So, I mentioned the other day that my precious Mac didn’t like me anymore. In fact, she quit…as in quit working. Turns out, my harddrive went kaput. And can I just say that it is quite difficult to be a blogger without a computer.
I’m actually typing this on my husband’s computer, which I have been sneakily stealing from him each evening in a desperate attempt to keep up. Sad to say, it isn’t exactly working.
I feel so disconnected (pun intended), but have realized just how much time I spend on-line. Which, has led me to enjoy my time away from the screen, connecting more with my kids, friends, and of course, the Lord.
Hopefully, my little baby will be back in my hands in a few short days–fixed and ready to go. Until then, thank you for being patient with me while I am computer-less. Some days I might be around and others, maybe not so much, but know this…[insert Schwarzenegger] I’ll be back.
Friday, sweet Friday…where have you been all my life?
Time to share my picks of the week. Behold the awesomeness…
Strangers, Sweaty Palms, and Selfish Sinners [The story of holding that strange man’s hand] | from Carlos Whitaker. Come on, I know you’re curious.
I’ve been reading a lot lately about what it takes to become an author (don’t get any ideas…I’m just reading up) and no wonder while most people believe they have a book in them, never do anything about it. The ever-impressive Michael Hyatt tells first-time authors how to get it right.
Donate to Sandy. I’ll admit, I rarely feel compelled to “donate” to various charity organizations. Maybe I’m a cynic or lazy or cheap (all of the above is certainly a possibility too). But, something about the Superstorm Sandy had me deep in prayer and crying out for my fellow citizens. As a result, I’m giving to The Salvation Army because they rock. Would you consider giving too? If not to them, then somewhere else…
My Pick of the Week: I like really good Christian music. Sadly, it is hard to find really good Christian music. Then CXVI appeared as an ad on my blog. Naturally, I clicked through and lo and behold, they are amazing. CXVI is a project dedicated to bringing back hymns because as they explain, hymns are “some of the richest, most meaningful, and moving pieces of music ever written.” Please support these musicians. You can download 9 free songs by clicking on the ad on my homepage or buy a whole lot more for only $6.99 (P.S. while yes, they’re advertising on MR, they did not pay or perk me to say this. I genuinely like their music and wanted to share).
So, got anything to share with me? I know you do. Let’s have it. Also, out of curiosity, are you following the Presidential election? Any predictions? Only 4 more days!
Happy Friday! I’ve had a great week, especially since I celebrated my 7 year wedding anniversary to the man of my dreams. If you’d ever like to spy on us (in a very socially acceptable way) follow me on Instagram @modernreject.
Anyhoo, besides being a fun week celebrating there were also some great reads on the Interwebz. Hope you enjoy and happy weekend. See you Monday!
The Age of Mockery from Daylight Atheism talks about Libya, Islam, and the Muslim definition of “freedom of speech.” Interesting perspective.
Sometimes Truth Arrives in Disguise from Kristin over at Halfway to Normal. A beautiful description of the seemingly mundane, ordinary moments that when we pause long enough to notice hold real beauty.
With the election days away, I had to share this post from Jen Hatmaker. In one fell swoop, Jen systematically attacks the Christian reasons often given for voting Republican or Democrat. I don’t agree with everything she wrote, but I do find it rather brilliant and worth reading. Chew on this, for instance:
“Full allegiance silences our prophetic voice in favor of touting party lines and demands we turn our fellow citizens into enemies for differing viewpoints.”
What’s your condition? How do you cope? Who did you become? A fascinating “psycho-dimensional infographic” that explains how psychotherapy sees you. Healthy? Schizoid? Narcissist? Find out.
From Nish, The Truth About Going Back to Church. After reading this post, I was overcome with sadness–sadness for what she has experienced and sadness for knowing what could be, but what it seems is not.
My Favorite Read of the Week: From my friend Karen, A Different Kind of Birth (and Proof of God) in which Karen masterfully and beautifully ties the story of her mother’s (very) recent death with the existence of God and new life. You will be so glad you read this.
P.S. In case you missed my interview from yesterday over at Jamal’s blog, please come visit. The questions were challenging, personal, and so fun to answer. Stop over and add your own questions in the comments. Hope to see you there.
A few months ago, I discovered the blog of Jamal Jivanjee,Illuminate. Since that time, I have made Jamal one of my daily reads and I am convinced that he is a teacher among teachers, able to illuminate (see what I did there?) the Word of God and, in doing so, bring about a new and fresh understanding of Jesus Christ.
