Friday, March 11, 2011

Rob Bell's new book

The bad part about Rob Bell is that he's so dang cool. He dresses trendy and makes cool videos and cool Christians everywhere know him to be cool.

The good part about Rob Bell is that he raises really good questions, he's an excellent teacher and that he reads a lot of N.T. Wright, who isn't so trendy.

He wrote a new book called Love Wins: A Book About Heaven, Hell, and the Fate of Every Person Who Ever Lived. This is a link to a video in which his cool self talks over cool music and cool video footage about some really important age old questions. If you want to explore some of these questions without feeling like a geek, this may be a good book for you.

Monday, March 7, 2011

swiping out, part II


You may have noticed that I’ve been posting less often. This here’s an explanation…


The last time I posted I said I'd be taking a break from media for 25 days as a part of my church's 25-day fast. It was to celebrate our church's 25th year. (Boy, was I glad we're not Catholic!)

During the fast I found surprising communion with God, inner peace and efficiency at work related simply to not using the Internet, reading, or listening to music. As if my soul was taking a much-needed deep breath. And like I often do during fasts, I asked God, “How can I keep this going after the fast, in normal life?”

I sensed a clear response that I should limit my Internet usage to one hour per week. So for now, that’s what I’m doing. The result of this change has been continued efficiency while at work, far greater presence of mind when I’m at home with my wife and kids, and a surprising amount of enjoyment at the simplicity. I went from hopping on to check any number of sites whenever I pleased throughout the day, to saving all my Internet business to one sitting. And you know what’s weird? The same sites I used to go on multiple times per day, I don’t even care to look at anymore when my new hour quota recharges on Sunday. Nothing on the Internet feels urgent. Nothing is.  

So at least for now, I’ll be blogging less often. My wife, my kids and my soul are glad.

Saturday, March 5, 2011