Archives For Culture

Many are bemoaning the Millennial Generation’s inability to focus and think deeply.

But what if their Internet induced ADD is actually a good thing and possibly even a catalyst for fulfilling the Great Commission?

“Perry Hewitt, director of digital communications and communications services at Harvard University, says this evolution is positive. “It seems easy to decry the attention span of the young and to mourn the attendant loss of long form content—who will watch Citizen Kane with rapt attention when your Android tells you Rosebud was a sled? On consideration, though, the Internet has brought forward not only education, but thinking. While we still want to cultivate in youth the intellectual rigor to solve problems both quantitatively and qualitatively, we have gotten them out of the business of memorizing facts and rules, and into the business of applying those facts and rules to complex problems. In particular, I have hope for improved collaboration from these new differently ‘wired’ brains, for these teens and young adults are learning in online environments where working together and developing team skills allows them to advance.”

Technology by 2020 will enable the youth to ignore political limitations, including country borders, and especially ignore time and distance as an inhibitor to communications.” – Pew Internet Findings

 

 

You can see the potential through existing tools like Skype.

Take two of my least Tech-savvy friends for example:

One is 33 years old. Not exactly a digital native (he still doesn’t have a facebook account) but he walks into a staff meeting last week on the phone with a STINT’er in China. A free phone call. On his cell. Via Skype. With someone in China.

That wouldn’t have been possible 2 years ago.

A call on a land line (the only possible way) just 15 years ago would have cost $15.

In 1930 a 15 minute international phone call would have cost $1500.

In 2012 it’s free. With video. On a mobile device.

Another friend, who is 62, every week uses Skype to have 10 separate video Bible study appointments with friends in East Asia (with non-Christians and Christians).

 

If this is how old folks are using technology for the glory of God, imagine the potential for Digital Natives.

 

I, for one, am excited about the future of Missions led by complex-problem solving, hyper-connected, borderless Millennials.

 

photo courtesy of Ed Yourdon

It’s a special SXSW Free Music Edition of Music Mondays.

For those of you who can’t afford $599 tickets to SXSW (not to mention airfare and hotels). . .

Here’s a ton of free, legal songs from many of the bands that are playing at SXSW:

 

An additional free-of-charge tip:

  • Be sure to check back frequently with Google’s new, all-things-media store Google Play. Everyday they have a different album for 25 cents. I’ll repeat. An entire album. 25 pennies. Even I will buy Coldplay Mylo Xyloto for 25 pennies (they’ve also had Lady Antebellum, Guns n Roses, et al). They also have a daily book for 25 cents (Moneyball is today’s).
  • AND Amazon seems to be matching every day’s music deal (if, like me, you prefer Amazon’s much simpler though not-nearly-as-simple-as-iTunes downloads).

Let us know in the comments about any other great music deals we’re missing out on (SXSW related or otherwise)!

Everyone who seeks to mobilize support for a non-profit should be taking notes on what Invisible Children has accomplished. And I think we can learn a lot from the video.

Most of us will barely pause to watch a 3 minutes “cause” video. But this morning, with my bowl of cereal, I sat (with 21 million others) watching a THIRTY minute video.

The rapid spread of the video seemed to have far surpassed even Invisible Children’s lofty hopes (I saw one IC’er tweet that they were hoping for 500,000 shares on Twitter).

  • Fast Company called it the Making of a Viral Masterpiece and a public relations coup
  • Celebs/Twitter Royalty like Rihanna, Taylor Swift, Beyonce, Kim Kardashian, Perez Hilton, Justin Bieber, Ryan Seacrest and others watched the video and retweeted it.
  •  They’ve reached more people in 24 hours than the last 9 years of crisscrossing the globe showing videos on college campuses (Though you’d have to guess that all that crisscrossing gave them the foundation and good will, and brand recognition to create such a massive groundswell. Makes you wonder what would have happened if they were a brand new org just starting with this KONY2012 gameplan. Would it have taken off like it has without the hard work of many years?)

