I saw this TEDTalk yesterday, and it is one of the best things I've taken in this week. There is so much here I am needing to think more about and write out. It is worth your 20 minutes, and I would love to read your reflections. [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X4Qm9cGRub0&fs=1&hl=en_US]
Why I love one paragraph: weather
Cold Rain
2 Options! 1. I sit at a coffee shop near the window as water collects and runs down the window, and the coffee does the same down my throat. Something about being warm on the inside while its cold outside. 2. Sitting on the couch with a college football game on television, I drink coffee (or beer) with the blinds open.
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In ONE PARAGRAPH, why do you love your favorite weather?
Why I love one paragraph: music artist
Counting Crows
Adam Duritz is the primary reason i still consider Counting Crows my favorite band/artist of all time, because the music of CC has waned in time. But Duritz's writing has always struck my heart in a strange way. Adam's writing and even his performing is incredibly introverted; yet so expressive. When those two things combine, an inspiration really develops.
Favorite Songs: Anna Begins, Time And Time Again, Goodnight Elizabeth, Another Horsedreamer's Blues, Mrs. Potter's Lullaby, Amy Hit The Atmosphere, Four White Stallions
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In ONE PARAGRAPH, why do you love your favorite artist/band?
Why I love one paragraph: author
This week is going to be "Why I love one paragraph week" at Ragamuffin Ramblings. Each day I will use one paragraph to define why certain people and things are my favorites. I would love to get your paragraphs for your favorites as well. I'm gonna kick off the week with my favorite author: Brennan Manning.
No other author has done for me what Brennan has been able to do; take God's grace, mercy, and ludicrous love out of my theology classes and books, and tenderly shoved them into my heart. I grew up in the Christian Church. I knew correct answers and regulations, but I had never been ambushed by the furious love of God until I first read The Ragamuffin Gospel my sophomore year of college. I have soaked up Brennan's writing ever since.
Favorite Books by Brennan: The Ragamuffin Gospel, Abba's Child, Wisdom of Tenderness, The Importance of Being Foolish, The Boy Who Cried Abba, Ruthless Trust
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In ONE PARAGRAPH, why do you love your favorite author?
Ragamuffin Ramblings: 2010 in review
The stats helper monkeys at WordPress.com mulled over how this blog did in 2010, and here's a high level summary of its overall blog health:
The Blog-Health-o-Meter™ reads Wow.
Crunchy numbers
A Boeing 747-400 passenger jet can hold 416 passengers. This blog was viewed about 7,400 times in 2010. That's about 18 full 747s.
In 2010, there were 170 new posts, growing the total archive of this blog to 255 posts. There were 204 pictures uploaded, taking up a total of 47mb. That's about 4 pictures per week.
The busiest day of the year was May 5th with 125 views. The most popular post that day was If you could make all of one kind of thing....
Where did they come from?
The top referring sites in 2010 were facebook.com, twitter.com, blogger.com, en.wordpress.com, and 1thought2many.wordpress.com.
Some visitors came searching, mostly for matthew's gospel, god's presence, brian tome, presence of god, and a finger two dots then me.
Attractions in 2010
These are the posts and pages that got the most views in 2010.
1
If you could make all of one kind of thing... May 2010 10 comments
2
5 Things You Shouldn't Tell An Expecting Couple July 2010 15 comments
3
March: Social Experiment Month March 2010 13 comments
4
How many hipsters... May 2010 4 comments
5
Identity Theft January 2010 3 comments
Postaday Challenge 2011
The good people at Wordpress have incited a challenge to their bloggers for 2011. The challenge is to post at least once a day through the year 2011.
While I am a frequent poster, once a day seems ca'razy! They have offered a sort of sidebet of a challenge creatively coined "post a week". This seems a lot more managable, but almost auto-pilot for someone who blogs as frequently as I do.
So I am answering the call to post a day. I do not imagine I will meet it the final goal, but I will meet the challenge simply to blog more often.
If you are a wordpress user, check out more of the challenge details HERE.
Happy New Year!
My most recommended books
People frequently ask me for book recommendations. It may have to do with me being a big reader, me being a pastor, or me being a book review blogger; I am not certain why. I love recommending books to people for specific reasons or issues, but here are some of the books I most frequently recommend. (not necessarily my FAVORITE books, but certainly the ones I keep finding myself recommending) Ragamuffin Gospel by Brennan Manning For anyone wanting to know more about grace, God's relentless love, what it looks like to accept that in theory AND practice. No surprise to those who know me. It is simply my favorite book. It allowed me to accept grace and my faith in moments when it was difficult to do so. Manning is my favorite author to read for his tender portrayal of grace that simply stunts our understanding.
