Mr. Panda and I share so many common traits and values. Even our likes and dislikes are similar. We especially have the same taste in music.  

And we both HEART Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah”, last heard in “Shrek”. We especially heart the version sung by Kate Voegel here. It’s AMAZING!

But being Christians, we were both a bit dismayed at the total bleakness of the lyrics. Unless you read it carefully, most people would just remember the “Hallelujah” in the chorus bit. But if you pay attention to the lyrics, they look like the desperate words of a person who had lost his faith.

So my clever, gifted, passionate, artistic & faithful Mr. Panda decided to reclaim this gem of a song for the Lord. And changed the lyrics completely!

So here it is, lyrics by Mr. Panda, to the tune of “Hallelujah” (Click HERE if you want an instrumental accompaniment while you sing!)

Faith Hallelujah!
  

by Mr. Panda (Copyrighted)
 

A babe was born a starry night
and demons shuddered and took to flight
A glorious heaven song accompanied You 
Into a land that lied and scraped
To come to die was Your fate
yet those who saw You sang a hallelujah
hallelujah…x4

Some worry for their bread today
a job, a car, a house of clay
They never really cared to listen to You 
But when the danger’s coming clear
And life is threatening all that’s dear
then on their lips they beg a hallelujah
hallelujah…x4

I saw the blood flow in the land
in Africa’s poor and violent sand 
Men who laughed and shut their ears to You
While they soak their wicked hands in blood
with peacekeepers lost in the flood
the martyred faithful’s cry of hallelujah!
hallelujah…x4

Some  heard a different preacher’s sound 
A pastor said that gold’s all around
Riches to the one who just believed You
it tickled them to know their fate
so they put more in the offering plate
and claimed a blessing from their hallelujah
hallelujah…x4 

Yet in the midst of worldly storms
where jeers and mocks are all the norm
a faithful few here pray their best to You
and quietly they pray and cry
for a loveless world they lift on high
and on their lips a joyful hallelujah 
Hallelujah…x4

They say that Christ will come again
I know that mercy’s Your refrain
A troubled world just waiting here to know You
But soon Your time will come to light
and angel hosts will rise to fight 
a shout and triumph’s cry of hallelujah!
hallelujah…x4

One day, our dream would be for someone to play and sing this song, put it on Godtube, and reclaim the airwaves for God. Reclaim this beautiful song. Reclaim the Hallelujah.

Maybe my friends Faith & The Bridesman can use a recording of this as a backing track to their church videos? And teach others to sing it that way. 

Why am I writing this on a wedding blog, you ask. Well it’s simple, really.

We are Christians first, pandas second, and prospective marriage partners third. Our devotion will always be to God first and foremost. He is the First Person in our three-person covenant. He is the head, the Big Brother, the Father, the hand that holds fast to us, when the seas are rocky and the storm is all around, He is the Love that will bind our hearts together, when we are unloveable, unloving, or feel unloved. He is the glue in our relationship, the purpose in our lives, the lover of our souls, the friend we walk with day by day. Wherever we go, it will never be as lone lamb, but as a pack of threes.  

Now THAT’s my picture of a perfect marriage.

Don’t get Tangled.

While this post is outside of the normal topics for the BuyItWorks blog, it seemed worth addressing anyway.

There is a video website called Tangle that used to be called God tube, if I recall correctly; essentially a You-tube like service for Christian videos.

Now, if your a Christian and Catholic person who wants a more suitable environment to post your videos without the headaches of being attacked by every atheist type out there for anything you post that they hate on, this may be a great way to avoid those headaches, though You-Tube does allow you to turn off comments and ratings which works just as well.

But with Tangle, there are some real concerns that you need to be aware of.  First of all, Tangle participates in mining your usage information which allows them to market/target information to you.   For many people this would not be much of a concern, to others it will be.

However, this is not where the real issues begin.

Once you open a Tangle user account, you get bombarded daily, or at least several times a week with Tangle e-mail advertisements.  On average I find Tangle e-mails everyday or every other day and I really hate spam and unwanted e-mail, if drives me nuts.

Tangle, unlike Youtube and other video communities, or pretty much the majority of companies utilizing the web, forces you to receive their e-mail announcements.  There is no setting or preference for turning off their e-mailings.   Now, if the e-mails had something worthwhile reading, it might be o.k. for some people in moderation.  But to check your e-mail everyday and have to bother with deleting them over and over again, especially if you use a forwarding service like I use which sends a duplicate copy, it gets to be monotonous.  Had I known that there would be no opt out option for their daily pointless e-mails, I would have never registered.

When I first registered there was an occasional e-mail from Tangle, then it slowly became the daily to every other day e-mail.   I hate to say it Tangle, but you have nothing interesting to say…  create a opt out feature for those of us who hate your e-mails and video updates.

OK, enough about the e-mail bombs.

