The Sweetest Frame

Lots of good stuff this week. First just a few reminders... I still have a song to giveaway. Check out Captivated . Second, if you haven't seen the video clip of Touching Them All , you've got to check it out. It is the epitome of sportsmanship. Now on to the links... Godin has a good post about playing within the spirit of the game ... Kruse tells us that sometimes self interest is proper . What if Walmart ran the government? Piper shares some tremendous advice from Adoniram Judson... Is August really the new September ? Second best quote of the week: There's an old saying about those who forget history. I don't remember it, but it's good." - Stephen Colbert Best quote of the week: (from Crystal's son) "Hey, one nice sunny day in a row." Ed Stetzer interview Mark Dever . An interesting combination. Russell more tries to move us beyond a Veggie Tales Gospel . (HT: Challies)

Sometimes I wonder why I read so many blogs. Not a lot of interesting reads this week, but here's a few things that caught my eye... If you haven't already seen this, you need to check out Annie Leonard's Story of Stuff. It is rather lengthy, but so worth the time. My brother has been trying to convince me that less is more, and this clip is convincing in many areas. Also check out the 10 Things You Can Do . Also on the environmental theme, have you heard about the fair trade coffee ? Well Tony Payne has an interesting argument for NOT buying it. HT: Challies. Quote of the week... "To get something done, a committee should consist of no more than three men, two of whom are absent." -- Robert Copeland Kruse shares an interesting map from Gas Buddy.

Some pretty good stuff this week... Jeff has a great thought about a broken clock . Marko's usually good at finding something to make you laugh . Papa John's is using the power of the web. Collide shared a link to 50 of the top church website designs . (We weren't listed, but after seeing these sites I can see why. There are some excellent designers out there.) I do have a pretty good idea for a new blog design. I only hope I can implement it before Christmas. I'm really liking what I hear from Tim Keller . Tony Jones is a nut sometimes, but he tells great stories... Piper again with some great words of wisdom - this time about not wasting the pulpit. Quote for the week: "When you go into court you are putting your fate into the hands of twelve people who weren't smart enough to get out of jury duty."--Norm Crosby Check out this graphic on all of inflation's little parts... (HT: Kruse)

This week was crazy, but I think I still found a few worthwhile links. I didn't mean for so many of them to be for pastors, but sometimes that stuff just happens. There's still a few for those of you that won't be standing in the pulpit anytime soon. Probably the best post of the week - The Hardest Working Pastor in the World. JT shares Thorn's " Questions to Ask before you Preach ." (If you're not a preacher, you may want to pass these along to your pastor.) Ben Witherington has an excellent post about " the opposite of predestination ." Morgan has another good post about how we communicate . Beautiful Quote... "It was beautiful and simple, as truly great swindles are." --O. Henry Jeff Myers is preaching through books this summer. He's picked some that will really stretch your thinking. I can't wait to hear how it goes. Here's everything you need to know about the Democratic race for president in seven minutes . I wish we...

Lot's of good posts around the blogosphere this week. I still have a Jeremy Riddle song to giveaway if anyone wants it. On to the links... Tony Jones has started his webisodes about "The New Christians." Interesting, I hope to read the book sometime this summer. We pay pastors and worship leaders, should we pay musicians too ? Dan Kimball is turning back to Hell-fire and Brimstone, well sort of ... Piper has the best quote of the week . Stuff that Christians like has a hilarious post about breaking up after a retreat . We're going on a mission trip this summer, I hope we can avoid this. Fitch is challenging my thinking as usual. What do you think about having church "in the round?" The Church Geek has found 72 ways to simplify your life . I'm afraid reading blogs is not on the list. Church Matters has 7 Big Questions about how we are approaching the gospel. This is something we all need to answer. Kruse is still talking about the ice age that...

I'm sorry I didn't make it to the Coffee in Heaven post yet this week. Maybe over the weekend. I read a lot of posts this week, but there were just a few things that caught my eye... This was hilarious... Easy-Listening Songs From the '70s, Rewritten by the Artists After They Had Kids. HT: Marko. Watch out for that quiet car ! An excellent look at how we change the gospel . HT: JT Tony Morgan gives some highlights of the book Simple Church . Jake is always thinking (and changing his WP theme) This time his lesson is from Wendy's Hamburgers . Good post! eHarmony turning into eHedonism? Check out This Boundless Line post . Are you emergent ? I think someone should do a quiz on this, but I'm afraid emergent people are against quizzes. :) JT points us to the latest Criswell Theological Review . This time it's about Christians and Alcohol. The article by Richard Land and then the one by Norman Geisler were both well done.

Not too many good links this week, but I have a few items of interest. Just a reminder there is still a free Robbie Seay song out there if anyone wants it! On to the links... Jeff Myers shared a story about a creative way to interact and encourage your community. I hope that we can find some creative ways to share Christ in our community. Some people have life verses. I think this may be my life quote... "The advantage of a bad memory is that one enjoys several times the same good things for the first time." -- Nietzsche CNN has a story about a baby with two faces. They are building a temple in this town because of the baby and they are worshipping the baby. LifeChurch has the OnePrayer website up. We are praying about joining this specific endeavor. The Shift conference looks incredibly interesting to me. You can follow the discussion on Out of Ur. You can find a pretty good discussion of some specific "shifts" here . Kruse has an excellent quote about politicia...

