Jon Stolpe
Jon Stolpe
3 Thumbs Up! May 5th, 2012 (Cinco de Mayo)
Time for this week’s 3 Thumbs Up! Stretched blog post. Each week, I feature three things that get a thumbs up. Similar to last week, this week’s post highlights an iPad application, a podcast, and a blog.
Thumbs Up Number 1: WordPress application for iPad. This may not sound very exciting, but I have totally appreciated this application. For three of this week’s Stretched posts, I have been able to write most of the posts on my iPad. This has saved me time later on. While I still go back to the PC to clean up the post, I like having the ability to draft my posts through the iPad. In fact, today’s post was initially written on the iPad using the WordPress application last night.
Thumbs Up Number 2: This Is Your Life podcast by Michael Hyatt. I featured this podcast several weeks ago when it first launched. Since then Michael Hyatt has released ten great episodes about living and leading more intentionally. Each episode which typically runs for 30 minutes is packed with ideas that can be immediately applied to life. This week’s episode was about finding ways to shave 10 hours off your work week. Check out this podcast by clicking here.
Thumbs Up Number 3: I Love Skippack blog by Michael Shaw. Michael blogs about a town just up the road from me. Each post highlights a particular business or aspect of Skippack, PA, and the posts are sprinkled with Michael’s personal stories and passion for the town he loves. Michael and I met through the Internet,and we’ve actually had the chance to meet on several occasions for lunch or over a drink. I love the conversations we have about our faiths and about our passion for blogging. Whether you live near Skippack or not, you should check out I Love Skippack and become a regular reader. Leave a comment on the blog, and tell Michael that I sent you.
So there you have it. This week’s 3 Thumbs Up! Now, it’s your turn. What’s going on in your world that deserves a thumbs up this week?
The Stretched Blog Visits Expect The Exceptional
Happy Star Wars Day (May the 4th be with you). If you’re looking for this week’s Stretched Ice Breaker, you’ll have to go back to yesterday’s post. Today, I have the honor of guest posting over at Tony Alicea‘s blog, Expect the Exceptional. Head over there to check out my post titled Dreaming Big Again. While you’re there check out the rest of Tony’s writing, and sign up to become one of his regular readers.
How are you celebrating Star Wars Day?
(I love guest posting and I love guest bloggers! If you have an idea for a “stretched” post that you’d like to share, please contact me so we can connect. Also, if you think I could help out at your blog with a guest post, let me know as well.)
Ice Breaker – Star Wars
Due to a guest posting opportunity, this week’s Stretched Ice Breaker is moving up a day to Thursday. Tomorrow is May 4th which happens to be my Mom’s birthday – Happy Birthday, Mom! It also happens to be Star Wars Day – May the Fourth be with you! Get it? In honor of this special occasion, today’s Ice Breaker question will deal with Star Wars. Here goes….
Question: What is your favorite character or thing about Star Wars?
My answer: I saw the very first Star Wars movie (which was just called Star Wars and is now the fourth movie and referred to as A New Hope) in theaters when it first came out in the late 70s. I realize that I am dating myself here, but it helps to set the stage for my answer. I remember being drawn into the story, and I especially liked Luke Skywalker – of course. Over the course of time, I saw the next two movies Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi (which are now the fifth and sixth movies). I still liked Luke and I still thought the first (or fourth) movie was the best.
As we all know, George Lucas decided to release three prequels telling the story of Anikan Skywalker and the beginnings of villain, Darth Vader. I strongly disliked Darth Vader in the original movies. After all, he was the villain. My view of Darth Vader changed dramatically when I saw the third movie in the prequel series (Revenge of the Sith). In this movie, Anikan Skywalker becomes Darth Vader. This may seem rather depressing, but it wasn’t for me. This movie provided the connection piece to the Return of the Jedi movie when Darth Vader comes to his senses right before he dies and turns from the dark side of the force. This connection allowed me to see the story of redemption that is told through the six movie series.