Another problem with Tangle, which is more disturbing is that in the event you totally hate Tangle or just want to get away from their e-mail (opps, sorry had to bring this back up) there is no option to cancel your account available.   That’s right, your in a virtual prison.  I assume that if you wanted out, you would have to try to contact them and request it, which is at their sole discretion.

Still here with me?   Great, then lets move on to yet another reason you should avoid the Tangle of Tangle.com.

Let’s say you upload a video of you and your former girlfriend or wife hanging out and for reasons that are just part of the insanity of reality, you end up breaking up or getting divorced.  Well, your not going to want to have old videos you uploaded on your Tangle account now are you?

Well guess what!   You’ve been “Tangled”!!!  That’s right, like everything Tangle, your not provided with the option to delete your videos or turn them off, and once your a member, if you browse the information about video posting, it clearly states that all videos will not be removed from Tangle once posted according to their terms of usage!    But how many people actually read all the little contract information when signing up for a service.   We are usually so excited about trying something new, we can’t stand the idea of reading the five pages of technical legal mambo-jumbo that tells you “The Tangle Has You”.

In BuyItWorks opinion, Tangle violates or rather withholds from its users the three most important security and privacy options that every legitimate company and service on the Internet needs to provide.  Companies that don’t provide this options should be avoided at all cost, because by using them, all of your personal information, privacy and usage information are completely out of your hands, and this is bad, because you never know when life changes will make it necessary to delete your information, close an account, remove or temporarily restrict access to videos or photos, or other information.

Top four things to remember before using any website or service.

1.) Avoid data mining companies – these companies sell your information or contract with another company that pays to have access to your usage information.  A legitimate company worth surviving can make do with quality advertising, without have to force feed you with information about websites and services you may have visited once or shown any interest in the past.

2.) If a web service doesn’t have an easy to find – Cancel account option – then that is a big RED FLAG WARNING, you do not want to have any kind of real information posted there.   Don’t worry about your conscience when you see the text – * Must provide real name and information * next to a text box.   The internet/web is a fantasy virtual world in reality, so come up with a name to use for your online fun and just tell your friends what it is so they can find you.

3.)  Avoid, run, turn-back – it’s not to late until it’s to late.   If you find a web service that will not allow you to delete your posted content, this should be a serious concern, even if it is a service based on moral or religious principals in theory.   Once you give up your rights to your information or image, the company you release it to can do whatever they want with it, and if you can not delete it, well you are out of luck.    Any quality company provides you with the option to delete your content, and removes/deletes your content when you close your account.    But wait, what’s this?   Tangle doesn’t allow you to close your account, or at least doesn’t make it apparent.

4.)  e-mail sanity!   You need it, its deserved, you have a right to it.   Avoid companies that do not allow you to easily opt out of unsolicited marketing mail whenever you want.

Conclusion:   Tangle.com has appropriately renamed itself from God tube.   Avoid the Tangle and stick with You-tube or another similar service which practices current industry standards and behavior for privacy and security.

Merely having the option to only have your profile seen by friends is poor industry practice.

If Tangle is smart, they will get  their act together before they become the next Facebook fiasco.   As many observers have seen, there have been lawsuits after lawsuits this year and last year for Facebook for similar issues.

However, to the credit of Facebook, you can delete photos, videos and there is an option to cancel your account.   Unfortunately, Facebook does not delete your account or information but just makes takes it off the main network access, which is a subject of some of its criticism.

Don’t get Tangled, you will regret it.

Today I was looking through some of my old video clips and came across this video of Kara from September 2007.  She was almost four years old and had been home for about a year.  In this clip, she tells about a drawing that she made of her family.  Just wait to hear what she says the dots on the foreheads are…..

I don’t know about you guys, but i absolutely LOVE to watch videos on Tangle (or what used to be GodTube). One of the most touching videos i have ever seen, more touching than the lifehouse skit, is called ‘The Bridge’. Definitely look it up! It’s life changing!

Maybe I’m a little slow on the uptake, but I hadn’t heard about the atheist answer to GodTube:  NoGodTube.   Looks promising, in a fundamentalist secular-humanist kind of way.  I give it Two Shrieks Up.

]]> http://mexiabill.wordpress.com/2009/06/24/socail-media-bring-on-the-pain/ Thu, 25 Jun 2009 03:50:35 +0000 mexiabill http://mexiabill.wordpress.com/2009/06/24/socail-media-bring-on-the-pain/

Okay…I have been messing around with this social media stuff long enough!  I fought against it (kicking and screaming I might add) thanks to the teeny-bopperish-ness of the pioneers such as Myspace and You Tube (still don’t like either one).  Then several minister friends had po

sted through their blogs that they now had a Facebook page and we should follow them on there as we would have quicker access to things that were going on and could be more collaborative.  I finally acquiesced.  Now nearly a year later I find that I am in a heightened state of learning about this frontier in communication.

