Step 3 – Learn « The Digital Christian.

This is from a blog about using social media to minister. This is an area fraught with problems and issues, but one that you should know about. This posting has some good links to get you started if you are seriously interested.

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One of the more common heresies running around the church today is that we must always speak positively, that negative confessions are, by definition bad. The truth of the matter is quite different.

II Timothy 3:16 {NKJV}

“All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness,”

God tells us the purpose in the next verse [let's use New Living this time]:

“God uses it to prepare and equip his people to do every good work.”

Please notice that the second use of scripture if “for reproof”. The amplified expands this (and correction) to the following:

“for reproof and conviction of sin, for correction of error and discipline in obedience”

This does not sound like the power of positive speaking to me.

Jesus could be quite negative

Take the verse I harp on all the time—spoken to the church-goers of the day:

Matthew 7:21-23 [Amplified]

“Not everyone who says to Me, Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father Who is in heaven. Many will say to Me on that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name and driven out demons in Your name and done many mighty works in Your name? And then I will say to them openly (publicly), I never knew you; depart from Me, you who act wickedly [disregarding My commands].”

Notice that these are people using the name of Jesus in power—those whom we would call spirit-filled today. They prophesied, did exorcisms, and miracles in the name of Jesus. Yet, Jesus says to them the scariest words in scripture, “I never knew you: depart from me”.

May it never happen to any of us!

So, how are we to speak?

Paul says it best in Ephesians 4:15

“speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into Him”

OK, I understand speaking the truth, but that is to be done “in love” . Again Paul says it best in I Corinthians 13: 4–6 [NASB]

“Love is patient, love is kind and is not jealous; love does not brag and is not arrogant, does not act unbecomingly; it does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered, does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth;”

So, even if the truth hurts we are responsible to be patient, kind, humble, meek, un-offended, in the moment, and happy with the truth as it is reveled. But, we mustn’t pull back if the truth requires a rebuke, a warning, or a so-called negative expression.

If we are prayed for about healing, we are not to lie if it still hurts but positively confess that we’re healed. However, I see nothing wrong with saying, “I haven’t seen the manifestation yet, but I am convinced that He will heal me and stop the pain.” [But only if that is really the truth about how you feel.]

God never requires us to lie. If you think that is what is happening in your life, bite your lip, zip your yap, and don’t say anything until you can say the truth. Sure that is difficult sometimes. But the Christian walk requires nothing less.

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I’ve spent a lot of time lately watching two grandsons who do nothing useful. They play games (football, basketball, & baseball) and video games. They do nothing outside of that. Actually, there is a little hope, the younger boy is showing some signs of interest in architecture. But, the playing games thing is seen as normal—what young boys should do. The two girls are a little better. They are quite a bit younger but their games revolve around housekeeping and social relationships.

But the basic problem, as I see it, is the assumption that children need to play, that it is good to play, that this is the best thing they can do

A hundred fifty years ago, the oldest boy would likely be apprenticed by now with the next oldest ready to do that this year. They would have already learned to work with men building, fixing, bringing in food, and improving shelter. The girls would be learning to sew, cook, clean, and care for.

Most importantly, they would be living, working, and playing surrounded by adults—modeling their behavior

It has been really sad to watch vibrant young children (full of life, growth, and questions) become dumbed down as they are thrust increasingly under peer influence. Do  we really want our children modeling their behavior on other people’s children? How many children do you know who model themselves after a teacher or preacher? Teachers and preachers are larger than life characters who have no relationship to their friends and models.

Their parents are rarely seen. Daycare is rampant. The better ones play with their children. But rare is the excellent parent who teaches their child how to build, cook, work, interact with society, and so forth. The parents do not have the time to do stuff like that. Sadly, many of the parents are products of this whole culture we are discussing this morning, and all they want to do is play: sports, outdoor activities, exercise, and all the rest of the narcissistic things modern American people do.

This is serious! We are in trouble!

The barbarians are at the gates—the entire world who understands that life entails work not play? When was the last time you heard a teaching on Ephesians 5: 15 & 16 (ESV)?

Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise,  making the best use of the time, because the days are evil.

Do you help your children discern what is going on in the world around them? When was the last time you told your children that the goal of life is to survive—into the presence of God? When was the last time you tried to demonstrate that nothing really matters outside of your relationship with your King and Lord? Do they know that once they die that is all that remains?

