Devotional Reflections

Addicted to Novelty

~ Mike Schwiebert ~ 1 Comment

We’ve all seen them – lives destroyed by addiction. Promising young people burnt out like matchsticks. Ensnared loved ones exchanging their families for another fix.
It’s a harsh reality and not something I mention flippantly. It’s grievous, in the full weight of the word.

Yet that’s the image in my mind as I ponder a growing dependency in our ministries: addiction to novelty. Addiction is a monster. Just to be clear, addiction is defined as becoming physically and mentally dependent on something so that you cannot stop without incurring adverse effects. And that is our present condition in many churches: if we don’t keep juicing up, cranking up the experiences, we could lose everything we’ve worked so hard to build. What a shame where true (on many levels).

Keep thinking! Continue reading…

A Breath of Fresh Air

~ Mike Schwiebert ~ 4 Comments

I love to talk about new expressions of the church for our changing world, and I realize I am joining a chorus that has been sung for a long time.  In 2004, the Archbishops of Canterbury and York along with the Methodist council founded the Fresh Expressions Organisation. I found some inspiring material and quality thinking over at their website: Fresh Expressions. To me it was incredibly encouraging.

Many existing churches operate with a ‘you come to us’ mindset. ‘Would you like to join us?’ is an invitation to come to ‘our’ church, set out as we like, at a time that fits us, in a style that we have pre-arranged. The flow is from outside-in: from the world into the congregation.

Fresh expressions have a ‘we’ll come to you’ mindset instead. They start not with an invitation (‘Come to us on our terms’), but with an offer (‘We’re willing to come to you, serve you and stay with you. If you want, we’ll also help you to be church in a way that suits you – in your style, not ours’). The aim is not to provide a stepping stone into existing church, but to form new churches in their own right. The flow is from the congregation to people outside – not inward, but outward.

Fresh expressions is a new mindset, not a new model of church to be copied. It is a mindset that starts not with church, but with people who don’t belong to church.

…

Fresh expressions are:

  • missional – serving people outside church;
  • contextual – listening to people and entering their culture;
  • educational – making discipleship a priority;
  • ecclesial – forming church.

from the article: What is a Fresh Expression Church?

What a great summary in those four small bullets! All I can add is wow and yes please.

Keep thinking! Continue reading…

2013 Year in Review

~ Mike Schwiebert ~ Leave a comment

I started Technically Thinking on January 1, 2013. I enjoy writing to help me work through my own thoughts and getting feedback from others is a great plus. I am grateful for everyone who has taken the time to read (and even post comments) about these important topics. I am grateful to have you along for the ride in this process of technically thinking. Thank you.

Here’s my year in review.

Top 5 Posts By Views

Video Directing 101: Camera Placement – This post included practical tips and examples for placing a camera on a riser and in a room. Sections include: Using a Camera Riser, Camera Placement for Broadcast, Camera Placement for IMAG.

Why Am I so Angry? – My answer to a lot of the criticism and diatribe I hear leveled against the church. Is the Church flawed? Of course. That’s why we are commanded to love and forgive. (Because we are in fellowship with people who aren’t deserving of love or forgiveness. Just like us.) Christian cynics love to “tell it like it is” although they are not very receptive to a dose of their own medicine. This post received more than twice the views as my follow up: Why Am I so Angry: The Coffee Shop Conversation . Which just goes to show you – say it right the first time!

Video Directing 101: The Establishing Shot – This post launched my Video Directing series. I contend that the purpose of the establishing shot is to provide context for your viewers.
Sections include: What is an Establishing Shot?, Why do I need it?, An Example

A Theology Of Pipe Smoking – My first post on Technically Thinking and something I actually wrote before starting this blog. Not sure if it actually fits into my chosen genre. Apparently, I’m not the only one wanting to link pipe smoking and theology.

Book Review: The Forgotten Ways by Alan Hirsch – I enjoyed this book immensely since it challenged my thinking. Trying to come to terms with the issues it raises and the implications for ministry led me to write the post. These ideas are worth exploring and digging into.