Abba's Child by Brennan Manning (okay, anything by Brennan) For anyone struggling to see and relate to God as "Father". The only book to make me weep at one point.
The Return of the Prodigal Son by Henri Nouwen For anyone who feels the distance from God that comes with sin, guilt, shame, and pride. After Brennan Manning, Henri Nouwen would be a very close second in favorite authors. (Also love The Wounded Healer, In Jesus Name, The Beloved, and The Inner Voice of Love)
The Artist's Way by Julie Cameron For any creative person who lacks inspiration at any given point. (This description describes every human being I've ever met.) This book by Cameron is the best book I've ever read about creativity, artistic expression, and inspiration.
Primal by Mark Batterson For anyone who wants to know what it really means to love God with all that they are. What does it mean to love God with all of your heart, soul, mind, and strength. I just read this book for the first time last year, and I've already taught classes through it and recommended it to several people.
Seizing Your Divine Moment by Erwin McManus For anyone wanting to know God's will for their life. As a college pastor, this is likely the most common question I spend time talking to students about, but I imagine you don't have to be in college to be wracked with wonder over God's will for your life. This is maybe the best book I've read about God's will. (McManus basically re-released this book under the title Chasing Daylight)
Where is God When it Hurts by Phillip Yancey For anyone who has ever asked that question. *period*
Reaching for the Invisible God by Phillip Yancey For anyone trying to understand faith in a God they cannot see, touch, feel, smell, etc. For anyone who is struggling to have faith in a God that is so far beyond our senses. I read this book at that point in my life, and I have recommended the book to others who are in that place.
They Like Jesus But Not The Church by Dan Kimball For anyone who wants to know what it looks like to love, reach, and minister to the "postmodern" "post-Christian" culture. It is one of the very best books I've ever read that hits on this culture. It is not even the most recent book (considering cultures change so rapidly), but the questions Kimball asks in this book get at the real challenge for Christians in any culture. You will see answers in this book from people you will not typically get answers from, but they are exactly the people we are trying to love and reach.
A Million Miles in a Thousand Years by Don Miller (what? not BLJ?) For anyone who feels like life is stuck, boring, stagnant, or lacks passion. Yes, I realize Blue Like Jazz is the big Miller favorite, and I really did love BLJ. I not only think Million Miles is Miller's best book yet, but it also has more driven purpose and focus than BLJ.
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Which books do you most frequently find yourself recommending to others?
Traction workshop descriptions
Next week, I will be teaching 3 workshops at Traction2011 in Rocklin, CA at Bridgeway Church. Below are short video intros to those workshops. If you are in the area and are interested in the conference or other workshops being taught that week. Check out the website.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tteGsYDPTUY&fs=1&hl=en_US]
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8xKqfgEw1AE&fs=1&hl=en_US]
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hTPPbQP6WT8&fs=1&hl=en_US]
My digital toolbox
It is no secret to most people that I primarily exist in the coffee shop instead of the traditional office. I handle all the work of being a pastor, speaker, and writer on a mobile lifestyle. This requires a pretty specific toolbox. Inspired by this post by one of the blogs I follow pretty regularly, I thought it would be interesting to post my digital toolbox.
GENERAL
- 13" Macbook
- 16GB iPhone4
- Timbuk2 Blogger 2.0 Bag - I am in love with this bag, and I'd recommend it to ANY mobile type
- Moleskine Journal - No, I'm not a moleskine snob. This is my 1st Moleskine, though I ALWAYS have a journal on hand
- G2 Limited Pen, Blue (with refills) - This I AM a snob about.
- Apple Remote
- FlipCamera Mino - wish I used this more...need more inspiration
- DVI to VGA adapter
- Highlighters
- File Folders - folder for each project I am currently working on (ex. right now I have a folder for "Winter Retreat" "Invisible Children" and I always have an ongoing folder for all things)
ONLINE - Google - Basically a hub for nearly everything, but namely Caledars, Reader, and Email - Wordpress - Simply the best blogging platform available rightnow. Wordpress is always working on new ways to refine what they offer their users. -Facebook - Fetchbook - I never search elsewhere when buying books. Always start at fetchbook. I haven't spent more than $5-10 on a book in years. - Grooveshark - Forget about Pandora...forever. Welcome to Grooveshark - Soulpancake - Co created by Rainn Wilson (Dwight from The Office), this is an online community dedicated to creativity, philosophy, and discussion. I stop by here frequently when I need a boost of inspiration
MAC
- Firefox - I am still open to convincing argument for switching to Chrome
- iCal - This really is my lifeblood for most everything. If I don't receive an alert from one of my sync'd devices, I may not show up places.
