I decided to shut down my personal Twitter and Facebook sites for 40 days. It’s not exactly for Lent, but the goal is similar.  I’m excited to gain a new perspective.  I’m going in with an open mind as to what my social media fast might reveal to me about myself and what changes I should make to my life.

I’ve gotten rid of everything on Facebook, leaving only the bare minimum:

After only 36 hours away from Twitter and Facebook, I’m already discovering just how much of my time is devoted to those two sites. I made a similar discovery when I fasted from food last year.  I was amazed to learn how much time I spent thinking about, shopping for, preparing and eating food everyday.  I didn’t anticipate to learn the same thing during a social media fast, but I’ve already done a good bit of pacing, looking for something to fill an unexpected void.

I’d be lying if I said that introspection was the only reason I’m doing this.  I’m also trying to free up some time and mental energy to focus on developing a marketing strategy for new areas of my business, chiefly rapidretouch.com and bdubrecords.net.  That will also involve creating new blogs, YouTube accounts, Facebook profiles, Twitter accounts, etc.  In other words, I’m hoping to harness the power of social media for my business, which means that the current craziness of my online life has the potential to get exponentially worse if I don’t find a smart smart strategy.

There are other reasons as well. For example, I’d like to return to devoting more time to more weighty things that have more permanence – such as blogging and authoring books.  I also need to get a grip on my Facebook profile and perhaps create some new privacy settings.

Have you ever considered a social media fast, and why?

Category: Cool Stuff, Random Rants, Spirituality | 2 comments »

Awesome! I just got this in my email:

Looks like my favorite camera just got… favoriter. I’ve loved the EOS 5D Mark II since it first came out, even if it was released a little half-baked.  At first, there was no way to manually control anything when recording a video.  People came up with hacks, such as setting the aperture and then unscrewing the lens so that it could not go back into auto mode.  Eventually, Canon released a firmware update that gave us manual control over shutter and aperture (without having to risk our lenses’ lives).  You can check out what I’ve been able to do with that in this post.

This week, Canon announced another step forward — 24fps recording. In addition, the 30fps mode will be modified to 29.97fps to be compliant with NTSC standards.  They’ve also added a live histogram to aid in manual exposure.  But wait, there’s more!  Manual audio controls!  Documentary filmmakers who shoot with the 5D have come up with some clever techniques to circumvent the camera’s auto gain control, but nothing worked perfectly.  So the new manual control will be a great addition.  And last but not least, the Av and Tv modes will work as expected in video mode, allowing me to, for instance, pick a wide aperture and set-it-and-forget-it!

Getting all this is like an unexpected Christmas gift. I’ve always heard that firmware upgrades fix bugs.  You shouldn’t expect new features from firmware upgrades, and so I was just expecting these much-needed features to come with a hefty price-tag — buying a new Canon EOS 5D Mark III.  Thank God Canon didn’t do that.  Some companies (Adobe, are you listening?) abandon development on their products as soon as they come out and force you to buy new stuff.  All that makes for is angry customers who switch to more considerate competitors.

Creating good relationships with loyal customers is way better than making a quick buck.  And Canon just won a lot of goodwill from me!

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Conan O’Brien posted his first (and only) tweet about interviewing a squirrel in his back yard.  Less than 24 hours later, he’s approaching 300,000 followers on Twitter.  Other oddities from his new Twitter page?  He follows zero people (maybe I could be the first?) and the “Web” link comedically points back to the same Twitter page.

My favorite part of Conan’s new Twitter account, though, it his one-line bio: “I had a show. Then I had a different show. Now I have a Twitter account.”  Have you ever felt that way?  It reminds me of this passage from the Bible:

When all you owned was taken from you, you accepted it with joy. You knew you had better things waiting for you in eternity (Hebrews 10:34, NLT).

The people receiving this letter lost more than a TV show. Their property was plundered.  They were beaten and endured public ridicule.  They went through “terrible suffering.”  And they did it joyfully.  How?  They knew better things were coming.  Specifically, an eternity where sin and suffering become distant memories of the past.

