Friends,
Thanks be to the Triune God for His Word. He has graciously revealed Himself to us in the Scriptures and in the flesh (incarnate) in Jesus.
We’ve just finished the 40 Day “eXPlain it” Challenge! (Well, actually it was 50 days because I added the 10 days between the Ascension of Jesus and Pentecost).
What a blessed time to be taught by the Holy Spirit.
As with every significant Kingdom accomplishment, we should stop for a moment, give thanks to the Triune God, acknowledge His gifts, and celebrate His work among us.
Our Gutenberg Press Moment
The COVID pandemic and events of 2020 have taken a toll on relationships, our emotions, the culture, the economy and the Church.
However, the Triune God always has a way of taking what the devil means for evil and turning it around for our good and the greater gain of His Kingdom.
Come what may, we belong to Jesus.
We win!
The social distancing restrictions of the past year forced all of us to get creative, learn new skills, embrace the “good parts” of technology and pivot to digital formats.
Martin Luther had the Gutenberg press.
We have the digital age.
Each day, new tools are invented to help us create, film, record, host, search, archive, distribute and deliver content (video, audio and written word) that speak of the person and work of Jesus.
A Time to Celebrate
Since January of 2021, we’ve spent many days opening up the Scriptures. The Holy Spirit, the Real Teacher, has opened our eyes and has helped us understand the person and work of Jesus for the forgiveness of sins.
Here’s something to celebrate!
In the first five months of this year …
146 daily vlogcasts
have been created, delivered and watched
You can access an archive of the videos in the eXPlain it portal.
All 146 videos are hosted in the courses below.
- “Friends and Daggers” (launch edition)
- 40 Day Journey with Jesus (Lenten Devotional)
- the “eXPlain it” Challenge (40 Days +10 During Easter)
- Sunday Vlogcasts (Readings for the Church Year)
- Searchable Video Index
- Audio of the Videos (in podcast format)
As Martin Luther was fond of saying …
“The devil may be the master of 1000 arts, but the Triune God and His Word are Master of 100,000 more … we aim to teach the devil to death.” (a paraphrase from Luther’s Large Catechism)
A Time to Reflect and Evaluate
Before we enter the next season of this year, I’d like to press “pause” on the daily videos and ask your opinion about the digital content you’ve been receiving.
If you have a moment, would you send me an email (paul@paulwarndt.com) and share …
- any thoughts or personal experiences about the videos
- any opinions or evaluations about the content
- any needs, wants, desired topics to cover in the future
- any advice, words of wisdom
Here are a couple starter phrases to help you (and me) reflect on and evaluate the video content. I invite you to share your thoughts by completing some or all of the sentences below
- The “Friends and Daggers” videos have helped me …
- The thing I like most about the videos is that they …
- I like receiving the daily videos but I would prefer …
- If I were to change one thing about the video content, it would be …
- In the future, I wish there was a way to …
- What if we were to …
Thanks in advance for your responses.
My Thoughts About Next Steps
The digital world has many benefits, but one of the challenges of this technical age is the lack of personal conversation and community.
Content is good and it is a gift.
However, content received in the context of community is better.
I’m currently looking into ways to build more of a community component into our time together … something like an active membership site.
Here are some thoughts about the rest of the Summer:
- Starting Wednesday, June 2nd, we’ll hit “pause” on the daily videos for a little while
- I’ll look forward to receiving and reading your comments
- We’ll evaluate some next steps
- I’ll work on the concept of an active membership site that provides both content and an element of community
- I’ll let you know when and how we’ll proceed
Thank you for your words of encouragement, patience with the technical details and the generous amounts time you’ve taken to watch the videos.
We will pray for each other and commend all that we love into the Triune God’s hands. It’s been a long 2 years for us all.
We’re tired, but we rest in Jesus!
Much joy and peace to us in Him,
Paul