Archives For Links

startnow8nor.pngInterviews

Copyblogger interviews Jeff Goins regarding writing.  Such a good interview!

Mike Cope interviews Josh Ross regarding his new book Scarred Faith.  I look forward to reading this book.

20 – Somethings

Jeanna Goudreau has written interesting piece entitled “Why We Need to Take 20 – Somethings Seriously” in Forbes.

Preaching

See the outstanding guest post on preaching that Grady King has written for Dan Bouchelle’s blog.

Porn

Check out this video.  ”Why Porn is Addicting: The Science of Pornography Addiction.”

Infidelity

Kate Figes has written an interesting post regarding the impact of an affair on children.  See also her book Our Cheating Hearts.

 

Start1Very interesting

See Michael Gerson’s piece in the Washington Post, “An America that is Losing Faith with Religion.”

Perspective is everything!

See “The Fifteen Greatest Understatements of All Time.”

Great Reflections on Preaching

Dan Bouchelle has invited a number of ministers to reflect on their love for preaching on his blog.  See these posts by Pat Bills, Jonathan Storment, Jerrod Robinson, Josh Graves, and Josh Ross.

Conversion

You might find this helpful.  ”How to Convert PDF into Word Files.”

Wow!

Smartphone Users Check Facebook 14 Times a Day.” and “Texting in traffic: Adults worse than teens.”

 

start_button_gif (1)What kind of coach are you?

Start the week by reading this very good post. Michael Hyatt recently wrote an excellent post entitled: “A Tale of Two Coaches: What Kind Are You?”

The new religion

Insightful piece about culture and faith today: “Relationships are the new religion for many.” (Thanks to Scott Meyer for this.)

Loneliness

See these articles by Charles Stone: “Pastors Who Lack Close Friends: 4 reasons why” and “Pastors who Suffer from Relational Anorexia.”

Fathers

Take a look at this post regarding the book Fatherless Generation by John Sowers.  (I need to read this!)

Skill

I am in so many situations where I take notes.  You may find this recent article in The Atlantic online helpful.

Don’t miss these!

Don’t miss these two excellent posts on preaching.  Pat Bills has written a fine post in which he reflects on why he loves preaching.  Jonathan Storment has written this post: “What is Great About Preaching.”  Both are excellent.

 

Start1Helpful

I find John Stackhouse to be helpful when thinking about tough issues.  Stackhouse has taught at Regent College for a number of years.  You can find a list of his books here, as well as some audio/video resources.

Healthy Self-Examination

Peter Scazzero has written a good post: “You Know You Need a Sabbath When

Church Health

See Margaret Marcuson’sNine Indicators of a Healthy Congregation.”  Margaret writes from a Systems perspective.  Her blog is very helpful and consistently has very good posts.

Storytelling

Check out this very nice colorful info graphic “Pixar’s 20 + Rules On Storytelling for Teachers and Students.”  Also see “5 Awesome Info graphics on English Language.”

Writing

An interesting post for anyone interested in writing.  ”Why these famous authors write — and why you should.”

Rome and Latin America

Peggy Noonan has written a very fine article reflecting on the election of the new Pope.

What Went Viral

See “Apparently This Matters: Mississippi man’s obituary.”  You can find the obituary here. 

 

Start2Encouraging

I really liked this article from CNN.com, “United Airlines delays travel for man to see dying mother.”

Writing

Jonathan Mead has written a good and helpful  post on Jeff Goins’ blog, “Is This Writing Mistake Getting You Ignored by Everyone?

Prayer

Thom Rainer has really been transparent in this post.  See “When We Lie About Praying for Others: Seven Thoughts.”

Resource

Are you familiar with Religion-Online.org?  You might look at the articles available here.  A wide variety of perspectives.

Legalism

Scot McKnight reflects on “Legalism.”  I found this post to be very helpful.

 

start (1)Avoiding Self-Sabotage

Don’t miss this outstanding post by Dan Bouchelle.  ”Don’t Be Your Own Hangman.” Far too many ministers walk into behaviors that are little more than self-sabotage.

Mentoring

Is Spiritual Mentoring a Biblical Idea” by Lynn Anderson.  This is a good piece by a man who has taken the ministry of spiritual mentoring very seriously.  (I have long been blessed by his friendship!)

