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Living a Better Story by Losing
I think in stories now. I could blame Donald Miller for that but mostly I would just thank him. I would thank him because I’m living better stories now than I was four years ago. In some ways, I had no where to go but up. Four years ago I was thawing out from a long season of depression and burnout which had immobilized me in a lot of ways. The “Great Thaw of 2009” coincided with the release of Miller’s book “A Million Miles in a Thousand Years“. It just so happened that it was released the week of my annual Introvert…
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Watching Somebody Love
“Sometimes you have to watch somebody love something before you can love it yourself. It is as if they are showing you the way.” Donald Miller in Blue Like Jazz I love this line from Donald Miller’s book and was stoked it made it into the movie by the same name. Miller was talking about sometimes people learn to love something – like jazz music or God – because they witness someone loving jazz music or God and it moves you. You can’t argue with it and sometimes it doesn’t make sense at all yet the proof is in front…
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Make a Date with Redbox
I watched the “Blue Like Jazz” movie on DVD this week thanks to our local Redbox. I loved it even more than the first time I saw it in the theater. If you have a Redbox in your town, go rent the movie. Better yet – go buy it, watch it and share it with others. The movie is based on the same titled book which is a New York times best seller. It was published in 2003 and I read it not long after it. I echo thousands of others who said upon reading BLJ – “I’m not alone!” Author…
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Quitting Things
On Sunday, I preached a sermon that I struggle to practice. Nothing new there. The gist was that you cannot help everyone so do for one what you wish you could do for everyone – something I’ve been challenged by for 9 months since hearing Andy Stanley say that to a bunch of us at the Catalyst Conference in Atlanta. Go deep with a handful of relationships and responsibilities so you can be engaged with those select people and situations in the way that truly creates an environment of discipleship and transformation – for both parties. Have faith that this…
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Gutting Fish and Talking to Weeds: A Better Story
A few months ago, I made the decision to write a better story. Not a literal story (yet). Instead, I decided to live a better story with my life. If you are familiar with author Donald Miller than you are probably familiar with the language of “living a better story”. It is the central theme of his book A Million Miles in a Thousand Years. I read that book annually since it was published in 2009 and I’ve taken a couple of sporadic steps to live a better story – like booking a trip to Uganda or getting out of…
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Most Anticipated Movie of 2012
I love movies. I watch a lot of movies. I’m a huge fan of the Hunger Games trilogy and can’t wait for the movie release March 23. I’m also a Twihard (don’t hate), own each of the movies and am counting down to the fifth and final movie this fall. But even with these ah-mazing movies releasing in 2012, I’m most excited about the April 13 release of Blue Like Jazz. The movie is based on the New York Time’s Best Selling book by the same name. This book changed my faith and the faith of thousands of others –…
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What the World Needs Now
… is love, sweet love. It’s the only thing that there’s just too little of. Not just for some, but for everyone.” I was reading about a church plant, Imago, the other day in the book, Blue Like Jazz. In the book, author Don Miller talks about their humble beginning and the difficulty they experienced in growing because of their focus internally. Then the group committed itself to simply loving others because they deserve to be loved. No other agenda, no other motivation, no outreach plan for the church. Just love. In a short time. their community grew and within…
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Living a Better Story
One of my favorite authors is Donald Miller. He authored one of my favorite books Blue Like Jazz. I still remember exactly where I was when I read that book right after it was published. Sitting on a rough couch in a condo down south on vacation with my parents. I don’t remember why I picked up the book but I did. And in reading it, I discovered that I wasn’t alone in my thoughts about faith, spirituality and religion. There is so much comfort that can be found in knowing you aren’t alone. Don Miller has written several other…
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Why I Won't Win a Nobel Peace Prize
One of my most favorite Twitter feeds is Bob Goff (@bobgoff). Bob is the founder and president of Restore International, a non-profit organization that pursues audacious ways to restore justice to children and the poorest of the poor around the world. Restore is comprised of a dedicated group of people committed to ending human rights abuses towards children by moving from awareness of injustice, to action. They go into the courts in countries like Uganda and India to be the voice for the voiceless and to provide support and a defense for children in the justice systems. Restore also has schools and…
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Lifeway at it again
Maybe you’ve heard by now or have seen this in stores recently but Lifeway Christian Stores have done it again in their quest to play the role of Holy Spirit in the lives of readers. In January, they put this disclaimer on their website and began placing “Please Read with Discernment™.” stickers on select books by select authors. (Please note the trademark on that phrase.) Shouldn’t everything be read with discernment? If not, then we could save a lot of money by returning to a few select religious leaders having the only copies of the Scripture and just telling us what it says. (Hmmm.. wait…