Sometimes I laugh at myself because I’m a technology and futurology buff. My bookshelves are full of books and magazines on trends and changes that will impact the way we do church in the future. I want to be part of the tribe of Isaachar–the tribe that “understood the times.” I love that stuff. But I’m also the kind of person that depends on something they don’t understand (refer to shift enter blog).

Maybe the way to say it is this: I’m a non-technical techonologist (whatever that means). I do have a deep conviction however. I think churches need to blaze a trail and redeem technology. We ought to be the trend setters. I think blogging and podcasting or godcasting are opportunities to set a trend.

There are already thousands of podcasts out there, but I think this is the first wave of a tsunami. Apple CEO, Steve Jobs, is right. “Podcasting is the next generation of radio.” It’s like the democratization of broadcasting. It’s tough to come up with an appropriate metaphor for this technological shift, but I guess it’s like a shifting of the tectonic plates that will reconfigure the way we gather information. We’re feeling the tremors now. The earthquake is coming.

It’s tough to imagine leafing through a hardbound encyclopedia digging for information isn’t it? But that’s what we did pre-Internet. The Internet changed the way we gather information. The day will come when it’s hard to believe that we used to have CDs instead of MP3s. I think CDs will go the way of vinyl records. So will MP3s.

The form of technology isn’t what’s important. The real issue is this: are we on the cutting edge redeeming it for God’s purposes?

By the way, one of my favorite conversation t-shirts says, “Computers…just a crazy fad.” The next generation of t-shirts will probably say, “Podcasting…just a crazy fad.”