Prayer Help

A vital discipline for the Christian life is prayer. Some people have natural, thriving prayer lives. I’m not one of them. It’s work for me. Sometimes I work hard at it; other times I’m pretty lame. But our senior pastor gave a message two Sundays ago that had some helpful tools for prayer highlighted. Check it out here. Click the media tab. It’s the 2/14 message.

A great element (that we should really put online) was the videos of some people sharing some practical tips for prayer. One shared an iPhone app, another shared their journaling technique (I use something similar), but the one that I’ve hooked on to from the message is Echo Prayer. It is a service where you type in your requests and you’re sent reminders – whenever you schedule them – via text, email, or both.

I figured the site out by myself and it has been a helpful reminder, and challenge, to pray more regularly for those requests that I asked to be reminded of. If I can figure it out, anyone can.

Check it out: www.echoprayer.com

Twitter, Guy Kawasaki, and Horoscopes

I’m on Twitter now. Not sure what to think of it, but there’s one thing I know. Guy Kawasaki is all over the internet finding interesting and odd tidbits. Here’s his link (via Twitter) on why you shouldn’t believe your horoscope (http://www.dumblittleman.com/2009/03/why-you-should-ignore-your-horoscope.html). I’m new to the game, but this guy is a Twitter machine. Non-stop! The verdict’s out on whether or not I’m going to be much of a tweeter, but following Guy Kawasaki makes it worth keeping my account.

A Facebook Link

I put a post up about the tension I feel regarding facebook and in the comments, Lee put a link. It was really good. The author has given it far more thought than I have so I thought I’d post the link so you can get a more comprehensive discussion of the opportunities and perils of facebook.

Enjoy: http://www.buzzardblog.com/buzzard_blog/2008/11/thinking-biblic.html

Facebook, Relationships, & Eugene Peterson

I just finished Christ Plays in Ten Thousand Places by Eugene Peterson. A few weeks ago I linked a Scot McKnight article on Peterson’s new book. He mentioned how difficult it is to review Peterson because he’s more conversational than developing a thesis in a systematic manner. I can’t say I disagree, though I’ve never really thought about it (that’s why I blog … so I pay better attention to what I read!).

Anyway, the next few posts will be different highlights from Christ Plays that I found helpful or thought-provoking. Nothing systematic. This one’s from the epilogue and talks about the danger of technology making us less human, less relational. Peterson describing the teaching of a philosopher friend:

“We have permitted a technology-saturated way of life to disengage us from what is essential to our humanity, whether in relation to things or people. As a result we live at secondhand: relationships atrophy, enjoyment diminishes, life thins out. Borgman places the ‘culture of the table’ – the preparing and serving and cleaning up after meals – at the center of the well-lived life. …Used without discrimination, technology discarnates our lives, the polar opposite of what takes place in Jesus in his incarnation, the em-body-ment of God among us. We can’t live a life more like Jesus by embracing a way of life less like Jesus” (p. 336).

I’ve been wondering about this for a while since Facebook has become a moderate addiction for me. For starters, I’ve thoroughly enjoyed it. My mom, too. She actually gets to see pictures because I upload them to Facebook – where I would never email them to her. Go figure. I can stay connected in fun, simple ways with friends that I see all the time. And my favorite part right now is that I’m finding out what God is doing in the lives of high school friends. People who weren’t even believers are now going to be missionaries in Muslim nations. Crazy. I love it!

But I wonder, and this may only be my introversion speaking, but is it possible to keep alive too many relationships? Not that we should have a relationship “cap,” but are we built for a certain amount of relationships prescribed by the amount of time we have to attend to those relationships? Family and best friends (regardless of location) aside, do Facebook (or other) relationships take away from those relationships I should be “present” with here in SoCal right now?

I honestly don’t know. I know I enjoy Facebook. I don’t think it is adversely affecting my “present” relationships, though it may be. I suppose I need to give it more thought. Any thoughts on Facebook or technology in general?