The Gospel according to Social Media

I've been blogging here for *years*, and I'm also on Facebook. Last month I finally got on Twitter and Instagram. In learning how to express myself through different social media, complementary without being redundant, I also got a sense of... gospel harmony.

If you've read the four Christian gospels, you might notice that they're not exactly the same. Just like any book, each gospel has some traits based on the author and the intended audience. Let's look at those traits (according to experts as in here, and verifiable by you and me reading the books ourselves), and see the parallels with popular social media (in my humble personal opinion).

The Gospel according to Matthew

rj-mccauley.blogspot.com

Author's description:   Jew, former tax collector

Content:   Jewish Scripture, history, prophecies (e.g. Old Testament and other writings) 
Intended audience:   Jews or Israel

Focus on Jesus as:   King of the Jews, Immanuel ("God-with-us")

Focus on Jesus' sacrifice as:   Trespass offering ("trespass" = wrongdoing against God according to Jewish law)

Similar to which social media:   Blogs (e.g. Blogger, Wordpress)

Because of:   Ability to post unlimited text and images; Contain complete archives; Can easily link to other websites

 

The Gospel according to Mark

http://blogs.nsb.org/jonathanalexander/files/2010/09/mark.jpg

Author's description:   One of the 70 disciples, companion and scribe of Simon Peter

Content:  Quick, action-packed accounts; the shortest gospel
Intended audience:  Romans

Focus on Jesus as:  Servant, Prophet

Focus on Jesus' sacrifice as:   Sin offering ("sin" = wrongdoing in the general sense)

Similar to which social media:  Twitter

Because of:  Limited length of tweets and messages, emphasis on trending topics

The Gospel according to Luke

http://www.thatimaydwell.com/images/sermons/luke_lg.jpg

Author's description:   Doctor, non-Jew, companion of Paul

Content:  Accounts about the lost, weak, outcast (Prodigal Son, Good Samaritan)
Intended audience:  Greeks

Focus on Jesus as:  Son of Man, High Priest

Focus on Jesus' sacrifice as:   Peace offering (to reconcile outsiders to God)

Similar to which social media:   Facebook

Because of:   Emphasis on relationships (old and new), well-documented timelines

The Gospel according to John

http://pastorbrett.files.wordpress.com/2008/11/ibelieve_color.jpg

Author's description:   One of Jesus' twelve apostles

Content:  Word pictures (Jesus is the Light of the World, the Way, the Good Shepherd, the Bread of Life...) 
Intended audience:  All

Focus on Jesus as:  Son of God the Father, the Word of God made flesh

Focus on Jesus' sacrifice as:   Burnt offering (for worship)

Similar to which social media:  Instagram

Because of:   Emphasis on images

So there you have it. Please note that I'm not measuring the Christian faith with social network activity ;)  But I do hope that this post helps us appreciate the gospels more: in each book's uniqueness, and in their harmony (unity in diversity) in presenting Jesus, Son of God, Savior of mankind.

Company motto: Don't be evil!

I read this short Forbes article about the top man of the top company in the world --- admitting a strategic mistake and choosing the higher road in another issue. Well done Sir. May your tribe increase :)

[Eric Schmidt, the executive chairman of Google] also said that Google had developed facial recognition technology but decided not to pursue it: “We built that technology, and we withheld it. As far as I know it’s the only technology Google has built, and, after looking at it, we decided to stop.” He explained that “I’m very concerned personally about the union of mobile tracking and face recognition,” fearing that it could be used “in a very bad way.”

 Apparently Google’s “Don’t be evil” philosophy—that exact wording is apocryphal, by the way—still obtains. As does: Do make mistakes, but admit them. Which is, all in all, also a very good idea.

help Google change the world ^_^

Google's 10th Birthday Present: World-Changing Ideas
By Barry Levine
September 25, 2008 2:17PM


Google is celebrating its 10th birthday with Project 10^100, an endeavor that will commit $10 million to backing ideas to improve the world. Google's Project 10^100 will accept ideas big and small, from all walks of life. Analysts see Google's Project 10^100 as both a savvy and altruistic move, and say Project 10^100 will benefit Google's image.

