At the crack of the bat, the ball rolled towards the right side of the field and you could feel it. The 27th batter of the night was going down like the first 26…as an out.

As Miguel Cabrera cleanly scooped up the grounder and threw to a covering Armando Galarraga, Comerica Park was about to celebrate something rarely seen on a baseball field at any level.

That was until Cleveland’s Jason Donald was called safe by umpire Jim Joyce.

And his call was wrong.

The fans knew it, the team knew it and because of instant replay, the nation knew it. Now mind you, this wasn’t a normal bang-bang play at first that delivers many frustrating arguments. This was as simple as they can get. The ball was in the glove with Galarraga covering nearly a full step ahead of the running Donald. To be honest, even Donald himself knew it was a bad call, placing his hands on his head in a show of disbelief that the call had ruined a perfect game.

The boos rained down and the angry words were said. Jim Joyce would seemingly be forever vilified in the city of Detroit and amongst baseball purists everywhere.

But it was in the aftermath of the decision that one learned what it is to be a man and what forgiveness outside of the confines of our comfort zones truly means.

It was a ThenWhat? moment.

After the game, Joyce was visibly shaken. He admitted the mistake…over and over. He continued to beat himself up, knowing that his call caused “the kid” a place in baseball history. There just were not enough ways for him to say he was sorry.

This was more than just a baseball game to him. This was his legacy. As a 23-year veteran who is known as one of the great umpires in the Major League’s, you never ever want your name to be remembered for a negative in the game you love so much.

“This wasn’t a call,” Joyce said. “This was a history call. And I kicked the (stuff) out of it.”

While all of Detroit and the baseball nation were up in arms with the play, demanding Commissioner Bud Selig make it right, Armando Galarraga and Jim Joyce were teaching us a lesson.

Jim Joyce didn’t run and hide. He stood up to his mistake face-to-face, confronting Galarraga and letting him know his heart.

And Galarraga was more than open.

“He feels really bad, probably worse than me. I give a lot of credit to that guy, to say he’s sorry. I gave him a hug. His body English said more than the words. Nobody’s perfect.”

Nobody’s perfect.

On this day, Armando Galarraga was. Yet, minutes after seeing the biggest game of his life end in controversy, he was…forgiving. No tirades, no anger, no frustration. Just forgiveness for a man hurting.

Fast-forward less than 24 hours.

An afternoon game with the same two clubs and a familiar face that today was behind the plate.

A tearful Joyce and the rest of the umpiring staff began their journey out of the tunnels of Comerica and onto the field in which hours earlier was the highlight of every major sports outlet.

How would he be welcomed?

As the umpiring crew made their entrance, a surprising noise came from the stands. The Detroit Tiger fans were standing and applauding. They were applauding not only the man, but the decision he made to admit his mistake and ask the forgiveness of a young pitcher.

But that’s not the end of the story.

A true show forgiveness was about to be shown to the nation.

In a job usually relegated to a manager or a coach, Detroit sent Galarraga to the plate to exchange line-up cards. The man he would meet there…Joyce.

As Galarraga made his way to Joyce, you could feel the hurt in Joyce’s heart.

Joyce reached out his hand to Galarraga who did the same. As Joyce wiped away the tears, Galarraga gave him a pat on the back as to say, “I forgive you.”

Because of a single call the night before, a testimony in admittance and forgiveness was laid out before a nation.

Jim Joyce took his ThenWhat? moment and was a man. He didn’t run from his mistake or make an excuse. He accepted the responsibility, asked for forgiveness and walked out into an unknown environment hours later.

Fortunately for us, our mistakes are never shown on national television or blogged, twittered and facebooked about. Our mistakes will usually never be remembered decades later or replayed on the world’s biggest stage. We won’t make youtube and be the subject of countless amateur uploads.

Yet, the way we react to these ThenWhat? moments will set the path for the type husband, father, employee, employer and friend we will become.

