Trying to FollowTrying to FollowI once read the words of a man who said, Follow me, and I've been on that journey ever since. Articles
Recommendations and NaNoWriMo
2007-10-30 04:35:00 I don’t have anything profound to say today (like most days I guess). I did want to mention a few things I’ve been reading lately. But, first if you weren’t aware of my ‘Required Readings‘ page, you should check that out. It’s not complete, but basically I’m trying to construct a list of books, movies ... More About: Blog , Recommendation , Dati
Devotional: Storing Up Treasures
2007-10-28 06:45:00 I wanted to lend a little more context to this passage that I have seen as we read through the sermon on the mount. The passage I’m talking about is: “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves ... More About: Devotional , Treasure , Treasures
Questions about Missions
2007-10-27 08:00:00 I figured rather then write, I wanted to ask some questions. I’ve had a discussion recently concerning short term missions and I wanted to hear some of my readers opinions. I’m curious what everyones take is on the issue of short term missions, global missions, western missionaries, etc. So, here are my questions:1. What do ... More About: Questions , Missions , Missi
What if We Shamed Businessmen who visited Brothels?
2007-10-26 17:00:00 Most of my what if? questions are concerning imagining the world differently, but not really thing we can take practical action on. There are already some organizations out there doing similar work, IJM, Not For Sale, and Perverted-Justice (from To Catch a Predator). I was reading the book Freakonomics and it talks a lot about how ... More About: What If , Brothels , Businessmen , Sham , Shame
Orangutan Loses Piccolo on International Basket-Weaving Tour
2007-10-25 16:55:00 First of all, where’s all my commenter’s at? I’ve noticed a steep decline in commenting since returning to blogging, and I’m hoping that just means your not commenting, but still reading. (FREE iTunes downloads for you if you comment on this post!*) This post only gets coole… No TagsShare This More About: International , Blog , Tour , Basket , Piccolo
Turning Our Ear to The Cries of the Poor (Foreclosure Victims)
2007-10-25 03:38:00 If you own a house, especially with a sub-prime mortgage, you’ve probably heard the recent news that Countrywide is going to refinance up to $16 billion of loans to help people avoid foreclosure. This is great news amidst the recent housing crisis because it means people will be able to stay in their homes and ... More About: Foreclosure , Poor , Victims , Victim
YouTubesday: I Could Have Saved One More?
2007-10-23 21:07:00 One of the most moving movie scenes ever, that has impacted my day to day life, is this scene from Schindler ’s List. The background (for the couple who haven’t scene it) is Schindler is a German businessman who has saves the lives of over a thousand Jews by employing them in his factories during the Holocaust. ...
Financial Lesson #2: What to do with Wants
2007-10-23 02:48:00 Last week we talked about discerning between ‘Needs’ & ‘Wants’ and then we discussed practically what constituted a ‘Need’. Today, I want to discuss how do we handle ‘Wants.’ Financial Lesson #2: What to do with Wants I hear the term ‘blessed’ thrown around a lot amongst Christians and in Churches as it relates to financial well-being. ... More About: Money , To Do
Devotional: Contentment
2007-10-21 17:16:00 ?If we have food and covering, with these we shall be content.? - 1 Timothy 6:8 One of the greatest struggles for a Christian in the consumerist American culture that we are a part of is to be content. You are daily bombarded on all sides by hundreds of advertisements telling you that you need this product ... More About: Devotional , Tent , Contentment
Check out the Asides
2007-10-20 23:55:00 Through out the week I post a lot more then the daily post you get in your feedreader or email. I post small posts called ‘asides‘ throughout the day. For now, you can only read the asides on the website, but they have a custom look so they are easy to recognize. I figured the ... More About: Asides , Check
What if there was no Television?
2007-10-20 02:46:00 My friend, Bryan, wrote this earlier this week: On one of our evening walks recently, we realized that we could see the glow from all of the televisions in all of the living rooms on our block. It was just past Dark, that time of the evening that casts a blue light over everything. There was ... More About: Television
That?s Not a Need? This is a Need.
2007-10-18 22:43:00 (bonus points to whoever can tell me what movie quote the title is a rip-off from) If you were tuned in yesterday, you learned that there is a big difference between NEEDS and WANTS. I even gave a couple examples yesterday, but I’ll be giving a lot more today. I think it’s extremely important to ... More About: Money
Financial Lesson #1: Discerning your Needs and Wants
2007-10-18 01:56:00 In light of the interest in my previous post about budgets, I figured it would be good to resurrect a serious I started a while back on financial lessons. These aren’t complex or fool proof, but they are some steps on how I think about money. I think these will be my Wednesday posts ... More About: Money , Financial , Lesson , Needs
YouTubesday: The Poor Will Always?
