Hey…nice to catch up with you on the blog.  Thanks for the comments you posted while I was so far from a wireless signal it felt like 1981.  After 8 days unplugged with my family, I thought a bit about how life has changed in the last through years because of technology.

Three trends that got me thinking about church and being a wired Jesus-follower in 2008:

• Has the iPod killed commercial radio?  I’m not one of those guys who hates new music (I love a lot of it), but I am flipping through stations quicker than ever and longing to get back to my playlists. And I’m a former radio guy and still have friends in the industry!  What, if anything, will keep me tuned? 
  • Unique content I can’t or wouldn’t normally download.
  • Great personalities (DJs) I like who have something interesting I want to hear.

• Specialty channels continue to erode the market-share of the major tv networks.  Two trends in that one:
  • Broadcasting is giving way to narrow-casting.  We like what we like.
  • Eclectic is becoming mainstream.

• People have been quick to pronounce newspapers dead – and circulation is dropping quickly. But last week, I picked up a couple of Globe and Mails for the first time in ages, and I think I fell in love again.  People don’t really read newspapers for news anymore, but the Globe has shifted to honestly intelligent, thoughtful interest stories you just wouldn’t find elsewhere and you likely wouldn’t search for on line (their print version is better at this than their online version).  Smart.

What’s the common trend?  People have been turning away from traditional media in droves over the last 20 years, insisting that get what they want when they want it.

So how does this impact Christ-followers?  I think we went through a period in the 80s and 90s where pretty much
all we were about were the preaching and the music, and this decade has
made it a lot harder to compete.  Why not just play your favourite worship music in your iPod and download the best preaching podcasts your can find, and call that church?  I used to feel threatened by that thought a few years ago. But now it excites me. Bring it on.  I doubt that will kill the local church.  It might make us more literate and sharper.

But what will keep followers and non-followers of Jesus meeting together as a the church (in person) into the future?  Some thoughts on what keeps me coming back and might keep others:

• Real community.  Human interaction. Dialogue. Conversation. Touch. Genuine caring for each other.  Can’t download that…yet.  Sure, we can do that on-line to an extent, but something happens when Jesus-followers and people who don’t yet follow meet eyeball to eyeball that is powerful.  It happens in groups and in just about any setting in which people gather.

• A person.  I think we used to think we were introducing people to an Idea (God, Truth), but the heart of the Christian faith is a relationship with a person (Jesus).  Somehow facilitating a personal relationship is easier and more effective in person.

• An experience.  There are times when I’m listening to iTunes when I feel close to God, but being together in community brings a presence that transcends solo experiences of God.

• Surprise.  God is way more creative and interesting that we admit.  In hosting services, preaching, worship and in different environments we host, there is something about a live experience that is creative and engaging that can help people experience Christ in fresh ways that a download can’t bring. And then there are the moments you can’t script, where God just moves.  Wow.

• Love.  Can you love people fully without being present? Is love complete without presence?

What do you think the "unique" marks of the Christ-followers gathering in person will be in these next few years together?  What keeps you coming back, or what has driven you away?  I’d love to hear from you!

Earlier tonight, I realized I am totally living in 2008.  I was answering text messages, email, facebook messages, being instant messaged on facebook, checking blog comments and twittering all at the same time. And the weird part is, I don’t mind it.  It’s just how we communicate right now.

But tomorrow I start some holidays. I’m excited about jetting back to preach Sunday live in at our Orillia campus. But first, we’ll drive Saturday to our favourite family vacation spot in Haliburton an hour away, to a lodge we’ve gone to each summer for over ten years now.  My youngest son Sam calls it his favourite place on earth next to home.  We literally count down the days to this vacation on a whiteboard on our fridge.  The whole family loves it.

One of the things that makes this "resort" we stay at so attractive is that it’s a throw back to an earlier time.  No tv.  No radio. No wireless routers. Cell service is okay, but not great. Twitter is a sound that chipmunks make.  Facebook happens when you fall asleep reading and your head drops.  They don’t even have regular mail there, let alone email. We’re unplugging for a week together, and it’s fantastic.