- Microsoft Word
- iTalk Sync - I record all my talks with my iPhone with iTalk, and it has to be linked to the computer with Sync
- Truthcasting - Where I host all my talks on the "Ragamuffinpc Ministries" Channel
- iMovieHD
- Caffeine - Doing for my computer what it does for me...keeping me from sleep.
- Keynote - Seriously, you still use PowerPoint? *mocking snicker*
IPHONE - The norms (iCal, mail, messaging, ipod, phone, etc.) - iTalk - Foursquare - I, like you, once wondered, "What is the point exactly?" But I just.can't.stop. Plus, often after checking in, I'll have a student text me asking if I am still at that place so they can stop by. - Todo List - I live and die by my task list (and calendar) - Notes - I realize this is one of the factory apps, but I use it so much it deserves its own entry. I keep ongoing lists of: "music I want to try out" "books to read" "websites to check out" "poets I enjoy" "movies I want to see" "names of baristas as Tupelo" "Names of baristas at Old Soul" (this helps me remember to address them by name) - Dropbox - I am still learning to use this more...it is capable of much more than I utilize...I realize this. (I have it on my mac also...obviously) - Lifechurch.tv Bible - Hipstamatic - I love the different filters for the camera this one offers. - Facebook - Twitter (@ragamuffinpc) - Rhyme Time - A great resource at hand for any genre writer. (poetry, literary, scholar, student, etc.). I use it frequently. - Woot - I daily necessity. I check it more for the tshirts than anything - Sportacular - The best sports app. Set my favorite teams an any sport and get update alerts pushed to my phone. I.love.this.app.
what is in your digital toolbox?
Think of it this way: Holy Spirit
This year at the Christmas Eve service, I was stricken with something. I had a new understanding of the Holy Spirit within each of us who knows Christ. What does it look like to have the Holy Spirit in you? Think of it this way:
If you had the spirit of LeBron James inside you, you would have constant urges to shoot jumpshots, slam dunk, work out, and sell out.
If you had the spirit of Steve Jobs inside you, you would have the urge to create things no one has thought of before. You would have creative instincts, and you would have an eye for turtlenecks and dad jeans.
If you had the spirit of Bono inside you, you would have the urge to sing and create. You would have an interest in Africa and sunglasses.
So the question remains: what would it look like to have God's Spirit inside you?
Well, as theory would have it, your urges and interests would change. You would notice different things. You would desire different things.
So the problem is that we DO have this Spirit inside us if we have come to know and accept Jesus Christ. We do know the Immanuel who became tangible and was left in Spirit to be present even now. The problem is, though we have that Spirit within us, it does not seem to make much of a change in some of our urges, interests, desires.
The challenge after the Spirit is within you is to increase your ability to listen. You have to increase the connection between your spirit and the Holy Spirit within you. We have to increase the ability to listen more to the Spirit of Jesus within us than we do to our own spirit.
The more we listen and obey the Holy Spirit within us, the more our urges, interests, and desires will change. The more those change, the more our actions and lives begin to change.
Prayers to Santa
First Christmas with my new daughter, and I am already excited for new traditions to be formed as she grows up enough to begin interacting with those traditions.
I am also nervous about it. She is only 3 1/2 months old and nearly every single present under the tree was for her. Even though she has no idea what is even happening right now, she has been flooded with gifts she will never even know she had.
Why am I nervous?
A few weeks ago, a friend of mine was in tears as he explained the previous night's bedtime prayer with his 3-year-old daughter at which she briefly prayed to Jesus and seamlessly transitioned into a prayer to Santa. I sat and empathized with a Father whose heart broke at the reality of a daughter throwing Jesus to the wayside in prayer to Santa Claus during the time of year Jesus is to be most honored.
Each Father in the room that day fully realizes his daughter is only 3 years old, and I realize my daughter is only 3 1/2 MONTHS, but the heart does (and should) break to know you don't want that for your children.
You don't want your children to fall prey to the American Christianity, the American riches, or American materialism which prays more to Santa than our Immanuel. You don't want to raise children who are wrapped up in the same demand for everything you want.
I want my daughter to know and prioritize the celebration of a God who came near and made our soul feel its worth. I want my daughter to never be confused who to pray to. I want my daughter to see and care more for the poor, the orphaned, and the widow more than she does herself.
No, I do not want to be a Scrooge, and yes, I will melt to see my daughter soak up Christmas. Yes, my Father's heart loves to give gifts to my beloved.
I am simply nervous raising a child in riches (compared to the rest of this world, even America's poor are filthy rich) and making sure she always keeps the proper priorities.