Have you ever had a bad technology day? For me, it ruins almost everything.

I rely heavily on using my iPad. I hardly ever use my work computer. And the other day, my iPad crashed. They aren't supposed to do that, right?

But it did. It's technology. It has flaws. It messes stuff up. When it works, it saves me a bunch of time and helps me get even more done. When it doesn't work, I'm paralyzed.

Every now and then I say jokingly, "How did people do ministry before the internet?!" Well, half jokingly. The honest truth is, when I run into these technology issues, I feel like it hampers my ability to do ministry.

I'm still working out in my mind whether or not this is ok. Is it ok that I'm at a level of technology usage that I rely on it to do ministry, and when it doesn't function, I am less effective?

Truth is, we've ALWAYS used technology in our ministry. It was just at different levels. What if Paul's courier had dropped the parchment carrying the letter to the Romans in a puddle? What if Gutenberg's printing press ran out of ink? What if John Wesley's horse died? What if your church's electricity goes out on a Sunday morning?

To me, this shows the beauty of the Gospel. It is incredibly flexible. It can be distributed well when technology is used, and when technology dies, it is no less effective. So why is technology necessary if the Gospel can be proclaimed without it?

My argument would be that it is only partially because you can be more effective in communicating the Gospel, and mostly because it allows people to receive the Gospel in a familiar way. Speaking someone else's language is vitally important in communicating with them, and it has almost as much to do with the means by which communication happens as the actual language you are speaking.

What do you think? Is it ok for technology to take such a prominent role in sharing the Gospel?

Location:When Good Technology Goes Bad

Why Twitter

"I don't see any need for Twitter. Why does everyone need to see what I'm doing every second of the day?"

"Twitter is just reposting my Facebook status somewhere else."

"I don't know how to use Twitter. Facebook is enough."


I've recently heard all of these things said about Twitter. I've talked about Twitter on here before (April 11th) but it was more from a church point of view. As individuals, and as Christians, I find Twitter to be incredibly important. There are over 300 million active Twitter users, and it is imperative that the Gospel is visible in the Twittersphere.

Let me dispel some common myths about Twitter.

Twitter is not just sharing about what you are doing every second of the day. That's what a Facebook status is used for: discussing your "status." Here's where I am and what I am doing. Twitter is more about sharing ideas. Here's what I'm thinking about. It's a place for dialogue and discussion.

Twitter isn't just for you and your friends. While on Facebook you interact with those you "friend," on Twitter you can interact with anyone. I can send a tweet to Rick Warren. I can send a tweet to Chris Perez if he blows a save for the Indians. I can send a tweet to anyone I want who has a Twitter account.

Will they always answer? No. And I can only send public tweets, unless we both follow each other. Then we can send private direct messages to one another.

Another brilliant part of Twitter is the hashtag. So if I am watching an Ohio State football game, I might say, "Watching the #buckeyes beat the snot out of Michigan." When I put a # in front of the word, it makes the word searchable. So anyone who searches for #buckeyes will see my tweet. Maybe they respond. Maybe they re-tweet it.

Hashtags allow you to talk about events and ideas with everyone else who is talking about those same events and ideas. It's a means of sharing information.

In major cities, Twitter is already starting to outpace Facebook. It's the pill-form, idea sharing forum that everything is moving towards. And Christians need to be there to be followable as we follow Jesus.

So here's my challenge to you: make a Twitter account. Give it a try. I'm @pastordan23, so find me on there. Let's figure out how to do this together and I'll help you along the way. Post your new user name in the comments below and I'll look for you on there!

Would Jesus Have a Facebook Page?

A couple of months back, a CEO of a web-based solutions company told USA today that he did not believe that Jesus would have a Facebook page.

His reasoning was that he did not think Jesus would stop and take the time to enter an internet cafe and update his status. He would instead be with the people, talking to them face to face, and not wasting time on the internet with them.

I'm not sure I buy that. Of course, I'm totally biased because I love doing ministry over the Internet.

