Who needs kindness? Do stuff for money!

Who wants to do something nice with no reward? Not the guys over at PayPal that’s for sure. They just launched their new site Do Stuff for Money, and I have to say it is pretty funny.

Here is the overall idea for the site.

1. You request a service to a friend in exchange for money.
2. The friend can accept, and do the service.
3. Then you pay up, and all through paypal.The notifications are either by email or you can do it all through facebook.

This really is an interesting site. The design and interaction works great and it’s a fun way to blow some money. I gave Kyle $2 to write a post, but that’s money well spent. Here are some of the other requests.

How can we use this?

Can you think of ways the church could use this to raise funds, or serve their community? Maybe friends and family can use this to support missions work, and have fun doing it too. Think about this, and comment if you have a good idea.

Found via Mashable.

New MacBook Video!!!!

The bar has now been raised. Found at Sell Sell.

Don’t Get Burned, Put on Some Ferrell.

Please don’t ask me to find some biblical reference for this. Just look at it, laugh a little, and maybe buy one. What a great example of taking a serious cause and having fun with it. Learn more about Cancer for College.

the What You Want Poll!

I want to make sure that this blog is always useful to our readers, and for that I need your help. Can you take 5 seconds to fill out the form below?

Do we chase awards or results

I just read a wonderful article by Jeff Goodby on Ad Age and it got me thinking. As churches, and those who market for churches, do we care more about the recognition of our peers than we do in the results of lives changed? Here is a quote from the article.

We’ve created a system that rewards work that is increasingly unknown to anyone outside the business. We have become connoisseurs of esoterica. And in the process, we’re becoming more about us, and less about changing the world.

We are becoming irrelevant award-chasers.

Sure, some of the best things we make nowadays are internet experiences with necessarily specific, limited audiences — that cab driver might not be expected to see them. But for the ones I’m talking about, the only intended audience is, well, us.

So have we become more about us and less about changing the world? Do we sometimes forget our job is not to create a buzz in the industry (the church) but to get people to see the free gift of grace from Christ. Next time you are working on a campaign or series keep this in the back of your mind, I know I will be.

Hit: Chase Jarvis & Ben Bender

What May Looked Like for Me

So we took a break last month on the blog, but I wanted to give you all a little peek into what it looked lke for me. It was one of the funnest weeks for me, but one of the most distcusting weeks for my wife. Hopefully next year I can juggle both, but for now enjoy my smallstache.

You have to check them all out! It was gross and non-impressive.

Me & Romans

For about a year now I have been blessed to be helping our community group study through Romans. This has been a wonderful and challenging endeavor for me, but I know God has blessed me with the wisdom in this book. Here are four things I took away from this years studies. They may seem simple and obvious, but every time I have a chance to understand this better I feel as if God is speaking in my ear.

1. I am nothing
2. Christ is everything
3. God has his plan all worked out
4. I am to be active in his plan

These four simple truths reassure me that I serve a mighty and loving God.

Christians & Torture.

A new report from CNN shows that 54% of Christians who go to service at least once a week support torture to gain information from suspected terrorist. That number blows me away. That number also grieves me. I will not write a long post about why we should be the exception rather than the majority, but give you one passage of scripture that deals with how we should treat those persecuting us. Read this and pray that God will allow us to show the same mercy he has given us.

Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse.

Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep.

Be of the same mind toward one another; do not be haughty in mind, but associate with the lowly. Do not be wise in your own estimation.

Never pay back evil for evil to anyone. Respect what is right in the sight of all men.

If possible, so far as it depends on you, be at peace with all men.

Never take your own revenge, beloved, but leave room for the wrath of God, for it is written, “VENGEANCE IS MINE, I WILL REPAY,” says the Lord.

BUT IF YOUR ENEMY IS HUNGRY, FEED HIM, AND IF HE IS THIRSTY, GIVE HIM A DRINK; FOR IN SO DOING YOU WILL HEAP BURNING COALS ON HIS HEAD.”

Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

Romans 12: 14-21

Here’s to Collaboration

I was sent a link to this amazing video/ad produced by Honda to promote their hybrid sedan, the Insight.

The video itself is clever and fun, but what really struck me was how the close collaboration between Honda and Vimeo resulted in an extraordinary experience. I was reminded through this that two are always better than one when it comes to our creative endeavors.

With this narcissistic age of “me” upon us, it’s even more imperative to take a cue from our creator, and exist in community. So I challenge us all today to not create alone! Team up, mash-up, partner up, collaborate—doesn’t matter what you call it, just do something creative with someone else and share with the world.

Sermon’s over. Here’s the link to the video! http://vimeo.com/4281939

(Sorry for no embed, must be viewed on the Vimeo site for full effect.)

How Do You See Life?

This ad is a wonderful example of how I tend to see life. I look for what I want to look for, and I ignore what I want to ignore. Just look at this ad, what we see as happy, is grotesque when turned upside down. This is no different then my daily life. Without a guide I have no idea what I am looking at, what seems good is really bad. But with God I can learn what is pure and right. Just read Romans 12: 2.

And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.

We cannot look to the media, and that means Fox news just as much as CNN, for how we should live. We cannot look to politicians, and that means both Red and Blue, for what laws we need to pass. And we cannot even look to our own heart, because it can deceive us. What we need is the word of God. That will transform us, that will allow us to see what is truly good and acceptable and perfect.

Disclaimer: This post is not meant to be about President Obama. So please to not use this as an opportunity to either praise or tear him down. Instead do what the bible says later in Romans, and in 1 Timothy.

Artwork found at Coloribus.