Just finished watching this from Hillsong's website. It's a clip showing & talking about their latest live album "This Is My God" being released in July. Needed this awakening today - good stuff...

So, Bill Gates is finally gone from the day-to-dayness of Microsoft. In a series covering the leaving, Seattle based blogger Todd Bishop drew from the archives and pulled out an internal email rant from Bill to his team after unsuccessfully trying to download & install Windows Moviemaker from the Microsoft website. It is absolutely hilarious!

You can read the text of the email on Todd's blog here: "An Epic Bill Gates E-mail Rant"

Or you can listen to a dramatic reading of the email by Dave Ross of KIRO-AM/710 in Seattle below:

Today was a good day. Started off kind of crazy with juggling between a dentist & haircut appointment for myself, the last day of swim lessons for the kids, their own haircuts, and a last-minute doctor's appointment for Josiah who began complaining about his throat hurting last night. It ending well, though, as we had some good friends from Nashville stop by on their way back from vacation in Florida.

The McCaskills were a part of the homeschool co-op we were in, and quickly became good friends during the three years we were in Nashville. Tonight was such a good night as we talked together, laughed together, ate together, etc.

Makes me even more excited about our trip to Nashville next week! We're heading there Wednesday morning to spend about 5 days. Our good friends Chad & Jessica have asked me to officiate their wedding at Gladeville on Saturday, so we'll be doing wedding misc for part of the trip. Spending considerable time with our friends Craig & Barbara (yes, they're 'good friends' too, just thought I was being a bit repetitive :-) ).

Here's a couple of pics of the gang before they headed out tonight...

I've begun working on the design for the new blog (which will reside at both chrisediger.com & inthethinplaces.com). I'm hoping to have something launched around the first of the month. Posts here may be sporadic until that happens.

I'll send out an invite once it is up!

Finished reading Clusters: Creative Mid-Sized Missional Communities this morning. This book was co-authored by Bob Hopkins and Mike Breen and birthed out of the journey of a number of churches seeking to reach people in a post-Christendom UK.

I picked this up because I got a chance to meet Mike about a month ago and because Bridgeway, the church Andrea and I were a part of in Oklahoma, is one of the churches who have been adopting the principles of mid-sized community (MSC) that this book addresses.

The hardest part, for me, was that this book comes off very textbookish. Not sure if it is because of the writing style of Hopkins, who, I believe, writes most (discussing principles Breen developed), or because it is meant to be a manual of sorts for churches seeking to move toward MSC. In either case, it took some determination to push through some of the heavier text. If someone were to pick up the book outside of a true desire to understand and implement the principles within it, they would have difficulty, in my opinion, getting through it.

That being said, this book has done more for me in helping me understand how a church like Bridgeway is structured and operates - a church that I feel very much akin to.

I won't go into the full details (I did take a lot of notes in my Moleskine, which speaks well to the content), except to encourage anyone looking to find a new model of doing church to check it out. So much more in that our country is beginning to slip into the same post-Christendom challenges that have been found in the UK in the last couple of decades.

You can grab the book from the 3DM website, and even download a digital copy for around $10.

With summer comes one of my favorite times of year - company.

Having people here makes me feel loved, sought after, valued. Having company back-to-back-to-back makes me feel the need for a little solitude. But having company every few weeks is a good thing. Something to look forward to.

Since leaving Kansas we've had company on a somewhat regular basis - especially in summer. And now that we are in Georgia and company has been coming to our new home here, it somehow makes me feel more at home in a place that has been a smooth, positive, but feels-longer-than-usual transition. I think I may have lost my patience for 'getting through the first year'. So - company is good and helpful. In case I didn't tell you already, thanks for coming.

Just threw out all of our phonebooks for the first time in my life. Yeah, I know, it's about time. Actually, our new phonebooks arrived the other day (note Steve Martin The Jerk memory now) which prompted the whole thing. I walked out to get into the van & noticed a plastic bag bundle on the front lawn. The kids, of course, thought it was some kind of present. My thought, "who in the world uses a phone book anymore?"

