the gospel and technology... friend or foe?

i was asked to speak at a Hispanic youth event called congresso, which is put on by the baptist general convention of texas (BGCT), and its purpose is to inspire, encourage and educate Hispanic youth. the event is being held at the university of mary hardin baylor (UMHB) in belton, tx, april 5-7, 2007. the topic that they have asked me to speak on is "what does Myspace say about me?" when i accepted the opportunity my first thought was, "wow, that's an interesting topic"... once i started researching, i realized... it was a very relevant and needed topic. they wanted me to help students to realize that you can use social networks (such as myspace) for evangelistic/outreach purposes. here are some interesting facts that i found as i was compiling info and figuring out what i wanted to speak on:

1. there are over 150 million myspace users (the number grows by millions every week, so who knows where it is currently).

2. the 2 main groups of people who are attracted to myspace: teenagers and sexual predators
3. teenagers spend on average 2.9 hours on the internet each day (82% use instant messangers, 68% are on social networks like myspace, and 28% have online blogs).
4. myspace is the 2nd most visited site on the internet (yahoo is number one)

while praying about the direction that i wanted to take in the seminars, the biggest issue that i felt i needed to discuss was identity. it is during your teenage years that identity becomes not only a dilemma, but more importantly, a quest. i defined identity as "the stability of knowing who you are." identity is not trying to figure out who you will become, rather it is based on asking questions such as: "who am i," "where am i going" and "what do i want to be." your identity determines your ability to have successful relationships and to function within the environment that you are in. if someone does not determine their identity, more than likely they will isolate themselves. i believe that identity is what makes myspace and other social networks so appealing. it provides an opportunity to either: (a) become who you want to be (want others to perceive you as) or (b) to actually express who you are. sitting in front of a computer screen feels non-threatening and allows you to interact while still isolating yourself. the fear of rejection is minimalized and relationships can become whatever you want them to be. sadly, most teenagers (and even adults) base their identity on what they see on tv, internet, magazines, ect... instead of basing it on what the Bible tells them about themselves. so let's now look at what the Bible says about identity:
1. Galatians 2:20 - "I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me."

2. Jeremiah 1:5 - ""Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations."

3. Acts 17:26 - "From one man he made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live."

4. 1 Corinthians 10:31 - "So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God."

i believe that these 4 verses are a great place to start when figuring out identity. in galatians, we learn that we are crucified to ourselves and that it is Christ who lives in us. that is a very difficult idea to grasp... here is an illustration to think on: too often christians are like mirrors, they only reflect who God is. instead of being mirrors, we must become like the moon. the moon absorbs light, and only after that can it shine. as christians, we must absorb Christ (so that he is truly living in us) to base our identity on Him. the verse in Jeremiah reminds us that we were created for a specific reason and that nothing happens out of chance and circumstance. in Acts 17:26, we see that our true purpose in life is to bring glory to God. lastly, in 1 Corinthians 10:31, we must do everything to the glory of God. a few other verses to consider are: John 15:19b and Ephesians 2:10.

I believe that it is only after we have establish our personal identity (who we are in Christ) that we can truly reach others for Christ. sadly, only 2% of american christians have actually introduced someone else to Christ... if our identity is uncertain... how can we tell others about who Christ is and what he has done in our lives?

one thing that i'll ask the students to remember is that "everything we do, no matter how outstanding, is secondary to our calling to be evangelists," and that "nothing speaks louder than a life."

remember that i mentioned that there are over 150 million users on myspace? pat williams said "there is no set way of doing it, but remember, we are constantly given opportunities to witness." i believe that once christians realize that their identity is not based on the world, but on Christ who lives in them, they can truly start to impact the world by telling their story (testimony - a story about an event in your life and how it changed your life). there are millions of lost and lonely people in the world who are hurting and searching for the hope that we as believers have. many of them turn to the acceptance they feel through the isolated involvement in online social networks... if we as believers become more creative and vocal about our faith through myspace (and other social networks) what kind of impact could we have on the world.

