Recently, a friend of mine told me that the David Crowder Band was breaking up. I like them, both musically and beardedly. In that order. I never put a person’s facial hair above their music. That’s one of the rules I live my life by. Unless they’ve got a monkey tail, which apparently is a thing now.

What’s that you say? Well, you grow one sideburn very long. Then you grow it into a beard that goes down one side of your face, over your chin and finally curves under your nose like the tail of a monkey. Then you move to Brooklyn.

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Last Tuesday, I had the opportunity to speak at BigStuf camp in Panama City, FL. Right before I took the stage, I was overwhelmed with the abundance of second chances God keeps giving me. If you asked most people who met me in college, or even lots who met me after, the idea of me being someone who would get on stage and talk about God would be impossible.

But that’s what’s so beautiful and powerful and grace- drenched about the concept of the second chance. Which is why when I bump into folks like Mike Foster, of the People of the Second Chance, I love to be a part of what they’re doing. And today, I get to introduce you to someone new.

Prison Fellowship is doing something really amazing called “Forgive, Don’t Forget.”

Their heart is for prisoners, who they are dedicated to forgiving and not forgetting about. Turns out, there are more than 2.3 million men and women in prison in the U.S. And every year, more than 700,000 are released. Within three years, more than 50% of them will be back behind bars.

There are a number of ways they offer second chances to prisoners. But, one of them is so simple, I actually did it myself.

If you buy a “Forgive, Don’t Forget” t-shirt for a $25 donation, they give a new dress shirt and a tie to a guy who is just getting out of prison. You get the shirt, and he gets something to wear to a job interview, which is often the first step back toward a second chance.

I bought one myself. A lot of ministry shirts I see make me want to buy the shirt, support the ministry and promptly put the shirt in a deep dark drawer never to be seen again. Not this one. I love this shirt. (See if you can guess which design I bought.)

The best part is that you get to leave a message for the prisoner who will receive the shirt and tie. Here’s what I wrote:

God loves second chances. He sent Jesus to the world for people that need second chances. Not the perfect people, not the good people, the people who need second chances.

If you’d like to buy one too, visit forgivedontforget.org.

If you’d like learn a little more about the ministry, check out the video below.

Question for the day:

Has someone ever offered you a second chance?

(Curtis Honeycutt is SCL famous. In addition to writing a ton of guest posts, he even won our bulletin bored contest with the best bulletin art I’ve ever seen. Which makes sense given how often he thinks about the writing utensils he brings to church. Here, in a sequel to a previous guest post, is his latest gift. Enjoy!)

Rebelling against pew pencils. By Curtis Honeycutt.

It’s an honor to be able to share this with the SCL community on Friday, of all days. After all, you gotta get down on Friday. Why, you ask? Great question: because everybody’s lookin’ forward to the weekend, weekend.

A few weeks ago, I lost my favorite pen on my way to sitting down in the sanctuary at church. My first reaction was to put the church on lockdown and bring in the pen-sniffing dogs. The greeters at the Info Hub didn’t go for that idea. As a result, I was stuck taking notes with one of those stubby pew pencils with no erasers. By the end of the sermon, I had a wicked sweaty cramp in my hand.

Why do churches use these?

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Hooray! 25 people won a copy of the Francis Chan BASIC video. If your name is on the list after the jump, please email your mailing address (to this email) so that we can hook you up. If you click on the name you can see the actual comment that was left to verify that you’re the “Alex” who won for instance. The comment will appear on top of the page you click through to. Thanks for participating!

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I am one of 9 people on the planet who have not read the book, “Heaven is for Real.”

It’s not on purpose. I’m not making a private stand against that book. I think I’d actually love it if I read it. When my wife quoted some of the stories in it to me, I almost started crying. My pastor Pete Wilson recently interviewed the author for a sermon series. People I respect love that book. I even like the color yellow as a cover option. It’s bright and happy and yay! VW beetle convertible!

But despite having never read it, that has not prevented me from speaking authoritatively on it. I’ve recommended it to friends. I’ve bantered about it at length at dinner parties. I am a pseudo expert on a book I’ve never cracked.

And I am not alone. In fact, there are at least 4 other people that jump into this situation with me and will pretend they know all about a book they’ve never read:

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The response to the Quitter Conference has been awesome! Folks from Oregon to Alabama have signed up to join me on July 30th to take a big, fun step toward closing the gap between their day jobs and their dream jobs.

We’re working on a lot of great wow moments for people who come and today I get to announce a new one. Anyone who signs up for the conference before June 12th, will get to come to an exclusive VIP session. That Saturday morning before the conference starts, we’ll all hang out and connect. We’ll do Q&A, grab coffee and just have fun before the day really even begins.

If you’ve already registered, you’re automatically in. If you haven’t yet, sign up today to make sure we get to hang out!

Click here to register or learn more about the event.

When I tell people I was a jerk in college, they sometimes don’t believe me. They feel that, much like how I talk about my unbelievable breakdancing skills, I am exaggerating. To prove my point, I submit to you this photo of me from my junior year.

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You know that small dog that barks at cars, ’cause they’re large, loud, moving objects? He’s got that shrill, sharp bark that chips away pieces of your soul each time you hear it? But you don’t mind because you drive by him pretty quickly and he’s gone. You know that dog? He was on my flight last week. And he was pretty sure that, if he barked long enough, he’d be able to scare away the large, loud, moving object we were all on. Or he was doing the dog version of an NFL touchdown dance, showing off to all the other dogs that had to ride in the back of the plane with the luggage, while he relaxed in an aisle making frequent visits to “barktown.”

Hard to say, but in that moment I was not bubbling over with grace and kindness. But then I remembered the post I wrote about Grace Spots.

The idea was that there are some places where I have to be really deliberate about showing grace to people. The post was inspired because I was a jerk to someone at a restaurant.

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One of my favorite things about the Nashville airport is that country musicians do the overhead announcements. While you’re waiting for a flight you’ll suddenly hear, “Hi, this is Blake Shelton. Please make sure you report any unattended luggage.” Or “Hi, this is George Straight. Welcome to the Nashville airport. Please don’t forget to wash your hands after using the lavatory.”

In my head, I like to pretend they recorded all those different messages at the same exact time and that it was like a cowboy version of the recording of “We are the World.” I can just imagine Garth Brooks saying, “Hey Dolly Parton, which announcement did you get? They stuck me with ‘You’re not allowed to go through security with more than three ounces of liquid.’”

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In a few weeks, my family and I are going to pack the car ridiculously full, jump in and hit the road. First we’ll drive 359 miles to the mountains of Blowing Rock, North Carolina. Then, after a few days with family, we’ll drive 355 miles to Tybee Island, Georgia. Then we’ll drive 519 miles back home to Franklin, Tennessee.

Why?

Because we are crazy.

But also because we love road trips.

And it’s that time of year. Time to hit the road and there are a few rules the Acuff family lives by when it comes to road trips.

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