We made a change to the home page of MyChurch where we attempt to figure out your location based on your IP address.  Based on that, it will show you a church map of your city.

Can you help me test this out?  If you log off and go to http://www.mychurch.org, the map should be zoomed in to your general vicinity.  It won't get the city right 100% of the time, but it should be close.

Thanks in advance!

Carol and I spent the weekend at a Family Life Conference in Woodland Hills, Ca.  There were 250 other couples attending this "Weekend to Remember" including couples from our church.  And they ranged from pre-marital couples to folks who have been married for 40+ years.

We're approaching our 5-year anniversary soon, and we thought it was a good time to go in for a "tune-up."  We got what we expected, and more.  Excellent speakers who taught on sensitive topics that we would never discuss on our own.  We wrote love letters to our spouses (hadn't written one of those in years!), received solid Biblically-based teaching on marriage and love, and even had a chance to renew our vows.

There was so much to consume over the weekend that I'm just starting to absorb it all.  We laughed, we cried, we were blessed.  It was pretty draining.  But I recommend it to any married couple who want to work toward oneness in their marriage.  We'll probably do it again in another 5 years.  

I learned a couple years ago that I'm a terrible public speaker.  Like, really bad.  

What was funny though, was that I used to think I was awesome.  I gave good presentations when I worked at Intel.  And when I was in college, I taught classes with ease.  So much so, in fact, that I was awarded the Graduate Student Instructor of the Year in the EECS department (and that really boosted my ego to convince me that I was a good speaker)

But I remember the first time I spoke about MyChurch to a large audience, I completely bombed.  I shudder even thinking about it.  I got a little better with other presentations and speaking engagements, but I learned that I'm a pretty poor communicator while on my feet.  Humbling.

So for the past year, I've been turning down speaking offers and phone interviews related to MyChurch.  That's not easy for someone that craves MyChurch press, showmanship, talking about myself, etc.  Carol calls me a ham.  But I think its best for me to avoid personal spotlight.  Mostly because I sorely and embarassingly lack the gift. 

And also because I think its Biblical... I've been having conversations with a few folks about the "idol worship" that exists in some Christian circles, especially in the tech crowd.  We fawn over celebrity pastors, high-profile bloggers, mega church leaders, etc.  Something doesn't seem "Christian" about that.

Recognition of gifted leaders is great.  But it makes me uneasy when I perceive a Christian motivated by recognition or fame... basking in their own circle of influence, calling themselves thought leaders or visionaries or name-dropping until their echo chamber is convinced of their celebrity.  Maybe its because I see this sin so clearly in myself... excuse me while I go check how many Twitter followers I have.

OK, back from checking... this is also something my church, Cornerstone, is also discussing now. There, a man with an undeniable gift of speaking and communicating the Gospel is sickened by the idol worship that he gets and strives to keep a low profile.

Carol and I have been itching to get the ShamWow ever since we saw the cheesy infomercial.

Father Vic, of the Roman Catholic Church of Brooklyn, Queens, and Long Island has this parody about getting your soul cleaned via the Holy Sacrament of Confession.  Get the "almost-baptized feeling" with no purchase necessary.

Hat tip to Church Marketing Sucks.

How fun would it be for a church to not have a building.  They would be mobile and in a different location every Sunday.  And you would find out their location via Twitter.  I think a church plant should do this!

Two things sparked this idea...

1) The Korean Taco truck.  Twitter is allowing new businesses like this to sprout up overnight. This taco truck drives around Los Angeles, tweeting its location. Its been a recent local secret, until the NY and LA Times got a hold of it.

They combine my 2 favorite cuisines - Korean and Mexican.  Carol and I tried them a couple months ago, and they are as good as the NY Times article says.  My mouth is watering now thinking about their Kimchee quesadillas and Kalbi tacos..

Once they tweet their location, the crowd of 20 and 30-somethings start to line up.  Anxiously waiting for their $2 taco.  I felt at home with a community of others seeking cheap, late-night, Korean-Mexican, no-utensils-needed, street food.  It was like being part of an underground society.  Instead of secret fish symbols, we had blackberrys and iphones loaded with Twitter...

2) This past Sunday, Pastor Francis Chan, talked about how he wanted the church to be more like the church of Acts.  Where people broke bread together in each other's homes.  And not in a big multi-million dollar mega-church building. 

There's been a shift in our church to be more community-based.  Emphasizing the need to open our homes where we can love our neighbors.  And Pastor Francis doesn't just talk about it... he recently took in a homeless family and now has 8 kids running around his 1000 sqft house. (shh... I don't think he wants anyone to know that he's living out Matthew 25:35)

So yeah anyway, it would be interesting for a church plant to meet in peoples' homes.  And notify everyone via Twitter or SMS where their next gathering would be.  Impromptu or scheduled.  The key is that its mobile.  Maybe even ephemeral.  You'd have to follow them on Twitter to find out.

ps. For those not familiar with the company that Google is trying to buy for $1B, here's an explanation of Twitter.

pss. If you're already on it, get a Daily Bible Verse on Twitter.  Or follow me and my boring updates about what I'm having for dinner.