Category: Creativity

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Creativity

How do you see the world?

As we move beyond the mid-point of this year, we anticipate what is to come early next year. If you haven’t heard yet, the Apple Vision Pro is set to hit the market in 2024. As the iPhone reoriented our lives in and after the year 2007, the Apple Vision Pro will revolutionize our lives even more. The way we view the world and even each other will never be the same.

Of course, the starting price of $3499 will be too high to begin with for most people to afford. However, as the years go by and the price drops at the same time the tech increases, you will see more and more people wearing these virtual reality devices that wrap around one’s head.

In reality, it will be the best of both worlds. The headset will combine virtual reality, augmented reality, and real-world reality all into one. It could totally change the way we compute. Rather than sit at a desk, you can strap this headset on and begin “spatial computing” anywhere. The device may not so much replace our phones as much as replace our monitors.

One will be able to “navigate simply by using their eyes, hands, and voice.” Going to the theaters will continue to be a thing of the past as you will be able to create your own theatre experience, wherever you are. The lens will be a “3D formed laminated glass” screen that acts as an optical camera for its camera and sensors to view the world.

There is a lens already out there, however, that we can view the world through that is even more dynamic and revolutionary. It too changes the way we see the world and each other. It allows us to see our life story through His story. If you haven’t guessed it yet, I’m talking about the Bible.

God’s Word is a light unto our path and lamp unto our feet. It tells us the way we should go and what we should do. We may not be able to spatially compute with the Bible but we can physically and intellectually compute what it is God wants us to do with our lives on this earth.

The Apple Vision Pro will allow people to connect in ways not imagined before. God’s Word does the same thing. Through his Word, we are able to connect with fellow believers across the world. It is through His Word that we can all feast and fellowship at the same table.

The Vision Pro “will seamlessly blend digital content with our physical space.” When you live out the Bible’s teachings, you’re bringing God’s light into a dark world. You’re flavoring it with something that is both needed and new.

Let’s put on our biblical headsets and go out and change the world!

Categories
Creativity

Taking a Byte out of Apple

Apple recently became the world’s first trillion-dollar company. Apple is a company which has designed products that have completely altered our world. There is the real world and there is the virtual world and the two worlds have increasingly become one. For instance, now at the click of a smart phone, you can order full-course meals sent to your house rather than taking a visit to the local grocery store to buy an assortment of items you will have to cook. We used to hear the phrase, “what is the world coming to?” I think we have a better clue.

Not all the change has been good. I recently had a dream where God’s hand was in a wrestling match with man’s hand to let go of his phone. It’s as if man will give God anything, but not his phone. When this happens, which would you say has become god to man? Some people don’t think God ever gets jealous or angry, but they obviously have not read the numerous scriptures that speak to God’s jealousy or the account of Jesus flipping over the tables in the temple and driving out the money changers with a whip (Matthew 21:12–17). God got in a wrestling match with Jacob and Jacob walked away with a dislocated hip (Genesis 32:22–32).

The iPhone hasn’t caught God off guard. It’s not like God didn’t see it coming. I don’t believe God is anti-phone either. But, all things must be put in their proper place. In the creation account, Adam sins by taking a bite out of the forbidden fruit. Now, many in our modern world immediately show this fruit to be an apple, however scripture does not specify. But, I do think it would be fair to say today that people are taking a byte out of Apple. Craig Detwiler quotes Craig Watkins by saying thanks to the iPhone, “we have evolved from a culture of instant gratification to one of constant gratification” and then expands,

“The iPhone is always on, always wired, always with us. It wakes us up, putting a song in our hearts. It delivers text messages and email from friends and family throughout the day. It accompanies us when we travel, offering directions and restaurant recommendations. It can almost feed us—or at least get food delivered to our door. We check in with it at night before we close our eyes. The iPhone orders our lives in comparable ways to praying the hours in ancient church. There is the constant temptation to relate to the iPhone rather than our world. It is a convenient filter for screening calls, keeping colleagues at a manageable distance. It provides a safe place to hide when we’re anxious in a crowd. We avoid awkward moments by fading into our phone. It prompts us to look down rather than up, to ask Siri for answers rather than our friends, our parents, or our God. The iPhone is our most valuable possession and our closest companion. It records our lives, broadcasts our photos and thoughts, and serves as our traveling studio and electronic megaphone. It lives up to its hype (iGods, p. 65).”