Much like everything related to computers and information technologies this arena is rapidly growing and expanding.  And by no means do I even come close to being an expert (intermediate maybe, but no expert).  However, I

do like to try new things and explore how they work and how they can be applied.  You’ve already heard me mention Myspace and You Tube (and yes I have accounts with both that I never use).  Myspace bugs me because it simply is just too dang slow.  I want places that I visit on the web to load quickly (hey I’m running a 4GHZ sy

stem, and on cable modem at home and work).  Sorry Myspace but you

didn’t cut the mustard…and what’s with all this “pimp your space” crap about?  Sheesh!  I am not much of a video person or picture taking person so I am already a little biased against these kind of sites.

But I can tell you this… if there is a video to be had you bet you can find and everything else in the universe related to it on You Tube!  More than likely if you’ve never heard of You Tube you probably just crawled out from under rock and said, “What is this inter

net thingy and can I find a video on it?”  Great service, lousy search function.  Sometime later the conservative folks, tired of seeing people make complete fools of themselves by shaking their booties or getting hit in their privates, formed God Tube (now known as Tangle).  Much better run in my opinion and the se

arches are not quite as broad in their results.  And there are many, many more video applications.  If you would like to know more about them

, I suggest dropping a line to @TonySteward.
Now for picture management on the web.  Oh where to begin?  How about the favorites like Flikr, Picasso, and Twitpic are all great services.  Like I said I don’t do much video or pictures.  Word of wisdom?  Sure.. try one out till you find one you like!
Now that all the background has been set, let’s talk about t

he major three networks:  Facebook, Twitter, and Friendfeed.  In a nutshell here is a look

at all three:
Facebook – Much like Myspace but traditionally has been for folks that are a bit less interested in pimping their backgrounds and adding music players to their “space”.  Facebook is a service that is supported by

commercials and advertising.  Fortunately for us that use Facebook, the ads are in unobtrusive places and generally do not cause a hindrance to the sites functionality.  Positives include the ability to search and find people of interest or relation in vast number of ways including game applications.  Ability to promote organizations, causes, events, and so on, quickly and easily (and free).  And the folks at Facebook are quick to

offer ways to promote what ever it is that you need to promote for a small fee (really is reasonable).  Negatives include an onslaught of these little apps that have no quick way to preview until you’ve already agreed to take a look.  You may also find yourself quickly addicted to at least one of a great number of game applications that seem to draw people into endless hours of waste.  To each his own.  Conversations with groups of people is not in real time and generally your status updates (or posts) are directed to the masses.  Facebook does have a chat feature, but seems to have a proble

m with reliability and only allows a conversation with one person at a time (try having three different conversations sometime like that…AHHHHHH!).
Twitter – Everyone is talking about it.  Everyone seems to be

joining a twit-this or tweet-that.  Yes Twitter literally exploded onto the social networking scene a couple of years ago and ca

ught on like wildfire!  Quite simply, Twitter is a simple communication app that allows you post at status (“What are you doing now?”)  Why?  I asked myself that very same question and have discovered that there are many folks out there genuinely interested in what you might have to say.  I regularly have conversations with people all over the world in short 140 character bursts.  It’s not as easy as it sounds, but now that I am nearing my 3000th tweet I am confident that I can post most anything in under a 140 characters!  But I digress…  One of the great advantages of Twitter is that it was built around the same engines that make texting possible.  Hence, if you have a smart phone Twitter is suited for instant application between desktop, laptop and mobile use.  There have also been a whole slew of Twitter-based applications that deserve looking into.  More on that later…  Downside to Twitter?  You bet there are!  First of all is the most obvious:  140 stinking characters!  For those of you that are language purists, just walk away.  Then there is the difficulty in actually having a two or three way conversation while everyone gets to see what is going on.  Once again you can have a private conversation, but only with one person at a time and not in real-time.
Friendfeed – despite it’s rather cannibalistic name, this is a great little application that seems to draw in the best of both Facebook and

Twitter worlds.  Status updates appear as threads.  And each thread gives the opportunity for you like the comment (simple and painless when no comment is needed), comment, or hide (should you find the thread offensive or not exactly work-friendly).  Like Facebook and Twitter, you still get to choose who you subscribe too, but you also get to choose what discussions groups you want to belong to (a great way to meet folks with similar interests).  Now the really cool parts:  All of the comments are real-time and auto-update!  Conversations can be individual private threads or collaborative public threads.  You have a ton of flexibility to meet your needs.  Your threads can even be set to post to Twitter and Facebook.  Another great feature is the posting of pictures directly to the threads.  In Twitter you are able to only post a link to a video or picture service (such as twitpic).  In Friendfeed the pictures and videos are directly posted in real time.  Too cool!!!  I just recently began using Friendfeed and will update you with some of the neat changes coming in the future.
Bonus – Tokbox – For those of you into live streaming video/audio, I strongly recommend Tokbox.  This is a free service that allows you to create a real-time video conference.  I have joined in several of these little get-togethers and have seen as many as nine people involved in active exchange.  A great service to consider using and it will only continue to improve.

