This Week

There are exactly two (I believe) paths that my current state of existence can lead to. Both places dramatically different from where I am, but both dramatically different from one another.

If one path is taken, it results in a journey directly to a particular destination. If the other, there will be a festival period (as it were) for a time before that destination is reached.

Either situation will be extremely excellent and amazing in its own way. But each different. Both in experience and preparation.

Figuring out which of these two paths my family will be walking on will be determined this very week. As we wait. And wait. Still waiting. Nothing left for me to do. Simply waiting for that proverbial green light to appear above the road. On one road and not the other.

One week certainly isn't a long time to need to wait. But the magnitude of actually knowing what the path will be trekked upon for the next year is making the wait seem long. Really long.

Three Weeks Ago

After graduating from college, I've had exactly one job. Well, one full-time permanent sort of job. A job that gave me health insurance, dental coverage, and five paid weeks off per year (plus 10 federal holidays). The office was located right on the America's front yard, the National Mall in Washington, DC. I started my time there in August of 2004 as a temporary employee, but after several months, I was offered the opportunity to join the staff full time, which I accepted. Seven years went by, and things went well. I received promotions and job title changes. However, three weeks ago, the time had come for me to go. I didn't have to go. But I had to go.

It's sometimes strange how life works. Suddenly, seemingly out of nowhere, something happens to redirect you. To refocus you. To take you a place that you really need to go. The blank pages for the next chapter have arrived, and the current section of the story is now leading up to it.

My tenure at the job ended for one reason - God told me the time had come. During previous low periods on the job it wasn't. But on the 22nd of September, it had.

I resigned.

No idea what I'll be doing next. I just knew one thing, however. It was time to say goodbye.

"With" by Skye Jethani (Review)

I read most books through just once, but every now and then I run into one that I plan on reading again just as soon as I can. Why? There might be something personally challenging, something truly unique in the topic the author is covering, or simply that the writing style is engaging. Whatever it is, it simply goes beyond what I consider to be a good book. Having already read With twice,  I can certainly say that this is one of them.

Skye Jethani challenges his readers to evaluate their relationship with God. Is God someone they live over? Under? From? For? He says that living in primarily any one of these positions is incorrect because our focus is placed on something other than what it should be - life with God.  He defines each of these categories and invites you think about how you relate to God, while admitting he himself has viewed God incorrectly at various times in his own life.

Jethani directly confronts many false teachings that exist within the church, specifically those that are the result of the fusion of American culture and biblical truth. Because of this, I believe this is essential reading for anyone who is in, connected to, or should be connected to the church in our country. It is simply the message of the gospel preached in book form.

There are simple drawings used to help illustrate the points being made to help you, as well as to allow you to share them with others. Additionally, there are discussion questions at the end of the book and specific ideas as to how you can implement the concepts put forth in the book into your life so this book is far from theoretical. It is practical as well.

Do you find Christianity lacking? What you see on TV, hear from those around you, or even from the pulpit at church might be missing the point.  With invites you to check out what it's really about. Not about things, stuff you do, or items you focus on. Rather it is simply about living life, not the way you might be used to, even if filled with Christian things. Instead its all about living life with God.

Five stars (out of 5).

I received a complimentary review copy of this book from Thomas Nelson.

Planting a church?

The thought of planting a church has been on my mind before. I can't get into all of it right now, but today it resurfaced and when I got home from work, I mentioned it to my wife.


I am subscribed to various blogs in Google Reader, and utilize their really cool "Next" button which you can drop onto your menu bar in your browser. When you hit the button, the next blog page in your Google Reader queue pops up.


I was sitting on the couch with her when I told her, and I just happened to hit the "Next" button on the laptop.


The very next page in my queue was this: 13 Things I Would Tell Church Planters


Yes, it could of been a strange coincidence.


Maybe, not.

The Rich's Fair Share

Our nation faces many challenges, but the one that we stand at the cusp of truly is a significant one.  The most predictable possible disaster involves our looming budget crisis that currently is being played in the political arena and not the problem solving one. It is much easier to ridicule someone who thinks differently than you do than it is to work with them to create a working solution.