Rather than praying without ceasing (1 Thessalonians 5:17), are we on our phones without ceasing? If God asked you to unplug for a day, could you do it? I think God does ask us to unplug quite often, but I wonder if we hear him through all the notification alerts, bells, and whistles coming from our phone? Maybe God is calling you at times to enjoy life, walk outdoors, or visit loved ones without a phone in hand. Is it possible? In a world where the two worlds have become one, maybe not. But if you can still hear God’s voice, see God active in nature, and experience a world outside of your phone, it is! Many studies have been done and research has concluded that those who drop their phone for a day or two feel revitalized and refreshed. Though there is relief in unplugging for a day, I think the real difference comes with those who plug into God during that same time span. We used to call this Sabbath or a Sabbath day of rest.   

Give Steve Jobs his due credit. He created a phone and a computer that have become a religion unto themselves. Just be careful not to worship the creation over the Creator or you may be feeling a bit of tension. God disciplines those he loves (Hebrews 12:6). I’m just trying to spare you the trouble of having to walk away with a limp.

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Creativity

Coming Soon to a Church near you

In 2017, everything is overdone and overblown. News coverage and headlines for politics, sports, and even the weather is streaming 24/7. While we sleep, our smartphones collect the latest happenings around the world and place it on our screens for us to view as soon as we awake (remember when we woke up and the first thing we did was read the Bible, just saying).

However, I think we have lost something amidst all of our instantaneous news gratification. Whatever happened to waiting in anticipation or for that matter, waiting on God? I can remember the hype and excitement that would bubble up within me as I once awaited the date for special television events to arrive. News didn’t happen overnight. These “once-in-a-while” and “bigger-than-life” events were not broadcast every day on TV like they are now. No, I had to wait sometimes months for the special events to come, and when they finally did, I taped them. The special events often came with an announcer or commentator that made the program worth the watch!

A lot of the up and coming announcers on TV today have all the knowledge in the world. They know what they are talking about, speak well, and are politically correct. But all I hear is Blah. They are too plain or vanilla. Where’s the charisma, the originality, the following? Where’s the passion, the flavor, the energy? The old-school announcers made the special events we watched fun. There’s no flavor anymore. Like many in our world, the announcers of today have been cloned and mass produced in a cookie-cutter approach. There are no standouts. There is nothing particularly unique about them. This is because spokespeople for the media today are doing nothing more than what their bosses tell them to do so that their station’s biased worldview will be presented and so that certain groups won’t be offended. In other words, they’re not allowed to be themselves anymore. They are just a puppet on a string.  

It’s also sad commentary that “we the people” have to visit to other countries websites, etc. to get the true news about our own.  Everyone seems to have their own opinion on what is happening in the world and likes to share it on their social media accounts. Amidst all the subjectivity, we have lost the objective truth found in God’s Word. When everyone plays the game of life (and it’s not a game) by their own rules, someone is bound to get hurt.

Isn’t it great that we have the best news in the world called the gospel and it comes to us in the unfiltered and unadulterated form of the Bible. The Bible is true news and news that stands the test of time. Bible characters are real people depicted not through rose-colored glasses as perfect people, but rather as people who have glaring weaknesses. They, like us, have been body-slammed by life’s circumstances and need a Savior to lift them off the mat.

Over a year ago, I did some strategic planning for NGM in my context. I live in the deep South, and in the deep South, there are some old-school wrestling fans. The church facility I worship in is a metal building and has the same appearance as a nearby building where local wrestlers meet on the weekends to compete against each other. I received an idea from the Lord to plan an evangelistic event whereby my church would bring in an ex-wrestler to speak to the lost in a facility where they would feel right at home.