In other words, this guy rocks and I am honored to be featured on his blog today. He asked if I’d be interested in doing an interview, to which I enthusiastically answered, “Yes!” I’ve done a few interviews before, but Jamal’s questions were brilliant. I joked that I actually learned some new things about myself.
So, if you’re interested in hearing me talk about how I found my way back to the Lord after wandering, what (else) my husband does well, how I ended up in an organic church, and my dream for the church as a whole, please come over and hang out. I’d love to see you there. Feel free to ask me any other questions you might have brewing on Jamal’s post.
This man actually witnessed Abraham Lincoln’s assassination. You read that right. It’s a video from 1956 and it’s pretty remarkable.
Is it possible to get too close to God? Sarah did and I loved reading about it.
My Favorite Read of the Week: If you’ve ever felt like God owed you, if you’ve ever felt disappointed, if you’ve ever felt hopeless, left waiting, uncertain–read this.
P.S. I’m over at Matt Appling’s blog, The Church of No People, today talking about being a feminist and then former feminist wife. Here’s a taste:
What’s more, I could have never predicted that I would be willingly joining a group of people who are often quoted as saying all kinds of absurd things like “Wives have a responsibility to always look hot for their husbands,” or “Women are required to give their husbands sex whenever they want it.”
No. This couldn’t possibly be. No one who loves Jesus could actually make such claims with a straight face. It wasn’t possible. And yet…these ideas are prevalent within the church.
Slowly, however, as God does what it is that He does so well–pull us from where we’ve been and where comfort resides only to drop us smack in the middle of the opposite.
While the timing might seem a little suspect following Monday’s post about naysayers, it really isn’t, but I’m taking a brief little vacation from blogging.
I am desperatly needing to finish up something that I simply cannot finish while keeping up with Modern Reject. All that to say, I’ll be stepping away from the Internet until next Tuesday.
In the meantime, I have a couple of guest posts coming to keep you feeling full and satisfied (including a post from one of my favorite bloggers–Sammy Adebiyi, which will be up tomorrow).
Thank you all again for your kind words of encouragement and general awesomeness on Monday’s post comments. I think I have the greatest readers a girl could ask for. See you next week. Until then…
Okay, so seriously guys…I’m exhausted. Catalyst is no joke. All day. A lot of speakers. A lot of worship. A lot of people. And for an introvert posing as an extrovert like me, I’m not gonna lie, it’s a bit overwhelming.
But, I’m having so much fun and more than that, I have Jesus (more) on my mind. I have been both impressed and relieved to hear every person who has stepped onto the main stage exalt and glorify Jesus’ name above all else.
Since today is Friday Findings, it follows that my list today is inspired by Catalyst. I hope you enjoy these links and discover some new voices in the Kingdom to follow and share.
Paul Angone. I’ve mentioned Paul before, but after having met him and spent time with him here at Catalyst, I have to (re)recommend his blog, All Groan Up. Paul is funny, humble, and passionate about helping 20 somethings navigate what he calls “emergent adulthood.” If this applies to you, please check him out. You’ll be glad you did.
The Giving Keys. I love simple and powerful ideas packaged well and The Giving Keys is just that. This non-profit hires the homeless to hand-stamp keys from all around the world with one word, meant to inspire. You pick your key and your word, wear your key as a necklace, and then find a person who needs that word, in which case you then give them your key. Cool, right? Oh, and then you go to their site and share the story. Genius. I even bought one myself (can you guess which word I chose?).
Christine Caine. Okay, now I know this lady probably isn’t new to many of you, but she’s fairly new to me. I had also never heard her speak before yesterday and she rocked me. I would dare call Christine Caine a modern-day prophetess who walks in authority and the Spirit. I am now going to read everything she has ever written, devour her blog, retweet her constantly, and basically become an uber-creepy stalker. Wanna join me?
Johnnyswim. I always complain that the Christian music scene is just.so.lame. Yawwwwnnnn. Snooze. You get the idea…But, after hearing Johnnyswim perform at Catalyst, I’m starting to think that maybe I just don’t know how to find quality Christian music. This singer/songwriter duo is the real deal. Lyrically and vocally beautiful filled with the depth and love of Christ. I’m hooked. You can download their new EP for only $2.99 right now. Score.
Bloggers Galore. The highlight of the conference has definitly been the BloggerMeetup, where bloggers get to hang out together and commiserate about the sometimes discouraging but always inspiring job of, you guessed it, blogging. I got to see many of my blogging friends, including Sammy Adebiyi, Matt Appling,Sonny Lemons, Allison and Darrell Vesterfelt (the husband and wife duo behind Prodigal Magazine), JR Forateros and my oldest blogging peep, Moe Vivas.