A few takeaways (as I process what we can learn for our own organization):

  • While many bemoan slacktivism (taking easy, social actions in support of a cause), I think this Invisible Children coup gave a glimpse of how it can be harnessed and channeled for good (and see this article – Slactivism Causes Engagement)
  • Video is powerful
  • College students love causes (and slacktivism!). Though I do follow a disproportionate amount of college students on Twitter it seems like the majority of the Retweets came from this generation.
  • Invisible Children had a VERY well thought through gameplan. It wasn’t just a video. And the video didn’t just cast vision for their cause. They give really clear next steps (and more vision!) for how YOU can get involved.
  • They targeted key gatekeepers who could help accelerate the spread of their idea (and make it super easy for their devoted followers to pester those gatekeepers until they give in)
  • Be ready for pushback
    • In this new age of instant media exposure, it seems that pushback is soon to follow
    • The PR battle is won or lost quickly on the internets
    • Almost immediately on the heels of all the good PR, many started retweeting this Visible Children article that is strongly anti-Invisible Children
    • [update - Fast Company has a good summary of the backlash]
    • Cru experienced this, this past summer. I think we could learn a thing or two from how Invisible Children responded in less than 24 hours to these unfavorable reports:
      • Invisible Children has an entire section of their website dedicated to critiques

 

It’s obvious that explicitly Christian non-profits can’t replicate everything a secular (though Christian-based) organization like Invisible Children does.

But I wonder:

  • Would a group like the Travelling Team (who, much like Invisible Children, travels across the U.S. mobilizing college students) would benefit from putting more resources toward a social media/video strategy?
  • Should Cru be investing more money in video/social media?
  • Who are the gatekeepers we should be seeking out who can quickly help ideas spread (and how can we help our already-devoted followers win them over)?
  • How can we help channel college students’ natural passion for world-changing?

 

What are your takeaways?

 

Valentines Mix Tapes

February 14, 2012 — Leave a comment

I’ve got two new indie music mixes for your listening enjoyment in honor of Valentine’s Day:

Indie Love Songs and Not-So-In-Love-Songs 

(How can you not love lyrics like The National’s “It doesn’t work that way: Wanting not to want you doesn’t make it so”.

Let’s face it. Indie Music is basically 90% not-so-in-love heartbreak songs.)

Love Songs

Not-So-In-Love-Songs

 

Would love to hear from you: what are your favorite Love Songs and Not-So-In-Love-Songs?

 

photo courtesy of Leah Tihia™

The Christian bloggers haven’t been this worked up since Rob Bell’s Love Wins.

The critiques have been pouring in on the very popular video “Why I hate religion but love Jesus” (you can watch it below).

Mega-blogger Justin Taylor tweeted this good perspective:

  • in 6 days 12 million people have watched @JeffuhsonBethke’s “Why I hate religion” video.
  • In 10 months 650,000 watched the Love Wins trailer.

 

Several differences in the two firestorms:

  • Love Wins was an internal fight among Christians.
  • Why I Hate Religion has reached viral status among the broader world.
  • Love Wins was justifiably critiqued. It’s pretty much heresy.
  • The Why I hate religion but love Jesus video is not flawless in its wording but it’s a great attempt at evangelism

 

Tullian Tchividjian responds to the critics with, I think, a very helpful correction that’s well worth the read.

I’ve found that in college ministry our main battle is definitely what Tullian writes: that the gospel is “going to have to be distinguished from religion because “religion” is what most people outside the church think Christianity is all about—rules and . . . cleaning yourself up and politics . . . and self-salvation”

 

Cru’s “Changing Evangelism” research project found an interesting pattern among most non-Christians:

“They are convinced they’ve already heard.

Regardless of how we adapt our evangelistic approaches, it is significant to know that our audience thinks they’ve already heard the message of Jesus (even if, in fact, they haven’t).

We found that 31 of 34 unbelievers we interviewed felt that they’d already heard the message of Jesus . . .

When in fact, most needed someone to correct misconceptions they had about God.

Many New Believers expressed having had misconceptions and a lack of understanding about what it meant to be a Christian. In fact, though many New Believers grew up around Christianity, they would say that they’d never really heard a clear presentation of the gospel before college.”

