Great video from Steven Furtick on how you’re not Francis Chan; I think I even gave a sermon in the summer that made some reference to how cool I thought Chan was for making this leap of faith, and I can confess that all too often I evaluate my calling by what others have done or are doing, instead of just trusting, celebrating, and finding contentment in where God has called me:
Wil Wheaton has a wonderful reminder on how technology makes us stupid.
Rick Dake reminds us of the importance of the Wesley Questions for evaluating and centering our spiritual lives. (I like the idea of making them into a sermon series, too).
TED talks throughout history. The link is humor, so if you are unfamiliar what what TED Talks are it won’t make much sense; but if you are unfamiliar with what TED talks are, I’d encourage you to get familiar – there are some really interesting presentations out there. Just go to www.ted.com and start exploring. As I remember, J.J. Abrams’ talk on the Mystery Box is pretty good, as is Malcolm Gladwell’s talk on spaghetti sauce.
Nadia Bolz-Weber on How To Say Defiantly, “I am Baptized”. I love this part at the end:
“And when the forces that seek to defy God whisper if in your ear — “If God really loved you you wouldn’t feel like this; If you really are beloved then you should have everything you want” — remember that you, all of you, have been marked with the cross of Christ and sealed by the Holy Spirit. God has named you and claimed you as God’s own in the waters of your baptism. You, like our Lord, have been given identity and purpose, so when what seems to be depression orcompulsive eating or narcissism or despair or discouragement or resentment or isolation takes over, try picturing it as a vulnerable and desperate force seeking to defy God’s grace and mercy in your life, and then tell it to piss off, and say defiantly to it, “I am baptized!” Because the water that covered you in God’s promises in your baptism is simply the only thing that gets to tell you who you are.
And this is not a matter of having high self-esteem. This is about nothing less than God’s redeeming purpose in the world, and that purpose will prevail. Indeed it has already prevailed.”
Donald Miller writes on the Wisdom of Honesty asking us to wrestle with the question of when to speak and when to turn the other cheek.
Will Willimon takes at look at the recent comment by Governor Bentley on being brothers and sisters in Christ:
“Christians don’t regard others as our brothers and sisters because they are members of our church, they affirm our creed, or because they are nice people. We relate to others as Jesus has related to us – making us brothers and sisters, not by virtue of who we are but on the basis of who he is.”
Seth Godin on the Reassurance of New Words. He puts it so simply:
“It’s a lot easier for an organization to adopt new words than it is to actually change anything.
“Real change is uncomfortable. If it’s not feeling that way, you’ve probably just adopted new words.”
I think there is a little more nuance in reality – sometimes changing language can play a part in creating change, but often we do get caught up with just changing a few words and being satisfied with that, instead of making any real change.
Oldie, but a goodie, R.E.M. “Talk About the Passion”