keithseabourn

Keith's blog has moved

2006-11-19T17:44:00.000-05:00

I've moved my blog to a new location at
http://www.seabourn.org
Click here to visit the new blog location. Be sure to update your bookmarks and RSS feeds.

Keith

Smoking in Europe is all about the ashtrays

2006-09-25T00:44:00.000-05:00

I've learned that the difference in Europe, or Budapest at least, in smoking areas and non-smoking areas of public places is the placement of ashtrays. Earlier today, I was sitting in the Budapest airport waiting to board. I grabbed a quick sandwich for lunch. I sat at a non-smoking table, since my table didn't have an ashtray. The table next to me was a smoking table, since they had an ashtray.

This can be very conveniently self-reconfigured easily. I noticed that one person sat at a non-smoking table (no ashtray), but needed to smoke. So he reached over to the smoking table next to him and took the ashtray, hence "reconfiguring" the arrangement.

Now, I've walked through the Frankfurt airport and noticed the "smoking" area is a table in the main hallway with several ashtrays. It was very crowded as people stood and puffed. There was a measure of anynomity, though, since there was quite a cloud of smoke obscuring the smokers.

By the way, this is my first time through the Frankfurt airport in maybe 25 years. It is a l-o-n-g way from my arrival gate A64 to my departure gate A22! It asctually feels like another terminal, but it's still called "A".

I'm going from Budapest to Amsterdam for a meeting tomorrow (Monday) helping develop internet evangelism and discipleship for Western Europe.

Well, they are boarding. At least, even in Europe, the flights are non-smoking!

I'm an introvert

2006-09-24T05:09:00.000-05:00

I am an introvert. There, I've said it. I'm an introvert in an organization whose purpose is to help everyone know someone who truly follows Jesus. Sometimes it feels like being an introvert in an extrovert organization!

Yesterday was a great day. After 2 weeks of people, people, people as the host or director of several conferences, Kay and I had a day by ourselves. It felt good! Several asked Kay and I to join with them in exploring Budapest, cruising the Danube, exploring castles. All sounded good, but they were with people.

What did we do? Kay and I sat in 3 different coffee shops. We talked. We wrote postcards. We read. We just sat. And it was good.

Kay and I are in Budapest helping host 8 conferences over a 3 week period for leaders from every area of the world. I am directing several of the conferences.

I can remember sitting in Bolton Hall as a newly enrolled freshman in Texas A&M's College of Engineering. The course was Engineering 101. The discussion was all the roles an engineer can have in an organization -- all the way from pure researchers in white lab coats with slide rules (the calculators of that day) to sales people who vaguely remember studying engineering in their distant past. I can clearly remember thinking, “The white lab coat guys seem to have it made. They don't have to deal with people. Ohm's Law works, all the time. Kirchoff's Laws aren't flaky and disappointing to me. I really don't like people. The lab is the choice for me!”

I was an introvert, and didn't know it at the time.

On the way to my ideal lab research job, I met the Holy Spirit. I was a believer, so He already indwelled me. But He didn't direct my life. During my junior year, a student involved with Campus Crusade shared how I could allow the Holy Spirit to give meaning and purpose to my life every day. A light bulb clicked on, and the light began to reveal truths I had never fully understood about the source of power and purpose in life.

And I began to like people.

It's an amazing thing. I never really disliked people, I just had rather be alone. I never expected to enjoy being around people. But as I grew as a Christian, I found myself becoming more and more concerned about people, about their hopes and dreams, about their fears and concerns.

It is not possible to walk closely with Jesus and not be deeply concerned about people.

And I am still an introvert.

I've learned that the difference between introverts and extroverts is where I get my energy. Being around a lot of people consumes energy for an introvert. Being around a lot of people generates energy for an extrovert. Times of aloneness and solitude generates energy for me, as an introvert.

Being in fulltime ministry does not mean changing from introvert to extrovert. It means learning to draw energy from God. So where does the energy come from to host 8 conferences in 20 days? Paul says, “I can do all things through Him who gives me strength.” (Colossians 4:13). "'My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.' Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me.” (2 Corinthians 12:9).

Any good electrical engineer knows that power is the measure of energy over time. It's probably not what the Greek means by “power”, but 2 Corinthians 12:9 is very meaningful to me by realizing that Christ's power is Christ's energy released over time as I help host and lead 8 conferences over 21 days.

So yesterday was a great day. I think I could use several more days, but God gave me one, and He gave me His Holy Spirit who gives me the strength to do all things. Christ's energy is available to me.

He is sufficient.

Operations Leadership Connection Group

2006-09-24T04:56:00.000-05:00

Operations Leadership Connection Group
Originally uploaded by Keith999.

Here we are. Almost 90 people in Budapest at the Operations Leadership Connection. We're hosting leaders from Europe, Africa, Asia, Central and South America, the U.S., and Canada. Together, we are planning how to Help build thousands of spiritual movements in locations all around the world. This OLC conference was a the first time top leaders from our global ministry met to learn how to better come alongside others in leadership to build capacity to develop and sustain movements everywhere, and how to develop an operational strategic plan help build local movements everywhere so that everyone knows someone who truly follows Jesus. Our desire is to make sure this is not just a slogan, but a reality, under the leadership and strength of the Holy Spirit.

It's been a great time!

Enjoying Margaret Island in Budapest

2006-09-18T10:27:00.000-05:00

Enjoying Margaret Island in Budapest
Originally uploaded by Keith999.

Today, Kay and I took a break between conferences. We have completed 2 conferences with 6 more to go. We're primarily responsible for only one more conference, the Operations Leadership Connection. You can read more about these conferences on the registration website.

Here are some prayer requests for the Operations Leadership Connection
1. Visas some participants who are hoping to receive them in time to travel.

2. The main speakers at the conference. Pray for the daily leadership development sessions and the strategic planning sessions.

3. For Kay and I. I am serving as the Operations Leadership conference director. Kay is helping in many ways with all the details necessary.

4. For Roger Bruehl, the sponsor of the conference, and the preparations he has to make. Pray for him and Maggie that although Maggie is recovering from the bone marrow transplant, she will be able to participate and enjoy the event.

5. For the Eastern European office, as we will be a major disruption for their daily lives for three weeks.

6. For all the participants - that we will be there with open minds, listening to God, learning with one another, and that everybody will be alert, sleep well and stay healthy. For safe travel, good connections, on-time flights, luggage coming with the travelers.

7. For families of the participants, as their loved ones are gone, some for a long time.

You are in Budapest with us, speaking to nearly 100 Campus Crusade leaders from Africa, Asia, Europe, South America, Central America, U.S., Canada, the Middle East...

Keith & Kay Seabourn

Orlando Airport (again)

2006-09-08T10:48:00.000-05:00

Orlando Airport (again)
Originally uploaded by Keith999.

Kay and I are sitting in our second home in Orlando, the Orlando International Airport. We're on our way to Budapest, Hungary. Over the next 3 weeks, we will be helping lead 8 conferences involving a total of 97 Campus Crusade leaders from every area of the world. Kay and I are directly responsible for 3 conferences, and have many excellent people helping us.

Sometimes, the way to help fulfill the Great Commission is to do the intense administrative work that allows leaders to learn how to sustain local movements of committed believers. Sometimes, the way to help fulfill the Great Commission is to speak at conferences to cast vision, mobilize the laborers, set direction for the future, outline the way to change and improve, and coach people with personal action plans for their areas. Kay and I will be involved in all these activities over the next 3 weeks.

Campus Crusade for Christ calls this building capacity to establish and sustain movements everywhere so that everyone knows someone who truly follows Jesus.

You can read more about these conferences on the registration website. Much of the information is public. If you go too far down the registration process, it will ask you for an event code. So, don't worry about accidently registering. You won't be able to register.

You can even watch a 1 minute video from me (!!!) on why we are doing this conference. Click here to Keith's video... You might also watch a video from my boss, Roger Bruehl. Click here to see Roger...

We will post updates from our time in Budapest. We'll surely be exhausted, but as always, you are a very important part of our ministry. You will be in Budapest with us, speaking to nearly 100 Campus Crusade leaders from Africa, Asia, Europe, South America, Central America, U.S., Canada, the Middle East...

A new fashion trend in travel luggage

2006-08-15T22:46:00.000-05:00

Keith & Kay with travel bags

Originally uploaded by Keith999.

We're back in Orlando!

You have probably heard about the terror plot, arrests, and massive security measures at airports in Great Britain. Kay and I were finishing a few days of vacation with Jennifer in Scotland.

As part of the security measures, hand baggage was not allowed on the plane. No electronics. No computers. No water to drink. No books to read.

Even my Chapstick lip balm was not allowed. I tossed it into a trash can at the security checkpoint.

We were given a clear, plastic bag. We were allowed to have money, credit cards, passports, tickets, and prescription medicine.

Perhaps a new fashion trend in travel luggage is starting!

The lines were long. But people were very patient and understanding.

As we left the conference, I shared a taxi with another staff couple. They dropped out of the taxi first at the railway station. As they removed their bags, they gave the taxi driver a copy of the Jesus film DVD. As he got back into the taxi to take me to the car rental location, he was very excited. He said he had been having some questions about religion and looked forward to watching the story of Jesus. We talked for about 10 minutes as he drove to the Hertz facility. He said he had many questions about how we came into being, how the world began, and the relationship between science and religion. I gave him the website address origins.org that addresses many of these issues. As I left the taxi, I gave him a business card and invited him to contact me with any questions after watching the film. As he drove away, I prayed for him. He now knows 3 people who truly follow Jesus.

We're happy to be back home. The holidays in Scotland with Jennifer were very special as we heard amazing stories of her summer in Uganda helping lead the mission project of 90 missionary kids. The Western Europe staff conference was a tremendous time of hearing from God personally, and connecting with our co-laborers around Western Europe in dreaming, praying, and planning for the day when everyone knows someone who truly follows Jesus.

Antonio's Story

2006-08-05T04:24:00.000-05:00

“I’ve tried to believe but when I step back and look at it all I just can't. I've been struggling for at least 3 years now. Who is there to talk to about this sort of thing? I'm surrounded by churches but get nervous whenever I think about going into one to ask.”

Antonio, a university student in London left this message after visiting a Campus Crusade website called http://GodLovesTheWorld.com on 19 February 2006.

This week, I met Antonio, shook his hand, and heard his amazing story.

His story is not only amazing, but his story is increasingly less unique. There are thousands of stories like Antonio's, and they are increasing!

Antonio's plea for help was passed along to Roger, an on-line volunteer. Roger responded and recommended some verses to read and websites to visit. Soon he received the following message from Antonio: “Thank you very much for your reply. The sites you recommended were really useful. I found the 'life stories' section and interviews particularly interesting as I've actually had little insight into how becoming a Christian has affected others. I know it's a very important step, the most important somebody can take, and it's great to be able get help and talk to someone.”

Roger continued corresponding with Antonio. After a few more contacts, they exchanged mobile telephone numbers. After their first ‘live’ conversation, Roger sensed Antonio was ready to say an unreserved “Yes” to Jesus and encouraged him to go back to the original Gospel outline website and pray the prayer of commitment.

Here is the email he received from Antonio a few days later: “I just prayed the prayer on the site and am feeling truly overjoyed. I really tried to understand and get my head around how Jesus had suffered so much and died to save us and by the time I said the prayer I was feeling wholly undeserving. It was a surprise to feel such sudden joy after and that something had really changed. I understand now what you meant on the phone about it being the beginning of a great adventure because it really does feel like that now! Thank you so much for your help and guidance; a few weeks ago I couldn't have imagined where I would be now!”