I think Jesus would have a hard time staying off Facebook. There are too many hurting people on there for him to ignore.

He would also probably break every rule of Facebook etiquette, because Jesus is like a honey badger when it comes to social norms: Jesus don't care.

Maybe he would put John or one of the other disciples in charge of his social media. Ooo probably James the younger. The kids love Facebook.

I can just see him following Jesus around saying, "Hey can I tweet that?"

Whether Jesus himself had a Facebook or a Twitter account, he'd be talked about on the web. #sermononthemount would have trended on twitter. One of the disciples would have snapped an Instagram pic of Jesus with the wounds on his hands and his side and posted it after the resurrection when he first appeared. It would have had one comment, from Thomas. "Shopped!!"

I don't know whether or not Jesus would have used Facebook. Since he never took the time to write anything on papyrus, maybe he wouldn't have had texting either. An iPhone would be pointless, because the Dead Sea is a dead zone.

But we have it today. And the question of whether or not Jesus would use it is less important than the question of how he would use it if he had it.

The Live Twitter Feed

So my church hasn't done this yet, but it intrigues me, and I'd love to hear your thoughts on it.

What would it look like to have a screen projected in the worship space that showed a live twitter feed of what people were saying or commenting about the service?

Cons are easy to figure out, right? It's distracting, anyone can say anything they want, it would be messy and take focus off of the music, preaching, etc.

But what if those things are ok? Is it ok to be distracted by conversation about what's happening? Is the sanctity of of the spoken word by the preacher disturbed by comments or questions from the congregation?

Is preaching only allowed to be a monologue?

Is it ok for it to be messy and for the comments of the unsaved and unchurched and the uninformed to be visible? Does visible brokenness take away from or enhance worship?

I'm not saying this is the greatest idea ever, but maybe one to think about. What do you think? Would a live twitter feed during a service be a good or bad thing?

The "It's Complicated" Series

The first time our church really dove in to social media stuff was during a series on relationships. We were looking at the family of Jacob. He had a manipulative mother, a clueless father, a hot head brother who wanted him dead, he accidentally married the wrong sister because of a scheming uncle, and his other wife was mad that she couldn't give him babies.

We wanted to talk about how relationships were messy, and started talking about what that looks like today. Someone mentioned that on Facebook, in your relationship status, one of the options besides married, single, etc., is "it's complicated."

We ran with it, and thought that would be a great name for the series. But we didn't stop there. We decided to make fake Facebook accounts for each of the characters, and assigned a different staff person to run each one. We would continually update their statuses and invited people from the church to join in the conversation and friend the characters.

For example, one of the posts from Isaac looked like this:

Isaac Beersheba Canaan
I love my boys Esau Hairy-One and Jacob Ben Isaac but when they constantly fight and bicker all of the time I think of how crazy it was to pray to God to open Rebekah's womb! Want to know the whole story? Check out Genesis 25:19-34

We also made a series of Jerry Springer-esque videos with some of the youth and whoever else we could grab to help tell the story. Here's one of them:

It's Complicated skit

It was a great way to be interactive with others on Facebook and allow people to share something kind of goofy from the church online but also help them to understand the story and share it with others. We had bunches of people friend the various characters.

What creative ways could YOU use social media in your church to tell the story?

This week: Social Media in Worship

This past week I was at a conference in Indianapolis where one of our sessions was on using social media in worship, and it got me thinking about all of the cool ways that I've seen churches use social media as a means to worship. So I'll share three of my favorites this week.

But first, we should probably tackle the question of should we.

As Ian Malcolm once said, "your scientists were so preoccupied with whether or not they could, they didn't stop to think if they should."



Fair point, Ian.

From what I have seen, there are a lot of pros to using social media in worship. It is not necessarily another thing you do in worship, but another means by which you can engage in worship. It is a primary form of communication for many people. It allows people to move out of worshipping passively and into an active form of worship.

However, many criticisms have also been raised. Isn't it distracting? Doesn't it take away from the sermon or whatever? If you're tweeting, can't you easily just end up checking the scores of ballgames and Facebook and whatever?

