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Before all this took place I wrote on a whiteboard in my office the simple word ‘Focus’. It was one of those cathartic moments where I just wanted to get myself back on track. Since that time a lot has transpired and now I’m back behind the desk considering a paper tray, an Outlook inbox, an online project management system and my personal task list. How do I get to the goal?

First question might be ‘What is the goal?” and that’s where we should start. If you ask me it comes down to my most valuable commodity, time! I really would like to be able to write a book, paint a picture, develop more websites and read, read, read. What stops me you ask? One word; CLAG.

It should have been an acronym, but simply put CLAG sounds as good (or as bad) as it really is. Clag is the ’stuff’ that clogs the tubes, blocks the road or simply stuffs up your systems. Its like a barnacle on your boat, plaque on your teeth or the business process developed by a civil servant without a deadline. I think it really is Cancerous Legions Around Goals.

My thought for today is this; to focus its sometimes not about the goal but about clearing the ‘CLAG’ so that the goal is revealed. The goal was always there its just clouded from the things of the day. Time to throw the clag in the bin, sell the clag in a garage sale or give it to someone who sees that ‘one mans trash is another mans treasure’. Just to be fair, don’t give trash away! DUMP IT.

Hope you start to see a glimpse of your goal as you throw out the CLAG!

This plaque was a beautiful present from Ian & Mandy Worby after their recent trip to Israel. Mandy collected the stones from a number of key locations during their trip and on her return home to Australia kindly put this wonderful display together. One of the key aspects that hit me as I considered this amazing gift was that Jesus as a young boy could have kicked these stones along the road on his way to the Synagogue or when playing with his friends in the street. Take the time to look up Luke 19:40.

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This trip is a very special one for me as discussions within UCB are about a subject very close to my heart. The direction of our discussions surround the internet and the subject of social networking. Can we see the idea developed for the cause of discipleship and the driver for online media as a congruent and encompassing pathway for Online Ministry. Right now I feel that some see a problem needing a solution instead of a goal needing a strategy. My prayer (and I’d appreciate yours) is for the problem to become a dream and for like minds to be attuned to it’s fulfillment.

So far it has been an uneventful introduction… I haven’t received any calls

The thing I am looking forward to is integrating my social networking life via twitter on my iphone which posts to Facebook and then I’ll use the Wordpress app to enhance my blog.

Boy, even reading that makes me tired.

Now I’m off to setup a few apps… Call me!!

Here is a taste of the meeting that was held last Wednesday the 27th August in at the Sydney Entertainment Centre. The evening was called “Burn your Plastic Jesus” and came on the back of the Katoomba Convention’s Engage conference which this year had Mark Driscoll and D. A. Carson speaking.

When a public opportunity was presented for anyone to attend a one night evening with Mark Driscoll the Burn Your Plastic Jesus meeting quickly outsold the KCC conference centres’s facility and had to be moved to the Sydney Entertainment centre. Here Mark spoke to 10,000 courtesy of the team at KCC and Sydney Anglicans.

I attended the day time and night time sessions in Brisbane. An MP3 from the evening is now available at www.300menfoejesus.com I’ll come back to you with some additional thoughts from the inspirational day with Mark shortly.

If you have dreams of development in the mobile phone arena then soon you will see an SDK come out from Google.

For more details check this article by Eric Schonfeld from TechCrunch.

The beauty and attraction of the Olivetree software for me has always been their approach to distribution. They provide their base software reader with a number of (150+) of free library resources and Bibles to get you started.

Not only can you beautifully read your Bible on your mobile device of choice from the over 100 mobile versions of the software but additionally you can download ebooks for the software like John Piper’s "A Hunger for God". 

I encourage you to try the software and enjoy the benefits of having God’s word as your most used app on your PDA or mobile phone. I find that now the ability to bookmark verses at high speed during Sunday morning services is a great way to ‘keep up’. The other night I was able to pull out my phone and show friends the great challenge of reading Matthew 24 v 23-28 using the quick three touch verse finder system.  

One of the missing aspects that Olivetree are having to work with Apple on is that you can buy books from their library and then download them into your PDA or Phone. However as this app has to be installed through iTunes there currently doesn’t appear to be a way for past users to get their hands on their past library purchases. Olivetree tell us they’re working on that one and hopefully they get good support from the team at Apple because I have some purchased Bible versions and books I want to install

Now don’t feel you have to stand still on this one. The first release of the software has a few missing features from the standard Windows Mobile version but they’re coming and quickly. I’ve checked online and the feature list will be growing with options like;

• Greek and Hebrew Bible translations
• Lexicons, reference works, and fonts
• There will be more commentaries, study tools, and Christian eBooks Olive Tree plans to release over 500 titles for iPhone
• Phrase Search
• Bookmarks
• Auto-Scrolling
• Hyperlinked Table of Contents for eBooks
• Personal Notes
• Support for Images
• Highlighting
• Split-Screen, to view multiple documents at once
• Notes and Cross-References

If you haven’t picked up already, I’m recommending you visit Olivetree and download a version of the software. It doesn’t matter if you don’t have an iPhone get the version for your Motorola, Nokia or other phone and take the Word with you.

Thanks Olivetree!