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ST. LOUIS, MO — The snow has spiced the ground like salt, and the temp is nine degrees below freezing. I’m cold. But God isn’t.

And He is gathering 16,000+ here for the Urbana 09 Student Missions Conference to hear from leading practitioners and theologians about what He is doing throughout the world.

If you’re Asian American or Asian Canadian and here at Urbana, there are some gatherings I want to make you aware of: Read the rest of this entry »

TO LOS ANGELES, CA — The day really couldn’t be more glorious, though it didn’t start that way.

Instead of packing last night, I stuffed my bags this morning. It made me 15 minutes late. No problem. I still had time to catch the train, but there’s no margin. We raced up the 5 to get to the Solana Beach station. I jumped out of the car, and bolted to the ticket window. The teller waved her hand to dismiss the ID check, and told me that the train was already at the station. I’ve got literally one minute. Read the rest of this entry »

A year after the release of True Story, InterVarsity Press has released a study guide for personal reflection or group discussion. It’s a free download from the InterVarsity Press website, so enjoy! When used along with True Story, it’s ideal for study in smaller groups.

On the front cover, it says that you have to get permission from me to make copies, so here it is: you now have permission. Go, therefore, and make copies! Read the rest of this entry »

I’m going through major transitions.

First, we’re having another boy, and he’s due in September. Second, we’re moving to Los Angeles. We don’t know the exact timing, but we’re heading up there sometime in the next seven months or so. Third, I’ll be out of a job in six weeks as a director for San Diego InterVarsity.

Conception, location, and vocation. What else could possibly change? Read the rest of this entry »

I’ve been invited to lead a workshop at the National Outreach Convention 2009 on The Big Story. And Tell It Slant is the first stop on the NOC’s blog tour. They’ll post some questions, and I’ll reply to their questions and any that you might have throughout the day. So ask away!

Christianity Today just published a Bible study based on the Big Story, the diagram featured in True Story: A Christianity Worth Believing In. It’s a follow-up to the article they published last July. It’s not free, but for a small fee, you can download it and make up to 1,000 copies for your church or organization.

Rating: 10

This is the first book I’ve finished in 2009, and if the rest of the books I read this year are in this caliber, this is going to be a very good year.

Postman deftly shows how the shift from the Age of Print to the Age of Television is having a disastrous effect on the tenor of our public discourse. He argues that the very nature of television makes it impossible to have deeper, thoughtful conversations about the burning issues of the day. And, he convincingly argues, TV affects everything else in culture. Read the rest of this entry »

As many of you know, True Story has a companion booklet called Based on a True Story that’s intended for giveaway use.

What’s news, however, is that InterVarsity Press has given me permission to post the first twelve pages of the booklet, so you can get a sense of what it’s like. If you like how it captures the central thrust of the Christian message, please feel free to get some copies for your friends.

It’s Christmas Eve, and we’re in the middle of a recession. And if the pundits are right, it’s the worst economic slide since the Great Depression. In it, we’re spending less: Christmas sales are down, even online. For many, that merely reinforces the fact that our economy is hitting the brakes, which leads to despair. But what if this could be a season of hope and opportunity?

Giving is also down. And something seems wrong about that. In a time of fiscal crisis, I know we all have less. But since there’s a greater need, shouldn’t giving actually increase?

Read the rest of this entry »

Perhaps it’s my Gen X sensibilities, but I don’t trust politicians or the American political process that much. I don’t publicly endorse candidates for any office, thinking that one day they’ll let us down. And after the 2000 elections, my trust in the American political process was buried deep in the sands of the ocean bottom, where Florida’s hanging chads probably reside. Even blogging about politics isn’t my style. Read the rest of this entry »

I just watched Sicko last night. Whenever I watch a Michael Moore film, I get riled up. I don’t have my wife’s gift of instantly picking up on faulty logic. And now you can see why I can’t win an argument with her either. So with Moore, I get taken in. I want something to change. But then I have to remember … right, it’s Michael Moore. So I start checking the facts and counter-arguments.

Because Fahrenheit 9/11 was too biased to be helpful. And though I liked Bowling for Columbine, I was bothered to find out that the South Park-like clip in the middle was not created by Parker and Stone. The editing and animation style made it seem like they created it, and that’s just misleading. And all Michael Moore movies contain some of his antics, like taking the victims of Columbine to Target’s headquarters to get them to stop selling hollow-point ammunition. And this movie’s no different: he took 9/11 rescue workers who couldn’t get health care to Guantanamo Bay, because the navy had set up a 24-hour health clinic for the detainees. Sure, he’s getting his point across and doing some good, but you can’t help but feel like he’s using the victims too. Read the rest of this entry »

Rating: 7

This book asked the right questions and challenged much of my current thinking. Basically, it asks: what’s the best form of church? And it shouts loudly against anything large and institutional, and argues for something smaller and incarnational — something that doesn’t merely invite, but goes out.

It seems idealistic. In the end, they argue for a church structure that has worked during Roman and Chinese persecutions of the church, and argue that it might possibly work here where there is no persecution. Read the rest of this entry »