We've always kept one, typically stored somewhere in the top of a closet or in the back of a kitchen cabinet, "just in case." Now that I can pull a phone out of my pocket and look up anything I need, that 'in case' will never happen.

How about you? How many phone books do you still have laying around your house? When was the last time you used one?

Just wanted to let you know that we're approaching an important Catalyst cutoff date. Next Friday, June 26th, is the final day to register before the rates jump up as much as another $40. I know I've spoken to many of you and there are several people who have expressed interest in coming to Atlanta in October to hang out with us & attend the conference. The rates are $249 for individuals (going up to $289), and $139 for full-time students (going up to $159). If you're registering more than one person, there are discounted rates. You can see all the rates on the Catalyst 08 Conference site.

We're looking to hopefully have a houseful for the week. Hope you can come!

Here's a fun reminder from the Catalyst crew...


Catalyst / Geico Spoof from Catalyst on Vimeo.

Since my life is so intertwined in web design and development, I thought it would be nice to post new sites and launches that we have so some of you can see what we're working on.

We just launched "GiANT Perspectives" a new GiANT blog authored mainly by Jeremie right now, although I think we'll probably see multiple authors in the future. I'm really excited about this one as I think it going to be different than most business blogs out there.

For starters, it just looks cool. Seen any business blogs lately? Trust me. Jeremie is also looking to offer free tools and resources that will go along with many of the posts. So instead of the typical "listen to what I have to say," I think GiANT Perspectives is going to come off as much more of a "let's start this conversation, and download this free tool that will help you put into practice the things that we're talking about" feel. Third, the video elements work great with my iPhone. This isn't much of a draw for regular sites, but for a blog that is really geared at business professionals, especially CEOs and business leaders, I think the iPhone integration is going to be really nice. I've set it up so that we can even roll out a completely iPhone version of the site in the near future.

Some other recent adds/updates you might like to check out:

• Catalyst Conference - Nice flash site rolled out; didn't have anything to do with this one as they were working on it before I arrived.
• Catalyst Space - Same thing here - new updated design that I didn't have a hand in; we just moved it into our internal system, though, so I've added some new features to take advantage of our new ability for site membership.
• GiANT Impact - Minimalist company site; this one will go through several revisions.
• JohnMaxwell.com - Site for everything John Maxwell.

I had a great birthday weekend. Got a round of "Happy Birthday" from the Catalyst and GiANT Impact guys along with an ice cream cake. Had PF Changs Friday night with the fam. Scavenger hunt in my house for birthday clothing that the kids had hid everywhere (including one shirt inside the hide-a-bed). Lazy Saturday morning, including breakfast in bed from my beautiful bride and Beverly Hills Cop (which I probably hadn't seen since the late 80s). After mowing the lawn, relaxed for a bit before our new friends Ben and Ainsley Arment came over with their two boys for dinner.

Sunday watched highlights from the U.S. Open Saturday with the boys before heading to 12Stone for church. Watched the NCAA Championship DVD I got for Father's Day, again with the kids (Emerie cheerfully ran to tell mom when "The Jayhawks won!"), then had the Kubiceks over for an evening of food and cards.

In addition to some new clothes and the Championship DVD, bought myself some new tunes (James Hunter and Duffy), got a GREAT CD from Jeremie (The Weepies), and a two month subscription to Gamefly (think Netflix for Video Games) from my good friend Craig.

Still on the list? I think I've decided to pass on the 3G iPhone as I don't really need the GPS and the Edge speeds don't really bug me that much. Instead, I'm probably going to use my birthday cash and my $100 apple store credit (thanks to Steve Jobs) to by an AppleTV. Been eyeing it for awhile.

UPDATE: Bit the bullet and bought the AppleTV last night. Loving it so far! Picture & user interface are incredible. Still need to get a cord to get the digital sound to my receiver - had to borrow the DVD cable last night.

Okay, leaving behind any semblance of spirituality (although I guess for some of you I can make the stretch that golf is a divine gift), I just have to say that this weekend's U.S. Open was simply incredible! I recorded the whole thing in HD each day, beginning on Saturday. Had friends over Saturday and Sunday evening, so didn't sit down until later in the evening both nights to 'quick view' (thanks to the DVR) the rounds.