I hope you have that hope too. Whatever loss you endure on earth — whether it’s the cancelation of a late night TV show or something far worse — keep pressing on, looking to better days that are coming.  Better than you’ve ever imagined!

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Yesterday, I posted a review of a book I recently read, Just Do Something, by Kevin DeYoung.  Here’s one more paragraph that I just love:

One of the virtues I appreciate most in others, and it’s a virtue I hope to have in some measure, is teachability.  Are you willing to change your mind when another person’s case has more merit than yours?  Are you able to hear good advice when it comes from some mouth other than your own and may even contradict your preconceived ideas?  Are you willing to admit “I didn’t think of that” or “I see your point”?  If no one has ever heard you change your mind about something, then you are either a god or you have mistaken yourself for one.

Teachability makes a good employee. When I hire interns, more than anything else, I’m looking for teachability.  More than specific skills or abilities, I want someone who is open to learn new things.

Teachability also makes a good boss. Even though you may have positional authority, that doesn’t mean every idea you have is gospel truth.  The best leaders are life-long learners.  Have you ever worked for someone for years and never once heard the words, “I see your point”?  That person may never lose a debate, but he’ll also never win my respect.

Whether you’re the CEO, a mid-level manager or the janitor, teachability makes you a good team player, and even more importantly, that humble attitude reveals that the Spirit of God is at work in your life.  God, help us to be teachable today.

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I just finished reading an excellent book by Kevin DeYoung named Just Do Something. The subtitle explains the content of the book pretty clealry: How to Make a Decision Without Dreams, Visions, Fleeces, Impressions, Open Doors, Random Bible Verses, Casting Lots, Liver Shivers, Writing in the Sky, etc.

If you’re like me, you’ve tried one or more of these methods for trying to pry open the heavens and discover God’s plan for your life. And if you’re like me, you’ve often been misled by gut feelings and “open doors,” which are both very subjective and easily misread.  The author says: “How do you know when an open door is the Lord’s open door or the Devil tempting you?  How do you know when a closed door is the Lord’s answer to your prayer or the Lord testing your steadfastness and resolve?”

It turns out that the way we view “finding God’s will” today is very different than the way it was viewed throughout the rest of Christian history. The author makes a good case that being in God’s will is more about following His moral directives than discovering what specific place, relationship or job He has for you.  While most of us are so caught up in praying about whether to move to Nashville or Atlanta, that we totally miss God’s will for our lives, which is our sanctification (our Christ-likeness) no matter where we live (1 Thes. 4:3).  DeYoung puts it this way:

My point is that we should spend more time trying to figure out how to act justly, love mercy and walk humbly with God (as instructed in Micah 6:8) as a doctor or lawyer and less time worry about whether God wants us to be a doctor or lawyer.

In the providence of God, yes, it is His will that we live in a certain place with a certain person and have a certain job. But should we expect Him to reveal all that to us in advance?  The Scriptures do record supernatural communication, after all.  But it never prescribes it.  For example, the story of Gideon’s fleece is recorded in Judges, a portion of Scripture where “everyone did what was right in his own eyes” (Judges 21:25).  Gideon’s request may actually be an example of cowardice rather than wisdom.  Regardless, these special communications from God were… well, special.  They didn’t happen at every single fork in the road.  The author quotes Bible scolar Bruce Waltke as saying, “The special revelation of God was a rare and unique experience, even for [the apostle] Paul. . . . We cannot take special circumstances and make them the norm by which we live our lives.”  And why are we so obsessed with knowing, anyway?

We often want to know the details of our future so that we can maximize happiness and minimize trouble. Isn’t that what most of our prayers boil down to?  When I ask God about moving to Atlanta or Nashville, at the heart of that prayer is often that I would be able to maintain my standard of living, that my family would be safe, that I would have a stable job, etc.  How often do you see that type of prayer in the Bible?  You don’t.  Safety was the last concern of first-century Christians.  Their bold prayer was to glorify God, even if it meant their death.

Another reason we cast lots and throw out fleeces is to avoid taking responsibility for our own decisions. DeYoung points out that the Latin word for decision is decidere, which means “to cut off.” We often hate making decisions because anytime we make a decision for one thing, we’re deciding against a hundred others.  We’re cutting off other possibilities.  And that’s scary.  What if we end up choosing a second-best option?

