I ran across two recent articles that reinforced the notion that the Internet is radically reshaping how we will do ministry in the 21st century.

Brian Bill pointed out an article in CT called "What's Next: Publishing and Broadcasting." Here is the money quote:

Already, industry insiders are talking about on-demand kiosks that will print paperbacks right in bookstores within seconds. These kiosks' product lists could number into the hundreds of thousands, offering bestsellers, stand-alone book chapters, and self-published titles from authors around the globe.
They also imagine broadband sites and iPod/cell-phone services that will broadcast original programming from media giants alongside YouTube-style self-productions. The old media won't die, most agree, it will just be distributed in new ways, and it will face greater competition from new technologies. Radio will confront popular podcasts; TV, viral videos; books and magazines, e-publications.

The second article deals with the decision by Desiring God Ministries to take John Piper's radio broadcast off radio altogether. Calling their approach "Radio Without Radio," they offer an impressive array of statistics to show that alternative means of media delivery are skyrocketing in popularity, offering the chance to reach huge listening audiences at a fraction of the cost of traditional radio ministry. Here are the four key words that shape their strategy for the future. Media must be:

• Accessible: We want people to have convenient access to as many of our resources as possible. Our new website has been designed for this purpose.

• Portable: We want our resources, whenever possible, to be in a portable format, so that you and others can read, listen, or view them where and when it's convenient for you.

• Transferable: We want many resources that you can easily pass along or show to others, so that the vision of God we love together will most effectively spread.

• Economical: We are pursuing strategies that we believe will be the most effective at spreading a passion for the supremacy of God, while keeping our costs and prices low.

Readers of this weblog know that I keep hammering away at this point. We're not living in the 50s or the 60s or the 70s. It occurred to me recently that the world that seminary prepared me to minister to bears almost no resemblance to the world we live in today. That's not a criticism, just an observation. When I attended seminary in the mid-70s, we were still following models that worked in the 50s and the 60s. Change on the horizon, and we sensed it was coming, but no one foresaw the cultural and technological revolution of the last fifteen years.