Twitter as a Spiritual Discipline
Posted on 01. Jun, 2008 by Aaron Marshall in Church2.0, Social Media
The more I use Twitter, the more I like it. I don’t like it for the sake of new technology, rather I have come to believe it is a tool that can deeply enhance relationships. Some balk at the idea of telling or knowing what others are doing and thinking, but aren’t these key components to relationship?
Twitter Encourages Intimacy and Deeper Relationship with One Another
I recently visited NW Oregon, where I grew up, and I had the opportunity to share Twitter with nearly my entire family, and several long lost friends. I am happy to say that my grandparents in their 70′s joined and are now regular users. I also introduced my church community group to twitter.
I am learning VALUABLE details about my family and friends that I would have never learned (unless I were living with them). This has given me the opportunity to pray specifically for them and given me cues when I should reach out and make a direct connection.
Twitter Combats Self-centered Thinking
I get so wrapped up in my own world. My wife and I are in the midst of making some pretty large life decisions and I often get lost thinking of myself, my plans, my designs and my life. Twitter reminds me that its not about me and that there are more important things to be thinking of than myself.
Twitter Helps Us to Open our Lives to Family and Friends in Tiny Digestible Chunks.
The problem with other tools for connecting is they require two way communication, which adds all sorts of social rules to the picture. With Twitter we can simply state what we are doing, how we are doing or what we are thinking without getting bogged down in pleasantries. I am not saying that two way communication is bad, its just not optimal if you want consistent regular updates from folks.
My grandma LOVES knowing what we are up to, but phone conversations are short because she doesn’t want to interrupt or burden us. The truth is I would love to tell her and I would also love to know what is going on in their lives as well. Twitter has given us way to connect better.
By opening up and sharing our lives with one another through Twitter we are fulfilling God’s call to love one another. I have a deeper more intimate connection with my family and friends because of Twitter.
What are other Spiritual Benefits of Twitter? Can “Twittering” be a Spiritual Discipline?
Social Media Meditation: What would a Twitter from God look like?
Posted on 31. May, 2008 by Aaron Marshall in Social Media
When I started to write this post, I thought it would be easy to come up with what God would Twitter. I eventually gave up trying to be theologically perfect and just cranked it out. The exercise of trying to figure it out turned out to be a pretty good meditation.
What do you think God would Twitter?
see also “What Would Jesus Tweet”
Purpose Driven Failure: Take the Biggest Risk, Make the Dumbest Mistake and Utterly Lose
Posted on 20. May, 2008 by Aaron Marshall in Church, Social Media
Ask successful entrepreneurs what experiences have taught them the most. If they are humble they will recount a failed venture that was desperately painful, but taught them key lessons that help them to be successful today.
One technique I use for winning at games I’ve never played before is to intentionally lose. After a couple of games of being completely destroyed, I begin to see quite clearly what I need to do to win. (My wife can be a fierce competitor so I don’t always win).
I Learn More from Failure than I do from Success. Should I Purposely Fail?
If I am particularly talented this will mean I will have to bite off way more than I can chew. It’s easy for me to “Go Big” or be a “Risk Taker” yet secretly maintain control. The feeling security brings can be seductive… Unfortunately that means I will miss the greatest return of seeing miracles and growing in a trust relationship with my Creator.
God is More Interested in my Character Development than my Comfort.
Consider it pure joy when I face trials, rejoice in my sufferings, there is no condemnation, die to myself… These are not just “positive attitude” Scriptures, they are powerful challenges for me to live RADICALLY BROKEN and trust that I could not make a mess big enough that God could not clean it up.
The Worst Consequence of Living to Fail: People will Think I am a Failure.
The truth is I am a failure, without multiple miracles I would be dead. To hide that fact is to again be seduced by comfort and miss out on a satisfying relationship with Jesus. I confess this is deep issue for me.
Am I doing just enough for people to THINK they are seeing God’s glory, while in reality it is me just bolstering my personal brand?
A Series of Great Posts about Failure from Swerve
Mashups: Are they Copyright Sin?
Posted on 22. Apr, 2008 by Aaron Marshall in Social Media
C.S. Lewis and S.M. Lockridge did not give me permission to create or share these. Should I remove them from the web immediately? Any fair use legal advice would be GREAT!
Mere Christianity Mixes
C.S. Lewis’s audio book “Mere Christianity” dubbed over mixes of ambient house, drum n bass and electronica.
S.M. Lockridge’s “My King” 2008 High Energy Remixed Version
*if you own any of the content that is used and are offended please let me know.
Engage People: Add Video to Your Ministry Website Using Vimeo
Posted on 29. Mar, 2008 by Aaron Marshall in Church, How To, Social Media, Video
Vimeo is a video sharing website similar to YouTube, but it offers a MUCH better experience. Not only does Vimeo have a better design and layout than YouTube but it is cleaner and doesn’t excessively push negative content to every page.
Why Vimeo is better than YouTube:
- Cleaner, Safer and more family friendly*
- Much more User-Friendly
- Clicking embedded videos doesn’t take you to Vimeo.com (example in video above)
- Ability to customize the size, look and color of embedded videos
- Upload video files up to 500 megabytes (instead of 100)
- Full screen option is available for embedded videos too (example in video above)
*Though Vimeo is cleaner than other video sharing sites they do not have strict rules to enforce that it will stay this way. Use at own risk.
2 Simple Steps for Embedding a Video in Your Site
Step #1 Copy the Embed Code
Click the button on your video that says “Embed” and copy the code by either right clicking and selecting copy or highlighting it and pressing CTRL+C. 
Step #2 Paste the Code into your Blog or Website
Write a new post or edit a page and look for a button that says “Edit HTML” or “View HTML” or “Code”. Once you have selected one of these options simply paste the code by either right clicking and selecting paste or press CTRL+V on your keyboard.
Dumb Question: Why Is Video Important?
Video has become an integral part of the web and something that ministries, churches and missions should absolutely be looking at for communications. Video gives life and interactivity to a website or blog and reaches a larger number of people who simply don’t read much. The apostle Paul used the best methods available for communicating the Gospel, visiting people and writing letters.
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