a powerful motivator.
• Email Screen Caps to Trusted Friend. The software would have the ability to automatically email the screen caps to the trusted friend of your choosing. All you would have to do is put that person’s email address in the preferences and let the software do the rest. Obviously this person will be seeing what you’re looking at, so you’d have to make sure this was someone you trusted. This could be the feature that excels where other applications lack. A consistent delivery system remains to be seen for Internet monitoring software. The other programs I’ve participated in as an accountability partner deliver sparse and unreliable results. If you could nail a consistent system, you’d easily have the best product on the market.
• Secure. Privacy would be of utmost importance for software like this. The goal is never to shame, but to bring light into the dark world of some of our Internet viewing habits. If you developed this, you’d have to be a pro at securing the data that’s going to and from the user’s computer. You don’t hear of too many people being embarrassed out of Internet pornography. Keeping someone’s digital life shielded from unwelcome eyes would have to be the primary goal in development.

That’s my idea. Have any suggestions to add? Have you had a good experience using existing accountability software? Let us know in the comments.

I beg to differ.

I would spin that around and say that we have problems the iPad can solve, we just don’t know it yet. I’m not talking about “cure cancer” or “solve world hunger,” but I think the iPad can make life in ministry a little easier. It truly is an innovative piece of technology that fits a niche I’m not sure exists yet.

• More than an e-reader,
• Different than a notebook,
• More versatile than other tablets,
• It’s in a class of it’s own.

That being said, I started thinking about how you could use an iPad in your ministry setting. Now, none of these reasons will make you race out and plunk down the cash, but if you’ve been thinking about getting an iPad, this may give you some more fuel (or justification).

4. Conference Check-ins

I don’t know about you, but conference check-ins (at least, in the Lutheran world) are a bumblefest. Check-in here; pick up this packet there; stand in the line that coordinates with your pet’s first name. Ugh. What if you had three people standing at each door, armed with iPads, checking people in with a yet-to-be-made app? You check people in at the door, hand them your packet of info right before they enter the conference space, all in one, fluid motion.

3. Whiteboard Apps

What if you could wirelessly connect your iPad to the screens in your worship center? Once connected, you could fire up a Whiteboard app (it could already exist, I don’t know) and scribble away with your finger. Whatever you see on the iPad, you see on the screen. I know more than one pastor who would love to get their hands on something like this. Somebody make it happen!

2. Preaching/Teaching

This one excites me the most. When I preach or teach, I use notes. Lots of them. I like to know where I’m going, where I’ve been and how I’m going to get from Point A to Point Z. It helps me organize my thoughts better and, in turn, deliver a more solid message.

One of my least favorite part about using notes is the whole paper thing. Bumbling around with pages of notes while trying to keep a speaking rhythm together proves difficult. It’s hard to look like you know what you’re doing (or saying) when you’re shuffling pieces of paper around like the Nutty Professor.

Enter: the iPad. I’ve tried this out now a couple of times and I have to say, I’ve found a winner. It’s pretty simple:

1. Type out notes like always.
2. Buy Pages or DocsToGo.
3. Open notes on iPad.
4. Rock the mic like vandal.

It’s really that easy. Here’s a pic from a wedding I did recently:

You can't even see it!

Couple your iPad with a case from InCase and no one even knows you’re using an iPad. (I promised myself I wouldn’t be that guy who flagrantly displays their newest and greatest piece of technology. If people find out I’m using an iPad, I want it to be by accident, not because I’m showboating. Ugh.) No shuffling papers, just a nice easy scroll through my notes. All in one place. Genius.

1. Wait, what’s the number one creative way to use an iPad?

Yours. Yeah, yours. Share with us how you’ve been using your iPad in ministry. It doesn’t even have to be you–What are some of the ways you’ve seen people leverage this technology to make their ministry lives easier?

Cynthia Ware is a pro. I’ve been privileged enough to collaborate with her on a few projects recently and I’m consistently impressed by her expertise and care. She knows church. She knows new media–for pity’s sakes she has a degree in it! She gets it.

I was researching for a workshop I’ll be leading at Faith Lift in the Twin Cities next month and I came across this gem from Cynthia. The title of the article is “Technology and the Virtual Church”, but it focuses on the very fabric that makes up the clothes of the Body of Christ. It’s all-encompassing. The vision that Cynthia lays out is compelling. Superb.

