God Unboxed: Messin' WIth My Life!

Happy 12th Day!

On Christmas Day, I challenged everyone (See C&C Service on 12-25 at Trinity's website) to spend the 12 days of Christmas shouting God's "Yes" to the world. I'd love to hear your stories about sharing God's "Yes" during this very special holy-days!

(I hope to return to posting eclectic echoes and other thoughts soon but probably after Easter!)

Eclectic Echoes--Steve Jobs Edition

I never thought I'd be a Mac person. But here I sit typing on my MacBook Pro and answering calls on my iPhone and suffering from a huge case of iPad envy! And I can't help but reflect on how one man's dream can impact so many people. Granted Steve Jobs was not the heroic man that Fred Stuttlesworth or Derrick Bell (both of whom died the same day as Jobs). Yet whether you use an Apple product or not, your life has been changed by his life. And I have been very moved by his thoughts on life and faith (see video at bottom). So thank you Steve Jobs for pursuing your dream and changing our lives and hopefully we will use the fruits of your ingenuity to make a positive difference in the world!

THOUGHTS ON FAITH AND LIFE
Delusions of Glamour Began with Chandelier Earrings
American Religion is Strange
Four-Fold Pattern on Franciscan Prayer
To Change You Have To Want It
25 Ways to Be Missional in your Neighborhood
Steve Jobs: Reflections About Life, Death and the Life In-Between
I Don't Want An Easy Faith AMEN!
Good News! Jesus Is Not Nice!
The Harvey Inside

“Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma – which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of other’s opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.” Steve Jobs

REFLECTIONS ON CHURCH
In Defense of the Lectionary
Six Reasons Young Christians Leave The Church
Scandalous Faith
Finding Yourself In-between
Why Congregations Need Denominations
Random Thoughts on Preaching Styles
Bishop Mike Coyner on Angry Birds
The Clarion Call to Watered Down Evangelicalism
A Few Days on the Trail
The Methodist Call To Action: Marching to or Rescuing Zion
Welcoming Doubt to Christian Education
Preaching to Your WHOLE Church

FROM NORTH ALABAMA
Illegals All!
The Passing of a Preacher
Just Another Liberal Rant . . Business as Usual
The End of Almost Fifty
Why I Am Against Capital Punishment
After Ruling, Hispanics Flee An Alabama Town
People Kept Telling Me No
I Know My Call Is Real

REFLECTIONS ON LEADERSHIP
God Will Make A Way
How to Absorb New Ideas And Become a Better Leader
Ministry For the Long Haul

OTHER INTERESTING STUFF
Confronting the Malefactors
5 Reasons to Drink Coffee (not that I need 5 reasons!)
The Lyrics to the Star Trek Theme Song
Tailgating Traditions at Auburn

JUST FOR FUN

Eclectic Echoes-- Spiritual But not Religious Edition

THOUGHTS ON FAITH AND LIFE
Week of Silence
Mine, Mine, Mine
The Spirituality of Play
Apology 101
Surrounded by a Puff of Witnesses
Capital Punishment: Dying a Slow Death
How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love My Neighbor
Baylor Religion Survey Reveals Many See God Steering the Economy
More Americans Tailoring Religion to Meet Their Needs
If It Feels Right
Spiritual But Not Religious
You Can't Make This Stuff Up

REFLECTIONS ON CHURCH
Calling Open Minds: The Kingdom of God Needs You
Moore Wesleyan or Not
The Problem of Beth Moore
What Wesley Did Not Say
True New Testament Preaching ? If he is right, my sermons are way too long!
Worship Versus Performance What do you think?
Our Mission is to Theologically Educate

FROM NORTH ALABAMA
Everything I Need to Know About Church
Welcome Others As Christ Has Welcomed You


REFLECTIONS ON LEADERSHIP
Do You See What I See
Hitting The Wall
Becoming A Christ-Shaped Leader

Mad Leadership

OTHER INTERESTING STUFF
The Best Worst Movies of All Times
Haven't tried this yet but I plan to! Tailgating Recipes
Reflections on the Auburn/Utah State Game
The Helpless Feeling Of Watching Your Team Losing
In Memory of Bill Walls
What Teachers Really Want to Tell Parents
Alton Brown Takes a Final Bite Out of Good Eats


JUST FOR FUN
Thanks to Matt Reed for sharing this with me:

Eclectic Echoes -- Ready for Auburn Football Edition

THOUGHTS ON FAITH AND LIFE
When I Say God
The Hardest Prayer to Pray
Tiger Mom Loses to Reindeer Mom
The Miracle of Scripture
The Perfect Formula for God
The Tides of Life
Jesus Has No Part-Time Disciples
Do You Believe in Optimal Grace?
Questioning Faith: Where is God when you hurt?
Bad Haircuts and Better
Erasing Hell: The Unavoidable Role of the Intellect
Why Certainty About God is Overrated
Embodied Theology

REFLECTIONS ON CHURCH
The Debate About Adam and Eve Has Nothing To Do With Adam and Eve
A Helluva Sermon and a Damn Shame
7 Things Your Pastor Wants to Tell You But Doesn't Have the Guts
Ministry In the Meantime
Clergy Teams As the Way Ahead
Missional is Wesleyan and Wesleyan is Missional
The Adaptive Challenge and the Local (United Methodist Church)
Blessed Are the Un-Cool

FROM NORTH ALABAMA
One of the Perks
Clergy Fear Law Imperils Ministry
Theological Support for Welcoming Immigrants

REFLECTIONS ON LEADERSHIP
40 Great Leadership Books
Mad Leadership
The Wrong Questions of Leadership
The Way I Get Things Done

OTHER INTERESTING STUFF
5 Reasons to Tailgate in the SEC
US Childhood Gets Poor Scorecard
South Has 'Middle-Skills' Worker Shortage

JUST FOR FUN