This is a quote from Jack White (White Stripes front man, troubadour, musical genius.)

I agree with him.

To that, I would add what my friend Thad told me once. He said:

“The best albums are received, not written. They’re gifts you get and then share with other people. You can often hear the difference on someone’s second album. Their first album was a creative gift from God and then on the second one they tried in their own power to repeat it. And they grinded it out and it’s nowhere near as beautiful.”

I think that’s true of books and blogs and conversations and life in general. I think amazing things happen when God is in the room. The best things I’ve ever written, I don’t remember writing. I can’t take credit for them because I don’t feel like I created them; I feel like I received them.

What about you? How do you think God shows up in creativity?

I don’t remember what it felt like when the steel bar tore through my face. The moment it happened, my body was flooded with adrenaline and I got drunk on survival. I hit the ground running, blood pouring from a wound that would require plastic surgery and hope. But I probably need to back this story up.

In the seventh grade, I was in love with my Santa Cruz Rob Roskopp skateboard. It was my whole world. And one day, I thought it would be fun to jump off a concrete loading dock at a factory. (I was constantly gleaming the cube in the seventh grade.) The plan was to grab what I thought was a stable bar and swing from it while my skateboard sailed off the four-foot drop.

Continue Reading…

We’ve talked about how you should never tip with just a tract.

We’ve talked about how you should never tip with a tract that looks like a $10 bill.

We’ve talked about how working the Sunday lunch shift should be the best shift of the week, not the worst.

But there’s a new tip theological dilemma I need some help with. We need to get a ruling on this. Here’s my question:

Do you tip the guy who made your burrito?

Let’s say you’ve just ordered a delicious burrito at Chipotle. You’re walking down the line telling them all the ingredients you want on it. Yes, yes, guac is extra. I know. I know. Do I want to buy chips? Surely you jest! Pay for chips? That’s the Mexican equivalent of paying for the little bread plate at an Italian restaurant. (Don’t get any ideas Macaroni Grill.)

You get to the register to pay for your meal, at which point you’ll carry it yourself back to your seat and … do you tip?

I am of two minds on this:

1. No, you don’t tip.
If you tip the meal maker at Chipotle or Panera or another place where there aren’t waiters and waitresses, you better start doing that at every restaurant you go to. Next time you eat at a sit-down restaurant, you better tip your waitress and then ask, “Can you please give this extra money to the person who most directly handled my entrée in the kitchen? Thanks.”

2. Yes, you do tip.
People love tips, and it’s a kind thing to do. It’s not easy working at a restaurant. Always tip.

I am clearly torn. What say you?

Do you tip the burrito guy or gal?

Today you can pick up a copy of the Stuff Christians Like Daily Calendar for only $5. That’s 67% off the regular price of $14.99.

Click here to buy one.

And in case you forgot, here’s a video of me wearing a lady’s snowman sweater extolling the many, many virtues of this calendar.

I don’t know how this would technically work, but I’m pretty sure Twitter needs to kick back some royalties to Solomon.

There is no doubt in my mind that the book of Proverbs was the original Twitter.

How do I know? How can I make such a bold, Old Spice Swagger strength statement?

Allow me to make my case:

4 ways Proverbs was the original Twitter

Continue Reading…

I did a big “best of series of posts” at the end of the year but there were some other awesome things and people I bumped into in 2011. And if you didn’t bump into these same things and people you should. Cause they are awesome:

1. The People of the Second Chance Poster Series. (Big Grace + Big Art = Big Awesome.)

2. Seryn’s album “This Is Where We Are.” (My favorite album of 2011.)

3. Bob Goff. (82% of the stories I told this year were stories about Bob Goff. Amazing guy.)

4. The Boy, The Kite & The Wind by Al Andrews. (My favorite book of 2011.)

5. Listener and the song “Wooden Heart.” (I wore this video out.)

6. Gabby’s. (Best hamburger I’ve ever had. Does that belong on a Stuff Christians Like year-end list? Well, I prayed before I ate it. So, yeah.)

7. The Heart Aroused : Poetry and the Preservation of the Soul in Corporate America by David Whyte. (This book destroyed me in 2011.)

8. Vietnam

That’s my list.

What would you put on your 2011 Awesome List?

It’s guest post Friday! Here’s one from Tor Constantino a former journalist, current PR guy and blogger from DC. He’s also authored a book titled A Question of Faith. You can find him here on Twitter and here on Facebook. If you want to write a guest post for SCL, here’s how!

