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When Things Get Crazy on Social Media: Responding Biblically to Firestorms
Over the weekend, a firestorm erupted over some viral videos of some high school students allegedly harassing a Native American veteran who was chanting and banging a drum. In a frenzy of name calling, people quickly ascribed disrespect, racism, and hatred to the students. The veteran made statements about the event that were also shared virally. Some media figures and a lot of Twitter users blew up the internet, condemning the students for their interpretation of what they saw. But then, more and longer videos showing the true picture of what happened became available online, and the student at the center of the original viral video released an articulate statement…
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The Tyranny of the Expected Response… What lies beneath?
A farmer sits on his front porch. Just inside the screen door the phone rings. And rings. His neighbor asks, “Aren’t you going to get that?” The farmer spits and leans back, “I bought that phone for my convenience. And right now…it’s not convenient.” Not so long ago…if someone phoned you and you didn’t answer…they just called you back. Then, If someone emailed you…you responded within a day or two. All was well. Then came instant messenger and Facebook messaging. We see you are logged in on Facebook so we kind of expect you to respond… Then came a river of tweets rushing by…I know you’re always checking…
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Are you OK without your Facebook, twitterfeed, instagram…? A report from the front.
True story. Last weekend a group of teens gathered in a nicer than average home in the American suburbs to celebrate the fifteenth birthday of a pretty, popular teenage girl. We’ll call her Miranda. Miranda, her mom and her grandma had knocked themselves out for days making tasty food, decorating the pool, deck and house, and devising a hilarious line-up of games and activities. They even had some movie choices to watch before they settled in for the sleepover. Confident she had everything to keep the girls enjoying themselves for the duration, Miranda’s mom greeted each girl at the door with a promise of great fun and a gentle reminder…
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A Heart of Thanksgiving
I love this time of year. I especially love how time turns as we head towards Christmastime. I have especially enjoyed reading the “…thankful for…” tweets and Facebook posts from my friends. Wordless pictures on Instagram simply thanking God for everything filled my days with smiles. God made such creative people! I didn’t do any social media things this year. I decided after last year’s Thanksgiving, to skip it this year. What you need to understand is that I fell into the trap of trying to find the most creative way of communicating my thankfulness for the wrong reason. I saw that I played the part of feeling thankful…
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3 Disturbing Gratitude Trends
It seems like everyone is doing the 30 day Gratitude Challenge. I am all for gratitude, but I am noticing a few trends that make me just a little bit uneasy. Trend #1: “Me-Centric” posts. They may go something like this: Day 1: I am thankful for my… Day 2: I love my… Day 3: I am so grateful to have a … Is it just me, or is this over-focus on “me-centeredness” just another symptom of our self-indulgent society? What if a post went something like this? Day 4: I am thankful for apologizing to a homeless man after I ignored his question and watching God work in both our…