What kind of man will you be?

Every time I take a small dream to our Big God, He gives me stewardship over much more than I expected.

On May 5, we will launch our first on-line discipleship program for high school coaches in Kentucky.  I have been praying that God would stir a half-dozen men from across the Commonwealth to make time in their busy lives to dive into God’s Word with us.  But we are not offering ONE course.

The demand is so great, we will be hosting four!  We may need to add even more than that; there is a group of businessmen who have asked to be part of the study as well.  I should know in the next day or so how many of those guys will be joining us.  If you are interested, let me know.  Our goal is to accommodate as many as we can squeeze into these on-line discussion groups.

This four-week study is part of the year long series we are writing called  ”Then What?Moments.”  We developed this study to encourage men to think through the consequences of the choices we make everyday.  Most guys are wired for the moment; we fail to pause our impulses long enough to ponder what will-or-could happen based upon the decisions we make.

The four-part session we are starting this Wednesday is “Game Planning for Great Decision-Making.”  We are using the story of King David  as the text from which we draw these principles.

If you flip through the pages of 2nd Samuel, the caption of each chapter reads like newspaper headlines tracking the chronology  of a career on the rise:

David anointed King Over Judah

Abner Goes Over to David

David Becomes King Over Israel

David Conquers Jerusalem

David Defeats the Philistines

The Ark Brought to Jerusalem

God’s Promise to David

David’s Prayer

David’s Victories

David Defeats the Ammonites

Two years after that final headline was penned, David’s meteoric rise peaks and trails into a tragically downward spiral:

Nathan Rebukes David

Amnon (David’s son) rapes Tamar (David’s Daughter)

Absalom (David’s son) Kills Amnon

Absalom’s Conspiracy Against David

David Flees

Shimei Curses David

Absalom’s Death

David Mourns

Sheba Rebels Against David

So what happened in that two year period that separated David’s historic successes from his saddening setbacks?

David had his Then What?Moment.  He made a series of bad decisions about which he failed to grasp the full consequences those choices would give birth.   That lead King David to face alone the most significant Then What? decision of his life. That choice altered the trajectory of his final days.

Intrigued?  Let me know if you want to jump into the study with us.  There are a few openings still available.

You need only three things to participate:

1. Internet access

2. A telephone/cell phone

3. 15 minutes on May 5, 12, 19 and 26.

Send an e-mail to me at ggupton@theintegritymedianetwork.com.  I’ll let you know what times are available as we come up with a Game Plan for Great Decision-Making.

Who knows:  this may be YOUR Then?What Moment!

]]> http://www.theintegritymedianetwork.com/blog/small-dreams-for-a-big-god/feed/ 0 http://www.theintegritymedianetwork.com/blog/justice-just-as-good-as-advertised/ http://www.theintegritymedianetwork.com/blog/justice-just-as-good-as-advertised/#comments Wed, 31 Mar 2010 14:33:53 +0000 ggupton http://www.theintegritymedianetwork.com/blog/justice-just-as-good-as-advertised/

Kentucky's Mister Basketball is "Justice" good as advertised!

The 15th Region Championship basketball game was tipping-off in just two hours. A season filled with grinding practices, aching muscles, sleep-shortened nights and challenging games would display its final worth on this evening.

A victory would return tiny Shelby Valley High School back to the Kentucky Boys’ State Championship Tournament to battle the giants of high school basketball.

A loss would render the iconic image of players sobbing into their towels as the vision of “what might have been” starts its life-long haunting.

With all that at stake, you would expect the team’s best player, Elisha Justice to be on the court rehearsing his jump shot or refining his free-throw stroke.

But that isn’t where Coach Jason Booher found the leader of his basketball team.

“Instead, I look up at the top of the gym,” the coach says pointing into the farthest reaches of the Shelby Valley High School gym, “and there’s Elisha working on his Bible study for 30 minutes before the 15th region championship.”

