Laughter is a gift from God. When we refuse to accept it, it makes Him want to take it back. Like the unicorns.
In April, my new book comes out!
We’re planning some wildly fun stuff and that starts today.
There are three options on the table right now for the cover design.
Can you please spare 12 seconds and in this survey tell me which one you think is best? Which one jumps out at you? Which one would you pick up at the airport?
Take a look below and then click here to answer the one question survey. Thanks!
Option 1
Option 2
Option 3
It’s finally here! Get your FREE copy of the Hipster field guide today!
How? Sign up for the SCL newsletter. Just text jonacuff and your email address to 36698
How many points does owning a “city chicken” earn your worship leader?
Does the church potluck have to be “farm to table?”
Find out today!
The other day, a friend of mine made a comment about an author. He wrote:
“I’ll say he’s sloppy at best when it comes to sound doctrine and theology.”
I think the first half of that thought is awesome.
I think the author he was describing is sloppy at best.
I think I’m sloppy at best.
I think you’re sloppy at best.
I think there’s not a person on the planet who isn’t sloppy at best.
A friend from the UK sent me this photo.
First thing I did was look up the word “Creche.” My fear was it was similar to “quiche,” and in England they were turning husbands into breaded lunch foods. Pretty reasonable fear if you think about it. Turns out, I was wrong.
It means “day care.”
So, at this church, which must be near some stores, wives can drop off their husbands while they go shopping in peace.
I wonder if they do it like we do Sunday School at my church. When I drop my kids off, I get a bracelet with a number on it. If my kids misbehave, I win the bad parent lottery and a number is displayed during church on the “screen o’ shame” indicating that I must retrieve them post-haste. Is that what they are doing in the UK? Hard to say.
But that’s not what I want to talk about today. I’d much rather discuss these two questions with you:
1. Ladies, if you could drop your husband off at church while you shopped, would you?
2. Everybody, what would that drop-off spot in America be like? I’m thinking some sort of Messiah-based man cave. Part Philippians, part Fantasy Football. How would you design the American version of the “Husband Creche?”
It’s Christmas season and it’s time to buy some gifts.
There are 10 people you might know who could use a copy of my last book, Quitter
Scan this list to make sure no one you know is on it.
10 people who need Quitter
1. The friend who doesn’t have a clue what his dream is but knows he’s not doing it right now and wants to figure it out.
2. The husband with a wife who has always believed in him more than he’s believed in himself.
3. A stay-at-home mom who has had a dream for a few years and needs a push over the edge to start it.
4. The college student who doesn’t want to waste a single day at the wrong job when they graduate.
5. The dad who has a thousand good ideas but doesn’t know which one to actually focus on.
6. The unemployed neighbor who needs a new start and some new hope.
7. The girl who was told by her parents that her dream “would never work” and believed it for too long.
8. The 37-year-old woman who has been running from a dream for years but that dream refuses to keep quiet, and it’s time to really try it.
9. The friend who is stuck.
10. You.
Help someone you know close the gap between their day job and their dream job in 2013.
Give someone you know a copy of Quitter this year. Here is
I’ve got a dilemma. A problem. A pickle, if I could use some rather salty language.
The problem is something that is happening to me each week at church.
You see, we have “special music” at the end of each service. Someone ridiculously talented, because we live in Nashville, will sing a closing song before dismissing the service. I love it. It’s one of my favorite parts of Sunday morning. (Jesus is my most favorite part in case you were thinking about starting your week by Jesus Juking me.)
But there’s a problem.
(It’s guest post Friday! Here’s one from Josh Daffern. You can read his blog here. You can also follow him on Twitter @joshdaffern. If you want to write a guest post for SCL, here’s how!)
Synchronized Ushering
The world of ushering is itself an art form: the subtlety, the unspoken solemnity, the majesty of it all. Many ignorantly focus on the type of the offering plate itself (KFC bucket vs. oversized cloth-covered dinner plate vs. two-pronged velour bag). What captivates me is the movement of the ushers themselves. Being raised in church, I’ve seen just about every type of ushering move there is:
A few years ago, someone gave my family an “Elf on the Shelf
But as I started to think about the whole “real meaning of Christmas” debate and “is Santa bad” discussion that you almost are required by law to have if you’re a Christian blogger, I started to think about that elf. He was just sitting there with a smug look on his face perched on the fireplace mantle looming over our nativity scene below on the hearth. Instead of the traditional Santa vs. Jesus discussion, I began to imagine what would happen if that elf ever ran into the characters from the nativity scene. What would that conversation look like? I present you:
Elf on the shelf meets the characters from the nativity scene.
Turns out that if you chase “enough” outside of God, you never catch it.
Enough followers on Twitter, enough blog readers, enough books sold, enough money made, enough friends…the specifics of the chase don’t really matter.
Enough is elusive. Just when you think you’ve caught it, it moves again.
In this 3-minute video, I talk about how easy it is to wreck your life chasing enough and how that happened to me in the pursuit of fame. (Video was shot at the Catalyst Conference.)
Question:
Have you ever chased some form of “enough?”
My birthday is next month. (I’m a size medium t-shirt in case you’re shopping for gifts.)
I’ll be 37, which is old. I can feel the weather changing in my hip. Gonna be a storm coming. My bones are so brittle!
37 isn’t really that awesome of an age, despite the reality that the number 37 is my go-to number when I want to indicate a randomness.
For instance, if I wanted to tell you that there were a lot of otters in the river, I’d say, “There were like 37 different otters frolicking. It was magical.” Then I’d ask you not to say, “You otter go through more often” because that’s not a good joke. (I even used 37 in the title of a book I wrote.
Other than that though, 37 isn’t that eventful, unlike 34 which is when you realize you are older than Jesus.
Technically he’s lived forever. But in earth years, in the amount of time he spent on the planet, you’re older at 34.
I remember getting to that age and thinking, “OK, I’m older than Jesus. What have I accomplished in my 34 years? Hmmm, well there was that one thing, no that wasn’t big. How about that other thing? Nope.” And then I felt a little weird and decided to eat some red velvet cake because I grew up in Massachusetts and didn’t know that existed until I moved to the south at age 18 for college.
If you’re not 34 yet, please disregard this post until you turn that age, and then you can write me an email at jon at jonacuff.com and tell me how smart I am.
If you are 34 or older, did you think it was weird when you realized you’re older than Jesus?