What if God’s will really wasn’t as complicated and confusing as we’ve made it out to be?  What if we all started seeking God’s will as it were laid out in Scripture? It would certainly affect the criteria we use in considering options.  We would know that God would want us to buy a house if that house will make us more Christ-like.  God would want us to be married if the spouse would bring us closer to God.  God would want us to take a different job if that job would help sanctify us and make us holy.  God’s will is always our sanctification.  Knowing that really chances our prayer lives.  For example, instead of praying, “God, show me which job I should take,” a more biblical prayer might be:”God, help me find wisdom in Your Word that will aid me in making a decision that glorifies you.   Help me see the situation clearly.   Help me not make a decision based on fear or pride.   Help me not be enslaved to pleasing other people but only pleasing you in this decision.  Help me be humble and trust You.  Make my motives pure, and increase my faith!”

It turns out that there are no shortcuts to finding God’s will. It comes through prayer.  It comes through wise council.  But most of all, it comes when we gain wisdom from the Scripture and renew our minds with His truth.  So, read your Bible!  Don’t open to a random verse.  Study it!  The author says, “Sadly, some Christians put greater stock in the Word of God when it is randomly selected than when it is read chapter by chapter, day after day.”  Sad, indeed.  And lazy.

God’s will is there for us to discover, and it turns out it’s been right in front of our eyes the whole time:

Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus (1 Thes. 5:16-18).

[ht:Willie for the photo]

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Twitter is buzzing with news about Apple’s new tablet, the iPad. And it’s not good.  I couldn’t agree more.  You won’t catch me shelling out 500 big ones for this device, and here’s why:

• Not built on OS X. Unlike other tablets, this is not a laptop replacement.  It’s an overgrown iPod that won’t fit in your pocket.
• Higher priced eBooks. You’ll probably pay more for books on the iPad, but it will be much less comfortable to read them (backlit screen, as opposed to digital ink on the Kindle and other devices).  Give us some color digital ink if you really want to be innovative, Apple!
• No Flash support. And what’s the Web without Flash?
• No USB ports.
• No multitasking.
• No voice or phone features.
• No camera features.
• Web prices are “good,” but AT&T’s network is not. It would be like paying 3x as much for below dial-up speed (where available).

Also, no big announcement about AT&T losing exclusivity with the iPhone… no iPhone OS 4 updates… no MacBook updates…  Big disappointments all around.  I’m glad I don’t own any Apple stock today.

For now, I’m just going to stick to my iPad mini (an iPhone). Thanks, but no thanks, Apple.  When you can turn my MacBook Pro into a gorgeous, stylus-driven tablet with FireWire and a quad-core processor, then give me a call.

[ht: @PastorJimDrake for the iYawn headline.]

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American Idol is back… and reminding us to keep out pants off the ground! I think one reason American Idol is so popular is that we Americans love our idols. Even beyond idolatry of money or fame, we can manage to idolize just about anything.  Even… church?

According to some, idolatry of church can be a big problem for Christian leaders. Check out these questions posed by John Ortberg on the Out of Ur blog:

• Where does my sense of security come from—from God, or from how my church is doing?
• After a worship service, do I find myself grateful that God is God and feeling joyful that I get to live in his care? Or—if I’m honest—are my emotions dictated more by how many bodies were in the room?
• Do I spend more time thinking about God, or thinking about how to make my church/ministry do better?
• How do I feel when the prospect for more prizes in the church tournament—recognition, praise, reputation, applause—get taken away from me?
• Does my sense of identity flow more out of my relationship with God or out of my performance at church?
• How much do I sacrifice to know God better versus how much do I sacrifice for my church to work better?

John calls this his IQ Test — an “Idolatry Quotient Test.” He says that idols aren’t just bronze statues.  They’re anything that we look to for something only God can provide.  Even good things become bad things when we try to make them God things.  Family.  Relationships.  Success.  Attractiveness.  Food.  None can provide what only God can.

