Nice Blog Design

technorati tags
blogging, youth ministry

A quick post to point out a slick blog design. Check out Addison Road. I like the use of pictures to categorize posts, but I wish there was a key to the pictures/categories in the sidebar. I've been contemplating learning the WordPress platform lately; not necessarily to move my blog onto it, but as a tool in the web design belt. I'd love to explore a bit more the practical uses of blogs and their easy-editing/-posting tools as a way to build low-maintenance, low-cost websites for businesses and organizations.

By the way, if you're interested in some design work, either website building/renovating/overhauling, or graphic design for print media (logos, letterhead, business card, promotional materials, advertising, etc.), let me know. I'm extremely reasonable and negotiable.

Mark Matlock - Technology

technorati tags
mark matlock, shift conference, technology, youth ministry

as americans we love tech, we form bonds & relationships about/around tech. we have come to depend on tech devices.
have we been using tech to address the right problems?

launched planetwisdom.com 12 years ago.

can't just give us a list of the latest tools, websites, etc. b/c they change at such a rapid rate. but wants to get to the heart of the use of tech. cultural exegesis of tech. tech is not morally neutral b/c culture is not culturally neutral.
**connection interrupted**

employers of 50 frustrated w/ employees under 30. when 5 o'clock hits, they're off. vp's choosing daughter's recital over a late-night last minute session.

PS3 vs. Nintendo Wii - bigger better system and graphics; but nintendo has brought other generations into the gaming, brought physical activity into it.

Mac vs. PC - people don't care about computers, they care about living their life and sharing it.

5 Values
1) shift in IDENTITY - w/ mass production, Wal-Martization, there has been a push against it, against cookie-cutterness. people want to create things. it's beyond doilies, now there are microchips and servers. use of YouTube to share who they are and what they create.
kids looking for a place to be who they are w/out having to wear a mask, who they are on the inside; they aren't finding it in the church. mark likes to see it, loves how MySpace brings out the real student, wants to take part in their struggles. if only they could be as real in church as they are on MySpace.
2) shift in CONNECTION - believes connections no longer have to be physical. real connections can be made online. adults use internet to maintain existing relationships, where as kids do that AND use it to form new relationships. story of a 4-year online relationship w/an atheist youth in the UK who came to believe, when he traveled here and they met, it was not as if meeting for the first time.
25% of born-again kids say they've had an experience online that is worship to them.
3) shift in understanding of RISK - an outdated concept, if you are teaching kids the danger of strangers. b/c once they've met once, they're no longer strangers. teach kids to look for strange behavior and alert others.
4) shift in making space for what MATTERS MOST - blew over this to get to the last one b/c of time
5) shift in WHO WE CAN CONNECT WITH - those on the margins can seek out others to connect with. online 24-hour prayer vigils. "where 2 or more can gather." thinking diff'ly about the body of X - not just the local community, it is a global body. beyond america. maybe we need the churches in the world more than they need us.
shift in mission trip thinking - from taking something to them to realizing that they have something that we need and we receive it when we meet them.

it's a DESIRE TO CONNECT, to be in relationship with others.
why shouldn't the church be the "killer app?"

Shift! Conference

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shift conference, youth ministry

I've been invited to live-blog via internet stream some of the sessions of Willow Creek's Shift! Conference. I'll probably be posting my notes here, too, but the conference blog (which features other live-bloggers) can be found at shiftnow.typepad.com. Check it out and follow along.

Disco Tunnels and Setting Up Shop

technorati tags
blogging, faithful practices, youth ministry

Traveling today was pretty smooth. I was pumped to find out that there was free WiFi at the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Int'l Airport, but I didn't bother checking until I had played a few games of pinball in the arcade. On to Detroit, where a few years ago I was stuck over night because of delays. I was hoping to need to cross from the C Concourse to A, because I remembered there being this funky light tunnel. Check out the shots. I also grabbed 50 seconds of video, which has the distinction of being the first thing I've ever posted at YouTube. Check it out if you want a taste of the ambience. There was a bit of a delay in Detroit, but no big thing, and after making a stop at the neighborhood Target store for some snacks and saline solution, I'm getting settled in (as the creepy mirror picture shows).

Unless some people staying at the conference contact me tonight or in the morning, I think I'm going to head over to the Alektor Cafe and Books for at least a cup of coffee. According to Google maps it's only 13 minutes away, so I should be able to spend about an hour there before heading to the conference for checking in and opening worship. Thanks to a weird memory about references to random things, I remembered Gavin and maybe Jonathan mentioning it as a cool place (books, icons, orthodox).