If I have goals for the next week, here they are:

• Recharge deeply with God.  I’m not actually ‘tired’, but I so want God’s energy.  I’m seeking that with a full heart.
• Totally connect with my family.  I’ve had much more margin in my life since the spring than in a long time, so it’s not like I’m going to cram a year’s worth of relationship into a week.  But I love these people and I get them for a week, undistracted.  Cool.
• Play cornhole.  I love cornhole.  I hope our friend Neil from Kentucky brings his set again this year.
• Boat alot. Boating is fun and very therapeutic for me. 
• Bike. I’m bringing my bike up for the first time this year. That’s great.  Also, it means no one will steal it from my garage this year.  If anyone tries to steal anything this year, I’ll send Gary Lamb after them.
• Do nothing.  That’s really nice.

I think we were wired both for rest and work, and over the years I’ve learned that to work best you have to play hard – that’s been a slow lesson for me.  So off for a few days of play.

And it means we’ll chat again soon on the blog.  I’ll be back on-line in a week.

In the meantime, what charges you?

So the latest You Tube king is a 14 year old named Fred who has over 45 million views. Robert Scoble and Seth Godin both use Fred to show that in marketing, volume is not king.  Almost nobody will get 45 million viewers.  Nobody.  The problem for them is that Fred isn’t making money nor is You Tube. That’s not what concerns me.

My observation: Fred has no content.  I mean, he’s one part funny, one part entertaining, one part sad (what needs to be true in his life for a 14 year old kid to make endless streams of cynically funny videos?) and one part annoying.  I’d love to meet Fred though…he seems on many levels like a great kid.

It’s just weird how you can get 45 million hits with no content.  I mean, Fred really doesn’t have anything to say.  There’s no message.

And yet those of us who track with a blog like this one believe there is a message that changes the world.  There is ONE who changes the world.  Does He get the kind of attention Fred gets? 

I’m thinking about all the thousands of hours people have spent watching Fred this month.  Nothing wrong with entertainment, but ultimately I want my life to be about something – someONE – who matters.  When I reflect on my own life, how much of my time is spent on things that matter?  I’m going to hit thousands of websites and invest thousands of hours this year on something.  How can I make it better count?

I don’t want my life to be about millions of hits that really don’t lead anywhere?

How does this make you think about spending your time and energy, especially given the fact that summer is now in full effect?

In the Spirit of Canada Day, here are a few thoughts on my experience in switching from natural gas barbecueing (or grilling, as our USAmerican friends call it) to real charcoal barbecueing.

Maybe there’s a lesson about faith in it.

• You can light charcoal naturally. Rather than laying the charcoal out on a grill, dousing it with tons of lighter fluid and throwing a match on it like we used to to do it,or the push start of a gas grill, I use a chimney starter for my charcoal. It’s all natural (no lighter fluid).  It cooperates with the forces of nature (air intake, the way flames rise etc) to get the charcoal lit fast.  Analogy: instead of artificially trying to get God moving in my life, it’s much better if I cooperate with the way God naturally wants to move. Scripture tells us how God works and what matters to Him. I just need to figure out how and cooperate with Him.

• Charcoal creates a real fire that has a life of its own.  You get real hot spots, and the temperature of the fires can vary from day to day depending on how you build them and what the weather is.  That means it’s a much more interactive process than gas grilling.  Analogy: so much of what we try to do in our spiritual life is related to controlling God.  It’s way more rewarding to respond to God.

• Grilling with charcoal creates more smoke.  Our friends have had to duck smoke and even move off the deck at times.  Analogy: God is not always convenient, and when He’s present, He’s hard to miss.

• Charcoal-grilled food tastes so much better than gas or propane-grilled food.  It’s that simple.  While grilling with charcoal takes more effort and is much more interactive, the flavour is in a whole other category. Analogy: do we need one?

As I think about the activity of God in my life, I’m glad I follow a slightly unpredictable, interactive God over whom I have little control, but who produces an incredible work in me when I cooperate with Him.