Now that you have all this under your belt, go and try some on your own.  If you want more information on any of these apps, try tweeting some of these folks, the true gurus of emerging technology:  @human3rror @TonySteward @djchuang @CynthiaWare

CT Online posted this very short interview with Robert A. Schuller today.   As so many of you reading this blog are tracking this story–as evidenced by ongoing blog stats–you can connect with their article here.

“The Hour of Power owns the Crystal Cathedral…”   Direct quotation. Who knew?

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

Use the SEARCH widget on the right sidebar of this blog to connect with nine previous chapters in this story.

There was a time in my life where 90% of all the entertainment i consumed was “Christian”. But those days were doomed to be numbered. My love of imaginative music led to the demise of those days. As well as my love of reading. It is true that today there are many excellent Christian authors writing books for that targeted audience, but the fact is that the books that fill the shelves of most Christian bookstores tend to fall well below par in the world of the printed word. 

Yet i know many people who live lives in which the majority of their entertainment is churned out by the Zondervan juggernaut. So i came up with a challenge for myself. For seven days to only consume entertainment from the Christian market. 

Why? As i begin this experiment i think, “Yeah really! WHY?” But for me its a week long “vacation” into a bizarre sub-culture of Christian isolationism that most of us as Christians are blind to the oddity of. These days i will freely admit that most of my entertainment consumption is not produced for distribution in Christian bookstores. i hope to gain some perspective on my brothers and sisters in the faith and the lens through which they view the world. 

The Rules: (cause it can’t be “spiritual” w/out rules now can it)

> All forms of entertainment must be generally considered to be “Christian”. Practically this means that any reading material, movies or music must be purchasable at a Christian only bookstore.

> All Television programing must be specifically “Christian” Broadcasting. TBN, GodTV, 700 Club, etc. (Anything starring Kirk Cameron with the exception of Growing Pains)

> All radio must be “Christian” Broadcasting

> Exercise is acceptable entertainment, since it entails care of the body which is the Temple of God (1 Cor 6:19)

> INTERWEB:

Twitter: For these 7 days tweets must have spiritual overtones

Facebook/ Myspace/ Other social networks: OFF limits for these 7 days. We all know thats where all the predators are at!

Faithbook/ Godspace: One of these social networking sites must be consumed during the next 7 days, as part of the experience.

Youtube: NO

Godtube: YES

Blogs: Only blogs that are overtly Christian are allowed

All other things Internet related: (search engines, dictionaries, encyclopedias {i shall return to you soon my dear dear wikipedia}, etc) a Reasonable effort MUST be made to find a “Christian” Version before using a “secular” version. 

> Remember the main goal of this is to fully immerse myself into the sub-culture of Christian isolationism. Reasonable attempts must be made to engage in said sub-culture whenever the opportunity presets itself.

So Last night in preparation for the week i  planted myself on the couch and watched my last non-Christian movie for a week, then retired to my room with my ipod to squeeze in as much of a music fix as i could, hoping it would be enough to tide me over for the next 7 days.

Never before have moments stolen away with the Avett Brothers and Modest Mouse been so sweet, and yet so fleeting. As my alarm clock alerted me that midnight had crept upon me i grudgingly stopped Isaac Brock in mid-refrain as he bellowed that his brain was the cliff and his heart the bitter buffalo and switched to the crooning of David Crowder as he boldly declared the wonderfulness of the God we worship. i lay aside Mr Harry Potter preparing to enter his 4th year at Hogwarts just as the world Quidich cup winds down and some dark force moves over the camp grounds around the stadium. i leave my plans to catch UP in theaters before this week begins unfulfilled and realize that no theatre pop-corn will be crushed between my molars this week. Already a feeling of panic is overtaking me. i know some would say it’s the seducing demons housed in my dark heart welling up in alarm as i pry myself from their grip and who knows… they may be right!

Well, i have a copy of Ben Stein’s “Expelled” i have been shirking watching in my possession (purchased from a Christian bookstore), will probably finally watch “Fireproof” (which i’m looking forward to nearly as much as my first prostate exam), i have a book i need to finish reading for work (ministry related) to get me through the first day or so, plan on a visit to a Christian bookstore to pick up the latest hot fiction piece and am already trolling itunes for some new sanctified music (as my ipod is woefully lacking in that department) and i always have my Bible to keep me company.

Over the next seven days my plan is to daily post “snapshots” from my brief vacation in the Christian “bubble” and my “suspension from secular society”

Hours into this experiment and already that new Mountain Biking magazine i bought last week is taunting me from my side-table!