After several more email exchanges and telephone chats, Antonio agreed to meet Roger at a McDonald’s restaurant near his home. This visit resulted in the beginning of a genuine friendship and Roger was able to locate a good church close to Antonio. Not only did he find the worship services and sermons meaningful, but Antonio has gone on to join a Bible Study group made up of young adults in the congregation. Through Roger’s encouragement and the help of various websites, Antonio has started sharing his faith with others. Roger has introduced him to the local Agape university ministry staff in London and Antonio plans to get involved in city-wide student events in the autumn.

The "Roger" in this story is a long-time staff veteran of Campus Crusade for Christ and has lived in Europe for 20 years. This year, Roger and I met again at the Europe Internet ministry planning meeting in London last February. God is planting a passion and a vision for internet ministry in Roger. I'm excited!

We are beginning to get significant traction in Europe for the important role Internet ministry can play. A staff member from the Netherlands shared that more people came to Christ through their internet ministry last year than through their other field ministries. This same comment was made by a staff member from Germany. Now I will be among the first to say this is not necessarily an apples-to-apples comparison, but the fruitfulness of internet ministry is catching leadership attention.

In strategizing with the Campus Crusade Vice President for Europe, he commented that leaders around Europe want to bring a strong focus on internet ministry. I have met with several leaders and they are all excited about embracing internet ministry strategies to enhance their field ministries. They are seeing how it has a significant role to play in helping tell the old, old story of Jesus and His love.

My heart soars with joy over seeing our leaders as well as our field staff beginning to understand the tremendous opportunities God is giving us through this mission field called the internet. Now, on to Asia, Africa, Oceania, Latin America... It looks like Kay and will continue to travel the world for a while!

NOTE: I've uploaded photos from our trip here in England. They are a combination of trips into the surrounding areas as well as from the conference.

Reunited with Kay in England

2006-07-31T13:36:00.000-05:00

Kay and I met in the Manchester, England airport. I have flown 14 hours from Singapore via Amsterdam. Kay had flown about 10 hours from Orlando via JFK. And our planes landed a little over an hour apart. It really worked! I was able to remain in the arrival gate area and meet up with Kay. We went through immigration and other entry stuff together.

We are a party of 5. We rented a "7" person "minivan" since we knew we would have luggage. The emphasis should be on the "mini", not the "van" part. It was really tight but we made it.

We are in Nottingham, England, staying in dorm rooms at the University of Nottingham. There are about 1,200 people at the European All-Staff Conference.

Yesterday, to stay awake until evening, we wondered around the town of Nottingham, especially in the Nottingham Castle area. I've uploaded photos of our first day at

http://flickr.com/photos/61374547@N00/tags/greatbritain1/

Why are we here? This conference of all the staff in Western Europe happens every 4 years. This is a tremendous opportunity to spend time with Yvan, Wouter, Andreas, Roger, and others who work together to build effective internet ministries. Last February, we met with internet ministers from Europe. See http://www.flickr.com/photos/orangejack/94666954/.

This is a great opportunity to fellowship, plan, pray, and dream together.

Lifelong friends

2006-07-30T02:35:00.000-05:00

Our Measurements conference ended Friday. Some will stay a few more days for additional training. I'm now sitting in Manchester Airport waiting for Kay's flight to arrive from the U.S. I'm reflecting on the power of going through life with friends.

I spent Saturday afternoon with great friends John and Lynn. John and Kay and I went to school together.

Daniel is one of my favorite books in the Bible. Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah were friends who went through Babylonian captivity together. Their fellowship gave them strength to remain pure in God's call on their lives.

Friends do that. Lifelong friends help each other make sense out of God's workings in our lives. The go through trials together. They strengthen one another.

So the decree was issued to put the wise men to death, and men were sent to look for Daniel and his friends to put them to death. [Daniel 2:13]
...
Then Daniel returned to his house and explained the matter to his friends Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah. He urged them to plead for mercy from the God of heaven concerning this mystery, so that he and his friends might not be executed with the rest of the wise men of Babylon. [Daniel 2:17]

Some other thoughts on friends:

[Proverbs 17:17] A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for adversity.

[Proverbs 18:24] A man of many companions may come to ruin, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.

[Proverbs 27:9]: Perfume and incense bring joy to the heart, and the pleasantness of one's friend springs from his earnest counsel.

[Eccles. 4:10]: If one falls down, his friend can help him up. But pity the man who falls and has no one to help him up!

That's how John and Lynn go through life with Kay and me. We've trusted God for ministry victories while students at Texas A&M. We've shared experiences in Africa together although separated by the entire continent most of our time there. Now we are sharing together as our children launch out into their lives, working through the 3 big issues all of us sort through: life's Master, life's mate, and life's mission.

It's great to go through life with friends.

Seafood in Singapore at the harbor

2006-07-26T20:07:00.000-05:00

Our training continues in Singapore. Last night, we went out for seafood. Where else would you go but Jumbo, the big name in seafood? Sitting in the harbor, right on the beach. It was beautiful. The fellowship with people from Eastern Europe, India, the big country, Singapore, all of whom are committed to seeing the glory of God expand around the world as people's hearts are made new, as people respond to the pardon of God, attracted by the promises of Christ, through the power of the Holy Spirit (to borrow a little John Piper).

Back to Singapore. It's amazing to think of a city as an entire country. It's really crowded here. The city is crowded. The East Asia Office is in an amazing building. Land is at a premium. So the owners of the building decided to build another building -- on top of the existing 18 stories. There are huge piers that completely support the 9 stories of the new building. The original building has floors 1-18. The new building has floors 19-27.

But the new building does not touch the old building. It's built above the old building! Amazing! They each have their own elevator shafts. We get into our elevator each morning and select from floors 19-27. (Actually, for safety's sake, there is a staircase/fire-escape that connects the two buildings, but no structural support.)

Singapore harbor is crowded also. I haven't even tried to count the ships. It's amazing.

Even the geography is crowded. While sitting at dinner last night, I could look across the South China sea channel and see Indonesia across the way.

We are spending our mornings being trained in how to use the measurement tools. We've learned how to configure the tool to duplicate the organizational structure of a country or region. We've learned how to enter statistics into the tool as end users. We've learned how to generate reports that help leaders identify effective strategies, areas of unusual responsiveness to the gospel, and staff teams who have found unusually effective ways to build spiritual movements.

The afternoons are spent with each initial rollout team configuring the tool for their region, and the countries in their region. Each team will return to their home areas and train others to use the tools.

We expect a tremendous documentation of what God is accomplishing around the world, for His glory. We expect a tremendous outpouring of the Holy Spirit as we build an infrastructure that allows Him to bless us even more with more fruit, more movements, and more glory for Himself.

I've added more photos. Click here to see the new photos.

Or click here to see all Singapore trip photos.

Measurements for the glory of God

2006-07-25T07:13:00.000-05:00

One of the interesting things about being in Singapore is that I live my day and prepare for bed about the time most of you are waking up to start yours. Singapore is 12 hours ahead of Orlando time, 13 hours ahead of Dallas time.

I've place some photos online. To have a look, click here.

We've just completed day 2 of the Global Measurements project beta launch meeting. This project is to replace our current measurements tool with a much more robust and flexible system that better reflects the continued growth of our organizational structure.

Why do we measure ministry activity? Why do we document results? I can think of several reasons.

Psalm 105:1 says: O give thanks unto the Lord; call upon his name: make known his deeds among the people. We cannot make known what we do not know.
John 15:8 says: This is to my Father's glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples. We bring glory to God by bearing much fruit.

Today, a friend shared a devotional message that really excited me. Speaking from Exodus 35:30-36:1, he called this the first operational team. That is, this is the first team called together to build something that supported the activities of the entire community.

Remember that Israel was probably more than 1 million people at this time. God called just a few to do this work as a blessing to the rest of the community. Their job was to build a tabernacle.

God called Bezalel and Oholiab and a few others to be the skilled professionals to design and build his tabernacle.

It only takes a few who are

gifted by God
filled with the Holy Spirit
motivated by God's call

These professionals were also required to equip (teach) others. This would release the gifting of others to participate in blessing the community.

That's what we've worked on. We're a bunch of professionals, using our gifting, skills, and calling in the power of the Holy Spirit to capture the breadth of what God is doing through only one movement, Campus Crusade for Christ. To him be the glory.

Tried to get bumped up!

2006-07-21T18:00:00.000-05:00

I made it to New York City, but the flight to Amsterdam is delayed. We have finally boarded, but sitting.

The plane is about half full but was expected to be oversold. I met the head attendant and volunteered to be moved to business class! She just smiled! I offered to use an upgrade coupon. She smiled and said they are not allowed to change class of service within 24 hours because of security. (Sounds good but I don't believe it. Just makes good PR and makes it "not Delta's fault".

She told me that everything shut down because lightning hit the plane to Istanbul two gates over and destroyed the electrical system. They pulled all workers inside for an hour and a half.

Glad I wasn't going to Istanbul tonight!

So although we've boarded, we're not going anywhere soon. They are waiting for passengers. I wonder how they decide how long to wait?

Anyway, I've chatted with the person next to me. He lives in Amsterdam. He's in New York on an intership. His father lives here and owns a riding school. He's traveling to Amsterdam to bring his little sister back on Sunday to visit his father.

I hope to talk about spiritual things.

The wait continues...

Leaving on a jet plane...

2006-07-21T08:58:00.000-05:00

Peter, Paul and Mary sang it...

My bags are packed,
I'm ready to go.
I'm standing here,
beside the door.

The next isn't so applicable...
I hate to wake you up to say goodbye.

But the rest is...
I'm leaving, on a jet plane...

I'm off today to Singapore. Then to England.

Hey, isn't Singapore on the way to England? Well, maybe not, but that's my route and I'm sticking to it.

I'm participating in the measurements project finalization in Singapore. I'll write more, but this is a very significant project, not just because of the technology, but it's one of the first projects in the "new, global" Campus Crusade for Christ. A project conceived and executed by drawing on the best resources we have around the globe.

If everything goes just right, Kay will depart Orlando and I'll depart Singapore next Saturday. We'll both fly all night, make 2 connections, and arrive at the airport in Manchester, England within an hour of each other. Yeah, right! Sure thing! But we sure hope so.

We are joining about 1000 staff from Western Europe at their staff conference. We look forward to personal interaction and spiritual refreshment. We'll be conceiving even more internet ministry plans!!

We actually get to join our daughter Jennifer at this conference. MK2MK is doing the youth track at the conference.

After the conference, Jennifer, Kay and I are taking a few days to vacation in Scotland.

I'll post updates here during the trip.

The DaVinci Code: Capturing an amazing opportunity

2006-05-16T20:45:00.000-05:00

Last week, you prayed for my presentation to Campus Crusade for Christ's board of directors. Here is a part of that presentation, where I explained how we are using technology to increase our fruitfulness and to capture an amazing opportunity that God is giving us.

This is a longer email than I usually write, but I wanted to open the door for you to see the amazing fruitfulness God is bringing through the DaVinci Code movie opportunity.

Every 3 seconds someone sees the gospel on a Campus Crusade for Christ website. Every 1 minute, someone indicates a decision for Christ. Every 3 minutes, an email conversation begins with a trained counselor.

On May 19th, the movie The DaVinci Code is being released globally, in 67 countries. The Christian community is embracing this tremendous opportunity to engage people in spiritual conversations. Campus Crusade for Christ is at the very forefront of capturing this opportunity. We’ve developed a powerful and popular Companion Guide. Josh McDowell has written a book, The DaVinci Code: A Quest for Answers.

