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Glorious

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I wrote this on Friday morning as I departed Vancouver.

God put on quite a show outside my airplane window this morning. I left Vancouver just before the sun came up. We were climbing as the eastern sky lit up. The reds and oranges over the mountains were announcing the coming of the sun. A few minutes later a gloriously bright sun arrived.

I was listening to Chris Tomlin sing

You are the first
You go before
You are the last
Lord, you are the encore.

Your name’s in lights
For all to see
The starry host
Declare your glory.

Glory in the highest

Apart from you
There is no God
Light of the world
The bright and morning star.

Your name will shine
For all to see
You are the one
You are my glory.

Glory in the highest

No one else
Could ever compare
To you, Lord.
Heaven and earth
Together declare

Glory in the highest
Glory in the highest
Glory in the highest
To you, Lord.

One day the sky will announce the coming Son. One day Jesus will light up the eastern sky much brighter than the sun.

I’m ready. We labor so that others will be ready also.

Thanks for praying for my time in Canada with technology leaders. I was very aware of God’s hand throughout the trip. I spoke on developing as a leader. I spoke on how technology helps launch spiritual movements. I shared several times during discussions. I was privileged to be with these special people as they engage in ministry with the unique skills God has given them.

Now its back home to play with the grandaughters this weekend!

Be wise about your friends

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A few weeks ago, I entered into a saga that I think is instructive to all of us as we learn to use social networks more wisely.

I am a member of LinkedIn, which is a social network of professional contacts. Many others that I know are part of LinkedIn.

Through LinkedIn, I received a request to connect with someone from California. LinkedIn gives 3 options for each request: Accept, Decide Later, I don’t know this person. Since I didn’t know this person, I chose I don’t know this person.

He wrote me back to explain more of the context in which he thought we knew each other. He indicated we had worked together on one or more phone calls several years ago. He mentioned several other organizational leader’s names that were on the call. I still didn’t remember him, so I responded that perhaps he was thinking of someone else but I didn’t recall ever being on the phone call he mentioned. He wrote back really unhappy because he claimed that my I don’t know this person put a black mark on him. Later he wrote that my name had been mentioned on the call but perhaps we never actually talked.

In all this, he never owned the fact that he had indicated a connection that did not exist. He was upset that I had black marked him in the LinkedIn system.

I did not even know that I don’t know this person black marked a person.

So, I asked my friend and social networking expert Rob Williams of Orangejack LLC if he had any information about the black mark concept in LinkedIn. His reply:

I finally found some documentation from LinkedIn about this. Here is some information from the LinkedIn Customer support:

Review invitations you receive carefully. If you do not know a person that has sent you an invitation you can:
1. Click “decide later” which will archive the message and not prevent the member from sending you another invitation at a later time.
2. You can use the “Reply” link and send a message back to the inviter, i.e. Thank you for the invitation to connect however I’m afraid I cannot accept it at this time. LinkedIn is a powerful tool for managing my professional network and designed to help me maintain the connections I have. It is a LinkedIn best practice to only connect directly to those whom I know well and would recommend. I’d like to be able to give a referral to any of my connections when asked. If I don’t know you well enough to do so, LinkedIn isn’t as powerful for my network. Please understand and remember to invite me to connect after we’ve had a chance to work together.
3. Click the “I don’t know” button which will place a mark on the sender’s account that tells LinkedIn this person may not be using invitations correctly. This also prevents them from sending another invite to you in the future.

What I haven’t found is how many “marks” an account can accumulate before being penalized. Seems the number is around 5 and the account can be frozen. I just can’t find much about it officially — and that’s kind of disturbing to me.

Rob

Thanks, Rob! If there are a number of “marks” that send someone to detention hall, we should all know about it up front. It looks like the “decide later” is a way to do away with a person without confronting them!

All this is to say that we are all learning to use social networking. This is sometimes a steep learning curve.

Many see Facebook as a way to proliferate their number of “friends”. Often, it seems the Facebook standard is to “friend” anyone and accept all “friend” requests. Maybe some are trying to compete with Michael Phelps’ 4300 Facebook friends.

I’ve got someone I’ve never even talked with wanting to claim a connection in LinkedIn because of the access and credibility it will give him to others who, although they may not know him, might say “Keith knows him so I guess he’s OK.”

I encourage us all to be “wise as serpents, harmless as doves” in this brave, new world of social networking.