For its birthday, what do you give the company that has everything? In Google's case, the Internet giant is asking for only five presents, but each has the same qualification: Each one must help to change the world.
On Wednesday, Google announced its 10th birthday celebration endeavor, called Project 10^100 (pronounced "Project 10 to the 100th"). In a statement, the company said it was "asking our users to send us exciting ideas for ways to improve people's lives," adding that it has "committed $10 million to turn up to five of the best ideas into reality."
Five Ideas Selected for Funding
The company said that an idea could use technology or not, could be big or small, but it must have an impact. The 100 best ideas will then be identified, and users will be asked to vote on which ideas the company should back with funds.
The deadline for submission of ideas is October 20, and the top 20 ideas will be available for online voting on January 27. After that, a panel of judges will choose as many as five of the ideas for final funding.
On the company's official blog, Andy Berndt, managing director of Google's Creative Lab, noted that we are living in a time when people have access to more information, more tools, and more ways of turning good ideas into action.
"Yet," he wrote, "at the same time so many people (in all walks of life) could use some help, in small ways and big." The ideas could come from anywhere, he said -- a lab, a company, a university, or even "some small connection you've noticed, some old way of doing something that you've seen with new eyes."
'Savvy Business Move'
The company mentioned a few examples of the kinds of innovative ideas it's looking for. The Hippo Water Roller makes it possible for people in underdeveloped countries to collect five times as much water as the traditional method of carrying a five-gallon bucket on the head. Instead of causing damage to the spine, neck and knees of the water carrier, as the traditional head-carrying method can, the Roller allows the larger water bucket to be rolled instead of carried.
First Mile Solutions, based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and derived from research at MIT, uses Wi-Fi and digital storage to create "cached Wi-Fi intelligence" that is helping to connect rural communities worldwide, at a very low cost per user.
Google said it would be considering ideas in the categories of Community, Opportunity, Energy, Environment, Health, Education and Shelter, as well as "Everything Else."
Laura DiDio, an analyst with industry research firm Information Technology Intelligence Corps, described Google's birthday present to itself as "a savvy business move," as well as an altruistic one.
She noted that more and more companies are looking to the public to submit ideas via the Internet, and this one in particular emphasizes Google's "sense of inclusiveness, of being green, of trying to make the world a better place," which will benefit its image to the public.

[Book] "God's Mechanics: How Scientists and Engineers Make Sense of Religion"

God's Mechanics: How Scientists and Engineers Make Sense of Religion
By: Guy Consolmagno Jossey-Bass / 2007 / Hardcover


Product Description:
In God's Mechanics Brother Guy tells the stories of those who identify with the scientific mindset--so-called "techies"--while practicing religion. A full fledged techie himself, he relates some classic philosophical reflections, his interviews with dozens of fellow techies, and his own personal take on his Catholic beliefs to provide, like a set of "worked out sample problems," the hard data on the challenges and joys of embracing a life of faith as a techie. And he also gives a roadmap of the traps that can befall an unwary techie believer. With lively prose and wry humor, Brother Guy shows how he not only believes in God but gives religion an honored place alongside science in his life. This book offers an engaging look at how--and why--scientists and those with technological leanings can hold profound, "unaprovable" religious beliefs while working in highly empirical fields. Through his own experience and interviews with other scientists and engineers who profess faith, Brother Guy explores how religious beliefs and practices make sense to those who are deeply rooted in the world of technology.

Publisher's Weekly:
Sidestepping the acrimony of recent science vs. religion debates, Consolmagno, a Vatican astronomer and self-described "techie," intends that "demonstrating the existence of a lot of people like me, who flourish as scientists while practicing a religion, should be proof enough that science and religion can be perfectly compatible." Combining personal memoir with conversations within the techie world, Consolmagno describes questions about the universe and the meaning of life that attract techies into religious belief and practice, concluding that "techies are not looking for proof. They're looking for confidence." When he tests his initial hypotheses with a survey project, Consolmagno finds that for many religiously-involved techie types, the value of community and moral support may actually be more important than the search for religious answers. As one atheist interviewee puts it, "You think you are selling truth, but your audience has already brought their own truth with them to church. All you are selling them is tech support." Is this all there is to religion? Certainly not for Brother Guy, who defends a specifically Christian and Catholic version of religious truth. Yet Consolmagno's adroit and self-effacing style defuses any suggestion of theological point-scoring, as in his dryly Dilbertian defense of papal infallibility: "Unlike some of the other bosses I've worked for in my life, this one admits that he's only infallible under certain extremely limited conditions." (Nov.) Copyright 2007 Reed Business Information.

