This Thursday, I’m going to announce something new. Something I’m excited about and nervous about. And before I tell you what it is, I want to tell you where it came from. There’s a story behind this new idea I’d love you to hear.

Last December, when I was writing my new book Quitter, I posted a message about it on Stuff Christians Like. I asked people to email me if they had an “I’m a _________, but want to be a _______,” story. More than 600 people emailed me.

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Oh stop. You did. I know you did. The sense of that movie hangs like a pallor over you like a beard hangs on Zach Galifianakis. There’s still popcorn on your breath and a nervous desire to tell a funny story involving a monkey and a car chase.

But if you did see the movie, which made a bajillion dollars last weekend, as a Christian you are left with only four options to explain why you did:

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I hope you get the chance to do something fun and important and day-offish today.

To my grandfather, my friends in the service and all the troops, thank you for serving our country!

Stuff Christians Like returns tomorrow.

My wife and I just started building our summer soundtrack. It’s a collection of songs that we’ll listen to during adventures this summer. Like musical envelopes, we’ll hide our memories in them from the warm months of 2011. Years later, when we hear them on the radio we’ll remember the fourth of July in Blowing Rock, or going on a river walk in Franklin Tennessee.

The first song we’re putting on it this year is Brett Dennen’s “Sydney (I’ll Come Running.)” It’s impossibly happy and includes one of the best descriptions I’ve ever heard of what it feels like to play a show as a musician. He says, “We were in the basement, just giving our blood on stage, and pretending we were famous.” (The video is after the jump)
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(I’ve got two daughters. They’re 5 and 7. My wife and I often talk about different ways to encourage about exploring the Bible. But, I’m not sure my 5 year old is ready for every story the Bible has to offer. Here in a completely random, completely fun guest post, Lindsey Whitney shares one way we could adapt one particular Bible story for kids. Enjoy!)

Kid-ifying wild Bible stories. By Lindsey Whitney

Hey Pastor, Here’s an Ehud poem for your sermon series if you’d like:

There was once a mean king, Eglon was his name
He lived in Moab, and great was his fame

He was quite pudgy, so pudgy in fact
He could eat a whole cow and call it a snack!

The Israelite people said “Let’s get rid of this king
He’s simply too mean, but how to do such a thing?”

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At the core of my book Quitter is the idea that you’ve got to be bold and brave to step into the things you’re called to. You’ve got to take risks and be patient and hustle on your dream so that you don’t wake up at 80 and realize you lived a life without purpose or meaning.

In the last few months, a new opportunity has started to develop that I’m really excited about. A chance to do something big and fun and way over my head that helps a lot of people. And I can’t encourage other people to be brave if I’m not going to be so I’m going to jump into this opportunity with both feet.

I’ll announce it next Thursday, June 2 on Stuff Christians Like and on the radio with Dave Ramsey. In the meantime, get ready, because I think it’s going to be awesome and I hope you’ll go along with me.

When did I become that awkward 35 year old who can’t make a free throw to save his life? I used to make fun of that guy when I was in the seventh grade, rocking my champion sweatshirt and listening to Bell Biv Devoe “Thought it was me” on my yellow Sony walkman.

I used to be able to do a layup. I promise. Though I was horrible at basketball and in the 8th was the short kid who played in the last 13 seconds of the game and got a raucous pity cheer from the crowd whenever he touched the ball in the hope that I’d actually score, I could hit a layup.

I thought about my complete lack of hoops skills (I’m so horrible I can’t spell it skillz) when I saw that Stephon Marbury, the former NBA star, recently became I born again Christian. I learned this in GQ magazine and my immediate thought was:

“Excellent, my all Christian basketball team is really starting to come together.”

You don’t have one of those in your head? You really should, it’s delightful. But before you start to build your own, I have to let you know whom I’ve already drafted and is no longer available for your team:

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Last weekend, the folks at Fox & Friends brought me up to New York to talk about my new book Quitter. I was nervous, but it ended up being a lot of fun. Here’s the video clip of me talking about “5 ways to land your dream job.”

The other day I had to go buy makeup.

For me.

For my face.

I’ve already cut up my man card and distributed pieces to my close friends who mocked me.

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Tim Sanders is one of the most inspiring people I’ve ever met. It’s impossible to have a conversation with him and not walk away with a list of things you want to do differently with your life. A few years ago he wrote a really popular book called, “Love Is the Killer App.” Now, he’s got a new one called “Today We Are Rich.” A few weeks ago I had the chance to sit down with him and ask him a few questions. Check out the video interview after the jump:

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