Brian Newman
Brian Newman is a great guy.
Brian is also a great designer–web, print, etc.
Brian is the guy that does all the design work for our Commit Magazine. He also designed this for me.
Do you need design work done? Contact Brian Newman. Here’s his website.
The Adventures of Johnny Bunko
There are several Christian books about work/discerning your calling that I highly recommend, such as Finding a Job You Can Love and God at Work.
Another great book on this topic, though not written from a Christian perspective, is Daniel Pink’s The Adventures of Johnny Bunko: The Last Career Guide You’ll Ever Need. This is an unusual and fun book, it’s genre being manga. As the story of the book unfolds, Pink gives 6 lessons (“career secrets”) to guide your approach to work. I’ve recommended this book to a number of twentysomethings here in the Bay Area wanting help in career transitions, and they’ve all found it very helpful.
PS. In my opinion, everything written by Daniel Pink is thought provoking and worth reading.
Linchpin
I found Seth Godin’s Linchpin to be a stimulating read. This is an important book for how you think about your work in today’s economy and culture.
You are not a faceless cog in the machinery of capitalism (anymore). You now have a choice. This book outlines two paths available to each of us, and teaches you about why you might be resisting the less-traveled (but better) choice.
TGC: Bay Area Conference
The Gospel Coalition website came up with a great photo (above) and is giving great attention to our TGC: Bay Area conference on March 18.
Piper at Westmont
This week John Piper spoke at my alma mater, Westmont College. Get the message, Why God Makes Much of Us, here.
Lecrae: Far Away (Haiti Relief)
Here’s the new music video for Lecrae’s track “Far Away.” This song was written to raise awareness and money for relief work in Haiti. The video features footage from the ground in Haiti and of the recent concert in Minneapolis where $20,000 was raised.
This is a moving, honest rap song that I encourage you all to listen to/watch.
Go here to buy the song or the video.
All proceeds from the sale of this song and video will be given away. Donations are going to Churches Helping Churches (www.churcheshelpingchurches) for their work in helping the local church in Haiti provide relief to their communities.
What Stands in the Way of Us Experiencing Joy?
One of my favorite reads in 2008 was Mike Mason’s book on joy, Champagne for the Soul (I refer to it here). In agreement with Mark, I’d nuance some things differently, but Mason is very helpful on joy. In an interview from earlier this year (it’s worth reading the whole thing), Mason answers an important question with great insight:
What stands in the way of us experiencing joy?
One thing: forgetting the gospel. The gospel is the most wonderful thing in the world. If you know it, and believe it, you will be joyful. You can’t help it. So if you’re not joyful, you’re not believing the gospel. You’ve lost touch with its amazing power. You’ve forgotten why you came to Jesus in the first place—because He, and He alone, has the words of life that set you free. He alone loves you not for anything you do…Everyone who gives their life to Jesus does so with great joy, because this news is so electrifying. The gospel is simple, but you’ll never encounter anything else like it. Over and over in my experiment I discovered great joy in a simple return to the gospel. It gave me the permission to keep stripping away from my life everything that doesn’t really work, everything that doesn’t truly bring deep, satisfying joy. My thought life, the way I prayed, my relationships, my work—everything was overhauled for the pure sake of joy and love. Only the gospel gives a person such radical freedom.
Joy Killers
My friend Mark Lauterbach has written a series of helpful posts on joy (beginning here), springing from his own lack of joy and his reading of Mike Mason’s excellent book on joy. Mark’s also written some helpful posts on the joy-killing nature of introspection (beginning here). Here’s an excerpt from my favorite of Mark’s posts: 90 Days of Joy and the Serious Life:
There is appropriate seriousness but there is also seriousness that is a mark of pride. Our society cultivates people who are serious about themselves — and the church does too. One mark of this: people who are so serious about life have very little sense of humor. They are busy doing important things. How can they smile? The world is coming apart. Global warming is going to ruin us all. There is injustice in the world. We must do something. There is little place for humor.
Christians too can be too serious…We can be serious about our lives, our families, gender roles, leadership, the honor of God, and the preservation of the Gospel. The mark of the overly serious Christian — no joy. Another mark — hand wringing and pontificating about how terrible things are in the church.
I have been reading the story of King David lately. There is no way one can read that story and walk away taking our selves too seriously. God is at work — through bronze age warriors, stumbling leadership, and limited people. The ark of the covenant is taken and we find that God is quite capable of upholding his honor. I would not want any of these people for friends — but God does.
The lesson of OT history is that God will accomplish his purposes in the midst of the mess of our lives. He uses us, but we are rusty tools. We are not that important.
I find I am tempted to be self serious — to lose all humor and joy. My inner thought is that there is too much to do, too many problems to solve, too many errors to correct, too much suffering in the world. I need to be concerned, serious, intentional.
Woody Allen poked fun at us years ago when he began his commencement address with words along this line: “We stand at the crossroads of human history. One road takes us into nuclear annihilation. The other leads into environmental catastrophe. We must make a wise choice.” I think there is some perspective here for Christians — we are always creating catastrophes and disasters and then rising up in our self-righteousness to take them on. We are doomsday specialists.
But I am not necessary. A few years ago I faced cancer, with surgery and treatments. It came at a time of significant need in the church I served. But I was knocked out of commission. At first I panicked. How would the church survive without my leadership? The answer: it did just fine, even prospered, as God did not have cancer and the Holy Spirit was not on medical leave.
Here is where I applied Lewis — I am not to allow the problems of the world or church or family blackmail God and joy. I can see many problems in the world. But the makers of misery must not win and the joy of Christ must prevail.
Wayne Cordeiro, Leading on Empty
Pastoral leadership can be draining work. Burnout is a real danger. I’m only a few chapters into Wayne Cordeiro’s new book, Leading On Empty: Refilling Your Tank and Renewing Your Passion, and I already commend this book to any church leader who’s experienced burnout, who’s nearing burnout, or who wants to avoid burnout (so, I commend this book to all church leaders).
Gospel Growth Conference
I’ve been slowing listening to audio from The Gospel Growth Conference. So far I’ve found David Helm’s two messages quite helpful.