The Companion Guide is available in 14 languages that we know of: English, French, Latvian, Portuguese,Korean, Japanese, Spanish, Hungarian, Russian, Croatian, Turkish, Bulgarian, Egyptian Arabic, and Finnish.

It’s being printed in about 20 locations around the globe. This global collaboration around a global event was not possible just a few years ago. We are now in a place of increasing fruitfulness through empowering technologies that allow our decentralized movement to work together in a powerful way.

Josh McDowell's The DaVinci Code: A Quest for Answers podcast has become the #2 podcast on the Apple iTunes site. You may not be familiar with podcasts, but they are an increasingly popular version of an audio book or broadcast. Over 100,000 people have subscribed to the podcast.

The Holy Spirit is not waiting until the May 19th release to begin using these websites. We are already seeing results. Email counselors are already discipling new believers. As of last Sunday on the website DaVinciandJesus.com, we have seen:
• 86,508 visitors
• 8,139 indicated decisions
• 1,623 e-mail conversations
• 986 initiated follow-up

Do you want to be better prepared for The DaVinci Code opening? All signs indicate it will be a blockbuster, both in the movie theaters and in spiritual ministry opportunities. A friend wrote yesterday, " We are in Kansas City this week and I've seen several people reading the book on the airplane, in the airports, and around the hotel. It is 'hot' now, isn't it?"

Visit Get Ready to Answer Tough Questions Raised by "The Da Vinci Code": Tools from the Campus Crusade for Christ family of ministries.

Other sites that I like:
The battle of The Da Vinci Code, a balanced article on CNN site
The Truth about DaVinci Code, a very good resource in Q&A format

I'm sure there are other good sites. What are your favorites? How are you preparing for the "water cooler" and "soccer sidelines" discussions that The DaVinci Code movie will likely trigger?

I've been counseling seekers for several weeks via email from our Campus Crusade sites. Many seekers are writing strongly worded emails. George Barna recently observed, "A survey we completed this week shows that among the tens of millions of people who have read the bestseller, The Da Vinci Code, from cover to cover, the book has influenced their thinking – but it has not necessarily changed their religious views so much as it has confirmed what they already believed prior to reading the book." Many seekers who are disbelieving of Christianity's claims find the book gives them additional ammunition. And some are "weapons free" and firing away.

I have found that it is better to not engage directly in an argumentative or correcting manner. I avoid making the argument between "me and him" and help the seeker understand the fight is in his own heart between him and God. Answering directly can keep them engaged in verbal combat. I ask them to read the CNN article (because it is from a non-Christian source) and then write me back with issues it raises in their minds. Then I remain more of a neutral entity versus a target and we can focus the discussion on his or her response to what they are reading.

This is a tremendous opportunity to capture significant spiritual discussions with people. God is giving us an opportunity for tremendous fruitfulness.

We are living out missions in the 21st century, taking advantage of the revolutionary advances in communication to reach out to people seeking peace and meaning that comes through Christ.

Are you ready? You can be!

The most important thing

2006-05-11T06:36:00.000-05:00

We are about a week from the global release of The DaVinci Code movie. I ran across this amazing news story from an online news site in New Delhi, India.

While the bulk of the article talks about a move to ban The DaVinci Code movie in India, read the last few paragraphs. This secular news site links to a clear presentation of the gospel, and quotes from the site in a very attractive way. As I looked at this news article, I realized that the only live hyperlink in the entire article is to a clear gospel page, where people can come to know God in a personal way. The only hyperlink!

Reading this, I was reminded of Paul's letter to the Philippians (see 2:15-18):
It is true that some preach Christ out of envy and rivalry, but others out of goodwill. The latter do so in love, knowing that I am put here for the defense of the gospel. The former preach Christ out of selfish ambition, not sincerely, supposing that they can stir up trouble for me while I am in chains. But what does it matter? The important thing is that in every way, whether from false motives or true, Christ is preached. And because of this I rejoice.

I rejoice because the most important thing is happening. Christ is being preached.

An evening of eternal significance

2006-03-21T07:11:00.000-05:00

Tonight, I spoke with Surjith in India, James in Australia, and Joshua in Illinois.

Surjith is a new Christian. This was our second conversation through exchanging email messages. We've been talking about how to grow, the importance of attending a local church, and having a personal time of Bible study and prayer each day.

James wrote, "I really want to receive Christ into my life, but I don't know how to go about it." I shared some basics of opening the door and inviting Jesus into his life. I hope James contacts me again to share that he has asked Christ in.

Joshua wrote, "I have fallen from grace. I believe it was because I was not real close to God. I need prayer for strength that I will not fall again." I'm helping Joshua understand the promise Jesus makes in Revelation 3:20. I wrote, "Please read Revelation 3:20. Joshua, he says that if you will open the door, he WILL come in. He does not say he MIGHT come in, or if you are good enough, he'll come in. No, he PROMISES to come in."

Sitting in my house in my shorts and t-shirt, I've journeyed from India to Australia to Illinois as an email mentor. I love being Christ's ambassador, helping people in spiritual need. This has been an evening with eternal significance, from my home in Orlando.

While in Texas, we shared with some how you, too, can have an online ministry. Today, my colleague Rob wrote a short article about two Campus Crusade locations where you can volunteer to become an email mentor. If you would like to explore how to have spiritual conversations with hurting people, read Rob's article, and follow one of the links to sign up as a volunteer.

Learning to use the "long tail of the internet"

2006-03-12T21:40:00.000-05:00

I found an interesting article on U.S. News. Publish or Panic: The credibility of books is in a million little pieces.

It is especially interesting to read of print publishers who are finding the internet continues to bite into their sales, but are finding new approaches that leverage the uniquenesses of the internet to actually enhance sales. I think there is important perspectives in here about how publishers are using complex, multi-level approaches to modern publishing. They talk about the "long tail of the internet".

Some quotes:

Their goal is to wag "the long tail"--a concept popularized in a widely read article by Chris Anderson, editor-in-chief of Wired.

When publishing executives invoke the long tail--and almost everyone interviewed for this article did--what they mean is that if you tote up enough small sales (especially via a low-cost, direct-to-consumer sales tool like the Internet), you can add up a big profit over time.

Oprah isn't the only way to get readers; he relies on word of mouth (in person or online), pinning hopes on the long tail of the Internet, with interlinked blogs, online literary magazines, and reader- and writer-friendly chat rooms and E-communities. And the chief person he relies on to start the chain reaction is the author.

It's interesting to see for-profit big-name publishers learning to use the various publishing media that we call the internet. Blogs, websites, online magazines, chat rooms, and e-communities, all working together to generate transactions, called sales.

We're thinking of trying a similar "long tail of the internet" for outreach surrounding The DaVinci Code movie. We're thinking of a combination of different media, all part of the "long tail of the internet", to reach different people. Blogs, websites, evangelistic presentations, apologetics articles, podcasts, discussion, comments, PDF files. The goal is "transactions", but in this case, it's the transaction of the exchanged life.

Amazing Hubble telescope photos

2006-03-12T18:11:00.000-05:00

Tom at Thinking Christian linked to these amazing photos from the Hubble space telescope. Absolutely amazing.

Who uses Google?

2006-02-27T17:33:00.000-05:00

I read an interesting article recently "Who Uses Google?". There were several observations, including those who use Google tend to have higher household incomes, making Google the online advertising place of choice. That's not as interesting to me as the finding:

"A survey of 1,000 Internet users in the United States by S.G. Cowen & Co. found that the longer people have been using the Internet, the more likely it is that Google will be their search engine of choice."

It seems that more experienced internet users move toward the Google search engine. Interesting.

Internet Ministry is a "contact sport"

2006-01-19T07:54:00.000-05:00

It's Wednesday night. I'm on an airplane again. This flight is to San Antonio. I'm spending tomorrow helping train Christian Leadership Ministries staff to maintain a major website.

You may recall that 10 years ago in early 1995, God allowed me to be a part of the launch of a new ministry vineyard -- the internet. I remember one well-meaning person counsel me that this was not going to amount to much. Bah! Humbug! The internet and ministry didn't seem to mix well.

I have to admit that traditional ministries like our previous assignment with the Jesus Film in West Africa seemed much more effective.

But Kay and I knew the Lord was calling us into this new pioneering work of learning how to use internet communication media to minister to others.

And it worked!

Last year, Leadership University, which we pioneered in 1995, had 6 million visits by over 3 million different people (unique visitors, in internet-speak). Christian Leadership Ministries has continued its leadership in helping people bring the power of a biblical worldview to the many issues confronting our complex society.

The ministry strategies developed at Leadership University, Stonewall Revisited, World Religions Index, Doug Yeo, and many other sites in those early years at CLM have proven extremely effective and have been adopted and refined by almost all Campus Crusade for Christ ministries who are using the internet effectively for evangelism. Those strategies are being used to expose someone to the gospel every 5 seconds, and see someone indicate a decision to receive Christ every 20 seconds. Last year, 250,000 people indicated decisions for Christ through Campus Crusade for Christ internet ministries. They sent over 100,000 email messages which were answered by 1,000 trained volunteers.

So, I'm traveling to San Antonio to help another handful to be equipped to continue to minister through helping professors integrate their faith with their academics.

Hearing these great numbers is exciting -- a quarter million decisions, a thousand trained volunteers, 9 new believers in the 3 minutes you've been reading this post. But it happens one-by-one. It happens when we take time to talk with others, at work, in our homes, in the neighborhood, or in an email.

After all, ministry is a "contact sport."

Thanks you for partnering in this "contact sport."

8 things pastors need to know about e-ministry

2005-12-15T08:30:00.000-05:00

I read a good, incisive article this morning: 8 things pastors need to know about e-ministry.

I'm involved in fulltime ministry for Christ and the rest of us need to know these things too! Here's his main points:
1. Your target audience for church growth is Internet-savvy.
2. Your Web site will be your "first impression" for many people.
3. If you're not on the Web, you don't exist to many people.
4. Seekers will visit your Web site before attending your services.
5. A whole generation exists that will seek "religion" online.
6. The Web site is too critical to be run by a volunteer.
7. You can't afford a cheap site.
8. People are viewing your current Web site right now.

Having spent over 10 years in e-ministry, I agree wholeheartedly. Want to read more? Try some of the articles on our technology website that my friend Rob has put together. Even better, read our e-ministry blog regularly. Rob is passionate about this! I'm supposed to post there also, but I don't blog like Rob! :-)

Preparing Online Video

2005-12-05T10:34:00.000-05:00

I regularly read Jakob Neilsen's useit.com usability reports. If you are doing much on the web, you should sign up also.

Today's was very interesting. Neilsen discussed a study that tracked eyeballs as people watched an online video clip. The maps were very insightful.

Jakob Nielsen's Alertbox for December 5 is now online at:
> http://www.useit.com/alertbox/video.html

Summary:
Eyetracking data show that users are easily distracted when watching video on websites, especially when the video shows a talking head and is optimized for broadcast rather than online viewing.

Missionaries run out of gas too

2005-10-19T09:25:00.000-05:00

Last week, I traveled to Seattle and Vancouver (Canada) to spend time with the terrific folks who lead TruthMedia. They do a tremedous job in internet evangelism, involving hundreds as internet missionaries. I ran out of gas as I reached the airport for my flight to get there.

Yep, missionaries do run out of gas also. There's nothing more practical than keeping gas in the tank!

