Beware the New “Needs”

“To do your work properly, you need an iPhone.”

“I really need a high-definition TV.”

“This internet connection isn’t fast enough. I need to upgrade my plan.”

“You need to get on Facebook.”

These are sample statements that accurately reflect some prominent thinking today. Instead of believing it would be a privilege to have or use some new piece of technology, we think and often boldly proclaim it a “need” – justifying its purchase, use and sometimes misuse. This twisted way of thinking is profitable for gadget manufacturers, software providers and other businesses, but rarely a net-positive for believers in Christ.

If we sit down and honestly contemplate the items that fit into the “need” category, it can be pretty humbling. It should be humbling enough to make us use the word carefully, especially as it relates to the latest technology.

Beware the new needs. They are usually wants, desires and preferences. Let’s use the word “need” as carefully as God would have us use it, rarely (if ever) applying it to new gadgets and gizmos.

Let’s Stop the Arguments and Speculation Online

I am not a pastor. My primary job day by day is teaching about and developing internet marketing strategies for business. When I do this teaching and development, I am always careful to express and remain aware that published media online can have a powerful influence. It can impact your business or ministry for good or bad depending on how it is used.

I am concerned about some pastors and missionaries I find using the internet, especially blogs, to express controversial opinions or have heated debates on the news of the day. This concern is especially acute in the world of Baptist Fundamentalism.

Let’s say for instance that a Pastor or prominent Christian has been indicted by the news media in some sort of scandal. Several sides to the issue are expressed online and then linked by a Christian blog in an attempt to initiate discussion. The blog comment section then becomes a hotbed for speculation and opinionated rhetoric of all sorts.

Most of the comments are from Pastors, missionaries, those in Christian education or other official areas of ministry. Some are definitely on the borderline for communication that is “good to the use of edifying” and many are lengthy and represent a significant commitments of time and thought.

After numerous, vigorous and often tedious exchanges of wit, hyperbole, assumption and other jockeying for ideological-position, pretty much everyone involved begins to believe this dead horse has been sufficiently beaten. Was anything accomplished? Almost without exception, the answer is no.

How does this reflect on the character and ministry of the people involved in the debate? In my experience, almost always poorly.

Businesses often understand a principle that people in ministry don’t get. They know that everything they say is important – especially when it is said in a public and archived forum that is readily accessible to anyone, for any purpose.

If you are the minister who has written lengthy, opinionated rants on the hottest Christian news, what have you potentially expressed  (in a subconscious manner) to readers?

1. You have plenty of time on your hands. – I am astonished at how prolific some full-time ministers are on their own blogs and the blogs of others. I see comments in the morning, more bloviating in the afternoon, a fully researched article at night and sometimes a few Twitter posts as well. When, exactly is the ministry of their local church getting done? If I am thinking this, expect the lost and non-spiritual to do the same.
2. You are sold on your own opinion. – Many seem to be experts on nearly every theological issue and political or sociological debate. What’s more, even a greater number speak authoritatively on subjects with which they are clearly unfamiliar. This is what we call punditry – and it can be a significant turn-off for those seeking legitimate information.
3. You enjoy a good fight. – I will never understand why so many feel the need to argue over such a vast array of subjects in a public format. If the article makes us mad, we should think very long and very hard about responding, especially in a public forum.
4. You are willing to muddy the waters. – Speculation is a huge problem online. Let’s face it, most of us are neither trained journalists, nor have the time to track down the facts of the matter we are about to sound off on. If you have any inclination whatsoever to say “I don’t know all the facts, but…” – just don’t do it! This is not Godly behavior and could end up being a disaster.
5. You can be quoted at any time, for any purpose. – If you write something online that is wrong, incorrect, unbiblical or just flawed in some way, expect it to come back to bite you. Visitors to your church may see it, enemies may use it against you and when a public controversy arises, it may be quoted in the newspaper.

You may think this post is unnecessary, as most full-time ministers will obviously understand these dangers and avoid them altogether. Well…if you believe that you probably don’t read very many popular Christian blogs. This is a serious and very troubling problem that is getting worse, not better. If you are interested in some examples, please let me know and I will send them to you in private.