One idea that some have is to increase taxes on the rich among us. The argument is that since they have more money than the rest of us, they have an obligation to be willing to pay a higher percentage of their income than the rest of us do. Because to them, a couple thousand here and a couple thousand there are what quarters and nickels are to you and me.  The principle is: you have more so you have to give more.

Most people like this argument because it involves people who are not them. Other people have money so they have to pay. We, on the other hand, will take care of what we need to take care of since we have our own struggles to deal with.

According to the World Bank, there are about 6.7 billion people in the world. Out of them, 1.4 billion live on less than $1.25 per day.  Let's say at your job, you make exactly minimum wage. Right now that is $7.25. Let's say you work a standard 8 hour day which means you earn $58.00 per day. So you, minimum wage earning American make more than 48 times than those who live below the poverty line. (This is not even getting started with the other groups of the world population that you are living a life of luxury compared to).

A person working minimum wage's annual salary would be around $15,080, and 48 times that would be $723,840. Someone who earns that salary would definitely be a part of the "rich" who "need" to pay their fair share compared to us.  Wealth is relative, and by using the rationale that we say the rich have an obligation to help those who are not as well off, it makes you obligated those who live below the poverty line.  Odds are, you make more than minimum wage.

How can you help? Compassion International seeks to "Release children from poverty in Jesus' name." Anything you can provide can help. They have a whole host of programs that are literally saving and transforming lives. You can donate here.

You, actually, relative to the world are "the rich." Now stop talking about yourself and do what you say the rich should be doing.

Blinking Light

I am at work watching the blinking light on my phone. It is trying to let me know that I have an unheard voicemail. I know who it is from, but I don't want to listen to it.

I don't know what the message says, but I simply do not want to hear it.

We had been meeting with various vendors who could possibly provide our organization with a particular service. I had been in communication with this gentleman over the past couple months over the phone and via email. However, after a recent meeting, it became evident that the service that his company could provide would not be a good fit for our needs.

I emailed him earlier today to confirm this news with him.

So he called back. There is no way that his company can be in the running, and we already have selected our final three. I imagine his message involves attempts at clarification, that I have it wrong, and that they deserve another chance. However, the issue is too large to ignore.

I have that awkward, nauseated feeling in talking to him now. Like "It's not you, it's me... but actually, it's really you." Must I tell him again that it's not going to work? Can't we all just move on with our lives? I feel like the dumper in a break-up (speaking of which, This American Life had an excellent podcast on the issue this week). However, I am in the role in which a pathetic song is sung to me.

I wish I could simply delete the voicemail. Move forward with our process. Not have to have any more contact with him after delivering the bad news. But I can't. I will listen to the message. I have to. I sort of have a heart.

But until I do, the light will blink.

The Blessing (Review)

I received a copy of The Blessing by John Trent and Gary Smalley to review, I didn't realize it was an updated version of a book that was originally released more than twenty years ago. When I saw that it was a successful release previously, my expectations were a bit higher going into it than they normally are. That said, I was disappointed in what I read. Not because the parenting/adult blesser material was bad, but because the connection from "the blessing" to the five elements that the authors describe seem to be slightly disconnected from scripture.  This is not to say that the principles they advocate are unbiblical, but rather that "the blessing" is not a unique biblical idea. There are biblical examples that the authors cite to illustrate their five principles - meaningful touch, a spoken message, attaching high value, picturing a special future, and an active commitment - however, not in the way that seems to be described in the book's premise.

I thought that by reading the book, I would learn that in biblical history there was a clear concept known as "the blessing" that simply was lost through time. That this book was essentially a reclamation of something we have forgotten. What this book actually is, however, is as a result of much research done by counselors as to what issues people develop because of a lack of something from their childhood. These things are commonly rooted in the five areas the authors describe, and they also provide assorted stories from scripture that include one or several of them.

A prime example they share is the story of Issac and "the blessing" that was given to Jacob and not given to Esau. Both sons wanted to receive it from their father, but only one could. After describing the blessing and how valuable it then must be for us to similarly give it to our own children, they continue by explaining how the blessing in that case actually isn't a parallel situation to us in modern day. Clearly, the father could only give it to one of them and we should give it to all of our kids.

