technology..blessing or a curse?

I really love technology. I love the gadgets, the speed, the plethora of information that can be obtained at the click of a mouse or word search. I love social networks and how they have changed the way that we communicate with people..we will never again wonder what happened to "so-and-so" and always be able to "peek" into each others lives at a moment's notice. It seems to impact the way we date..we look through albums and make preconceived judgments of that person and their lives.. do we have the same interests? are their favorite movies the same?

As an ex-marketer, this is even more fascinating to me...the idea of understanding the different cultures and sub-segments that exist within this space..getting into these conversations and engaging with "customers" in a whole new way... How do we get them to love OUR brand the most? .....truly fascinating.

OK- so with all this said..when I hear of people say that technology is bad.. what I hear is "blah, blah, blah" However (as rare as this is) I have been wrong... :)

Absolutely wrong for that matter. All of our gadgets have the ability to hold us bondage to them..to depend on them for our every need.

We need directions - GPS.
We have a question - Search.
We want entertainment - facebook or YouTube.

We are trapped to our blackberries or iphones with work email. We unwind with Hulu or itunes..its never-ending.

How many times have you logged on to facebook and two hours later realized, wow..its 11pm?!
What could we have used that time for?

We are connected and we are (surface level) connecting with each other- constantly.

But are we connecting with God? When do we have the time? There is none.. ouch.

When we get to the gates of heaven, will we tell God that we didn't have enough time to read his word, to truly meditate on it, because well, the reason was we were on facebook far more often than we opened the LIFE BOOK. Ouch.

Believe me, this conversation pains me just as much. I'm calling myself out here. But I think I might not be the only one...the truth is that we must start to monitor our time with these gadgets..our everyday dependence on them can hold us bondage and in the end keep us from being productive in growing his kingdom. What we can start thinking is, how we can use this awesome technology to GROW his kingdom..for HIS good.. now, there's an idea. The Lord has given us the brains to come up with all of this amazing stuff..let's start using it for His glory..