I honestly can't remember a tournament that I've watched that was so suspenseful as this past weekend! Every single time it seemed like Tiger was beginning to fade away, he would pull some incredible shot that only he could make out of thin air. Today was no exception as he pulled off an 18th playoff hole birdie to force sudden death, and then pull off yet another Major victory.

Amazing stuff!

"We don't want anyone to imitate what we're doing; but we'd love people to imitate why we're doing what we're doing."
~Erwin McManus

Just got off a Catalyst Filter conference call with Erwin McManus, lead pastor of Mosaic in Los Angeles. Great stuff. Erwin's probably one of those guys that I really look to who are stretching the boundaries of what the Church is about in the Kingdom.

One of the true marks of Mosaic is that it is known for its creativity. They have a strong arts community that many churches look at and envy. Not that Erwin or Mosaic think anything of the envy - in fact, he continually tells people not to necessarily copy their methods, but the heart behind them (hence the opening quote - from the call today).

One of the guys who called in asked a question along the lines of, "If you were going to plant a church today knowing what you know now, how would you go about finding creative people for your worship services." Erwin's answer: "I wouldn't." Instead, he encouraged the guy to not limit their expression of worship to a Sunday morning time, nor to look to find artists to enhance what they are doing. Instead, he encouraged him to reach out and find artists to build relationships with and give them a place to contribute within the greater work of what they are doing.

I like the Kingdom concept that "Everybody plays." I like it even more when it isn't equated to mean "you can help park cars, or help run nursery, or help pass offering plates."

Clusters, my current read, is all about releasing leaders within our churches with low control and high accountability - and accountability, not from a control standpoint, but from a resourcing and liberating one. Erwin hit on the control issue in the American church some and I think this is probably an accurate portrait in many ways.

From this morning's read...

"Whether we subscribe to the "top down" structure of leadership (Anglican, Catholic, Lutheran, etc.) or the "bottom up" structure (Baptist, free church, etc.), we need to recognise that both are based on control... either the vicar/bishop/PCC keeping the laity in check - or the laity keeping the minister/area minister in check. The primary function of both structures is to make sure that all is in control (finances, programmes, use of time, teaching, pastoral care, etc.) and that everything passes through formal channels. So whenever any of these areas are tested, the default position of both systems is to maintain the status quo. This will hardly bring the freedom for genuine and significant change in the way we do church! What is needed is a change of culture based on release, where the attitude of the church is more "why not?" rather than "why?"

I did it again. I ran across yet another blog of a church leader who felt it necessary to post a disclaimer on their blog . It went something like this... "This blog reflects my own thoughts/opinions and may not necessarily reflect those of INSERT CHURCH NAME HERE."

Something about this just doesn't sit right to me. I completely understand why church leaders see the need to do this - especially if the blog is a part of their actual church website, or at least linked from within the church site. I guess part of me feels that there is a little disconnect when the words of the leader don't necessarily reflect the thoughts/direction of the church they are leading out in.

The thing is that I just don't see this reflection in any other blog that I read out there. I've been knee deep in finishing up an official "GiANT blog" (not called that) that we will hopefully be launching very soon. Jeremie, my friend & the CEO of GiANT Impact will be the primary writer on the blog. I think I can pretty accurately say that the words he shares on the blog will very much so reflect the thoughts of the company. His heart as the leader of this organization is painted all over the things that we do, the ways that we do them, and the people who carry them out.

Don't know where to land. Part of my heart hurts that there are leaders that God is using to shape the form & future of His Church that feel the need to either neuter the passions of their heart (reflected in the words they speak & write) or to offer a disclaimer of some sort.

I'm sitting outside watching Emerie ride her new Princess scooter that she bought today with some of her birthday money. I still think she is the cutest thing ever!

Tomorrow I turn 35. Honestly, I don't feel old until I look at my kids and how fast they're growing.

Read a great recent post from a Christian satire site I like to read. Here's an excerpt - worth the click-through & full read:

Today I'm rededicating my life to Golf.