I'd love to hear your comments on what you think. For me, I think you can get distracted by anything, and that's more of your own discipline issue than anything else. Of course, I'm a bit biased. What do you think/

Follow Friday: my mom

I noticed that up until now, I had only done fake interviews with men. This was not intentional. Sorry ladies.

So today, I want to fake interview one of the most prolific and influential women in all of Christendom - my mom.




She's the one on the right.

The good Reverend Erma Metzger is the pastor of Vanlue Christ UMC and the mother of this blogger. No one I know has the fierce combination of insightful exegesis and melt in your mouth chocolate chip cookies. It's a wicked 1-2 punch.

You can find Ermbabe on Facebook, but I haven't yet convinced her to get on Twitter. C'mon Erma.

So I sat down with the reverend mother for a completely fake and in no way real interview.


Me: Hi mommy.

Erma: Oh crap, are you really pulling me into one of these?

Me: Absolutely. It's my mother's day present to you.

Erma: I wanted flowers.

Me: Already sent them. They were half "I love you" and half "I'm sorry."

Erma: Alright, so what are we talking about today?

Me: A couple of things. First, what's your take on social media stuff?

Erma: I like it. I use Facebook quite a bit. It's a great way to stay in touch with others and share about what's going on in your own family.

Me: Yeah...about that. I've noticed lots of pictures of Jake recently, and not so many of me. I'm beginning to think he's your favorite.

Erma: Oh, he definitely is. Not even close.

Me: Wow. That's brutally honest.

Erma: It's how I roll, yo.

Me: So you are in a small, rural church. Can you still use social media in your ministry?

Erma: Absolutely. We have a church Facebook page, and I reach out to people on Facebook all the time. Sometimes I find out they're in the hospital or going through a rough time when I'm checking Facebook. It helps me to be a better pastor. We also have an interactive church website that allows people to share with one another. It's pretty widely utilized!

Me: Very cool! I assume most of this knowledge you've garnered about social media has come from someone else. Someone close to you who inspires you. I mean, they may even be younger than you, but you look to them for wisdom and guidance.

Erma: Yes, honey. Your brother Kyle has been a big help. Thanks for leading me to mention him.

Me: Not at all what I was going for. Let me be more specific. What's it like to be the mother of me? I'm becoming a successful pastor and I'm pretty influential now among some circles in my use of social media. I'll just come out and say it: I'm kind of a big deal. How awesome is it to be my mom?

Erma: Eh. It's alright.

Me: Just alright?!

Erma: Look, your father and I will always love you. But blogging? Really? Isn't that kind of "5 years ago?" And you're not even a senior pastor yet. You're almost 30.

Me: ... but...it's just the system I'm in. The program was a 3 year program. I couldn't help that it took this long! I'm getting ordained next month!

Erma: I'll believe it when I see it.

Me: Wow...this has been eye opening.

Erma: Dan, I love you. And you'll always have a special place in my heart. It's just a much smaller place than the ones I have for your brothers.

Me: Do you at least like me more than your dog?

Erma: No. I mean, before you made me do this interview, maybe it was a tie. But now...no.

Me: Can I have the flowers back that I sent you?

Erma: Sorry. I already threw them out. I needed box to send a care package to Jake at college.

Facebook Stalkers

A couple of months ago I got a Facebook notification that someone had "liked" a picture I had posted.

A year and a half earlier.

Why does it feel weird when that happens? I mean, I put it out there publicly. I did it on purpose for people to look at.

But it still feels weird.

There is a term for this person: the Facebook Stalker. Stalking is generally a negative term, but Facebook Stalking has become an accepted practice. You can be on Facebook and view the profiles of all of you friends...and even others...without them even knowing it. While there are some privacy settings for this, they are mostly unused, because we don't put content on Facebook just so we can block it. We WANT people to see it.

Pictures, comments, links, status updates. We put them out there to be read, seen, replied to, and commented on.