Can church also become an idol if we’re not careful?

UPDATE: Apparently, some think not only the church, but also the Bible, can be so highly regarded, that it becomes idolatrous.  Check out the Village Church’s take on “bibliolatry” in the new movie, The Book of Eli. (Using the same naming convention, what I’ve described in this post would be “ecclesiolatry,” which is, surprisingly, a real word!)

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I’ve been using YouVersion’s Chronological reading plan this year, which has put me in the book of Job this month. I’ve come across a fair share of verses I never noticed before, including these two of my favorites:

• “My breath is offensive to my wife; I am loathsome to my own family” (Job 19:17).
• “It is not only the old who are wise, not only the aged who understand what is right” (Job 32:9).

These verses are great! Ladies, you can tape the first memory verse to your Listerine bottle in the medicine cabinet as a convenient reminder for your husband.  And, children who like talking back to their parents… well, the second verse is always good ammo when you want to remind them they don’t have a monopoly on wisdom.

OK, I hope you can the sarcasm behind my words. Obviously, you shouldn’t use these verses that way, just as you shouldn’t quote Job 35:12a (“He does not answer when people cry out”) as proof God is a heartless dictator.  We must consider the context.

How do we consider the context of the book of Job? The majority of the book is a dialogue between Job and his “comforters” concerning why he is suffering so much.  If we read through the entire narrative, it turns out in the end, their views were wrong.  So, how should we interpret chapter after chapter of their advice?  Well, obviously, they shouldn’t become our memory verses.  While the Bible is inerrant, it’s recording the erroneous views of Job’s friends as they posit many reasons why he is suffering.  (The Lord, Himself, is the one who handed down that verdict in Job 42:7b — “I am angry with you and your two friends, because you have not spoken of me what is right, as my servant Job has.”)

The proper way to understand these verses is that they contain commonly held (but incorrect) views about suffering. And if they’re wrong about Job’s suffering, what else are they wrong about?  Should we be quoting Elihu’s poetic words, “Out of the north he comes in golden splendor; God comes in awesome majesty. The Almighty is beyond our reach and exalted in power” (Job 37:22-23a)?  They’re beautiful words.  But they’re coming from a man who was wrong about other things he spoke.

Sloppy Bible interpretation is dangerous. Unfortunately, it’s also easy:  Do a Bible search online, find a verse that seems to agree with what you want to say, and copy and paste it into your blog.  That’s why the key is context, context, context.  In this case, a good study Bible can shed light on what’s going on.  And reading through the entirity of Scripture is important so we know how each piece fits in the puzzle.  In this case, the puzzle piece is dialogue of mere mortals as they search for the reason behind suffering.

How should these types of passages inform our systematic theology? Should we be similarly careful when we interpret the Psalms, which also records humans searching for answers?

I’d love to hear your thoughts!

[ht: Olga for the picture!]

Category: Cool Stuff, Spirituality | 2 comments »

It was my privilege to fill the pulpit at the Wade Center this week. As usual, preaching to myself as much as anyone else, my sermon could be summarized in these words (adapted from Rom. 12:2):

Life Transformation Follows
Thought Renovation

You can watch the sermon online here:

http://www.vimeo.com/8445191

My chief criticisms:

• Not dynamic and passionate as I’d like to be (think: John Piper, Louie Giglio, etc.).
• Too reliant on notes.
• Way too distracted by self-defeating thoughts.  (Should have listened to my own sermon about the importance of renovating our thoughts!!!)

Some positives:

• Good job at generating interest and clearly defining the topic.
• Good job exegeting the text.  From a broad view of the entire book of Romans to a macro closeup of what the word “renew” means, I think I dug down deep.  For academics in our crowd, the word-by-word analysis of the verse (conformed, transformed, renewing, etc.) felt more like a traditional sermon for them… which is a good thing around here, even though it feel less focused than it should be.
• Good job at making the message memorable through use of visuals and repetition of the thesis.
• Good job at stating application – making sure the audience left knowing exactly how to apply the message.

