hipster christianity - brett mccracken

OTR – Brett McCracken

I subscribe to Relevant Magazine and last week I read an article that gave a fantastic Biblical answer to the question of how Christians should determine what movies are appropriate for us to watch. You can read a short version of that article here. The author is a guy named Brett McCracken and I was instantly intrigued by him. He works as the managing editor for Biola magazine, of Biola University in California. He also writes for Christianity Today, Relevant…

The Naked Gospel - Andrew Farley

OTR – Andrew Farley

Andrew Farley is the author of The Naked Gospel – by far the best book I’ve read so far this year. Andrew is a professor of Applied Linguistics at Texas Tech University and is also the lead teaching pastor of Ecclesia. As I said about him in my review of his book: he writes well, he supports his arguments with strong Biblical contextualization, and he has an ability to create helpful analogies that avoid being cliche yet allow you to…

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OTR – Stephen Mansfield

I recently read the book The Search for God and Guinness by Stephen Mansfield and was absolutely enthralled by it. Stephen is a New York Times bestselling author with a long list of books including: The Faith of George W Bush, Ten Tortured Words, The Faith of the American Soldier, Never Give In: the Extraordinary Character of Winston Churchill, and The Faith of Barack Obama to name a few. As a former pastor, Mansfield now spends his time analyzing trends…

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OTR – Stephen Christian

Stephen Christian is the lead singer of the band Anberlin. If you are not familiar with them, please stop reading and watch this. According to the always insightful Wikipedia: “After three studio albums and five years with Tooth & Nail Records, Anberlin announced their signing with major label Universal Republic Records in August 2007. The band’s first album on the major label was released in 2008, titled New Surrender. The album peaked at number 13 on the Billboard 200, with…

trade as one

OTR – Nathan George

Nathan George is the founder of an amazing organization named Trade as One. They focus on equipping people and alleviating world poverty through trade instead of aid. They work with a lot of churches to raise Christians awareness of how their spending affects people all around the world and they even connect people to specific entrepreneurs all around the world.  As it says on their website, Trade As One is “A way for us to tell stories of lives redeemed…

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OTR – Craig Gross

Craig Gross is the author of a handful of books such as The Gutter, Starving Jesus, and The Dirty Little Secret. Most recently, he just published Jesus Loves You This I Know. He started an incredibly innovative ministry called XXXchurch.com that helps people get free from porn and he is now undertaking a new project called the Strip Church. Craig is incredibly brilliant, and is a spiritual entrepreneur in the very best sense. He dreams big dreams about what God…

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OTR – Nate Larkin

Nate Larkin is the author of a book that I recently read, and loved, called Samson and the Pirate Monks. It is a call for men to enter authentic brotherhood together. Nate’s own story is fascinating (he realized he was a sex addict while he was a pastor) and he tells it with such honesty and passion. I would recommend this book to all guys out there that are reading this (and I’ve been told by a trustworthy source, who…

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OTR – Catherine Rohr

***UPDATE*** Click here to see updated posts about Catherine. Catherine Rohr gave up a six figure job on Wall Street to pour her life into convicts. There’s a story you don’t hear about everyday. She founded Prison Entrepreneurship Program (PEP) and now she is being the Church to a group of people that often get overlooked by society as a whole. If you’re with us June 20/21 at Central, we’ll be showing her interview at last year’s Willow Creek Leadership…

The Shack - William Paul Young

OTR – William Paul Young

Paul Young (he actually goes by his middle name) is the bestselling author of the book, The Shack. As of this writing, The Shack is still the #1 NY Times Bestseller, 36 weeks running, over 6 million in print. The book will soon be appearing in more than 30 languages around the world and in audio versions in many countries as well. The book tells a fictional story of a man who gets a letter from God inviting him to…

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OTR – Zach Lind

Zach Lind is the drummer for the band Jimmy Eat World. He keeps up a great blog called Finding Rhythm and is constantly striving for new and relevant ways to live out his faith. He has challenged me to think bigger on a number of different of issues and how they relate to our faith. Jeremy: Tell us something odd/unique about you. Zach: I bake my own bread. Jeremy: Do you think people are born leaders or develop into leaders?…

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OTR – Jamie Tworkowski

Jamie Tworkowski is the founder of To Write Love On Her Arms, a non-profit organization that helps people dealing with issues like depression, cutting, and suicide. It started as being the church for a girl named Renee and has morphed into a t-shirt company and so much more. Jamie has opened up a conversation that was often taboo to discuss; sadly even in churches. As a result, they are seeing more and more people address these issues and give hope…

Creeping Determinism

Posted 01 Sep 2010 in Life,Reading

“[Psycologist Baruch] Fischoff calls this phenomenon ‘creeping determinism’ — the sense that grows on us, in retrospect, that what has happened was actually inevitable — and the chief effect of creeping determinism, he points out, is that it turns unexpected events into expected events.” Malcolm Gladwell, What the Dog Saw The idea of creeping determinism explains the expression “hindsight is 20/20.” When we look back on events, it always seems so obvious that things would turn out the way they…

The Smell of Jesus

Posted 28 Aug 2010 in Bible,Jesus
Nautica Competition Cologne

“For we are to God the pleasing aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing. To the one we are an aroma that brings death; to the other, an aroma that brings life.” 2 Corinthians 2:15-16a Some of you may know that I had a very interesting job in high school. I sold cologne at the mall. Yes, I was that guy that sprayed cards and handed them to you as you walked by….

Divine Conspiracy – Ch. 2

Posted 23 Aug 2010 in Jesus,Reading
The Divine Conspiracy - Dallas Willard

Here are some of my favorite ideas from chapter 2 of Dallas Willard’s Divine Conspiracy. “But, to be quite frank, grace is cheap from the point of view of those who need it.” “Helmut Thielicke points out that we often wonder if the celebrities who advertise foods and beverages actually consume what they are selling. He goes on to say that this is the very question most pressing for those of us who speak for Christ. Surely something has gone…

The Red Letters Project

Posted 17 Aug 2010 in Music,Product Reviews
Red Letters Project

Recently I was given a copy of the Red Letters Project to review on my blog. I’ll admit, I was a bit perplexed by the idea of it. It is all of Jesus’ words in the book of Matthew put to music. They describe it this way: “an ambitious and eclectic 3-disc performance based on the ‘red letter’ words of Jesus from the Gospel of Matthew. Drawn word-for-word from the New Living Translation, it’s a real listening experience, featuring 40…

Are You Thirsty?

Posted 12 Aug 2010 in Jesus
Absence of Water 1 - Gigi Cifali

Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but those who drink the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” John 4:13-14 What incredibly profound words, especially when all around us are realizations of how thirsty we truly are. Here is an incredible picture that I came across from a collection called “Absence of Water” by Gigi Cifali….