But when you realize someone has been plumbing the depths of your Facebook timeline and photo albums...

Confession: I've done it, too.

It has become a part of the Facebook culture, and culture as a whole. Want to get to know someone? Look at their pictures, look at their "about" page, look at their mutual friends, look at their recent posts.

Employers about to hire a new position often go to Facebook to see what kind of person they are about to hire. You can fake an interview, but Facebook will often expose the real "you."

This is uncomfortable for some. It used to be for me, too. But I've become really comfortable with who I am as a human being. I hope that people see me and who I am and what I do and what I say. Because even though I have a lot of slip ups, I'm doing my best to live a life where the love of Christ shines through in every thing I do.

What do you think? Is Facebook stalking ok? Do you do it?

Share This Picture if You Love Jesus!!!

Do you see Him? Only true believers can see Jesus in the rust from this old iron I bought at a garage sale!

If you love Jesus, share this picture! Sadly, 97% of people won't. Will you be the 3% who actually loves Jesus and will share this?


I am now faced with a spiritual dilemma. Because I really love Jesus. A lot. But that is a stupid picture. It doesn't even look like Jesus. And where in the Bible am I commanded to share all these pictures or else have to stand in judgement someday and hear Jesus say, "Hey, why did you deny me when you didn't share that one picture where someone had photoshopped the clouds to look like my hands were pulling them apart to reveal beams of sunlight?"

Sorry, Jesus.

While it is popular to share these kinds of pictures, we have to be careful, for several reasons.


1. Most of these pictures are photoshopped. Nothing cheapens Christianity like claiming something is a God-inspired miracle when really it was some dude eating Cheetos and doctoring a picture to look like something else. Do a simple Google search before posting something like that.

2. Don't threaten someone's spirituality based on whether or not they share a picture. I hate that. That is a threat. If you want to share it, fine, but don't tell me I'm a bad Christian if I don't. That's not even remotely Biblically accurate.

3. Make sure any scripture quoted with the pic is accurate. Nothing worse than misquoted, out of context scripture accompanying a fake picture with a veiled threat to your eternal salvation.


So if you send me a picture and I don't immediately share it with others, don't worry about my soul. I'm alright.

LOL and Other Lies

One of the biggest issues we have with social media is that you can't see the facial expressions of other people, so you can't tell what tone of voice they are using when they say something.

This is especially problematic for people like me who speak fluent sarcasm. If you don't know me well, you might see the things I'm saying and think I'm a complete jerk.

After several misunderstandings, people in the social media world began using abbreviated language to express their emotion. I'm guessing the first use went something like this.

User 1: ...and then she said, "No, YOU had the potato!
User 2: Your joke was so humorous that I laughed audibly.
User 1: We should come up with an easier way for you to say that.
User 2: I could abbreviate it! YJWSHTILA
User 1: Perfect!

Eventually, this was shortened to LOL for "Laugh Out Loud."

Over time, this abbreviation began to be used more and more frequently until it lost its literal meaning. I'm going to be honest, I almost never laugh out loud when I read something on the internet. But I find things supremely funny. And so I type LOL anyways. It has come to mean in those situations "I acknowledge your successful use of humor."

In other circumstances, I will use LOL after I say something, in order to show someone I'm joking. Notice the difference in the following sentences:


"I'm going to punch you in the face with a hammer."

"I'm going to punch you in the face with a hammer LOL"


The first is a threat. The second is a light-hearted jab.

There are several other emotional abbreviations that are used on Facebook, Twitter, and Texting. Here is a helpful list of literal definitions.


j/k = "just kidding." Literal meaning: I'm not kidding, but I don't want you to be mad at me.

ROTFL = "Rolling On The Floor Laughing." Literal meaning: That was very funny, but I am in no way actually rolling on the floor laughing. I may have made an audible giggle.

IMO/IMHO = "In My Opinion/In My Humble Opinion." Literal meaning: You have no idea how right I am and how wrong you are.

SMH = "Shaking My Head." Literal meaning: That is incredibly stupid.