But, I was also introduced to quite a few new bloggers who I encourage you to check out, including Jennifer Upton, who blogs about the healing process her marriage is currently enduring after adultery. Also, Stephanie May of The Lipstick Gospel, Kelly Marzka of View Along the Way, and Charlie of Charlie Says, who happens to write some pretty provocative stuff (like someone else I know. wink, wink).
Drop by their blogs and say hello to them. Tell ’em Nicole sent you (I’ve always wanted to say that).
So there you have it–my Catalyst collection. Now, it’s your turn. What have you got to share with me? Any recommendations for some good Christian music, too? Lay it on me.
So, today I am in Atlanta with my wonderful husband taking a much needed vaction. You know, a nice romantic, quiet Christian conference with tens of thousands of other people. Sounds dreamy, right?
Well, maybe not, but we are enjoying our time so far here at the Catalyst Conference. I am in blogger heaven, getting to hug and schmooze with some of my favorite blogging friends. It’s all too much. I’m geeked out and overwhelmed.
All that to say, I’ll be back tomorrow with Friday Findings, but for now I’m off to go partake of the festivities here. P.S. Follow me on Instagram @modernreject to see my photos of all the craziness.
Just for fun, who are your 3 favorite bloggers these days? (And don’t say Modern Reject because I’ll blush and be embarrassed, unless of course it’s true, in which case, please do).
Holy wow, what a week. So far, this week is shaping up to be the biggest week on Modern Reject ever, in terms of traffic. There are a few lovely surprises that contributed to this fact.
For starters, I was honored to be included on Church Relevance’s Top 200 Church Blogs list for the second year in a row. I even moved up 7 spots. Yeah baby! I owe you, my readers, a huge virtual hug and kiss. Thank you for being a part of this community and for being a constant encouragement.
Then, the amazing servant of Christ who I am admittedly a little bit of a fan-geek about, Frank Viola, included me on his Top 10 favorite Christian Female Bloggers list. I tweeted in response that I can now retire…and it’s true. It’s all downhill from here.
But, beyond both of those honors, this weeks posts on Modern Reject created some of my favorite discussions in quite a while. If you missed Monday and Tuesday’s posts on prophecy, please consider reading them. If you’ve ever had questions about prophecy these posts are for you…and don’t skip reading the comments too.
Finally, I wrote a guest post over at the ever-talented and culturally astute Jr. Forasteros’ blog yesterday. I think it might be one of my favorite posts of all-time and it’s about sex. Please, go show some comment love if you haven’t already.
Is it just me or has there been a ton of great stuff to read these days? Maybe it’s the fact that Fall has set in and people are feeling inspired. Or maybe it’s that I’m just getting better at finding things I’m really interested in reading.
Either way, there is lots to share on today’s Friday Findings…
Jesus was Married. Didn’t Cha’ Know? Hopefully you’ve seen this headline already. It’s been everywhere. This post from Mark Roberts at Patheos is a great academic and well-reasoned summary of the “married Jesus” question. Also this post from the Huffington Post answers the 5 big questions about Jesus potentially being married.
Water Baptism. You Thought You Knew.This post from Frank Viola blew my mind. I feel like I link to Frank almost every Friday, but that’s because he brings such a balance and understanding of the Word and the Spirit. If you think you know what scripture has to say about water baptism, read this. You may know less than you think.
Read Between the Lines. In true Jamie the Very Worst Missionary fashion, she manages to make me laugh, cry, sigh, and feel encouraged all in one fell swoop. She is amazing. This post is so good.
Can Men and Women Be Friends? I love talking about this age old question. I’ve even written about it before, but I did so from the perspective of a married person. However, Emily Maynard over at Prodigal Magazine did a wonderful job of answering this question from the viewpoint of a single person. I found it to be so honest and relatable…even for a married chick like me.
Be a Coding Geek.This post is a fun and well done infographic on why you should learn to code…at least a little bit. I’ve had to learn a smidge, what with having a blog and all. The arguments for why are pretty interesting.
Interracial Relationships and Self-Hate. I have to admit that it was the rather provocative title of this piece over at BlogHer that caught my attention–Do Interracial Relationships and Self-Hate Go Hand-inHand? All in all it was an interesting read. It certainly got me thinking and that is never a bad thing.
90’s Throwback. If you’re a product of the 90’s (and even if you aren’t) you will enjoy this hilarious homage video to that great decade, via Mashable. Enjoy!
So, do share. What did you read, watch, or write yourself that simply needs to be shared? Lay it on me!