It’s not just about a weekly church service, in fact it’s not about preaching at all.   It involves the purchase of an entire network.   Here’s the story from AP’s Gillian Flaccus:

The son of famed “The Hour of Power” televangelist Robert H. Schuller Sr. said Tuesday he will launch his own show on AmericanLife TV after acquiring the network in a partnership with ComStar Media Fund LP.

The announcement by Robert A. Schuller Jr. ended months of speculation about his next move after a highly public split with his charismatic father and founder of the popular weekly televangelist program.

The younger Schuller said in an interview with The Associated Press that his new series will debut on AmericanLife in September and air once a week on TV and the Internet. He said he will appear on the show, along with other actors or characters. He declined to provide more specifics.

“It’s going to be like nothing you’ve ever seen before,” he said. “It will be very contemporary and modern and it’s not going to be a preaching show. It will be a show that shares the message without preaching the message.”

Schuller’s father said in a statement released through a spokesman that he wished his son well despite their recent dustup.

But that’s just the first few lines of a longer story, you can continue reading here.

Microsoft Mediaroom Brings Virtualization to IPTV; company says the technology can deliver a six-fold reduction in the number of physical servers needed to run a full IPTV service, reaching 30,000 subscriber homes per market using less than 10 servers. (release)

Samsung, Bebo and Endemol Find their Beat; daily magazine style web series will feature live music, interviews with stars, music news and more. (Guardian)

Skyfire Comes Out of Beta; mobile browser provides full access to features on web sites including video sites like Hulu and YouTube. (VentureBeat)

Ooyala Launches Swift; white label company’s new video player has a smaller web footprint and features better bandwidth detection and a flexible, modular design. (Ooyala Swift FAQ)

Zensify Launches iPhone App; unites updates across your social graph including YouTube, Flickr and 12Seconds into one news feed. (Zensify)

GodTube Founder Buys TV Network; Chris Wyatt along with Dr. Robert Schuller acquires cable channel AmericanLife TV, plans to turn it into a “family values” network. (Broadcasting & Cable)

What does Sonia Sotomayor Mean for Show Business? The Hollywood Reporter looks at the Supreme Court nominee’s legal history and thinks that aside from some labor issues, she will be studio friendly. (The Hollywood Reporter)

Having just joined Tangle, and I mean JUST JOINED like in this morning, I have already received my first 419 scamming email, and that’s truly disappointing.  For a social service to offer access to such fraudsters as this without any proper screening system in place already, makes for a seriously frustrating start to what I had hoped would be a very fun Christian social experience.  Shame on you, Tangle, even more so when your Contact Us consists of a purely automated customer service process!  As the new ‘IN’ place for Christians like me, make yourselves more accessible through an email contact form at the very least please.  What is really frustrating is that only Tangle.com in my experience so far, allows this type of thing, as I have joined many others, from NING.com, Ning clones to Facebook, LinkedIn and whatnot, and none of them allowed criminals to so easily and blatantly chase after their members like this!

For those of you not sure what a 419 scam looks like, here it is.  PLEASE MAKE SURE YOU DO NOT RESPOND TO THESE TYPES OF REQUESTS EVER EVER EVER!!!!  This is copied directly from my Tangle.com inbox, the very first email I received after joining the site:

_______________START OF SCAMMING LETTER____________

“From:  mrsmyra
Date: 05/25/09

GREETINGS IN THE NAME OF THE LORD,I AM CHECKING ON MY CHRISTIAN DIARY AND I GOT YOUR PROFILE, THE ALMIGTHY FATHER TOUCHED ME TO CONTACT YOU, I WILL MUCH HAPPY IF YOU CAN GET BACK TO ME,I AM MRS. MYRA McLAREY. A WIDOW TO LATE DAVE McLAREY.

I AM 56 YEARS OLD, I AM NOW A NEW CHRISTIAN CONVERT, SUFFERING FROM LONGTIME CANCER OF THE BREAST, FROM ALL INDICATION MY CONDITIONS IS REALLY DETERIORATING AND IT IS QUITE OBVIOUS THAT I WONT LIVE MORE THAN SIX MONTHS,ACCORDING TO MY DOCTORS,THIS IS BECAUSE THE CANCER STAGE HAS GOTTEN TO A VERY BAD STAGE. MY LATE HUSBAND KILLED DURING THE U.S. RAID AGAINST TERRORISM AFGHANISTAN,AND DURING THE PERIOD OF OUR MARRIAGE WE COULDN’T PRODUCE ANY CHILD. MY LATE HUSBAND WAS VERY WEALTHY AND AFTER HIS DEATH,I INHERITED ALL HIS BUSINESS AND WEALTH. THE DOCTORS HAS ADVISED ME THAT I MAY NOT LIVE FOR MORE THAN SIX MONTHS, SO I NOW DECIDED TO DIVIDE THE PART OF THIS WEALTH, TO CONTRIBUTE TO THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE CHURCH IN AFRICA, AMERICA SIA,AND EUROPE. I PRAYED OVER IT.

