TonyMorganLive.com

Today was an interesting day in the world of social networking. There were a couple of milestones of note:

1. Ben Milstead recorded the 5,000th comment on my blog. Thanks, Ben, and welcome to blogging.

2. The number of "followers" on Twitter has surpassed the number of "friends" I have on Facebook. What’s amazing is the fact the Twitter thing has only been happening for a handful of months. Thanks Tweets!

So, there you have it, we have reason to celebrate tonight. The next round is on me.

Thanks for submitting your questions. I’ll try to answer as many as possible through the next several days, and then some of them will likely show up on the future FAQ page. Here are my responses to the first questions:

1. Do you now recognize country music as the superior form of
entertainment or have you not lived here long enough yet? Are you at
least referring ot it as "country" and not "country/western"?

First of all, I think it’s funny that you referred to "country" and "music" in the same phrase. That aside, I absolutely despise country music…unless it helps people meet Jesus. And, the fact that someone could meet Jesus after listening to country music proves that God exists and is all-powerful.

2. What do you think you would be doing right now if God would not have called you into the ministry?

I’d probably still be a city manager…with a blog.

3. Could you explain the hypstatic union?  Lots of references to the Greek would be great.

I was in a meeting with Lee today, and he threw out a comment that raised my curiosity. This is a topic that I’ve blogged about in the past. Before I revisit my thoughts, though, I’m interested in acquiring some data. This will be very unscientific, but I’d love for you to participate in this poll. Please vote, and then we’ll discuss the results in a few days.

Thanks for participating. Check back to see the results and the ensuing conversation.

I’m about ready to roll out an FAQ page for the blog. But, before I do that, I’m curious to know your questions about my blog, my ministry or my life. For this purpose, assume nothing is off-limits. Of course, I’m not guaranteeing I’m actually going to respond. That’s the risk you take.

It’s your turn. What are your questions? Let me have it.

Josh Silverman, CEO of Skype as quoted on Share Skype Blog (April 21, 2008)

We’re looking at every aspect, every stage of the user journey. From when you download the client and make your first call, all the way through the range of products we have, from the desktop to mobile. We’re going to focus on where the biggest pain-points are along that
journey, in order to make the whole experience seamless and delightfully easy. If we do it right, we’ll be relevant to more people more often.

I’m going to be interviewing Howard Frist (Greenville Campus) and Michael Brown (Florence Campus) about NewSpring’s multi-site strategy at 11:00 a.m. this morning. To watch the interview and join the conversation visit my live broadcast on Mogulus.

I’m in the process of going back through the Bible viewing it through
the eyes of a leader. Here are some thoughts from Romans:

• Paul was first a "servant" of Jesus before he was a leader that helped establish the Church. (1:1)
• "At whatever point you judge the other, you are condemning yourself, because you who pass judgment do the same things." But it’s so easy to point out the shortcomings of others…especially in blog world. (2:1)
• Character is defined when no one but God is looking. (2:16)
• I find it interesting that come people accused Paul of evil because of his ministry approach including his teaching on God’s grace. History tends to repeat itself. (3:8)
• We can’t earn God’s friendship. Sometimes that’s a hard truth to comprehend for a control-freak like me. (4:2-3)
• Where there is suffering, there’s an opportunity for hope. (5:3-5)
• If God has an "abundant provision of grace," why do some think very few people can experience that gift? (5:17)
• It’s interesting that even after Paul decided to follow Christ, he was honest about his propensity for sin. That ability to be real certainly helps those of us who face similar challenges. (7:7-25)
• When I don’t know what to do or pray or even think, the Holy Spirit is there to step in on my behalf. Weakness is actually good. (8:26-27)
• "If God is for us, who can be against us?" That’s where we find strength. (8:31)

Today was the final week of "The Man Series" at NewSpring. Here are some of my favorite lines from Perry’s message:

• "I’ve got an attitude this morning."
• "What you fear controls you."
• "A good snake is a dead snake."
• "We can’t be a man of God until we know the Word of God."
• "How we handle our money is a direct reflection of what we think about God."
• "The only reason we think we’re not rich is because we know someone who has more."
• "Everything we have is a gift from God. All your junk is not your junk."
• "It’s easy to see greed in other people. It’s hard to see it in our own lives."

Check this out…

1. JOB: If you are a leader and God is calling you to be a church planter, you should consider responding to this ad. I know the church that’s recruiting for this role. You won’t be disappointed.
2. MUSIC: I’m digging the new music from Worth Dying For. One of their songs, "Unite," is available as a free download on the Integrity Music site.
3. EVENT: Looks like I’m finally going to meet Los face-to-face at the Whiteboard Sessions. Will I meet you?
4. BOOK: I’m reading Tim’s new book, Pop Goes the Church, with a group of folks from the NewSpring team.
5. WEBSITE: Presdo has me curious. It’s a simple online scheduling assistant.
6. FREE: April 30 is the last day to post your open position for FREE by using the following discount code: myfreead08.
7. NEWSPRING: Here are some random facts about the NewSpring Greenville Campus staff team. Howard hired another team member last week. He’ll reveal the details next week.
8. FOOD: I ate my first sushi at Tsunami in downtown Greenville. The Blankenships held our hand through the experience.
9. SPORTS: I’ll have an eye on the NFL draft this weekend. Unfortunately, Cleveland doesn’t have a pick until the fourth round.
10. MARKETING: "You have to ask, why would anyone care about this [ad]? In
    the traditional advertising world, that was never a question asked with
    much rigor." Read more about "Attention Deficit-Advertising."