Have a great weekend.  See you back here on Monday!

I am a long time hater of everything Google. Why? They are just all-too-encompassing. It's like the Georgia Bulldogs. I don't know anything about them but as a Georgian, I am sick of the insanity. Most fans never even attended UGA and even more of them have never set foot on campus. Red, dogs, hedges - arghhh.

Google has been the same until the last seven months. I recently founded an online, cutting edge, Bible study tool called WordBloom. Marketers and donors wanted to know who was visiting and what they were doing. Someone mentioned Google Analytics. That was an incredible solution.

Then came Google voice which is now being used in our SOHO church environment to enable virtual and physical office communications at a fraction of the traditional cost. 

One week ago, while testing WordBloom and checking out Google Voice, I found that Chrome had extensions (like our Joomla deployment) for Voice and other tools. I had to give it a try and it was as good as they say. It uses minimal resources, is faster than fast, and incredible. 

So why does going Chrome make me a leader? I just looked over and my circle of workers and friends are trying, installing, and customizing Chrome. The same thing happened when I finally tried a Mac. I am on my third and our church is getting ready to migrate to a Mac network, my family has macs, my friends have macs, and iPads, and iTouches. Whether I want to be or not, I am a leader.

I had better be careful what I choose to do next. Good thing I have great computers and a great new browser! 

The bus is outfitted with WiFi so email and Skype are up and running. The phone just rang and one of many called to talk about the Atlanta Business Chronicle profile. I had forgotten about it. The interview was incredible and the writer a really neat guy. The photo shoot was another thing.

Who knows what the pictures look like? I don't. I just know that the very astute photographer could tell that I didn't have much "photo shoot" experience. My life's work was once described as "the guy you can always count on who is changing the world but who no one knows." I think he was correct. Another friend says that Northwest Church is the best kept secret, which, of course, doesn't really reflect our mission.

God is funny. God is awesome. He has definitively and with great wisdom protected me so that I can work His work without distraction. The very things that I longed for in my youth would have so distracted the work that he called me to do.

We'll have to see what that photo looks like!

The sun is just right, the air is crisp but not cold, the sky is clear - something feels right. The night was good, sleep was deep, morning came well. The seeds of 40 days of worship are blossoming in my heart. My mind becomes more and more consumed with nothing ill and everything incredible. I am consumed in a feeling of well being. It's euphoric. I love days, moments, minutes like this. 

Funny, this wonderful, internally powered euphoria didn't exist before I was a Christian. Any euphoria before Christ was powered  solely by the outside.

Take today for example, there is hopelessly more work than can be done, WordBloom is still new and tight, the mission trip planning is overwhelming, the lawyers won't let us use the new bus to help other churches, there are bills to pay, a dear friend now has stage 4 T-Cell cancer, another friend lies in a bed shot, and the list goes on. However, I sit here with a silly grin anxiously waiting tonight's worship. A few minutes ago, certainly embarrassing someone, I was jamming out to one of Ike's techno, pop worship songs in carline. 

I love God. He loved me first: I get that. He started this chain reaction but now He loves me back and I just can't stand it. He overwhelms me. He loves me. His is incredible. My life is awesome. Excuse me now, I need to go dance...

I just returned from BibleTech 2010 which was really incredible. Everything from technical linguists, programmers, internet and data architects, database engineers and innovators in technology - all of whom translate and provide access to the Bible in the 21st Century. The promoters did a great job providing a clean, highly valuable conference with little of the wasted time of other networking and innovation meetings. 

We found out that WordBloom is indeed at the cutting edge of Bible data delivery as people across all of the technical disciplines stopped by our display and were blown away by the concept of WordBloom. A few programmers weren't impressed with some of the things that they felt would be easy to code. Some technical linguists saw the information presented as too simplistic for their needs. The database architects wanted to know the secret to the data relations. It was a good debut of the many different approaches to help people see the power of WordBloom. Again and again, we said, "It delivers content immediately - all at once - no clicks" or "we have achieved an 85% click reduction" or "any resource, any time, anything relevant is the focus."

At various times throughout the day, people would visit the booth and say (with a lightbulb over their head), "So you could plug in any resource and any part of that resource is automatically linked and immediately presented? I can see all the Greek, the parallel Bible, the suggested readings, cross-references, everything? No tabs? Cool.  No panes? Cool." Another visitor came to the booth, listened and then walked away. He came back later and said, "So this really is the first ever Biblical thesaurus?" or "So my students just type in Matthew 11:1 and they see everything about the verse? Amazing!"

It was hilarious, fun and made me realize it isn't just the way we comunicate the idea of WordBloom. People in this industry simply have never seen anything like this ever before and it is going to take time for them to realize the power of the product. In a way, it reminds me of my faith. My faith is revolutionary but I have many new friends who just need to be able to see a portion of it, watch me live it out and then chew on it for a while until the light bulb goes off. On my end, I need to constantly show off my faith like the it's the coolest new gadget on the planet. At that point, we are able to meet in the middle and both find a relationship with God.

Snow and ice have been following me since my December trip to pick up a bus for missions in Muskegan, MI. It snowed 6 inches that day and the snow reached as far south as Nashville. We drove for 10 hours in ice and snow.

Then a week or two after we were home it snowed in Atlanta. Next while visiting my daughter in Nashville, it snowed 5 inches in one day for a fun trip home. A week or so later, I left for Monterrey Mexico for 10 days of missions.  Warmth! No - it was 34 degrees except for two afternoons. Now there is snow outside my Atlanta window again.

