If you're a youth minster, or know some one who is, check out their site. They've got a lot of cool stuff, and a pretty great blog. The guys who are starting this company are my good friends, and I can vouch for them by saying that they care about youth ministers alot.
6/12/10
youthministry360.com
Here's a video I got to write and direct for youthministry360, a new youth ministry resource company that is launching in August.
If you're a youth minster, or know some one who is, check out their site. They've got a lot of cool stuff, and a pretty great blog. The guys who are starting this company are my good friends, and I can vouch for them by saying that they care about youth ministers alot.
If you're a youth minster, or know some one who is, check out their site. They've got a lot of cool stuff, and a pretty great blog. The guys who are starting this company are my good friends, and I can vouch for them by saying that they care about youth ministers alot.
6/5/10
To Understand or Not To Understand the internet
I recently (kind of) had a conversation with one of my great friends about the internet, why it's bad and why it's good. And It became clear to me very quick that we both look at it with completely different eyes.
He had some very great points about why the internet is bad for our society. Stuff like, no accountability, no real community. The jist of what I think he was trying to say was, and I agree, that the internet allows for people to not ever engage with real people in a real community, and that is a bad thing that can lead to horrible things. The internet is setting up new social norms that are bad for us as humans, in his eyes.
So here's my take on the subject:
The internet is not to blame for these things.
The internet is awesome. The internet is the great equalizer.
The sum of all human knowledge is at our fingertips because of the internet. There's nothing you can't find out, there's nothing that you can't learn how to do. You, me, and ALSO everyone else in the world. Up until a decade ago most of the citizens of earth were limited to only ever knowing and finding things that were known and taught by the few people around them. Now, you can get a college degree from an world renowned university and never leave your house, village, shack, or slum.
Sure there's bad things that happen on the internet, but it ain't the internet's fault. It's people's fault, and more specifically sin's fault.
It's the Holy Spirit's responsibility to convict. It's a parent's responsibility to teach what is good and what is bad about the internet. It's the church's responsibility to help heal the wounds that sin has created. It's a community's responsibility to hold each other accountable for their actions. And it's MY RESPONSIBILITY to have the wisdom to make good choices on line; from not looking at things that I shouldn't to not expecting to get something from the internet that it just cannot provide like community, or accountability.
Gun's don't kill people, people kill people.
He had some very great points about why the internet is bad for our society. Stuff like, no accountability, no real community. The jist of what I think he was trying to say was, and I agree, that the internet allows for people to not ever engage with real people in a real community, and that is a bad thing that can lead to horrible things. The internet is setting up new social norms that are bad for us as humans, in his eyes.
So here's my take on the subject:
The internet is not to blame for these things.
The internet is awesome. The internet is the great equalizer.
The sum of all human knowledge is at our fingertips because of the internet. There's nothing you can't find out, there's nothing that you can't learn how to do. You, me, and ALSO everyone else in the world. Up until a decade ago most of the citizens of earth were limited to only ever knowing and finding things that were known and taught by the few people around them. Now, you can get a college degree from an world renowned university and never leave your house, village, shack, or slum.
Sure there's bad things that happen on the internet, but it ain't the internet's fault. It's people's fault, and more specifically sin's fault.
It's the Holy Spirit's responsibility to convict. It's a parent's responsibility to teach what is good and what is bad about the internet. It's the church's responsibility to help heal the wounds that sin has created. It's a community's responsibility to hold each other accountable for their actions. And it's MY RESPONSIBILITY to have the wisdom to make good choices on line; from not looking at things that I shouldn't to not expecting to get something from the internet that it just cannot provide like community, or accountability.
Gun's don't kill people, people kill people.
--- is to ---
The internet isn't bad, it's what people do on the internet that's bad.
It's like when people say that Hollywood is evil because of the movies that they make. That ain't Hollywood's fault. It's our (the audience's) fault. Hollywood is in the business of making money, not morally bad movies. They make movies that people want to pay money to watch. I guarantee, if we as a society stop going to see these "bad movies" Hollywood will stop making them. I'd bet my life on it. If you think that's wrong, I might suggest that you are a little more out of touch with our society than you think you are. But enough chasing that rabbit.
Back to the internet:
Yes, bad things are happening on the internet. Some more obvious than others. And YES we should do our darndest to protect ourselves (especially children) from these things, but the internet is awesome. The internet is a tool that, if harnessed correctly, can continue to change things in this world for the better.
All of that, and the internet is a well spring for things like productivity, creativity, efficiency, and empowerment. Business that don't allow for their people to harness the power of the internet will soon, if they haven't already, become irrelevant, out of touch, and left in the dust. If you're the IT guy at your job, and it's your job to keep internet stuff out, I feel sorry for your company. And if you're a boss type who want's to figure out a way to keep people from playing games all day while they're working, or from watching stupid youtube videos all day - you my friend have hired the wrong people, either that or you've have done a bad job motivating the right people.
That's my two cents.
However, don't think that Wikipedia is a valid source for your next book report.
Tell me what you think. Am I wrong here? I am happy to be wrong.
I can't believe that I actually wrote a post this long abou this subject.
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