 

I have found that when you talk to most college students about Jesus they will immediately think you are talking about religion and they will dismiss you out of hand (and won’t hear anything you’re saying). On our campus, one of our chief goals in evangelism is to contrast religion with the gospel (a la Tim Keller: “there are three ways to approach God: Religion, Irreligion, and the Gospel; which makes me think – what does Keller think about all this fuss?? and how come people are lining up to criticize this video when no one has taken on Keller for his use of “religion” as the word to represent a moralistic approach to God).

 

I think the “Why I hate religion” video, while not perfect, definitely creates tension to where a person might for the first time think:

“Maybe I don’t really understand Christianity and the gospel.”

And that’s a great place to start.

 

To be fair, I have tremendous respect for guys like Kevin Deyoung and others who have criticized the video. And Kevin, et al, have some valid (though I’d say relatively minor) quibbles.

And you should definitely read Kevin Deyoung’s post where Jeff Bethke, the creator of the “I hate religion” video writes to Kevin to thank him (with incredible humility) for his loving critique:

“If I redid the video tomorrow, I’d keep the overall message, but would articulate, elaborate, and expand on the parts where my words and delivery were chosen poorly. . . thankful for your words and more importantly thankful for your tone and fatherly like grace on me as my elder”

 

But one commenter on Tullian’s post says it well:

“This young man should have received a pat on the back, instead he got thrown under the bus by a lot of people who should have known better. Props to him for boldly speaking about Christ in a public medium. Not to mention taking all of the criticism in a humble, teachable way.”

 

As the saying goes: No one has ever built a monument to a critic.

Or to paraphrase another of my favorite sayings: I like the way Jeff is sharing the gospel better than the way they’re not (not saying they don’t share their faith. There just seems to be far more concern for semantics than passion for the lost).

He made a very well produced video that obviously connected with a lot of people (presumably a lot of whom were non-Christians) and created tension on a critical issue, hopefully awakening many to the fact that they really do not understand the amazing news of the gospel.

 

What are your thoughts?

How do you get through to students/others who hear “religion” when you say “Jesus”?

 

 

Top 50 Songs of 2011

December 26, 2011 — Leave a comment

Specifically these are “my favorite songs that I listened to with my wife and kids – cruising in our minivan”.

So it excludes music that’s too heavy/slow/potty-mouthed/grating.

It’s Indie Music for the Masses.

Unlike most “best songs of 2011″ all these songs are very listenable/enjoyable. I feel like most lists are trying to earn their indie street cred by trying to list the most obscure bands that no one has ever heard of.

And here are a few bonus lists:

Click “subscribe” at the top of Spotify if you want to add any of the the playlists to your sidebar of lists.

Here are my 50 favorite songs of 2011 (click to play the full list in Spotify):

50 Seryn – Beach Song

49 Washed Out – Amor Fati

48 The Dodos – Black Night

47 Broken Bells – Meyrin Fields

46 Bright Eyes – Shell Games

45 Pepper Rabbit – Dance Card

44 ANR – Stay Kids

43 James Blake – The Wilhelm Scream

42 The Naked And Famous – Young Blood

41 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr. – Nothing But Our Love

40 Young Man – Nothing

39 Death Cab for Cutie – You Are A Tourist

38 Young Galaxy – Cover Your Tracks

37 Geographer – Verona

36 Royal Bangs – TV Tree

35 Tapes ‘n Tapes – Freak Out

34 Alexander – Truth

33 TV On The Radio – Will Do

32 The National – You Were A Kindness

31 Phantogram – Turning Into Stone

30 St. Vincent – Neutered Fruit

29 King Creosote & Jon Hopkins – John Taylor’s Month Away

28 Wye Oak – The Alter

27 Cults – Go Outside

26 MNDR – I Go Away

25 Capital Cities – Safe and Sound

 

24 Cut Copy – Where I’m Going (click to download for free)

 

23 Lykke Li – I Follow Rivers

 

22 Dry the River – No Rest

 

21 Beirut – Santa Fe

 

20 Yeasayer – Swallowing the Decibels (click to download for free)

 

19 My Morning Jacket – Victory Dance

 

18 Bon Iver – Calgary (right click to download for free)

 

17 Phantogram – When I’m Small

 

16 Lykke Li – Love Out Of Lust

 

15 St. Vincent – Strange Mercy (click the black box to play/stop)

 

14 The Antlers – No Widows (click the black box to play/stop)

 