Thirty years ago, wrestling stars like Ric Flair, Hulk Hogan, the Macho Man, the Ultimate Warrior, Sting, and Lex Luger would wrestle their big matches on pay-per-view. Back then, pay-per-view events weren’t every week and thousands would order. Because of the high price, I would turn to my scrambled cable channel and do my best to hear any mumbled words I could and see any glitched pictures that might appear.

In three months (yes, you will have to wait), The Heights Church is bringing in former five-time WCW Champion Nikita Koloff, “The Russian Nightmare” to share his story about how the Champion of Life, Jesus Christ came to his rescue. If you happen to be anywhere in the local vicinity, feel free to come by and join us for this main event on Sunday, May 7 @ 11 AM.  I promise you there will be no dropkicks or elbow drops from the top rope.  

Categories
Art Creativity

Christian, Knock it off

christian-art

While attending a Christian college around the turn of the century, I would attend Baptist Student Union (BSU) every now and then. I and every other Christian on campus must have been witnessed to a thousand times and everyone was told these words, “you should come to BSU.” I must admit my school’s BSU could attract a crowd and had a praise team that produced quality sound. The praise team would sing a song at BSU and during chapel that was a favorite of many. The song was titled Celebration and was a knock-off of a post-disco song by Kool & the Gang, released in 1980. Not only was the song a knock-off but the song was also 20 years old.

What I have recounted above is a descriptive picture of the Christian sub-culture or what many have termed “the Christian bubble.” We Christians have everything – Christian t-shirts, Christian music, Christian schools, Christian toys, Christian yellow pages, Christian arts, Christian fiction, Christian movies, and the list goes on and on. I like what Alvin Reid says about the Christian subculture in his book As You Go: “You can spot something in the Christian subculture because it looks like something you would find elsewhere, costs more, and doesn’t work as well!”

Where did all the creativity and originality in Christianity go? Why does it seem Christian innovation and imagination has all but vanished? What do Elvis Pressley, Kurt Cobain, and Katy Perry all have in common? Besides being musical icons in their own generation, they all grew up in church. The church is known for stifling one’s talent, for not allowing one to express him or herself in the way God designed them. This has proven particularly true for teenagers, when identity development enters its peak stage during the course of one’s lifespan.

Do you remember the Middle Ages or the Renaissance and all the Christian art that was produced in that time? Hold up. Time-out. That Christian art was not considered a part of the Christian sub-culture. If people wanted a “Christian” picture or painting, people did not have to go to a Christian bookstore to purchase it. The “Christian” art of the of the Middle Ages or the Renaissance was considered a part of the culture. Where are all the expressions of Christianity in our culture? What impression are we making? We need “Christian” businessmen and women, soldiers and law enforcement, lawyers, teachers, artists, and politicians at work in society.  But we do not need them to work as an entire subset in and for themselves.

Fortunately, a movement has been gaining steam in Christian sub-cultures to break the box wide-open. Remember the Jesus Movement in the 1970’s? We need another movement to take place today where Christian talent and arts can flourish in society as culture and not as sub-culture. Toby Mac and LeCrae are two musical artists who have broken the bubble by topping not only Christian charts but the Billboard charts! That’s what the church needs to do! We need to get back to where we as Christians affect culture, not hide from it or become repulsive to it.

Matt Chandler, pastor of the Village Church in Dallas, TX, describes the gospel at work on the ground and the gospel at work in the air. The gospel on the ground refers to propositional truths about Jesus whereas the gospel in the air “connects human salvation to cosmic restoration.” Gabe Lyons in The Next Christians says there is a movement at work where Christians “want to be a force for restoration in a broken world” while Christians at the same time are still found proclaiming the gospel. Alvin Reid calls this being missional. Incarnating the gospel in its full form is the prescription for today’s ailing world and ailing Christian sub-culture.