Welcome to 2017!
I hope you made it well into the New Year, and that you have a lot of reasons to be hopeful for the future.
10 years ago we celebrated our first New Year’s Eve in Sweden. We had just moved here from Germany in order to develop new ideas and approaches for the church of the future, and coming from a tiny Bavarian village it felt as if we actually went into the future. But today I’d like to present to you ten things that did not exist 10 years ago - or at least hardly anyone was aware of them. Ten things that nowadays are a regular part of our daily life. Let’s go!
1) YouTube
Actually, YouTube was already founded in 2005, but in my part of the world nobody really noticed it unit 2007. Today it’s nearly impossible to imagine a world without this video sharing site. Tutorials, trailers, vacation memories everything and way, way more is available around the clock.
2) Spotify
A true Swedish invention from 2006: Music, music, and even more music. CD’s are out, streaming is in. Spotify has more music available than you can listen to during the lifetime of two ears.
3) iPhone
Yes the first smart phone ever was released only in 2007. Before that, mobile phones were nothing more than exactly that, a mobile phone, good for calling and texting. Some had a built in toy camera. And true hipsters could already open some websites even pre-iPhone. It took only 30 minutes to open them and they looked like, well, scheiße.
4) AirBnB
A looong, long time ago most people never traveled but stayed at home or on their farm. Shortly after those times you could book trips in so called travel agencies. But it was only recently that you could book a hotel in the internet. Today you can sleep on almost any private couch in the world. Thanks to AirBnb, founded in 2007.
5) Kindle
Do you remember the good old days when true bookworms had to drag along whole Ikea bookshelves on every trip for all the books they wanted to take with them? Nowadays 1000 books are not heavier than 200 grams, thanks to e-readers like Kindle, that was released in 2007 for the first time.
6) Android
Part of the smart phone family, the first little green man phone was available in 2008. Just like the iPhone it is capable to accomplish a lot - plus it’s an open source concept.
7) Canon EOS 5d mk II
When Canon presented the 5d mk II in 2008 they had no clue what kind of revolution they would release: For the first time you could film with a 35mm full frame sensor and get an image quality that until then you had to pay tens and tens of thousands for. The history of cinematic story telling was revolutionized.
8) Tesla
Their first electric sports car came out in 2008, Model S followed in 2012. The serious car industry only smiled for years at it. But now they’re getting hectic and desperate to catch up: Elon Musk has challenged the industry massively. I guess we all should better order an electrician for installing a power outlet in the garage for no one can deny that the future of the car will be electric.
9) Tablets
In 2010 the very first iPad was presented and since then all kinds of tablets are conquering the world, increasingly replacing laptops and notebooks. I believe that today’s toddlers growing up in the touch screen era will later confuse a tabletless world with the Stone Age.
10) Snapchat, Instagram and the like
Smartphones and Tablets need Apps. More than 2 Million of them are available on Google Play and the Apple App Store.
Two extremely popular apps are Instagram, invented in 2010, for smartphone photographers with squared eyes
and Snapchat, released in 2011 for having creative photoconversations.
This is how you communicate nowadays - well, at least when you are younger than…, well, let’s say, 50.
All these things came out only during the past 10 years. Today they are inseparable from our daily lives. And now comes the million dollar Question:
You see, here’s the problem:
This is only a list of ten things, there are many more out there that influence and shape our daily life massively. It impacts our thinking, our emotions, our actions, even our sleep. I know people personally who were born in times when not even the radio existed. Can you imagine the enormous changes during only one life time? On the other hand most of our theologies come from times long before the radio was invented.
At least 50% of all teaching in churches should process those developments. But if we as Christians truly believe that Scripture has nothing to say about music streaming, digital cameras or electric cars we lose our relevance and soon we’re going to look like those frozen tundra mammoths.
BUT:
If YOU are convinced that Scripture isn’t only relevant today but also in the future, if you want to help develop creative communication tools of good theology, if you want to make sure that churches in Europe won’t turn into museums and Christians into fossils, then head over to GoCommunitas.org.
Contact us and let us know how you want to contribute.
I am looking forward to hearing from you, but until then, take care, and have a happy new year!
I hope you made it well into the New Year, and that you have a lot of reasons to be hopeful for the future.
10 years ago we celebrated our first New Year’s Eve in Sweden. We had just moved here from Germany in order to develop new ideas and approaches for the church of the future, and coming from a tiny Bavarian village it felt as if we actually went into the future. But today I’d like to present to you ten things that did not exist 10 years ago - or at least hardly anyone was aware of them. Ten things that nowadays are a regular part of our daily life. Let’s go!
1) YouTube
2) Spotify
3) iPhone
4) AirBnB
5) Kindle
Do you remember the good old days when true bookworms had to drag along whole Ikea bookshelves on every trip for all the books they wanted to take with them? Nowadays 1000 books are not heavier than 200 grams, thanks to e-readers like Kindle, that was released in 2007 for the first time.
6) Android
7) Canon EOS 5d mk II
8) Tesla
9) Tablets
10) Snapchat, Instagram and the like
Smartphones and Tablets need Apps. More than 2 Million of them are available on Google Play and the Apple App Store.
Two extremely popular apps are Instagram, invented in 2010, for smartphone photographers with squared eyes
This is how you communicate nowadays - well, at least when you are younger than…, well, let’s say, 50.
All these things came out only during the past 10 years. Today they are inseparable from our daily lives. And now comes the million dollar Question:
You see, here’s the problem:
This is only a list of ten things, there are many more out there that influence and shape our daily life massively. It impacts our thinking, our emotions, our actions, even our sleep. I know people personally who were born in times when not even the radio existed. Can you imagine the enormous changes during only one life time? On the other hand most of our theologies come from times long before the radio was invented.
At least 50% of all teaching in churches should process those developments. But if we as Christians truly believe that Scripture has nothing to say about music streaming, digital cameras or electric cars we lose our relevance and soon we’re going to look like those frozen tundra mammoths.
BUT:
If YOU are convinced that Scripture isn’t only relevant today but also in the future, if you want to help develop creative communication tools of good theology, if you want to make sure that churches in Europe won’t turn into museums and Christians into fossils, then head over to GoCommunitas.org.
Contact us and let us know how you want to contribute.
I am looking forward to hearing from you, but until then, take care, and have a happy new year!
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