Why?

Well, I feel that I need to rededicate my life to Golf because I’ve never really done anything with my original commitment.

Now, don’t get me wrong, I’m truly a golfer at heart. I know for certain that if I were to die today, I would be remembered as a golfer. There is a certificate that says so hanging over there on the wall.

I made my commitment to golf as a young boy at golf-camp. I signed that certificate and my instructor signed it and wrote the date, July 18 1979. I knew deep down in my heart at that time that I was totally committed to golf.

After that childhood golf-camp, I wandered away from the desire to play golf. I’m almost ashamed to admit it, but since that camp when I was 9 years old, I’ve never actually seemed to be able to find the time to play a game of golf. But today, at age 38, I know my rededication will be real.

Read the full post...

Great article in The Journal Record on Matthew Myers & GiANT Partners, the sister company to GiANT Impact. Matthew & Jeremie founded GiANT Partners in 2002.

Sometimes it seems appropriate to share a Bible verse with a client. Sometimes not. Giant Partners founder Matthew Myers just follows his heart and best judgment.

“People hire us first and foremost because we can help them grow their business. Because if we can’t do that first, they don’t care what we have to say,” Myers said recently. “As we do that, if they have other issues on their mind, then we’ll certainly use biblical wisdom we might find in the scripture to help counsel them.”

Oklahoma City-based Giant Partners works with its Atlanta sister company, Giant Impact, to provide strategic planning and leadership advisory services designed to “impact the heads and hearts of chief executive officers, their management teams and their companies,” the company’s promotional material says.

Myers said his professional background lies in starting and developing entrepreneurial companies. In 2002, he and Jeremie Kubicek decided to offer their experience and skills to help others do the same by founding Giant. It just so happens that some of that insight grows out of the tenets of Christianity, Myers said.

Read the full article...

Continuing to read through Clusters: Creative Mid-Sized Missional Communities. Among other things, it's a fascinating look into the state of the UK church (since the authors are writing out of ministering in that context). In the chapter I read this morning they brought forward a concept that, honestly, I can't remember hearing a lot of focus on in my own church experience: that of the dechurched.

The concept is taken from some research done in the late 90's in the UK by Richter and Francis. The pie chart to the right (click for a larger version) represents some of the findings of that study.

Out of those surveyed, the study found that only 10% were actively involved in a church (at least monthly). Another 10% of the population would be considered on the fringe (less than monthly involvement). Not surprisingly, the largest portion of the population (40%) are unchurched - with no connection to a church, and little to no knowledge of the gospel.

The surprising part, to me, is that another 40% of the population can be considered de-churched. That is, they once had ties to the church but no longer due. 20% of these are 'open' - they have had neutral factors like growing out of a children's/youth group, getting a job, getting married, etc. that have resulted in the disconnection. The other 20%, however, are 'closed' - with strong negative attitudes to the church probably have the hardest process of being reintroduced to the church.

I think this rings in my heart, in many ways, because I see many, young adults especially, who have made this disconnection. Although I would have to say that even most in my experience are not violently opposed to the church. The UK, however, has already reached an era of post-Christendom. We're not there yet, but I believe we're moving more rapidly in that direction than ever before.

How do you react to this? I don't have the highest hopes for church as we have known it, but I have a deep abiding passion for the Church, nonetheless. I do believe that there is hope and that we are going to see a reformation, of sorts, take place over the course of the next decade or two.

We just found out that our friend Andy is moving within 2 hours of us in another week or so! Andy was one of our former students who has been experiencing some amazing things in his young adult-hood thus far. Let's see...

• Tour all over the world running production for such acts as Pillar, Overflow, Daughtry, Switchfoot, etc.
• Being responsible for a cool new worship/music venue in Tulsa, OK called "Venue68"
• And now responsible for audio/lighting/production for a new campus of NewSpring Church, a megachurch in Greenville, SC!

You can check out the official write up about Andy's hire on Greenville Campus Blog of NewSpring.

