A few of my favorite finds from my weekly romp around the Internet:
9Marks continues their series on the Biblical Basis for Laughter.
Tim Challies tackles porn and how it’s affecting the marriage bed. Great stuff here.
“I hope that this message will help you first see that you do need to quit looking at porn and, second (and even if you’ve already broken free) that you need to find a new way of looking at sex. Just quitting, while it is the right thing to do, is not enough. You need to replace the lies with truth.” Tim Challies continues his series on porn here.
The other day I was teasing my 3-year old, Liam, telling him I was going to put him in diapers.
“I don’t wear diapers,” he said indignantly. “Diapers are for babies!”
“Oh, that’s right,” I said. “You wear pull-ups.”
“Yeah!” He said. “I wear pull-ups. They’re for big boys.”
The point is that words are important. To the hearer, they signal different meanings – even when they are talking about the same thing. We have to be aware of the words we use and how they are received.
What words are you using? Are there better ones you can use? And do you think about how your audience is receiving those words?
We’re honored to have Professor John Lennox from Oxford University speak at our 5th anniversary at Praxis Church. Professor Lennox is a internationally-known lecturer on science and religion and has debated such notable atheists as Richard Dawkins.
You can learn more about Professor Lennox at his website.
Below is a video my creative team put together to promo the event.
Tim Challies highlights Acts29 on his blog. Read it here.
Interesting post at TheDigitalsactuary.com on SimChurch and Internet churches. There is a longer more lively post and discussion here at at Out of Ur as well.
Great post on why writers should also be bloggers at Six Pixels of Separation.
Like Tim Keller? Yeah, me too. Wish you could here hundreds of his sermons for free? Now you can.
Recently Miley Cyrus made a headline splash by declaring that she was quitting Twitter. “I stopped living for moments and started living for people,” she said (Of course a few pics of you in your skivvies might influence your decision to get off the interwebs too). She then lost all possible credibility on the topic by making a hideous rap song and posting it on YouTube.
But let’s not forget that Miley is seventeen years old (I kind of choked on my coffee when I realized she was born my freshman year of high school). So, she’s allowed to make a fool of herself more often than not. That’s what teenagers do – fortunately, and unfortunately for Miley, most teenagers don’t have their lives in the limelight a majority of time. But teenagers also have little moments of wisdom that we’d be wise to heed, and I think Miley might be on to something here. When she says she’s living for people, she of course meant her followers.
I understand where she’s coming from. I’ve found myself more concerned about providing content for others than enjoying life and its moments. I’ve been sucked in to the Real-Time Web, where every moment is an opportunity to be catalogued and disseminated to a waiting audience (kind of like right now).
I came across an excellent article by Paul Carr on this concept of the Real-Time Web. We’d all be wise to ponder the implications of Carr’s words. Here’s a quote I found especially poignant:
“And that’s when the real-time web – for all the attention it’s getting right now – starts to look less like a brave new world, and more like the path to a hideous dystopia. A world where our reaction to any event, no matter how serious, is influenced, not by what’s right, but by how it will play with our micro-audience. An audience that, thanks to Google and Microsoft’s wholehearted support of the real-time web, is about to get even bigger and more tempting.”
So, I hate my bike helmet. I really do. Every time I put it on, I feel like a complete goober and imagine that every cool, hipster ASU student in Tempe is secretly mocking me as I pass them on their ridiculously large cruiser bikes. I just feel so uncool.
Why do I wear this stupid thing?
My first thought is that I’m a dad. I make my three-year old, Liam, wear a helmet. It would be hypocritical for me to not do the same. And that’s true. But I’ve often teetered on the edge of not wearing a helmet on my ride, knowing that Liam would be none-the-wiser…which makes me realize how much I suck when I’m contemplating ways to pull a fast one on my own son!
I Had to Grow Up
One of my favorite movies is Garden State. It’s the story of Andrew Largeman, played by Zach Braff, who goes to New Jersey for his mother’s funeral after years of separation in L.A. The movie is a study in change: how people change and yet stay the same.
One particular scene is quite poignant. Out for a late night ride on his old motorcycle, Andrew is pulled over by a cop who approaches Andrew with a hostile attitude, yelling profanities at him.
And then, all of sudden, Andrew realizes this cop is his old friend, Kenny. After talking for a bit, Andrew says, “But Kenny, the last time I saw you, you were doing coke lines off a urinal.”
Kenny responds, “I know, I know, man…but it was time for me to grow up, you know?”
Later, at a drunken, drug-filled party, we learn that Kenny has changed but not really. He became a cop for all the wrong reasons. His exterior persona has changed, but on the inside he’s still that kid who loves to party. He hasn’t grown up, really. He’s just taken on the appearance of responsibility.
