I Smite You From The Last Pew

I found this rather humorous photo via www.passiveaggressivenotes.com.

Blog Hopping (And My 100th Post!)

My inspiration to become a blogger started with Evan McBroom back in March 2009. I met with the church marketing entrepreneur at an Indianapolis Panera to learn about his career path.

I expected to do all the listening, but within the first five minutes I was the one put on the spot. He asked me point-blank: "So, what's your blog about?" Oops. I didn't have an answer. It was enough to get my hands to the keyboard and start whipping up an idea for one. Thanks for the inspiration, Evan! And here's what happened next:

Digital Disciple has been my primary blog to explore faith, media and ethics through the Meg Biallas lens. It started with coverage of first-ever conference: the Religion Communicators Council in March 2009. Since then, I've written about observations in technology, the future of journalism, musings on faith, and more. Thanks for reading it, too, because this is my 100th post for Digital Disciple!

I started Capital Comment in August 2009 to keep a running commentary of my adventures as a D.C. intern last fall. But all good internships must come to an end. I never believed I'd be able to resurrect the blog, but I have - and with good reason: I moved right back to D.C. for a job! I'm still working out some of the fancy kinks of Wordpress, but its been a great learning process for me.

My supervisors at National Public Radio let me blog for NPR's All Tech Considered, which covers technology and culture. I explained Facebook policy changes, wrote about iPhones that control smart homes, and even ticked off Google when I questioned if Google's free holiday airport wi-fi was truly "free."

Then in December, I met Gen-Y career blogger Heather Huhman on Twitter. She had just started a blog called the Classroom To Cubicle Project, driven by recent graduates and pending grads. That a fabulous experience - I read job hunting advice from my peers all over the U.S., and contributed what I'd learned in my search as well.

In my final semester at Butler University, I wrote a guest post for the admissions web portal. It was fun to take what I learned about social media from the NPR Social Media Desk and give tips to incoming college students.

And now? I'm a weekly blogger for The Bluevine Collective, a multi-author blog project funded by the United Methodist Church. It's run by two awesome church guys from Indianapolis - Pastor Stan Abell and Media Ministry Dude Matt Peyton. The project is experimental -- we hope to evolve into a place of spiritual growth and even a mode of worship. My most recent post sparked a series of comments about ...well, you'll just have to read it. We also take submissions - poems, commentary, musings - all of it!

Thanks for sharing the blogging journey with me!

My Missionary

One of my missionary friends, Helena, arrived in the Dominican Republic just minutes ago. I wrote about her last summer as she embarked one of several short-term mission trips. Even though it's not summer, and she's in the middle of pharmacy classes, she still decided to do some traveling!

She'll spend the week in "the D.R." acting as a pharmacist for a variety of clinics. She'll likely treat several patients who experienced the Haiti earthquake as well. A few weeks later, she'll be working in Nicaragua!

Keep her in your prayers this week as she takes on the responsibility of a healthcare professional and that she may be a light in the darkness.

Church Facades, In Pictures

The above photo appears to be a Werth's department store. But in fact, it is a church. (There is a small, white sign that indicates it is the First Baptist Church of Hammond - in Indiana.)

Photographer Camilo Jose Vergara captured church facades - like the one above - in a recently published essay ("How the Other Half Worships") and exhibit at the National Building Museum in Washington, D.C.

Many of the photos on display featured run-down churches in city settings. But I took my time through the exhibit to read the captions. If you read carefully enough, you'd find fun nuggets of humor, like this quote about a Kentucky - Fried - Chicken - turned - Hispanic - Pentecostal - church.

Church pastor Hector Rodriguez said, "When it was selling fried chicken, it went bankrupt. Now that we praise God, it is more popular."

Some observations about the collection of photos:

• Many churches boarded up doors and windows when not occupied.

• The names of churches took on phrases and sentences, such as the America Come Back to God Evangelistic Church. But Publishers Weekly praised photographer Vergara (literally) on his storytelling method, saying: "Rather than holding forth about [the churches'] unusual names, he lets the clergy explain the origins and import of these names."

