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…

guiness

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…

Anberlin-friendship-personal-blue

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…

19851_logo

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…

samson

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…

catherinerohr

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…

jimmy-eat-world-1

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?…

twloha

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…

Grocery Store Items for Men

Posted 10 Aug 2010 in Humor
Tub of butter - Country Crock

Michelle sent me to the store recently with a list of things to pick up. I took Gavin with me and we began crossing things off the list like we were on a scavenger hunt for survival. We were doing well until we tried to find a tub of butter. That’s what my list said, “tub of butter.” So I went to the appropriate section, and began to look for it. Here’s what I found: cream spread, margarine, and I…

Read More / 2 Comment

Leadership Summit Day 2

Posted 07 Aug 2010 in Leadership

Here are the things that stood out to me about day 2 of the Summit. Again, not exact quotes but my best attempt at capturing some of the profound things they said. Click here to see my thoughts from day 1. Jeff Manion “The wilderness is fertile ground for God’s provision.” Terry Kelly “One of the important roles of a leader is to figure out how you should divide in order to multiply.” Blake Mycoskie “Giving not only feels good,…

Read More / 0 Comments

Leadership Summit Day 1

Posted 05 Aug 2010 in Leadership

Central is again hosting Willow Creek’s Global Leadership Summit, and here are some of my takeaways from the first day. (Note that most of these aren’t exact quotes, but are my best attempt at capturing what they are saying as they say it). Bill Hybels “The first play is not to describe how good ‘there’ is, but to describe how bad ‘here’ is.” “4 C’s of staff selection: character, competency, chemistry, and culture.” Jim Collins “If you don’t have the…

Read More / 0 Comments

The Divine Conspiracy – Ch.1

Posted 02 Aug 2010 in Jesus,Reading,Spirituality
The Divine Conspiracy - Dallas Willard

My friend Justin and I are reading through Dallas Willard’s book, The Divine Conspiracy. Published in 1998, this book has become a modern classic of the Christian faith. It is a pretty in-depth read, so I’m taking my time reading through it and will try and share a few ideas from each chapter as I go. “Unlike egotism, the drive to significance is a simple extension of the creative impulse of God that gave us being. It is not filtered…

Read More / 9 Comment

Independence is Offensive

Posted 29 Jul 2010 in Culture
Toms Red Shoes

This summer we’ve had a more relaxed dress code at Central to go along with our Summer of 66’ theme. I bought a pair of red TOMS shoes that I was excited to bring out a few times. I ended up wearing them once. I was taken aback by the response I got from people on them. Sure, I realized that they weren’t your normal shoe, but I thought they were fun and they fit the series well. Needless to…

Read More / 8 Comment
« Older Entries
Newer Entries »