2007-10-17 04:28:00 I attended the CCDA conference in St. Louis this past week (thus the brief blog hiatus). It was an incredible conference and a very encouraging experience. I didn’t do much in the way of notes and things, so I don’t have a lot to post for you. However, I did find some old CCDA ... More About: Poor , Always
Money Makes the World Go Around: A Budget
2007-10-11 02:07:00 I’m going to keep this short and practical. I realize budgets will vary from city to city and based on circumstances, but I think we can have a fairly frank talk about the amount of money we are spending. I’m not saying we’ll settle on a ‘Jesus says you should live by this budget’, ... More About: World , Money , The World , Budget
Video: Thoughts on Money
2007-10-10 02:05:00 It’s YouTubesday again, which means will look at some videos. I’ve put five videos on the player below, all related to finances and the church. Here’s a quick rundown of what you have to watch below. Nooma - RICH 01:29 To most people in the world, what we have would be more than enough. Maybe ... More About: Video , Money , Thoughts
Financial Straight Talk: Most of Us Have Money
2007-10-08 12:50:00 The brief discussion last week about paying off a home mortgage quickly, has me realizing we need to talk a little bit about finances here. I’ve talked finances many times before and I think now would be a good time to start the discussion up again, both to articulate my views and to encourage ... More About: Money , Financial , Talk , Straight , TRAI
On the road again?
2007-10-06 00:25:00 Well, it looks like we’ll be on the road for the next nine days or so. Some exciting stuff, visiting friends and family, attending the CCDA conference and taking one last getaway before we start ‘real’ life up here in Minneapolis. I’m not going to try and post every day while I’m gone, though ... More About: Road , On The Road , The Road
The Great House Adventure
2007-10-05 03:59:00 Thanks for all the feedback on the last couple house posts everybody! I’m realizing there are quite a few more interested parties then I originally realized. I mentioned earlier that one of the reasons we are excited about doing this, and taking seriously paying off our debt, is that we want to have an ... More About: House , Adventure , Great , Advent , The G
Paying Off Our Mortgage in Five Years
2007-10-04 02:48:00 We plan on paying off our mortgage in no more then five years (possibly a little more if you include school loans). This is not something that is encouraged or supported in our debt-driven culture. Even with hundred’s of debt relief books and websites out there, I’ve rarely, if ever, heard encouragement to pay ... More About: Money , Mortgage , Years , Mort
Video: Housing Market Meltdown
2007-10-03 02:16:00 part 1 part 2 I think I might dub Tuesdays, ‘YouTubesdays,’ and post a video I’ve found interesting in the recent weeks. Today, I wanted to post some informational video about the current housing market. I couldn’t find anything more engaging and still informative then a basic interview, but I think you might find it interesting.I ... More About: Video , Market , Housing
Why I Have Not Bought a House
2007-10-02 01:25:00 Sometime in the next couple months my wife and I will likely purchase our first home. As a friend of a friend said concerning that and my values which I clearly convey on here about money and community, she said: “Isn’t that Hypocritical?” The honest truth is, it might be. For the next few days though, ... More About: House , Money , A House
We Created God in Our Own Image
2007-09-30 17:10:00 I was listening to Saturday’s with Mark and Tony and Tony Campolo mentioned the quote, which you’ve maybe heard before: “God created us in his image, and we decided to return the favor.” -George Bernard Shaw He was acknowledging that we tend to have churches divided by race, socio-economic status, political views, etc. because we each ... More About: Image
Follow These Links
2007-09-29 19:13:00 My short blogging break has left me with a lot more links, info and material then I have energy or space to blog about. So, I’ll leave you with some links that I encourage you to follow. I’ll probably start doing this once a week or so just to pass on some worthwhile material ... More About: Links
An Open Letter to The Wells Church in Minneapolis
2007-09-28 17:25:00 Dear Greg (or Gary, sorry I can’t remember) and others, I met you briefly at Peavey Park in South Minneapolis last Wednesday. I was hanging out with some punk-rocker anarchist folk, eating dinner with homeless and having an all-around good time. You came by and politely offered us flyers to an event for youth you ... More About: Church , Open , Letter , Open Letter
The Power of a Shared Vision
2007-09-28 03:14:00 I don’t usually delve too deeply into my personal life on this blog, though most of what I post is a reflection of personal experience and thoughts, but I wanted to take a minute to sort of reflect on where I (and my family) are at this moment. I have been married for 4 years, ... More About: Power , Vision
?Safe? Is an Interesting Word
2007-09-27 02:31:00 In our recent search for a neighborhood and place to make home, the term “Safe ” has been thrown around quite a bit by others. Those who say it are usually very genuine and well-intending: “Now that you have a baby, you’ll want to make sure you find a safe area of the city,” or ... More About: Interesting , Word , Minneapolis , Eres
The Shame Of The Nation By Jonathan Kozol
2007-09-26 03:51:00 Keeping on the topic of education for a little bit, I thought I’d share a video with Jonathan Kozol, an amazing author who has for years tried to make known the inequalities of the public education system known. This 9 minute interview with Mr. Kozol helps give some quick insight and understanding to what ... More About: Nation , Sham , Shame , The Nation
Can?t Read? Let?s Build You A Prison Cell!
2007-09-25 03:22:00 A long time ago I had heard the comment thrown out that they look at illiteracy rates for third grades and build prison cells based on those numbers. It was an interesting correlation, but learning about the school system, and the struggle it is for kids to catch up, it isn’t surprising that they ... More About: Cell , Read , Prison , Build
Back and Better Than? Well, Just Back
More articles from this author:2007-09-23 21:55:00 Alright folks, today officially marks the end to my blogging break here at Trying to Follow. I wish I had some grand insights to share with you about my experience, but I don’t really. Mainly, we’ve gone through some major transitions lately (baby, moving, job and home searching) and so I figured a break ... More About: Back , Well 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 |
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