An Encouraging Easter

It may just be my personal slice of the web, but overall I've been pleasantly surprised at the rather positive profile that the Christian message seems to have had here in the UK over this Easter week.

A few anecdotal highlights:

• Brighton's Passion performed on Brighton seafront - Brighton's first ever Passion Play - with the aim of it being turned into a feature film later in the year. 

• Public baptisms of around thirty people in the open air outside York Minster on Easter Sunday. 

• Several overt Christian references from public figures on Twitter and elsewhere.

• The Port Talbot Passion Play involved around 1,000 local actors, and was performed over three days to crowds of up to 5,000. Extensive coverage on the BBC  

• Reports of spontaneous baptisms in the Channel Islands. This from Jonathan Letoq :   "Great celebrations as Steph, unplanned, responds to the Gospel & is immediately baptised."

• Finally, and because I like Americans as well, this from John Lanferman in St Louis via his Twitter feed: "Many spontaneous baptisms, that just keep coming. Thrilling... More and more keep coming to be baptized spontaneously. What a great day."

Related articles

• Sheen Passion play reaches finale (bbc.co.uk)

Six Ways Twitter has Helped my Business

My own experience of the benefits of Twitter as a small business owner. Here.  



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Aristide Returns to Haiti

On a normal day, the return of former President Jean-Bertrand Aristide to his native Haiti would be top of the news programmes.

But it's been a long time since we;ve had a normal day, news-wise.

Here are some intimate photos of the event via Sharif Koudous of Democracy Now. Sharif was one of the best first-hand sources of English-language reporting on Twitter during the Egyptian revolution.

He's now in Haiti providing similar first-hand updates.

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Related articles

• Haiti Elections: Aristide Returns After 7-Year Exile (nowpublic.com)
• Haiti prepares for Aristide's arrival (cbc.ca)
• Aristide: My return fulfills "dream" of Haitians (seattletimes.nwsource.com)
• Defying U.S., Former Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide Returns Home (democracynow.org)

WikiLeaks Hit by DOS Attack. Police Seek Increased Internet Powers

Image via Wikipedia

The backlash against Wikileaks continues apace today, November 28th, with the site claiming on its Twitter page to be "under a mass distributed denial of service attack."

The site today began the process of releasing hundreds of thousands of official diplomatic reports from American embassies and the US State Department, revealing intimate details of discussions between and about America's allies, trade partners and hostile regimes around the world.

The New York Times is publishing a series of articles based on the diplomatic leaks. Today's revelations include insights into diplomatic activity with China concerning the possible reunification of Korea, candid observations on corruption within the Afghan government and the incentives offered to nations to take Guantanamo inmates since President Obama came into office.

Today's attack on the Wikileaks site follows an official condemnation of the leak by the White House, which describes the leaks as "reckless and dangerous" as well as illegal.

The DOS attack, presumably carried out under the authorisation of the CIA, coincides with a report on the BBC website that the UK's Serious and Organised Crime Agency are seeking statutory powers in the UK to shut down web sites which are "deemed to be engaged in criminal activity". That is, before a conviction has been secured in a court of law!

As is often the case when the authorities want extra power, worst case scenarios are usually presented which, it is claimed, will be resolved, prevented or cured if the police are allowed to do X, Y or Z. Web sites that sell drugs, guns or humans for sex trafficking will no doubt be presented as the kind of sites that the police are currently "powerless" to act against under the "limitations" of current legislation.

In fact, such powers, were they to be granted, will be not only be used against organised crime, if recent experiences in the UK are anything to go by.

Following the recent storming of the Conservative Party HQ in central London by a small number of around 50,000 demonstrators taking part in a protest against a trebling in the cost of university tuition fees, some criminal damage was done to the building and one protester threw a fire extinguisher off the roof of the building towards police below.

The web site FIT Watch followed up the mini-riot with an article advising those who had taken part in the demonstration on how to conduct themselves if they found themselves at the receiving end of police inquiries following.

The police then applied to the site's web hosts, the ironically-named Justhost, requesting that the site be suspended, which the company rather meekly agreed to.

Fit Watch - which I am not an uncritical supporter of - has since been re-hosted (here) and is continuing to publish articles that the police would, presumably, prefer that they didn't.

All of which puts the request of the Serious and Organised Crime Agency for the ability to close down "criminal sites" into some perspective.

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Related articles

• WikLeaks Reports It Is Under A Denial Of Service Attack (techcrunch.com)
• DOS attack on WikiLeaks.org (news.blogs.cnn.com)
• WikiLeaks Hit By DDoS Attack Just as Its Newest Leak is Leaked Early (mashable.com)
• The Lede: WikiLeaks Reports Attack on Its Web Site (thelede.blogs.nytimes.com)

Twitter: Beginning of the Ban?