Top 5 Ideas About the Church

Although I work in the Technical Arts, I have a strong passion for seeing the church live up to her scriptural commission. To that end, I often think about the way we do church. That’s what this next group explores.

Why I Kissed Excellence Goodbye – I hear a lot of talk about excellence when it comes to Technical Arts. I’m pushing back. And I think I’ve come up with something that’s better than excellence.

Should I Stay or Should I Go? – A fellow tech asked, “Should I even be here?” This was my answer. Seasons change. I offer some guidelines on helping make the important decision of staying with a church or pursuing something new.

Lab or Factory or Church – A post by Seth Godin started this thinking about the environments that our church leaders are creating. Are they rigid or flexible? Do they allow for failure as we innovate? Are we more synonymous with assembly line workers or lab technicians?

The Anti-Artist – When it comes to art, some people just don’t get it. Then there are others who are actively hostile toward creativity and artists in the church. Let’s just say, I’m not pleased.

Think Free – I examine some trends in education and the implications they could have for the church as we strive to fulfill our number one calling: Go and make disciples. There is a better way to do the work of the church than just feed the organizational monster. One of the keys is to release the power of self-organization.

A Few Personal Favorites

A Tale of Two Sacrifices – I heard an excellent sermon by Dr. Chris Green that I, of course, applied to the way we do church. Comparing Abraham’s decisions in sacrificing Ishmael and Isaac teaches us about following God.
Favorite line: The promise cannot properly develop as long as our strategized substitute is in the way.

Book Review: Untitled by Blaine Hogan – When it comes to our art and creative projects, Blaine exposes what we already know to be true, we can do better, but he also has us believing that we can be better. That is the gift of this manifesto. I really enjoyed this book. I didn’t realize, until Blaine unmasked my compromises, how much I needed to be freshly challenged to recommit my whole self to my projects and not be satisfied with less than my best.

No. No. NO! A Ministry Recruitment Video – Coming up with a recruitment video can be drudgery. Especially if the pastor of that area wants testimonies in front of a black curtain. Ugh! I would like to do better than that. I think we came up with a winner here for the Children’s ministry. After the promo, I added some script suggestions and pointers to aid in the creation of your own promos.
Favorite lines: “She is weeping. She is lonely. She is holding a kitten … it’s beginning to rain. She needs you! Don’t you care? Where are you?”

There’s my lists. Thanks again for helping to make 2013 a great year.

On Creating Space

~ Mike Schwiebert ~ 2 Comments
Rocky Face Mountain Recreation Area
Hiddenite, NC

What do you do to unplug?
How do you stay connected with yourself and your Creator?

One of the greatest, simple pleasures of my life is walking.

If I am not walking, then I am not writing, because I have not completed my thought process.

And even though I enjoy getting out into the wild, for me, creating breathing room is much more about finding inside space than outside space. I walk until I am still. I walk until I can rest. I walk until I find myself in His presence. I am at home in wood or neighborhood and am often found walking in either place.

My hope is to whet your appetite with some personal photos accompanied by some of my favorite excerpts from Thoreau’s Walking. Make the time – create the room – to work on your inside space and find rest in God’s presence.

Unplug from the gadgets and busyness and reconnect with Life.

Keep thinking! Continue reading …

Think Free

~ Mike Schwiebert ~ 3 Comments

ClassroomIt may seem outside my purview on a site dedicated to Technically Thinking that I would post an article exploring education. But this is a blog about thinking, so I believe I can squeeze it in.

Without even realizing it, the church has copied the world’s system when it comes to how we do what we do and how we think about it. We organize and structure ourselves like businesses organize. We educate disciples like the public school system educates factory workers. I say it is past time to break free from these molds and myths and think free. Let me explain.

Recently I read a fantastic article on kottke.org titled, “Yeah, I’m Free Thinking.”
Kottke.org is an eclectic collection of links to articles and videos and all things internet; anything Jason Kottke finds interesting. This particular article is about education.

Education is undergoing a global, seismic shift. Indeed, I would contend that all the 7 major spheres of society (or 7 cultural mountains) are undergoing a similar ground-shaking transformation. On a global scale.

Keep thinking! Continue reading.