Perhaps the 5′11 point guard was pouring through the story of David versus Goliath. Shelby Valley not only won the 15th Region Championship, they marched into Rupp Arena and captured the most prized title in all of Kentucky High School Sports: The Sweet 16 Championship!

In the final game, Justice lead Shelby Valley to an upset win over Louisville Ballard. Shelby Valley has less than 600 students; Ballard has nearly 2,000 enrolled!

A week later, the dream season reached its climax when Elisha Justice was named Kentucky’s Mister Basketball.

It’s like a dream come true,” Justice told me just moments after he donned the #1 jersey that he will wear in the Kentucky-vs-Indiana All-Star game later this spring. “Me and all my friends dreamed of a state championship since we’ve been little. We knew we could do it. And then to get Mr. Basketball, that just tops everything off. That just makes it that much better.

Elisha Justice is the kind of player a coach wants not only only on the court but also in the locker room.

“Coach Pitino says he is a combination of Travis Ford and Bobby Hurley put together,” said Coach Booher. “He holds the state record for most steals. His ball handling is second to none. He finds the open man. When he is surrounded by four great players, it is going to make him that much better. If they get open, they’re going to get the basketball. He’s a great Christian kid. Excels in the class room. Elisha Justice is a special kid.”

Justice was a skinny eighth grader when he became the starting point guard of the Shelby Valley varsity basketball team. Since his freshman year, the Wildcats have won 116 of the 134 games in which he played. That includes two All-A Kentucky State Championships.

The parents of the most accomplished player of his generation say they have no doubt why their son has experienced such historic success.

He has his priorities in order,” says his mother, Robin Justice. “He has been a Christian for four years now, and he truly puts that first. He puts God first in his life, and that keeps him focused. That’s why he’s come this far.”

Where Justice will go next is still an open question. He has made a verbal commitment to walk-on at the University of Louisville. Coaches at the University of Kentucky are reviewing tapes to determine if Justice has the talent to fit into John Calapari’s dribble-drive offense. The Eastern Kentucky Colonels are holding a roster spot for him as well.

The college coach who lands this young man is going to get a good one because Elisha Justice, in so many ways, is just-as-good as advertised.

Could’ve been you too.

Still might be if we make the same poor choices Tiger Woods made.

During his 13-and-a-half-minute apology that was delivered in front of a hand-picked audience and a hand-clasped world, Woods confirmed what the tabloid press has been telling us since Thanksgiving: he cheated on his wife.

I brought this shame on myself.

Sometime several months ago, Tiger Woods faced what we call his Then What? Moment.  He was tempted by the pleasures that success, celebrity and status had availed to him.  What Tiger failed to do was carefully consider the consequences that have collided to shatter his world.

Instead of measuring the enormous pain and embarrassment his serial affairs would create, he robustly ignored the vows he shared with the wife of his youth.

I convinced myself normal rules don’t apply. I thought I could get away with it.  I felt I was entitled.

Those three sentences sound like every rationalization you and I rehearse when we are about to take a step we will one day regret. We react impulsively without thinking through the Then What?Moments that will follow. On the other side of every ill-gained delight are repercussions that will distort our lives.

The crisis that is testing Tiger’s marriage, halted his career, and charred his credibility has caused him to retreat to the religion introduced to him by his mother: Buddhism.

As I understand the Buddhism, followers believe there is no such thing as sin and no God to whom we must be accountable.  Woods said during his televised confession that he had drifted away from the doctrine that taught him

The craving for things outside ourselves is pointless. Stop following every impulse and practice restraint.

Contrare Tiger: craving things outside ourselves IS the point.

That for which he strives can’t be satisfied with endless sexual conquests or by capturing every major golf championship.

It can’t be attained through business success, a beautiful wife, or accomplished off-spring.

It is found in Christ and in Christ alone!

For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. ¹⁸Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.  John 3:17-18

We were designed with a desire to connect with our Creator.  But our sin, those Then What? Moments of our past, separate us from the One we seek.