I Need to be Transformed
As Christians, we are not called to just grow up. We are called to be transformed. “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect” (Romans 12:2).
Many of us are like, Kenny. We take on the appearance of responsibility and maturity, but secretly we are still the little boy or girl that struggles with the same sins and insecurities from our past.
For me, I struggle with the opinions of man. I hate my bike helmet because I feel uncool. But I wear it because I care more about my safety and making smart decisions so that I can be there for my family.
Everything is Spiritual
This may sound silly, but I think my bike helmet is spiritual. In fact, everything is spiritual. “So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God” (I Cor. 10:31). Everyday, I have to die to myself and live in Christ. “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come” (2 Cor. 5:17).
My decision to wear my bike helmet so that I can have a better chance to live for my family is a decision to die to myself and live in Christ – to put my pride aside so that I can live for others, my family, whom I’m called to lead and serve.
Only by daily dying to our self and living in Christ can we be truly fulfilled, truly transformed, and truly grow up.
What are the areas where you’ve taken on the appearance of maturity but not actually been transformed?
I encourage you to daily examine your heart and ask God to lead you by His Holy Spirit to daily keep you in Christ.
Some interesting thoughts from Tim Keller this morning over at the Gospel Coalition blog. I’d be interested in your thoughts on the role of the teaching pastor in pastoral care. Is Tim’s critique justified?
“I have often seen many men spend a great amount of time on preparing and preaching lengthy, dense, expository messages, while giving far less time and energy to the learning of leadership and pastoral nurture. It takes lots of experience and effort to help a body of people make a unified decision, or to regularly raise up new lay leaders, or to motivate and engage your people in evangelism, or to think strategically about the stewardship of your people’s spiritual gifts, or even to discern what they are. It takes lots of experience and effort to know how to help a sufferer without being either too passive or too directive, or to know when to confront a doubter and when to just listen patiently. Pastors in many of our Reformed churches do not seem to be as energized to learn to be great leaders and shepherds, but rather have more of an eye to being great teachers and preachers.”
Tim Challies gives some excellent thoughts on parents role in their children’s media consumption.
Chris Br0gan gives a dead on and simple video what it takes to be an overnight success.
Albert Mohler talks about how today’s children’s books represent parents, “Parents are presented as frustrated, bewildered, and concerned — but clearly not in charge.” Read it here.
Looking forward to reading this FREE book by John Piper and Justin Taylor.
John Saddington blogs about the importance of disconnection.
For those of you who are unaware, I’m an editor and ghostwriter and have written or edited seven books in the last three years. Additionally, I’m privileged to serve as the Communications Director at Praxis Church, am honored to be an elder canidate at the church, run two blogs (with a third under development), and read a ton. I’m often asked how I keep up.
Long Hours
Before I start, please watch this video by Chris Brogan to get in the right frame of mind:
As Chris says being an overnight success really means working overnight when required. It’s hard work. Like Chris, I put in a lot of hours. On average I’d say I work 10-12 hours per day, 6 days a week. I take one sabbath where I rest and hang out with my family.
But putting in a lot of hours is not enough. What’s really important is how you order those hours and finding proper tools to make you productive.
Rise Early, Start Right
Even though I work long hours, I still have evenings with my family. Why? Because I rise early.
Most days I’m up around 5 a.m. At that hour, the house is quiet, and this time of year it’s dark. I use those still morning hours to open my Bible, study God’s word, and pray. It gets me started on the right foot. I believe it was Martin Luther who said something to the effect of, “I generally pray two hours every day, except on very busy days. On those days, I pray three.”
“I generally pray two hours every day, except on very busy days. On those days, I pray three.” – Martin Luther
And while I’m not doing two to three hours per day in prayer (maybe I should!), I’m consistently putting in one hour a day. On those days when I think I have too much to do or feel too tired, I often fudge and skip my devotions or sleep in. I find this to always be a bad idea. I can feel the difference because I’m relying on my own strength rather than the Holy Spirit.
I’ve found my best days happen when I rise early and start right.
The Importance of Order
I map out my day. I have to-do lists and a fairly set schedule and way of doing things. For me it looks like this:
5:00 am–6:30 am – Prayer and Bible study (and coffee!)
6:30 am–7:00 am – Get my son, Liam, breakfast and chat with him
7:00 am–8:30 am – Google Reader
8:30 am–10:00 am – Work on blogs
10:00 am–5:00 pm – Work on client projects
I try to call it a day around five each day and spend the evenings with my family and friends. After Liam is in bed at eight or so, I’ll read books till around ten, hit the sack, and then start all over again.