This book definitely does include good material. I plan on ensuring that the types of ways that we can "bless" our children or show them our love are things that I do to my own. However, conceptually it is no different than me writing a book called "Jesus' Five Step Plan to Evangelize." Could each and every step be derived from scripture and be valuable ideas? Sure. But did Jesus actually create a five step plan? No. That's my issue with this book.

Three stars (out of five).

A Moment

I recently had a moment. A single instance in which all the preceding moments led up to and each and every future moment will be affected by. Yes, every moment is that such a moment. It can be. Rather, it should be.

Our problem (yours and mine, separately) is that we both don't view moments in this manner. Our moments are simply things that exist. They happen to be. But, they shouldn't be.

In viewing preceding moments, those that shape us, you realize they usually require a call to action. They beckon us to do things that we know we ought to do; things we know we really should do. But we do not.

After months, and maybe years, of not answering this fundamental call, I have decided I will. I actually had been answering it previously, but not with a "yes." Hemming and hawing, with justifications galore, I have lived. But no more.

I do not know what exactly the future moments will actually look like, but I know what they will feel like.

Getting Played

Rob Bell recently wrote a very controversial book about hell. It was marketed brilliantly. Conservative Christians got worked up about it. Buzz was generated. The book sold.  Here is an interesting article by a guy who perfectly put his finger on it.

Huntsman: A serious candidate

Michael Gerson was George W. Bush's main speech writer from 2001 to 2006. He wrote a great article about Jon Huntsman in the Washington Post this week.

Good paragraph, but read the whole article:

The media have often covered Huntsman as a liberal Republican — a Rockefeller reincarnation. After all, he supports civil unions. He made it easier to get a drink at a bar in Utah. This easy press narrative gives Huntsman an odd advantage in a Republican primary: He is more conservative than his image. For many Republicans, he will improve upon closer inspection.

Jon Huntsman is probably the first politician in a while that I really like. Other times, candidates I have supported were sort of the last ones standing, or chosen by the process of elimination.  This time I actually like the guy and hope he finds success. The more I hear about him, the more I like him. I do wish, however, he'd choose to compete in the Iowa caucuses instead of skipping them, ethanol or not.

Clarification

To my throngs of blog readers (1 "view" means 1000 readers, right?), I just wanted to offer clarification regarding my last post. It was not a serious post. The goal was to make people think I am writing about the traditional "glass ceiling" but surprise them with the fact I'm only talking about the glass panel that separates a junk-food-aholic from their stash. A switch-a-roo or something to that effect. Nothing more, nothing less.

Anyway, due to classic temperament differences, I have come to understand that the post could be read into turning it to something which it totally is not. In fact, my wife was able to read into it and discover its hidden meanings, apparently.

So not to worry, though I really could use a Kit Kat. If you could help me out in that regard, I'd be quite thankful.

The Glass Wall

Every day at work, I see it.

I walk by and peer into a world that I can never reach.

I truly want what lies behind the wall of glass.

However I am not one who can get through it.

No, I must stand happily on the other side.

Others all around me can find what they want when they look through the glass.

What is it about me that prevents this for me?

Every day I walk passed it.

An invisible wall that separates employees from their dreams.

I wish I could put a crack in it, maybe more. Maybe nine million.

What do others have that I do not?

I want what lies behind the glass wall.

Oh how much it would make my life better.

But alas, it can only remain a dream.

Nevermind. I do have a dollar in my wallet! Time for a Kit Kat!

Recycling

On Easter Sunday, my laptop computer of five years went into a tomb. The screen looked like a staticy covered television screen while I was watching Donald Trump prepare to fire someone on Celebrity Apprentice. It was as though my computer was quite confused at that moment and chose that moment to arrive at the point from which it could not return, for it is only a computer after all.

Well, it could be fixed for three hundred some odd dollars. Considering the age of my computer, however, I decided not to invest it back into an old system. On to new and more exciting things, I say. Just prior to my "Huntsman" Google binge, I was doing a ton of searching on "Chromebook."

When my computer went down, I began to see the value of having all my data stored on the "cloud." That basically means you riskily house all your data online.  The plus side is whenever your hardware collapses, you lose your computer, or simply are at somebody else's computer, you have the ability to fully function with all the information that you'd ordinarily have on your system. The downside, privacy for sure, but also relying on other people's servers to keep you afloat.