That is the reason Jesus came to Earth. He sacrificed his life to pay for the sins I committed in mine.

Looking inside yourself for salvation and satisfaction is a pointless search.  Tiger will discover that truth, if he hasn’t already.

Seekers and Sufferers are in need of a Savior.  That is the reason we are developing our Then  What? Moments campaign. Our team is pulling together the resources we will use to creatively share Christ with influencers in our culture.

God is giving us incredible access to college and high school coaches, athletes and administrators.  Our plan is to utilize the platform we gain by broadcasting ballgames all across the America to share Christ with those we meet.

Just today one of the coaches we have been praying for reached out to ME! He called just as his team departed for the game they will play this weekend.  When this coach becomes a committed follower of Christ, the impact he will have on his players–and his own children– will be incredible! Pray that moment happens soon!

Tiger’s confession should animate our calling as Christians.  Thank you for partnering with The Integrity Media Network to “impact these influencers” for Christ.

You won't be at Sunday's Superbowl, but one of the men we lead to Christ will be!

You are going to be more than a spectator this Sunday evening when the Indianapolis Colts challenge the New Awlins’ Saints in Superbowl XLIV.

You had a direct impact on one of the men who will play a vital role in the biggest single sporting event in America. (Other than second guessing college basketball coaches.)

Because of your support for The Integrity Media Network, we were able to share the gospel of Christ with one of the men who will be on your TV screen on nearly every play during the NFL Championship game.

That man is now your brother in Christ!

Because of security concerns, we are not allowed to identify him. Sometime  after the Big Game, we hope to bring you an interview with this “Influencer” whom you helped lead into a relationship with Christ!

God allowed us, with your encouragement, to launch The Integrity Media Network  one year ago this month with the ambition of “impacting the Influencers” like this Superbowl participant. Our message is simple and vital:

• We are all sinners.
• Christ came to die for our sins.
• Only through faith in Jesus Christ can our shortcomings be forgiven and restoration with the King of Creation be found!

During 2010, The Integrity Media Network will reach even more Influencers with the eternity-changing, life-improving message of salvation through Jesus!

We believe God is animating us to initiate a campaign we are calling, “Then What? Moments.” The idea is to challenge those who lead businesses, governments, students, athletes, and families to consider the deeper consequences of the choices we make.

If I choose to flirt with this person, Then What?  Do I really want to start a relationship outside my marriage?  What if my boss finds out?  How badly will this hurt my spouse and kids?

Watch the news today; You will find several disappointing stories of people who failed to ask the kind of hard questions you and I  MUST ask of ourselves.

Do you think Tiger Woods did a lot of deep thinking before he destroyed his family, career and reputation because of his sexual appetite? Tiger faced several Then What? Moments and chose poorly.

I’m not busting on the world’s most embarrassed  athlete because when it comes to making lousy decisions, I stand without peer! My life is littered with the affects of failing to recognize my Then What? Moments.

The Integrity Media Network wants to marshall its resources on challenging Influencers to become people who ponder the rippling affect of how decisions  impact faith, family and future.

It is our belief that by coupling Biblical truth with contemporary examples of Then What? Moments, we can generate a paradigm shift in how Influencers make critical decisions.

As we build this program, we want to encourage you to share it with the young people in your life.  It is our responsibility to do all we can to guide them into making wise choices about premarital sex, alcohol and drug usage, career and life choices.

We’ll have more on that in the days ahead. For now, join me as we whisper a prayer of thanks that through Christ, this year’s Superbowl will mean more to us than any of the 43 that preceded it.

We look forward in partnering with you to impacting even more Influencers in 2010!

Our 20-year-old son dismissed himself from his chores and excitedly skipped down the steps. I presented the letter to him. Grant checked that his name was, in fact, handwritten on the front before he tore a jagged opening in the flap of the envelop.