You see, I think we all start off innocent like Anikan did in the first movie, but at some point, we all mess up. We may not turn into Darth Vader, but our sin separates us from the life we were meant to live. Our sin can make us pretty ugly. The beautiful thing is that we all have a shot at redemption. I believe that God provided a path to redemption when He sent his Son, Jesus, to live a perfect life and to die for our sins on the cross. I believe that there is redemption for those who chose to believe this and decide to follow Jesus. It may seem crazy, but this is my favorite part of the whole Star Wars thing – the story of redemption.
This is a longer answer than normal, but I couldn’t help it. Now, it’s your turn. Answer the question in the comments. I look forward to reading your responses.
The Power To Change A Family Tree
Last night, Leanne and I were working on a talk that we will be giving at a MOPS meeting later this month at our church. We’ve been asked to talk about discipline. What a fun subject!
Actually, it’s not the easiest subject to talk about. Everyone has different opinions and backgrounds when it comes to discipline. Some of us grew up with parents who hardly disciplined us at all, and some of us faced the other extreme of discipline that may have bordered on abuse. At any rate, it is an important topic, and I’m thankful for the opportunity to share some of the things that we’ve learned (and are learning) in our parenting journey.
As we were preparing for our talk, we were watching a couple of clips from the first season of Supernanny. (Many of you may know that Leanne and I wrote a parenting curriculum several years ago based on this series which you can see by clicking here.) At the end of the clip, the mother in the episode shares some thoughts that got me thinking. She said something like this, “The changes that we are making today will have an impact on these three little boys, and they will forever change the world for their kids as well. We are making a change that will impact generations.”
That’s a pretty powerful statement. Something I do today could impact my kids, my grandchildren, and even my great-grandchildren.
I’ve heard this before. Dave Ramsey always tells families who have made a decision to become debt free that they are “changing their family tree forever.”
Wouldn’t it be great to know that you were having that kind of impact?
Whether it’s taking positive steps in our finances or making changes in our parenting approach, we can clearly change the world when we decide to live with intention.
I think it’s easy to get hung up on our past failures. We’ve all messed up! It’s also easy to become overwhelmed with feelings of inadequacy. We need to shift our thinking. Today is a brand new day. We can start making changes starting today. The past is the past.
Here’s the question. What change can you make today that will have an impact on future generations? What is holding you back from making that change?
April 2012 Top Posts and Top Commenters
April was a record-breaking month for the Stretched blog. I popped over the 2,000 page views per month and saw a 12.7% rise in traffic over the previous high month (February 2012). Thank you! Thank you! Thank you to each and every one of you who keeps coming back to read and comment and who passes the Stretched blog along to your friends. It has been amazing to me at times the number of people who come up to me and say, “Hey, I read your blog” or “I really enjoyed your post about…”. Thank you!
As always, I like to recap the month by pointing out the top posts from this month and the top commenters. So here goes:
April 2012 Top Posts
- Leap of Faith (March 21, 2012)
- Top 10 Things NOT To Do On An Airplane (April 12, 2012)
- Ice Breaker: The Stretched Community’s Got Talent (April 27, 2012)
- Movie Review: Blue Like Jazz (April 30, 2012)
- eBook Review: An Idiot’s Guide To The Galaxy by Kevin Haggerty (April 16, 2012)
- How Big Is Your God? (April 4, 2012)
- Guatemala – The Big Ask (April 3, 2012)
- What Is Worship? (April 29, 2012)
- eBook Review: You Are A Writer (So Start ACTING Like One) (April 26, 2012)
- My Dad’s Morning Routine (April 5, 2012)
Top 3 Commenters
- Tom Tarver (21)
- Joe Lalonde (19)
- Larry Carter (19)
Again, thanks so much for making April such a great month here on the blog. Don’t forget that you can follow along more closely by subscribing (on the right menu bar of the main screen), by signing up for the RSS feed of the blog (top bar on the blog), and by following the Jon Stolpe Stretched Facebook Page.
