As part of the Beyond Digital Initiative launching this year, Leadership Network is hosting the Code for the Kingdom hackathon series at some of the most prolific tech development centers of our country to discover new tools and strategies to address the challenges confronting our society, our churches, and our spiritual lives.  Our goal is to bring together some of the top coders and developers in the country to collaborate on designing tech solutions to real life Kingdom challenges.  The first event, hosted in partnership with Carpenter’s Lab and Menlo Park Presbyterian Church, is...

Are you like me… anxiously awaiting the release of Google Glass? I am a self-confessed technology geek and early adopter.  I’m not sure what I’ll do when Google Glass comes out… but I’m sure I’ll be tempted. And just like when the iPad came out… preachers all across America will be tempted as well… to use Google Glass when they preach. I just hope that they don’t look like this… QUESTION:  Do you think Google Glass will take off?  And will we in two years be seeing Google Glass in the pulpit without thinking about it (just like we see...

Interesting press release.  Have you considered using technology to help your church’s prayer ministry? Introducing “ORA” a disruptive technology to promote the oldest form of recognized religious expression in the Christian and Jewish faiths–prayer. The ORA system creates a personal mobile experience for the individual and an enterprise-quality community management platform for any organization to invite, connect, share, respond and interact with one another in intercessory prayer. “That’s a lot of words to describe it, but ORA’s technology gives us the ability to do so...

Recently retired pastor John Piper has found a new way to keep himself busy during his retirement: a mobile app entitled “Ask Pastor John.” Each day Piper takes five minutes and answers questions submitted by listeners, sharing his responses through the app, which is available through iTunes. This got Todd and Matt thinking about a couple of things: 1. This format sounds eerily similar to Ministry Briefing. 2. This is a great way to leverage available technology. We’d love to hear your thoughts on this effort, let us know: How can (or have) YOU leveraged podcasts and apps in YOUR...

Each year for the last seven years, the scientists at IBM have released their list of five innovations that they feel have the greatest potential to change the way we work and live during the next five years. Here’s what they came up with this year: 1) Touch: You will be able to touch through your phone.  Imagine using your smartphone to shop for your wedding dress and being able to feel the satin or silk of the gown, or the lace on the veil, from the surface on the screen. Or to feel the beading and weave of a blanket made by a local artisan half way around the world. In five years, industries...

Pervasive technology can have a massive effect on our brains and on our lives. Questions about the Internet’s deleterious effects on the mind are at least as old as hyperlinks. But even among Web skeptics, the idea that a new technology might influence how we think and feel—let alone contribute to a great American crack-up—was considered silly and naive, like waving a cane at electric light or blaming the television for kids these days. Instead, the Internet was seen as just another medium, a delivery system, not a diabolical machine. It made people happier and more productive. And where was...

According to an email from Mars Hill Church, here are some statistics from their online ministry presence.  You have to admit… the stats are stinking impressive: Since June 2011, 2.4 million people have visited MarsHill.com, 2.8 million have visited theResurgence.com, and 1 million have visited PastorMark.tvsince that site launched in September of last year. Here are some highlights of the last 12 months: 10 million sermons have been accessed through our websites, podcasts, and mobile apps. About 1 million songs have been downloaded fromMarsHill.com/music. Most popular sermon of the last...

You have to admit… these are pretty cool.  And they’ll look a lot less geeky than the Google glasses that will be coming out soon. If I had a dollar for every time I pulled my phone out of my pocket to check my email, I’d be a rich (RICH) man. These beauties would solve that problem.  But at $160, I may just choose to go the old-fashioned route. What do you think?  Wave of the future? HT:...

Nearly half of Americans think so. According to Mashable: A poll conducted by the Associated Press and CNBC found that 46% of respondents think Facebook will fade away as new platforms come along in the future. However, about 43% believe the site will likely be successful for the long haul. So… what do YOU think? My guess is that it will fade just like most things do. So will Twitter. It will be like a cassette tape.  Or a CD (for that matter). We’ll still be connecting online, but with something newer and shinier than Facebook. Using facebook in 2015 may be like sending a fax today. As...

OK… match this up to the ‘things I never knew existed, but are kinda cool’ category. A toothbrush with bluetooth. Wow… never even imagined or thought of something like this. The iPhone or Android app will keep record of how long and how well you brush, and even has a timer.  You can also set your brushing goals and lets you listen to music whilest you brusheth your teeth. Future versions will allow you to see what parts of your mouth you brush the most and which parts you neglect. Could be kind of useful.  Especially for kids (as a diagnostic to help them brush better or just...