Kaleo Church New Website

Posted by D. Goodmanson on Sep 18, 2006 in Church, General Technology | 3 comments

Kaleo Church has (finally) launched our new website.  There are still a lot of images/links that need to be fixed, but I am glad we are finally totally in Ekklesia 360 Church CMS. 

Thanks to: Church Plant Media, AM Design & the Kaleo volunteers with a special thanks to Chris Livdahl and all the hours he spent migrating content.

Jesus & Technology going too far?

Posted by D. Goodmanson on Sep 18, 2006 in Church, General Technology | 4 comments

Another, now I've seen everything freaky moment. Newburgh Assembly of God adds a digital/vectorized Jesus to invite all web visitors.  For those wondering, turns out Jesus is a white American! But did Jesus sell out to promote this one church, I feel a bit betrayed.  Maybe going a little too far? (HT: SonSpring)

The Problem With Preaching

Posted by D. Goodmanson on Sep 18, 2006 in Church, Sermon | 5 comments

Any time a person 'attacks' preaching, it's bound to cause a stir.  Next Wave publishes an article, The Problem with Preaching that begins:

Preaching is a big problem. After many years of preaching, listening to sermons, studying the scriptures, participating in 'church' leadership & studying the western church (in New Zealand), I'm becoming convinced that preaching often does more harm than good. Preaching, as it is practiced in modern churches, is extra-biblical, a poor form of communication, and creates dependency.

It goes on to layout a number of reasons why their are problems with preaching:

1. Preaching is Extra-Biblical

2. Preaching is an Ineffective Form of Communication

3. Preaching Limits Learning, Discussion & Debate

4. Preaching Doesn't Usually Change Lives

5. Preaching Can Foster Biblical Illiteracy

6. Preaching Disempowers People 

(and the list goes on…)

I'm sure this will divide right down the 'pomo-emergent' vs. 'evangelical' lines as to how people respond to the post.   There are so many ways we could slice this.  (I don't know if the assumption is preaching is the magic bullet to solve all problems, but there seems there is a lot of straw man arguments. Eg.  'Preaching doesn't change lives' of course, the Holy Spirit does and it uses His Word.)

Preaching as the function of church is under attack and will continue to be under great scrutiny.  A post at Church Marketing Sucks about Making the Most of Your Sermon illicted responses such as, "To me the sermon is a pretty small percentage of the ministry of the church." Yet, I would venture that this is the majority of where preaching pastors spend their time.

At Faithworks, Tom Allen writes an article entitled, Is Our Preaching Out of Touch where he states, "In an emerging church culture that values authenticity above all else, such an approach to preaching creates an artificial distance with the congregation."  He goes on to quote Paggit:

For Pagitt, (preaching) is unhealthy — even abusive — to suggest that only a few, privileged individuals can speak for God. "Why do I get to speak for 30 minutes and you don't?"“A sermon is often a violent act,” says Pagitt, a key figure among emerging leaders. “It’s a violence toward the will of the people who have to sit there and take it.” To treat the sermon as an oratorical performance delivered by a paid and trained professional who claims to speak for God sets up an artificial power imbalance within the congregation, Pagitt says.

The Problem With Preaching article ends with this suggestion:

I believe that a better & more scriptural alternative (to preaching) is personal and corporate Bible study, listening to God, discussion, and working together in mutually-accountable community to help each other apply biblical truths in our lives, community and world.

The Internet as Big Brother: Every Secret of Yours Will be Revealed

Posted by D. Goodmanson on Sep 16, 2006 in Culture, General Technology | 7 comments

I recently discovered people coming to my website through ZoomInfo and got scared.  Here, people can track every little detail about you and your past.  For example, it brought up information from when I was CEO of Pangia and several article where I was quoted or even when I spoke at conference years ago.  Wisely, ZoomInfo separated my 'secular work' both past and present with my 'current role as pastor ' thinking it represents two different people.   When people search my name, they can find ZoomInfo's site on the 2nd page of results.  (For those of you with names like Kevin and Steve you are fortunate that it will be harder for people to identify you.)  Want to learn about others?

Mark Driscoll

Ed Stetzer

Jordon Cooper

Andrew Jones 

Tim Challies

Bob Hyatt

Joe Thorn  

And the list goes on…more and more sites are going to collect every bit of data on you.  Every (unwise?) post you make, every comment that you leave and anywhere you leave a trace.  I just want you to be aware, the internet is watching you now….. 

NOTE (please use rel="nofollow" for any links you post to ZoomInfo so that you don't help spread the disease.)

Come as you are – Salon Article on Mars Hill

Posted by D. Goodmanson on Sep 14, 2006 in Church, Culture | 0 comments

At Mars Hill Church in Seattle, Snoop Dogg figures in sermons, housewives cradle babies in tattooed arms — and religious fundamentalism rules. Meet the Disciple Generation, the fierce new face of American evangelism.

Sept. 13, 2006 | SEATTLE — It's Father's Day and Mark Driscoll is blessing babies. A stocky, square-headed figure in a black shirt and jeans, with a leather cord around his thick neck, Driscoll stands against a backdrop of a giant brushed steel cross and a phalanx of electric guitars, praying over the "lovely wives and godly husbands" lined up on the stage of Mars Hill Church. Located in a former warehouse in Seattle's hip Ballard neighborhood, where drive-through espresso joints out-number churches ten to one, Driscoll's megachurch is a sprawling industrial space of corrugated steel, painted charcoal and muted taupe. Inside, the walls are hung with a member's graffiti art, lit by Starbucks-style colored glass fixtures blown by a congregant.

Read Full Article Come as you are @ Salon