I AM WILLING TO DONATE THE SUM OF $5,000.000.00 MD U.S DOLLARS, TO THE LESS PRIVILEGED. PLEASE I WANT YOU TO NOTE THAT FUND IS LYING IN A BANK IN SWISS AND UPON MY INSTRUCTION, MY ATTORNEY, WHO PRESENTLY IS IN AFRICA DISTRIBUTING RELIEF MATERIALS , WILL FILE IN AND APPLICATION FOR THE TRANSFER OF THE MONEY IN YOUR NAME.LASTLY, I HONESTLY PRAY THAT THIS MONEY WHEN TRANSFERRED! WILL BE SURE FOR THE SAID PURPOSE,BECAUSE I HAVE COME TO FIND OUT THAT WEALTH ACQUISITION WITHOUT CHRIST IS VANITY.

MAY THE GRACE OF OUR LORD JESUS THE LOVE OF GOD AND THE FELLOWSHIP OF GOD BE WITH YOU AND YOUR FAMILY.

I AWAIT URGENT REPLY AT MYPRIVATE EMAIL; mrs.myra.mclarey@xxx.com (edited by JDL to protect the innocent )
GOD BLESS YOU.
MRS. MYRA McLAREY.

2 Corinthians 1:3
Blessed ‘be’ the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort”

___________________END OF SCAMMING LETTER_____________

UPDATE – My second email on Tangle is… you guessed it, another scam letter!  Come on, Tangle, get your act together!  Is this really what you want your users to be exposed to?

__________________START OF LETTER TWO – ANOTHER 419 FRAUDSTER_________

___________________END OF LETTER_____________________

For more information on this drivel that still catches so many people around the world, please see the following sites when ever you are uncertain about an email from a stranger (you should be distrusting of EVERY strange email, especially from strangers):

http://www.419scam.org/
http://www.snopes.com/crime/fraud/nigeria.asp
http://fraudgallery.com/
http://www.fraudaid.com/ScamSpeak/Nigerian/index.htm

Be very wary even of web sites that present themselves as Christian websites.  Unless they understand the risks properly, any new service without spam filters, measures against pedophiles, and general adult content filtering, will expose their users to this type of criminal activity.  The solution to the bulk of these spamming emails is actually quite simple and effective, many sites already use email filters trained to find these types of emails and filter them out by dumping them into your spam folder.  At Tangle.com this is not done, or at least not done by default, so I am about to dive into it and see if there is anywhere I can set it to stop this spam once and for all.  Will keep you all posted.
Update 2 – seems all I can select to try and prevent this type of abuse in the future is the private profile setting which means that only people I make friends with can view my profile.  This may sound good, but when you first join a network like this, especially one that so obviously shares the same interests as I do (Christian) the open profile allows strangers to see your info and request to be friends, meaning you can make friends with strangers on the site within the protective framework that is Tangle.com or similar sites.
The funny thing about this latest change to my Tangle.com profile is the message below:

Profile Amendment Changes Message

So they have a filter process for changes to your profile, but no filter for spam in your inbox, weird…

Im sad to see that Godtube is no longer. It still kind of exists with in the site www.tangle.com but just the name itself was killer.

Nevertheless, I made our youth group a tangle account and hope that it gets as much use as Godtube did.

Eating contests.

Kenny Chesney’s appeal.

Why Americans are threatened by the idea of universal health care.

Why Christians are threatened by the idea of global warming.

Eating milk chocolate when you could eat the dark stuff.

The phrase, usually used during church announcement times, “We would ask you to……bring a casserole to the potluck/remember those Campbell’s soup labels/reserve your Golden Heirs Branson tickets/keep praying about Darlene’s polyps.” If you would ask, just ask.

“Customer service” 800 numbers requiring you to input your account number……only to have a live person ask you for it again when they finally come on the line.

Naming one’s children so that introductions sound like an ad for a law firm: “These are my kids Auten, Channing and Chamberlin.”

Cigarettes made with 100% organic tobacco.

Churches still failing to grasp that a group named “Pairs and Spares” will not attract many “spares.”

The people who live in warm climates and brag about it when they call you in winter, as if they had anything to do with the weather.

How I always get in front of the one person in the theater who feels compelled to offer an ongoing commentary about the movie.

The apparent brain-melting difficulty of actually matching congregational singing with the Powerpoint graphics containing the words.

Buying expensive toilet paper.

How Louie, an 8-pound runt of a cat, somehow maneuvers me to the very edge of the mattress each night.

Why Christians had to create “GodTube” instead of just putting their stuff on YouTube where people in need of God might actually see it.

The intermittent spraying of vegetables at the grocery store. Do people really believe the broccoli is fresher if it’s also dripping wet and impossible to get in a flimsy plastic bag?

Watching reality TV. My life has enough reality.

