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I’m back blogging , but I’ve got a new home. For my latest posts on media, publishing, and spirituality, please visit http://blogs.navpress.com/michaeldmiller/My-Blog. I look forward to connecting with you there.
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If you are a regular reader of my blog then you know that I’ve been talking about social networks and our connections with people around the globe through the Internet for many months. Behind the scenes NavPress has been working on the Pray! Network which has now moved from a beta stage to a public social network. We already have over 1,500 members that have joined the conversation around prayer.
The Pray! Network is a place where people who are passionate about prayer can connect, communicate, learn from one another, and grow. Members will be able to find other people who pray about the same things they do, have the same questions they do, enjoy the same kinds of prayer activities and venues, read the same books, and more. The possibilities to learn from one another and make new friendships and ministry connections are boundless.
You’re going to see our members already interacting with each other, sharing ideas, insights, resources, information about events, chatting, making new friendships, and encouraging one another to deepen their relationships with God through prayer.
I would encourage you to take a second to join and take a peek at what’s happening. This is totally new territory for NavPress but we’re thrilled to connect with people worldwide and create conversations around prayer! Drop me a comment and let me know what you think!
The Navigators‘ calling reads, “to advance the gospel of Jesus Christ and His Kingdom into the nations through spiritual generations of laborers living and discipling among the lost.” Did you notice the phrase “spiritual generations of laborers“? As I think about that phrase Paul’s challenge comes to mind: “Pass on what you heard from me . . . to reliable leaders who are competent to teach others” (2 Timothy 2:2 MSG).
One of the responsibilities every believer has is to pass along what he or she has learned to other followers of Christ. Christianity is all about spiritual generations–one generation passing on to the next what they have learned and experienced from following Christ.
The goal is that as we have learned the truths of God’s Word, we can share those insights with others who then can also pass them along to the next generation.
So how are you doing? Do you have some people that you are passing along your spiritual insights? It is all about the NEXT spiritual generation.
As a publisher I have been facing a growing reality about the future. As a Baby Boomer, I have and will live the rest of my life in a text-driven world. “Reading is fundamental” is a phrase I have heard all my life. But as I observe the next generation’s behavior, I am stunned by the power of images and their impact on their learning processes. The evidence is growing that the next generation starts with an image and then moves to reading text.
Consider this: Children and young adults are bombarded with an overwhelming number of images everyday, and technology supports this image-dominant reality. We can connect to images from our mobile phones, TVs, computers.The power of image is a reality. A picture is now worth more than a thousand words.
Here is an example of the power of images: NavPress is excited about these innovative image-based resources. There will be more to come–hope you will stay tuned.
How would you rate yourself and your online activity? Is the pressure for a bigger, broader online interconnectivity causing anxiety and stress in your life? When you get that strange “friend” request from an absolute stranger, do you pause and wonder if this is really what you wanted from an online experience?
The things that some people will tweet in order to get a broader audience seem to stretch the real purpose for all of this online reality. For some, the allure of an online platform gives them the chance to tell us (me) more about them than I really want to know, from the food they are consuming to the exercise routine that consumes them. I currently am pausing and asking the question: Is it time for online obscurity?
I recently was drawn to these thoughts from a very thoughtful blog post from Clive Thompson. (It’s a great article–you should read it.) I remember a few years ago talking with a man who said that the average person in life will only have about 5 to 7 real friends. His thought was that in order to really have time with someone, you have to invest deeply in the relationship, and because of time constraints, you can only invest deeply in a few friends. So perhaps Facebook has become for many Acquaintance Book or Connection Book? Could it be that the larger our social network grow, the more it lessens our virtual connectivity?
I want my social networks to be about real conversation and connection. How about this: I want to talk with my digital friends, not talk at them!
Any thoughts? Am I the only one?
the road ahead 