{"id":6457,"date":"2015-11-12T16:04:47","date_gmt":"2015-11-13T00:04:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dminlgp\/?p=6457"},"modified":"2015-11-12T16:04:47","modified_gmt":"2015-11-13T00:04:47","slug":"do-you-remember","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/do-you-remember\/","title":{"rendered":"Do You Remember?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Beta\"<\/a>INTRODUCTION<\/u><\/p>\n

I am forgetful. That is no news to those who know me. Yet, there are some events that I clearly remember. I remember the first day we bought a BETA player. We could watch movies at home! (Yes\u2014we had to eventually replace it with a VHS player). I remember the first day we installed a phone at home. We could call a person just by dialing the number (literally). We could call from home without coins and without time limit! I remember the first time I bought a CD. I could not believe that I could fast-forward in a matter of seconds and did not have to turn the disc to side B! Fifteen songs in one flat disc! I remember the first time we got Internet at home. We could access the newspaper online, and it only took a minute to download! I remember the first time I sent an email. Would it really take only seconds to get across the ocean? Do I need to pay by each email?\u2014I wondered.<\/p>\n

SUMMARY<\/u>\"Palm<\/a><\/p>\n

I could continue telling you about the first time I got a palm pilot, DSL Internet, HD TV, an iPhone, a laptop, or Netflix. I can even tell you exactly where I was when I watched the horrifying news on September 11, 2001.\u00a0\u00a0 The truth is that my life experiences have been shaped by the evolution of the media technologies. In the book, A Social History of the Media<\/em>, Asa Briggs and Peter Burke take me into a journey that goes far beyond my forty-two years of life (yes, I am that<\/em> young<\/em>). They show me how the media has evolved from Gutenberg in 1450 to the present, describing in a matter-of-fact tone the complex dance between the creative innovations in media communications and its influence in global society.<\/p>\n

REFLECTION<\/u><\/p>\n

People respond differently to the reality described by Briggs and Burke. Some people in Christian circles may look at these inventions as intrusive and evil. Others welcome these innovations with excitement and without much reflection.\u00a0\u00a0 How do I respond as a Christian leader? As I reflect on my reading and its implications in my life and ministry I can identify three principles that I must embrace if I am to lead effectively.<\/p>\n

First, I must embrace the communication technologies with a critical mind<\/em>. Media is a means\u2014a tool that can be used for good or for evil. The Internet and cellphones have opened new possibilities for improving lives beyond what we could have \"Twinsters\"<\/a><\/em>ever imagined before. A good example is captured in the documentary, Twinsters<\/em>, the story of identical twins who accidentally learned about each other\u2019s existence through YouTube\u2014even though they lived in two separate continents and knew no one in common (watch it if you can, it is on Netflix). Yet, it is also true that these technologies have opened new doors for evil into our lives. Students now have to deal with sex-ting, cyber-bullying, and Internet pornography. Professors have to deal with a whole new level of plagiarism, while the FBI faces new threats as ISIS uses social media outlets to mobilize sympathizers in terrorist attacks. As a father and as a pastor I must teach families to use these technologies with the right balance, encouraging them to use discernment in order to avoid being either na\u00efve or legalistic. As a father, I must follow the example of King Solomon, who taught his sons to avoid sexual immorality by warning them about the tactics of the adulterous woman as well as the fatal outcome of falling into her trap. It is true that I may not be able to completely protect people from the evil potential of the media, but I can help them develop a discerning mind, so they may avoid falling into its trap.<\/p>\n

\"Floppy<\/a><\/em>Secondly, as I lead Ethnos Bible Church I must learn how to take advantage<\/em> of the communication technologies to further God\u2019s interests in the world.\u00a0\u00a0 In this aspect, I must learn from the English engineer Tim Berners-Lee, who envisioned the World Wide Web in 1989. He sought to open the Internet to more people, as a \u201cmeans of widening user opportunity.\u201d (265).\u00a0\u00a0 I will not be a good leader if I only focus on setting boundaries to limit the negative potential of the media. Rather, I must also learn to think creatively<\/em> and seek innovation<\/em> by discerning the good potential of the media. I must continue to ask the questions we have been asking with my church leaders for the past years, \u201cHow can we influence more people? And how can we influence more people to influence more people?\u201d Answering these questions demands a constant creative interaction with the media forces that shape the way people communicate.<\/p>\n

Finally, in order to lead effectively, I must understand that communication technologies are co<\/em>nstantly<\/em> evolving<\/em>, therefore I must have a flexible attitude that is constantly adapting to the changing nature of the media.\u00a0\u00a0 I have learned this unexpected lesson from a recent experience, and reading Briggs and Burke brought this lesson to mind. Last year, when we started developing our church website, we were designing it from the perspective of surfing the Internet from a desktop computer. Yet, just in the past year a new shift has taken place\u2014now the primary access to the Internet is through cellphones and mobile devices. Thus, our website team had to re-think some of the very designs we spent so much time creating.\u00a0\u00a0 Flexibility may imply that we have to invest more money or time than originally envisioned, or that we may have to throw away an idea that we had initially loved. Consequently, this flexibility in leadership can only be built on humility\u2014accepting the fact that we cannot always foresee the changes that will soon take place.<\/p>\n

\"Phone\"<\/a><\/u>If I want to serve as an effective leader\u2014as one who influences people in order to pursue God\u2019s interests in the world\u2014I must understand the nature and power of the media. I must engage with it critically<\/em>, innovatively<\/em>, and with flexibility<\/em>. Even though the core message that I proclaim as God\u2019s servant may not change, the means of communicating it will. Because, after all, as Marshall McLuhan said, \u201cthe medium is the message.\u201d (10) You can call me forgetful, but this is one more thing I hope to never forget.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

INTRODUCTION I am forgetful. That is no news to those who know me. Yet, there are some events that I clearly remember. I remember the first day we bought a BETA player. We could watch movies at home! (Yes\u2014we had to eventually replace it with a VHS player). I remember the first day we installed […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":71,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[389,689,688,702],"class_list":["post-6457","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-briggs","tag-ethnos-bible-church","tag-pablo-morales","tag-pastor-pablo-morales","cohort-lgp6"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6457","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/71"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6457"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6457\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6468,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6457\/revisions\/6468"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6457"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6457"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6457"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}