13 Beirut – The Rip Tide

 

12 Digits – Lost Dream (click to download the whole album for free)

 

11 ANR – It’s Around You (right click to download for free)

 

10 Phantogram – Don’t Move (click to download for free)

 

9 Cults – You Know What I Mean

 

8 Fleet Foxes – Helplessness Blues (click to download for free)

 

7 King Creosote & Jon Hopkins – Bats In The Attic (sorry, couldn’t find this one to stream – you’ll have to listen to it on Spotify)

 

6 M83 – Midnight City

 

5 Active Child – Hanging On (click to download for free)

 

4 Lana Del Rey – Video Games (click the black box to play/stop)

 

3 Geographer – Kites

 

2 Bon Iver – Holocene

 

1 Wye Oak – ‘Civilian’ (click to download for free)

 

What were your favorite songs of 2011? What did I miss?

 

I’m really liking Spotify – a new music service that debuted in America this summer (it’s been a huge hit in Europe). It gives you access to millions of songs you can stream for free.

 

If you haven’t joined yet, click here for an invite (or message me on Twitter for one). Unfortunately it’s invitation only right now. So exclusive.

 

I’m currently just using the free service. I still plan on mostly buying albums.

But what Spotify allows me to do is try before I buy. I’ve bought several albums this year that I wasted my money on. I wish I’d listened to them a few times through. Spotify lets you do that.

I know this may not seem amazing to some of you young whippersnappers. But I remember spending many weekends in high school driving up to Blockbuster Music to sit up at the “music bar” where they would let you open CD’s and listen to them. Yes, I’m that old – before the internets.

So streaming albums for free still blows my mind!

 

But I really like the idea of sharing playlists with friends.

It’s the Mixtape for the new Millennium.

 

Here’s a few of my playlists:

The profiles of users is also a good place to find out what music people are checking out. I have a “Songs I want to listen to, to see if I like them” list as well as some albums I’m checking out to see if they’re worth buying (Manchester Orchestra, Lykke Li, TV on the Radio)

 

I’d love to hear your playlists or your favorite new songs/albums – even if you aren’t on Spotify!

Share them in the comments.

 

On a side note, here’s some good music to check out:

  • The artist, Lenka, with a great cover of one of Arcade Fire’s best songs- Deep Blue (click to go to Lenka’s site, or listen below).
  • I have to hand it to my wife. When she first heard Arcade Fire’s song Sprawl II she immediately said – that sounds just like Blondie. Well, someone thought the same thing. Here’s a great mashup of Blondie and Arcade Fire (click to download it, or listen below).


  • Amazon has their new edition of Artists on the Rise (a monthly list of free songs from up and coming artists) – including a great Wye Oak song.
  • And finally, a beautiful violin cover of Bon Iver’s song Perth.

These two posts should be required reading for any Christian on Twitter:

  • John Mayer cautions us to be careful in seeking out “joy in little, tiny statements – little, tiny applause hits.”
  • And John Piper responds to John Mayer with some wise words on using Twitter for the glory of God.

Though I don’t personally care for John Mayer’s music (yes, I understand he’s a gifted musician – just not my style), I have tremendous respect for his thoughtful approach to social media. It takes tremendous conviction to delete a Twitter account with 4 million followers.

John Mayer shares, “I realized about a year ago that I couldn’t have a complete thought anymore. I was a tweetaholic. I had four million twitter followers, and I was always writing on it.”

So, to avoid the temptation of publishing himself and to increase his mental capacity for creativity, Mayer deleted his twitter and stopped blogging.

His discipline and insight are remarkable. There’s a lot we can learn from him as we pursue a greater cause than music.

So should we all stop Tweeting? I’d say no.

 

John Piper has a very wise response:

Mayer said, “I couldn’t have a complete thought anymore.” To me this is almost the opposite of what happens. But that may depend on what we aim to do with Twitter.

Tweets do not diminish my ability to have a complete thought, they demand it. That’s what a Tweet is—a thought that is complete enough to press some God-focused truth into someone’s consciousness.

This kind of tweeting does not distract from thinking. It demands thinking. A peculiar kind of thinking—thinking that is capacious, concise, and compelling. [yes he defines capacious in his post!]

