Got some good playtime in with Ephriam tonight.  He pulls his shirt up and chases me screaming belly so that I will give him zerberts.

I have been involved in several different ministries for the past 10 years and I feel that something new is on the horizon.  Currently I help to lead a student small group and I am also a part of an adult small group.  I am also working on better ways to disciple my children as they really begin to grow up.  I am being protective of how far I spread myself out because I have the tendency to get so ministry focused that I let other important aspects of my life slip.

I have a passion for ministry that is quickly intersecting my passion for technology and the Internet.  I see communities being built online through blogs and social networks and this gets me very excited.  I see the potential for bringing believers together who would not normally have the opportunity to meet.  This blog is a ministry tool to me and I hope that my readers see it that way.  I love how this blog allows me to connect with other people who I can share with and learn from.  I see church communities going online to help with communications and logistics.  Lifechurch.tv has been doing live online services for a while now and I am also seeing small groups go the way of the Internet.

I don’t really see an online community becoming a replacement for a physical community because there are somethings that are missed when there is not a physical connection.  But with web cams and free services that bring people together in video chats, the Internet is getting closer.  I see the Internet as a great supplemental tool to current small groups and communities.  This blog allows me to share with the world stories about my life, marriage, kids, and my church.  I love following other bloggers who are sharing what their church is doing.  It opens a window to other parts of the body of Christ that I would not have seen.  I am learning a lot from what other people are trying to do in ministry.  I am also sharing my successes and failures here for others to learn from me.

I hope that you see how this blog is a ministry to you and I would love to see a nice little community develop here.  I hope that what I am sharing is of interest to you and that you will decide to join in the conversation.  I also would love to get feedback about what I am trying to do here.  Maybe you have a blog that you want to share with me.  Leave a comment and a link and help me build bridges across the net.  My vision is to connect followers of Jesus so that we can grow and learn together using the available technologies.  What is your passion, your ministry, and your vision?  How are you working as a part of the body of Christ?

Just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others.

Romans 12:4-5

This post was very inspiring and exactly what I want to scream about sometimes.  Go read it and see what Pete has to say about “being the church” and “spiritual masturbation.”  I am still laughing about it and may dedicate my own post to this topic at a later date.

I allowed my anger to disrupt my focus yesterday.  My anger attacked me and tried to shake me, but in the end my anger was not victorious.

Proverbs 14:29 says, “Slowness to anger makes for deep understanding; a quick-tempered person stockpiles stupidity.”  – The Message

I was stockpiling stupidity for a while yesterday thinking rashly and lashing out inside my mind and my heart.  Fortunately, I have a God who can heal my anger.

It is amazing how a few words can distract me from my focus.  That little distraction could have completely derailed all of my good intentions and goals for 2009 and it had only been 5 days.  I intend to keep running with perseverance and fixing my eyes on Jesus.  Who’s with me?

Luke 5:36-39

He told them this parable: “No one tears a patch from a new garment and sews it on an old one. If he does, he will have torn the new garment, and the patch from the new will not match the old. And no one pours new wine into old wineskins. If he does, the new wine will burst the skins, the wine will run out and the wineskins will be ruined. No, new wine must be poured into new wineskins.  And no one after drinking old wine wants the new, for he says, ‘The old is better.’ ”

Jesus told the religious leaders that new wine must go into new wine skins so that the skins will have room to stretch.  If you put new wine in old wineskins, they will burst because they are no longer pliable.  As our culture and people change over time we must learn to bring Jesus in new vehicles that will be acceptable to a different generation.  Lately technology has been the new wineskins including blogs, multisite churches, video teaching, social networking, and an online presence of community.  It is fun to watch how these technologies are stretching and changing how we share Christ with others.  I expect to see many successes and failures as churches experiment with new available technologies.  I also wonder what will be the next vehicle for the next generation.

How is your church being innovative?

Do you know those times when things make sense and just fall into place?  God never seems to post big neon signs in the sky to show me something, but He has ways of confirming that I am on the right track.

Earlier this week, I wrote a post about how I wanted to approach 2009.  I want to be more focused and intentional about my relationship with God this year and I picked Hebrews 12:1-2 as a verse for me to focus on.  Last night I went to regular church service where Joe was talking about having one life(See My Notes).  He used Hebrews 12:1-2 to show how God wants us to focus.  This morning I volunteered at the HS service and learned that the series that Alton is embarking on for the next few weeks is called ‘Refocus.’

I have been struggling with my focus already this year mostly because my wife and I have been dealing with a good old stomach bug and it seems to be trying to derail my direction and my energy to get going.  And with the 2 different church services that I have attended, I have received a double whammy of confirmation that I just need to stick with hit and hang on.

Maybe it is coincidence.  If that is the case, then I am glad that God works through coincidence.

I am a UC alumni and there has been a major shift in power since I was a student there.  Somehow in the last 4 years UC has turned from a basketball powerhouse to a football BCS competitor.  It was very strange for me to be watching UC football on New Years Day.  I had become accustomed to them making a bowl game, but they typically played around Christmas.  Now, the basketball team is barely competitive and the football team is ranked.

Unfortunately, the Cats fell short tonight of a BCS Bowl win.  Actually, they did not play well at all.  Pike threw 4 INT’s and the defense let VA Tech run all over them.  We just didn’t get the breaks to go our way this time.  I am happy with where the program is headed.  I hope to come back to another BCS Bowl and get a victory the next time.

If I had to pick a verse to focus on for 2009, this would be it.

Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

Hebrews 12: 1-2

This is how I intend to focus in the year of 2009.  I no longer want to be hindered by common distractions.  I want to have the freedom to run and be exactly who God created me to be.  It will be a year of breaking habits and starting new ones.  Small obtainable goals will be set and met.  In the end, what I see as unobtainable can be obtained through the power of Jesus.  I will be focused and intentional.

TwitMe has a lot of neat features, but last night it did not update my twitter status when I posted.  This is a test post to see if it is working now.