If you’re a blogger, how was your month? What was the top post from your blog? If you’re not a blogger, what was your favorite Stretched post this month?
Movie Review: Blue Like Jazz
Saturday afternoon, Leanne and I went to the movies to see Blue Like Jazz. The movie is based on a book by Donald Miller, and it was directed by Steve Taylor (who I saw in concert when I was in high school). The movie itself was funded primarily through individuals who gave money through Kickstarter. All of this adds up to making Blue Like Jazz very different from most movies made today. BLJ didn’t have the huge marketing and financial budget that most movies have these days. Marketing has been be word of mouth and by the hard work of Miller and Taylor.
I read Blue Like Jazz several years ago. The book, as I remember it, is a collections chaotic thoughts about Miller’s journey from a broken home and fundamental church background through doubt and disillusionment to a rediscovery of God and His love for us.
The movie takes the general stories and themes of the book and weaves them together to retell the story of college student, Don Miller, and his journey to rediscover his faith in God.
BLJ contains many chaotic conversations and scenes. There are many things in the movie that had me scratching my head – ‘is this okay?’. There’s cursing, drinking and drunkenness, discussions about sexuality and sexual orientation, and many other things in this movie that my have you feeling uncomfortable. I would encourage you to hang in there. These things bring clarity to the ending message and discovery. I don’t want to give it away, but the last five minutes of Blue Like Jazz are powerful. You need to see the whole movie though for it to all make sense.
This is not a “Christian” movie. It’s a movie made by Christians. Many Christians may decide not to see it because it’s too secular, and many who are not Christians may decide not to see it because it’s too God focused. Here’s my take: Give it a chance. Go see the movie! You could wait until it comes out on DVD, but I’d highly recommend that you find a theater and go see it. Bring a friend along with you. After the movie, go grab a cup of coffee together, and talk about the movie. It’s different. Blue Like Jazz will definitely have you thinking. It’s not required, but you may want to read the book before you go see the movie. Certain things in the movie will make a little more sense if you’ve read the book – like the rabbit chasing the sexy carrot scene.
Blue Like Jazz gets my recommendation.
Have you seen Blue Like Jazz? If so, what was your take? If not, do you like jazz music?
What Is Worship?
Come, let us bow down in worship,
let us kneel before the Lord our Maker;
for he is our God
and we are the people of his pasture,
the flock under his care.
Psalm 95:6-7
When you hear the word worship, what comes to mind?
I think of going to church and singing. I think this is the answer that is drilled into our heads from an early age – not necessarily on purpose but by tradition. I don’t think that answer is wrong, but I think it short sells worship – big time!
Yesterday, I had the privilege to be a part of a leader/facilitators meeting for a foundations class that is being rolled out at our church. As we were discussing the leaders role in transformation, the following verse from Romans came up for discussion:
Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is —his good, pleasing and perfect will. Romans 12:1-2
Typically when I read these verses, I read about sacrifice and about transformation. And I skip right over “this is your true and proper worship”. If I’m reading this from a leaders perspective, I worship God when I give of myself sacrificially to serve and to lead others. This didn’t say anything about going to church and singing.
So what is worship?
Of course, worship happens at church, but I think there’s so much more.
Worship is the way I live my life. I worship God when I put Him first in everything I do. I can worship God in my parenting, in my marriage, in my friendships, in my exercise, in my job, and even in my writing.
Our worship can be misdirected. We easily get caught up in this culture of consumerism and celebrity. We put movie stars and sports stars on pedestals. We watch TV shows like American Idol (I like that show), Dancing With The Stars, and Celebrity Apprentice. We are consumed with thoughts of greed – “I have to have this” or “I have to have that.” This is all misdirected worship.
God says, “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. You shall have no other gods before Me. You shall not make for yourself a carved image—any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; you shall not bow down to them nor serve them. For I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me, but showing mercy to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments.” Exodus 20:2-6
We have a choice to make. We can allow the distractions of this world to hijack our attention – our worship. Or we can choose today to worship God – at home, at church, at work, and throughout our lives. What’s your choice?
