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abc, American Baptist Churches, biennial, celebrate2011

My Social Media in Puerto Rico

Check out the blog this week as I will be live blogging at the American Baptist Churches Biennial in San Juan, Puerto Rico. For you Baptist folks, or observers, I’ll give all the live coverage of events, business meetings, votes, and festivities.

In addition, I’m giving an interactive lecture on social media entitled, “Sink or Swim: Treading the Sea of Social Media” on Saturday at the Pavilion Experiences during the Biennial. Three 50 minute repeating sessions 9 – 9:50, 10 – 10:50, 11 – 11:50 (morning) on June 25th at the Puerto Rico Convention Center. The immediate application will be how to better connect and integrate social media for you, your church, non-profit, or even business.

Make sure you stay tuned into On The Bema and follow me on twitter: @alanrud  Here is a little sneak peak of a social media tip we’ll talk about:

http://flash.locamoda.com/wiffiti.com/cloud/cataclysm.swf?id=66244&title=1

anthony weiner

5 Lessons Learned from Weinergate

I think we knew all the long that Rep. Anthony Weiner sent “that” (eww) picture through Twitter.  His ambiguously worded answers to direct questions regarding his involvement in sending lewd messages and pictures made us all suspicious. His behavior was bizarre, but we have seen Weiner lash out before. And, yes, the Weiner jokes have supplied talk show hosts with endless material for comedy.

This has been embarrassing for Weiner, his wife, and their families. It’s also embarrassing for us! Gosh! A congressman can’t control his urges and flirts with woman online with pictures of his body? Both Democratic and Republican parties have had naughty politicians, so we cannot say it’s about liberals or conservatives. It’s really about confronting our flaws.

Through this whole scandal we have learned some things about ourselves and our society:

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marriage

The Facebook & Marriage Problem

Is it permissible for a spouse to post pictures on Facebook that display flirting with shirtless men? What’s the big deal? It’s harmless, right?

That was a listener’s question on a local radio station which features email questions on relationships, marriage, or even popular culture. I tried to call in to this radio show and throw in my two cents: Ah, are you kidding? (lines were busy, thought I thought I’d post my response)

As a pastor, I often meet with couples in premarital counseling and martial counseling. Engaged couples often balk at the idea that their partner would never cheat on them. Married couples often seek counseling when things are at the worst point in their marriage. Sometimes, it’s too late. Other times, marriages can be repaired.

If you want to know why almost half of all marriages end in divorce in this country, look no further than the example of this listener’s Facebook question.

One of the radio hosts remarked, “What’s the big deal!?! It’s harmless.” Continue Reading…

Lent

Dude Lives Off Beer During Lent

For most of us, giving something up for Lent is tough.  Chocolate, sweets, or even Facebook are popular choices for the Lenten discipline. Some give up alcohol but one man is adding alcohol to Lent. Not only that, but he is only drinking beer for Lent!

CNN’s Belief Blog recently reported that J. Wilson, a 38 year-old author of the blog brewvana, gave up food and is only drinking beer (and water)   The practice was also observed by Bavarian monks  hundreds of years ago.

Wilson is  newspaper editor and beer enthusiast. His motto of his blog is, “An ideal condition of harmony, beer and joy.”  He proclaims himself a non-denominational Christian who avoids denominational labels. His decision to drink only beer was a seriously one and required a lot of preparation: Continue Reading…

Facebook

Giving up Facebook… for Lent?

Kristi Gustafson, social media strategist/staff writer for the Albany Times Union, recently asked me about a growing trend: giving up Facebook, Twitter, and other social media for Lent.  I was glad to hear that Kristi was very familiar with the practice of Lenten fasting in the 21st century.  Check out her article and my comments:

Chocolate, swearing, eating out. These are things Christians have given up for Lent for decades.

Now there’s something new to sacrifice.

Facebook.

The average Facebook user spends 4 hours and 35 minutes a month posting updates on their relationships, checking friends’ vacation photos and playing games like Farmville on the social networking site, according to a January report from Experian Hitwise, a New York City-based global research firm.