First it was ignored. Then it was regarded with amusement. And finally it seems that it is starting to be banned.

The English FA have today informed the squad that Twitter, Facebook et al are out of bounds to the players during and in the run up to the World Cup. All player comments are to be made exclusively through the FA's official website. Which provides a good reason for avoiding the said site, as we are bound to be treated to the usual bland PR speak characteristic of most post-match TV interviews.

The fact that such a ruling can be made by an employer without an apparent murmur reflects a level of restriction on freedom of speech and expression to a degree that our parents' generation would have found remarkable.

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Should We Use Twitter in Church? A Response to Josh Harris

Although not really the main focus of this blog, I was stimulated by Josh Harris's post on the use of Twitter in church.

His conclusion is to leave the tweeting out during the church meetings and his reasons are as follows:

1. Doing so will be likely to distract me from the word of God (as I am likely to be tempted to check emails, etc.)

2. Tweeting, even in response to the sermon, is time spent not actively listening to the sermon.

3. Tweeting focuses on me broadcasting rather than listening and, thus, is a different activity to that needed to benefit from the word.

4. We may set the wrong example to other people - they may think we're merely checking our emails and this may lead them to do likewise.

5. Popularity in the culture does not make an activity appropriate in the church.

6. Nothing will be lost by tweeting after the Sunday meeting.


Judging by the number of comments on Josh's blog, this seems a pretty live issue, with John Piper even entering the debate. So here goes with a response, point by point:

1. If it is true that tweeting distracts you from the word of God, then it is certainly an activity to be avoided.

My difficulty with Josh's first point, however, is that, having been honest about his own struggles in this area and sharing the effect that tweeting during the sermon has on him ( I assume he has tried it), he moves from that to a general claim that the action must have the same effect on every human being.

A superficial consideration of this premise, or a familiarity with the varieties of human experiences, will reveal it to be unsustainable. Everyone is different and one man's meat is another man's poison. The Lord Jesus only required us to cut off our hands if they were causing us to sin. If they were not, we are permitted to keep them attached to our arms.


2. Tweeting is not time spent listening. This is surely being righteous over-much. The act of listening (to God's word) is far more multi-faceted than the mere act of sitting still and hearing. It involves, for instance, thinking about what is heard, engaging our will and emotions in response to it; applying it to our lives as we hear; praying while we listen, etc. Actively listening to the word of God may also involve us weeping or trembling at it (a response that God says he "esteems") .

Any or all of these excellent actions may involve us, temporarily, "not listening" in the narrow sense that Josh suggests. But, surely, they are all very much at the heart of how a godly congregation should listen. If an individual finds that they can use a tool of some kind to focus their response and enrich their capacity to engage with the message, that is surely a valid act for them, subject to it being done unto the Lord and with due regard to the needs of the weaker brother. I note that, annecdotally, several of those commenting on Josh's post do in fact state this to be the reason they use twitter during the sermon.

Furthermore, Josh's assumption that the act of tweeting cannot be done while actively listening is, presumably, a statement which he himself has found to be the case in his experience. To make a rule based on this experience, however, appears unwise and a possible case of imposing one' s own freedom (or lack of it) on another.

I would disagree with those who compare tweeting with note taking. I compare it more with saying "amen" to a particular point in the sermon. I don't know if he still does it, but CJ Mahaney was one of the first Christian leaders I observed giving verbal feedback during Bible teaching - often of a vigorous kind. Are we to prohibit this activity because it is "not time spent listening"? Please see my concluding comments for more on this point.

3. I agree that tweeting is broadcasting, but this action does not have to be seen as incompatible with listening. My definition (above) of what is involved in active listening is, I think, relevant to this point as well as to the previous one. I am not qualified to comment on listening from a neurological or educational perspective, but there may be more to discover from those fields of knowledge and common grace about what it is exactly that is involved in effective listening.

A subsidiary point could be made here that, by sharing the individual's response to the sermon, the effect of it is being spread in real time and in a natural, relational way.

4. Example. Oh! The great argument that has stifled innovation in God's church for centuries! Exactly the same argument has been used repeatedly in connection with a hundred and one developments in church that are now uncontroversial, including (in no particular order):

• using TV monitors in the meetings (people will think they've come to a cinema, etc)
• using guitars (people will think that it's OK to listen to rock music)
• wearing suits (people will think they've come to a business convention)
• not wearing suits (people will think they've come to a hippy festival, etc)

This argument is really a dead end for two reasons. Firstly, because it focuses so much on externals at the expense of heart attitude that it is difficult to see how such an argument will tend towards producing anything other than ....... well, externalism!

