I don't know, Michael... I think you might be missing it with some of your points. The statement you pulled from the European bishops isn't incorrect just because it doesn't mention the social aspect of the web. On the contrary, the Internet did indeed revolutionize the way people obtain information, much like the printing press hundreds of years before.

"The Internet isn't powerful because it connects you to information, but because it connects you to other people."

The Internet IS powerful because it connects you to so much information. The major social boom of the Internet is a recent advent (years, not decades) and natural evolution of the Internet, but it's still largely information about people--albeit highly dynamic information.

The problem is that you're painting the picture as if merely "spitting out scripture" isn't good enough, when in many cases, it really is.

I agree, YouVersion is a fantastic innovation, as are Facebook and Twitter. I'm just not sure it's fair to say with absolute certainty that marketing is never about delivering information.

I love reading the CMS blog because you're all never afraid to challenge what's going on with regard to being good stewards of the resources God blesses us with. My one reactionary opinion is this:

Any time we say 'the internet is/isn't...', we're limiting what can and is done with the internet. I definitely see your point; one day knowledge will pass away, but (some) people won't. However, I don't think knowledge and connectivity necessarily make an intrinsic duality. Besides, online connection is based on information until we act on a personal basis.

Keep creating conversation! You guys are rad.

Good points, and maybe I need to add the word "just". Spitting out information maybe fine, but there is more that you can do with it.

If the folks at life church stopped at their to do list: deliver scripture, and didn't push it to do more they would have produced a nice tool and not a tool that has changed how many people and now even churches interact with scripture.

The problem isn't that we are delivering information, it's that we stop there instead of pushing the tool further.

However, people really haven't capitalized on the interactivity of YouVersion yet. It's a brilliant site, but just another place to read the Bible as far as I'm concerned.

Just look at Facebook...they delivery 0 content. They connect people...the content is certainly there, but only through connecting people.

When people have tapped into the internet as more than just a data stream, we've seen schools built, raincoats handed out...you name it.

Very valid point, in fact I think you have 'nailed it' with 'connecting people'.

Too many folks do seem to opt for a boring, static, impersonal, brochure style, web content.

This is the sort of thing I've been ragging on of late - that social media is only a medium, not a message, and you still need an actual message appropriate to the medium. This was my rant about how most people's understanding of new media marketing and evangelism just doesn't get it.

Then I went positive and came out with a strategy for churches for how to make computer-mediated communication work for them. Have a look.

Good stuff, Michael. Keep challenging.

Life Church connecting people? Video mega-sites "connect" an image of a CEO-style religious-guy-on-stage with passive butts in seats. When I made this point on the Life Church web site, they removed my comment.

Constantinian religious models (like Life Church) are being increasingly shoehorned onto the Internet, but its a temporary trend. Emerging generations are flattening their communities.

So, perhaps you've got it half-right. The Internet connects people. But operations like Life Church seem more about top-down power and control than releasing and facilitating broad empowerment and peer-to-peer connection.

Over generations, Constantinian / attractional models will likely die off, as true peer-to-peer virtual ecclesia emerges.