It was odd because when my computer went down, I began thinking of how I wanted to move to a more cloud-based operation. I had been meaning to do it before the computer crash, mainly to house all my pictures of my daughter online to avoid the danger of a broken computer. Shortly thereafter, I randomly learned about Chromebooks. Seemed to be just what the doctor ordered. We'll see.

But anyway, the point is now I have the opportunity to reevaluate how I can most effectively create and manage information. I don't think my purely laptop computer based approach was the most ideal for me. However, that's what most people do so I sort of went with it. 

What I will be doing over the course of the next several months is cycling back to old school information creation and management - pen and paper. I will be getting a journal-type book to put things into. However, this will be paired with modern-day technology through Evernote. 

Hardware will then be evaluated based upon what my information process turns out to be. We shall see.

I will keep you posted.

Team Huntsman? (Update 2)

Overnight, Mitch Daniels announced that he was not going to run for president.  This certainly is big news for those observing the GOP field this year. In fact, in my personal choices, I was debating between both Daniels and Jon Huntsman as my "choice" among the Republican candidates and with the news of the day, I seem to have officially fallen into Team Huntsman.

Granted, he still has to formally announce that he is running. But in the meantime, his lighthearted jab yesterday at Mitt Romney involving hunting while meeting voters in New Hampshire was certainly welcome. I am not a Romney fan at all. At all. If it comes down to a Romney versus President Obama race, I can already say that I'd most likely vote for Obama.

While some will say that Huntsman serving as the ambassador to China during the Obama administration is a problem, it is interesting to note that he might end up being the "BushWorld" candidate. In fact, Jeb Bush's former staffer will run his operation in Florida should he decide to run. This news angle is for those of you who care about this sort of thing.

So, yeah. I'm now on Team Huntsman. Officially. He just has to officially announce.

Team Huntsman?

I'm liking Jon Huntsman more and more. Great interview with ABC news. Also, of his seven kids, he adopted two of them - one from India and one from China.

Time with God for Fathers (Review)

Jack Countryman has written a solid devotional book for fathers. It covers topics that most fathers likely face, and is written virtually all about a man's role as father. Out of the ninety devotions in the book, only one mentions his role has a husband so this is not a book to husbands masquerading as one to fathers. Both roles are different, so this book could be a fine gift to single fathers as well.

This book is certainly in the gift book genre of books. There is a "Presented To" page that one can fill with lines for the giver and the receiver and  the pages are thick and glossy. Both the red hardcover and the pages within are printed in such a way to give them an aged feel. There is also an elastic bookmark built into the book.

There are ninety devotionals in the book, each tackling the expected topics a Christian book for fathers might face - thoughts on strength, trust, providing comfort, living with integrity, and finding peace in difficult times. Each devotional has its title, about 1-3 verses from Scripture on the topic, and about 5-8 sentences of devotional. Apart from the devotions, there are reference pages for fathers regarding prayer, promises God makes and blessings He provides, the responsibilities of fathers, Biblical examples of fathers, and a crisis scripture guide.

The length of the devotions can either be its strength or its weakness depending on what is sought. This is in no way an in-depth study of anything scriptural. They are simply 30-second nuggets that fathers can use to find inspiration. Everything you might expect from a gift-book devotional, you find here. It doesn't go above and beyond, but it might not need to.

This probably isn't a standalone gift - you'd want to include it as part of something larger. If it is for Father's Day, you might want to include a pair of tickets to a football game, or perhaps throw it in the glove box of the new car you have purchased for dad - covered in that giant red bow.

Four stars (out of five).

I received a complimentary review copy of this book from Thomas Nelson.

Our next president?

Maybe? Hopefully? Don't know.

Fast facts:

Past job: Twice elected governor of Utah (very popular)
Latest job: Ambassador to China for President Obama
Languages known: English, Mandarin Chinese
Fan of: Progressive rock (dropped out of high school to play in a band, did return to graduate (correction: got his GED)
Kids: 7

Wikipedia him.

