Quick Links

For those new to my blog, I like to do what I used to call 'Speedlinks.'  These are just some interesting reads around the web.

1. Here is a really cool photograph of cubes.  This guy takes great pictures at 'The Daily Dose of Imagery.'
2. How do you get to be a successful venue attracting millions of people every year?  Go away!  According to Scott McClellan, the NFL brings us football, gives us a show, and goes away for a few months.  The football void brings us back for more!  I wonder how this could apply to other businesses or organizations?
3. Seth Godin reflects on what it means that we have memories from events and from people we have never personally experienced. 
4. Also from Scott McClellan, here are some thoughts from the "Restoration Fiasco."  My two favorite:  Good intentions don't justify themselves and It's easy to offer a distorted picture of Jesus.
5. Relevant Magazine has a great piece to remember 9/11.  My favorite is the story of the woman saying she felt sorry for the young man because "Your generation will have to deal with this."  It was an amazingly astute comment in terms of governance.  Economy, military, politics, laws, freedoms, and health issues will be DIRECTLY affected by that one day for the next 50-100 years.
6. Happiness vs. Holiness?  This writer makes a case that we have made Happiness an idol.
7. Satirical Christian writer Jon Acuff, wrote a funny piece about interruping Facebook prayer.

Speedlinking

Here are some great links to check out!!!

1. If you've ever put yourself out there, you'll know this already. But, it never hurts for all of us to be reminded: You will be misunderstood. It's OK...Keep at it!!!!
2. Interesting parable about ascetic theology from author Steve Taylor.
3. Cathy Escobar's great blog has a good post about single parents.
4. Andrew Conard lists some non-negotiables for church staffs. What do you think? What would you add? Subtract?
5. Is Yoga compatible with following Jesus? Interesting thoughts by my least favorite attention...lover, Mark Driscoll, but I found myself unable to disagree with what he was saying.
6. Apparently, the founder of the Tea Party movement isn't a fan of the United Methodist Church...and apparently, I'm not a big fan of him either after reading some of his other tirades!?!
7. If you haven't seen the new translation app called "Word Lens" you're missing out on Star Trek being made real today! It instantly translates any words/signs/etc. you point at...check it out!

Speedlinking

Here's another set of great links to explore...

1. If the UMC really means this...wow! It sounds great. Now to implement it.
2. Kem Meyer has a good video for those skeptical of the social network media on internet. But then again, I doubt you are if you're reading this :)
3. People always scoff when I say that we MUST be working on the ethical considerations of AI. Will we enslave? Will we treat non-biologicals as equals? Partners? Will we marry them???? Oh, wait, someone's already doing that...yes, really!
4. Oh, please, God let this be the end...Unfortunately, Oprah might be just springboarding to something else.
5. The UMC is now actively engaging in a vigorous, 'grass-roots' marketing campaign. What do you think? Good idea to reach people in relevant ways? Or, missing the mark of what it means to share faith?
6. This blog by Kathy Escobar is truly an amazing blessing to me. Her passion for the Church being an authentic community of faith gives me hope when ministry isn't feeling great.
7. Seth Godin has a great post on "How to lose an online argument." Most of it applies to any discussion, yet...somehow we miss that!

Speedlinking

OK, I haven't done speedlinking in a while, but here we go...

1. A look at "Spiritually Transmitted Diseases."
2. Where the Wild Things Are can teach us about life & faith (thanks Kara).
3. Something is wrong when 1 in 7 Latinas (young hispanic ladies) attempts suicide. What can we do to help prevent this?
4. A new movie "Lord, Save Us from Your Followers" is coming out. It looks spectacular! I can't wait.
5. I've long been an advocate against most copyright restrictions. From downloading music lawsuits to assinine footnoting, people have moved from a culture of attribution to lawsuits (when will we outlaw lawyers?). Here is a good article explaining why FREE is good!
6. A funny one about pastors using news itmes for sermon fodder from Stuff Christians Like!
7. An interesting book and review about Emerging Young Adults.