BRB = "Be Right Back." Literal meaning: I have to pee.

:) = "Smiley face." Literal meaning: The same way you would use a smile in a face to face conversation. Even a fake smile.

2 = "to" or "two" or "too" Literal meaning: I am so lazy I can't type out a 2 or 3 letter word.

BFF = "Best Friend Forever." Literal meaning: I will never speak to you again after high school.

OMG = "Oh My God." Literal meaning: I have found the quickest way possible to take the Lord's name in vain!


That's just a short list. What are some of your favorites?

This Week: Facebook Mores

I've been talking about Facebook as a new kind of nation. And like any nation of people, their are certain social principles that come into play. Sometimes there are written laws. Facebook as a company has created guidelines which all users are expected to abide by. When rules are broken, consequences often follow.

But apart from the rules, there are also mores (pronounced like "morays," like the vicious, spawn of satan eels that live in the depths of the ocean and produce their own electrical current. Seriously, who produces their own electricity? The devil, that's who).




A quick Google search has told me that moray eels and electric eels are two different species. Still, look at that picture. That is not of God.

Anyways, social mores are the understood social etiquette. They are the social norms that guide our every day actions with other people. And these mores differ from one place to another.

When I went to Zambia, I learned that the proper way to greet someone as a sign of respect is to shake their right hand and touch your own right elbow with your left hand. You then rotate your right hands and grab thumbs, then back to a regular handshake.

I'm not going to lie, once I learned how to do their in a fluid motion, I felt like a real African.

So guess what, Facebook has its own social mores. There are things that are socially acceptable to do on Facebook, and things that aren't. And if we want to be missionaries there, we need to learn the culture.

For instance, what is an appropriate greeting on Facebook? Is it the "poke?" Is it a private inbox message? Is it writing on their wall?

I remember in one of my first Facebook interactions I wrote a message to someone else on my own wall. My brother called me on it, saying it was an amateur mistake.

It hurt my feelings.

So this week we'll talk about some of the proper ways to interact with people on social media. I'd love to hear from you what you think some of the new Facebook social mores are. Leave them in the comments below!

Follow Friday: MercyMe

This week I tried something crazy: actually interview someone.

I set my sights on Bart Millard, lead singer of the Christian band MercyMe.





Wait...guy second from the right...

Is that Kevin Brauch from Iron Chef America?




Konichiwa.

No, it's actually keyboard player James Bryson.

But now that I think about it...couldn't Bart totally be the younger brother of Mario Batalli?






The generous Mr. Cookwell?

Anyways...

You can follow him on twitter at @bartmillard, and the band at @mercyme.

Let me break down the timeline of events for you.

It began when I decided my next interview should be Bart Millard when I heard "I Can Only Imagine" on the radio. Maybe he could give some insight on breaking into mainstream music and media while remaining delightfully Christian?

First, I sent the following tweet:



This is being passive-aggressive. A key for all fake interviewers. Write that down.

After a while, I notice that there is no response to my tweet from the day before. Sent another tweet.





This was a bit more aggressive, but I used the word "love," so it still seems nice.

Still nothing. Surprising. So later that afternoon, I sent out this tweet.





This was a new approach. Robby Shaffer is the drummer for MercyMe. I thought maybe he could be my inroad to Bart or maybe even the whole band!

After a couple hours of waiting and still getting no reply, I decided to change tactics. I thought I would go to Google, the source of all knowledge. It turns out, Robby Shaffer's real name is "Robin," not exactly a great drummer name. Superhero sidekick maybe, but drummer? But something about the name "Robin" sounded approachable. So I searched "Robin Mercy Me."

Here's where it gets interesting. Apparently there is an artist named Robin Thicke who did a cover of Marvin Gaye's "Mercy, Mercy Me." This was the number one result. I went with it. Hey, a connection is a connection. You have to explore all leads.

Write that down.





Robin Thicke looked surprisingly familiar.