It's off to work I go

I spend the vast majority of my awake hours at a job that I didn't formally train for, nor is it in an area of personal interest. It really is quite disconnected from "life" in the sense that I show up to work, try to excel at it, and bring home a paycheck. This paycheck allows actual life and interest to be fueled.

I certainly know I am not the exception or a rare case here. The vast majority of people who have jobs live for the weekend, for 5:00, and for any time they are not actually at work. If this weren't the case, books such as this one (which came out this week) wouldn't really have a market.

Yet, despite these facts, spending the majority of your time in an area that is utterly disconnected from your real life can certainly take it's toll. I've been working as a grown-up, full-time'r with benefits for nearly seven years now and I'm already looking forward to retirement. I can't imagine having to do this for forty more years.

The standard Christian response to work is that whatever we do, we are to do it as though we are doing it unto God and not just man. This certainly is an important, amazing context to put your work into. This alone is and should be enough to provide you solid motivation to handle all the things you need to do at work (or wherever). However, like many Christian words and concepts, you can get desensitized to them when you hear them over and over, and this certainly has happened to me with that one.

This week I read a blog post that truly renewed my understanding of what we are to do as Christians, not only at work but in all of our daily activities.

Using a statement from the Starbucks CEO where he says, "Pouring espresso is an art, one that requires the barista to care about the quality of the beverage. If the barista only goes through the motions, if he or she does not care and produces an inferior espresso that is too weak or too bitter, then Starbucks has lost the essence of what we set out to do 40 years ago: inspire the human spirit.

I realize this is a lofty mission for a cup of coffee, but this is what merchants do. We take the ordinary—a shoe, a knife—and give it new life, believing that what we create has the potential to touch others’ lives because it touched ours."

The author goes on to say, "Here’s the point: the ordinary is not ordinary. Rather, it is in the ordinary that we are able to build people up and, yes, inspire the human spirit.

When you clean house for your family, or pour a cup of coffee, or take your car to the wash, you aren’t just doing small, mundane things. You are building building people up. You are making things better, and making a statement that people matter. Or, that’s how you ought to see it."

If Christians at work, school, home, the mall, at the grocery store, church and wherever else we go actively looked beyond what the actual action were are doing, and realize that it could actually be something the builds a person up, we obviously should do it. Many people may continually have to deal with others continually bringing them down, bashing them unfairly in many arenas of life.

Our individual actions - essentially the products which we ourselves manufacture and provide - can let people know that at minimum, at least you and I care enough about them to give them something good. And if somehow we could fan out and spread across various industries, venues, and circumstances and make these sort of changes in a diverse set of environments, imagine the amount of change we can introduce into the lives of so many. Wouldn't that be great? How can we make it happen?

Oh, that's right. We can.

Don't go to work just to work. Go to work to build people up.

Barbie girl?

Here is a great post from Resurgence today, which talks about how you can protect your daughter from buying into the societal view of women.

Here is their list:

1. Dads, don’t underestimate your influence on your daughters. Tell them they are beautiful before the culture convinces them otherwise.
2. Moms, be aware of any distorted body image struggles, because your daughter learns lots about how to think about her body from you.
3. Protect them as much as possible from exposure to content that is harmful.
4. Learn about the media and pop-culture in your child’s life.
5. Get beyond the “Just Say No” approach to culture.
6. Make age-appropriate conversations an essential part of your relationship with your child.
7. Encourage children to use art, play, and writing to process the images and other media messages they see.
8. Counter the narrow stereotype of both boys and girls that are prevalent in media and commercial culture.
9. Help them learn how to interpret and engage what they see and read in culture.
10. Love them unconditionally. See them as a gift.

Ahhh! I have to think about things like this now!

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH.

Ok, I'm back.

What's in a name?

Yesterday, in my blog reading I came across a post that featured interviews with worship pastors in the context of what is known as "reformed theology."

Since that is not the point of this post, I will not delve into its actual subject matter. I didn't even listen to the interview. The thing that jumped out at me were the names of the churches that these pastors work at - Mars Hill, Vintage 21, The Journey, The Village, and SOMA.

How hipster.

Well, that's all. I still had that post up in a browser window today and figured I had to do something with it.

So here. You're welcome.