(Click here for part 1.)

The recent FBI reopening of Memphis’ Garage-gate has caused me to ask a couple of questions. Really!?! Garage-gate!?! The aptly named Watergate scandals broke in 1974 and ever since, thought-ophobes have labeled hundreds of lesser scandals “___-gate.” The suffix fades in relevancy every day and, for me, serves as a reminder of an American political embarrassment I’d rather not think about so often. This suffix needs a moratorium as much as Michael Jackson jokes do (these things require no thought or creativity). It wreaks of the laziness that plagues the faith community when it comes to taking a secular concept, adding some lame Christo-twist and calling it cool (Yes, Godtube and Guitar Praise, I’m talking to you!). I just get annoyed when terms get recycled ad nauseam to the detriment of originality.

TOP TEN SCANDALS WITH THE “-GATE” SUFFIX:
#10.  Whitewatergate – Better known as the Whitewater controversy. It had a decent name then some clown felt it needed more flair. This is the only “-gate” scandal nearly as scandalous as the Watergate scandals.

#9.  Travelgate – The 1993 firings of White House Travel Office employees at the start of the Clinton administration. Why is this a scandal?

#8.  Tasergate – a reference to the allegation that an Alaskan State Trooper, who was the brother-in-law of Alaskan Governor Sarah Palin, used a Taser on his 10-year-old stepson. I include this one because I think Governor Palin is fun!

#7.  Fajitagate – In November 2002, three off-duty San Francisco police officers allegedly assaulted two civilians over a bag of steak fajitas (which were mistaken as drugs), leading to the arrest of the chief of police. If these were Mariano’s Mexican Cantina fajitas in Dallas, TX then I understand. They had me tweaking like a fiend!

#6. Blagogate – In December 2008, Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich allegedly attempted to sell the seat of recently elected President Obama to which he had the right of appointment. How people named this without a reference to his hair is a mystery to me!

#5.  Hookergate – The U.S. Cunningham scandal in which defense contractors paid bribes to members of Congress and officials in the U.S. Defense Department, in return for political favors in the form of federal contracts. A terrible misnomer.

#4. Katrinagate (or “FEMAgate”) — Used by people who disapproved of government response to Hurricane Katrina. This one should be on trial right now! Forget what I said about #10 this one is much more scandalous in my opinion.

#3. Fiascogate – Rapper Lupe Fiasco flubbed the lyrics to A Tribe Called Quest’s song “Electric Relaxation” during a performance at the VH1 Hip-Hop Honors. This one holds the crown for insignificance.

#2. Jerseygate - A Boston Red Sox jersey placed under a concrete slab in the New Yankee Stadium by a Red Sox fan wishing to put a curse on the New York Yankees was removed in 2008. Should have been dubbed Get-a-lifegate.

#1. Nipplegate - Justin Timberlake reveals Janet Jackson’s nipple during the halftime show of Super Bowl XXXVIII. Huge media coverage for something so…small. Sorry.

This is pretty much one of the most amazing thing’s I’ve ever seen. (sarcasm)

Here are some great, notable quotes—

“Each prayer cross is hand-crafted with brilliant, genuine crystals… creating not only a magnificent piece of jewelry, but a one-of-a-kind spiritual accessory.  When held up to the light, the entire Lord’s Prayer becomes instantly and almost miraculously visible!”

“The perfect way to keep the Lord’s Prayer close to your heart.”

You even get a certificate of authenticity!

Just have your credit card ready—don’t delay, call right now!

I’ve posted more thoughts on “Jesus Junk” previously, as well.

Speaking of Jesus-junk, apparently GodTube is going for a new marketing strategy, and has redubbed itself as “Tangle.”

Thank God(tube).

In the beginning, there was GodTube. Now there’s tangle.com.

The popular Plano-based Internet site changed names this month as part of a broad effort to boost its audience and advertising base – and move into profitability.

Known as a evangelical Christian knockoff of YouTube, GodTube was mainly a place to post or download religious videos, everything from sermons to Christian pop music to cute features such as a little girl reciting Psalm 23.

As tangle.com, the video component remains, but the aim is for full-fledged social networking in the MySpace or Facebook way, only with content carefully screened to make sure it’s “family-friendly.”

But is the site, under its new, secular-sounding name, still Christian? Well, sort of.

“The old name ‘GodTube’ was a little polarizing. We wanted a name that was more encompassing,” said Jason Illian, CEO. “We don’t shy away from our faith-based community, but we wanted to expand that.” Read full story

As of today GodTube is now Tangle.com, and has stepped further into the realm of social networking. The new additions to Tangle will allow individuals, ministries, churches, groups, and bands to broadcast themselves using the Tangle.com website.

