Scripture calls us not to be "conformed to this world" but instead to be "transformed by the renewal of your mind" (Rom 12:2). Part of this involves developing a biblical worldview. What does this mean? It means that everyday we need to allow God's word (not the world) to transform what we value and treasure, how we see and think about the things around us, all the while leading us to a deeper level of discernment and integrity. This spring we are inviting men to come together for a weekend (June 25-27) in order to help us do this more consistently.

As such, we have invited Tim Challies (www.challies.com) to come and speak about his forthcoming book on how we as men can "Live Virtuously in a Digital World". For more information on the retreat itself follow the link on the right of this page. For now though, to give you a better idea of what it's all about, here is a brief description by the author.

"The book's working title is The Next Story. I'm really pleased with the title, but it does have a downside in that it is remarkably difficult to pronounce (try saying it out loud). It is a book about technology in general and digital technology in particular. Even the least technical among us are being pressed from all sides by technology. Like it or not, we rely upon it in unprecedented ways.

Many people feel that they are analog creatures in a digital world. Christians are beginning to awaken to this reality and are trying to think critically and biblically about many new realities brought about by technological developments. Yet, there are few helpful and sympathetic voices for those who wish to do so but have no idea how. I'm hoping to fill this gap, creating a book that will help Christians think well about technology. I do not intend to discuss Facebook and Twitter and whatever will be big and popular next month. I want to discuss technology in the bigger picture so that the book will be applicable today, tomorrow and ten years from now."

Here is a related excerpt from one of his earlier posts...

"In our culture we have allowed ourselves to become notoriously busy. And all the time, while we are busily going through life, there is a great deal of "noise" in the background of our lives. It may be music that plays when we drive, when we work and when we play. It may be a television that is always turned on whenever we have a few minutes of downtime. Perhaps when we find fifteen spare minutes between picking the kids up from school and beginning to cook dinner we watch an episode of Judge Judy or catch a re-run of The Simpsons. The background noise may be a Blackberry that constantly beeps and buzzes as it receives emails or stock quotes, even when we are far away from the office. It may be a cell phone that keeps customers or employees in contact with us even on weekends and holidays.

It seems to me that, as society continues to move in its current direction, and as we become ever more "wired," Christians will have to be deliberate about moderating and perhaps removing some of this ever-present background noise. If we are to be thinking people, people who think deeply and deliberately about spiritual matters, we simply cannot allow our lives to be overshadowed by the noise of technology."

If you're interested, you can read the rest here:

http://www.challies.com/articles/technology-an-evil-master

And men, be sure to register for the retreat asap, we've invited a number of other churches and space is limited.