I have a confession to make. I’m going on something like 2 1/2 weeks now with short amounts of sleep at night, and there’s little end in sight. First it was the Olympics, now it is the Democratic National Convention, next it will be the Republican’s shindig.
This is a first for me. I’ve always voted. I just usually wait until it gets closer to election day to care, I guess. With this campaign having started so early, I felt like boycotting the whole thing until maybe the day before. Reality set in, I guess, and I realized that if I was going to vote I needed to be informed.
Informed is one of those tricky things, though. Informed by whom? The media? That’s laughable. The politicians? About the same. Where does that leave me? It leaves me with the people themselves and others without agendas (which seems to be few).
I always like to hear it from the horse’s mouth - even if it is propaganda. I guess, for me, first-hand propaganda is better than third-party propaganda any day. As far as the agenda-less folk? Well, the only one I’ve interacted with is Stephen Morris (The Faith of Barack Obama).
So, I’ll continue to listen in to the speech makers this week and next, then I’ll put my political concerns on the burner for awhile until election day gets a little closer.
Oh, and if you want a little levity in the midst of all the hoopla this week, be sure and check out Donald Millers post, “Donald Miller and Barack Obama Exchange Emails,” on his blog. Hilarious! Donald has gotten a lot of press the last week or so because he was invited to pray the benediction at the first night of the DNC (which he accepted). You can watch his prayer here.
Recent Conversations...
ginger commented on The Faith of Barack Obama:
i'm right there with you... i have picked up the book a few times, but i haven't read it and didn't exactly know what to expect. often times it's hard for autobiographies or books featuring political figures to be truly objective... but your review has me intrigued. i think i'll grab a copy the next time i'm in a bookstore!
John commented on How to Get Senior Adults in Your Church to Embrace Facebook:
Obviously, what's relevant to 20 somethings is drastically different to what is relevant for senior adults. We need to continue to minister to the senior adult audience in ways that they feel comfortable. Not only are they less likely to change that younger generations, but forcing new technologies on them that they are not comfortable with may blur the message more than communicate it.
All of that said, I'm a huge advocate of using all of the technology that we can to reach people for the Kingdom. But we can't assume that technology is going to reach everyone in the Kingdom, and we need to be sensitive to that.
Sabrina commented on On Hillsong "Healer" Songwriter Lying About His Illness:
This is so upsetting to me. I love Hillsong and just believe that the church is anointed with God's power. The insight through your prayer for them is inspiring to me though..I loved that you said:
"I pray that God will deliver grace on this song, that He will redeem it for His glory, and that the lies will point us all to the place where we realize just how much we need the true healing power of the cross." So true.
Read Recently...
This year I've read 12 books. I have 4 left to meet my goal of 16 per year.
What Are Thin Places?
"Thin Places" are rich in Celtic tradition. They are the places in our lives where the divine and the natural worlds come so close together that we can catch a glimpse of God. For the Celtics these places were very real - places within creation where we could physically go. The Thin Places in our own lives are those moments where the space between us & the Kingdom is thin, when we are introduced to a greater glimpse of Who He is through our experiences and through the stories of others.
Recent Places...
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The Aroma of Christ In Our Lives
08.26.2008
Image by Austin Russie
Spent some time over the weekend thinking about Isaiah 61:1-3:
“The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me, because the Lord has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners, … Read On...
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We Are Smarter Than Me
08.25.2008
“Two heads are smarter than one.”So the saying goes. According to the writers of We Are Smarter Than Me: How to Unleash the Power of Crowds in Your Business, it might be more appropriate to say “Thousands of heads are smarter than one.” We is, in many ways, a primer on the concept of crowdsourcing - tapping into … Read On...
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Sunday Inspiration: Steven Curtis Chapman on Larry King Live
08.24.2008
I still haven’t finished watching the entirety of the Chapman family appearing on Larry King Live. What I’ve watched is just incredible. I remember hearing about the tragedy of one of their adopted daughters being accidently struck by one of their other children who was driving into their driveway last spring and killed. I can’t even begin to fathom the … Read On...
Reading Elsewhere...
Dustin Ahkuoi commented on The Aroma of Christ In Our Lives:
Very well said Chris. Thanks for sharing this...exactly what I needed to hear this morning.