Thoughtless Texts, Tweets, & Emails

Emailing without thinking. We do it all the time. We fire off communication, without considering whether or not email is an appropriate form of communication. Email has become an extension of thinking instead of an expression of thoughtfulness. Without hesitation we type it out, send it, and wait for a response.

Whoops!

Some things are meant for personal communication. We’ve all had that misinterprerted email, the one that forced us toclarify, apologize, or heaven forbid, talk to the person in the flesh! Avoiding email can be wise. It can be an exercise in discernment and love. Not avoiding email can be foolish. It can be an exercise in selfishness and carelessness. Then there’e the de-civilizing nature of email. The same could be said of Blogging, Texting and Tweeting.

Send

In Send: the essential guide to email in the office and home, Dave Shipley of New York Times addresses various aspects of emailing. He talks about:

  • Sending emails when we shouldn’t
  • The pitfalls of blind carbon copies (bcc)
  • Emotion and emails

Shipley suggests we should ask ourselves “Do I really need to send this email?” He exhorts us: “Think before you send.” Do you think before you send or have you had too many post-sending grimaces? Proverbs tells us we should be “Slow to speak and quick to listen.” We need to apply that wisdom to our social media interactions. Next time you consider sending something of importance or highly personal, pause and think it through. Maybe you should just pick up the phone or meet up in person. Be wise. Be thoughtful. Re-civilize!

Biblical (Ashkar) Manuscript Found

The Associated Press is carrying an article on a recent biblical manuscript discovery. It appears to be the second half of the Ashkar manuscript, which dates to the 7th century. These 1300 year old manuscript halves have been reunited in Jerusalem. The significance of this discovery are at least two-fold.

Significance of the Find

  1. It completes an early form of the “Song of the Sea” from Exodus (13:19-16:1).
  2. It confirms a remarkable level of quality in bible translation throughout the ages.

The text includes a song of victory over the Egyptians when the Jews were liberated from slavery to make their way to Canaan, the Promised Land. Despite modern protests of the miraculous event of the Red Sea crossing, extant manuscripts continue to confirm this redemptive event, without protest from other documents from the same time period.

An excerpt: “The Lord is my strength and my song and he as become my salvation…You blew with your wind, the sea covered them; they sank like lead in the mighty waters. Who is like you, O Lord, among the gods…”

What People Are Saying About It

The Song of the Sea manuscript demonstrates the tremendous fidelity with which the tremendous fidelity with which the Masoretic version of the Bible was transmitted over the centuries. – Dr. Adolfo Roitman

The reunification of the two pieces adds an important link in the chain, showing how the writing of the Hebrew Bible evolved through the so-called “silent” period — between the third and 10th centuries — from which nearly no Biblical texts survived. While in the Dead Sea Scrolls the song is arranged like prose, for example, in the newly reunited manuscript it is written like a poem, the same way it appears in the Hebrew Bible today. – AP article

GCM Collective Launches Soon!

The GCM Collective (Gospel Communities on Mission) will be launching a live, interactive resource website on March 1st! The vision of GCM is to equip churches and leaders to plant, lead, and transition churches in gospel, community and mission. The GCM site will host discussions forums on important topics such as:

  • Developing Missional Leaders
  • Everyday Mission
  • City Renewal
  • Contextualization
  • Missional Theology
  • Culture Creation

In addition, you’ll have access to the writings, resources, and interaction of the following missional leaders and their respective churches:

Sign-up for updates on the site launch and the GCM Collective National Conference, which will be held later this year!