Our testimonies are at stake in these matters. My advice to blogging Pastors and other full-time ministers is to either disallow comments or regulate them vigorously and strictly. Publishing is serious business. It can cost a for-profit company sales and market-share (I have seen it), but it can cost a Christian ministry something far more costly: a good reputation.

Let’s think before we click, folks.

A Moment of Focus – Volume 1

The first installment of A Moment of Focus has finally been released! We are extremely happy to present the first quarterly issue below. (Click in the center of the document to view in full-screen mode.) It is intended to focus our attention on Christ, Doctrine and Christian Living through daily, application-focused articles based upon the Word of God.

A full PDF download and embed code (feel free to distribute) are available at the Abounding Media Issuu page. Please leave your comments below, along with suggestions on how we can make the next edition better.

One Can Only Do So Much…

If I were addressing my business internet marketing students, I would warn them not to make great swelling promises online that they are unable to keep! My hopes of launching a final version of our new e-book on this first day of April have been dashed. My schedule is ridiculous, yes. My workload too much, yes. But…I had still hoped to finish before the stroke of midnight tonight.

We are very close, so stay-tuned. I hope to set aside my Saturday to put on finishing touches, then I can upload and publish the needed files for perhaps a three or four-day-late launch. All the opening days of April are covered in the preview release, so you can start reading now, but we will be excited to send out the full version when we can. We appreciate your kind patience.

Publishing First Devotional E-Book Soon

In a previous Aside I alluded to several new projects Abounding Media would be launching in coming months. I want to give you a brief introduction to one in particular: A Moment of Focus – Christ, Doctrine, Christian Living. This devotional e-book is a compilation of blog posts written over the past five years on my personal blog. Each entry focuses on a short passage of scripture and contains one paragraph of application-focused text. These lessons are intended to be a simple, focused addition to your daily Bible reading.

Today, I want to pre-release this version of the first guide, which covers April through June 2010. Only the first six pages or month of April are featured here, without inside front or back covers, which are still in development. I am releasing a partial version to get your feedback and introduce you to the project. Let me know if you come across any problems with this first draft so I can make revisions or improvements before full-release.

The Lost Content Dilemma

When you produce great content for a website, ideally, you would like the largest number of people possible to consume it. If you promote it on services like Facebook or Twitter upon release and it doesn’t find its way to the audience (for one reason or another) that would have appreciated it, there is a good chance it will be sitting in your archives, unread, for a long time.

I was thinking through this problem as I surfed the archives of a really great designer. Some of his older content was fantastic, but I had to do some serious searching to find it. Not a great thing.

Our best, most effective internet media should be front and center when someone visits our website. That doesn’t negate the need for regular, new articles, which are also very important. The thing we don’t want is the really great stuff our readers “would” care about, if only they could find it.

I’m still thinking through all the potential ways of making this happen without cluttering up a page with more links. If you have any brilliant ideas or examples you would like to pass along, let me know. I think this is of particular interest to those of us who are ministering full-time and blogging rather casually or – when we have a moment. It is crucial that the articles and other items on which we have spent our valuable ministry time are utilized, enjoyed and applied.

Still…Restoring After a Major Blunder

I wrote this unfortunate post last evening on my personal lifestream. I am still working to get one full site restored, dozens of images updated and multiple database alterations re-done. One thing I forgot to mention is that I was using an unfamiliar tool to navigate site files. In addition, I had been working most of the day with no breaks and was just eager to wrap things up. These ingredients make up a recipe for disaster. Another lesson learned, I suppose.

Let me start by saying: always backup your website files and databases. Always. If I had not taken my own advice, you would not be reading this now.

This evening I was attempting to delete a test installation of Textpattern from my server when I somehow got overzealous, lazy or both and apparently deleted my entire public_html directory. That means all of my site files on four websites (including this one) were completely and totally deleted.

I typically run a full backup once or twice every month and had one on my calendar for this coming Monday. I wound up using my latest copy from November 11th. So…it could have been worse.

Suffice it to say I am going to be working overtime to restore data added over the last 39 days to all four sites. That being said, I am thankful for the backups and very happy I do not have to start from scratch. These sites represent (literally) years of diligent labor.

Let this be a lesson to us all – backup, backup, backup!

If you observe some irregularities on this site or one of our others, I hope you will forgive the inconvenience. I will likely be working on getting things “back to normal” for a couple of weeks. If there is a major problem, please let me know.