Well we survived, but just barely. Our second annual men's retreat was this past weekend and aside from the odd twisted ankle and sore muscles from guys who were too old to be playing a game of softball (not me of course), it was a great success. The food was excellent, the fellowship was great and the messages were very engaging and informative.

Our speaker this year was Tim Challies who did an excellent job of addressing the issue of living virtuously in a digital world. To get an idea of what he talked about and where he was coming, here's a quote from a recent article he wrote entitled "Who is using whom?"...

There must have been a day, many thousands of years ago, when a particularly enterprising individual invented the wheel. It is such a simple thing but one that completely revolutionized the world. It is an invention none of us would wish to be without. But transport yourself back to the moment the wheel was unveiled and you will no doubt see that some Luddite nearby was shaking his head, clucking his tongue, and mumbling, “There goes the neighborhood.”

Some people tend to regard any new technology as inherently good; others, the cautious types, may lean toward viewing any new technology as inherently bad. The fact is, though, that technology itself is amoral, neither good nor bad. The ultrasound machine, used to save unborn babies by diagnosing problems in utero and used during the destruction of unborn babies through abortion, is neither good nor bad; it just is. It is not technology itself that is moral or immoral but our use of that technology, our application of it, our dedication to it. Technology is but an amoral tool in the hands of moral beings.

While a technology may not carry the weight of morality with it, we would not want to downplay its significance. When a significant new technology is introduced to the world, we do not have the old world plus the new technology; we have a whole new world. The world today is not just the old world plus new digital technologies; it is a completely different world. What is true here generally is true of the church — even the local church. Local churches have been permanently changed by digital technologies; there is no going back. The question we face, then, as Christians and as defenders of the local church is how we will respond and adapt to these new realities.

To read Tim's answer to this, you can go to:

http://www.ligonier.org/learn/articles/who-using-whom/

Thanks again to all who helped to make this retreat a great success! A special thank you to Ken Wood for all his time and effort in putting it all together. You have got the heart of a panther my friend!