Books: Two new books to comment on. I finished reading the first and am currently reading the second.

Communicating for a Change by Andy Stanley and Lane Jones- I'm not sure Andy Stanley can write a bad book and I'm fairly certain it's because he has surrounded himself by a team of people that are exceptional and they contribute mightly to his success. This book is a great book and I'll even call it a must read for communicators in the church. Lately I have been pondering and kind of exploring the idea of communicating from the pulpit. Mostly I have been aware of the drastic difference in the types of speaking I've been doing lately. In the past few months I have spoken at a 400 person youth retreat, I've spoken in churches to fundraise, I've spoken in churches in the traditional preaching mode, I've lead group devotionals and I've done little 10 minute blips at a informal beach retreat.

I want to be an excellent communitor. I want to be one of the best and I've decide that I'm willing to make this a goal and work on it.

Because of this I've been listening to communicators that I've found effective and I determine their effectiveness by how much I'm impacted by their messages. I also listen to young and upcoming communicators to hear them to be impacted but also to tune my ear to what might be annoying or ineffective that they do that I probably do. But basically I could flounder in the dark on this quest for the next 15 years...

and I still might. But this book, Communicating for a Change, is a great tool to help me on my way. Andy Stanley is one of my favorites and I highly value what he says, in spoken and written word. If you are a communicator buy this book, if you desire to be a communicator one day or get a shot every now and again at this pulpit then buy this book.

Plan B- Further thoughts on Faith by Anne Lamott- let me say I really liked her previous book Travelling Mercies. It came at a good time in my life. So perhaps this books timing just isn't right or perhaps its her incessant whining about George W. Bush. I'm on chapter 7 and she has mentioned once per chapter that the president has ruined her life, thrown her into a depression, or caused her to not want to live anymore. Suck it up cream puff. I mean seriously I'm not a real big fan of our boy George right now but when politics can have so much control over your life I think you need to reevaluate life. Step back and take a long hard look. But then again it's fun to be popular and it's fun to say cynical and popular things. But Anne is bigger than that, or so I thought.

Which leads me to my weekly left/right conversation...

I've heard it say if you're not a liberal in your 20's you have no heart, and if you're not a conservative by the time you're 50 you have no brain.

Theology: Theo- of or relating to God or deities. Logy- dull and heavy in motion or thought; sluggish. (I know it really means "study of" but this definition is real and seems a bit more appropriate right now in my life). This whole emergent thing I'm largely able to ignore. Rarely is it showing it's head and while I think we see characterisitics of it in life especially in the under 30 crowd it is still largely...not relevant. Here's why I say this. I'm not an opponent of Emergent and for a while I took a long hard look at it and I ran with the pack of emergent theology, I read some books, I tasted the bait. Now I've back off a little, not as an opponent but not as a buyer either.

As I understand it people want to follow someone who stands for something. They want a leader that is...a leader. They want someone to tell them everything is going to be ok and if it's not going to be ok then that's ok, life will go on. People want answers more than questions. They want to know how to be holy and what to do to hear from God. Taken to an extreme this is dangerous but handled correctly and biblically I don't think this is wrong at all. Afterall Jesus did tell his disciples everything would be ok, but not in the ok they originally thought. Jesus ok not disciple ok.

God is mysterious and following him sure does seem like a paradox a bit more often that I'm comfortable with but we aren't left out here without answers. We aren't on a mystical journey through the fog, we are on a tough journey through the valley. Our destination is clear and our objective is clear.

This is all a semi-reaction to some stuff I've been reading and hearing so to most observers I'm just ranting an answer that noone is asking...I'll do more to clarify later.