Is God Mac or PC?

That is, up in heaven, is he cranking away on a Mac or a PC? Does he love the iPhone or is he currently listening to Michael W. Smith’s greatest hits on a Zune? Does he have a little apple sticker stuck anywhere?

I feel like lists work well on blogs, so let’s break it down list style and weigh all the facts.

1. Macs are beautiful and glimmery white in their design. Christ and God are always represented as the “light of the world.” PCs are often dark. God is definitely a Mac.

2. As soon as you own an iPhone you start to feel a potpourri of pity and shame for anyone who does not own one. Someone whips out a Blackberry and you immediately, smugly think inside, “That poor person. Pushing on physical keys. The horror.” God doesn’t like that arrogance. God is a PC.

3. Apple makes real efforts to improve the planet and recycle their products. God loves that. God is a Mac.

4. Apple is notorious for rejecting apps that people try to put on the iPhone. God doesn’t reject anyone. God is definitely a PC.

5. PCs are often plagued by viruses and crashes. Much like sin, God hates that. God is definitely a Mac.

6. Mac commercials are constantly mocking people who use PCs. God hates mockery. God is definitely a PC.

7. You don’t have to learn a complicated operating system to use a Mac. You turn it on and go. Same with God. Repentance and salvation are not complex systems designed to confuse people. God’s a Mac.

8. PCs are constantly needing to be upgraded and updated with the latest software and operating systems. Just like sanctification. You are constantly changing and being renewed. God’s a PC.

9. Macs take a very holistic approach to computing. There’s iLife and iTunes and iPhone. They all work together seamlessly. Just the way God wants to be integrated into every part of our life. God’s a Mac.

10. Some people treat Apple’s Steve Jobs like he’s God in a mock turtle neck. Turns out God is not cool with that. God’s a PC.

11. Macs are very intuitive. When you want to do something, you don’t look up how to do it, you just do it. With a PC, things are often backwards. When you want to shut down for instance, you have to click “Start.” The Bible is very intuitive too. Proverbs lays out pages of simple wisdom that just makes sense. God is a Mac.

12. Macs are all about outside appearances. They look fantastic. But God cares more about what’s inside. Macs are too vain. God’s a PC.

13. Macs make music easy to enjoy. They’re more artistic and often the choice of graphic designers and photographers. God is a great fan of the arts, as evidence by the colorful sunsets and sunrises he paints each day. God’s a Mac.

14. Macs are really expensive. God’s not. He paid the cost. He paid the debt we owed to him. God’s a PC.

15. The Mac logo, an apple with a bite out of it, is reminiscent of our fall from grace in the garden of Eden and God’s forgiveness of us. God’s a Mac.

16. The Gates Foundation has given millions and millions of dollars to help people around the world. God’s all about generosity. God’s a PC.

17. Apple stores are not designed like traditional retail outlets, but are more like aesthetic sanctuaries. They’re practically consumer churches. God’s a Mac.

18. Mac is constantly teasing us with information. There is a tablet. There’s not a tablet. God, on the other hand, is much more direct with his love and purpose in our lives. God’s a PC.

There’s the list and I’ve got to tell you, I’m stuck. I have a PC desktop and an Apple laptop. I don’t know who to score this one as anything other than a tie. How about you?

You can read more of Jon’s funny stuff or even buy his book by clicking here.

Is God a Mac or a PC?

What evidence would you offer to support or deny either decision?

Five countries with the most visits:
1. United States
2. Canada
3. United Kingdom
4. Australia
5. Germany

Five states with the most visits:
1. Pennsylvania
2. California
3. Illinois
4. New York
5. New Jersey
(Hey mom! Why isn’t Florida on this list!)

Top five web traffic sources (other than direct):
1. Goolge
2. Christ’s Church of the Valley
3. Facebook
4. Twitter
5. Kem Meyer

Just in case you might have missed one, here are the ten most popular posts for 2009:
1. Ten Reasons Your Church Should Be On Facebook
2. Kem Meyer – How Should You Streamline Church Announcements?
3. Five Tips For Great Ice Breakers In Small Groups
4. When God Speaks To You
5. Five Reasons Pastors Should Use Twitter
6. Guilty Prayers
7. A Church That Burns Bibles
8. Five Tips For A Great Church Website
9. Merging Social Media And Ministry
10. Are You Ready For This

Hopefully you found something of value visiting here this past year.  I’m looking forward to another fun year of sharing, writing, and connecting in 2010!

So, you don’t want to blog and put all the effort into maintaining a website… you don’t have to!  You can keep things really simple and still maintain a web presence to create a vehicle for people to stay in touch with you.  John Saddington recently helped someone develop a wordpress theme that basically acts as a digital business card.  Simple, clean, easy to set up, and no maintenance.  The best part is you can link it to all of your social media tools so people can simply click through and link up with you in the places you hang out on the web. 

Click here to check out more and download this cool wordpress theme from John.

