The other day I was in LA with a friend and he took me to his favorite taco shop. We were sitting there eating when I realized I’d actually been to the bike shop across the street, nearly five years before. I laughed as I told him I spent about a couple hundred dollars on stuff I didn’t need in that very shop.
I could remember it so clearly. I was heading out on a cross-country trek, riding from Los Angeles to Delaware and so I stopped and bought supplies at that very store. I bought [...]
Every Sunday we feature a brief “sermon” from an unlikely source. This week we feature David Foster Wallace, who delivered this commencement address in 2005 to the graduating class of Kenyon College.
I got a little bit of work done on my book today, but not as much as I’d hoped. Yesterday, I wrote five times as many words as I did today. And I’d even argue yesterday’s words were better. I doubt anything I wrote today will be published. And yet I feel fine about it.
It’s been a long time coming for me to view a relatively unsuccessful writing day as a victory, but I’m glad this is now my perspective.
What I mean by this is writing is not an exact science [...]
One of the reasons people struggle so much with life is they expect it to be something it isn’t. They expect to be fulfilled by products, relationships and even religion as though this is going to be the “Act 3 Climax” of life. But Biblically, the complete climax of life doesn’t happen at conversion, it happens when we are reunited with God. Adjusting expectations, therefore, frees people to be happy and grateful for the good things they experience on earth.
A study done of the happiest countries named Denmark as the world’s [...]
Every Sunday we feature a brief “sermon” from an unlikely source. This week we feature Dallas Willard, who passed away this week from a long fight with cancer. Dr. Willard taught us about God’s love and His grace and is now with Him personally. A stunning life [...]
I’ve a friend named Stacey (guy) who started dating a girl years ago. I asked him how he was feeling about it, whether he thought she was going to work out. He said he hadn’t thought much about it, that it wasn’t time yet. What do you mean, I asked. Of course you’ve thought about it. He admitted he had, but that he wasn’t going to evaluate the relationship for another month. Instead, he was just going to enjoy it. He actually showed me his calendar and the following month had an X on a specific date. He said he had given himself permission to wait a month, and after this specific date [...]
Not long ago I saw a tweet from a Christian leader saying something like “Watching the news feed. Lots of horrible things happening. Do we need more to prove the depravity of man?”
I get where the guy is coming from. It would be easy to watch the news and believe people are evil. But there are three immediate problems at play in the simple tweet [...]
Each week we bring you a sermon from an unlikely source. Musicians, scientists, actors, business leaders and this week a poet [...]
I grabbed a copy of Jon Acuff’s new book last week. It’s called Start and it’s about chasing your dreams and making things happen. It’s terrifically written and more than that, it’s super helpful. It’s also healthy, in a way, because psychologists have proven we are beings who need to be in motion to really be psychologically healthy. If you’ve not picked up a copy, make it one of your summer reads.
Anyway, one of the things Jon talks about is [...]
When you’re writing a screenplay, you normally want to have something happen about fifteen minutes from the end of the story in which everything is lost. All the progress that’s been made for the lead character has to wash down the drain. And then, unless you are writing a tragedy, you figure out a way to redeem the situation in the final minutes.
It’s formulaic, I know, but it works. You’ll find the “all is lost” scene in almost every movie you go see this summer.
The reason is because it increases dramatic tension, but it’s also [...]
