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Two words that change things

August 19, 2011 by Keith Seabourn Leave a Comment

We were in bad shape. Following the wrong course. Carrying out the wrong activities.

But God showed his love for us (Romans 5:8)
But God made us alive (Ephesians 2:4,5)

I may be failing. Ready to give up. Frustrated. Discouraged.

But God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. (Psalm 73:26)

They mistreated Jesus. They beat him. They even killed him.

But God raised him on the third day. (Acts 10:39, 40)

His brothers were jealous of Joseph. They dumped him in a pit. They sold him to foreigners.

But God was with him. (Acts 7:9)

But God changes the course of history. But God changes someone’s eternity. But God changes me.

Have you had a but God moment lately? Do you need one?

eLearning Infographic

June 12, 2011 by Keith Seabourn Leave a Comment

This infographic gives a good overview of the state of online learning. Our team at Campus Crusade for Christ is helping lead in going directly into a mobile phone with online learning. We call it mLearning, for mobile-phone enhanced learning.

(Click on the graphic below to see a larger version in your web browser.)

Via: OnlineEducation.net

Jesus on an iPad

June 8, 2011 by Keith Seabourn Leave a Comment

“I told you that I’m not very interested in religion,” she said.

“Yes, you did. Would you like me to continue?” I asked.

“Sure. This is interesting.”

I smiled, flipped to the next screen, and we continued.

This was my first experience sharing the gospel using a new tool for mobile phones. As we continued, my mind flashed back to the beginning of this current adventure.

I found my seat on the flight from Atlanta to San Francisco. It was a Boeing 767, with a 2-3-2 seating plan. I moved into the aisle seat on a 2-side but didn’t get too comfortable. Kay wasn’t traveling with me this time. My seatmate hadn’t arrived yet. I wondered who God would send.

She showed up at the last minute, a fairly seasoned traveler. She sat down, her book came out, and she was in her bubble.

I was able to engage in some conversation. We talked about family (she has 2 children), about work (she was flying to San Francisco for 2 weeks), and about church involvement (she was raised in the Catholic church but is no longer active).

When I asked about her interest in spiritual things, she replied that she is content with her life and doesn’t find a need for more religion. I would talk about spiritual things and she would talk about religion.

I had just installed the God Tools mobile phone app recently released by Campus Crusade for Christ. This app has several different gospel presentations helpful for different audiences. I was looking for an opportunity to try this hi-tech way to share the old-old story.

I told her I had recently found this interesting app that talked about Jesus without talking about religion. Would she be interested? Yes, she would.

Somewhere over the middle of America at 35,000 feet, she heard about God’s love.

Each time I would try to engage her in some simple questions, I would hear “I’m not interested in religion.” But each time I would ask if she wanted to continue, I would hear “Sure.”

I think it was her interest in the hi-tech tool. But God was reaching out to her. Although she “wasn’t interested in religion”, she heard of God’s love, of our sin, of God’s forgiveness through Jesus, and of her need to receive it.

Although, she did not indicate any response, I was relaxed in knowing that I had a secret weapon. She thought it was a hi-tech presentation. I knew the Holy Spirit would be reminding her of spiritual truths.

It was a successful adventure.

What adventures have you had using new tools to talk about Jesus?

How you can get the God Tools app

If you have an iPhone or iPad, go to the Apple App store and search for God Tools. Look for the icon.
If you have an Android-based phone, go to the Android Market and search for God Tools. Look for the icon.

GTO Wives

May 22, 2011 by Keith Seabourn Leave a Comment

“Kay, I know what Keith does, but what do you do?” asked Chris. Some of you may have wondered this same thing. Actually, my role has several parts, but the one that I really like to tell others about is our team wives.

I have the privilege of working with them to discover their niche in ministry and help them be equipped for it.

How do we do this? We pray for each other, practicing new ministry skills, create individual plans for our personal development and discuss issues we face as wives and mothers in full-time ministry.

Shannon wrote,

“If you get a chance would you pray for a neighborhood women’s outreach we’re having at our house tonight? It’s called “Sweet Monday” and we hope it will be a venue to help build deeper relationships with women in our neighborhood.

Several of my friends and I have invited a few dozen ladies in our subdivision to come for a time of dessert, fun, and getting to know each other. It is a simple gathering that we hope communicates how deeply Jesus loves us as we love one another.”

Sweet Monday is creative evangelism that reaches out to women one sweet invitation at a time for Christ. Women laugh a lot, learn from each other and leave with a simple introduction to Jesus Christ. Shannon and her friends are seeing some of their neighbors begin a personal relationship with Jesus.

God has given me a passion to help women succeed. I could spend hours talking about all the ways our team wives are using their giftedness–Tammy the organizer, Lei the mentor, Ingrid the evangelist, JoAnne the discipler, Stacey the blogger, Holly the servant, Andi the planner, Kathy the giver….

We are touching lives of other women and families that God has brought into our lives. Together we are making a difference.

An Experiment

April 21, 2011 by Keith Seabourn 3 Comments

I’m sitting outside the Apple store. Stunned. Replaying the conversation in my head.

“You can do without your computer for 5-7 business days, right?”

Gulp! “Um, I thought that if I called ahead, had an appointment, explained the exact problem in detail over the phone, made sure you had the parts, then you could repair it while I waited.”

“Well, we don’t have onsite repair personnel during the day. Only in the evenings. Whenever we need to put a computer on the bench, we allow 5-7 business days.”

“Oh, wow! The ONE thing I forgot to make sure about!”, I thought.

The Apple store Genius at the Genius Bar really had done an excellent job. She had been very courteous. She knew her stuff. She had quickly disassembled my Mac notebook and diagnosed the problem. I thought that the external case was bent preventing the DVD drive from ejecting a DVD. She had realized that the internal optical drive was bent also. AND SHE APPEARED TO BE ABOUT 20 YEARS OLD! How do they train this stuff into their people, I wondered. (But that is the topic of a future post, maybe.)

So, I’m leaving my primary leadership tool with the Geniuses. I lead a large, distributed part of the organization. Almost everything I do is through my computer: email, Skype, documents, calendar, blogging, engaging in discussion forums. I’m what is called a knowledge worker, and my tools are computer-based.

Fortunately, two recent actions make it possible for me to keep leading without much interruption.

My colleague Russ Martin influenced me to move everything I do into “the cloud.” I store all documents online. Dropbox. Google documents. Evernote.

My colleague Ken gifted me an iPad. We need to explore tablets. As part of my forward-looking leadership, I’ve wondered if I could use only a tablet for my work. Io think the Lord is giving me an opportunity to try it out! This blog post is my first action in the experiment!

I also have a very powerful smartphone (Android-based Google Nexus) and use it to read and reply to email, Google docs, Evernote…

With the combination of cloud-based documents, a powerful tablet iPad, and a powerful smartphone, I’ll test out life without a notebook computer.

I think I’m glad it’s the Easter holidays! Although they don’t count as business days, it is a change of focus for a while.

(Note: Perhaps the young Genius saw that my countenance had fallen, and because we have a business account, she declared that my notebook was “business critical” so I’m expedited to 1-2 day service.)

What tools do you use that are cloud-based?