The older I get, the more complex life gets. Being healthy is no longer exclusively related to how much exercise I get. It involves food, medicine (or lack thereof), genetics, lasik surgery, gym membership, etc. Money no longer involves only work and what I want to purchase…it includes repairs, rent, utilities, insurance, retirement, and budgeting. Church involves more than Sunday morning…it involves responsibilities, phone calls, committee meetings, parking teams and video production. Time that I used to spend carelessly is now appreciated for every free moment it provides.
In a world of increasing complexity, I am grateful for architects of simplicity. Men, women, companies, and applications that make the things I do faster and easier. I love having experts helping me navigate the areas of investment, real estate, bible interpretation, and living overseas. I try to be an expert to others, crafting simple, reliable systems for my coworkers at Dallas Nursing Institute and communicating the complexities of my theological education in a way that is inspirational to the everyday person.
In the technology world: I am grateful for Windows 7. I appreciate the iphone. I praise the business or church with a simple website. And I rejoice for remarkably good free Bible software.
What do you appreciate for adding simplicity to your life?
What should I add to my life to make my time more worthwhile?
And in what areas in your life should you choose to avoid simplicity, and strive to become an expert?
I am always curious to see what technology has in store for us. As this lengthy web video shows, there is room for the online world to contribute to our lives in EVERY setting. We can interact with a single device to learn about everything we see, to record our lives, and to control our transactions. It can effect our relationships, our purchases, and our travel plans.
The key questions I have begun asking myself is: “where is this information coming from? & Are these sources trustworthy and unbiased?” My fear is that a device will come along that is extremely helpful, but extremely biased, and that it’s bias will lead us to act maliciously toward a group of people, a specific country, or against the church.
Continue reading about New Technology: Metadata for Everything
If you have a desire to meet and be used as a witness to non-Christians, then you MUST have a look at this powerful networking tool. It’s one of the biggest evangelism fields I know of. Think about it: a listing of local groups that meet for the specific purpose of discussion. Search by interest, search by zipcode. Join a discussion of travelers or photographers or atheists.
A common statistic in evangelistic conversations today is the Christian’s isolation from the non-believing world. I believe this is a technological blessing that helps earnest people to stretch their social network for the sake of the gospel How many secular social gatherings do you find yourselves in?
Have a look at the local networks in the top 20 results from my area, then think about surfing www.meetup.com for yourself and getting involved in a local discussion or two.
Continue reading about Online Social Networking Part 2: Meetups…
The world is changing so quickly…it’s almost unthinkable to attempt to consider the future. A huge number of children will solve problems and work in jobs that do not even exist today… This begs the question, how should we seek to prepare leaders of the future church???
Watch this video, then have a look at my suggestions below.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5o9nmUB2qls[/youtube]My suggestions:
1. Teach them to accurately interpret the Word of God, and create a foundational center of information where the people of the world can go to find a trustworthy source of those interpretations. Because the word of God does not change, and if we can give people the universal principles of the Word of God, they can apply it effectively.
2. Make the major task of the church to train up leaders of character and effectiveness for future generations. If our main task as a church is leadership development, then one thing is for certain: We will multiply our influence, rather than see it diminish. We cannot simply judge our progress on our own performance. The acid test of our lives should be that we ensured that more people would carry our work on after we’ve passed away.
Continue reading about Another Reason Why Ministers Need to Immerse Themselves in Culture