So, even though it wasn’t my best, I’m pleased with how it came out. If I can generate interest, faithfully exegete the Scripture, and send people out knowing exactly how to apply it.. what more can you ask?  Life change is what it’s all about.

As usual, I consider myself a hybrid speaker. My sermons combine Andy Stanley’s ME/WE/GOD/YOU/WE structure with Louie Giglio’s love of visuals and Mark Driscoll’s detailed exegesis.  During the delivery, I was very hard on myself mentally.  At the time, I graded myself a “C-” at best.  But, after watching the tape and evaluating myself, I upgraded my performance to a “B+.”

Why did it feel so bad during delivery? First, I was busy right up until the service started fixing video cameras and trying to get Pro Tools recording.  Second, the sermon bump rolled late.  Third, my mic was clipped (not unmuted fast enough).  Fourth, the live Webcast echoed loudly in the background.  Fifth, the Scripture on the screen earlier than expected.  All that happened within the first 2-3 minutes of the sermon.  I believe that’s the most critical time to get momentum going and connect with the listeners.  So it took extra work on my part to get the ball rolling after those distractions (more distracting to me than the crowd, hopefully).  Also, every time I would stumble over a word or tell a joke that wasn’t as funny as our usual speaker’s jokes, I would tell myself that I have no business being on stage.  (That type of harsh self-talk is a good example of the type of thoughts I was preaching about correcting!)

Why did it come out OK in the end? I can only attribute it to practice, practice, practice (and the Holy Spirit).  It turns out that, even when I’m horribly distracted and “not feeling it,” my “auto-pilot” mode keeps my voice sounding decently passionate and my message moving along nicely.  Pitch, pacing, dynamics, memorization, improvisation — all these things used to require a lot of manual effort on my part.  Now, they’re almost automatic.  (I still do better in all these areas when I’m not distracted and when I’ve had time to properly internalize a message.)

I’m already planning my next sermon, scheduled for April 25 at the Wade Center. Based on 1 Cor. 6:19-20, it is called “Under New Management” and will explore the implications of the truth that we do not belong to ourselves but have been bought with a price.

If you have any thoughts on my upcoming topic or my current sermon, I’d love to hear them!

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It’s become as much a part of the sounds of the season as the Salvation Army bell ringing in the distance — the predictable onslaught of radio commentators bemoaning how the world is taking Christ out of Christmas. Now, Focus on the Family is taking the lead with a new Website that encourages visitors to rate-a-retailer.

“Stand for Christmas“ is the name of Dobson’s campaign, but sometimes I wonder if the people who create things like this are missing the point entirely.  I’m not alone.  Blogger Jason Boyett said he was offended — not by retailers who say “Happy Holidays” instead of “Merry Christmas,” but by the idea of rating secular stores on how much they fulfill a religious role.  In his own words, here’s why:

• It offends me logically. Old Navy is a clothing store. It is a secular retailer. It is not a Christian store. Why are we concerned that secular retailers are not exhibiting religious behavior? They are not a religious entity… It’s like me being offended that my dog doesn’t type very well. He’s a DOG. He’s not supposed to be typing.
• It offends me socially. You know what kind of retailer rating I’d like to see? I’d like to see one that rates them based on how they treat people. Like, do they use sweatshop labor? Is their clothing made by nine-year-olds in the Philippines? How do they treat their employees here? I could care less about what they say at the check-out stand or what signs they display. What’s more important to me is what they do. It occurs to me that Jesus made this very distinction in taking offense at the Pharisees — he condemned them for hiding their evil behind nice, clean appearances. Based on the logic of this campaign, it doesn’t matter if a company exploits their workers. What matters is whether or not the catalogs say “Christmas” on the cover. A Jesus who cared about taking a stand for Christmas today would have to be a Jesus who, in the Bible, praised the Pharisees for advertising their ritual cleanliness while neglecting widows and orphans. If you find that Jesus in the Bible, let me know, because I can’t.
• It offends me historically. The whole “taking Christ out of Christmas” thing sorta loses flavor for me when you look at the history of Christmas. For at least the first couple centuries of Christianity, the Church didn’t celebrate Christ’s birth. There WAS NO Christmas. Christ’s resurrection was a huge commemoration, but no one gave any thought to noting (much less celebrating) his birth. That is, until Constantine needed to legitimize Christianity in Roman society in the 3rd century. One of the ways he did it was by injecting Jesus into Saturnalia, the popular Roman winter solstice festival. That way the Romans could keep their major holiday and the Church could get some religious mileage out of it, too. Should we boycott stores that “Take Christ out of Christmas” by watering down the holiday? Only if we’re OK with Roman pagans picketing us because we watered down Saturnalia by mixing it with Jesus. (And don’t get me started on all the other Christmas traditions — gifts, mistletoe, trees — that have pagan origins. Are they bad? No. But they’re not originally Christian. We don’t own them.)
• It offends me morally. What about consumerism and greed? That doesn’t come into question at all in this campaign. Stand for Christmas isn’t telling you to spend less this Christmas. It’s not telling you to stand against culture by curbing your materialistic tendencies. It’s not telling you to focus less on getting and more on giving, which I think should be a pretty big part of the Christian holiday message. No…it’s telling you to keep on being a consumer, as long as you’re consuming from the proper Jesus-confirmed sources.