That’s more time than most of us spend doing anything other than sleeping, exercising or being at work.

In an age in which Facebook sees more monthly traffic than Google, some Lenten observers are leaving their “friends” behind as part of their commitment to the 40-day fasting.

“Giving up the same things year after year gets boring and you have to freshen it up,” says the Rev. Alan Rudnick with the First Baptist Church in Ballston Spa. “With the popularity of social media, people will say, ‘I like Facebook or Twitter just as much as I like chocolate.’ “

Read the rest…
blog, Book Reviews

Free Book Giveaway

I’m giving away a free copy of Russell Rathbun’s book nuChristian (read my related posts here and review here) and two free copies of Henri Nouwen’s In the Name of Jesus.

Interested?

There are two ways to win:

  1. Subscribe to my blog with the link to the right. Enter your email and click “subscribe” or if you are a WordPress user, click “subscribe” on the top of this page. (Subscribing allows an automatic email update to be sent to your email address. No spam, I promise.  New subscribers will only be entered in this giveaway.)
  2. Follow me on twitter: http://twitter.com/alanrud

The winners will be picked at random.  You can subscribe to On The Bema and follow me on Twitter, which gives you two chances to win.  You have till Monday, March 28 @ noon Good luck!

Shane Claiborne, author and activist comments on nuChristian:

“I am convinced that if we lose a generation in the church, that loss won’t be because we failed to entertain them, but because we failed to dare them — to take the words of Jesus seriously and to do something about the things that are wrong in the world. Russell Rathbun offers us that dare — to renew a Christianity that reminds the world of Jesus again.”

Facebook

Breakup Stats on Facebook

Facebook is a treasure trove of information – including when relationships end.  A recent New York Times article tracked what break ups occur based on Facebook user information:

In a recent TED Talk discussing the project, Mr. McCandless explained that most breakups occur three times in the year — in the weeks leading up to spring breaks, right before the start of the summer holidays and a couple of weeks before Christmas. His research also found that people tend to break up with their significant others on Mondays, presumably after a weekend grapple. Thankfully, the lowest day of the year for breakups is Christmas.

I wonder if couples break up so that one of them does not have to buy the other a gift?  This goes to show that you have to be careful with the information you share online.  Believe it or not, statistics are being gathered on what you share, how you play Farmville (I refuse to play that game), and how many pictures you share.

I would like to get my hands on some Facebook religious affiliation statistics and blog the results.

Maybe this is a good time to make all your info on facebook private. Go! And share less information about yourself.  Someone is reading about you right now!

Albany

A Pastor Goes to smAlbany…

No, it is not the start to a lame joke, but I served as a panelist at smAlbany.  smAlbany is a yearly small business gathering put on by Liberteks.com.  This year was the 5th Annual smAlbany Small Business Expo.  smAlbany focuses on the technology aspect of networking, business, and career development.  I quickly discovered that smAlbany is a pejorative term for Albany, NY – “small-bany”  The urban dictionary even has an entry for it.

So how did a pastor end up on a panel for a business expo?  Good question.  In addition to my blog here, I also blog for the Times Union Newspaper as their protestant religion blogger.  Michael Huber, the online content manger, thought it would be a great idea to have me as a panelist on the subject of, “Local Social Media and Your Customers.”  In addition to myself, the panel consisted of

As you can see, it is a very eclectic mix of people and professions.  I would say the seminar was well attended and provided people loads of information on social media. Alright, enough with the background.  You are probably thinking, “What did they talk about?”

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Transfiguration

Facebook or Facetime?

I started using Facebook.com shortly after I entered graduate school in 2003.   Facebook is a social networking internet webpage that connects people, organizations, families, and business. Some of my college friends began to use Facebook and I saw it as a way to stay in touch with people.  Facebook was confusing.  Why I could see everyone’s business: who they talked to, what they posted, what they said, etc…   Now, Facebook is ubiquitous.  My parents, who are retired, even have a Facebook page!