Now, let me rush to defend myself, lest I embarrass myself more than I already have. Our gas gauge hasn't worked for years on our 1993 van. So I use the odometer (that little thing that records the miles driven!). I reset the trip mileage to 000 every time I fill up. Well, I usually reset it. Sometimes, I forget for a day or so, then I have to remember that it's not quite accurate.

Then I can drive until it says 360, which is 20 miles/gallon in an 18 gallon tank. So I should refill by 340 or 350, but being a male, I have gone to 360 just to prove my calculations are correct.

This time, the van let me down. I ran out of gas at only 330! Can you imagine that!??

I'm pulling into the parking lot when the van starts sputtering. I furiously pump the gas pedal to keep it going a little further while frantically searching for an empty parking spot. I sputter down one row with no empty spaces (where did all these people travel to!!!???) and am turning the corner when the van sputters for the last time just as I see an empty spot ahead. I put it into neutral and open my door to push, but the good old van doesn't disappoint. It slowly rolls to a stop in the parking spot, and I don't even have to press on the brakes!

How's that for excellent planning?!!!

Actually, I didn't feel so smart at all. Rather, I felt a tremendous flood of God's grace providing an empty spot just as the the van gave its last sputter.

This embarrassing story might have been safely hidden from all. But I've shared it with our children, a few other friends, and we also had our friends Peter and Annette Biendit, longtime friends from Shiloh Terrace Baptist Church in Dallas, visit this weekend. Since several have now heard the story, I felt I should be sure to present it in the best possible light before word spreads!!!

I'm sure there are many spiritual applications, but the simple fact is that I did run out of gas. I think I'll leave it at that!

Maintenance or Mission?

2005-10-18T09:35:00.000-05:00

I read an interesting blog post this morning. Matt Soper wrote about a conference he recently attended. His post, Where the Power Is, was thought-provoking.

Some of his most provoking thoughts:

My point is that my early Christian years directed me towards the Great Commission and an evangelistic commitment in my faith life. How curious that five years of school and thirteen years of “church work” actually softened that commitment. How sad that “church life” often (indeed, usually) leads us into maintenance and away from mission.

...

One speaker at the conference delineated three types of “issues” churches spend their time on: 1) the essentials (kerygma), 2) convictions (doctrine emanating from the essentials), and 3) preferences (matters of style and taste). Now which do you think occupies most of our time and, alas, disagreement in the local church?

It's not only "church life" that can lead to maintenance and away from mission. It is a constant work in my own soul to stay focused on the mission, not just get by with maintenance. Years ago, a mentor taught me that "The main thing is to always keep the main thing the main thing."

Yours for staying true to the mission,
Keith

Top Ten Web Design Mistakes of 2005

2005-10-08T09:42:00.000-05:00

I recommend that everyone involved in web design, web applications, etc. read this article.

Top Ten Web Design Mistakes of 2005

Summary:

The oldies continue to be goodies -- or rather, baddies -- in the list of design stupidities that irked users the most in 2005.

Take something you've designed for your church, your personal site, an evangelistic outreach, publicizing an event, or whatever, and run through this list of 10 and see how your creation fares. Learn from it.

I am.

Importance of getting the details right

2005-09-26T10:55:00.000-05:00

I read Jakob Nielsen's latest Usability Alertbox posting. He reports on a Cornell study in which the top two results on Google were interchanged (#1 became listed as #2 and #2 listed as the first). As you might expect, the most people always clicked on the first results listing. So when interchanged, users still clicked the top listing (#2 in Google's ranking scheme). But not as many.

That was the surprising part of the study to me. You can read the statistical details, but the top listing received 8% fewer clicks after the interchange. This means that people do read the listings before clicking. Even though most click the top listing, it is important to us as website developers to get the details right. The microcontent, as Nielsen calls it. These are things like the page title, the meta description data, and other elements that search engines use (or sometimes use).

It's critically important to be listed #1, at the top of the results listings. But it's also important to get page details correct like Title, Description, and have a meaningful URL.

Hurricane Katrina aftermath

2005-09-06T06:23:00.000-05:00

The aftermath of Hurricane Katrina continues. I received this email from Andi Lawrence, one of our "adopted daughters", who works in Dallas, Texas. Campus Crusade for Christ is helping fill the tremendous needs. There are opportunties to give. But Campus Crusade is also sending trained, mature college students to listen, to hug, to play with children.

Andi writes about her experience.

I just got home from the Convention Center working as there are many displaced children from their families. The stories and the images are heartbreaking. As many of you know I work for Child Protective Services and we were called yesterday with the knowledge that children were coming to Dallas without family or close friends. I got there around 6 this morning to begin assessing the situation with a few others in my building. The convention center is not filled yet, but buses are continuing to come in. I believe Reunion is full.

I think we have all heard people complaining about the lack of response to the people. I can tell you that they are trying, but it is slow. When I arrived they had a basic medical center set up, but by the time I left there was a major triage center created, mental health center created, the kidney diaylsis machines were coming in, the tetanous shots was arriving, diabetic section. People were getting treated. But the ratio of people to medical personnel is outrageous. The medical supplies were coming. Medication was arriving and more was arriving for the elderly that has high blood pressure, swelling problems, heart problems, etc. Food was there for the people. Clothes were there for the people, but not enough. The food and clothing was not in abundance, but it is there. They have water, diapers, formula, gatorade, pedilite all in the back for future use. There are not enough cots for the people. They are bringing more cots in and blow up mattresses for people. People were making makeshift beds with chairs.

Why I was there... Children and parents were getting on buses, but they would be separated. We had many parents coming to us saying that their child got on a bus and they have not seen them since. We had children that were running from us as they thought they would go into foster care forever. There were children that we found and through calling different phone numbers we were able to find relatives to come and get them. And there are children that we are having to put in temporary foster care as we have no current leads on where to locate their family.

Stories from the refugees... The stories are awful. The Superdome experience was as awful as the news was reporting if not worse. The sight of seeing the dead and not being able to help. Not being rescued by people because the people were demanding money to be rescue them. The suicide of others. The attacks of women and children.

The need is great. The planning is overwhelming and frustrating to many as we see the need for these people. The people will be staying in Dallas and starting over their lives. This will be a long term issue that the City of Dallas (and many other cities) will be working with for months to come. If you can donate money, please do so. The Red Cross will use it wisely. If you want to volunteer, please do so. To volunteer is to understand this problem firsthand and see the need. You will be touched and you will have the desire to do more. Some people just want someone to talk to and tell them their story about the Hurricane and the loss of their "world". I had an elderly women that I spoke to this morning that was telling me about her story.

I know this is very overwhelming and I am sorry, but I want you to know. I want you to have a desire to volunteer your time. I want you to see the need to give monetarily. If you would like to know more, you are welcome to call me or email me.

Thanks for taking this time to read this email as you are getting an abundance of emails concerning this situation.

In His Grip,
Andi

If you live in a city of refuge, you have a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to personally express God's love to refugees. Normally, we read about these in the newspaper and see the images from Sudan, Ethiopia, or Thailand. Many are in cities where they can personally experience God working through you as you are missionaries to the downtrodden, givers of hope to those in need.

Cross-cultural Barbeque

2005-08-27T12:17:00.000-05:00

Well, we've been immersed in Sowuth Cahrolinah culture for 2 days now. Last night, we were invited to the rehearsal dinner at Jakie's Barbeque. Being from Texas, I was really excited. Barbeque is one of my favorite food groups!

As I walked down the buffet line, I kept looking for the meat. It was obvious their selections were incomplete. I mean, there was no BEEF! How can a self-respecting barbeque shop, especially one written up in USA Today, not serve real barbeque?

Finally, I got through the buffet, having decided I could live with pulled pork and something that looked like it got ground up in a food processor on steriods. I think they call it hash. It was ground up pork. They even had one dish where this hash was mixed in with rice. Never saw such a thing before.

Arriving at my table with this "pretend" barbeque, I started looking for the sauces. There were two. One was mustard masquerading as barbeque sauce. The other was vinegar with a similar pretention of being barbeque sauce. I mean, where is the Bodacious Barbeque sauce when you need it?

But as I looked around, others were chowing down on this "barbeque", squirting the pretend sauces. I guess they just do things different here in the palmetto state. I decided to call it a cross-cultural experience. It made the "barbeque" and "sauce" taste better!

Prayer, Internet, Discipleship

2005-08-24T18:00:00.000-05:00

I read a very interesting article. It is an interview between Rick Warren and David Cho (pastor of the largest church in the world, located in Seoul). There are a several very important parts to this discussion: the priority of prayer, the role of internet technology, the role of cell churches (discipleship groups). All are crucial elements of Cho's strategy to grow strong disciples, grow the church, and reach the world.

Very interesting combination...

Thanks to John Edmiston for alerting me. (John is President of Asian Internet Bible Institute Using computers and the Internet to facilitate the Great Commission.)

Keith

Silence is the measure of the power to act

2005-08-24T07:45:00.000-05:00

A friend sent this today. Very profound, in my opinion.

Silence is the measure of the power to act; that is, a person never has more power to act than he has silence. Anyone can understand that to do something is far greater than to talk about doing it. If, therefore, a person has a plan or idea and is fully resolved to carry it out, he does not need to talk about it. What he talks about in connection with the proposed action is what he is most unsure of and most unwilling to do.

Soren Kierkegaard, in Provocations

Search Engine Secret's from Google's Patent Filing

2005-06-16T10:40:00.000-05:00

To all of us interested in having our websites rank high in Google's search engine, called search engine optimization, Google revealed some of it's ranking algorithm secrets in a recent patent filing. I have not read the patent, but an article by Daniel Yates was a very helpful summary.

The bottom line confirmed what I've thought for quite some time: we should do our job well, ethically, grow links because we are providing top quality content, be faithful to keep our sites current. We should avoid tempting shortcuts that promise overnight success.

Several words come to mind -- patience, goodness, faithfulness from Galatians 5:22. Sowing and reaping from Galatians 6:9 -- "Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up."

Kind of sounds like a plan for building high-ranking websites...
... or how to grow in our journey with Jesus called the Christian life.

Succeeding in the search engines

2005-06-11T07:02:00.000-05:00

"How do searchers find what they want online?" Tony Whittaker links to a very interesting article for those engaging in search engine optimization. The current issue of Web Evangelism Bulletin reports on a story from a search engine recent conference. Read the full article online.

The article reports some very interesting things. The study monitored volunteers as they performed tasks to identify products. Some of the findings I thought very interesting:

Most people click on one of the top 3 listings.
More than half click on the first sponsored link.
People don't usually start searching for brand names, but for products.
60% click on one of the first 3 organic listings (the natural search results which come from search engine optimization work).
85% click on one of the first 3 sponsored listings (the results which come from purchasing ad words).

The final two points are amazing to me. I would have expected people to prefer natural results more than sponsored listings. I do. Maybe it's because this study was for product searches, not "quality of life" type searches (how do I raise teenagers, understanding Star Wars Episode III, etc).

I really liked the closing observation:

From time to time people type in same search string trying to get new answer." It seems the only hope is for smarter search engines, rather than smarter users, she added with a smile

It seems that people trust frequent improvements in search technology more than improvements in their search techniques. It also means that even if you're not in the top 3 results (natural or sponsored), keep working on it. You may be there when the same person searches for the same search string tomorrow.

What strikes you about this study?

[By the way, if you are not subscribed to Tony's Web Evangelism Bulletin, why not? To join, send a blank email to mailto:bulletin-subscribe@web-evangelism.com.]