We're excited because he'll only be two hours away! And, by virtue of association, his lovely counterpart, Blaire, will be as well soon enough :-)

Congrats, Andy! Can't wait to hear how God is going to use you in this latest adventure!

Probably one of my newest favorite songs. This song is incredible. I only wish my voice was a little higher - alas, I'll never be able to lead this one...

Phil Wickham - "True Love"


LYRICS:
Come close listen to the story
About a love more faithful than the morning
The Father gave his only son just to save us

The earth was shaking in the dark
All creation felt the Father's broken heart
Tears were filling heaven's eyes
The day that true love died, the day that true love died
When blood and water hit the ground
Walls we couldn't move came crashing down
We were free and made alive
The day that true love died, the day that true love died

Search your heart, you know you can't deny it
Come on, lose your life just so you can find it
The Father gave his only son just to save us

The earth was shaking in the dark
All creation felt the father's broken heart
Tears were filling heaven's eyes
The day that true love died, the day that true love died
When blood and water hit the ground
Walls we couldn't move came crashing down
We were free and made alive
The day that true love died, the day that true love died

Now Jesus is alive
Jesus is alive
Jesus is alive
Jesus is alive
Jesus is alive
oh He is alive
He rose again

When blood and water hit the ground
Walls we couldn't move came crashing down
We were free and made alive
The day that true love died, the day that true love died

Come close listen to the story

I've been biting my tongue on this one, but woke up this morning feeling like if it is on my mind so much that I probably need to blog about it, so here goes.

I was reminded of something this past weekend. Opened up the local paper (not even the big Atlanta one - the Gwinnett County one) to find a headline that talked about a local pastor being nominated for President of the Southern Baptist Convention. I immediately had two thoughts: 1) It feels good to be in a life situation where the advent of the SBC annual meeting doesn't garner much thought in my life, let alone news enough that I even realize it is upon us; and 2) I would hate to be that guy. I'm not sure there are many jobs/roles that I could see as being as un-motivating to be a part of right now.

A brief history... I was born into the Southern Baptist (SB) tradition. Grew up going to church there. Dad was a deacon. Mom was a Sunday School teacher. I can't remember being a part of anything but a SB faith setting for most of my life. I went to a SB university (Southwest Baptist University), a SB seminary (Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary), and served in both SB collegiate ministries (Springfield BSU Ministries) and church (First Southern Baptist Church) contexts.

Oklahoma City and Bridgeway changed that briefly, but then we moved to Tennessee and were thrown right back into the bowels (LifeWay, which happens to be located right next to the SBC building, and Gladeville).

Honestly, I have great memories from all of these times and places. Alongside those, though, I have had a large part of me who felt like a rebel because I just didn't agree with a big portion of where I saw the denomination headed. Even though God was all over our move to LifeWay, I felt like part of me was selling out, 'working for the man.' Threads and up/rooted, the ministry to 20- and 30-somethings we were a part of starting at Gladeville, were saving graces to me in a lot of ways.

Now I find myself completely free of SBC direct ties, sitting on the precipice of the annual meeting that would anger me year after year. And I'm glad.

• I'm glad I haven't been reminded of the looming meeting due to my work or church setting.
• I'm glad I have no idea what the annual 'mud in your face' issue is that the SBC has deemed worthy to debate this year.
• I'm glad that this week will come and go and I'll be no worse for wear, apart from my heart going out to my brothers and sisters who have misplaced priorities in an aging denomation.

This past Sunday our family took part in OnePrayer, the unity cry coming out of LifeChurch.tv out of Edmond, OK, and extending to over a thousand churches worldwide. In my opinion, the cry couldn't come at a better time. I pray that the Church breaks free of the partisan bickerings that have marked it for too long and moves forward with One purpose, One heart against One enemy.

My sis is in town with her family for a few days, on their way out to Myrtle Beach, SC. It's been good getting to see them. We saw them briefly last Thanksgiving in a whirlwind trip to Branson & back. Until they get back on the road my blog posts are going to be little to none.

