The Scripture

““You shall have no other gods before me.” (Ex 20:3 ESV)

The Reflection

I believe that people are made for worship.  They will worship something.  Some of us worship cars, video games, sex, drugs, girlfriend/boyfriend, spouse…  But, being human, we worship.

I spent 30 days in self reflection about how my time I spend online.  I realized that I was worshiping Facebook and Twitter.  I offered 140 character sacrifices—my tweets and status updates were what I offered to the Social Network gods, and I waited with eager anticipation if they would be pleased with my offering, watching people comment on my humor, wit and wisdom.  It helped inflate my ego.  I was pouring in countless F5’s, refreshing my way to satisfaction.  Getting my fix.

Lindsay and I have a new focus.  It is a new life stage for us, and God (the One True God) was convicting me on how much time I spent ignoring Him and how much time I spent worshiping other gods before Him.  I wouldn’t have noticed, if it weren’t for a major change on the horizon of our life.  It was time to buckle down and focus.  And I was distracted.  So I deleted my social network accounts.

What have I learned from 30 days of disconnect?  It is a matter of the heart.  It always is.  I have to do what I have to do in order to see the goal.  To see the finish line.  Consider these words:

“But if your heart turns away, and you will not hear, but are drawn away to worship other gods and serve them, I declare to you today, that you shall surely perish. You shall not live long in the land that you are going over the Jordan to enter and possess. I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse. Therefore choose life, that you and your offspring may live, loving the LORD your God, obeying his voice and holding fast to him, for he is your life and length of days, that you may dwell in the land that the LORD swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give them.”” (Deut 30:17–20 ESV)

I would encourage you to check your heart, and if you have turned away from Him by worshipping idols, and placing things in your life and heart before Him.

Moving Forward

Am I crazy for signing back into Twitter and Facebook? I don’t know, probably. It isn’t these things though. They are just things. It is my heart. I try to see where God is in my life, and where I am in His. I have repented of my sin, and pray that my heart will change. Will there be the temptation to repeat my past? Absolutely.

I just deleted my Twitter, Facebook and MySpace accounts. I will reassess their usefulness to me at a later date. For now, I have other things that I am neglecting that I want to focus on.

We made a trip to Sioux Falls in order to honor Lindsay’s grandparents’ 60th anniversary.  It was a wonderful time.  Check out all the pictures from our trip.  We even visited the world’s only Corn Palace!

The Family in front of the Corn Palace being corny. (Sorry, couldn't help it.)

Storyville has great coffee, but more importantly, they have a great vision for those in need.  For the month of May, every dollar you spend at their store, goes straight to International Justice Mission.  Last night we were invited to check out David Wilcox play live to help promote their efforts in helping the victims in the sex-trafficking trade.

So have a look, will you? Purchase some of the world’s best coffee and help those in need.

Just uploaded a bunch of pictures to our flickr account of a day of photowalking.

Flickr

I so blessed. I have a wonderful wife whom loves the Lord and supports me in so many ways.

We had a great time at Ethan’s 2nd birthday party.  Have a look at the pictures:

Our good friends Chris and Kami were married recently.  Have a look at the pictures!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/mmi/collections/72157616363174276/

Anniversaries.

It is a long story, one that I won’t give here, but today, two years ago, my wife and I were married at the court house in Sanford.  We have pictures of the event on flickr, but I won’t reproduce them here out of respect of my wife’s wishes.

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY WIFEY CREATURE!