Was MinistryNet a success?

2005-06-07T11:33:00.000-05:00

Weng Kong in Japan has launched an internet ministry plan with partner evangelical ministries to use the Narnia movie, The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe which will be released next year. They expect it to be very popular in Japan.

Andrey in Ukraine is working with Alex in Ukraine, Eric in France, and Tom and Jerry in Hungary to produce a Russian language evangelistic website.

Kxxxxx in a country in the Middle East is encouraging every staff member build a personal evangelistic website. When they share their faith with someone, they will give them a card with their personal website address and encourage the person to visit the site.

Oumar in Mali has taught his campus director to use email to followup females he cannot meet with personally.

Hans in Germany has launched a project to create an evangelistic website for university students. See the English U.S. version at EveryStudent.com.

What do all these have in common?

Read our May newsletter online about MinistryNet: Budapest 2005. Sixty seven people from 27 countries came to Budapest, Hungary in April to interact with fellow web ministers as we explored how use the internet to engage people so we can help them with their relationship with God.

Soon after the conference, someone asked me, “Was MinistryNet a success?” I told them that the conference was a successful event, but to ask me again in a year if we had succeeded in mobilizing more internet missionaries who embrace timely communication tools to share the timeless message of John 3:16.

However, I don’t think the Lord intends for us to wait a year. In the past few weeks, I’ve heard these amazing stories from Oumar, Hans, Andrew, Weng Kong, and others. In the 12 weeks since MinistryNet, evangelistic outreach projects based on MinistryNet principles of internet ministry are exploding around the world. Amazing. God is so faithful in mobilizing laborers for the harvest.

Good practical advice

2005-05-25T06:39:00.000-05:00

I read this recently and thought it had some good practical advice for us all.

Accept that some days you're the pigeon, and some days you're the statue.
Always keep your words soft and sweet, just in case you have to eat them.
A truly happy person is one who can enjoy the scenery on a detour.
Remind yourself that birthdays are good for you: The more you have, the longer you live.
Drive carefully. It's not only cars that can be recalled by their maker.
If you can't be kind, at least have the decency to be vague or silent.
If you lend someone $20 and never see that person again, it was probably worth it.
Never buy a car you can't push.
Never put both feet in your mouth at the same time, because then you won't have a leg to stand on.
When everything's coming your way, you're in the wrong lane.
You may be only one person in the world, but you may also be the world to one person.
Some mistakes are too much fun to only make once.
Don't cry because it's over: Smile because it happened.
We could learn a lot from crayons: some are sharp, some are pretty and some are dull; some have weird names, some have ragged wrappers, and all are different from each other but they all have to live in the same box together.
Happiness often comes through doors you didn't even know you left open.

Thanks to Sermon Fodder for these insights!
Keith

"When it comes time to die, make sure that all you have to do is die."

2005-05-12T09:10:00.000-05:00

I read an interesting quote this morning.

American missionary and martyr Jim Elliot reflected in his journal: "When it comes time to die, make sure that all you have to do is die." Source: WitandWisdom.

It's an interesting thought. I remember reading biographies of early American heroes during my teen years. I was surprised that some would come to the end of their life and say something like, "If I could only life my life again, I would do it differently."

I think this may be what Jim Elliot was reflecting on. When it comes time to die, there should be no regrets, nothing we wish we had said, nothing we truly wish we had done.

That's my prayer today. That I'll live my life so that when it's time to die, all I have left to do is to die.

Partnering around the world

2005-04-04T08:05:00.000-05:00

MinistryNet has begun. We launched last night. We have 67 people from 26 countries. Yesterday Kay and I went to church with Oumar from Mali, Jeengul from Kyrgyzstan and Richard from Singapore. We walked to the conference meeting last night with Kamel from Jordan and Eric from France. We ate breakfast this morning with Andrey and Ella from Ukraine, and talked about their 6 and 3 year old children.

Some of the MinistryNet participants are blogging several times throughout the day. You can check
http://ministrynet.blogspot.com/
regularly throughout the day to see what is happening, get summaries of what each speaker is saying, and pray for our time together.

Kay and I are so blessed to meet people from around the world, who are bound together by a commitment to spend their lives helping make sure everyone knows someone who truly follows Jesus.

The internet -- 10 years past, 10 years future

2005-03-19T09:31:00.000-05:00

This item on the history and future of the internet came out in today in Tony Whittaker's Web Evangelism Guide. It's an 8 minute presentation. The facts from 1994 to 2005 are accurate. The projections for the next 10 years (2005 to 2014) are based on directions from the internet of the past 10 years.

It's a very amazing, thought-provoking presentation. I encourage everyone to watch it. Pay special attention to the growing role of social networks and personalization. I thought the ending thoughts of "It's what we wanted. It's what we chose." is very powerful.

What if this perspective plays out fairly accurately? The issue is not whether it's right or wrong (personalized, use of private info, somewhat invasive use of info from your social network to further personalize your experience, etc.). The issue is what if it does work out this way? What can we do to make sure there is spiritual truth included in the powerful information engines that drive content at people. What if the world's population decides that giving up personal privacy is worth it for the quality of information we can receive?

I remember watching a Francis Schaeffer film series How Should We Then Live? in the 1980's. The series was a similar thing, taking the past and using it to project the future world and asking Christians how should we then live to be ready. In it, Shaeffer said that people will give up all rights as long as they are guaranteed two things -- personal peace and affluence. People will submit to authoritarian police states to guarantee safety (personal peace). Personal peace and affluence. Sounds much like personalized information and easy life through access to info, even if it's not accurate. Personalized is more important than accurate, more important than free.

What should we be doing today to make sure the gospel is accessable to people through these powerful information engines that we see developing?

Introducing Abigail Grace

2005-02-23T22:43:00.000-05:00

"I prayed for this child, and the Lord has granted me what I asked of him." [1 Samuel 1:27]

Kay and I have a granddaughter. Abigail Grace entered this world at 1:06 AM (CST), Sunday, Feb. 20. She weighed 7 pounds and 10 ounces and is 20 inches long. She has dark hair (for now anyway!). She is alert and doing well. Her mom and dad (Daniel and Michelle) are doing well. They are so excited, that they aren't sleeping much.

Daniel, Michelle and Abigail live in Arlington, Texas (between Dallas and Ft Worth).

God was so gracious to let us be here to participate in the great wait and the joyous welcome of this precious little girl. We are having lots of fun holding her. We are very blessed.

Yes, of course there are photos! We're grandparents, aren't we??? Kay and I are glad you asked to see them! In case you missed it, click here for photos. Or you can click here. Or here. (We didn't want you to miss the photos!)

Talking with students about spiritual things

2005-02-13T10:13:00.000-05:00

Don't know if this U.S. News & World Report article or not. It has some interesting quotes that might be useful to ministries that work with college students and professors. [Disclaimer: I served in ministry for 10 years to Christian Leadership Ministries, Campus Crusade for Christ's ministry to university professors. I am biased!]

Some quotes. [Color emphasis is mine.]

Large majorities of undergraduates, for instance, say they seek meaning and purpose in their lives, yet just 8 percent report hearing professors discuss spiritual or religious issues in or out of the classroom, according to a major study of campus religious life by University of California-Los Angeles researchers. "There is a poor fit today between students' interest in spiritual matters and the universities' general lack of interest in those concerns," says Alexander Astin, founder of UCLA' s Higher Education Research Institute.

Riley found that these schools are providing intellectual heft to a generation of spiritual seekers that is already influencing American society, business, and government.

True, total enrollment in colleges with some kind of sectarian affiliation hasn't grown as a percentage of total college enrollment during the past 20 years. But at schools with an intensively religious focus, she notes, student numbers have surged.

In doing so, they exemplify a form of profound intellectual diversity that is, paradoxically, often threatening to the self-described champions of that ideal on the majority of the nation's campuses. "There is still pressure," Marsden says, "to uphold the view that diversity trumps everything else, including the view that there may be absolutes." Yet it's precisely that devotion to absolutes that seems to account for the appeal of God on the Quad 's quietly thriving colleges.

It seems that college students are looking for respected influencers, like their professors, to be talk with them about spiritual things. They are looking for absolutes. The do see the shallowness of current tolerance and diversity. They will go to where they find intense discussions about spiritual matters.

This seriousness about serious issues is what led to the construction of a number of internet websites in the mid and late 1990's. Leadership University, Español Leadership University, Origins, Stonewall Revisited, Academic Initiative, William Lane Craig Philosopher, Doug Yeo Bass Trombonist, Probe Ministries, and Loving Monday.

We believed (and still do) in the purpose statement, Telling the truth at the speed of life.

Creative website marketing and organizing idea

2005-02-12T10:26:00.000-05:00

Don't know if you saw this in Tony Whittaker's Web Evangelism Bulletin, but I think this is a very good way to build interest in your site and build credibility of providing cutting-edge information on current issues. This would be a good way for content-rich sites to promote their content by connecting it to a survey of what people think are important, and releasing it over time to build readership. What "expert group" would your website users respect? Survey the experts and organize your content around current issues that are important to experts your users would respect. Or survey your users and do the same process using your users' opinions of what is important.

The news item is reproduced below, and is available online.

Top 10 Issues Facing Today's Church
We conducted a widespread online study in November/December to garner input from ministry leaders regarding the top issues they regularly encounter. We received 3,750 issues from 1,300+ ministry leaders ranging from England and Australia to all across North America. A weekly focus on each issue begins with Issue #10 on Monday, 7 February. Click here.

After the weekly countdown of all the issues, you will be able to sign up for a PDF report which summarizes them all.

You don't subscribe to Tony's excellent publication? You should subscribe today!

Where are you on your spiritual journey?

2005-02-09T12:43:00.000-05:00

"Where are you on your spiritual journey? Are you moving toward God? Away from God? Staying about the same?"

Last week I in California for some meetings. Returning to Orlando last Friday night, my God-assigned seat was next to Amy (names have been changed). She was friendly and open to conversation.

As I asked Amy questions, she began describing her spiritual quest to know God. To her, God was some kind of new age being "who is out there somewhere." Then she said, "God is OK, but I'm not very sure about the Jesus thing."

Jesus is divisive. I remember hearing our director in the Middle East speaking about the U.S. interest in exploring similarities between Islam and Christianity following 9-11. He said that similarity discussions seemed to go along quite OK until the topic of Jesus Christ came up.

Jesus is divisive. He himself said, "Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword." (Matthew 10:34).

Paul said, "When I came to you, brothers, I did not come with eloquence or superior wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God. For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified." (1 Cor. 2:1-2)

It turns out that Amy's daughter is a college student at a nearby college. She is on the rowing team. I have a Campus Crusade friend who volunteers as the sailing coach at the college. Amy phoned her daughter Tammy (before we took off!) and she knows Coach Stephens also. God had established a point of contact between Amy and me.

It turns out that Tammy had a terrible car accident a year or two ago and had come to Christ as a result of that traumatic experience. Amy (the mom) had watched Tammy's life take on purpose and meaning. While Amy was intrigued by the changes in Tammy's life, she still wasn't "very sure about the Jesus thing".

We talked a while. I gave her a copy of the Four Spiritual Laws. She was interested in a church, but she also is somewhat of a free spirit. She told me where she lived and I recommended a very contemporary church called H2O Church.

Amy did not make a commitment to Christ. But she did take my business card and promise to email me after she reads the Four Laws booklet and visits H2O. I hope she does.