There’s a lot of other great insights on Jason’s blog, so be sure to check it out.

Like Jason, I have no problem with Focus on the Family… when they’re focusing on the family, that is. Dr. Dobson is a great counselor, and the biblical wisdom on parenting he shares is desperately needed today.  But when they start kooky campaigns like this one or venture into politics, they’ve lost me.  This is the kind of Christianity the world doesn’t get.

I wonder how many judgmental Christians I offend daily when I accidentally let a “Happy Holidays” slip out. (It is plural, after all — Christmas, New Year’s, etc.)  I just wonder if anyone has ever been saved because a cashier said, “Merry Christmas.”  Put yourself in the shoes of a Muslim, Hindu or atheist.  Would that cause you to question your entire worldview… or just push you farther away because Christians come across as so disrespectful and uncaring?

Perhaps if we focused a little more on loving and serving, we wouldn’t have to rely on Wal-Mart to do the work of the Church.

[ht: Karen Withak]

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It’s that time of year again!  Time to look back and remember this year in music!

MOST ANTICIPATED ALBUM AWARD

• OneRepublic’s “Waking Up.” I love it that these guys are bringing piano-driven pop back in a cool way. The textures of the programming in their sophomore release really hit the sweet spot.
• John Mayer’s “Battle Studies.” Runner up is John Mayer, who has been on my radar ever since he released his live album, “Where The Light Is.”  He’s a massively talented dude, as you can tell from seeing him perform live, but his pop efforts sometimes fail to show his full potential.

BEST DRESSED AWARD

• Lady Gaga. OK, just kidding.  She gives me nightmares.  But I will give her this:  Her music is infectiously catchy, and she knows how to turn a performance into a spectacle people talk about for days.

BEST SONG WRITING AWARD

• Taylor Swift. Taylor’s songs tell a story — an engaging, memorable story that connects with your experience.  That level of creativity is rare these days.  I only wish her singing matched her mad songwriting skillz.

WORST STAGE PRESENCE AWARD

• Kanye West. I think President Obama said all that needs to be said about this jackhole…  We need to install a seatbelt on his chair at the awards shows.
• Miley Cyrus. Miley is proof that even I could have a successful recording career.  I’m a big fan of her hit singles, “The Climb” and “Party In The U.S.A.”  She’s proven she can do country ballads and teen pop hits and everything in-between.  But to hear her attempt those songs live on stage reveals that a lot of magic has gone on to make her studio recordings sound as solid as they do.

BEST ACCORDION SOLO AWARD

• Green Day. At MTV’s Europe Music Awards, this punk band proved once again that nothing goes together better than pyrotechnics and accordions.  From one accordion player to another: props, dude, props.

WORST CAREER MOVE OF 2009

• Switchfoot leaving Columbia Records. Everybody is hailing Switchfoot’s latest album, “Hello Hurricane,” as their return to greatness.  They regained complete creative control of their sound after leaving Columbia Records.  But I kinda liked their sound better when it was record executives who molded the final product into what they knew the public liked.  Say whatever you want, but “Nothing Is Sound” will always be the gold standard for me, and this new album is very, very rough in comparison.