Here’s a portion of the article that struck me. Cynthia contrasts the culture of the church with the mindset of the “rest” of the world:

The culture of church hegemony stands in stark contrast to the emerging mindsets influencing other fields of inquiry today. From education to business, from entertainment to politics, new values are evolving out of our interdependent, transparent, wired world. And these values are rapidly galvanizing new paradigms of order, operation, and currency replacing the top-down, proprietary, program-driven systems of yesterday.

I’m haunted by these words. They ring true in my very soul. I feel compelled to do something about it. The only question is, What? It feels like so much is shifting and changing in our world, let alone the church, that it’s hard to know where to start. What do you do in the face of a systematic structural shift that’s changing the game in every way possible?

Top-down hierarchy is dissolving.
Power-brokers no longer have sole access to the information that brought them power.
Geographical boundaries no longer present the limitations that they once did.

The web culture is changing the game in so many different aspects of our daily lives, it’s hard to gain a grasp on what we’re in the middle of. Lest I get overwhelmed, here are three concrete steps that I am taking in the face of this cultural shift:

1. Love the content, not the form. The reality of Christ is a constant. It’s like Penny to Desmond. An anchor. That’s the content, so to speak. The form of the Gospel–the way in which it is delivered–is constantly changing. If I love the form over the content, I will quickly become angered at change, disillusioned, and heavily resistant to differing forms.
2. Hour of power. I will take time every day to learn and educate myself on what kind of world we’re entering in to as the church. This means I will spend time listening to non-Christian authors and speakers who are on the forefront of this cultural shift. I will tweet, update my status, check my RSS feeds on Google Reader and blog faithfully. Not simply for the sake of “doing it,” but to accumulate cultural currency that I can use to build relationships for the sake of the Gospel.
3. I will honor the past while looking towards the future. The last thing the world needs is another young punk who thinks he knows something when he doesn’t. I’m not interested in being that person. Who I am interested in being is someone who can bridge the gaps between the old and the new, the online and offline, the church and culture. This means respecting the forms that the Spirit has used in previous generations while constantly looking for what he is up to now. In the words of a wise friend, “Different is not bad. Different’s just different.” The cultural shift ahead will be wild enough. The last thing anyone inside the church is in-fighting and sniping. That will make the road bumpier. Unhelpful.

Those are my thoughts. My observations on how technology is changing the church culture. It’s ambiguous, but very real. It’s threatening, but invigorating. It’s in the future, but it’s also right now.

What steps are you taking to make sure you (and your church) don’t get washed ashore by the cultural tide?

 

What you’re looking at is a new power outlet developed by True Power that integrates two USB ports into a standard power outlet. This, in a word, is awesome.

I’ve already got a perfect spot for one of these picked out in my house. The outlet by my bedside is what I usually use to power my iPhone at night. No more adapters, just plug that baby right into the wall!

For those nervous about power usage and expensive electronics not mixing well, True Power offers this assurance:

Please also note that the USB ports only draw power when something is physically connected to the port. We didn’t want a vampire port that continually sucks and wastes power when not in use so this was one of the features on the top of our priority list during the design phase.

These start shipping in early 2010. You better believe I’ll be on the pre-order list!

Because we love early adopters here at BeDeviant, we thought we’d share the wealth with some Google Wave invites we just received.

Here’s the deal: We have eight of them and we’ll be giving them away all day today. How? Much in the same way we gave away a $30 iTunes gift card on #DeviantDay. Here’s the rules:

1. Tweet a phrase of how you’re “thinking differently” about things in your life. Maybe it’s solving a problem at work in a new way or maybe you spent an hour this morning staring at the light of a prism. For example, “Today instead of buying coffee at Starbucks I brewed some at home and brought it to work in a thermos. #BeDeviant”
2. Make sure you include the hashtag #BeDeviant. Only those with the hashtag will be counted.
3. Check back here at 4pm CST for a list of winners! If you win, you’ll need to email me your address so I can invite you.

So have fun looking at your life and seeing ways in which you think differently. Seeing the ways in which God has crafted you to be you. And once you’re on Wave, be sure to look me up (justin.m.wise@googlewave.com)!

Ready? Go!

—–

UPDATE: And the winners of a Google Wave invite are…

1. @bpinks
2. @bobbyshirley
3. @jeremyanderberg
4. @benlemery
5. @seanwashington
6. @jim_gray
7. @jmekent
8. @rosshesseltine

Congrats! Just send an email to justin(at)bedeviant(dot)com to claim your prize!

There is no spoon.

[HT: Emily Carver]