Et Cetera Archives - Page 5 of 15

Friday Findings: Ann Voskamp, Pentecost, and Porn.

Happy Friday Rejects. How are you? Well, I hope. As for me, I’m pretty darn sick, which also means I haven’t been my usual blogging self. Hopefully, by next week I’ll be feeling better and ready to take on the world (which just means write some actual blog posts). In the meantime…

Here’s what I managed to read and discover this week though between hot cups of tea and honey and much needed naps:

The Importance of Being Earnest and Ann Voskamp. I’ll admit that I’m not the world’s biggest Ann Voskamp fan. I love what she writes, I just don’t prefer how she writes it, but her prose is what so many people really love about her. All that aside, this post challenged me to rethink the way I perceive her and not just her, but any bloggers, writers, or individuals who are different from me, as a whole.

Love People, Not Projects. A short, but power-packed post from none other than Jamie the Very Worst Missionary (who, by the way, I want to be like when I grow up).

Oh, Hello Friend. I discovered this little gem of a blog last week and am addicted. It’s not a “Christian blog,” but it is a total chick blog filled with lovely things for you and your home, that happens to be written by a Christian. Cool.

Praying for Pentecost. I really enjoyed this post from the always brilliant and challenging Q Blog. Here’s a taste: “For our own pentecost, we need then to pray for the spirit of wisdom, the spirit of depth, the spirit of courage, and (given the over-sophistication of so much of today’s entertainment) the spirit of chastity.” So good and there’s much to chew on.

Quiet Anthem. This is the blog of Renee Ronika Klug, who I “know” through friends here in Phoenix. She is a wonderful writer (and I’m not just saying that). She is quite talented and has a remarkable way of weaving beautiful prose into stories of grace and hope. I think you’ll be happy to have found her. And how great is the name of her blog…Quiet Anthem?

Biblical Balance? This is a post that discusses what it means to be Biblically balanced…an interesting read, to say the least.

Porn as a Marital Aid? A simple and practical post from the genius of XXX Church on how to renew sexual excitement in your marriage….especially post porn.

So what made your must-read or must-share list this week? Please share some great stuff with me and the other rejects. I need some good reads while I’m laid up in bed with tissues and a humidifier!

Why Your Parents Are Better than You Think…

Today, I’m guest posting over at KC’s blog Some Wise Guy. If you’re unfamiliar with KC’s blog, let me tell you, there is much to enjoy. He writes about faith, parenthood, and culture (among other things) with a fresh, honest, and care-free voice. I’m excited to guest post on his blog today.

I’m sharing a post about parenting…sorta. You see, I’m often really good at judging other parents, assuming that the way I parent is better. In fact, I judged my own parents, that is until I became a parent myself and I realized that maybe they knew more than I had assumed.

Here’s a sneak peek:

“I realized too, after having kids that all of the things I thought my parents did wrong, weren’t necessarily wrong for them. They did the best they could do. They did what knew knew to do for themselves, and for me. Who was I to judge their decisions?

When my husband and I were first married we discussed some of the things our parents did wrong, or rather the things we would do differently for our children. But then, we also spent time talking about all of the things they did right and the ways we hoped to emulate them.”

To read more, including a list of the things my parents did right, head on over to KC’s blog. Please show some comment love too and tell me what your parents did really well. Hope to see you there.

The Impossible Task of Blogging

I’m sitting at my computer, staring at my screen, debating once more about exactly what it is that I should write. It is 11:20 p.m. I have a glass of wine in one hand and some candy corn in the other (don’t judge me).

I had scrapped one post idea, only to start…and then stop writing another. I had an entire whole long weekend to write something, anything, and yet…nothing. “Why do I do this to myself,” I ask? My husband, sitting next to me, just smiles.

You see, this whole business of blogging is somewhat impossible for me. On the outside, it appears that I am on top of things, but nothing could be further from the truth.

I frequently run into Modern Reject readers who say, “I don’t know how you do it! You’re amazing!” I nod and acknowledge that, while yes, I am quite amazing, I’m not as amazing as you might think. In fact, I’m pretty sub-par. Continue reading The Impossible Task of Blogging

Friday Findings: Evangelicals and Honey Bees, Dating is Dead, and Checklists

Happy Friday, although my Friday is more like “Meh Friday.” My family was struck with the stomach flu on Wednesday night. My husband and I awoke to 2:30 a.m. toddler barf. By the next day, all of us were feeling miserable. Ugh. But, today, I’m on the mend, just still not feeling %100.

I did, however, find some great reads this week that I can’t wait to share. Without further ado…My Friday Findings:

More on the Gay Debate. A piece from Relevant Magazine, that covers both sides of the argument. A fast, but thorough read.

The Disappearance of Bees…and Evangelicals. My husband directed me to this post from Jamal Jivangee’s blog. After reading his amazing post relating Christians to honey bees (it’s soooo good), I found myself reading another after another. Jamal is a member of an organic church, as am I and he has an entire section of his blog dedicated to organic church, if you’re interested.