What does worship look like for you today? How do you worship God?
3 Thumbs Up! April 28, 2012
It’s time for the next installment of 3 Thumbs Up! This is an opportunity for me to share 3 things that deserve a thumbs up. So here goes for this week:
Thumbs Up No. 1: Flipboard for iPad. A friend at work showed me this application for the iPad yesterday. Flipboard is a social magazine application for the iPad and iPhone that lets you set up a customized online browse pad to help you keep up on your interest areas and on your social media outlets. Within a minute, I had the application loaded onto my iPad from the App Store, and I had it set up with my interest areas along with my Twitter and Facebook feed. I love it! It’s definitely worth checking out. Oh yeah, it’s FREE!
Thumbs Up No. 2: Catalyst Podcast. This isn’t new to me, but it’s worth sharing. On a weekly basis, Ken Coleman and Brad Lomenick host this leadership focused podcast that provides interviews and insights from today’s top leaders in the Christian community. Past interviews have been with leaders like Francis Chan, Michael Hyatt, Bill Hybels, John Ortberg, Jim Collins, Andy Stanley, and Tony Dungy. If you are a leader, I’d recommend checking out this valuable resource. Click here to check it out.
Thumbs Up No. 3: The Handwritten. This is a creative blog by my friend, Michael D. Perkins. Each week, Joe hand writes several posts that creatively express Michael’s take on a particular scripture passage. I’m inspired, challenged, and motivated on a daily basis by what he brings to the table. Check it out here. Stop over and become part of his blogging community.
What new in your world that deserves a thumbs up?
Ice Breaker – The Stretched Community’s Got Talent
Happy Friday!
It’s time for this week’s ice breaker question. I’ll keep it simple. In case you forgot, I’ll ask a question that helps us get to know one another. Then, I’ll answer the question. After that, it’s your turn to answer the question by entering your response in the comments. Here goes…!
Question: If you were to appear on America’s Got Talent (or another talent show), what talent would you bring to the stage? (And we all have talent, so there should be some great answers here this week.)
My answer: Dutch oven cooking. This answer may seem shocking to any of you who knew me as a kid. When I graduated from college, my culinary expertise was Kraft Macaroni and Cheese and microwaved hot dogs. Let’s just say, I’ve come a long way. I enjoy cooking (most of the time) although I don’t get a chance to do it very often. One of my favorite methods for cooking is dutch oven cooking over hot camp coals. I’ve cooked up some great breads, casseroles, soups, desserts, pizza, main dishes, and side dishes using my dutch ovens. I’m hoping I could win the judges over through their stomachs.
Okay. It’s your turn. Tell us about your talent in the comments.
eBook Review: You Are A Writer (So Start ACTING Like One) by Jeff Goins
Today, I’m excited to share about a new eBook resource for writers that will be available in the next couple of days from Jeff Goins. In You Are A Writer (So Start ACTING Like One), Jeff shares tips and encouragement for writers.
First, Jeff who blogs regularly at goinswriter.com challenges readers to change their attitude about writing. He encourages readers to take on the title of “writer.” I have always considered myself to be an engineer, a father, a husband, and a leader, but thanks to Jeff I now consider myself to be a writer.
You Are A Writer provides key advice for finding your voice as a writer. Jeff explains how to build a platform, how to establish a brand, and how to utilize channels of connection. As a blogger for the past four or five years, I came away from You are A Writer with valuable information that will help me grow in my writing.
Finally, Jeff shares his insights in how newer writers and take the next step towards publication. You Are A Writer provides step by step essentials for progressing from a closet writer to becoming published in magazines and on-line to writing your own book. This eBook is an excellent resource that I will come back to again and again in my pursuit of becoming a better writer. You Are A Writer has my recommendation.
Thanks, Jeff, for sharing your writing experience and knowledge with us!
Are you a writer? What’s your next step in your writing journey?
Update 5/2/2012 from Jeff Goins: The website http://youareawriter.