so is technology a friend or foe to the gospel? while there are many negative aspects to technology... i believe that we must find a way to spread the love of Christ and his saving message in the online "hang-out" places of the world. it is our choice to make technology a friend of the Gospel.

brokenness

i recently finished reading A Tale of Three Kings by Gene Edwards (click here for more info on the book). it's not too often that you find a book that truly hits you in the gut and will not let you put it down. for me, this is the first book that has done so in a very long time. the book is described as "light, clarity and comfort to the brokenhearted. many christians have experienced pain, loss, and heartache at the hands of other believers. to those believers, this compelling story offers comfort, healing, and hope."

this story is based on the biblical figures of david, saul and absalom, and discusses the leadership characteristics of each of them. edwards starts off with how God called david to royalty... and how saul felt threatened by God's divine calling on david's life. because of saul's persistent attacks on david... God was able to instill in david the brokenness he wanted him to have. edwards writes, "God has several types of people. he has people who claim to have God's authority... and don't - people who claim to be broken... and aren't. and people who do have God's authority, but who are mad and unbroken. all of these he has in abundance, but broken men and women, hardly at all. saul was God's chosen way to crush david."

edwards writes "david the sheepherder would have grown up to become king saul II, except that God cut away the saul inside david's heart. and the tools that God used to remove david's inner saul... was the outer saul." and at the end of the operation god performed on david, david was barely recognizable. God had crushed everything out of him. by earthly measures david would have been considered a shattered man, but by heaven's measures, he was a broken one. we must all be broken to ourselves before we can truly become who god calls us to be. we must allow him to chisel away the mess of who we are to break through to the parts of us that are mailable to God. "the truth was that when others saw David, they didn't recognize him. he had changed. his personality, his disposition, his total being had been altered. he talked less. he loved God more."

edwards points out the kind of man that saul was. many forget that he was anointed by God. the deliverer of israel. and yet he's remembered mostly for his madness. while there has been a lot of bad press on him, he was one of the greatest figures of human history. he was "everything people today are seeking to be... empowered with the Holy Spirit... able to do the impossible.. for God. a leader, chosen by God wtih power from God. he was also eaten with jealousy, filled with self-importance, and willing to live in spiritual darkness." when looking at saul's life one must ask, "what does this world need: gifted men and women, outwardly empowered? or individuals who are broken, inwardly transformed?"

while god used saul to shape and break david... he also used absalom to reveal the character that made david who he was. for those of you who are not familiar with absalom, he was david's son. a son who rebelled against his father... that rebellion had been in his heart for years... just as god foretold to david (2 samuel 12).

i feel that i have given you a poor representation of this book. while it looks at the lives of these three men, it does so much more than just tell a story. it brings truth to the relevance of brokenness. i don't know where your heart is. God does. i don't know what you've been through. God does. i do know that as i look at what God has done in my life, i see the situations and people that God has used to break me, to draw me closer to Him, and to beat the "stephanie" out of me to transform me into who He is calling me to be.

this book addresses brokenness... specifically brokenness that is brought on by other people (maybe other Christians) and how God uses it to mold us. i have been hurt. i have cried because of situations that have happened between myself and a friend. i have felt like giving up on people. i have felt like giving up on myself. but God has taken the brokenness and turned it into something beautiful. He's used it to shower me with His love. He has blessed me and brought me through it by putting new people in my life who He has used to continually point me back to Him.

i do not recommend books often, but this one i truly say is a MUST READ. it's a sweet story of true life and love and how God mends brokenness through His grace and power. pick it up and let me know what you think. if you can't afford your own copy. i'll buy it for you.