Now this isn’t always how the day goes. There are client meetings and other things that come up, but generally this is how I try to keep my day ordered. Your order may look totally different, but the importance is that there is order.
Tools
For my profession, writing and communications, there are tools that make my life much easier and more productive. These may be of help to you or not. I encourage you to seek out tools that will help you become more productive for whatever you do.
Google Reader – I love my Google Reader. I subscribe to over 70 blogs and websites, and all the fresh new content is downloaded right into my reader. I skim through the headlines, read what catches my eye, and ignore the rest. This saves me hours of work and reading.
Evernote - For the longest time I used solely paper note-taking systems, jotting down to-do’s in my Molskine. The problem was that I was starting to drop some of the balls I had in the air as life got busier. Today, I still use my Molskine, but I download my information into Evernote. I can categorize my to-do’s and easily clip web content for later review or future blog topics. Plus it syncs with my iPhone, which is handy. Because it’s based on a cloud server, I can access my account anywhere. If you haven’t checked out Evernote, you’re missing out.
Twitter – I half-jokingly call Twitter the search engine that finds you. By following people on Twitter who share my similar interests I have access to material and information I might have never found myself or spent hours looking for. Twitter does work for me. I like that.
MobileMe – I highly suggest using some sort of cloud system such as MobileMe or Google to synch up your address book, calendar, and other items. I love MobileMe because it automatically updates my iPhone and computers with new contacts, events, and email. It saves my time and my sanity.
The best part is that most of these tools are free – or close to it. There are literally hundreds of tools out there that you can use for free to help you become more productive. Go find them.
Time for Rest and Exercise
Finally, I make time for rest and exercise. I ride my bike nearly every day for an hour. I spend the evenings resting with my family, and I make one day a sabbath day where I don’t work at all. This makes sure that I recharge and can run at full capacity when I am working. And it keeps my family from hating me. God rested, so should we.
So, I’ve shared with you my insights. What are some things you would add? How do you work more productively, and what techniques to you find essential to getting your work done?
I’m excited to see Michael Goheen tonight as he speaks to our Surge students (myself included). Surge is our leadership development program that is in conjunction with a number of other Valley churches, spearheaded by my pastor, Justin Anderson of Praxis Church, and Tyler Johnson of East Valley Bible Church.
If you aren’t familiar with Goheen, he is a preeminent missiologist and associate professor of religion and theology at Redeemer University College. His book, The Drama of Scripture, is a perquisite for anyone wishing to enter Surge. If you haven’t read it, I highly recommend it. Here is a quote that sums up the book nicely:
“Many of us have read the Bible as if it were merely a mosaic of little bits–theological bits, moral bits, historical-critical bits, sermon bits, devotional bits. But when we read the Bible in such a fragmented way, we ignore its divine author’s intention to shape our lives through its story. All human communities live out of some story that provides a context for understanding the meaning of history and gives shape and direction to their lives. If we allow the Bible to become fragmented, it is in danger of being absorbed into whatever other story is shaping our culture, and it will thus cease to shape our lives as it should. Idolatry has twisted the dominant cultural story of the secular Western world. If as believers we allow this story (rather than the Bible) to become the foundation of our thought and action, then our lives will manifest not the truths of Scripture, but the lies of an idolatrous culture. Hence, the unity of Scripture is no minor matter: a fragmented Bible may actually produce theologically orthodox, morally upright, warmly pious idol worshippers!”
Acts29 has some talks by Goheen that you might like to check out as well.
The other day I was teasing my 3-year old, Liam, telling him I was going to put him in diapers.
Recently Miley Cyrus made a headline splash by declaring that she was quitting Twitter. “I stopped living for moments and started living for people,” she said (Of course a few pics of you in your skivvies might influence your decision to get off the interwebs too). She then lost all possible credibility on the topic by making a hideous rap song and posting it on 
So, I hate my bike helmet. I really do. Every time I put it on, I feel like a complete goober and imagine that every cool, hipster ASU student in Tempe is secretly mocking me as I pass them on their ridiculously large cruiser bikes. I just feel so uncool.
Some interesting thoughts from Tim Keller this morning over at the Gospel Coalition blog. I’d be interested in your thoughts on the role of the teaching pastor in pastoral care. Is Tim’s critique justified?
For those of you who are unaware, I’m an editor and ghostwriter and have written or edited seven books in the last three years. Additionally, I’m privileged to serve as the Communications Director at Praxis Church, am honored to be an elder canidate at the church, run two blogs (with a third under development), and read a ton. I’m often asked how I keep up.
I’m excited to see Michael Goheen tonight as he speaks to our Surge students (myself included). Surge is our leadership development program that is in conjunction with a number of other Valley churches, spearheaded by my pastor, Justin Anderson of