30Aug, 2010

Excerpt from Anne Jackson’s Permission to Speak Freely

Posted by Don
2

My friend Anne Jackson‘s second book, Permission to Speak Freely – Essays and Art on Fear, Confession and Grace releases today. I’ve asked her to share one of the essays from her book with you. Anne decided to share seven essays on seven different blogs, this being the first. To read the rest of the essays, check out the links at the end. Anne is also giving away a copy of her book to two commenters, chosen at random, on Friday. So check out the question at the end and leave a comment to be entered to win. You can pick up a copy of the book here. Essay #1 – The First Brick We all remember the first time we had our faith in someone betrayed. The moment when innocence began morphing into skepticism. Mine happened on a playground in the fourth grade. I found myself dusting the gritty hot sand off my hands and knees as my best friends stood laughing at me. Leigh and Amy. Daughters of deacons at the church where my dad was the pastor. As a welcoming gift a few weeks earlier, they offered me the middle part of a three-piece heart necklace. You know the kind. The type that reads “Best Friends Forever” when the [...]

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30Aug, 2010

Element of Success: Make Old Friends Old Friends

Posted by Don
1

Here’s a secret I learned long ago. It’s a big one and it’ll propel you into a future of greatness…. STOP TAKING SOCIAL CUES FROM YOUR PEERS. Instead of taking social cues from people your age, take cues from people ten and twenty years older than you. Are you looking for a church that has a lot of people who are your age so you can hang out? That’s fine, but try looking for one where most of the people have families and perhaps a little grey hair. Why? Because the sooner you can relate to their priorities, the sooner you’ll be ready for the next stage of life. I’m in my late thirties but I’m more interested in hanging out with people who are retired. What’s it teaching me? It’s teaching me what matters later in life is friendships, family and love. In matters of faith, what matters to them is not theological debate, but closeness with Jesus and unity with believers.

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28Aug, 2010

If 40 is the New 30 Then is 20 the New Junior High?

Posted by Don
0

A recent article in the New York Times asks the question why so many people in their 20′s are taking so long to grow up. In the article, Robin Henig proposes: “It’s happening all over, in all sorts of families, not just young people moving back home but also young people taking longer to reach adulthood overall. It’s a development that predates the current economic doldrums, and no one knows yet what the impact will be — on the prospects of the young men and women; on the parents on whom so many of them depend; on society, built on the expectation of an orderly progression in which kids finish school, grow up, start careers, make a family and eventually retire to live on pensions supported by the next crop of kids who finish school, grow up, start careers, make a family and on and on. The traditional cycle seems to have gone off course, as young people remain un tethered to romantic partners or to permanent homes, going back to school for lack of better options, traveling, avoiding commitments, competing ferociously for unpaid internships or temporary (and often grueling) Teach for America jobs, forestalling the beginning of adult life.” [...]

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26Aug, 2010

Why the Bible is a Tough Book for Americans

Posted by Don
3

I’m not a big fan of the “there are only two kinds of people” breakdown of humanity, and yet in the past few years, I’ve found myself wondering if, well, there are only two kinds of people. I’m not talking about people who either like Neil Diamond or don’t, I’m talking about How and Why thinkers. Let me explain: We all live life asking questions, questions about how to get ahead, how to make life more meaningful, questions about how to survive or help people survive. The question how is an American question, and it rests on the presupposition that we know what life is really about. Some friends and I were walking down the street in Vancouver, BC last week and I stopped our group and asked them to look around and count the ads that they noticed. We were downtown in a major shopping district, and even though we could see for blocks, we found only two billboards or posters advertising stuff. If we’d been across the border in the states, we’d have counted, perhaps, hundreds. The difference was striking. Advertising is part of the reason we have become a how culture. Commercials make us think we need [...]

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24Aug, 2010

Living a Better Story Seminar Contest Update

Posted by Don
52

The Living a Better Story Seminar is just over a month away and we already have more than 350 people signed up! We couldn’t be more excited. More than 500 people entered our contest to be flown out for the seminar, and we will be announcing the winner on September 1st. In a way, the seminar will be like a reunion of people who have never met, if such a thing is possible. Fans of the books and blog along with folks who are just looking to energize their story are descending on Portland September 26th and 27th. If you haven’t registered yet, please sign up today! If you’ve already signed up, prepare to closely analyze the major decisions and turns of your life as a way of exploring how God wired you so that, together, we can discover what the best story for your life might be. God used the stories of peoples lives as His primary way of communicating to the world, and we will be looking at the way God interacted with characters such as Joseph, Paul, Moses and a few others who will join me on stage. In the Seminar, you’ll learn to see how God [...]

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