Grant’s eyes traced across the lines of the letter as I began to pry inside the stack of fresh Christmas cards from well-wishers.
Grant surrendered his correspondence to me and patiently awaited an interpretation.
As the meaning of the letter settled upon me, I called for an immediate family meeting!

Grace and Gray spilled into view from their bedrooms in which they were presumably preparing for the exams that would challenge them during Finals Week at Whitefield Academy.

The five of us assembled in the family room warmed by the fire and illuminated by the glow of the lights that jeweled our Christmas tree.

“Dear Grant,” I recited from the letter, “it is our pleasure to inform you that our committee has selected you Kentucky Special Olympics’ Athlete of the Year.”

“Thank you, Jesus!” Grant cheered, his hands hoisted in the air like a referee signaling a touchdown.

After the applause from his proud family subsided, I encouraged Grant to lead us in prayer to thank God for this incredible blessing.

If you have heard Grant talk with his Creator, you know that there is no pretense. His words bear witness to a heart that is unconcerned about what others might think. As usual, Grant’s prayer crystalized the significance of this moment.

“God, thank you so much for letting me live,” Grant said with tears of joy streaming down his cheeks, “and for all the people who take such good care of me.”

By the time Grant finished his prayer, we were all in tears as we smothered him with kisses, hugs and high-fives!
That letter in the mail turned out to be a wonderful present in plain wrapping. It delivered to us more than just news of an exciting award for Grant; it carried with it the most treasured present we will unwrap during this time of colorful decorations and familiar songs of the season.

The true gift that we should share this December is gratitude. Grant reminded us to be thankful that God extended our days another year, that He rescued us from an eternity without Him, and that He brought people like you into our lives!

Merry Christmas,
Garry, Terrie,
Grant, Grace, and Gray Gupton

The staccato pounding of basketballs echoed through McBrayer Arena as players from Florida International University and Eastern Kentucky University limbered their muscles for their game which was still an hour from tip-off.

I am standing in the doorway of the Visitors’ Locker Room watching the players from each team go through their pre-game rituals.

It is a moment of relative quiet that I am sharing with one of the Top-50 Players in NBA History: Isiah Thomas.

His contagious smile is as dazzling on his 48-year-old face as it was 28 years ago when we first saw it flashed as he celebrated the 1981 NCAA Championship with his Indiana Hoosiers team mates.

“What coaches had the biggest impact on you?” I asked as part of the pre-game interview I do with each coach prior to calling their games on live TV.

“My mom, my high school coach, and my coach in the pros,” responded Thomas, now in his first year as head coach of the FIU Panthers.

I figured he would mention Chuck Daly, with whom Thomas won back-to-back NBA Championships in 1989-90. I also expected him to mention his high school mentor Gene Pingatore.

What surprised me was that he considers his mother, Mary, one of his first coaches.

“She taught to play the way I live, and to live the way I play. And that is the same value system I am passing onto my players: honesty, sacrifice, trust, and belief.”

Mary Thomas’ influence lifted her son off the mean streets of Chicago, Illinois and into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame in 2000.

So amazing was the Thomas’ struggle against poverty and crime, that a made-for-television movie was developed several years ago to chronicle it. The film was entitled , “A Mother’s Courage: The Mary Thomas Story.”  And now, Mary Thomas is influencing an entirely new generation of athletes through her son’s coaching.

The name Thomas failed to mention when I asked about his coaching influences was Bob Knight, his collegiate coach at IU.  And that got me thinking:

When people that I come in contact with are asked “Who influenced you?” will my name be the one mentioned or the one omitted?   What if that question is posed to my kids?

All of us are influencers—either to the benefit of those within our sphere or to their detriment.

Which kind of  influencer are you?

It is from there that I was blessed with the occasion to lead an officiating crew from the NFL through a pre-game Bible Study.