Speedlinking

1. I recently came across Blake Huggins' blog, and he has a beautiful disclaimer...fyi, I HATE disclaimers. They are like a person sewing quilt with another on the other end unraveling it. This however was different. Kudos to Blake!
2. I loved The Dark Knight. Not just because of Heath Ledger (though he did do superb job); moreover, I love the acting skills of Christian Bale. His start was just as amazing has his excellence in Batman. Wow.
3. Out of Ur, the Christianity Today blog, has had a series of postings on an unfortunately quiet controversy. Seriously, this makes me want to puke. Civil Religion wrapped in patriotism is one of the most evil and satanic vices within the American Church.
4. The murder of a "late-term" abortion doctor in his church is sadly ironic. A "Pro-Life" extremist takes the life of a life-taker in a life-affirming place. This story is sad at every single turn. Abortion. Partial-birth abortion. Murder. If God cries, today would be a day...
5. You know I love Purdue football, but I'm especially proud of the Purdue FCA members who went to Haiti on a mission trip.

Speedlinking

Today's Speedlinking brought to you by: Mark's Snow Removal Service..."If you wait long enough, it goes away...except in Alaska."

1. Here is our church's "temporary website." It's actually a blog that we'll be using as a website. What are your thoughts on this? Is this good? Will it work? What's missing? My one frustration: Google Search crawls to it reluctantly...that's bad...really bad.
2. How can procrastinators and people who wait until the end to get stuff done excel at what they do? Seth Godin says it's the art of Sprinting...a GREAT read! It really helped me understand that good planning along with a late surge can produce great results.
3. Someone else who's mind works like mine..."What does God hate more...line cutting or people who get angry about line cutters?" A great tongue in cheek question about how we respond to rudeness and being sinned against.
4. United Methodist House Churches!?! Oo, oo, oo, appoint me! Appoint me! OK, not really, we LOVE Winchester and don't want to move, but how exciting is this! What's your take?
5. I hate arial font, but how can I argue with science? CommonCraft explains that easy directions reading makes easy tasks.

Have a great day!

Speedlinking

Some GREAT posts out there this week. Here are some of my favs...Thanks to everyone who posted these!

1. The uncritical eye of Christmas Eve Worship meets practical advice. Giving people open flames in 150+ yr. old buildings!?! Come on! LOL!
2. Seth Godin has an important tip for leaders: Having good ideas is totally different than selling/implementing them. Buy-in is critical!
3. A great article on divorce (over on Emergent Village) and how the same concept has been prevalent in our churches and Protestantism since the 1500's. Absolutely brilliant piece.
4. Beautiful pic of two people talking while others skate around them. Very nice.
5. One of the things I consistently see pastors and other types of leaders do is hide all the facts and keep information from being disseminated freely. This is tragic. Not only does it intensely build distrust, but it ignores the fact that MOST people will be able to look at all the information and, together, make a good decision. This article explains that its not the data that is faulty...it's our explanations (or lack thereof). Explain, explain, explain! Transparency is the key to building trust.
6. Lastly, Kara sported a fantastic post that had a video parody of change. Absolutely brilliant and spot on. Language and explanation are so vital...but so is realizing that some people are unwilling or incapable of change, too. Now we must ask, "What do we do with that? Are we OK leaving them behind? How do we incorporate them even as we change?"

Speedlinking & "Where're My Posts!?!"

OK, I've been very mobile lately and working on my Mac laptop. I've been posting and writing blogs, but for some reason they aren't getting saved...at all! I know that Blogger had some issues with Mac Safari capability, so maybe they are still having some new problems.

Anyhow, take my word for it, you missed the best posts ever. They were so good that I can't reproduce them.

Here are some great posts from the last two weeks:

1. Stuff Christians Like is the first "Christian" blog that I've laughed at...I warn you not to drink milk while reading this one!
2. A great post on Medium and Message. It lifts up Bill Watterson's "Calvin and Hobbes" cartoon as an excellent example of guarding the medium of the message and how this relates to the Christian mission. This was the topic of one of my posts that were magically deleted.
3. Just Mizundastood? Seth Godin warns us all that we WILL be misunderstood from time to time. My question is: So what do we do knowing that we'll be misunderstood? I think in the blogging world, it means being Patient, Loving, and taking time to explain what one means without resorting to "they don't like me, they're attacking me."
4. CommonCraft had the best statement I've ever seen from a company. We goofed, and we started over because hard work and time are worth the value and quality of our product. A company I already love, endeared me even more.

Enjoy! I know that I have!