Did some reading on both plane rides. Getting back into Kenda's book and taking the time to highlight and make notes was refreshing. From Scranton to Detroit I made it through about 1/2 of Chapter 6: Vessels of Grace - Christian Practices as Scaffolding for Faith. Read the first 3 chapters in Shane Claiborne's The Irresistible Revolution: Living as an Ordinary Radical. I've been braced for awhile to be hit hard by this book, and it's started already. Tears welled up in my eyes 3 or 4 times. Guess I should add it to my reading list.

Anyway, looking forward to the conference. Time for some generic Fruity Pebbles (if I can find a bowl and a spoon)!

Faithful Practices - Live Blogging

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blogging, faithful practices, youth ministry

I leave this afternoon for a 3-night trip to Nashville, TN. I'll be attending the Faithful Practices in Youth Ministry Conference on Friday and Saturday. The conference is "focused on helping your congregation develop faithful practices in Evangelism, Discipleship Formation, and Witness." It features Kenda Creasy Dean (author of Practicing Passion: Youth and the Quest for a Passionate Church) as the keynote speaker. Read more about the schedule and emphases here. The event is sponsored by the Faithful Practices Grant Project, the Center for Youth Ministry Training, the Lilly Endowment, and Princeton Theological Seminary.

I plan to live blog as much of the conference as possible. I'll either be taking notes right in blogger and publishing them at the beginning of breaks, or I'll wait until lunch and the evening to post thoughts. These are likely to be copy-and-paste jobs from frenzied typing during the workshops and lectures, so take it for what it is: thoughts and notes about what seem important to me at the moment. Next week, after I return from the conference, I'll put together a series of more thought-out posts.

I'm hoping this will provide a spring-board for discussions and resources here on this blog. Please feel free to put up a link, add the RSS feed or write a short blog post pointing people here so those who are interested can follow along. As I move forward, I plan to make blogging a part of my spiritual practice and rhythm of life. I'll be sharing about my experiences working part-time for 2 different churches (and denominations!), offering resources I create or stumble upon, and helping point people towards more connections. I've been blessed by the blogging of other youth ministers; I hope to return at least a portion of that blessing back out into the world.

p.s. - if you're in the Nashville area and want to get together Thursday night around 9 p.m., or either Friday or Saturday evening, contact me.

Blog Housekeeping

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blogging

UPDATE (2/7/07):
I think I've made some good changes in the last week. Let me point them out to you (a little guided tour, if you will), starting in the left sidebar. Dropped the generic Blogger profile and created my own about & contact page along with a spot to view my portfolio of web and graphic design work. Updated my RSS feed icon and solicitation. Created a drop-down archives menu. Added links to my 2 youth group myspace pages. Simplified my Emerging Connections info. Pruned my links list to just Family (for now). Updated my book list.

The main content area has changed little; I'm labeling posts now. Bumped the right sidebar down a bit. I've added a rotating selection of icons and photos of saints to accompany the Spiritual Formation links. Still trying to decide if I want to leave the ones that are there or try to set up some way to link to my current practices. Finally, I've started the list of labels. This list will grow, and if I can figure out how to hack in to Blogger's labeling system, you might eventually see little numbers indicating how many posts have been labeled a particular way. For now, know that if I have a label, it's there; and if it's there, at least one post has that label. Moved the banners and my Google ad box (click and make me some money!) to the right sidebar.

Still with me? Good. Now, leave me a comment. Give me feedback. Stroke my ego. Tell me it looks like hell (but make sure you offer some suggestions if you do).

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In an effort to jump-start my blogging habits, I'm doing a bit of housekeeping. I've started re-designing my template, I'm pruning my links, I've SWITCHED THE COMMENTS back to Blogger from HaloScan. So,thanks to all those who have commented in the past; for now, they won't show up anymore unless I find some fancy way to port them in. New comments, however, will appear.

Part of the reason for the change is updating to the new version of Blogger; the comment change is directly related to that. As I learn to update my template, I'll be adding in the new bells and whistles, including RSS (syndication) of the comments. I'm not sure how much people use that function, but if I happen to write a post that really gets some conversation going, I figure it's better for people to be able to follow it through their feed reader than having to check back to see if new comments have been added.

More work and changes to come. If you have suggestions, please let me know.

Yesterday's weight: | Yesterday's workout: ran .6 miles, walked 1.4 miles