I did want to update on a couple of previous posts (here and here) that I've had on my quest for a blog theme/domain name. I finally found a variation of one of the previous ones that I liked: inthethinplaces.com. Registered it a few days ago. Not sure when I'll have time to create the blog between life in general & the fact that we're building a GiANT blog that will launch soon. But at least I've secured it.

Started a new read this week. Clusters: Creative Mid-Sized Missional Communities (Paperback: $23.60, PDF: $10.00) is written by Bob Hopkins, who was on staff with co-author Mike Breen at St. Thomas' in Sheffield, UK. The book is basically the thoughts, in large part, of Breen, written down and recorded by Hopkins. I'm nearly 100 pages into it and I can already tell this is part of a problem. Breen's thoughts are great, very meaty - but Hopkins writing style is very proper/textbook-ish. The content is worth the wading through the words. This is definitely one of those books that would do well to have a rewrite, or at least a good editor to sit down and shape the text more.

That aside, the premise of the book is to explain what the authors believe is the missing middle element in a lot of the Church today: the mid-sized community. We see the small and large represented (although, not necessarily as true to Scripture as they could be) in both the traditional model of Sunday School/small groups and congregational worship, to the more modern cell-based/house church groups and celebration gatherings. It is in the "extended family," that gathering and connection of a collection of the 'small' into groups of anywhere from 15-75 people. It is in this place that the building up of a community identity, a place of belonging, and a place where all can participate/develop gifts occurs. It is the "synagogue" or "72" that we see reflected in the life of Jesus and the early church. It is the "social space" described by Joseph Myers in "The Search to Belong" (a must read if you haven't picked it up yet).

I'm sure I'll blog about my impressions as I journey through the text. For now I'm enjoying gathering a greater insight into some of the thoughts behind the church structures and practices of places like Bridgeway that Andrea and I have been a part of.

One quick insight that I want to pass along that I really liked (that is too wordy to hand write into my Moleskine) is the discussion in the book on how to tie together the small groups/cluster sized groups to ensure the health and orthodoxy are maintained in the church overall. I think this is a concern that surfaces anytime any real value is placed upon growing small and mid. When house churches, for example, are given weight in the body of the church, and clusters are grown to a place of importance, how is the overall vision of the church protected and communicated, and how is orthodoxy protected? This is how Hopkins and Breen address it (remember, it's wordy - but push through the words as the thoughts are good):

[The authors have just been talking about how control is often a shaping principle of traditional church systems - whether the control be up-down, as in the Catholic/Anglican/Luthern models, or down-up, as in the free-church models (including Southern Baptist in my own heritage). They argue that breaking away from such controlling-shaped structures is a radical shift to take on.]

But if we move away from control as a shaping principle of the system and structure, the immediate question arises... how can we guarantee the health and orthodoxy of the multiplying communities of faith? In such a dispersed model of church, how can you protect from deviation? There is a right concern that things don't "get out of control"!

The first and most important answer, is that we can't! When a desire to protect orthodoxy and achieve risk minimisation are the dominant concerns, then mission and movement are discouraged or even stifled (emphasis mine). The disciples desired to control others who ministered in Jesus' name... but Jesus' response was that "those who are not against us are for us, do not seek to prevent them" (Mark 9:40). Paul's model of mission seems to have been similar. He planted the seeds of the Gospel, called forth new disciples and encouraged them to remain true as he went on his way trusting others who did the watering (1 Cor 3:6) and God who gave the increase. He then later returned to appoint leaders and to encourage them further. Still later he had to write letters in part to address the problems that his risk-taking mission had allowed. On one level, we could say that we only have much of the New Testament because the missionary movement initiated by Jesus and continued after Pentecost, was so releasing and permissive of initiative with dispersed responsibility, that letters of adjustment, correction and explanation had to be written (emphasis mine).

However, having affirmed the inevitable risk involved in a releasing approach to developing leaders, this system is not irresponsible. There is every bit as high concern to avoid anything destructive and to protect healthy growth. But the difference is that the mechanism is through an emphasis on accountability rather than control. It is crucial to understand that an effective mission movement based on healthy clusters (biblical congregations), depends on overall leaders developing an environment that is high on accountability and low on control. This I believe is the only way to deliver appropriate levels of protection without restricting the release of creative mission energy.

