Scott’s tips for “Keeping a pulse on culture”

I’ve been reading Scott Hodge’s blog probably as long as any other. It’s a regular stop off for me, for all kinds of reasons. First off, Scott’s a funny guy, who often posts stuff that makes me laugh. Secondly, he periodically comes up with a little gem that will set my mind thinking about the things of faith, mission or ministry; and finally I like to listen in to his radar about other good stuff that is going on around the web.

One of Scott’s recent posts is a response to an e-mail he received asking questions about how people in ministry keep up with “culture”.

1. Here’s the question…

I’m in the process of reading through tons of blogs, which incidentally, is how I happened on yours. I’m a 45-year-old white guy who is the “minister of music” at a 50-year-old church. Our church is in the beginnings of what is going to be a painful change in terms of trying to become more “relevant.” My question for you is how do I “catch up” culturally on a personal level? I have a 19-year-old son who has done a pretty good job of keeping me from fossilizing (I have a Facebook, do Twitter, and I’m about to be blogging myself) but I was wondering if there are some books you could suggest, some activities to engage in, or some other magical pill that would aid me in the process. Any thoughts you can give me would be most appreciated

The hugely interesting 11-point response is well thought through and is full of points of reference that are worth exploring. It set off a train of thought in my own mind.

2. Here’s the post called “Keeping a pulse on culture”

3. ….and here’s my ramble, which I left as a response…

“Great post, Scott! Really interesting stuff. The thing I’ve been rolling around in my head, though, is so much of the stuff you mention is such familiar territory to me - kinda my lingua franca, if you will: stuff that stimulates me, excites me, encourages me and forms the basis of much of my thought about BEING Church…. BUT, if I transplant it to my local Church situation, does it get lost in translation for those who I spend my waking days with, off of the cyber-grid I spend so much of my existence hooked in to?

Am I an early adopter because I read the blogs and the mags…and the books, or am I inhabiting a world that is foreign those folks I serve & minister with and to?

This is not in any way meant as a criticism of your post, but rather I’m just rolling out a little bit of self analysis it has stimulated.

I’m going to answer my own questions to a degree, with the upbeat conclusion that all this stuff DOES help me, because – at least in my own little world – people are sharing the stuff, networking, breaking down denominational and cultural barriers, learning from each other’s experiences…the list goes on….”

Any thoughts of your own, people?

Thanks to Scott for the pic