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Angry Birds Sermon

The Angry Birds phenomenon had been around long enough in 2011 to come up with a cartoon about an angry bird sermon. People love to give pastors ideas for sermons much like they love to give ideas to cartoonists!

Angry Birds sermon cartoon. A pastor says, "So you think I should base an entire sermon series on 'Any Birds?'"

Sermon Series and Pop Culture

So when I thought of this idea, I considered how technology has changed the church. If you walk into most churches today, you’ll at least see a projector on the wall. They have replaced hymn books with Powerpoint and lyrics projected on a wall. I see it as a good thing.

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Book Review motivation

Towards Deep Work

The previous two days, I have written about the book, Deep Work by Cal Newport. It took me several months after receiving the book to read it. Before that, this book was on my to-read list for a couple of years. How ironic is that? I knew the concept was important, but I was hesitant. Could I really move towards deep work?

I have far from mastered it so far. But at least I see the importance and am taking steps. For some time, I have been concerned about the tyranny of the urgent. I have observed that there are important tasks that all of us need to accomplish. Yet, urgent matters keep us from checking the important off our list.

The last couple of days, the book prompted me to write about the following:

Today, I am writing about the rules Cal Newport presents for deep work.

The Rules

  1. Work Deeply
  2. Embrace Boredom
  3. Quit Social Media
  4. Drain the Shallows

Work Deeply

It should go without saying, but to move towards deep work, we need to work deeply. We must see the value of deep work and commit to executing it. Cal goes into several ways to do that and I encourage you to read the book.

All of us are different and one method will work better than others. He goes into methods that range from closing ourselves off for a day, to finding time like a journalist throughout the day to use bits and pieces of time and using it with intentionality.

The bottom line is that we can make time if we make it a priority. That doesn’t mean we will always be successful, but we tend to do and go where we are focused.

Embrace Boredom

This is a hard one for most of us. When I am waiting for a computer to catch up with me, I tend to grab my phone and see what the latest headlines are. We have wired ourselves to eliminate boredom. We want that endorphin rush that a social media post or latest new article brings.

But Cal maintains that we must allow time to think. It made me realize how often I am willing to let an unknown source influence my thinking instead of allowing myself to think on my own.

This will be very difficult for most of us, as it is for me. Can we be satisfied with just sitting in silence? Can we think a thought without being heavily influenced by a source? I will need to work on that one!

Quit Social Media

I don’t know about that one! And the more I think about that possibility, the more I realize how addicted I am to different platforms. However, does social media really add value?

Do social media influencers influence us in positive ways? At best, they may give us a unique, creative twist on doing something. At worst, they may cause us to do something harmful. Who are these social media influencers anyway?

We get dragged into so many directions when we are on social media. I will have to reconsider my consumption and how it has affected me.

Drain the Shallows

Cal doesn’t say get rid of all shallow work. There are emails we need to answer and urgent items that we will need to take care of. Very few of us can live the life of a monk and sequester ourselves in an undisclosed location.

However, he does maintain we can tame the amount of shallow work we do. There is a difference between answering important emails and living by the email list. Let’s face it. Many emails are distractions from marketing lists anyway.

Much of draining the shallows involves recognizing which work is shallow and which is deep. He gives examples in the book

Towards Deep Work

I am nowhere near succeeding at these steps. But they have given me much to think about. At the very least, it has made me consider how much time I am devoting to deep work that will have lasting value. The book is definitely worth a read or listen.

Categories
motivation Social Media

It Looks Good Onscreen But it Doesn’t Print

My day job is as a Graphics Manager. Occasionally, I will see a job come through that looks fantastic on screen, but it doesn’t print well. If the graphics stayed on the screen, there would be no problem. But when it comes to printing, it defies the physical limits of a printing press.

Bright colors that take advantage of the screen’s vibrance can print dull. An image may have all the needed resolution to look great on-screen. But it can look pixelated and rough when printed. It looks great in the virtual world but put it on paper, and it falls short.

There is a difference between the virtual and physical worlds. The virtual world can look bright and shiny. But when that world meets the physical world, it can be dull and rough.

Beware of comparing the virtual world to the physical one. The highlight reel of social media doesn’t show the troubles someone is going through. A video game may make you look like a fantastic driver… until you get behind a real vehicle! The virtual world can be fun, bright, and shiny. It has yet to replace the real world we live in on a daily basis.

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church cartoons

Fashion Sense and the Video Pastor

Welcome to the modern world of fashion and the video pastor. It’s a challenging time for them. Not only must they learn how to post video sermons, but they can be critiqued by a world-wide audience for their fashion sense.

I have a fascination with gaudy fashion.

I suppose it’s because I would be a tacky dresser if it wasn’t for my wife. From the moment we started getting serious, she seriously pared down my wardrobe. She made it socially acceptable in no time.

I blame my fashion sense on the eighties. It was a time of hot pink, neon green, and weird shapes. It was the decade that brought us parachute pants, vinyl jackets, and leg warmers. I was way too impressionable back then.

Unfortunately, there are plenty of pastors my age that may have taken their fashion cues from the eighties as well. Social media isn’t kind to these poor souls. People will make comments on a YouTube or Facebook Live video that they would never say to a pastor’s face.

There is a bright side to the brutal honesty of social media. In a traditional, in-person service, congregants will frequently keep their comments to themselves. It is only the rare, crusty church patriarch or matriarch that would comment on a pastor’s sermon… or his/her fashion for that matter. But social media loosens the tongues of the shy congregants. Sure, a pastor may wince at the comments, but at least they know what the majority think of his new green and red, polka dot tie.

Cartoon of a speaker in a garish outfit. He says, "For those of you joining us online, please comment on something besides my fashion sense."
©2020 Kevin Spear. Published in the September 2020 CHOGNews

I drew this for the September 2020 CHOGNews.

Categories
church cartoons Social Media

Social Media and the New Pastor Celebrity

One interesting phenomenon of the pandemic is that more churches than ever are using social media and video to continue connecting with their congregations. In effect, it can make any pastor a new celebrity.

It wasn’t that long ago when anyone we saw on a screen would have been a big deal. If you saw that person out and about, you would naturally want their autograph. Now, anybody with a phone or computer can post a video. That is quite powerful!

Yet, it is still tempting to want an autograph of someone you have seen on a screen, whether it is Facebook Live, YouTube, or that coworker you had a Zoom meeting with. I better dust off my autograph book, grab my face mask, and get to it!

Cartoon of two men. One says, "You're that pastor I saw on Facebook Live! Can I have your autograph?"
Published in the July 2020 CHOGNewsletter