I haven’t checked out all the new features just yet. But I will be doing so soon…

Autism Sunday 2009 Logo

Autism Sunday 2009 will be held on Sunday 8th February 2009.Autism advocates are now preparing to speak out on autism and Asperger’s Syndrome to mark this international day. Autism Sunday is also the International Day of Prayer for Autism and Asperger’s Syndrome remembering over 60 million people with autism and AS in prayer.

Autism Campaigners, Ivan and Charika Corea, founders of Autism Sunday have issued a worldwide call to parents, carers and people with autism and Asperger’s Syndrome to lobby and campaign on the issues concerned with autism and Asperger’s Syndrome leading up to Autism Sunday on 8th February 2009.

WRITE to the President or the Prime Minister of the Government in your country – urge them to speak out on autism and Asperger’s Syndrome on 8th February 2009 and ask them to spell out their plans to help parents, carers, children and adults with autism and Asperger’s Syndrome.

CONTACT LEADERS OF FAITH COMMUNITIES – ask them to issue a message on Autism Sunday and show how they would encourage faith communities to support the marginalised and the vulnerable particularly during the deepening recession and the economic downturn hitting many nations around the world.

WRITE prayers for autism and Asperger’s Syndrome and ask your church or religious organisation to feature them on Autism Sunday.

WEAR YOU AUTISM AWARENESS RIBBON to raise awareness of autism and Asperger’s Syndrome on 8th February 2009.

CONTACT THE LOCAL MEDIA IN YOUR COUNTRY – ask them to feature autism and Asperger’s Syndrome on Sunday 8th February 2009 – share your story for Autism Sunday.

ORGANISE AWARENESS RAISING EVENTS ON AUTISM AND ASPERGER’S SYNDROME on the weekend of Saturday 7th February leading to Autism Sunday.

ASK THE HEADS OF SCHOOLS AND COLLEGES to speak about autism and Asperger’s Syndrome leading up to Autism Sunday in assemblies and school meetings.

CONTACT YOUR MINISTER/PASTOR/FAITH LEADER about Autism Sunday and ask them to highlight Autism Sunday in services.

‘OPEN EVERY DOOR’ THE SONG FOR AUTISM HAS BEEN RE-RELEASED FOR AUTISM SUNDAY 2009 ask your local radio station to feature this moving song for autism sung by Gresha Schuilling and written by Nimal Mendis. The song can be downloaded from iTunes. It is also available on YouTube and God Tube.

WRITE TO YOUR MEMBERS OF PARLIAMENT AND LOCAL COUNCILS/SENATORS/CONGRESSMEN AND WOMEN – urge them to raise matters concerning autism and Asperger’s Syndrome in your country’s parliament and in local councils/committees.

CONTRIBUTE YOUR FILMS FOR AUTISM SUNDAY ON YOUTUBE add your films for Autism Sunday and a call to the leaders of nations to speak out on autism and Asperger’s Syndrome leading up to Autism Sunday 2009.

DISTRIBUTE LEAFLETS ON AUTISM AND ASPERGER’S SYNDROME in events leading up to Autism Sunday in order to raise greater awareness of the issues.

People around the world have been asked to use the opportunity and campaign on autism and Asperger’s Syndrome in events leading up to Autism Sunday.

http://www.bloggernews.net/119504

Beautiful!

Mercy Me “Finally Home” WORLD PREMIER

Are you or your church using GodTube in a unique outreach ministry?

If so we would like to hear about it on Extreme Church Outreach. We are looking for examples of outreach ministries that are using GodTube in an “Out of the Box” way.

Visit our site: www.ExtremeChurchOutreach.com and let us know. If we like your idea we will feature it on our website.

Greenfield Group, meet my friend Mary Hess. Mary is a professor of Religious Education at Luther Seminary in St. Paul.  She is a Catholic laywoman and she was one of my classmates at Harvard Divinity School in the early 1990s.  Her blog Tensegrities is a rich source for religious education, media literacy, and the interplay between religion and culture – perfect for this upcoming convocation!

So you might as well bookmark Tensegrities now, you’ll be visiting often.  I especially like the title Tensegrities -  As she says:

“Tensegrity” is a word Buckminster Fuller once coined — “tension” + “integrity” = “tensegrity.” He used it to describe the incredibly stable nature of the structures he could build by holding competing forces together while respecting their integrities. I like to use it to describe what it is to be a person of faith living in a global media culture.

First this bit she grabbed from Fernando’s Desk on the difference between Rev. Rick Warren’s invocation and Rev. Joseph Lowery’s Bennediction:

The one negative, for me, was Rick Warren’s prayer, which was rambling, inarticulate and uninspiring. The contrast with Joseph Lowery’s benediction was stark. The latter was the voice of faith wizened with age and hardened through the experience of hardship and oppression. The former was an easy faith as uncritically consumed as an extra slice of pizza while sitting on the sofa watching television sitcoms.

The next thing to check out is her project Feautor and contrast it with GodTube (and compare them both with UU Planet).  See her post comparing them here.