It's been a while since I posted links of the week, but here's another shot. If you didn't get to hear Andy Gullahorn yet, you really need to check out Reinventing the Wheel . You won't be disappointed. On to the links... Ever looked at that couple coming down the aisle and wondered if their marriage will make it? Great article from Time Magazine. HT: Kruse. I enjoy reading Tony Morgan, but posts like these make me wonder, "What's the difference between the Church and a business?" Good quote from the Sarcastic Lutheran. (HT: Jake ) “As a Lutheran, I fully reject the gospel of prosperity, primarily on the grounds that I’m pretty sure it makes Jesus throw up in his mouth a little bit every time he thinks of it.” Out of Ur does it again with another solid story . Here's the lead-in... "there are many local congregations nationwide that are not clinging to a sinking institution, are not confronted with a thoroughly postmodern youth culture, an...

Way more links than normal this week. But look at it this way - there is a lot to choose from! Still one free song giveaway left... Homeschooling is now illegal in California? (HT: Mohler) I'm sure this will get a lot of attention in the next week. Denny Burk has been updating links on the homeschooling story. Too much information? Google "Street View" was showing off one of our military bases . How old do you think the earth is ? My son asked me this question earlier in the week. I'm very close to adding a "Tech Thursday" to the blog. Dean Peters has an excellent website entitled " Heal Your Church ." A website won't remake your church, but it can have a lot of benefits . Einstein for President? "The hardest thing in the world to understand is the income tax." -- Albert Einstein. Do you stand in The Middle ? A thought provoking post by Dan Kimball. A great post about always training volunteers from Greg. This applies to so much m...

There's still a free song to be had from Music Tuesday . I'd also love for someone to leave some comments about Sabbath Rest . Seems like I read a lot this week, but not too much of note. Here are a few things that I liked... Scott gives a good post about thinking differently. How does Kruse continually find the good stuff? Here's an insightful article on "The Fourth Turning." This is worth the read. The Old White Guy is crying for Brittney . But don't tell him I told you. :) McKnight has an interesting take on a Robust Gospel . Quote of the Week "Neurotics build castles in the air, psychotics live in them. My mother cleans them." - Rita Rudner

Got this Dave Barry article via Tony Jones and it has to be the funniest thing I've read in months. I was crying, I was laughing so hard. Still lovin' the Old White Guy Blog - here's another health related post . Swerve has a great article about pastors and friendships. What is required to be a Christian counterculture? Check out Doug Groothuis' top ten . Good stuff. Kruse has the stats on Global Cooling . Yes, I said Global Cooling! Karsten Piper has a poem with a "killer" ending. A couple of good articles on the frustrations of youth ministry. ChurchGeek & Joe Troyer via Marko Tony Morgan shares his 10 Stupidest Leadership Mistakes . Forbes put out an interesting post on America's most sinful cities , highlighting the Seven Deadly Sins. I found this via Tall Skinny Kiwi. We did a Series on the 7 Deadlies back in the fall of 2007. Quote for the week: "Everyone is born with genius, but most people only keep it a few minutes." -- Edgard ...

Busy week this week, so just a few links for this weekend... Mr. Kruse has shared some more data to feed the global warming discussion. What are the least favorite things you've heard in the church house? Randall House is breaking out a new logo for a new program... Greg Gilbert is ready to remove music from church . (not really) Lee McDerment from NewSpring has got some new music on the way.

This was a better week for links. Enjoy! One of the better voter guides that I have seen so far. http://glassbooth.org/ I've been following Surprised By Hope on Jesuscreed. I think I'm going to have to buy the book. This Guy continues to crack me up. Mark Dever gives a great quote about unity and diversity in this age of the church. Here's a good D.L. Moody quote. Craig Groeschel asks "If I moved to your town, would your vision inspire me to join your mission? Or would I look elsewhere for a big vision?" Marko finds a cool Google Image app . My school-teaching wife loved this quote !

Sometimes it's not easy to get permission. Steve Brown from "The Old White Guy Blog" is hilarious... Favorite quote this week ... "A positive attitude may not solve all your problems, but it will annoy enough people to make it worth the effort. " -- Herm Albright (1876 - 1944) A good reminder about being real from Tony Morgan If you like indie music, you better make sure you have about a half a day to kill before clicking on this link. Some of the most interesting music I've seen in a long time. This puts a whole new spin on the idea of music videos. LaBlogotheque has an English site as well. Interesting pro's and con's of satellites vs. church plants. An oldie but a goodie . Scot Mcknight looks at Biblical Interpretation. Is it a timeless truth, a truth that has lost its time, or one that most Christians can't agree on? Does your church practice the holy kiss? I know that some still do . Our church does practice feetwashing. There is stil...

I sometimes find interesting posts, but don't necessarily want to comment on them. So for this week, here are some of the articles that caught my eye... Jon Cannon is doing a series on Fasting. I'm really enjoying McKnight's Series on the Kingdom . Quote of the Week. This is a really good one. There are less abortions , but look at the number that are still being performed. Anybody rent a video from iTunes yet? I'm thinking about renting Glory Road. Illini finally get a win! Ron Hunter shares a testimony to the power of music. (Well at least the power of a good jingle.)