Play With Your Toes

Nothing surprises God. As a child I had the misbegotten notion that when I confessed my sin it was the first time God was hearing of it! It took some time for me to internalize the fact that I was the one who was uninformed and my confession was actually an acknowledgement that I was now in agreement with something God already knew. In some ways it seems people have a similar opinion of God when it comes to our modern technology. You hear people talk about how God and religion is such an antiquated notion. So it might come as a shock to some that God knew about computers, cell phones, nanotechnology...all the things we marvel at and things we haven't yet discovered...at the creation of the world.

In fact I am fully confident in saying He wanted us to discover these things and delights in it when we do. Much like parents are overjoyed when their child first discovers his toes or pees in the toilet for the first time. And if God had all this laid out ahead of time then He must also have a plan and a purpose that goes beyond streaming the latest video of a laughing baby. My son told me about a remark he heard recently from someone who said, 'I have more computing power in my pocket than they had to get men to the moon and I use it to look at cute pictures of cats!'

I believe God has greater things in mind for the wonders we have finally discovered. He's waited a long time for us to figure this stuff out. It's time we thought long and hard about the best ways to use the resources at our disposal to connect with partners around the world. Many are doing wonderful things already, but there is so much more we can do. I believe it's important to stay up to date on the latest tech developments and ask, "How will this improve our ability to do ministry?" What's most amazing to me is how much of this is free or nearly free.

We are living in a time of signs and wonders. We can connect to nearly anywhere in the world anytime we want. Every week we see our daughter in Egypt face to face by Skype. I regularly touch base with friends in Kenya by text and Facebook messaging. Nearly every day I share my thoughts, encouragement, challenges and devotions on blog posts and websites. Within easy reach of where I'm sitting right now are a desktop computer, a laptop computer, a tablet, a cell phone and a VOiP phone.

Have you ever taken the time to catalog all the resources at your fingertips? If you're in your twenties none of this might seem all that remarkable to you...which is even more remarkable to me! Take some time today and list all that's available to you at your desk, on the web, in the cloud, wherever it might be found. Then note next to each thing how you're using it for ministry. Consider making a plan for those things you're not currently using or are underusing. Here's a list to get you started...

• Computing (desk top, laptop, tablet, netbook)
• Cell phone
• Website
• Blogs
• Twitter
• Facebook
• Pinterest
• YouTube
• Linked In
• Google+
• Skype
• VOiP
• Transportation (car, bus, train, airplane, boat, bike)
• Crowdfunding (Kickstarter, GoFundMe, Indiegogo)

Your list will be longer but this gets you started. Keep discovering and remember that just like any good parent God delights when we play with our toes.