Job Search

10 Unconventional (But Very Effective) Tips for Job Seekers.”  This article in Forbes is an interesting and creative piece.

Coffee Search

The United States of Caffeine: 50 States, 50 Must-Try Coffee Shops”  This was written by the Zagat staff.  (Made me want to visit quite a few of these coffee shops.)

Ideas

Five Inspired Ideas Emerging from TED2013”  This article is also from Forbes.  The TED conferences are a significant window into the thinking of our culture.

 

start (1)Preaching to Unbelief

See this thoughtful post by Stan Granberg, “Preaching to Unbelief.”

Movies and Faith

This is an interesting piece from the Huffington Post by Brent Plate.  See “Religion at the Academy Awards.”

Productivity

Lately I have been listening to some of Ray Edwards’ podcasts.  See this article “My Productivity Tweaks for 2013″ where he reflects on his own productivity as the new year begins.

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Monday Start

January 28, 2013 — 2 Comments

start (1)Leadership Resources

One of the best and most comprehensive sites for finding good Christian leadership resources is Carlus Gupton‘s LifeandLeadership.com.  Check out this resource guide index to see how comprehensive this site really is.  (I recently heard two days of excellent presentations by Carlus at the Christian Education Conference.)

Churches and Polarization

Margaret Marcuson does outstanding work in the area of systems theory and leadership.  Be sure to read her post “Is Your Church Polarized?”  Very good!

Wrong Way

Great story.  The woman who went 900 miles out of her way as she followed her GPS.  (Thanks to Scott Meyer/Jordan Hubbard for this one.)

Worship

See Rory Noland‘s post “5 Reasons Why Intergenerational Worship Works Today.”  Very interesting!  Rory is the director of Heart of the Artist Ministries and was Music Director at Willow Creek Community Church for 20 years.

Humility

I found this interesting – especially his resources.  David Brooks’ syllabus for his “Humility” course at Yale.  (See also the Atlantic-wire article.)

Sports

What a great moment!  Lebron James tackles fan who wins $75,000 after making a half-court shot.

 

Monday Start

January 7, 2013 — Leave a comment

start 1Check out these top suggestions

Some of the best book suggestions that I come across are often in the end of the year lists. Jonathan Storment (Abilene, Texas) has published his Top Reads from 2012.  Good list.

You might be interested in this list of Top 10 Work Life Balance Books that Every Professional Should Read.

Also, don’t miss Frank Bellizzi’s My 12 Best Books of 2012.

 

A wonderful story

Don’t miss this very moving story about NFL All Pro Scott Wells who plays center for the St. Louis Rams.  Scott is the son of Wayne and Cindy Wells, who I have known for many years.  Wayne is a Church of Christ minister in Gainesboro, Tennessee.  The video is the moving story of Scott and his wife’s decision to adopt children from Uganda.

 

Top blog posts

John Mark Hicks, a theologian who teaches at Lipscomb University, has listed his top five blog posts of 2012.  John Mark’s writing is always very thoughtful and grounded in the Christian story.

 

New Year

Joe Lalonde wrote a nice piece on negativity.  I like to read these kinds of reflections at the first of each year.

Recently Michael Hyatt recommended a book entitled 20,000 Days and Counting by Robert D. Smith. I read it this weekend and now will skim through it again.  I find benefit in reading these kinds of books at the first of the year.  Helps me examine my thinking, life, work habits, etc.

 

From some of the classics

In the UK’s The Guardian see “Writers’ favourite classic book illustrations.”

The importance of practice

Harvey Schachter has written a good piece in The Globe and Mail entitled “Be like an NFL player and practice your job.”

Tim Keller 

A great interview with Tim Keller on the set of Morning Joe regarding his book Every Good Endeavor.

Classy

Victor Cruz of the New York Giants dedicates game to young boy killed in shooting.

Great to read before 2013

LaRae Quy, former FBI agent, has written a great piece:  ”Complacency — How to Avoid the Silent Killer.”

Ministry

Thom Rainer has written a blog post well worth reading, “Eight Negative Reasons Pastors Leave a Church.”