the Almighty Programmer :D

This is kewl ^_^ And theologically sound too, imagine that!

Cool creation program from "The Corner". thanks to Think Christian for the heads up :)

the physicist's witness

And the Reubenites and the Gadites gave the altar this name: A Witness Between Us that the LORD is God. -- Joshua 22: 34 (read here)


this was my poster during the recently concluded 24th Samahang Pisika ng Pilipinas (SPP) conference held in Davao, Philippines. it is a testament to how blessed i am, research-wise :)

• the artistic and oh-so-appropriate background came from Mr. GB, who gave it for my MS Physics thesis defense last summer. lots of information propagation in action!
  
• i saw this cool font (Japanese brush) while borrowing a school laptop. the personal handwritten-like style is again appropriate.
• i already had an existing presentation last week, so i already had the cute colorful pictures as well as the organization of what i'll discuss.
• the results were just a more organized, cleaner version of my thesis. i have been working hard to submit a paper to SPP for the past two years, and i was more frustrated because i kept thinking...well, God, i have You in my life *now*, so how come i can't even do the things i *used* to do? shouldn't i be doing *more* than i used to?...come third year of being a Christian in graduate school, and everything suddenly became effortless. lesson 1: it's not about me. lesson 2: it's about God's sovereignty (He is in control); it's NOT a formula or ritual that i'll do to twist His arm to make Him do something for me. lesson 3: the cliche "He has a reason and a purpose for all of this" is a cliche because many people have found this out to be true. my past mental blocks and fruitless research work led me to stop relying on myself (putting in effort does not necessarily lead to results) and enabled me to hear Him clearly when He finally said, "Write for Me." :)
  
• i was able to rush doing this (ok, i shouldn't cram, but thankfully God enables me to do so) and have it printed in less than 24 hours before my flight to Davao (though i later found out i could also have it printed there, hehe, but see next two items)
• because i wanted to have this printed last Tuesday, a national holiday (Ramadan or Eidl Fitr for our Muslim brothers and sisters), the low-cost shops were closed. (i later found out someone was able to convince said low-cost shop to print her poster, and spent only half of what i did.) so i went to expectedly-expensive mall and everyone was pointing me to a store whose rates were twice to thrice what i had in my pocket (no more money in my atm either). and so, i ended up calling out to God in my thoughts...help!...someone directed me to a store i've never heard before, (seemingly) small, tucked among the bowling alleys and arcades in the mall annex. surprise 1: the store was large and turned out to be "decent"/respectable. surprise 2: their rates were double the low-cost shops' (which were closed anyway), but as low as one-fifth the cost of the expensive shop. surprise 3: i could get it after they had lunch --- oh sure sirs, take your time, i wanted to have lunch too! (hey, i still have money to actually eat lunch!) praise God!
• everybody in physics said i should print on tarpaulin, it was the cheapest and it lasts longer. but in the expectedly-expensive mall they needed one week to print on tarp. (that means i could get my poster three days from today as i write this. cross out that option.) so i opted for the (slightly) more expensive photo paper, since i plan on keeping the poster and i might as well get the best quality (for my pocket). guess what: during the poster session yesterday, it caught the most attention! :D since everybody did print on tarp or paper. once again, when the choice was out of my hands, God is reminding me that He is always in control, and that His ways are best, and that He wants to bless me (if only i let Him more often!).

counting our blessings is very comforting...but also time-consuming! :D i mean, where will we stop right? i'll stop here, but really, we know there are so much more blessings than this poster can attest to :)