Penalty Flags in Church: Service Referees – By Tor Constantino

The Sabbath and professional football is a match made in heaven. For decades in this country, a growing majority of Americans have willingly adhered to the fourth commandment of observing the Sabbath by reclining on a couch while observing a healthy amount of the NFL after church.

As the NFL playoffs and Super Bowl get underway, it got me thinking about what church might look like if an important aspect of the game was infused into the weekly service – namely Church Service Referees.

Before I’m chastised for Heisman heresy, hear me out.

The Bible calls for “…order and correction within the [church] body…” it also states that we will “…judge angels…” and it further acknowledges that “…judgment will begin in the house of the Lord….” In fact, I’m fairly certain that the Greek word for judgment in the Septuagint directly translates into “NFL Line Judge.”  I could wrong about that.

Regardless, the Church Service Referee could be a rotating volunteer position just like the media team, ushers or child care volunteers. To reduce confusion as to who was the weekly Service Ref, they might wear a modesty sash that holsters a penalty flag.

Here are some possible penalties that might warrant a floating flag from a Church Service Ref.

Continue Reading…

I feel like I’ve been pretty clear about my love for worship eagles. I’ve written about how they would be an awesome addition to any church and have long celebrated their abilities:

1. Being able to swoop in and carry out screaming kids in the middle of service, dropping them directly in foam ball pits.
2. Screaming loudly to emphasize a particularly dramatic point in a sermon.
3. Looking awesome.

I even posted a photo once of one from a church. But a lot of people said, “that’s a dove not an eagle.” And looking back on the year, you might have been right. That was probably an olive branch in it’s beak. I just got over excited and jumped the gun. But not today.

I took this picture on a pier in Orange Beach, Alabama. It was a bulletin board that showed all the massive fish different people caught on the pier. And then I saw this photo, which made absolutely zero sense to me.

1. Did that guy catch that osprey on purpose?
2. If you look closely, he’s got a feather in his hat, like he’s caught one before. Is he an osprey fisherman? Or “ospreyman” as you will?
3. Is that a pet osprey that he just brought down to the pier to show off?
4. If so, where might one acquire a bird like that? Are they legal to own in Middle Tennessee? Hypothetically speaking.
5. How bad does that bird want to attack that guy? Look at his eyes. They are orange balls of bird rage.

So many questions. But the only one that really matters is,

“Now that we’ve seen actually seen a potential worship eagle, how would you caption this photo?”

The first year we were married, I decided to make a nightstand for my wife Jenny for Christmas.

Why?

Because I am stupid.

I’d never built anything in my life, but in my arrogance thought to myself, “How hard can it be?”

So I tore out a picture of a nightstand from the Pottery Barn catalog and went to Home Depot. Without any sort of plan, I walked the aisles picking up random items. “Jigsaw? Probably going to need that. Hand saw? Why not. Hammer and nails? Of course.” Then I bought a bunch of lumber.

Driving home I thought, “This is going to be too easy for me. I’ll probably finish too quickly. Why don’t I learn woodcarving too? I’ll get some carving tools and carve out a topiary into the front of the nightstand. How hard can it be?”

So I purchased some more tools and retreated into our basement in Arlington, Massachusetts.

Continue Reading…

God’s had a pretty big NFL season this year. I don’t know if he was on strike last year, but this year, he’s all over the place.

“Tebowing,” the act of bending down on one knee to pray like Tim Tebow, became a trend.

Saturday Night Live did a skit in which Jesus visited the Denver Broncos locker room.

Media headlines credited or discredited God for NFL victories or losses. (Sunday’s Broncos game for instance. Tebow threw for 316 yards. Hellooooo John 3:16 comparisons.)

God was so busy around the league that Baltimore Ravens linebacker Terrell Suggs felt like he had to set the record straight and was quoted saying, “With all due respect, we don’t need God on our sidelines.”

At which point, God responded, “You lost to the Jaguars. I’m not on your sidelines, dude.”

Or something like that. God rarely speaks to me directly about the AFC. But it all begs the question, “Does God care about football?”

There are three possible answers:
1. Yes, in the way that he cares about all things. Like tiny flowers, baby birds and even the sport of cricket.
2. No, he’s got more pressing things to attend to.
3. Who cares? It’s only the second week of January, and I’m already two weeks behind on my read through the Bible in one year plan!

I don’t have the answer for this question, but I do know he cares about college basketball. That’s why the sky is Carolina Blue. Go heels!

Question:
Do you think God cares about football?