This weekend roundup includes the latest Kindle Deals and several articles addressing marriage killers, needing to be understood, facts on the Homsechooling movement, and much more.
Tag: 2017
Weekend Roundup (July 29)
It’s the weekend, folks, and it’s time to round ’em up!
Weekend Roundup (July 22)
Good morning, folks! It’s Saturday morning and I’m starting something new. At least, I’m going to experiment with it for a month and see how you all like it.
I call it “Weekend Roundup.” What this means is that every Friday I’m going to roundup the best articles I’ve read the previous week and think would of interest to you and link to them with a brief description of what they’re about. I will also link to the post that was most read on my blog this week (just in case you missed it), as well as give you a behind the scenes update of what is happening in my life or with the blog.
How to Grieve with People Who Have Lost a Loved-One
Have you ever felt unsure of what to do as you watched a friend grieve after losing a loved-one? Here are a few suggestions of some meaningful ways to grieve with your friends.
How I Keep My Sanity While Staring at the Road Every Day
We’ve been doing a lot of driving lately, and I’ve been listening to quite a few podcasts. I don’t know if you get into podcasts much, but I love listening to them. When I’m not driving through three States in one day, I listen to them while washing dishes, sorting email, cleaning my office, mowing lawn, or picking the lint out of between families toes. Actually, I don’t do that last one. But if I did, I’d listen to a podcast while doing it.
It may or may not surprise you what all I listen to. I like learning about business, marketing, writing, theology, productivity, faith, mystery and missions. This list resembles a smattering of each, and certainly aren’t listed in any particular order. Here are some of my favorites:
Still, My Soul Be Still
We are in the middle of moving from Chiang Mai to Los Angeles via New York City. We landed at JFK on June 1st, and hit the westward road June 17. We’ve thoroughly enjoyed reconnecting with friends and family and seeing the great landscapes of the United States.
Unfortunately, while visiting my grandparents in northern Illinois, we got word that Teresa’s cousin, Sheldon Bacher, was killed in a car accident. We had just seen him a couple days before! Sudden, tragic deaths like this jerk the heart so deeply–it’s numbing. Words can’t sympathize… this isn’t how life is supposed to be! We turned around and headed for South Carolina to grieve with the family and share in their loss. As I drove, today, a song that became meaningful to me over the time of my Mom’s death kept running through my mind, so I thought I’d share it here.
“God, you are our God! And we will trust in You and not be shaken.”
Transitions and “Intangible” Earthly Possessions
I don’t know about you, but whenever I come to the end of a season, I find myself looking back and evaluating how it went. Did I do my best? Did I grow? If so, what did I learn? What happened during this season that will forever shape my life and my relationships? How am I different because of this season? How has it made me better? What am I motivated to change because of this season? What do I want to carry on into the next season?
These are the questions I find myself compulsively asking during this stage of life. Most of it I write down in my journal. Maybe share with a few close friends. I certainly don’t intend to air it all for the world to see. However, maybe you are also going through transition or have gone through transition. If you haven’t already, you probably will one day, and maybe a few of the musings I have from looking back and evaluating through this transition will resonate with you.
That’s what I plan to blog about during the next couple of months. If I have the time and space, I may develop a few random more in-depth posts on relevant topics and needed discussions. But for now, I’ll relegate those to the back-burner and simply open parts of my journal and share some musings.
An open letter about the Bible, blogging, and why I choose the titles I do
A couple months ago I wrote an article titled, No, You Don’t Have to Read the Bible. I received quite a basket of mixed feedback, so I thought it beneficial to follow-up and bring clarity where I may have failed to before.
This is an open letter. Quite long, to be honest. But necessary for clarifying a few things I deeply believe. The letter is separated into the following sections. Feel free to skip ahead to whatever interests you most by clicking on the heading below:
- Summarizing No, You Don’t Have to Read the Bible
- “What a title!!??”
- Intentional Blogging
- Relational vs. Intellectual, and an “ever-evolving message”
- The Word of God, the Holy Spirit, and the Inspiration of Scripture
- The Problem with Scripture in 2017
- What I Believe about the Bible in 18 Statements
Changes Coming Down the Pipe
Last week was the annual IGo Staff retreat. Plenty of mixed feelings, considering it was our last one. There are many changes coming down the pipe for us. Exciting changes. Scary changes. Just-plain-emotional changes.
We have five weeks left at Victory Christian School. Five more weeks with my students, each of whom I will deeply miss. We leave Thailand on May 31st.
In many ways, it feels as if we are closing the door on a chapter of life. A chapter that feels rather significant to us. Perhaps ten years from now, the past three years won’t seem that overly significant. But for now, they are a huge part of our family’s young life and it is melancholy thinking of these years in Thailand coming to an end. They have certainly been some of the fullest years of our lives so far. (You may see me writing more over the next couple of months about what I’ve learned during this season of life.)
Living Vibrantly Alive in a World of Brokenness
Thanks again for all the feedback you’ve been giving after the first two posts!
But what about when your church requires extra-biblical standards of new believers? What about when you feel lonely and unable to connect with others?
Am I suggesting that no matter what church situation you are experiencing right now you should just focus on the Gospel and continue investing as much as you can?
Absolutely not!
How to Gain a Voice with Your Pastor
Thanks so much for your feedback after my last post!
Many of my readers feel held back by their church. They want to be fruitful for Christ. They want more of God and His blessing, but because of traditions or structure, they feel restricted by their church. Not empowered.
In my last post, I shared how I used to think my church held me back from being a better Christian, but now I know it’s my focus. I said there are times we bump into irreconcilable differences and suggested we can’t ever avoid those. But what we can avoid is a wrong focus. In this post I’m going to share how to gain a voice with your pastor and become an agent of positive change in your church.
How to Overcome Frustrations with Church and Live Vibrant for Christ
Do you face frustrations with church?
I used to think it was my church holding me back from being a better Christian. Now, I know what actually holds me back is not my church, but my focus.