UNT BSM spring break mission trip

i just got home from taking our UNT BSM students on a spring break mission trip to the rio grande valley, specifically to san benito, tx and reynosa mexico. we left on saturday (3/17) and returned back to denton on friday (3/23). the trip went amazingly well. we were blessed by perfect accommodations at borderland calvary chapel in san benito, tx. the church converted 1/3 of their facilities into a mission facility with 2 bunk rooms (each sleeping over 40 and had their own bathroom facilities), a huge common room and a large kitchen. their pastor, dwayne spearman gave us his entire week to be our "leader" and help us as we ministered to the different communities.

here is an overview of our schedule for the week:
on sunday, our students distributed information for the church in the neighborhoods surrounding the church, and then spent the rest of the evening getting things ready for the next day. on

monday we went into reynosa mexico. we spent the morning distributing rice and beans to an impoverished area. the poverty there was astounding. this picture was taken of some of the children in this area. along with passing out the rice and beans, we also walked around saying "dulce" which is spanish for candy which made the children run to us. then in the afternoon, we went to an orphanage outside of reynosa and did a vacation bible school (VBS) for around 70 children.

tuesday, we went to the first baptist church of reynosa and did light construction for them (sanding chairs/gates/metal doors, painting, etc). the church was so excited and appreciative that we were there that they went an bought enough bottled coca cola for each of us to have 4. then they went and bought chicken and sausage and grilled lunch for us. it was amazing to see how even though we were there to serve them, they wanted nothing more than to serve us. such a blessing to see the body of christ work as it should. lunch was fabulous. we actually set up tables and chairs in their chicken coup and ate the chicken and sausage (which was made from goat) with live chickens running around our feet.

wednesday, was a crazy day. i had to take a student to the emergency room to have her wrist looked at (she fell in mexico, but thankfully it was just a bad sprain). while we were there a maintenance man was mowing the lawn... and the lawn mower threw a rock THROUGH the drivers door window on one of our 15 passenger vans. so i spent the rest of the day getting a glass company to come and replace the window so that we could head back into mexico the next day. our students spent the day distributing information for the church to communities in san benito and brownsville, tx while also doing door-to-door evangelism and outreach surveys.

thursday was our longest day... but easily my favorite day off all. we went back into reynosa and did some light construction at a church start that the church we stayed at was working with. while some of our students were working at the church the rest of the students went out to distribute beans and rice to another community. then we held a VBS at the church that evening and had around 35-45 children come. the VBS went amazingly well, and by thursday night most of us were starting to get more familiar and comfortable with communicating through very broken spanish. god blessed us with 2 fluent spanish speaking students who were able to help us communicate with the people we came into contact with. the picture to the left shows you some of the children we had at this VBS. also, while we were at the vbs, i met a 9 year old girl who's name is stephanie michelle... which as most of you know is my name. here she is...

friday, we went to progresso mexico so that our students could shop for souvenirs and then ate an authentic mexican meal at a restaurant and then headed back to denton.

the trip was amazing. our students stepped up to the plate and were always willing to serve no matter the situation or circumstance. we pray that god blessed those who we met just as much as they blessed us.

my new pair of eyes

yesterday i received a new pair of eyes. while technically speaking, my eyes were not actually removed and replaced, instead they were revamped and reshaped. my parents gave me these new eyes as my graduation present from seminary. after some research we opted for the IntraLase Lasik procedure. this is the newest version of Lasik that uses only lasers throughout the entire procedure. the picture is similar to the machine used on me yesterday. the procedure took about 10 minutes to complete and was relatively painless, but i must admit there were some uncomfortable moments. The doctor who preformed my surgery did a fabulous job, and kept me entertained throughout the entire procedure. he kept instructing me to "not move at all" and "keep looking at the blinking light." did he actually think that i was going to move? he was shooting lazers at my eyes for goodness sake. i can't think of any better incentive to remain still! afterwards i experienced some discomfort and a crazy white-tented haze, but after a nap and a good nights sleep "i can see clearly now the 'haze' is gone!" the bedside table looks like a pharmacy with all of the eye drops i'm supposed to use, and also i'm sporting some pretty snazzy goggles when i sleep (so that i can't rub my eyes). i will keep you posted as i continue on my quest for 20/20 vision.