STUPIDEST NAME AWARD

• Souljah Boy Tell ‘Em. Really?  Can your name be a whole sentence with a verb and everything?

OBVIOUS AUTO-TUNING AWARD

• The Glee Cast. They’re tuning these poor kids to death. And that’s a shame since some of them, like Lea Michele, have awesome voices without turning them into T-Pain.

WORST MASTERING AWARD

• Kristian Stanfill’s “Attention.” Great collection of songs.  Hard to listen to.  Man, I wish I had the opportunity to re-master these so the crash cymbals wouldn’t eat the entire mix alive!

BIGGEST DISAPPOINTMENT AWARD

• U2’s “No Line On The Horizon.” Although their newest CD contains my favorite U2 song of all time, “Magnificent,” the rest of the tracks completely miss the mark.  They’re one of my favorite bands, but “weird” is the only word I have to describe the strange style they’ve adopted for this effort.
• David Crowder Band’s “Church Music.” Given how much I love programmed music and the DC*B, this album should have been a shoe-in as my favorite of 2009  But, it’s dark.  Dreary.  Strange, even.  And rather than taking us through the history of church music (starting with the Phos Hilaron and moving forward), it remains in one gear the whole way through.  Big disappointment from one of my favorite bands.
• Christy Nockels’ “Life Light Up.” This Watermark and Passion Conferences veteran has always been one of my favorites.  Unfortunately, her solo debut on sixsteps records doesn’t capture her awesomeness at all.

PLEASANT SURPRISE AWARDS

• Owl City’s “Ocean Eyes.” The polar opposite of David Crowder’s dreary CD, Owl City’s unique brand of feel-good programming rocks!  The newest album inspires me to greater levels of creativity when using Propellerhead Reason for programming my own music.
• Derek Webb’s “Stockholm Syndrome.” Super original programming.  Tight lyrics.  Killer album from a guy who turned his career around by ditching the acoustic guitar for some hip hop beats.
• Fee’s “Hope Rising.” Unexpectedly, Fee has become one of my very favorite Christian artists.  Unlike some albums that take a few listens to grown on you, this stuff hooks you from the first listen.  (Mad props to Eddie Kirkland for co-writing a bunch of these awesome, original, God-honoring songs.)

HONORABLE MENTIONS

• Chris Tomlin, for making a Christmas worship album. Awesome!
• Casey Darnell and James David Carter, for being my new favorite indie artists!  Hey, I predicted Fee and Kristian Stanfill.  Will I be right again?  Somebody give them a record deal, already, so I can be right (and we all can get some good music)!!!

DISHONORABLE MENTIONS

• Matt Redman, for a bland new album that doesn’t represent what he’s capable of.
• Avalon, for not breaking up.  It’s over, guys.  It’s over.

Who were your favorites from 2009?

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In the Twittersphere, my tweeps are always doggin’ on Facebook, but I’m not giving up on it just yet.  Here’s why:

First, and most importantly to me, Facebook has highly customizable privacy options. With Facebook, I can choose to make my profile viewable only by my friends and not the public.  Beyond that, I can choose exactly which friends get to see each part of my profile.  For example, I can (and do) restrict my Facebook “friends” who aren’t really my friends from seeing the intimate day-in-day out details of my life.  I have different privacy setting for my notes, status updates, links, contact info, photos and videos (and even different privacy settings for each photo album and video).  Facebook gets an A+ in my book for privacy.

Second, it requires very little of my time because I use it as an aggregator. In other words, I don’t have to create any new Facebook content.  It’s all imported automatically.  For example, my status updates come from Twitter.  My notes are automatically imported from my WordPress blog.  Videos I edit for YouTube videos come in as links.  You get the point.  With almost no effort, I can have all my social media content come under one umbrella.  All I have to do is check in once a day for comments and messages.

