Delay Gratification

This Ted Talk describes a study I read about years ago regarding the potential implications of delaying gratification. It’s a nice reminder for Christians that things happen on God’s time, not our own. On a more mundane note, those of you who found Outliers’ message of deliberate practice interesting will find this study thought provoking as well.

(For some reason the video won’t embed. You can find it here.)

It’s Easter Week!

Here are a couple of nice Easter videos I ran across on Vimeo, produced (very slickly, I might add) by St. Helen’s Church. Very appropriate for inquiring minds.

From Life to Death:

From Death to Life:

Did You Know?

This is a dramatic presentation on the rapid pace of technological development and it’s potential impact on society. What do these facts imply for the Great Commission?

Nerds of the World, Unite!

I got no book learnin', must...watch...video...

For those of you looking to retain your expensive undergraduate and graduate education, check out Academic Earth. This website is similar to Hulu, but for freely available course lectures. The service aggregates material from MIT, Stanford, Yale, etc. Linear algebra? Check. History of the Civil War? Check. Ancient Greek Civilization? Check. Entrepreneurship? Check. Academic Earth has it all!

The site features ratings for each course and there are plans to improve viewer interaction. I’ve used iTunes to download a few videos from courses from iTunesU (both services actually offer many of the same courses), but Academic Earth is easier to use. Syllabus and quiz materials are also offered on the site.

Now all we need is something similar for sermons and lectures! (though the Gospel Coalition website is pretty close).

YouTube Redemption

The Internet reflects humanity. It’s full of good and bad, beautiful and ugly, deep and shallow, etc. YouTube is a particularly good example of this. For every amazing piece of video, there are many times as many acts of hubris and stupidity. The video below, however, shows how one man has “redeemed” a large swath of these videos to create  a real piece of music. I imagine God is doing something similar, redeeming some of the good, but mostly the bad and the ugly, to ultimately create harmony.

Credit Crisis Visualization

For those of you who are still wondering how the financial system got into this tangle, check out this informative video created by Jonathan Jarvis. This presentation shows how good design improves communication.

Nerds + Church = Tony Steward

In researching various potential web-related products for our church, I ran across Unifyer,  a social-networking service. More interesting, however, are some of the interviews offered on the site. If you are interested in how technology and the church intersect, take a look at the video interview with Tony Steward. He discusses how the internet is redefining traditional definitions of community. I can’t link to the video directly because the site is flash based, but I’ve included a screenshot of the site below. Just surf to the Unifyer site, click on Demo Videos, and look for the guy in the red circle.

Web 2.0

Video Journal: Inauguration 2009

As a policy, NHF doesn’t endorse candidates or political parties. Nevertheless, the curious among you might appreciate the following video of my trip to DC. Post any feedback in the comments.

Worship 08 [VIDEO]

A number of NHF folks went to Worship 08 and had a great time. Unfortunately, not all of us got to go. The power of the Internet, however, can give us a taste of what happened! Here’s a funny moment from the conference. A longer workshop led by the guys from Sovereign Grace follows after the jump. Enjoy!

Inside the Praise Band Studio [VIDEO]

The venerable James Lipton aside, have you have ever wondered what goes on behind the scenes in a typical praise band? It’s hard work and we should thank God for the continuing efforts of our own NHF praise band. The following video offers a taste of all the things they are thinking about, from a technical perspective, when they play together. So for you musical wannabees, nerds, and aficionados, enjoy!