If I did not know a great God and a great Savior and a great Life and a great Plan, I would not bother writing Tweets—or books. But if God can be spoken of meaningfully in a 300 page book, he can also be spoken of in a 30-minute sermon, and a three line Tweet. All efforts to speak of the Infinite make our little differences between long and short irrelevant.

 

John Piper’s original post on why he started Tweeting in the first place is well-worth reading:

He responds to those who negatively/accurately say:

“These media tend to shorten attention spans, weaken discursive reasoning, lure people away from Scripture and prayer, disembody relationships, feed the fires of narcissism, cater to the craving for attention, fill the world with drivel, shrink the soul’s capacity for greatness, and make us second-handers who comment on life when we ought to be living it. So boycott them and write books (not blogs) about the problem.”

With,

“Yes, there is truth in all of that, but instead of boycotting, try to fill these media with as much provocative, reasonable, Bible-saturated, prayerful, relational, Christ-exalting, truth-driven, serious, creative pointers to true greatness as you can.”

 

Piper’s final thoughts on Twitter are profound:

“All things were created through Christ and for Christ” (Colossians 1:16). The world does not know it, but that is why Twitter exists and that’s why I Tweet.”

 

How have you fought against seeking “joy in tiny applause from tiny statements”?
What is your goal for using Twitter or other social media?

 

images courtesy of P Keigan and Micah_68

Cru-10-24-11-MASTER-TMYou’ve probably heard by now that Campus Crusade for Christ has changed it’s name to Cru. I am strongly in favor of the name change as I think it will help us be more effective for Christ.

I am honestly shocked by the very harsh criticism of the name change (by a vocal minority) from inside and outside of the Church.

I welcome honest, fair critiques but most of the critiques have been slanderous and mean spirited – helpful comments like, “you might as well be Campus Crusade for Satan now” (seriously) and “they took Christ out to appease the Muslims”.

 

Cru has responded with this, New Name – Same Commitment to Christ.

 

I wanted to provide a thorough list of posts and articles on the name change to provide accurate information (from those outside the Cru organization and those within).

A couple quick thoughts and then a bunch of links.

  • It is bizzare that the name change is getting such attention from the mainstream media. I remember thinking it strange, when Bill Bright (one of the 3 or 4 most influential Christians of the 20th century) died, that none of the media even reported it. But the name change has been covered by all large newspapers and news channels and was even trending on Twitter (meaning it’s one of the 10 most talked about things in the world).
  • A friend on Twitter pointed this out: why do Christians take their cues on the church from Glen Beck and Fox News instead of respected, proven leaders in the church: John Piper, Tim Keller, Louie Giglio, Mark Driscoll, Intervarsity, The Navigators, Ed Stetzer, the Gospel Coalition, Francis Chan, David Platt. . . (the list could go on and on of Godly men and organizations that support both Cru and the name change)?
  • Rest assured:

God is moving in and through Cru and I’m really excited about what the next years hold for an organization that is on the leading edge of reaching young professionals, families, faculty, and college students of every ethnicity, and people in every tribe, tongue and nation with the gospel

You will be hard pressed to find a more committed organization to sharing Christ in every corner of earth

Here’s some thoughtful posts on the name change . . .

From outside of Cru:

Campus Crusade now Cru; Angry bloggers still angry bloggers

I saw it as a softening of the principles that defined the ministry for 50+ years. And I was wrong.

 

From within the organization:

“I find it highly ironic that our organization, which for 60 years has carried the reputation for often being too pushy and upfront about Jesus, has now, overnight, become too wimpy.”

“Alas, I digress. I think what I want to say, what I want to plead for, is to ask my fellow brothers and sisters in Christ to not fan the flames of dissention. Ultimately, the name and reputation of Campus Crusade for Christ/Cru is not important. But the name of Jesus Christ is. Please help us lift His name high by giving our ministry the benefit of the doubt.”

“I know this might sound a little backwards, but it’s Jesus renown that led our leaders to make this choice.

Our name has been a significant hindrance to the Gospel. As CCC looked into the possibility of changing our name over the past three years, there was one fact that stood out that made us know that we had to change it – of people who said they were willing to have a conversation about Jesus 20% said they would no longer be interested when they heard the name “Campus Crusade for Christ.” That means that 1-in-5 people who might be open to the Gospel became closed to the Gospel when they heard our name. That is an incredible loss in effectiveness.”