Asking questions is a great way to discover where a person is spiritually. If a person is open to talking about spiritual things, we can have an opportunity to talk about Jesus. To help me in my evangelism, I've found great ideas from Campus Crusade's Cojourners project.

Every day we can look for opportunities to ask people "Where are you on your spiritual journey?"

Are you helping people learn more about "the Jesus thing" as they journey toward God?

The power of communities

2005-02-05T17:28:00.000-05:00

I read an interesting article about the power of communities, as demonstrated in the recent election. The important part is quoted is below. My highlights are in red.

These numbers from Meetup.com ought to be Exhibit A in countering those who still pooh-pooh the Internet's ability to bring about meaningful social change in a rapid manner:

About 750,000 individuals registered for various political Meetup Groups, with some 450,000 attending at least one of 25,000 meetings held nationwide.

Kerry supporters alone numbered almost 132,000 strong in 653 cities worldwide, and they conducted 8,700 events between them.

President Bush's supporters numbered fewer than 5% of the Kerry total and Bush events fewer than 10% . . . but these folks held much cheerier post-election bashes.

Myles Weissleder, Meetup's vice president of communications, sums it up thusly: "Twenty-five thousand meetings where no meetings existed before. Community connections where there were once none. Meetup Groups helped spur millions of dollars raised, tens of thousands of signatures signed, record voter turnouts and best of all - a newly empowered electorate."

Some will carp that all those newly minted activists holding all those living-room meetings didn't do Kerry any good where it counted. They are shortsighted.

This is how political campaigns are going to be run from now on.

Peter Drucker on Leadership

2005-01-30T14:58:00.000-05:00

I read an interesting article on leadership from someone I have learned from before. Until I read this article, however, I didn't know that Peter Drucker had been a longtime counsellor to Rick Warren, pastor of Saddleback Community Church, and author of The Purpose Driven Church and The Purpose Driven Life.

On his 95th birthday, Drucker granted a rare interview with Forbes at Rick Warren's request.

Some thoughts from the interview:

Leaders ask "What needs to be done"? These needs should then be correlated with "Of those things that would make a difference, which are right for me?"

I've seen a great many people who are exceedingly good at execution, but exceedingly poor at picking the important things. They are magnificent at getting the unimportant things done.

Leaders ... know what they are trying to do. They are purpose driven--yes, mission driven. They know how to establish a mission.

[Leaders] know how to say no. ... the effective ones learn how to say no and stick with it.

I always advise my friend Rick Warren, "Don't tell me what you're doing, Rick. Tell me what you stopped doing."

When you're alone, in your secret office, ask the question, "What needs to be done?" Develop your priorities and don't have more than two.

Effective leaders match the objective needs of their company with the subjective competencies.

Build on your strengths and find strong people to do the other necessary tasks.

You know, I was the first one to talk about leadership 50 years ago, but there is too much talk, too much emphasis on [charismatic leadership] today and not enough on effectiveness.

I required myself to identify something I will do based on this article. Here's mine:

Map what needs to be done against what am I good at doing. I'll write down two priorities and measure my effectiveness in executing these ruthlessly.

Read the article. What leadership principles will you write down?

The world is a noisy place and you aren't helping things

2005-01-27T07:17:00.000-05:00

I don't know about you, but I'm not particularly excited about the plans
to offer wireless telephone service on airplanes. Now, wi-fi internet
access is a good thing! I'm not sure I'll be able to afford it, but it
would be a big productivity boost for travelers.

But I really don't want to sit beside someone carrying on their
conversation over the roar of jet engines. Do you?

It would probably sound like one long Verizon commercial, "Can you hear
me now? Hello! Can you hear me now?"

There's a website to help us out. Visit http://www.coudal.com/Shhh.pdf
and download cards you can give to your airplane seatmate, or the guy at
the next table in the restaurant, or the lady behind you at the ball
game.

New uses for a powerful evangelistic tool

2005-01-25T07:23:00.000-05:00

It's 4:30 a.m. here in Orange County, California, but my body thinks it's in Orange County, Florida, where it's 7:30 a.m.! I've been fighting a losing battle for the past hour, so I decided to get up. Ahhh, jet lag is one of the results of crossing time zones. But this morning, it feels
more like jet lead, since by body is leading the actual time! A college friend who spent his career in the Army introduced me to melatonin to help with jet lag, but I forgot mine this trip!

I'm in southern California to meet with Jesus Film Project leaders and others who want to find ways to combine the Jesus Film Project tools and resources with new methods of delivering via the internet. In October, the Jesus film made it's internet debut. Although the film has been available on the internet for several years, the Jesus Film Project recently acquired total rights for the film which means they can now develop new ways to present it, ways that are more effective in the internet communications media.

We are spending today discussing how to capitalize on the new opportunities available.

Last night over dinner, Jim Green (the new executive director of the Jesus Film Project) and I were reminiscing about our shared experiences during many years together on the African continent. Mike Waid, a more recent friend although a long-term Campus Crusade staff, is giving leadership to the development of internet use of Jesus Film Project tools and resources.

The Jesus film is probably the most effective evangelistic tool in the history of the world. It is available in in 887 languages, as of January 1, 2005. The number changes every month as they continue to add new translations. The cumulative viewing and listening audience is nearing 6
billion people! Almost 200 million people have indicated decisions for Christ. Over 1,500 denominations and mission agencies are using the film. I know of nothing in recorded history that has been used this widely by God to introduce people to new life in Christ.

Rev. 7:9-10 is becoming even more true:

After this I looked and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and in front of the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands. And they cried out in a loud voice:
"Salvation belongs to our God,
who sits on the throne,
and to the Lamb."

Using Yahoo Desktop Search beta

2005-01-18T07:22:00.000-05:00

I've been using the Yahoo Desktop Search beta for a few days now. Over the past few months, I've tried desktop search tools from Copernic, Lookout, and Google. As you might expect, each has nice benefits and limitations. But all are far better than the paltry native Windows Search tool.

Sometime I may write a more comprehensive comparison. But the web is already full of them. Read and make your own selection.

My first impressions of Yahoo Desktop Search (YDS):

Like Copernic and Google, it operates outside Outlook (unlike Lookout).
Like Lookout, it integrates with Outlook giving me a new toolbar that I can use for searches.
Like Copernic, it allows me a richer set of fields to guide me through crafting more specific searches. For email, fields like From, To, Subject, Date, and others. For file searches, fields like Name, Type, Path, Date. I know that Google has excelled at simple searches, even on the desktop. But unlike web searches, I usually know a little more about the information I'm seeking on my own computer desktop. I usually can remember that it was in a Powerpoint file, or in a Word document. Google Desktop Search allows these more specific searches also, but I have to remember search parameters like filetype:ppt. DOS was simple also, but most of us preferred Windows so we would have to remember command line parameters. (Although, my occasional forays into Linux/Unix remind me how powerful command lines can be!)
My big beef with YDS is that it takes a l---o---n---g time to start up when I reboot my computer. The splash screen stays up forever loading this and initializing that. Of course, that is better than Copernic which caused Outlook to crash more frequently (I think, of course it's harder to be sure in a multi-tasking operating system!).

If there were only one desktop search tool, I would be happy with any of them. Google, Copernic, Lookout, Yahoo. Any of them would satisfy me if there were only one. But in the world of user choices, I like them all, each for it's own reasons.

Which do you like? Why?

Service as worship

2005-01-17T16:01:00.000-05:00

I read an interesting devo in My Utmost for His Highest (J Oswald
Sanders) this morning. It's online here. Some thoughts:

The call of God is not a call to serve Him in any particular way. My
contact with the nature of God will shape my understanding of His call
and will help me realize what I truly desire to do for Him.

Service is the overflow which pours from a life filled with love and
devotion.

Service is what I bring to the relationship and is the reflection of my
identification with the nature of God.

The Son of God reveals Himself in me, and out of devotion to Him service
becomes my everyday way of life.

It provoked my thoughts that my service is all about my relationship
with Him, my contact with His nature. A few months ago, a friend gave a
powerful devotional in which he explored service as worship. His focus
was on Romans 12:1, and connecting "living sacrifices" with "act/service
of worship." The Greek actually uses one word which is translated into
the New American phrase "service of worship". My service is very
inextricably tied to my worship.

No room in the inn

2004-12-23T14:19:00.000-05:00

Our drive from Florida to Texas for Christmas we unusual. We normally
stop in Mobile, which is the halfway point. We couldn't find "room in
the inn" in Mobile and drove to Magee, MS. We planned to stay in Mobile
which is the half-way point, but there was a bowl game and all rooms
were sold out. We drove 2 hours to Hattiesburg, the next big town, and
found that the military camp 11 miles out of town had a big ceremony
preparing to deploy to Iraq and all rooms were sold out.

Then an unusual snow storm hit yesterday and we drove over frozen
bridges the last half-hour or so.

God was with us.

Comments from Ray Ozzie

2004-12-13T13:50:00.000-05:00

In my previous ministry life at Christian Leadership Ministries, I was very involved in implementing Lotus Notes and seeing the resulting corporate shift in how knowledge was shared. It took a while, but the result was a much more knowledge-aware group through the use of Notes' collaborative environment. Creation of simple online applications using Notes' rapid application development gave new capabilities. Working together on virtual teams became not only possible, but embraced by many of the the CLM staff members scattered around the U.S.

Now I'm in our corporate Exchange environment. The Exchange client, Outlook, is very user-friendly. But I miss the collaborative environment and it's new ways of working together and the simple but rapid application development environment of Notes. I have an ongoing feeling of being less effective than in the Notes environment.

So I read with interest several articles as Lotus Notes celebrated its 15th birthday last week. I recommend an interview with Ray Ozzie, the innovative software designer behind Lotus Notes and now Groove. What I appreciate about Ozzie is that he starts from observations about current realities, processes those through philosophical foundations about how people work well together, and then creates solutions that embed this philosophy. The result is software solutions that are both innovative and helpful but also philosophical consistent. They encourage users to collaborate without being overbearing. These solutions guide you in best practices without being heavy-handed.

Some of Ozzie's comments that might shake us up (but I agree with):

The concept behind Groove came from an assumption, or belief, that the fundamental nature of business was changing from a centralized model with large companies that were firmly integrated to essentially a separation of corporations, working in a more distributed fashion. Notes, essentially, was built for a large global enterprise environment, not necessarily for the task of flowing data in an inter-enterprise manner.
E-mail is showing its age and limitations.
And really, this [email] concept that we will be managing as individuals, all of the projects and all of the relationships that we're dealing with from within one inbox, just doesn't scale. We're in a world of information overload and it will be perpetually that way. There is nothing that is going to slow down the fact that we are working electronically with many people. Individuals are feeling that overload, and they're experimenting with different tools such as instant messaging, blogs … things that are alternatives to doing work with one another online but outside of e-mail.

I hope you find Ozzie's thoughts as interesting as I do.

Leadership

2004-12-01T06:55:00.000-05:00

I found a very interesting article. Nice Guys Can Finish First: Your people skills become more important the higher you go -- so behave yourself!

I'm sure we've all observed it, but the skills to lead in our current roles are different than the skills at our previous roles.

All other things being equal, your people skills (or lack thereof) become more pronounced the higher up you go.

Some of the people skills the authors list are

To be able to listen?
To give proper recognition?
To share -- whether it's information or credit for a success?
To stay calm when others panic?
To make midcourse corrections?
To accept responsibility?
To admit a mistake?
To defer to others, even (especially) those of lesser rank?
To let someone else be right some of the time?
To say thank you?
To resist playing favorites?