• Painted murals of Jesus are colorful and common

• At Traveler's Rest Missionary Baptist (on Racine Ave. in Chicago) hangs a neon sign about the altar: "Jesus Never Fails." How about that for a blunt message?

The photographer is a Chilean-born photo essayist, writer and documentarian who lives in New York City.

The church I've been attending has its own unique story.

Ebenezer's Coffeehouse used to be a crack house just east of Union Station. It was renovated several years back and is now a full-service coffee shop (free Wi-Fi, too!). Church offices are upstairs, and weekend services are held in the basement, which has an edgy-urban warehouse look to it.

How's that for an interesting facade?

LinkedIn [To The Church]

When I came to college I didn’t think I’d be going to church every Sunday. But when all that changed, I found out one thing: It’s hard to stay put at church when you're a college kid.

You've got holiday breaks, weekend trips, and the potential semester abroad. Summers are spent at home, traveling or completing an internship. This makes connecting to a church kind of like visiting long-distance relatives. You know there’s a familial connection, but it can be spotty at best.

I’ve made it a point to stay in a bible study at school, stay plugged in with campus ministries, and keep a group of friends who are supportive. But what about the local body of Christ? There's something to be said for mixing with people of all ages - hearing their stories - and working side-by-side on service projects.

Sunday's message at Harvest Bible Chapel hit just that topic. The current series is "United We Stand."

One song from Casting Crowns (and 1 Cor. 12:12-26) echoes my desire for a fuller church experience.

If we are the Body

Why aren't His arms reaching?

Why aren't His hands healing?

Why aren't His words teaching?

Within the context of a church, people have the power to do things. To build strong relationships. And church is not just about bricks and mortar, either.

My friends at the United Methodist Church launched the "What If" campaign this year that demonstrates how church is a verb - not just a noun.

So even if you are socially networked in cyberspace, are you physically "LinkedIn" at church?

Where's the "Panic" Button?!?!?

(This post was written about a week ago, but due to a crazy week, publication has been delayed!)

I've said it before and I'll say it again. Events in my life tend to be thematic. 

Today, in three different mediums, I felt like God was telling me, "Stop worrying. I have better things for you to do." God really knows how to use our human methods of communications to communicate with us!

• Church. Well that's an obvious 'God-Channel.' Pastor Jeff said that all the worrying we do cuts us short of  - stop being scared and running away. psalm 51:17

• Pandora.com. This is a pretty great invention. I typed in 'Michelle Branch' as a music station, and it popped up with Jason Mraz's 'The Remedy (I won't worry my life away).' Pretty ironic? God doesn't want me wasting my energy on the trivial or inevitable.

• Cory Matthews from the '90s sitcom  "Boy meets World" - In the episode "Risky Business" Cory discovers the thrill of betting on horses, and in doing so risks losing his little sister whom he promised to babysit. 

Do I think God uses these ways to communicate with us? Sure. He's always trying to tell us something, but he's obviously not going to come over a loudspeaker and spell it all out for us. 

Hooked In

God really knows how to network.

On Friday I met with Evan McBroom, who started Fishhook, an Indianapolis-based marketing/communications company that serves churches and Christian businesses.

I met him through my internship at the United Methodist Communications office. I think it was his business card that struck me most.  A sharp-edged fishing hook that seemed to jump off the card. The company's motto, "to be fishers of men" is a key aspect of their business. They help churches communicate their message from a Christ-like perspective.  

Evan and I had a great conversation about what God calls us to do. For Evan, it was to drop his nets (Matthew 4:19) and trust that God would provide. He quit his job in Corporate America and followed God's plans.

For me, I believe God is calling me to using my communication skills to be an effective leader in a faith-based setting. I don't what that looks like, but I continue to pray that God will put me where I best serve Him. 

I am thankful that God has placed people in my life to help me discern my calling.