I post a link to this map today because it has changed my life. I am a completely different person because of the presence of a bunch of dots on a piece of paper, representing the souls of hundreds, thousands, and millions of individuals in need of the gospel.

A few months ago I began asking the question, why don’t I heard much about peoples of the world who have not heard the gospel of Jesus Christ? I’ve been under the conviction that worshippers from every tribe, tongue and nation are mentioned throughout the Old and New Testaments, and yet the bulk of our “missions” efforts are spent attempting to reach people locally and internationally who have already heard the gospel in the past, and who have the gospel readily available in their native language.

Why are many of us unaware of the 1.9 billion (1,900,000,000) people who have yet to have any opportunity to hear the gospel??? Why aren’t more of us going to change that?

You can receive up to four copies of this map for free, without obligating yourself to receive emails, phone calls, or mailings of any kind (trust me, I’ve been waiting for them for two months). My challenge to you is to place the map somewhere where you will see it on a daily basis…let the peoples of the world be on your mind, more and more.

http://imbresources.org/index.cfm/fa/store.prod/ProdID/1428.cfm

Lifechurch.tv used this video opener for their series entitled, “How to Be Rich” a few months ago, and I love it. I thought that it was quite appropriate for the opening of tax season. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0qGMkgc2AnQ[/youtube]

The church Stacy and I are a part of is not a trend-setter for the new generation, but it is an example of a church that balances outreach and discipleship in the love of Christ, one that is unified with hundreds of other churches in missions work, and one that has the eye and ears of much of the world each Sunday morning. I am proud to be a part of Prestonwood, and I hope you will watch and enjoy their 2008 year in review.

Year in Review – Prestonwood Baptist Church

Don’t miss their page of testimonies either:

http://www.prestonwood.org/updates/stories/tell.php

Let me also mention, that while Prestonwood is often known more for it’s size, than for it’s ministry, it does a great job at making the huge church feel like a small town. It works hard to make it’s Bible classes very relational, and it has a food court which creates a VERY relational atmosphere for its members with reflects the original communion of believers in the early church.

There’s an excellent article from the Wall Street Journal today about giving and political affiliations. I’ve included the summary statement for you here, and hope you find it helpful.

Conservatives don’t just give more; they also decrease their giving less than liberals do in response to lousy economic conditions.

Read the full article:  Arthur C. Brooks: Conservatives Have Answered Barack Obama’s Call – WSJ.com.

Ever heard of RoadRunner, Blue Gene, or petaflop? If not, you’re out of touch with the latest in technology. Sure, everyone is making a fuss about the new touchscreen Palm phone, the lastest Macbook, or the continual battle between Mac and PC…but they have missed the real industry giant that is driving change in the computer industry. Call me an idealist, but I find the things happening through one of the world’s veteran computer companies far more exciting that the latest gadget to hit the market.

IBM has dominated the computer market for as long as I can remember, and the new millenium has only seen an endless run of the same record. Their latest release (that I can find) is the Road Runner machine, doubling the speed of its predecessor and essentially doing the combined work of 100,000 laptops.

What do you do with all that computing power? According to IBM’s projects of the past, you map complex organic systems, calculate nuclear reactions, and search for the cure for HIV.

Is it safe to say that IBM is enabling us to change the course of human history??? It’s a hard question to answer, but I bet they have more influence that Windows 7, Second Life, or the newest Mac device, don’t you think?