Some of these look like Philippians 2. Others like Ephesians 4, Romans 12, 1 Corinthians 13.

A friend of mine is passed this list around to his co-workers, including direct reports, and asked them to grade him. He also graded me (unasked, but very welcome!).

Why don't you do the same. Ask your co-workers to give you feedback in these areas.

Airplane Seats

2004-11-30T01:11:00.000-05:00

You meet very interesting people in airplane seats.

I heard one of our directors say that each morning he picks up a New
Testament or a Jesus Film DVD and prays for it's new owner. Then
throughout the day, he looks for the new owner that he should give it
to. Who is a divine appointment that God has prepared to receive this
gift?

I thought, hey, that's a good idea for airplane seatmates. Since I find
myself in an airplane seat frequently, I've begun to pray for the person
who will be seated next to me. I pray that God will give us a good
discussion that brings glory to him.

Last week, my seatmate was a Christian from Egypt. He's been in the U.S.
for 30 years, but comes from a Egyptian Coptic Christian background.
Knowing that he might be a cultural Christian and not a born-again
Christian, we had a very good discussion. I left him with a booklet that
he could explore more fully what it means to be a true Christian.

On my return flight, my seatmate was an attorney from Pensacola. He was
reading Philip Yancey's Rumors of Another World. That was a great clue.
I was more direct and asked him if he was ready for another world if the
plane didn't make it to our destination. Yes, he was ready. His eternity
was secure, his walk is alive. We talked for the rest of the flight.
He's a great brother in the Lord and has been involved in representing
some believers in a difficult situation.

I'm not always bold and brave. Sometimes I wimp out. But sometimes, I
have amazing, exciting conversations.

Yes, airplane seats are very interesting. I wonder if Delta realizes
that their ticketing system is creating divine appointments? When I get
off a plane, I want to make sure that the occupant of the assigned
seating next to me knows someone who truly follows Jesus (me!).

Reality Conundrum

2004-11-25T10:25:00.000-05:00

I had some time this morning to read the recent Time magazine. I found the article Cosmic Conundrum very entertaining. I think a better title would have been Reality Conundrum. It quotes many scholars who are in a conundrum over the realities present in our universe.

It is interesting that scientists faced with design complexity and the anthropic principle are unwilling to seriously consider intelligent design, but are willing to invite someone who postulates that "our universe was manufactured by a race of superintelligent extraterrestrial beings." Then a leading scholar says this is a "novel perspective on humankind's role in the universe". (quote from Martin Rees, astronomer royal of Britain and Cambridge colleague of Stephen's Hawking's).

The anthropic principle says that the cosmos is perfectly tuned to support life. Against all odds, the universe is designed "just so."

I like science. Like 5-time Nobel nominated and 3rd most quoted chemist in the world Dr. Fritz Schaefer, I often look at science and say "So that's how God did it!" I recently wrote Lessons from the Hunt which delved into scientific and spiritual observations early one morning while deer hunting.

Want to read more? One of the best articles is The Designed 'Just So' Universe by Walter L. Bradley, Ph.D.

Want to read a lot more? One of the best websites I know is Origins.

So, on this Thanksgiving morning, I thank God for creating our universe "just so". Don't you wish everybody did?

Lessons from the hunt #2

2004-11-24T16:16:00.000-05:00

Another lesson of the hunt is the value of stillness. Deer hunting is about stillness. When walking, walk slow. Walk quiet. When sitting, sit still. Move your eyes not your head. When you do turn your head, turn slowly.

The goal is stillness, even when turning. Even when walking.

After 3 days of hunting, stillness has seeped into my soul. A still soul is sweet. Stillness is comfortable. And comforting.

Deer hunting is a great time to read the Word. I sit in the woods reading the Word. I call it hunting, but the main activity is thinking. It's a great place to meditate on God's Word. Read a verse or two, scan the woods and meditate, read, scan/meditate. Works really well, especially since there's little wildlife this year. Few squirrels, no hawks, no deer!

This year, I chose the book of James. One year I read Acts. Another year I read 1 Corinthians.

I also am reading some Psalms. Psalms read better outdoors. Maybe it's because David wrote so many living outdoors.

Be still. Read. Meditate. Yes, deer hunting is good for the soul.

Lessons from the hunt #1

2004-11-21T21:16:00.000-05:00

I was deer hunting recently. That's deer hunting, not deer shooting. There's a difference. Hunting means looking for, shooting implies seeing. But shooting is not the measurement of success for me.

For me, hunting is a celebration of God's creation.

My friend Peter commented this morning about how well he's sleeping. He attributes it to "good friends, outdoors, sitting around the fire telling stories and good exercise."

Food tastes better. Sleep is better. Life lives better.

We wake up early, eat breakfast, and settle into our spots before it begins to get light.

As it gets just a little lighter, I hear the first bird making its unique chirping call. Then one answers back. Two or three more begin.

Then a different species begins calling. Then a third. God seems to have created birds to begin singing at slightly different times in the mornings. Perhaps like a orchestra conductor bringing instrument sections into the music one-by-one.

Daybreak is more than an orchestra of sounds. It's an amazing light display.

It moves from dark blacks to grays. As the sky lightens, different colors appear.

The first colors this morning were browns and yellows. The forest floor is covered with brown leaves. The floor seemed to glow at first. Then the yellows of the leaves still on trees. Later the greens appeared.

I recall the physics explanation. Red and yellow light at the lower end of the visible spectrum have less energy and are more refracted, or bent, by the atmosphere. So the first light to hit the ground before sun-up is red and yellow -- hence the browns and yellows are the first colors I see.

I think God likes the unique colors of the light he has made. He begins each day displaying them one-by-one.

I know God likes uniqueness because of the trees. There are thousands of trees but no two are exactly alike. Sweetgums, elms, pines, oaks. But no two oaks are exact duplicates. Pines are harder to tell apart, but looking closely, they are unique.

I think God likes unique. It gives me confidence in who I am. In who my children are. In my friends at church. In my co-workers.

A Stunning Saturday Morning

2004-10-27T16:41:00.000-05:00

Richard Wimer's Wit and Wisdom helps me get my day off to a good start.

I read a story this morning that reminded me of a morning in Nigeria when I zapped our dog with a Stun Gun to break up a dog fight. My first attempt at breaking up the fight with a broom handle had failed. The dogs were rolling around in the wet grass. It was barely daylight on a Saturday morning and I wasn't thinking too clearly. I grabbed him by his choke chain collar (metal) and zapped his dew-covered body. My hand and arm were numb for quite a while. Sometimes electrical engineers don't think clearly about conductivity between dew-covered hair and metal choke chains when they are mad at their dogs for fighting at daylight on Saturday mornings!

Taken from http://www.witandwisdom.org/archive/20041027.htm

A friend of a friend purchased a tazer for his wife for protection. What follows is his description of what happened when he tried it on himself to make sure it worked! His account begins:

Dear Friends,

My wife Toni is fond of saying that my last words on this earth will be something akin to, "hey y'all, hold my drink and watch this!" Well, I have outdone myself once again. No doubt you will see this true story chronicled in a LifeTime movie in the near future. Here goes.

Last weekend I spied something at Larry's Pistol and Pawn that tickled my fancy. (Note: Keep in mind that my "fancy" is easily tickled). I bought something really cool for Toni. The occasion was our 22nd anniversary and was looking for a little something extra for my sweet girl.

What I came across was a 100,000-volt, pocket/purse-sized Tazer gun with a clip. For those of you who are not familiar with this product, it is a less-than-lethal stun gun with two metal prongs designed to incapacitate an assailant with a shock of high-voltage, low amperage electricity while you flee to safety. The effects are supposed to be short lived, with no long-term adverse affect on your assailant, but allowing you adequate time to retreat to safety. You simply jab the prongs into your 250 lb. tattooed assailant, push the button, and it will render him a slobbering, goggle-eyed, muscle-twitching, whimpering, pencil-neck whimp.

If you've never seen one of these things in action, then you're truly missing out - way too cool! Long story short, I bought the device and brought it home. I loaded two triple-a batteries in the darn thing and pushed the button. Nothing! I was so disappointed.

Upon reading the directions (we don't need no stinkin' directions), I found much to my chagrin that this particular model would not create an arc between the prongs. How disappointing! I do love fire for effect. I learned that if I pushed the button, however, and pressed it against a metal surface that I'd get the blue arc of electricity darting back and forth between the prongs that I was so looking forward to. I did so. Awesome!!! Sparks, a blue arc of electricity, and a loud pop!!! Yipeeeeee . . I'm easily amused, just for your information, but I have yet to explain to Toni what that burn spot is on the face of her microwave.

Okay, so I was home alone with this new toy, thinking to myself that it couldn't be all that bad with only two triple-a batteries, etc., etc. There I sat in my recliner, my cat Gracie looking on intently (trusting little soul), reading the directions (that would be me, not Gracie) and thinking that I really needed to try this thing out on a flesh and blood target. I must admit I thought about zapping Gracie for a fraction of a second and thought better of it. She is such a sweet kitty, after all. But, if I was going to give this thing to Toni to protect herself against a mugger, I did want some assurance that it would work as advertised. Am I wrong? Was I wrong to think that? Seemed reasonable to me at the time.

So, there I sat in a pair of shorts and a tank top with my reading glasses perched delicately on the bridge of my nose, directions in one hand, Tazer in another. The directions said that a one-second burst would shock and disorient your assailant; a two-second burst was supposed to cause muscle spasms and a loss of bodily control; a three-second burst would purportedly make your assailant flop on the ground like a fish out of water.

All the while I'm looking at this little device (measuring about 5" long, less than 3/4 inch in circumference, pretty cute really, and loaded with two itsy, bitsy triple-a batteries) thinking to myself, "no way!" Yes way - trust me, but I'm getting ahead of myself. What happened next is almost beyond description, but I'll do my best. Those of you who know me well have got a pretty good idea of what followed.

I'm sitting there alone, Gracie looking on with her head cocked to one side as if to say, "don't do it buddy," reasoning that a one-second burst from such a tiny lil' ole thing couldn't hurt all that bad (sound, rational thinking under the circumstances, wouldn't you agree?). I decided to give myself a one-second burst just for the fun of it. (Note: You know, a bad decision is like hindsight - always twenty-twenty. It is so obvious that it was a bad decision after the fact, even though it seemed so right at the time. Don't ya hate that?)

I touched the prongs to my naked thigh, pushed the button. !!!!! I'm pretty sure that Jessie Ventura ran in through the front door, picked me up out of that recliner, then body slammed me on the carpet over and over again. I vaguely recall waking up on my side in the fetal position, chest on fire, soaking wet, with my left arm tucked under my body in the oddest position.
Gracie was standing over me making meowing sounds I had never heard before, licking my face, undoubtedly thinking to herself, "do it again, do it again!"

(Note: If you ever feel compelled to mug yourself with a Tazer, one note of caution. There is no such thing as a one-second burst when you zap yourself.
You're not going to let go of that thing until it is dislodged from your hand by a violent thrashing about on the floor. Then, if you're lucky, you won't dislodge one of the prongs 1/4" deep in your thigh like yours truly.

A minute or so later (I can't be sure, as time was a relative thing at this point), I collected my wits (what little I had left), sat up and surveyed the landscape. My reading glasses were on the mantel of the fireplace. How did they get there??? My triceps, right thigh and both chest were still twitching. My face felt like it had been shot up with Novocain, as my bottom lip weighed 88 lbs. give or take an ounce or two, I'm pretty sure.