A fresh voice on Christian dating. I discovered Cory Copeland’s blog, Mad to Love, a few weeks ago and subscribed right away. Cory writes about many issues within the church (right now he’s running a series on, what else, the gay debate) but what I love about him is his fresh, honest, and funny approach on dating and relationships. Check out this post, called “Is Dating Dead?” for example. Great stuff.

God Doesn’t Use Checklists. This is a great post on how we judge ourselves and others, but what we really need is grace. Kristin, the author, writes: “I’m trying to make sense of the tangled mess that’s created when my relationship with God gets all confused with my relationship with Christians.”

Stalk me, why dontcha? Did you hear that the Internet phenom, Pinterest, just raised $120 million and received a $1.5 billion valuation? Yes, $1.5 billion! Some people foresee Pinterest surpassing Facebook. I highly doubt that, but I understand the prediction because I am a self-professed Pin-aholic. I love pinning. There, is said it and if you find yourself on Pinterest too, why not stalk me? We can be pinning friends. Oh, and if you’d really like a sneak peek into my life, find me on Instagram too, as @modernreject!

Mend Mark Giveaway Winner. And lastly, the winner of the Mend Mark t-shirt giveaway is Wendy Ramirez. Congrats Wendy!

So, what did you discover this week? Read anything amazing, challenging, funny, or lame? Share away!

Friday Findings: California or Bust

Happy Friday and what a happy Friday it is, indeed. Why? Well, I’m currently in California with my husband and kiddos. We’ve been here for a few days and have a few more days to go.

So, to that end, I’m taking a mini-break from the blog until Monday. I’ll be back on Tuesday, however, with a brand spankin’ new post, sure to delight.

Here’s a glimpse into my California getaway: Continue reading Friday Findings: California or Bust

Fab Freebie GIVEAWAY: Mend Mark

A few weeks ago, on Friday Findings, I shared with you a cool Christian clothing company called Mend Mark, whose purpose is to create products “that serve as visual reminders of the life and death of Jesus, the greatest lover in history.”

Well, the rad guys at Mend Mark contacted me and offered to give me some free swag, sorta as a thank-you for sharing the love. But instead, I asked if they would be willing to up the ante and offer a giveaway to you, my awesome rejects. They said “Yes!” So today, is giveaway day.

Here’s the suh-weeeeeet prize graciously being offered by Mend Mark:

One lucky winner will win one of the newest Mend Mark T-shirts, the Follower shirt. Behold her awesomeness…. Continue reading Fab Freebie GIVEAWAY: Mend Mark

Friday Findings: Jesus with Blue Eyes, Feminists, and Your Heart

Friday, sweet Friday. I had a lot of fun blogging this week. I mean, it’s always fun, but it seemed like I had many more meaningful interactions with you all, whether in emails, on Facebook, or via Twitter.

It is always so encouraging to feel like I know some of you, without having met you in real life. It makes blogging so worth it.

I also happened upon some good reads and a few other interesting tidbits this week. Here’s my Friday Findings…

Don’t Invite Jesus into Your Heart. I listed this phrase on my Top 10 Christian Phrases I Never Want to Hear Again post, which was syndicated on Churchleaders.com, where a few readers ~~attacked~~ politely disagreed with me for adding that one. Well, lo and behold a pastor wrote about the same thing, only much more in depth, and I love it!

Feminists Make Bad Christian Wives. The lovely Nikki Weatherford, blogger, wife, and mom extraordinaire, wrote a great post called 10 Reasons Why I’d Make a Terrible Feminist. I’m not gonna lie…I wish I had written this.

Social Media and Evangelism? When you think of evangelizing, is social media one of the last things that comes to your mind? It is for me, but Peter Guirguis started the relevant, challenging, and practical site called Not Ashamed of the Gospel which exists to encourage believers to reach people with the Gospel via social media. I think it’s a brilliant idea.

Jesus Has Blue Eyes. One of the most beautiful, compelling, convicting, and inspiring things I’ve read in a long time. I don’t want to give anything away. Just go read it!

All Kinds of Awesome. The other night, I seriously lost 20 minutes of my life on Buzz Feed, perusing lists like this one and this one. I was laughing out loud, tears were streaming down my face, and it was pure awesomeness.

Measuring Yourself. And it wouldn’t be a true Friday Findings if I didn’t mention something from Frank Viola. His post The Peril of Measuring Yourself Against Others is a pitch perfect commentary on the dangers of comparison, stats, and rankings, and the need for true discipleship. If you are a blogger especially, read this.

I’m Getting Ads. Okay? First, a bit of MR housekeeping…If you ever signed up to receive posts directly to your inbox, only to find you never received a single one, I apologize. I suck. Well, technology sucks sometimes. Anyhoo, it’s fixed, along with some other buggy things that were bogging down this here blog. Also, I wanted to ask you all if you would be terribly offended or run away if I started running ads on Modern Reject?