When I suggested to my youngest grandson (he’s nearly 12) that he needed to be preparing to be out on his own, it was clear that this was a new concept to him. It registered briefly, before he turned back to his iPod and got into his game again. At least he’s heard it once before he graduates. Sadly, many have not. The oldest grandson is virtually lost until he comes out the other side sometime in his twenties. He really believes that sports are immensely important. I pray he comes to his senses—his father never has.

Last week, the younger did show us several floor plans he’s been working on. That was exciting. I am determined to be hopeful and get in every shot that I can, but it is surely rough with the peer pressure and the environment where playing is seen as good and a goal to be desired.

One final scripture. My current favorite: Ephesians 4: 17-24

Now this I say and testify in the Lord, that you must no longer walk as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their minds. They are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, due to their hardness of heart. They have become callous and have given themselves up to sensuality, greedy to practice every kind of impurity. But that is not the way you learned Christ!— assuming that you have heard about him and were taught in him, as the truth is in Jesus, to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.

Chew on this for a while—it’s some real food.

I could reword it and make it more palatable—but you’re adults. Right?

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Judges 17:6 (English Standard Version)
In those days there was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in his own eyes.

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There are many reasons. I was talking with one of my friends on Facebook this morning. She wants to  get into teaching what she knows. She asked my opinion, and I went into my standard long lament about the state of graphic design and typography education in America. It’s bad, and  it has been bad for years.

I first  learned this as an art director for one of the largest printing companies in town. One of our greatest difficulties was dealing with design school graduates. This was true whether I was trying to hire a new graphic designer or dealing with a client who was a graphic designer. They had NO practical knowledge. This is why I originally I got into teaching. I felt so sorry for those poor students trying to get work out of college. They were in so far over their heads that you couldn’t even talk to them. They didn’t even know the professional language.

The worst were the clients. You know what happens when a person is responsible and has authority in areas where they know very little — most get nasty and arrogant to cover the fact that they are so  ignorant. Obviously, this does little to help them learn what they need to know.

Why don’t schools teach this stuff?

There are many reasons. This is not the place to cover them in depth. If there is an interest, I’ll post on each reason later. But here they are in no particular order:

• Schools are judged by their employment statistics. The problem, of course, is that many (in fact a majority of) graduates freelance so there is no hiring statistic. Around 65% freelance according to the Department of Labor.
• Schools are judged by graduation statistics. Many students only want to upgrade their skills. They got a degree as a fine artist, but could not make a living doing that. They have no interest in a degree.
• Bureaucrats cannot understand creatives. This sounds harsh, but it is absolutely my experience in several  schools.
• Schools are controlled by IT. Information technology personnel are running our schools and they are almost completely Windows  people or Linux. Neither of those platforms work well for graphics or typography. Even if they did, our industry is 95% Mac.
• Writing skills are necessary. Our basic core skill is typography. Most desktop publishing programs are directed at “artists” not writers.
• Publishers need top end computers and software. Although we can get by with $1500 Macs, we need $2000 PCs to do what we do. Our software is the Creative Suite and that runs around $1000 (unless educational or non-profit rates are available). Schools live on $500 computers and school-wide licenses for software.
• Graphic designers and professional desktop publishers are a rare breed. The highest figure I have ever seen is 250,000 (only a quarter million) nation-wide. Locally, schools are regularly dealing with a dozen students or so. I was blessed to have a couple hundred at TVI in Albuquerque.
• Creatives are not good at working within a bureaucratic environment. Schools rival governmental organizations in organizational complexity and waste. Creative people tend to get very frustrated with meetings, group think, and such.
• Schools are never current. I just left a “lean & mean” school where we could actually approve curriculum changes in less than a year. In Albuquerque, we were working three years in advance. By the time anything is approved, it is seriously out of date.

Hopefully this will give you something to think about… It’s depressing to me.

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WhatTheyThink Economics & Research Center – Printing Industry Economics, Trends and Research.

I know this is not news to any of you, but the level of change is really remarkable. 

I hope the link above takes you to Dr. Webb’s article, as it is excellent — a sober analysis of what is happening to theprinting industry as a whole.

It is a time a real change and excellent opportunity.

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