Maher was describing the blessing I try not to take for granted and the responsibility my friendships often require. If you don’t have this reality in your life, you can. If you do have this luxury in your life, don’t keep it to yourself. There’s a world out there literally dying for what you have.
One of my old school friends sounded exasperated. Like me, he has spent a lot of time in independent, fundamentalist Baptist institutions. Unlike me, he’s still a part of that ecosystem. That culture still puts a large emphasis on door-to-door … Continued
Someday, I might not need courage or affirmation. Someday, I might be able to keep indelible memories only in my head. Some day, people might trust what I say. Until then, I’ll supplement my deficiencies with wearable cameras.
Crystal’s also in the process of proving the Apostle Peter’s hypothetical scenario true: “Even if some do not obey the word, they may be won without a word by the conduct of their wives, when they see your respectful and pure conduct.”
I’ll never forget that moment in my life: the sense of accomplishment, the impression of awe. Scientists have found that reflecting on life’s wins like these refuels our serotonin levels in our bodies, which helps us manage stress. Triggering those memories and what goes with them immunizes us to burnout. So, I wear these hats regularly to take me back to January 2008.
As of right now, I’m keeping 40% more of my New Year’s resolutions than when I first got serious about my goals a decade ago. That might not sound like a lot, but my friends and family have told me that they can see real change happening in my life. I’ve gotten to this mile marker, in part, by following these five principles.
I regularly get asked how I find the unique places where I vacation. My trademark response: “Give me five hours and Google, and I can find a vacation you’ve never seen.”
Everybody has the Internet, though; and everybody has five hours. Here’s my process, in case you’re looking to break your status quo.
What I don’t know is whether or not I fell in love with the exception to the rule. I’ve been to seasides on four continents and to beaches in at least eight countries. This is the first time I’ve felt this comfortable with my feet in the sand and nothing to do. I guess I’ll have to give another beach a try to know for sure.
The twenty or so books I have finished so far in 2016, though, have each left an impression on me. Several have created meaningful conversations in my life and even some personal growth. I’ve listed the books below and commented on each for two reasons: (1) to remind me of my takeaways and (2) to pique your interest in the better ones.
Theologians have studied God’s expressions in similar ways as the linguists and scientists of Arrival evaluated the transcriptions of the heptapods. Like the linguists, it can be easy for us to focus on parsing and expounding—on asking, “What is your plan here!?”
At times in my life, my life looks active and alive. Tourists visiting my life would see life and maybe even evidence of growth but no significant fruit. There are moments of beauty, of put-togetherness. With social media assumptions, the motion blur of my life can look green.
Preachers have explained to me from pulpits that children inherently trust others, that they don’t bring a lot of baggage to their worldview, that they accept premises without a lot of investigation. As the uncle of thirteen developing humans, though, I’ve found that the inquisitive questions never stop. From what I’ve heard as the friend of multiple child counselors, kids can be skittish, skeptical, and complicated.
I don’t know if I’ve ever said this about a kid, but it seemed like the cheerful abandon of our date was cathartic for JJ. It definitely was for me. I hadn’t expected that, and I didn’t plan to walk away with a “moral to the story”—even though all kids’ flicks are didactic.
Across the last four decades, that was the first time that word was applied to me (in person, anyway). That’s probably why I cocked my head a little when I heard the designation. It might explain why I’ve walked around with that moment and that sound for months now, trying to figure out what to do with it.
I don’t need a midlife crisis, because I have a decent handle on who I am, who I want to be, and how much the distance between those two points is shrinking. I just want a big journey to celebrate a big milestone.
I don’t know if I’ll ever make it back to the Conrad,
But that’s not for lack of longing.
I already miss a place I didn’t even know existed for my first 38 years.
If I do return, I’ll see more rock and less ice.
There will be less of the glacier.
But the Conrad will see more of me—a better me.
I just ugly cried in a public park downtown.
Don’t worry: they were happy tears. I was overcome with both gratitude and hope.
With more and more faith-based movies making money on the big screen, maybe we’re not too far from Christian themes coming to the small screen. Reality TV is just the venue for that cable revival. Church people have some prime licensing tie-ins that could get us to a critical mass that network executives won’t be able to ignore.
Regardless of who wins, I guarantee you will see more than a few of these posts the day after the election.
As bloggers, podcasters, comedians, academics, and others confront stereotypes, may we as a culture also not assume that “boys will be boys.” Please don’t equate that boy-ness to misogyny, objectification, and sexual assault. Please don’t think Drumpf represents maleness, masculinity, or manhood any more than Kim Kardashian, Rosanne Barr, or Hillary Clinton represent all women.
So, why am I mentioning it again? Why even blog about the foremost embarrassment in my memory? To disarm it. To take away some of its power. To help me laugh at it for the first time and chalk it up to fate. To remind myself that I don’t have it all together.
The irony of the situation was that I was asked to speak about what I’ve seen God do in odd or uncomfortable ways over the past few years of my life. Using Bob Goff’s book, Love Does, as a filter, I told my story of life change and the stories of sovereignty that affirmed my spiritual journey. I challenged the circle to respond to God’s promptings, even when they don’t understand the reason or efficacy of that obedience.
Following requires movement. In most situations, that will be irregular but consistent movement. It will look different for all of us, because we’re all moving toward Jesus from different angles and in different contexts. While there might be big breakthroughs, where we jump multiple spaces on the game board, most of the journey will be small steps in Jesus’ fresh footprints.
We summited one peak in cold, blowing rain; and I said to one of my teammates, “I don’t know if there’s something broken in me, but I love this!”
Candidly, the church through history has often made those instinctive journeys more dangerous. We’ve crushed lives and spooked others from progress. Even as we have attempted to build in-roads into secular culture, we have created more hurdles for someone to find their destiny on the other side of their church experience.