Secondly, it suggests that Christian adults who are often handling major responsibility in the world of work all week, are incapable of dealing emotionally or intellectually with another individual who is accessing a palmtop or other device during a public meeting. Do such people actually exist in our churches? If so, I would want to ask the question, "Where did they learn to be so uptight?" My concern is that they might have learned such unseemly traits in church itself.


5. Josh's analysis of the relationship between church life and the surrounding culture is, to my mind, the weakest element in his article. To say that we do not need to incorporate a thing into church life just because it is popular is at one level, a mere truism.

At another level, however, it reads a little bit like the age-old line, "We don't want change just for the sake of change" to which I reply, "Why not? We're quite happy with predictability for the sake of predictability."

Anyone who argues that we should "start doing something" in church because "they do it in the world" is clearly a sad person who needs befriending and taking out more. The fact is, people are using twitter increasingly in public conferences and other presentational settings and it is a trend that is naturally finding expression in some churches. The issue, therefore, is a pastoral one - should leaders encourage or discourage this practice for the good of the body - not one based on making the meetings more culturally relevant to the outsider.

6. Several things will be lost by tweeting after the Sunday meeting instead of during it. Most significantly, I would suggest, is the sense of immediacy. Preaching, if I have understood correctly, is meant to cause a response now. Of course, such a response cannot only be expressed through tweeting! But, if the point of preaching is that it is meant to have an effect in the moment, we should be careful that we do not confuse this aim with the ability to form a considered evaluation of a sermon at a later point.

Some final thoughts:

Listening (to paraphrase Jonathan Edwards in his Dissertation Concerning the End for Which God Created the World) is a subordinate end not an ultimate end when we gather to hear God's word. The ultimate end of listening to preaching is, of course, to glorify God, but between the subordinate end of listening and the ultimate end of God being glorified, other subordinate ends exist. In particular, we should expect the preaching of the word to effect change in us, conforming us in greater measure to the will of God and the character of Jesus Christ.

If this is happening, we should rejoice whether or not tweeting is happening. If it is not, tweeting or sitting still is a non-issue.

CNN, Iraq and Twitter

The following video from CNN illustrates the routine banality of much of the American mainstream media as it seems to increasingly serve a light entertainment PR role on behalf of large corportations and celebrity culture rather than having a genuinely independent and investigative voice.

The clip consists of an interview between CNN's Kiran Chetry and Twitter founder Jack Dorsey, who is in Iraq today to learn from local people about whether and how the social media platform might serve the cause of nation building in Iraq. Dorsey's patience with the infantile level of interviewing is to his credit.

The thudding noise in the background is either the reverberations from the suicide attack today north of Baghdad which claimed the lives of five civilians, or it might be me banging my head on my desk in despair.

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Is AudioBoo the Thinking Man's Twitter?

I love Twitter, but I also understand the frustration sometimes expressed about it being used to merely rehash news or links.

AudioBoo allows users to upload short items using the spoken word only and as Dropbox explains below, it solves the problem of endless tweets that contain less than original content.

Fair enough, but my own solution to that particular issue is to only follow people on Twitter who post updates that are worth reading.

I'm not quite teched up enough for AudioBoo, anyway.

One similarity between the two: Stephen Fry uses both!

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The Trouble With Twitter

Stephen Fry, Pre-Columbian Art and Bristol's Bookbarn

Two unrelated threads came together this week as I was rummaging through the leftovers of Bristol's Bookbarn, which is closing its vast doors and giving away its remaining stock free of charge to anyone who turns up to take it.

One of my interests is early American history, so I was pleased to pick up from the musty warehouse two titles on pre-Columbian civilisations of America.

Meanwhile, right on cue, Twitter celebrity Stephen Fry (he's also a writer, actor and broadcaster, I believe), who has been tweeting this week about his current trip to Baja California to film Last Chance to See for the BBC, uploaded the following photo of pre-Columbian cave art from his travels.

Astonishing coincidences.

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John Cleese Charges for his Video Casts

It's a different but understandable take on the "self-as-brand-and-media-generator-and -publisher-and-entertainment-entrepreneur" story.

It's just that I hadn't come across it before. Charging for video casts, that is. One dollar a cast is the going rate on John Cleese's home page.

Fair enough, I suppose.

There is also a "best of" free version available once a week with ads (for toothpaste and property in Florida, allegedly). You can follow the great man for free on Twitter, of course.

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Earth to Stephen Fry

Stephen Fry, recently returned from Africa, has left users of Twitter bemused as his recent entries on the micro-blogging social network site have appeared just a little strange.