Olympics

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What is your favorite story from past Olympics? I think my all-time favorite is Derek Redmond from Barcelona 1992.

Here’s another video clip that shows more of how his Dad came to help him finish the race.

Another favorite is Kerry Strug from the 1996 Atlanta Olympics.

It’s Olympics time. In our house, we watched the opening ceremonies last night. Well, mostly Kay and Michelle watched last night. Daniel and I are waiting for the more competitive events!

DVDStruggle and Triumph is a DVD and a website from the Athletes in Action ministry of Campus Crusade for Christ. It’s a great tool to share with your friends. Read stories from athletes, view video clips, and explore a personal relationship with God that the athletes talk about.

The DVD is being used in many countries as part of Olympic outreaches. It is being broadcast throughout the Middle East. It is on local television in Turkey and other countries in the area. Thousands of outreaches are happening in India and in Brazil and other countries. It is available in 36 languages. Order copies and give to your friends.

By the way, what is your favorite story from past Olympics?

The next step in the journey

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“M” had many questions about God. He was returning from two weeks in Columbia visiting his family. He is a senior manager with a major telecommunications company and has lived in the U.S. for over 30 years. As we flew from Atlanta to Dallas, I explored areas where our lives are similar. We both trained as electrical engineers. I am familiar with his company campus in Plano, having friends who work there and having visited the campus. He teaches data security courses at a major university as an adjunct professor. We both think deeply about spiritual things.

“Why would God tell Abraham to kill his son Isaac as proof of his love for him?” “Why would God tell the Israelites to wipe out other nations?”

“M” has knowledge of the Bible from his Catholic education. But he does not personally know the loving God of the Bible. As we continued to talk, I realized there are some barriers in “M’s” mind that need to be bridged as he continues on his journey toward Jesus. I need to become a bridge builder to help him over these barriers.

“M” had not heard of C. S. Lewis nor his book Mere Christianity. With his permission, I sent him a copy with a note about our conversation. I invited him to email me with his thoughts and questions as he reads the book. I am becoming a guide to help him on his journey.

I have been greatly helped in thinking about evangelistic opportunities by training from CoJourners. Understanding the roles of Explorer, Guide, Builder, and Mentor help me sharpen my ability to connect effectively with others.

Our flight did not start out as an evangelistic mission. As we boarded the flight in Orlando, Kay and I were looking forward to meeting grandchild #3, Luke Andrew. The plane pushed back and moved out on the taxiway, then sat. And sat. And sat. It rained hard. Flights were not allowed to depart. The pilot shut down the engines to conserve fuel.

What do you do when you are waiting for two hours and you know you will miss your connecting flight? Henry Blackaby says that what you do next reveals what you believe about God. Is this a time to get mad at the airline? A time to take out your frustration on the attendants? Or a time to recognize that we are on a grand journey that is daily orchestrated by the God of the universe?

We did miss our connecting flight. We were put on standby for the fully loaded 7pm flight to Dallas.
Successfully getting on the flight, I was seated next to “M”. I don’t know how this twist in the journey will turn out, but we are on an exciting journey under God’s sovereignty. Stay tuned…

… and please pray for “M” as he begins reading Mere Christianity. Pray that his eyes are enlightened and his soul is inflamed by the God of the universe.

Missionaries Anywhere

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Living in 2008 is an exciting adventure. We have the privilege of being missionaries everywhere. And anywhere. I just helped a young lady who lives in Bristol, England. You might have  thought I was in Singapore. Well, actually I’m sitting in the Minneapolis airport on my way home to Orlando. “O” lives in Bristol but had contacted us through one of our websites. She wrote,

I just recommitted my life to Christ. My question is , in the bible it says when you are baptised is the time you turn away from your sins and is the time to recieve the Holy Spirit. i did not receive the baptism i pray at home , does it work pray at home ?

Great question! Does it work to pray at home to repent and turn to Christ? It was fun to help “O” with answers to her questions and to share some things that have helped me in my personal growth.

I also had an opportunity to talk with “T” on the flight from Singapore to Tokyo. He’s from Sri Lanka, traveling to San Diego to begin college studies in the U.S. I “happened” to have a Conversations CD prepared by Faculty Commons (formerly Christian Leadership Ministries). It contains several conversations with professors about important topics to students and includes opportunities to explore the spiritual side of these issues.

It’s been a good trip. Looking for opportunities to be an ambassador helps alleviate hours of sitting around in airplanes and airports. But right now, I’m ready to be home!