A World Growing Smaller . . .

This post didn't really start as anything theological—nor is it really about me or my family. Rather, I just wanted to share with you something I find neat and fascinating, that you are a part of.

Today marks six months to the day that I installed a fun "widget" on my blog from Revolver Maps. You can find it near the bottom of the right column on the blog. It tracks the locations people have accessed "A Great God and Good Coffee" from. It is hard to see well from the blog, but when you click on it you are taken to a page that shows you an enlarged world map with red dots marking each location the blog has been accessed from, and a pulsating white mark showing where current visitors are located (you can view this as a flattened map, or a pretty cool revolving globe). It is not completely accurate as some people access through servers in locations other than theirs, but it gives a pretty good picture.

I find it fascinating that technology has come to the point that from our dusty old dirt road in the middle of nowhere the world, and people in it, can be tied together. Man's mind is truly amazing, and what he can accomplish really stunning when you think about it. Consider that, in December of 1903, the Wright Brothers flew under power for the first time—and by 1969 we had taken men to the moon and back safely! It is no wonder that God, at Babel, came down to a rebellious man and confused and scattered him. He said, at the time, in Genesis 11:6 "Behold, they are one people, and they have all one language, and this is only the beginning of what they will do. And nothing that they propose to do will now be impossible for them." (I guess there is a bit of theology in here, after all.) When we harness our mind, in right relationship with God, it is truly the most amazing partnership. When our mind, because it is so amazing, runs, not harnessed with God and out of relationship with Him, it has terrifying and evil potential.

I have included three images for you to share with me (I believe you can click on each one to see them enlarged and more clearly). The first picture is a screen shot of the Revolver map widget on January 19, 2010, just 13 days after I put it on and it started tracking visitors. The second picture is a screen shot of the Revolver map today, showing the growth of the scope of visitors (I am stunned by how many different countries have visited this blog!). The final image is a screen shot of my "Whose Visiting" widget from earlier today (also found on the blog), showing, in another form, the scope of the most current visitors. You can see that you, as a reader, are truly a part of a much larger community than you may realize. That is why I encourage you to use the comment feature and come together, in a place we can all share and grow as one body, separated geographically, but knit together in Christ and through the internet.

It truly is, in so many ways, a small world. May we, God's children through the blood of Christ, shine as bright lights in it—be it as missionaries in Malawi, Africa or the Philippines . . . or homemakers and grandparents in Lockwood, California. May we shine brightly to a lost world, and may we encourage and build up one another as well. For any part my little blog plays in all of that, I thank and praise our mighty Lord!