  • Shawn McGrath has a helpful post looking at popular brands/names (Christian and secular). The article was written before the name change, before he knew what the new name would be. Especially helpful on why a non-descriptive name is good (very few corporate names describe the majority of “what they do” with their name).
  • Scott Crocker with some good wisdom:

“For those that identify themselves as Christians and are critical of this decision, I ask you to do a heart examination. If you have never personally stepped out in faith to share the gospel with another person, if you’ve never had the privilege to see another place their faith in Christ, if you’ve never personally invested your life into the spiritual life of another or have never left your family and home for the sake of the gospel, then may I suggest that you seek the Lord on how you can personally be involved in His mission rather than criticizing those that are already doing it.”

  • You can join the (maddening) “conversation” on the official Cru site

What are your thoughts on the name change and the backlash?

Since we just passed the halfway mark of the year, I thought I’d share my favorite albums from 2011 so far.

Down below I’ve linked to several other sites’ “Best Albums of 2011 so far” lists.

I’d love to hear your favorites of 2011 in the comments.

 

My top 3 albums of 2011 so far:

3) The Antlers – Burst Apart – Not an upbeat album (uh oh – all of my top 3 are downers) – but still a great, moving album. $5.99 on Amazon

You can listen to the whole album for free here.

Get the two most popular songs off the album for free on Amazon:

I Don’t Want Love

Every Night My Teeth Are Falling Out

Here’s my two favorite songs on the CD:



2) Wye Oak – Civilian – Reminds me of a female version of The Nationals – dark, moody and great. But as one reviewer put it: “This is definitely an album that doesn’t give away anything on a first listen and really requires the listener to sort of explore it and feel their way around it.“ Give it a few listens and you’ll be hooked. $5 on Amazon

Listen to the whole album online for free here.

Get the best song on the album for free on Amazon.

 

1) Bon Iver – Bon Iver – By far the best album of the year. A beautiful album. (and this isn’t coming from a Bon Iver fanboy. This is my first Bon Iver album. Heck, I still pronounce it like it looks instead of the pretentious correct pronunciation of Bone Ee-vair’). $7.99 on Amazon
Get the best song on the album for free from Pitchfork.
Click below to listen to the entire album for free (so you can be convinced you need to buy it):

 

Honorable Mention (Albums that are probably worth buying but aren’t consistently amazing from open to close):

Cults  Cults  Some phenomenal songs (Go Outside (get it for free here), Abducted, and You Know What I Mean) but I haven’t grown to love the whole album. Yet. Stream it free here (on MySpace! Go MySpace!). $5.99 on Amazon

Bright Eyes – The People’s Key – if you can get past the spoken word weirdness of the album, it’s actually a pretty decent album. $6.99 on Amazon.

Get the best song on the album for free from Spinner

Cut Copy – Zonoscope – Fun summer-y music. These guys win the 2011 Nostradamus award for releasing their record on the day Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak resigned with back to back tracks called “Pharaohs & Pyramids” and “Blink And You’ll Miss A Revolution”. $5 on Amazon

Fleet Foxes – Helplessness Blues – Definitely easy on the ears with incredible harmonies. My take on the album: one amazing song (Helplessness Blues – get it free on Amazon) and a bunch of songs that sound alike and not unlike Crosby, Stills and Nash. $5 on Amazon

Get the second most popular song for free too.

The Dodos – Percussion driven, fun music. $6.50 on Amazon. Get the two best songs on the album for free on Amazon:

Black Night

Going Under

The Civil Wars – Barton Hollow – A little too folky for my taste but it may grow on me. $5 on Amazon

 

Here’s a rundown of good “Best Albums of 2011 so far” lists from around the interwebs:

  • Spinner has a decent list.
  • Stereogum at least gets #1 right
  • Paste Magazine has good Top 20’s from 3 different writers:

Paste – Bonnie Stiernberg

Paste – Sean Doyle

And their best list is from Josh Jackson

 

What are your favorite albums of 2011 so far?

Image via Paste Magazine