Source: Quotes of the Day,
mailto:rheamo@centurytel.net?subject=Subscribe_Quotes_of_the_Day

Keith's unofficial history finding good information on the internet:

2004-10-21T15:39:00.000-05:00

Some friends are in a lively discussion about a knowledge system we're building. How do you help people find the "best" information? One idea is a group of experts who review posted knowledge and sort out the best. Another is to trust the "wisdom of the crowds."

I wrote the following in that discussion. My friend Rob promised to blog about it if I'd post to my blog. Rob, I'm watching!

Concerning the idea of an "expert editorial group", remember the example of internet search engines/directories. We can debate the similarity, but I see this as a good parallel to our dream of an explosion of info in knowledge system and the need to get people connected to the best stuff.

Keith's unofficial history finding good information on the internet:

1. One of the first search/directories was Yahoo. There were others, but Yahoo is indicative of the directory approach. Yahoo's "search" really was a search across their human-approved directory listings.

Yahoo was started by a couple of guys who would look at websites and list them in categories they found best. This is equivalent to an expert editorial committee, finding the "best" by some definition, assigning it to categories, etc.

Soon Yahoo was the most successful thing out there and the two guys began to enlist others. That is, the expert editor committee had to grow. They changed the process so that you listed yourself, in a category but an expert would look at your site and approve the listing before it became public. Eventually, success overtook their ability to keep up and they instituted a priority fee-for-listing service that would get you listed within 48 hours if you paid. Otherwise, they would eventually look at your site but it might be 2-4 months.

Yahoo's success overwhelmed their ability to manage using an expert editor approach.

2. The next round of search engines were artificial intelligence geniuses. AltaVista was an early one. There were many others with varying AI analysis routines. The idea was to replace the expert editor committee with expert AI systems. They were the best thing going. You could submit your website URL. In the early days, within a few days your site could be found in the search engine. Later it began to take a few weeks, with a pay-for-priority service instituted if you wanted earlier consideration.

This spawned an amazing tug-of-war. AI algorithms are pretty smart, but humans are smarter. Humans would reverse-engineer the AI algorithm of the top search engines (AltaVista, Excite, Northern Light, etc.) They would then configure their web pages to get the top listings, not because they were the best pages, but because their creators understood how to fool the AI-based search engine results. Then the search engine guys would change their AI algorithms, and the dance would begin again. Break the algorithm, improve the algorithm, break the improved algorithm, improve the broken improved algorithm, etc.

The masses of users began to lose faith in AI searches because the masses want the best information to be listed at the top of the search results.

3. The current round of search engines, particularly Google, used a more populist approach -- let the people vote on the best pages, with one link equalling one vote. Google developed the PageRank algorithm that basically counted the number of other webpages linking to a certain webpage. The pages with the greatest number of hyperlinks TO them were the "best" and listed at the top of the search results.

This was a great example of trusting the "wisdom of crowds", or more modernly called "swarm theory."

The Google PageRank algorithm was more difficult to spoof. There was nothing you could do to your page/site that would improve the ranking. You had to get others to link to your page/site to improve the ranking. But then human intelligence won over even this populist algorithm and people learned a year or two ago to force their sites to rank high in Google even though they didn't have the most links from the general population. Several months ago, Google changed their algorithm to reduce the false high placements. The new dance has begun, this time between Google engineers and human search engine optimizers.

So, it seems to me that initially expert editor committees work well because human intelligence is better than the best AI at present, but over time, we need to implement peer-review or swarm-theory or wisdom-of-the-crowd approaches. They have proven superior in the search engine wars.

There are two separate issues: editorial comments and best ideas. Editorial comments are what Amazon does, improving knowledge by allowing others to add to it. Best ideas is what Google's algorithm does, allowing people to identify the best solutions so that we are offering the best ideas "above the fold", at the top of a search or browse listing.

Human intelligence is superior, but capacity is limited. So let's blend a solution that maximizes human intelligence where possible, to both enhance knowledge through comments and find knowledge through the "wisdom of the crowds".

The Power of Reconciliation

2004-10-19T20:22:00.000-05:00

The experience of my relationship with Bill Bright has taught me much about the promise and power of reconciliation. I will never again deny the prospect of coming together with those with whom I disagree. It is indeed the power of the gospel of Jesus Christ to break down the walls between us. Sojourners Magazine, 11/2004

The U.S. News and World Report cover story for this week is The Deep Divide: Why voters for both sides are so angry. This touches something that concerns me.

Having lived for 15 years in an African country that went through periods of democratic elections and military coups, I was always amazed at how few countries can go through a polarizing election then everyone works together following the election. The African country I resided in could not do that. After an election, people were left polarized. To the point of killing one another. Or plotting military coups because their party did not win.

I felt that it had something to do with the strong Christian heritage that still had residual influence in the U.S.

Today, I read an amazing article that spread hope. The November issue of Sojourners Magazine, which I rarely read, had an article by Jim Wallis on The Power of Reconciliation.

Jim Wallis, founder of Sojourner's Magazine, and Bill Bright, founder of Campus Crusade for Christ, found themselves on opposite sides of the political process many years ago. This is the story of their reconciliation. Amazing.

The Question of God

2004-10-17T10:50:00.000-05:00

I love it when something I wanted to read or see is published on the Internet!

A few weeks ago, I was travelling in Ohio and unable to watch a PBS program that I really wanted to see. Then I received Christian Leadership Ministries' excellent The Real Issue ezine. I followed the URL there to order the PBS program DVD. I really wanted to see this program.

Probing around the PBS site, I found all the video segments online! So I was able to watch this program.

The recent PBS special was based on a popular course at Harvard Medical School. Dr. Armand Nicholi has taught a course comparing the worldviews of Sigmund Freud and C.S. Lewis. The Real Issue, a publication by Christian Leadership Ministries for university professors, published a two-part article by Dr. Nicholi.

I recommend this to anyone. It follows two of the most influential men of recent history through their lives. It documents two different worldviews, and shows how each man lived out his worldview, with dramatically different results.

Good stuff.

ClearType Tuner. A useful tool for notebooks.

2004-10-16T09:40:00.000-05:00

I don't really intend to turn this into a tech-geek discussion, but I have found another tool that is pretty cool. It's designed for those of us using LCD screens (that's what is in your notebook computer). ClearType Tuner is the name. It's part of Microsoft's semi-official Power Toys.

I read about it in Woody's Office Watch.

More on desktop search

2004-10-15T07:09:00.000-05:00

Note: partial results only. One-time indexing in progress. Indexing is only done when your computer is idle. Outlook email is only indexed when Outlook is open.

This message greeted me this morning. I excitedly opened up Google's desktop search to test some searches. Having left my computer running all night, setting the power options to never shut it down, I expected Google's desktop search to have completed indexing my notebook computer.

"Partial results" means it didn't finish. Then I read the entire message and realized that I would have to leave Outlook open AND my notebook running in order to index everything. Oh well! I'll try again tonight!

I'm still trying out Google's desktop search, and comparing it with Copernic's desktop search. I blogged about this yesterday. Copernic's solution will index Outlook files even if Outlook is closed. This is nice, but is a security risk, I guess. Google must take a safer approach. If I reboot my notebook and do not open Outlook, Copernic will try to open Outlook mail files. This causes Outlook's username/password login box to appear just like when I normally open Outlook (I'm on a network and my Outlook is set to synchronize with an Exchange server.)

Some differences I've noticed:

1. Copernic will index Outlook mail stores even when Outlook is not open. Google will only index Outlook mail stores while Outlook is open.

2. Both Copernic and Google will index all my Outlook mail stores. I have 3 -- the normal Outlook offline mail store, a personal store, and an archive store. This is great! I like being able to search all my mail store files at once since the purpose of search is to not know where something is stored! However, Copernic tells me which mail store a message is found in. Google doesn't seem to tell me where the message is stored. Maybe this doesn't matter, since the message is found. But I like knowing where it found the message!

Time to quit typing and let Google continue indexing my stuff.

Desktop Search

2004-10-14T15:58:00.000-05:00

Do you hate the lousy search capability in Outlook as much as I do? Do you feel it's a waste of time to wait while Windows scans your entire 40Mb hard disk looking for a file you used 2 days ago but cannot now find?

I sure do.

Enter... Copernic Desktop Search

A few weeks ago, I installed Copernic Desktop Search, a free search utility. It searches my Outlook emails including attachments, files like Word or Excel or Adobe PDF, and more. I've only used it for email and file searches. It indexes whenever there is 30 seconds of inactivity to keep my indexes updated.

And now... Google Desktop Search

Today, I installed Google Desktop Search, another free search utility. I'm indexing my files now, so don't have much usability experience. If it works as well as Google's web search, I may switch. Google Desktop Search does not index PDF files (bummer!), but it does thread email messages like gmail. It is also supposed to remember webpages you've read recently and include them in the search. That will be great!

There are a few obvious differences in the two solutions. Copernic is a stand-alone program in the traditional Windows style. Google runs in a web browser with the url http://127.0.0.1:4664/ (running on the localhost with port number 4664).

Sometimes I run a local webserver (Apache) on port 80, so I don't know if this will interfere. More on that after I use it.

I have had some additional crashes in my Windows XP system since installing Copernic. It seems that sometimes Outlook and Copernic are fighting over my mail files. The system locks up and killing the processes is the only way out.

My friend Rob has blogged about Google's desktop search on his blog.

We'll see how Google works.

Well, I need to quite typing so Google can resume indexing my email and desktop files.

The "Everys" and "Alls" of Internet Ministry

2004-10-09T08:20:00.000-05:00

One of my favorite Bible promises is Rev 7:9-10:

"After this I looked and there before me was a great multitude that no
one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing
before the throne and in front of the Lamb [all together]. They were
wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands. And
they [all] cried out in a loud voice: 'Salvation belongs to our God who
sits on the throne, and to the Lamb.'"

Internet ministry is one of the closest things to this future scene in
heaven -- every people from every nation bringing the cultural
uniquenesses of of every tribe speaking in every language, all at the
same time and all saying the same thing "Salvation belongs to our God
and to the Lamb." Internet ministry allows us to touch these "everys"
and bring them together in the great "alls".

Enough is enough!

2004-10-02T05:51:00.000-05:00

Enough is enough!

After hurricane Jeanne visited Florida, I told my wife that if we had another hurricane I was moving to North Dakota. She told me I wouldn't like the winters and that my job required living in Florida. Someone sent me this revised map. YES! I have found a way to do both! How do we get this new geography approved?

Hurricane Jeanne is over

2004-09-28T07:51:00.000-05:00

Hurricane Jeanne is over. We've survived another one. Our house held up well. We had some shingles flopping around, but no damage and no leaks. We had winds of 50-70 miles per hour. Kay measured about 7 inches of rainfall in our rain gauge.

How does a rain gauge measure rain flying horizontally? If we measured 7 inches of vertical rain, I wonder how many inches we got of horizontal rain?

Newsmen reported that the farmers almanac predicted 5 hurricanes for Florida this season. They are saying we may have one more. I sure hope that Ivan counts twice, since it passed over Florida twice in its amazing journey.

Storm passing by

2004-09-26T08:37:00.000-05:00

We made it through the hurricane during the night. Fortunately, the winds were barely hurricane force. Yea, "barely" means they are still 75 miles per hour! But the roaring is decreasing. The storm is heading towards Tampa. Look out, Tampa!

My first post

2004-09-25T17:05:00.000-05:00

Well, this is my first post. After a false start signing up, I'm now a blogger!