The YouVersion Bible app is great, but it can promote a self-centered approach to faith. The Common Lectionary offers a communal and Christ-focused alternative. By following it and the Church Year Calendar, believers can align their lives with the events of Jesus’ life and engage in shared biblical reflection and worship. … More The Downside of Bible Apps
“Don’t reduce holy mysteries to slogans and Christian bumper sticker cliches and memes…Don’t paste what is holy on people’s pages who are unholy and unreceptive to spiritual things. Don’t throw your pearls and treasured convictions before social media swine! They will trample the pearls, then turn and attack you with their own strong opinions.” -JESUS … More Pearls Before Social Media Swine
“You’re familiar with the command to the ancients, ‘Do not murder.’ I’m telling you that anyone who is so much as angry with a brother or sister [on social media] is guilty of murder…Thoughtlessly yell ‘stupid!’ at a sister [via Twitter] and you are on the brink of hellfire. The simple moral fact is that words kill.” -JESUS … More Jesus on Social Media
Every day we find ourselves back in Eden standing before the Tree of Temptation faced with two types of wisdom. Based on what I’m watching and reading in the media, we’ve set up a buffet line at the forbidden Tree. … More Satan’s Urinal & Forbidden Fruit
Here’s a great and urgent message by Skye Jethani filled with Scriptural wisdom touching on the key themes of the smartphones and the rise of mental illness and suicide rates, the role of fathers in our search for identity, and our proneness toward placing our security and significance in things other than God. … More Urgent Message for a Smartphone Generation
On Facebook and Instagram, we’re voluntarily inscribing the details of our lives in a book for the whole world to read. We’re leaving digital footprints in the social media sand that will someday, when we’re gone, reveal a lot about who we were and the kind of life we led. … More Job’s Digital Footprint
Last week we held a Tech-Wise Sunday at MainStreet featuring a message by Andy Crouch based on his book The Tech-Wise Family. You can watch the entire presentation below. The first 60 minutes of the video is Andy’s main talk, and the second half is the panel discussion we enjoyed over lunch. (Thanks to The … More Tech-Wise Family Resources
A repost from 2010. Things have only gotten worse! -JB Albert Mohler, Jr. reports on a significant new study released by the Kaiser Family Foundation on teenagers and technology HERE The study states: As anyone who knows a teen or tween can attest, media are among the most powerful forces in young people’s lives today. … More New Study on Teens & Technology
As the school year wraps up, I’m reminded of my youth pastor days. Here’s a repost from 2009. I’m typing this blog from my laptop while text messaging, checking my email, listening to my Ipod, updating my Twitter and sipping an iced mocha. I’m totally wired and buzzed — both from caffeine and all the … More Constantly Buzzed: Teens & Technology
My good friends Dan Kent and Neil Berget, the theological mastermind and technological guru behind the creation of the Web of Theology, have graciously invited me in on the advancement and, most importantly, the marketing of this great tool. I am hoping to use my network of pastors, professors and blogging associates to spread the … More “A Match Made in Heaven” & WOT at Jesus Creed
So far I have resisted the alluring convenience of the Amazon Kindle. I consider myself a book “purist” and am in love with the feel, look, smell and aesthetic beauty of physical books in my hands and on my book shelves. Part of me says, “I love technological advancement in almost every arena, but please … More The Amazon Kindle
Someday I might go skydiving. But today it’s enough to say I’ve gone sky-blogging. Yes, in this crazy world of technological conveniences one can surf the web, send emails, watch NetFlix, video chat with people across the world on Skype and blog from 30,000 feet in an airplane. Welcome to the 21st Century. Keri … More Blogging From 30,000 Feet
What if we could follow Jesus on Twitter? This question is asked all the time and is worthy of a good conversation. I’m glad you can find innumerable articles with similar titles as mine. Would he give new revelation via Twitter or just quote his own Bible verses daily? One person was surprised and humored … More WWJT: What Would Jesus Tweet?
The debate over the legitimacy of virtual church vs. traditional church has heated up at Out Of Ur over the past couple weeks. (Dr. Mark Roberts has a series of posts as well.) I’ll be honest and admit that I have at times been too critical and skeptical of the “virtual church” movement. I see the … More Is ‘Virtual’ Church ‘Real’ Church?
“Above all things guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life.” (Prov. 4:23) Her hands shook and her eyes roamed restlessly about the bus. I could tell she was agitated about something. I walked up the aisle of the bus and met the eager eyes of many teens as we turned the corner just … More Guard Your Treasure: Teens, Sex & Cellphones
From the DI archives. A while back I was researching the ways our brain processes messages in preparation for a series of messages I gave at a weekend youth retreat based on “The Matrix” movies. Here’s some of my reflections on our image-based culture. -JB “What we’ve introduced at MTV is nonnarrative form…We rely on … More A Picture Is Worth a 1,000 Words (& Millions of Dollars)
Another graphic courtesy of Jesus Creed. This graphically illustrated some of my previous posts on the dangers of social media technology. What do you think of this graphic? Which concerns you most?
Remember 1980s social media? Remember when TV and Radio had a monopoly on social media? Remember when video was killing the radio star? How many of these new social media modes are you familiar with? How many of these do you actively use? Why are people more lonely than ever despite all … More Brave New Worlds: Social Media 2009
Are you a Facebook addict? Read Elizabeth Cohen’s Five Clues That You Are Addicted to Facebook to find out. Here is a short excerpt and 4 question test to find out your level of Facebook dependency. Take a moment and WATCH NEWS STORY. You know you’re a Facebook addict when … 1. You lose … More Are You Addicted to Facebook?
Have you seen this yet? Comedian Louis CK on Conan O’Brien, October 1st, 2008. Louis speaks of how our generation has been spoiled by technology.
Brian McCracken from Relevant Magazine article called “The Problem of Pride in the Age of Twitter” tackles the quiet, subtle, unseen trend related to a culture of micro-communication: “We’ve become addicted to a strange sort of connectivity – a connectivity that maintains a comfortable balance between distance and proximity, anonymity and overexposure. We’ve become … More TWITTER BUG – A Disturbing Trend?
Jeremy L. Berg 