Who are you Online?

I recently read a great article by Dave Gibbons titled "Would Jesus Twitter?" He discusses Twitter and other online social networks such as Facebook, etc. and how we should be using these forms of communication to spread the message of Christ. I've been thinking along his lines of thought for a while now. Our current culture is immersed into the Internet. It seems to me that most people are online these days checking out cars, books, golf clubs, travel, other people, churches, etc. The items are endless. This got me to thinking about what sort of online identities we create. Do we use the Internet as a place to act out the imaginary or are we carrying out our faith online as well and sharing the Gospel of Christ? Don't get me wrong, these are all good things and we can take advantage of what the Internet has to offer but can we do more? Should we do more? Since being online is so prevalent in our society today, shouldn't we be exploring the possibilities of sharing our faith with our online communities? What is your online identity? What kind of online space are you creating? Would you invite the King into your chat room? Would you accept Him as your "friend?" He's ready to accept you as His!

Ashley the Trackster

As you may or may not know, I'm kinda in to photography. Here's a shot I like from Ashley's track meet yesterday in Chadron, NE.

Catalyst

cat⋅a⋅lyst   [kat-l-ist]
–noun
1. Chemistry. a substance that causes or accelerates a chemical reaction without itself being affected.
2. something that causes activity between two or more persons or forces without itself being affected.
3. a person or thing that precipitates an event or change:
4. a person whose talk, enthusiasm, or energy causes others to be more friendly, enthusiastic, or energetic.

I recently had the opportunity to travel out to Irvine, CA with Mike and Jimmy from church to attend the first ever Catalyst West Coast Conference. The conference featured such speakers as Erwin McManus, Andy Stanley, Guy Kawasaki, Perry Noble, Francis Chan and others. It was great to see God at work in the lives of others around the nation. These guys are probably some of the most influential people in the Christian realm. I would say they are all "change agents." While I have notes on all of these guys and hope to discuss those further at a later time, I'm currently contemplating change in my own life.

The third definition of Catalyst above speaks of "a person or thing that precipitates an event of change." This is pretty much where I'm at right now. I recently finished reading "Chasing Daylight" by Erwin McManus in which he writes about seizing our divine moments. The book talks about the choices we make and the difference, or change, we can make just by our choices and how we choose to live. It goes on to talk about initiative and McManus gives the call to "Just do something." There may be uncertainty and it might involve risk but as Christians, we are called to have an impact and we are called to obedience. A good friend of mine said it well this week in that we have to "move from study/discussion to application/action." It's time to make a change for the better. It's time for action. It's time to "Just do something."

Our pastor talked today about longing for God. He asked what it is that we truly long for. I can honestly say that at this point in my life, I'm longing to take action, be obedient and serve Him in various different ways. I'm ready to show the love of Christ. I'm ready to stop talking and start doing. Fortunately, I have a group of friends that are at this same place. Together, we're going to be obedient and start serving. I'm excited to see it play out and to see what God can accomplish through us as His servants. I'm excited to take our One Another Fellowship group in a new direction where we are out in our community being Jesus. It will take initiative. It will take risk. It may be out of our comfort zone at times. My hope and prayer is that others will come to know Him through our efforts and there is no better payoff than that.

I'm ready for that change. I'm ready to be a Catalyst for Christ. Are you?

Ephesians 3:20-22

²⁰Now to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us, ²¹to Him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.

Dreams

Erwin McManus has me contemplating again; he has a way of doing that. I was listening late last week to the first of his sermon series on his latest book Wide Awake. I usually listen at work. I have an iPod and I download the Mosaic podcasts. It's quiet there in my 6x6 cubie. So, needless to say, there are times when I'm kind of half-in, half-out when I'm listening to a sermon depending on what I'm working on. Anyway, back to McManus. On this day, what he said jumped out at me and I had to listen to it again. He said this: "If your dreams became your life, would the world be a better place?" This stuck me to the point that I haven't stopped thinking about it for the last several days. I often think about my "dreams" and what I'd like to be doing with my life. But, in looking at it from this point of view, would my dreams make a difference? I guess it would depend on what they entail. Mostly, this statement has caused me to think deeply about my spiritual condition or my "spiritual dreams." What is God trying to tell me and do my dreams match up with His and what He has planned for me? If I lived out my spiritual dreams, would the world be a better place? I believe it would. The hard part for me is realizing exactly what that is and how to get there. I'm sure there is a lot of faith and hard work involved with much discipline. But, I'm at a place in my life where I'm ready to find out. How about you?

Antelope Canyon Picture

This is a picture I made at Antelope Canyon in Arizona near Lake Powell in June of 2008. The colors were amazing.