A few days ago, I received an e-mail from a friend of mine who is one of the top officials in pro football. He wanted to know if we could use the technology we are pioneering through The Integrity Media Network to stage the pre-game devotional for his crew.

As we have shared with you previously, we have partnered with Cisco to develop a method by which we are hosting impactful Bible studies from my office (or back porch) to anywhere in the world!

So, I prepared a lesson that drives home the point that God stores away miraculous moments within the mundane minutes of our lives.  The challenge is for us to recognize those times and get all of the delicious morsels that God has prepared for us.

As game day arrived, I positioned myself on my back porch with my laptop at the ready.  Soon, from a hotel meeting room in California, I was joined over the internet by the crew that was about to take the field to officiate the NFL match-up between the Baltimore Ravens and the San Diego Chargers.

The images from our website were projected onto a large white screen on a wall in the meeting room.  After a few minutes of introduction, I began:

“Men, it isn’t just refs who occasionally make a bad call in a ball game. The same thing happened to me the other night.
“I was doing the play-by-play of a high school football game on television. A kid fields a punt on his own goal line, and I absolutely nailed the description of the action. It was my Al-Michaels-Moment!”

“As the returner weaved his way through the coverage team, I was calling the names of the players who were making blocks as well as the ones who were missing the tackle. I could feel that this was one of the highlight moments of my sportscasting career!”

“Then I destroyed my excited called by saying, “They finally bring him down on the 51-yard line…”

The refs roared with laughter. There is no 51-yard line on the football field.  THAT was a bad call!

For the next 20 minutes, we poured through the Scriptures together. I included the story of Esther in our discussions.

Esther had one of those mundane moments that turned into the miraculous. She recognized, with the help of her uncle Mordecai, that the beauty pageant she won earned her much more than a private audience with the King. God entrusted her with this position of influence so that she could save the Jewish people from genocide.

My challenge to the refs was to look for the reason that God has blessed them with an incredible position of influence in professional sports. What is the reason they are calling ball games in the National Football League?

What miraculous moment has He hidden inside the influence you carry on-and-off the football field?

Even though they were on one side of the continent, and I was halfway across the other, there was a sense of connection that we shared that morning.
Later, I received notes from each of the men who had studied with me that Sunday morning. Here is what one of them wrote to me:

Gary, I just wanted to thank you for taking the time to meet with us on Sunday morning. Your message rang true not only in regards to what I do I Sunday’s but also in my professional life. I work with youth that have gotten into trouble with the law. Often times it appears as if the messages we are giving them are preceived as mundane. However, I have often had these youth come to me later (days, weeks, months, years) and tell me that the “mundane” message that I was giving them did indeed have an impact on their thinking and how they made diecisions in the future. Thanks again, and John made us all smile when he came in during the game and said “it was first and 10 on the fifty-one.”

Our mission at The Integrity Media Network is to “impact the Influencers” in our culture with the truth claims of Christ. Thanks to your support for what God is doing, we got that accomplished inside the National Football League!

Since the query was offered by my friend during one of the fund-raising desserts we staged this summer for The Integrity Media Network, it seemed to demand an obvious answer: money!

However, as the moment hung pregnant awaiting a reply, I realized something as I looked into the eyes of the dozen or so friends who had joined us at our home for this event: the need of our ministry cuts much deeper the fiduciary concerns such as cash flow, operating capital, and balance sheets.

“What we really need,” I said, shocking myself with the words flowing off my tongue, “is to build relationships with the influencers we are trying to reach with the message of Christ.”

What did I just say?

Our ministry is donor supported; the financial-side is always a concern!

It shouldn’t be.

His Word promises us time and again in Scripture that if we seek Him, He will take care of us—and our well-meaning ministries.

Phillipians 4:19 “And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus.”

The answer to the simple question posed by a dear friend about what we “really need’  morphed into a prayer that God has answered incredibly!

Just a few days ago, we forged a strategic partnership with the Southeastern Conference. The league is providing to our website highlights from SEC games. That service will help attract sports-minded viewers to our website.

