Used Bookstore Score

I'm a bookstore rat. Especially when it comes to browsing the aisles of a used bookstore. I found a hardcover copy of The Wordy Shipmates by one of my favorite writers, Sarah Vowell, for $8.

I noticed it was in "new" condition when I picked it up, which was a plus. I opened the book in the car after buying it and noticed it was autographed. Very cool!

Solace in Hard Times

This week, The Ridge Community Church was featured in a story shown by WVLT news here in Knoxville, TN. The feature was about how your spirituality was effected by a tough economy.

My wife, Melissa, was interviewed in the story because she was laid off last year and our family has gone through lifestyle and budget changes because of that. I thought she and my pastor, Bobby Williams, did an excellent job in the interview by staying positve and sharing a message of hope through trusting in God when times are tough.

For the full story and video, check it out here: http://www.volunteertv.com/home/headlines/84490832.html

Get Mad Church Disease free on your iPhone/iPod touch

This is a special offer that will only work today (2/17) so hurry!

Here's how:

1. Download the free Amazon Kindle app for your iPhone or iPod touch here: http://www.amazon.com/gp/feature.html?ie=UTF8&docId=1000301301

(by the way, this is a great app. Access to all Kindle versions of books and lots of free classics)

2. Download the Kindle version of Mad Church Disease & have it sent to your iPhone/iPod touch for free using this link: http://www.amazon.com/Mad-Church-Disease-Overcoming-ebook/dp/B001NLL8HE/ref=tmm_kin_title_0?ie=UTF8&m=AG56TWVU5XWC2

(yeah, that's a 100% discount and you'll have access to the book with or without 3G or wifi)

Thanks Anne Jackson!

1st Haircut

Presenting Amelia's new do. Today, my daughter got her ears lowered for the first time. Actually I guess she got her eyes lowered since that's the only part that was cut. At least she can see where she's going now. I'm outnumbered by girls at home. So it pays to have a mother-in-law stylist.

(In other words, I don't have to pay for their haircuts.)

Excerpt from one of my favorite movies "The Man Who Wasn't There":

(Ed and Frank are barbers)

Ed: Frank.
Frank: Huh?
Ed: This hair.
Frank: Yeah.
Ed: You ever wonder about it?
Frank: Whuddya mean?
Ed: I don't know... How it keeps on coming. It just keeps growing.
Frank: Yeah-lucky for us, huh, pal?
Ed: No, I mean it's growing, it's part of us. And we cut it off. And we throw it away.
Frank: Come on, Eddie, you're gonna scare the kid.
Ed: ...I'm gonna take his hair and throw it out in the dirt.
Frank: What the...
Ed: I wanna mingle it with common house dirt.
Frank: What the hell are you talking about?
Ed: I don't know. Skip it.

Who Cares?

This year I'm going to spend a lot of time working on a project that I'm very passionate about. I'm creating a non-profit organization. It's vision/mission is still under wraps.

I have my project plans all laid out and I'm working on a way to spread the idea. The current stage involves creating a "who cares" list.

My "who cares" list is a compilation of names and contact information of people in my cloud of acquaintances that will benefit from this project. These are people who I have an good indication will be willing to jump on board when I raise the red curtain.

This list will help me focus in on my goal and strategy because actual people's personalities and interests are involved.

You just may be on this list. If you are, you'll be hearing from me shortly.

A Million Miles in a Thousand Years

I never read a book so quickly or gripped a cover so tightly. My white knuckles and Don Miller's words revealed a side of me that's been locked up by fear.

I'd love to dive into a deep review of what touched me most about this book, but I could go on and on for hours. Just pick up a copy and read it. Trust me.

Bottom line for me: God wants to help you write an amazing story for your life. Just ask him to help you. Listen to what he says and do it. Your life, with God's guidance, has the potential to become a much better story than you can write on your own. This is like an opportunity to ask Hemmingway to help you write a story about death and emasculation. God knows what your greatest possible life's story holds. He's already walked it.

Seriously. Pick up "A Million Miles".

Here's a pic of me playing a show at Patrick Sullivan's in Knoxville's Old City around 2003 or 4. Those were fun times. I love sitting with friends and talking about moments past. Though I feel like I'm in a stage of life where the past moments are getting stale. It's time to create new moments that I can sit and talk about in the future. It's time to jump on opportunities.

What's next?

I can't wait to tell you about it.