El Nino is dead and La Suegra (don't take it seriously mom!) has taken his place. Global warming is out and global cooling is in. 

It reminds me of the disappearing rain forests. "Thousands of acres a day!" cried Hollywood fundraisers.  20 years later there are still plenty of rain forests. There is always a conspiracy and always a cause but rarely are they checked out thoroughly before the public buys in?

What's the latest Christian craze that we are excited about? What is the latest cause? We need to make sure that we check them against Truth. If not, we might find ourselves to be Al Gore: explaining why his book on global warming is covered in snow in 49 United States.

What does the Bible say about these crazes?

A staff meeting is coming up. I am listing items of discussion hoping that management will be lesser than spiritual leadership.

I was thinking of how one of the last of our great critics' world is falling apart and how tempted I am to think that finally sin is being revealed as I correct my behavior and pray for them. 

Every decision counts - for me. I have a great life but it is a life where my heart is true but still wrestles at times with the "flesh." It is a day where I wrestle even more with 1 John and James as their direct words echo in my heart setting a standard that is so higher than the modern church. The words of these books and 1 Peter were the first words I read as a believer and those words left me, and leave me today, no option but holiness. If not holiness, then not Christ. I gave my word.

Another sip of coffee. Devotions are done. Joel is still preaching about caring for people in the world and for believers. My mind shifts between finding a way to ensure the longevity of WordBloom, planning to help reach 10,000 Mexican teens, and the exciting start of a new church in 2 years and 10 months.

Found this Scripture at a site called Rebelution.com (a site championing excellence in young believers). It supports - so well - the incredible message that God continues to press into my heart.

There is no margin for us as we are walking before a fallen world and other believers. Our faith, our claim to transformation, and our statement of love demand that we show ourselves as an example not only to the lost but to those who believe.

Recently, a group of young people that I know and love headed out for some fun. Without intending to violate the law, set a bad example or create a negative name for their church, youth group or God, these young people didn't think well and did all three.

Did the high schoolers think about the effect on the middle schooler? Did they think about the effect on the families whose property was violated? Nope. They, like so many of us before them, didn't think. I hate that for them because I know that they, like so many of us before them, now have regrets.

All of us need to be conscious of how our lives affect, influence and impact the other believers around us.  We need to remember that we can set a high, attainable standard for those we love.  We can also find ourselves in a better place to serve God with a great reputation built upon great choices. 

What does the Bible say about being an example - find out here?

If we want to set our live right and find peace, it is not tolerant attitude for others that will do it for us. It will come about, rather, by our learning to show compassion to them.

This is the almost constant reminder I give to the younger and newer leaders around me. This would be the one lesson I wish that I had learned younger.

It seems easier to ignore than to forgive but ignorance never brings peace.  It seems easier to tolerate than to show compassion but tolerance will sadden you when you realize that you are not love people even as God.

Tolerance isn't even of God. Think of it. Does God tolerate sin or challenge it? Does God want us to rescue our brothers and sisters from wrong or tolerantly leave them there? How can we be at peace if we have not done everything to help one who is wrong?

Compassion doesn't mean saying, "It is okay. It will get better. I understand." Compassion is getting actively involved when it is inconvenient. Compassion challenges, sweats, loves, speaks, and even rebukes. Compassion prays, hopes, and teaches. Compassion recognizes the state of another's soul in light of the state of their own and offers help instead of condemnation. Compassion, whether in challenge or support, always has the goal of reconciling man to God.

Tolerance can never lead to peace because it leaves matters unsettled. The righteous act of compassion settles matters for the one who gives compassion.

The question was, "If it was so great, why wouldn't you keep going back?  Do we forget? Do we get bored?"  In regard to God there are never ending flavors so if I am constantly trying the new things that God puts in my path, I shouldn't find myself bored.  I think most Christians just forget how awesome God is.

All of this was tied to Exodus 13:3 where the Jews after being delivered want to go back to Egypt into slavery. Why would anyone want to walk away from God and go back to slave labor and mistreatment?  Why, I ask, would anyone not want Dippin Dots once they have tried them? (You will have to listen to the whole message to hear about how the Dippin Dots Superstore in Nashville is like heaven)

Anyway, this simple, Sunday illustration about a simple, super cold snack's impact on my life has unleashed a furry of emails, calls and invitations.  IPeople ran up after our worship service to tell me they love Dippin Dots. In the foyer, group after group happily joined me in Dippin Dots glory. A friend, Linda, joins the Dippin Dots fan club and sends me an invitation while Dan writes the following:

I enjoyed your illustration today, and I thought I'd pass along a suggestion (if you haven't thought of it already).  If you want to store a stash of D2's, I'd try a small cooler packed with dry ice.  I know you can get the dry ice at some Publix stores, and Baskin Robbins used to sell it if you asked.  I think the temperature of dry ice is about -70 C, while the Dots only need to be stored at about -30 C.  I think the dry ice would last for at least a couple of days if you use a reasonable amount of it and keep a tight seal on the cooler.

Then there are the three invitations that I now have to join other people for a Dippin Dots trip.  Who would have ever thought that a personal testimony about Dippin Dots would rally so many Dippin Dots lovers?  Who would have thought that a simple claim of the greatness of Dippin Dots would have people asking me to take them next time?

I wonder what would happen if we told them about Christ.  I wonder what a positive, laughing, joyous, "he changed my life" message could do?  How many people would rally?  How many people would ask to go next time?