Thomas Nelson Publishers has been working hard for the better part of a year on a really cool concept. For the rerelease of Searching for God Knows What (I updated the book with some new chapters) they created a game complete with prizes. If you’re small group is looking for a book to go through for summer, this one has some really cool added features. You can literally win artwork, music, autographed books, other people’s books and even a signed [...]

I’ve spent the last two days blogging about a movie that, in my opinion, is nearly perfect. I can’t overstate how well this movie is written. And what I’m not saying is that Toy Story 3 is my favorite movie, because it isn’t, or that it’s even in my top ten, I’d have to think about that for a while. What it is, however, is the best-written screenplay to come down the pipe in many years. And of course [...]

What made Toy Story 3 great was more than just colorful characters and great graphics, though those were certainly in abundance. What made Toy Story 3 great was a strict adherence to some basic story principles, and those principles can also make a life great. I’ll create a short, incomplete list:

1. We knew exactly what the characters wanted. There wasn’t a scene in the movie when we didn’t know what the principles characters wanted. Whether it was to escape [...]

Today I’ll launch a three-part series about the movie Toy Story 3. Yes, the movie was that good.

It’s rare a story comes along in which the elements are as perfectly clear as they are in this film. The movie is graphically impressive, to be sure, but what really shines is the story itself, and in this movie, the story has been chiseled down to the basic foundational elements, elements that, amazingly, too many screenwriters ignore.

The reason I’m excited about [...]

I saw a news story recently about a Hindu guru named Mata Amritanandamayi. She’s gaining a considerable following worldwide, even filling enormous stadiums with travelers who’ve come to see her. Her theological schtick is fairly simple, she chants to the Hindu deity Krishna and people sit in front of  her chanting to whatever God they choose. She’s referred to as Amma by her followers, which means mother, and she has a motherly aspect, a kind smile, kind eyes and a [...]

The Salem Witch Trials

For the past few years, I’ve been considered a leader in the emerging church. I’ve read as much in articles, mostly attacking the theology of the emerging church. I’ve even sat in a room where they talked about me being a leader in this church. I didn’t say anything because I didn’t want to embarrass them. There were only about ten people at the panel discussion, in a room without more than 500 chairs. I’ve normally [...]

This past week I visited a friends ranch where he’d invited some guys to go fishing. It’s a sprawling, 65-thousand acre ranch in Central Oregon with several lakes stocked with trout and one lake stocked with Bass. There are elk, deer, and we even saw a couple black bear.

My friend is very successful, and attributes his success to the consistent reading of the book of Proverbs. He says the wisdom he’s gleaned from the book has helped him decide who [...]

Last week I got to appear on Fox News, just before Fathers Day. I had a great visit with the folks at The Strategy Room and I’m thankful for them being willing to talk openly about both God and the Fatherless Crisis. They put a clip online, but it’s just a short sample of the hour. We ended up having a great conversation. I’ll be out of commission today and most of tomorrow, so I won’t be able to moderate [...]

When we begin believing there are simple explanations for the happenings of the universe, we are in dangerous territory. Physics is not simple. The complex nature and enormity of the universe is not simple, the ecosystem is not simple and so forth. So when I hear a theologian or philosopher talk about how simple reality is, I know He’s not talking about anything God made. When you analyze God’s art, it is not simple, it is extremely complex. In fact, the [...]

This past week I stopped by the White House to hear about the initiatives the President will be rolling out during a White House celebration of Fathers Day on Monday and I left encouraged and excited. I remember when I first started talking about mentoring and fatherhood a few short years ago how little discussion there was about the issue of fatherlessness. It was a dark subject that brought up thoughts of weakness. Now, it seems, a positive spotlight [...]