Just finished reading Vince Antonucci's I Became a Christian and All I Got Was This Lousy T-Shirt. It was a good read, for the most part - having a flight to Phoenix in the middle of reading it certainly helped as it gave me some extended time to get through it. Vince is the pastor of Forefront, a church he and his wife planted in Virginia Beach 10 years ago.

The things that struck me while reading Lousy T-Shirt were:

• Some authors try too hard - to make a point, to seem funny, etc. While the humor in the book was enjoyable a portion of the time, there were as many times when it felt like he was trying too hard. Kind of like sitting through the last Indiana Jones movie and literally looking at the guy I went to see it with and laughing because of the cheesiness factor at times.
• I'm tired of 'sermon' books. Seems like there are too many of these in the market these days. Not sure why. I seldom hear a sermon series or talk to others who's lives have been dramatically impacted by them. Not to say that they weren't challenging - just that when you look back several years later most of us can only remember a handful of things a pastor preached that sunk into the deep level of our hearts. I don't know much about Forefront, but I'm willing to bet it is one of those "planted knowing nobody 10 years ago and now is insanely big" churches because it seems like that tends to be much of the qualifications these days to write these kinds of books.
• Not every pastor should write 'sermon' books. If this were a sermon series, I would have left mildly impressed at the message and the deliverer. Craig Groeschel can write a sermon book. Andy Stanley can write a sermon book. Vince Antonucci should concentrate on preaching the sermons and not write another book.
• There are diamonds in the rough in most books. Putting my negative impressions aside, I'm glad I read Lousy T-Shirt for the simple reason that God almost always speaks to me even in the midst of a bad book (or bad sermon, for that matter) because He is not dependent on the deliverer. There were several things that weighed in heavily and left God's imprint on me through the book. Unfortunately, though, those diamonds were too few. I use a small Moleskine to write my thoughts and impressions while reading books. With my last read, The Passionate Church, I have 33 pages of notes. This one? 2.

Now, it's not as bad as I've probably painted it to be. I think I'm just a little disappointed because it felt too surface-level for most of the book and there are too many other good books out there worth investing my limited time reading. Actually, it's too bad that they don't make Cliff Notes versions of books like this (hmmm... possible business idea?) - where you could gleam the nuggets without investing too much of your time - as that would allow you to gain the highlights without going through the rest.

Still thinking about what I brand the new blog as. Here are a couple of thoughts & failed domain attempts I've had so far...

Thin Places - thinplaces.com [already registered]
Continuing thoughts from the "My Thin Place" post from this past weekend. I like the idea of having a blog that talks about those places in our lives where the natural & supernatural come so close that we can see a glimpse of God & experience Him because He feels so close. Unfortunately any decent variant of the domain is registered already - except for thethinplace.com, which according to Andrea sounds like a Jenny Craig site :-)

Book of Stories - bookofstories.com [already registered]
I love the thought of this one and am considering writing more on the topic. It's the thought that God's continuing tale is carried forth through the stories of our life and in the stories in the lives of people around us. There are parts of God that we will not know apart from the shared lives we live with others. Unfortunately, the domain is gone - at least until November

Still taking suggestions if anyone has a thought. Thanks to those of you who have shared your ideas already.

Checked my email today and got my monthly YMCA rewards email. The one that tells you how many points you've earned from working out at the Y (and then allowing you to spend those points on various items). Nevermind the fact that I haven't lived in Tennessee in 4 months, and haven't even been a Y member since last fall. One of those "man I really need to cut off some of this junk I keep getting" kind of email moments for me.

So, I open it up, intending on clicking the "Unsubscribe Me" link (which I have this strange deja vu moment that I've already done this once or twice already) and find the following...



Somehow I've managed to earn points without doing anything. That's incredible! I mean, here I was thinking that I was simply being lazy, beating myself up for not getting back into my workout routine. What a relief! Now I can sit back, do what I've been doing, and in another 5 months or so I'll be able to order that Decemberists CD I've been eyeing. Woohoo!