Once they are there for the video candy,  they will be able to discover the ministry opportunities you are making possible through your gifts to The Integrity Media Network.

How cool is that???

And that’s not all: God has forged another strategic partnership for us.  He has opened a door of opportunity for me to help a group of Christian businessmen launch a 24-hour television sports network.

This fall, Wazoo Sports will begin broadcasting high school and college ballgames from all across Kentucky through a statewide TV network and website.

My role is to provide play-by-play for many of these games and to host a couple of sports talk shows for the network.  This will give me access to coaches, athletes, and administrators that I could not have reached on my own.

The web conferencing we are pioneering through this ministry grants us the perfect platform to reach these influencers for Christ!  What we will do in the coming days is invite these leaders to participate in the book and Bible studies available through The Integrity Media Network website.

Our mandate is to “impact the Influencers” with the life changing message of Christ.  These are two incredible ways GOD is accomplishing it!  And He is bringing us along to watch Him do it!

Our need was voiced. God spoke his answer through Wazoo and the SEC!

You too have a need that is deeper than the challenge of your present circumstances. God is ready to meet those needs in ways that are higher than we can think, hope and imagine!

It’s all about a strategic partnership: a lot of Him and a little bit of us!

As he struggles to overcome the fog of sleep, his mind pings with questions. “Where am I?” “What city am I in?”

He is alone on the road, again. His job requires extensive and exhausting travel. He spends more nights sleeping in a rented bed than he does in the one he shares with his wife at home.

The job pays well, but it allows little time for family, free-time, or fellowship. He is up early this morning to address the latter.

He shuffles his feet across the carpet, feeling his way through the darkness, until he settles his outstretched hand on the back of the chair and desk that occupy the corner of his home-away-from-home.

Powering up his laptop, his mind conjures up the reason for this earlier than usual start to his day. He and I are about to do a Bible study.

My friend and I are separated by 754 miles of America. Yet, we are connected virtually face-to-face via web conference.

“Good morning,” my friend says in a deep voice that indicates he hasn’t been awake very long.

“Hey, man. How are you this morning?” I asked.

“Tired. I worked until 10 last night and didn’t get to bed until after midnight,” said the man who has started this day on less than six hours of rest.

On the upper right-hand portion of the screen of my lap top, I have thumb-sized images of me and my friend that are captured and transmitted across the miles by  the built-in cameras on our computers.

On the left-side of the screen is the power point presentation I have pre-loaded. We’ll use that to guide our discussions of how God calls us to be men of self-control—especially in the area of sexual purity in our marriages.

The discussions are frank, pointed, and Biblical. It’s a beneficial session for both of us.

He is alone no longer.  The invigoration that can only come from spending meaningful time in God’s word has sparked his work day to life as the sun now announces its brilliant presence.

We couldn’t do this kind of innovative ministry work without the direction and encouragement from the network of supporters our ministry has attracted.

One of the men who helps finance The Integrity Media Network works for Cisco, the owner of the WebEx technology that makes this kind of virtual Bible study possible. He showed us how we could use this new tool to “impact the influencers” for Christ.

The Board of Directors of The Integrity Media Network has challenged me to find innovative ways to share Christ within a culture that finds more and more of its life revolving around megabytes. This is one of the ways we are making that happen.

God gave man the wisdom to create computers and the internet, (Or was that Al Gore?? Hum…) It is up to us to use this plastic box of wires for Good or for Evil.

We are using it for good. By setting up these on-line Bible studies, The Integrity Media Network is able to reach out to men on a schedule that better fits the fast-paced lifestyle that all of us must endure in these days.

Our plan is to use this technology to create even more virtual studies with Influencers all over the country.  If you are interested in participating, let me know.  We’ll get some studies put together for those of you who make this ministry possible.

Thank you for allowing us to “impact the influencers” for Christ.