These are going to seem trite, I know. They are slightly tongue-in-cheek and in no particular order. Also notice I didn’t say they were the “top 5″ signs Western Civilization is dying. They are not likely in the top 50,000, I imagine – but they are signs none the less!
- Stranded shopping carts. – I cannot go to the grocery store these days without being astonished by just how many people simply leave their cart in the middle of the parking lot. This reveals a lack of respect for others who must dodge, move, retrieve and return the carts. One day while my wife ran into Safeway for a few items I noted from my drivers seat that every person leaving the store with a cart over that 25 minute period stranded it – some within 7 feet of the plentiful and strategically placed buggy roundups.
- The cell phone culture. – First of all, the businessman in the airport making a “deal” over the phone is not a big shot. He may think he is a big shot, but everyone knows the real high rollers do business face to face. Nice try, guy in a cheap suit. Also, I know people think constant fidgeting with an iPhone or Blackberry makes them look busy and important, but it does not. It is more likely a sign of simple rudeness and potential addiction.
- The say/do imbalance. – If a celebrity beats someone up and threatens to kill them, they are likely to get a lot of bad press. If they say something that could be construed as potentially (even mildly) racist or intolerant, their careers could be ruined forever. No one should ever excuse or overlook language that tears people down. That being said, serious and repeated criminal acts should carry far heavier civil and professional penalties.
- Facebook profile pictures. – There is something very disturbing about people (especially men) having dozens or even hundreds of posed pictures of themselves displayed within their account. “Here is a picture of me driving; here I am in a new shirt; this is me eating a sandwich; check me out doing…” Those who don’t see this as a warning sign for potential or probable narcissism should likely think again.
- The “lots of kids” look/remark. – My wife and I are expecting our fourth child. We have been married six years. More people have a problem with this than you may know. If you would have told me this four years ago when Elisabeth was born, I would not have believed you. The Bible says children are a blessing from the Lord (Psalm 127:3), but modern culture often finds them distracting, expensive and inconvenient. Those having and desiring many should prepare for criticism.
I could probably go on a little further if I tried. Yes, I do believe Western culture is in a dramatic and startling state of decline, although these are not the most serious proofs of that hypothesis. Do you have any “signs” to add?
Most of you know that our family has been praying that God will open an opportunity for me to serve in Pastoral ministry. Recently our hearts have been moved to pursue work in a church of significant need. To be specific, a congregation that is small, just starting out, or would perhaps even have difficulty supporting a pastor and his family full-time. Typically these churches have trouble finding men willing to consider them. Our desire is to place ourselves in a position to undertake any work of ministry around the country, without regard to the financial constraints that may discourage others.
With this in mind we have considered which avenues of business God would allow us to pursue that could provide freedom to enter such circumstances. After many careful hours of deliberation we believe He has lead us to begin Abounding Media, a freelance internet and media services effort that will focus on assisting churches, christian ministries and wholesome business projects worldwide. Sounds big doesn’t it? Well, it’s really little more than the expansion of a freelance career I have been urged to undertake by friends and colleagues for years.
As the burden to help a truly needy church has grown, so too has my level of knowledge and skill in the field internet technology. Factor in a decade of experience in professional and ministry broadcasting, missionary service and photography, and I believe it is now possible for me to credibly offer these services without hesitation.
It’s awkward now to think that during a time in which I so eagerly anticipated being in full-time ministry, the Lord was actually equipping me for a future I didn’t imangine. God is wonderful in this way, as He sees the big picture, leading us by the hand into paths we know not!
We also want to be clear on a few additional points in this regard: first, we would not continue this effort in any way unless it was both permissible and beneficial to a future church family. Second, we do not intend Abounding Media to be a part of our lives forever. While we are certain my previously-mentioned skills will be put to good use in future ministry, our primary desire is to serve a church, not advance a freelance internet media career.
While the final launch of alwaysabounding.org, the Abounding Media homepage is not ready yet, we would encourage you to visit and see what we have done so far. We’d also like you to read about the philosophies that lead us to think this was a worthy effort. There will be many more details upcoming on how we plan to organize and undertake this work. Suffice it to say we are excited about some of the ideas God has given us for getting it off the ground.
All of these sites are worth a visit, though you may want to focus on one category more than (or to the exclusion of) the other. My online reading usually fits under two broad headings: Christianity and technology. By the way, I cannot endorse any of the moral or political viewpoints of the tech industry sites mentioned. While most would express little more than full-time geekery, one never knows what secular authors may say or advocate.
Christianity
- an oxgoad, eh? – A Canadian Pastor’s view of the current state of Fundamentalism.
- The Gospel in China – Timely and down-to-earth updates from a Baptist missionary in mainland China.
- Sacred Audio.com – A terrefic selection of conservative Christian music for 99 cent download.
Technology
- Scobleizer – Robert Scoble is one of the smartest and most tuned-in tech minds in the country.
- A List Apart – I have never found a more valuable series of articles for those of us in charge of creating/managing websites.
Keep up with what we are reading daily by clicking Latest above or following us on either Twitter or FriendFeed.
This site was long-overdue for a design upgrade, which we succeeded in bringing to it late Christmas evening. Those who follow us on Twitter will know that I am a big supporter of WordPress, and with the recent release of version 2.7 most older themes became, not obsolete, but definitely less useful. I had customized a theme called fSpring back when I was on WordPress 2.1-something and hadn’t done an upgrade since. These months of neglect opened a few security holes that I have been eager to fix.
Thanks to the folks at CodeScheme for the original layout, which I am continuing to modify. Next I will be working on some new photo functionality, reformatting of a few past articles and minor alignment changes. Other than that, the redesign is finished and the security issues are resolved. Leave a comment and let me know what you think.
A few weeks ago I registered for a Twitter account, mainly so Deborah could keep up with what I was doing throughout the day at the office. Twitter is a microblogging application that asks “what are you doing?”; to which you can reply with a maximum of 140 words. I began posting with a Firefox add-on called TwitterFox. It is a great little program that appears in the bottom right corner of my browser, allowing me to type a quick note while I work, which posts to my Twitter page immediately.
While I felt these notes might be of interest to those visiting this site, I have had difficulty finding a plugin for WordPress that does an adequate job of displaying them in my sidebar. In my pursuit to find just the right method, I came across an implementation on a tech site I often read called Scobleizer. Prominent blogger Robert Scoble shows all of his latest web activity via a service called FriendFeed. It captures and displays all his new entries in chronological order, whether they are from a blog RSS feed, a Twitter or other microblogging account, a Flickr photo stream, or a myriad of other social networking platforms.
Need a translation for any of this? Just visit our new FriendFeed and you should easily figure out what I am talking about. Here is a list of the various ways you can now stay connected with Missionary Broadcasting.com:
Hopefully I can get a more Scoble-like sidebar application running within the next few weeks. Right now I have put in a request with our web host to upgrade the software we need to make it happen.
Editorials | Chris | 
December 1, 2009 3:18 am | 
Comments (0) 
Subscribe: 