Advised by an unnamed technical person that he should use an "oddsox group command", the writer and broadcaster has loaded a string of tweets as follows:

stephenfry Ah, got it now. Will do that in future and refrain from overloading you. But was so impressed by your replies I felt it wrong not to share x about 3 hours ago from web
stephenfry That's it for the mo. Sorry, someone tweeted me that I should've used a #oddsox group command. Unfamiliar with this, will find out how x about 4 hours ago from web
stephenfry RT @AxmxZ @stephenfry Well, odd socks can't all go to the same place, otherwise there'd be paired socks there. about 4 hours ago from web
stephenfry RT @iamdaffodils @stephenfry They're not odd, they're just different. about 4 hours ago from web
stephenfry RT @zenforlunch @stephenfry The spot in my closet where I keep odd socks is the sad, seedy singles bar of the garment underworld about 4 hours ago from web
stephenfry RT @pixel8ted @stephenfry leave them for the odd sock fairy who will hopefully leave a nice coin and not an odd sock fairy poo about 4 hours ago from web
stephenfry RT @canisrufus I s'pect it shall be found that dark matter really is, at its core, all oddsox. Then two mysteries shall be solved in one go about 4 hours ago from web
stephenfry RT @felix42 @stephenfry, I tend to blame the Large Hadron Collider. about 4 hours ago from web
stephenfry RT @mkuplens @stephenfry odd socks stuff the left shoe. even ones the right. about 4 hours ago from web
stephenfry RT @AxmxZ @stephenfry Step 1: steal odd socks. Step 2: ???? Step 3: PROFIT! (Step 4: get a job with the banking industry.) about 4 hours ago from web
stephenfry RT @madlolscientist Socks are coat hanger larvae. They creep into hidden places for metamorphosis. Never before seen on camera= opportunity! about 4 hours ago from web
stephenfry RT @hiraabel @stephenfry odd socks go in the dryer to find their mate or disappear, whichever is their fate about 4 hours ago from web
stephenfry RT@ marnanel @stephenfry: I eat them. With fava beans and a nice Chianti. about 4 hours ago from web
stephenfry RT @CarrieUff @stephenfry I suspect most are stolen by color-blind gnomes about 4 hours ago from web
stephenfry RT @slimejam Wherever they go, I hope they catch whoever is stealing them and lock them up with all the other perpetrators of sox crime about 4 hours ago from web
stephenfry RT @jg_rat @stephenfry Your odd socks are in a basket in my spare room. about 4 hours ago from web
stephenfry RT @phinnia @stephenfry they are stolen by sock gnomes for their children to live in about 4 hours ago from web
stephenfry RT @matildazq @stephenfry Into my sock drawer, I think. about 4 hours ago from web

	stephenfry RT @DataGoddess @stephenfry depends on how odd the socks are about 4 hours ago from web
	stephenfry RT @captainsharmie @stephenfry Space. Odd socks are hanging out near the moon, wondering how the hell they got there. about 4 hours ago from web
	stephenfry RT @qheldar @stephenfry the loondry bin. about 4 hours ago from web
	stephenfry RT @dragonsinger57 @stephenfry odd socks go into the hozone!! about 4 hours ago from web
	stephenfry RT @ CallumDawlings et al isn't there a hole in the back of the washing machine that leads to narnia? i think that's where the odd socks go about 4 hours ago from web
	stephenfry RT ClaireFry @stephenfry the lost sock underworld! Didn't you know that? about 4 hours ago from web
	stephenfry RT @echoclubhouse if clean, odd socks can be left behind for hotel staff filled with small gifts as though santa had been there.. if dirty.. about 4 hours ago from web
	stephenfry RT @TheAngelus @stephenfry Odd socks go on hands as sock puppets! Duh. about 4 hours ago from web
	stephenfry RT @knackeredwriter @stephenfry I steal your socks and sell them on Ebay. about 4 hours ago from web
	stephenfry OK: I'll retweet some of the better explanations of odd-sockery. I'll use RT for retweet ....x about 4 hours ago from web
	stephenfry Retweeting this from @MCBrennan: "Oddsocks was perhaps the least intimidating Bond villain ever, imho." LMAO x about 4 hours ago from web
	stephenfry Wowzer @nicole tweeted me this: http://icanhaz.com/sox Uses combinatorics to explain sox offenders, Wouldja bleeve it? about 4 hours ago from web
	stephenfry I shall print out this oddsox thread & shove it in the face of anyone who dares suggests twitterers are bird-brained. You're all geniuses x about 5 hours ago from web
	stephenfry Got diverted from packing duties by Gmail's new video chat. Damnably impressed. BTW, where do odd socks go? x about 5 hours ago from web

You get the general idea, anyway.

Stephen Fry's Twitter profile is here. in case you were wondering.

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