There it is. Robin, as it turns out, is the son of Alan Thicke, everyone's favorite dad from "Growing Pains." Alan still does a little acting, but his big passion is now the Alan Thicke Centre for Diabetes Research.

And besides Alan Thicke, what other famous actor loves talking about diabetes?

Wilford Brimley.





Do I know Wilford Brimley? No. No I do not.

But do I know guys who have a mustache? You bet your sweet Quaker Oats I do.

I don't know this for a fact, but everything I know about guys who have a mustache leads me to believe that there is a secret club of mustachioed men who get together for cigars and brandy as they discuss how wonderful it is to be able to pull off the ol' soup strainer. There must be a secret wood paneled and velvet lined room with portraits of Burt Reynolds and Chester Arthur in every city in America. They are a brotherhood.

Write that down.

As I write this, there is a guy with a mustache sitting right next to me.

And so my first real interview begins.


Me: Excuse me, sir?

Random mustache guy: Yes?

Me: Can you ask Wilford Brimley to ask Alan Thicke to ask Robin Thicke to ask Robin Shaffer to ask Bart Millard to send me a tweet so I can interview him and the rest of MercyMe for my blog?

Random mustache guy: No. What's a blog?

Me: Its ok. Thanks anyways.



First real interview = success.

I have a video...now what?

Ok you're bought into the idea of a video. Now what?

There are several sites to use. Our church uses Vimeo. For "Dear Jan," we use YouTube. If you are shooting video and doing some big time editing, I suggest Vimeo. It's easier to put longer videos on there and then embed them in different places. But for the short under 10 min. videos, use YouTube. Especially if you are shooting with an iPad or iPhone or something, because you have the option of instantly putting it on YouTube. Plus, more people are on YouTube, so there is a greater likelihood of people finding it.

Then get the link. Put it out there. It feels like you are annoying people with it (and maybe I am annoying people, but I don't even care), but if you don't share the link, people won't know its there. Use Facebook, Twitter, email, whatever else.

If you print the link in your bulletin and people can't click on it, they won't watch it. You have to have the link somewhere electronically where they can just click right there and watch.

What are some of your other questions about using video on the internet? Let me know in the comments section and I'll do what I can to help you out!

Should we put our sermon videos on the web?

At Anderson Hills, we record our services and put them on our webpage for others to see.

I know some churches don't. Some pastors believe that their sermons are their intellectual property and they worry about copywriting and all that stuff.

It's probably an important discussion to have. And I'm sure there are good points about why not to put your sermons on the internet.

But we got this video yesterday.

So yeah...we're going to keep putting our sermons on the internet.

You can check them out, along with other videos Anderson Hills has done, at http://www.andersonhillsumc.org/message-videos

Dear Jan: the series

This is Jason.





He is as weird as he looks.

A few weeks ago, Jason suggested that people in our congregation text him if they have any questions about their faith. The response was overwhelming. We decided to try to answer some of these questions on video and put them out there for people to watch.

And that's how "Dear Jan" was born. (Jason + Dan = Jan)

The premise was simple: Take one of the questions that was asked, and answer it in our own, special way. This usually involves no preparation and lots of sarcasm. We've now done 17 videos, and will be shooting #18 today.

Here is yesterday's special "lightning round" video.

So far, we have had over 1,500 views. Is this because we are theological geniuses? Maybe. But probably not. We try to keep the videos short, relatable, and fun. We're still learning this stuff but it's a good time.

Our only equipment is an iPad, a location, a topic, and Lauren. I think what makes it work is that it is easily accessible, topics people are interested in, and our own brand of unfiltered, authentic weirdness. We show that God can be real and fun and make sense all at the same time.

We didn't go out and invent something new. We took what we already do, and just gave more people a chance to access it. It takes about 15 minutes a day.

And the amazing thing is, it's touching people. It's being used as Sunday School curriculum in Alabama. A soldier in Iraq sent us some of his questions to answer. People are starting to get this God stuff for the first time.

We have to know that people access information in new ways and we have to learn to speak their language. When you do, whole new realms of ministry open up to you.