Third, the expandability of Facebook via apps is a great idea. At times, it’s highly annoying (as when I get 10 Farm Town requests a day), but it’s still a great concept.  One of my favorites is Visual Bookshelf app, which lets me share which books I’ve been reading and even write reviews… or the My Band app, which lets me stream my own music right from my profile.

All that being said, I still know that Facebook is by no means perfect. I find the banality of the conversations going on there nothing short of mind-numbing.  Contrast that with Twitter, which (at least among my followers) focuses on my professional interests like photography, graphic design, worship leading, etc.  That’s why I read every Twitter update but hardly ever dredge through Facebook content.  I guess that’s because I’m more of a left-brained person, I’m more interested in concepts (“Canon released the 7D to rave reviews”) than the details of people’s lives (“Having pancakes for breakfast again…”).

I guess social networks are what you make of them. The person who uses them to connect with old high school friends is going to have a much different experience than the person who uses them for professional networking.  Whatever your preference, you can find it.  So, make the most of it, and don’t give up on Facebook yet!  I haven’t!

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Yesterday, I stumbled onto ChristianChirp.com, the “Christian alternative to Twitter.” Do we really need a Christian Twitter?  I don’t think so, and here’s why:

You don’t have to worry about Twitter bringing something offensive to you. This technology is about a neutral as it gets.  It’s not good.  It’s not evil.  It’s just a series of tubes* through with information flows.  For the person who follows @RickWarren and @AndyStanley, Twitter will be a source of great Christian encouragement.  For those who follow vulgar comedians or brash shock jocks, Twitter will deliver just what they ordered as well.

Twitter will never bring you something you didn’t ask for. If you only follow your mom, your best friend and me (@billwhitt), you won’t have to worry about encountering something that might violate your Christian sensibilities.  And check this out:  Even if the heathen follow you, you don’t have to follow them back, and their pagan ways will never make it onto your screen.  (I hope you can sense the sarcasm here…)

And there is a great benefit to Christians staying on Twitter instead of running for the hills: As we tweet about life from our perspective, we’ll have the opportunity to influence a lot of people… including a lot of people who may not share our worldview or faith.  An old friend from high school may end up following you.  Someone who shares your passion for knitting may read your tweets too.  On Twitter, it is easy to influence a lot of people — Christian or not.  Not so on ChristianChirp.com.

Ultimately, ChristianChirp.com is the next evolution of monasticism, the Amish, GodTube, etc. All examples of sectarian communities that have removed their “salt and light” from the world.  I don’t want to do that.  I don’t want to be one to get in the way of Jesus’ desire for his followers, as recorded in John 17:15.  Listen to how Jesus prays to his Father:

“My prayer is not that you take [my followers] out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one.”

Jesus promises to protect us from the evil in the world, and that’s precisely because he expects us to be in the world. Online or offline.  Twitter, Facebook, YouTube.  Office parties, sports leagues, concerts.  In the world.  That’s where God wants us, and that’s why you won’t find me on ChristianChirp.com!

—

*tip o’ the hat to Ted Stevens for the “series of tubes” word picture!

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What were you for Halloween?

A lot of children go as what they’d like to be when they grow up. (For adults, we often go as what we wish we’d become when we grew up.)  I got to thinking about that and came up with several possibilities:

• A tennis star. But I already dress like that every time I play tennis.  I have several Nike outfits and shoes from the Federer collection.  In fact, I use the same exact racquet, strung with the same guage strings at the same tension as my tennis hero (Wilson natural gut and Luxilon Power Rough hybrid).  I get to live out my dream of being a tennis star about twice a week.  No halloween needed!
• A musical artist. But I already dress like that at concerts.  For example, when I go to the Dove Awards, I dress like the rest of the guys there…  I have to tone it down a little bit for Sunday morning worship, but I still get to live out my dream of playing and singing in front of folks every week!  No Halloween needed!

Most of the things I wanted to be in life are actually part of my life. That’s a great feeling.  No need to pretend.  No need to long for a better future someday.  No discontentment.  Many of my goals and dreams became reality.

But there is still one thing I still lack: I never became a doctor… and I never grew an afro.

I guess I’ll be content to keep pretending on that front for a while!

What do you want to be when you grow up?

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