Because, I think it’s time. I used to feel conflicted about the issue, like Christian bloggers shouldn’t make a penny for writing. They should just be all pious and poor and stuff. But after reading a post from Micheal Hyatt about monetizing your blog without selling your soul, I changed my mind and have decided that ads aren’t immoral. So, hopefully you won’t mind once those precious little money-makers pop up in the next week or so.

Alright Rejects, what have you got to share with the rest of us? Something funny, shocking, weird, touching, none of the above? Let’s hear it!

Friday Findings: Death of Conversation, Gen X-ers, and Criticism

Friday is upon us which means it is also Friday Findings–the day I share with you, all of the exciting, revelatory, mind-blowing (or so-so) stuff I found and/or read this week.

Let’s start it off…

The Art of Conversation is Dying. I’ve long worried about the phenomena of the death of real conversation, ever since my anti-Facebook anti-Twitter days. But then I became a blogger. The New York times raises the issue in The Flight from Conversation, asking whether we are trading genuine conversation for nothing more than connection.

Gen X-ers Unite. I guess I am a Gen X-er, although I’ve never thought of myself as one. I found this interesting article which asks whether the workplace is being reshaped, much in part thanks to Gen X-ers, who see the world differently than generations past.

Stunning Pictures…of Kids. You may have seen some of these photos floating around the Internet. I had, but I hadn’t seen the whole collection of photos by father Jason Lee, who decided to take some of the most original and visually striking (not to mention funny) pictures of his two daughters.

Praying Isn’t Exactly What We Think. My wonderful friend Josh E. Merritt has a blog called Daily Leaps. Josh is without a doubt one of the wisest and most beautiful writers I know…and he’s only 22. He wrote a post about being fully immersed in prayer and how what we tend to think is acceptable prayer, is not all that God is after. I was personally convicted by this piece and hope you enjoy it too.

Get Over Being Criticized. Rachel Held Evans wrote a great post on 10 Tips for Dealing with Online Criticism. Man, I appreciated this post. Rachel gives such wise, grace-filled, yet practical advice. Especially if you’re a blogger, read this one!

20 Something Christians…This is For You. Frank Viola has a one-question survey in his blog just for 20 something Christians. It is a powerful and interesting question. The comments alone are worth reading. If you’re in your 20’s check it out.

Kiss My Facebook Page. If you have a crush on Modern Reject, which I assume you do, ’cause why wouldn’t you…if you have yet to do so, how about planting a big old “Like” on my Facebook page right now? You know you want to and I’ll be ever so thankful.

Okay, where did you find yourself this week? Read anything convicting? Discover something you just have to share? Go on, blow my mind with your awesomeness.

Friday Findings: Tired of God, Quitting Blogging, and Choosing Sides

This week was a mixed bag for me–full of highs and a few lows. But God proved once again that He is faithful and stuff. You know, like we know He is, but tend to forget when things get ever so slightly uncomfortable. All that to say, I’m glad the week is almost over, but I’m looking forward to the next.

So here’s what I read and loved this week:

Tired of…God. Matthew Paul Turner wrote a post a few days ago that made me sigh deeply and nod my head in agreement. He’s tired of talking about God and not for the reasons you might suspect. I can empathize with him and have often felt the exact same way.

Blogging Sucks…Sometimes. This week was one of those weeks when I really question why I do this whole blogging thing. I joked on Facebook that I was leaving Modern Reject to start a DIY blog, which created quite a flurry of responses from you all. I was told I could never leave this blog. Ever. So thank you, but to serve as encouragement, Jason Boyett’s post over at ChurchLeaders.com about why Christian blogging ain’t so fun was just what I needed. If you have a blog, I think you will really relate to this post.

Christian Right or the Christian Left? Have you ever felt like you don’t fit in on either side of the Christian right or the Christian left? I have. I’m a bi-racial, homeschooling, tattooed, recycling, organic church leading, wife and mom of 3. Neither the left nor the right knows what to do with me. And let’s not even get started on my theology, which is just as varying and contradictory to both sides.

Well, Frank Viola wrote a post this week called 20 Reasons Why the Christian Right & the Christian Left Won’t Adopt Me. It is one of the best things I have read in a long time. I love this piece and I think Viola so succinctly captures what it is to belong to neither side, but rather to belong to the Family of God.

Porn, Raquel Welch, and the Power of Our Sexual Imagination. This was an interesting post in response to an interview the sex bombshell Raquel Welch recently gave, wherein she criticized porn for preventing people from forming their own ideas about sex and what’s erotic. Here’s a snippet: “Perhaps because women are considered less sexual, less visually stimulated, and less given to indulge our lusts, our sexual desires are not so heavily manipulated. However, we are not free to imagine what is beautiful about ourselves.”

Praying…or Not. Lastly, one of my favorite bloggers, Sammy Adebiyi wrote a great post called Why I Don’t Believe in Prayer. Sound intriguing? It is and it’s gooood. Turns out, according to him, I don’t believe in prayer either.

So there’s my faves from this week. A lot of good reads. What did you find this week that you’d like to share? Any good blog posts? Your own blog post? Another discovery? Let’s hear it…

Category: Et Cetera

Top 10 Posts of 2012…So Far