Facebook is a great way to connect, but have we replaced Facebook with true “facetime?”  Have we replaced what we would do with our friends and family with what we should do in person?  Have we lost a sense of personal touch with the use of Facebook? A social networking website cannot replace what we experience in real life.

In our scriptures for Sunday, so much is made about “facetime” with God.  In the Old Testament lesson, Moses is face to face with God.  After the experience, Moses’ face changes.  Moses puts a veil over his face to hide it from the Israelites.  In our Gospel text, Jesus’ face and complexion change during the Transfiguration.

Why all this attention to the Transfiguration? The Transfiguration is important and Darrell Jodock in the Christian Century explains why:

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Culture

The Pitfalls of Facebook Live Feed

I started using Facebook shortly after I entered graduate school in 2003.  I was a Myspace user, but often lamented Myspace’s messiness.  It was limited.  Some of my college friends began to use Facebook and I saw it as a way to stay in touch with people.  Facebook looked clean, but it was confusing why I could see everyone’s business: who they talked to, what they posted, what they said, etc…   We have seen Facebook evolve from a “college only” website to a global network of all ages.   Facebook is ubiquitous.  My parents, who are retired, even have a Facebook page!  Some bloggers have even commented how “uncool” Facebook has become since so many people are using it.  (You are still cool Mom and Dad.)

Facebook has played with the concept of the “news feed” and the “live feed” for sometime.  Currently, through the news feed you get the basic updates from people on pictures, posted links, and comments on your profile.  The live feed does much more.  It documents almost everything you and your friends are doing right now.  You can always change what information you share in the Facebook security settings, but things get ridiculous.   It can get annoying to see tiny details about your friend’s habits, especially if you have a large friend list.

In getting past the annoying nature of reading every minuet detail of your friends, we fall into the trap of Facebook live feed:

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Obama

Obama's Presidental Donkey: Watching Our Tongues

The saga continues for the Kanye West story, but his time President Obama has unwisely gotten himself involved. (Remember Henry Louis Gates Jr and the Harvard Police?)  The President called Kanye West a “jackass” for interrupting the MTV Music awards during Taylor Swift’s acceptance speech.  You can find the audio of the President’s incident here.

If you want to pass up on the audio, here is the transcript of the event:

“I thought that was really inappropriate. It’s like, she’s getting an award, why are you butting in?” Obama says in the audio clip. “I hear you. I agree with you. The young lady seems like a perfectly nice person. She’s getting her award. What’s he doing up there?”

Someone asks, “Why would he do that?”

Obama groans, comically: “He’s a jackass!”

There’s a nervous explosion of laughter from the others in the room, which Obama immediately reacts to: “Now, now, all this stuff… I’m assuming all this stuff — come on guys, cut the president some slack. I’ve got a lot of other stuff on my plate.”

How did this come about?  How could we catch such an unusual Presidential event?  Why would a President or any politician say something like that on the off chance of it being recorded?  How did someone get a recording of this?

Here’s how:

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Facebook

Facebook's Religious Conundrum

Facebook is a wonderful social networking tool that creates online communities for millions of people.  Most begin filling out Facebook’s identity questions: name, sex, hometown, birthday, relationship status, and… religion?  With 56% of Americans changing their religion at least once (most before age 24), it presents a difficult challenge for “Facebookers”.

The Washington Post wrote an article about Facebook’s religion conundrum:

Creating a Facebook profile for the first time, Eric Heim hadn’t expected something so serious. Hunched over his laptop, he had whipped through the social network Web site’s questionnaire about his interests, favorite movies and relationship status, typing witty replies wherever possible. But when he reached the little blank box asking for his core beliefs, it stopped him short.

“It’s Facebook. The whole point is to keep it light and playful, you know?” said Heim, 27, a college student…. “But a question like that kind of makes you think.”

The Post reports that 150 million out of 250 million users put something in the religion section on a person’s Facebook page.   Some users are hard pressed to find themselves in one religious category:

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On Facebook