If you are in ministry and considering using social media as a tool, here are some things to keep in mind:

1. Size is not a barrier for churches to use social media.  A church of 100 can use it just as effectively as a church of 1000.
2. When you engage in a social media environment like a blog, facebook, myspace, or twitter you lose some control over the message.  People have the ability to have conversations with others about your content.  They can link to it, interact with it, and write about it more easily than ever before because the web is so easy to use.  Your church is no longer what you say it is, it is what they say it is!
3. Upside – people are sharing information about your church!
4. Downside – negative comments can travel farther and faster than ever so the first impressions we make as a church are so much more important.

We need to empower our staff and our churches to engage in social media responsibly.  The more engaging our team is, the more content there is about our church and our message to the world as Christians.  The more engaging content there is, the more conversation there is.  However, it is so important to remember that whatever digital environment we choose to use to interact with others, we still represent our church, and Christ.  So we need to use it responsibly. 

Here are some good rules to follow (some of these rules I modified from a webinar with Sergio Balegno):

1 – Be authentic but careful

• - Inform people why your are there, let them know what you do.
• - Be honest and authentic.
• - Don’t post things online that violate the trust others have in you. 

2 – Write about things you actually know about

• - Post things that you are an expert on.
• - Be responsible for your content, if you post something inaccurate take the initiative to correct it quickly.

3 – Add value to the conversation online

• - Be thought provoking.
• - Engage others online as a leader.
• - Engage others through commenting and openly invite others to comment and join the conversation. Sometimes people in ministry can be used to “one way” conversation (since we preach and teach) so we need to remember that a social media environment is a two way conversation.
• - When using social media remember to embrace it as a student, willing to learn. The whole point is to be viewed by others as an engaging contributor to the online community.

If you have some other things you think we should consider as our churches engage others in social media, comment below…

1. Kids’ Camp Galaxy Highlight Video
2. When God Speaks
3. Stretch Out Loud – Night 2 Video
4. It Came From Within
5. What Is Your Favorite Blackberry App

Our Senior Pastor has relaunched his website with some great new features:

• Online video of Sunday sermons
• Download the first chapter of his books
• Pod-casts of Sunday sermons
• Audio from his radio broadcast (coming in September of 2009)

Check it out here – http://www.brianjones.com

Post 1: Social Networking Consumption

Post 2: Social Networking For Organizations

Post 3: Social Media for Individuals

Post 4: Future of Social Networking

What forms of social media do you use and what are your favorites?

Our church seems motivated most to attend events and activities when things are announced from the platform. When there’s no major push from the pulpit, using other forms of communication, how does one get the congregation excited and eager to participate in other things that are happening in the church?

Here is Kem’s Answer:

If people are responsive only to the events and activities announced from the platform it’s typically because it’s too hard to find out about the other events and opportunities that aren’t announced from the platform. Normal people always take the path of least resistance and if they have to work too hard to find something, they’ll just take what’s on top (like the platform announcements). The problem with the platform announcements being the only place to find out about individual growth and serving opportunities is that it limits church growth and community impact. My guess is that you “get this” and it’s why you asked this question in the first place. You’re a smart man, Frank. Smart man. [That's right, Kem thinks I'm a smart man! ]

Here are a few tips to help raise awareness and energy for the things happening all around the life of the church without being solely dependent on the platform announcement.

• Use the platform to reinforce and promote core values and macro steps from the platform, not individual events or teams. Practically, it might look like this:

• Then, reinforce everywhere (from the platform, the bulletin, pre-service slides, etc.) the one place to go to find everything. For us, it’s our web site. It’s the one place where information is always up to date and everyone has access to it-staff, volunteer, attendee, secret shopper, the information counter-they all have access to the web site. For you, the one place might not be the web. Whatever you choose, stick with that one place and drive everyone back to it. When you talk about volunteering, joining a group, etc., that one place lists all the individual opportunities, dates, times, directions, registration, etc.

• Of course, there are always special events that warrant specific priority attention from the platform. Usually this makes sense for big deal events that affect the entire church like Baptism, Membership Classes, unique opportunities that directly apply to the topic you’re discussing in the sermon (i.e., Financial Freedom class when the message is about money.) But, even when you talk about specific events, remember to keep driving people back to that one place to find out the rest of the story.

 There are so many benefits to this approach.

• People in your church (on both sides of the message) are satisfied with a rewarding experience. They know where to easily find information when they want it.
• People in your church take ownership of the invite and spread the word about different opportunities on their own when you empower them with direct access to the information. You eliminate the middle man and give them the tools to share it on their own.
• You eliminate redundancy and extra work when you put everything in one place.

The most important benefit of all is this. You are able to diffuse the spirit of competition with ministry leaders jockeying for pole position on the platform. You’re reinforcing the message we are “one church” where ministry happens not a bunch of individual ministries housed in the church.

Also, for those of you that commented to win the book, Thanks for commenting!  Dano, congrats on the win.  I will be in contact with you via email to get you the book.

That is why I like this new website I found on the web called Regenerate Culture. It’s creator Ryan Zemple says,