Donald Miller is back with a new one, and I’ve got to say as good as blue like jazz was, I like his latest musings even more.

Miller explorers the power of stories as he journeys through making a movie based on his life. The primary premise of the book was that a story is ‘a character who wants something and overcomes conflict to get it’.

The stories we believe or tell ourselves drastically change the world in which we live.

This book would be great for anyone who’s a communicator and understanding the techniques that make a powerful story.

But the most important take away that Miller hammers really well at, is it’s not a bad thing to be able to tell great stories, but what’s even better is living out a great story.

Best of all, there’s an even greater story every one of us is already a part of.

Friends ask me all the time about making money blogging.

First off I don’t blog in order to make money, it’s something I do anyways, much like using toilet paper.

Second of all, I’m a far cry from an A-list blogger and suffer from bouts of inconsistency like the bulk of bloggers out there.

I’ve been with Google Adsense for a number of years and I’m thankful that they’ve helped pay for my hosting bills but I’ll be transitioning from them soon.

Adsense is great if you’re just starting out as it’s all automated and the ads are contextual (although they could work on their algorithms – they keep serving up banners for “Sexy Christian Singles” on my site – ’sexy’ i can understand, but ’single’ I definitely am not)

has also provided some healthy additional revenue. You really need to have a google pagerank of at least 3 and some decent traffic to get accepted as a publisher. If you do, I’d definitely recommend them as they’re fairly unobtrusive.

Sponsors and Affiliates is the route I’d like to begin moving the site more towards.

Primarily because I think it would make the site cleaner and I could partner with individuals and organizations that I feel more aligned with. If you or your organization would like to advertise here contact me and I can send you the current rate sheet.

You can also generate income through affiliate fees. I’d recommend advertising ones you’ve actually used and feel would add value. There’s no perfect host out there, but Site5 has been where several sites I run are hosted. Thesis is an SEO optimized flexible theme that powers SolarCrash is also a phenomenal product with a great affiliate program.

If you’re interested in getting your own blog going, designed, connected, and monetized I’ve recently began doing some work through humanity3.com. ‘ministry’ isn’t exactly flooding me with cash lately, so I’m hoping some freelance work compensates a bit.

So there’s you go, that’s how I keep this site afloat while paying some bills.

Deconstruct this.

You’re in a large room hanging out with a bunch of people. They don’t appear familiar but you’re having a great time.

Someone enters the room and begins the gathering.

Everyone in the room takes turns sharing, mostly meandering about their past sins and tragic mistakes.

This scene of friendly chatter followed by a time of confession seems to continue over and over and months seem to pass.

And then during one of the ‘circle times’ you finally connect the dots, and it dawns on you that everyone in the room is either a murderer or a rapist.

You’re shocked wondering what you’re doing there.

You tell the person leading the therapy session, you don’t belong here.

He says he knows, he’s seen your file.

You explain to him got you’ve nothing against these folks, and that although you have your share of issues, this isn’t for you.

He responds “Do you think you’re better than them?”

Confused, your mind goes to a complete blank.

Actually this was a recent dream I found myself in. Except in the end, the confusion overloads my dream, and I find myself awake unable to go back to bed.

Tell me doc, am I just another self-righteous dude who doesn’t honestly want to identify with ‘the least of these’?

I just finished reading the book “Strong Fathers, Strong Daughters“, and had to share it with more people.

I’ve gathered a bunch of men raising daughters to group blog through the book chapter by chapter here in two weeks.

Some awesome missions-oriented guys joining the ride:

Marty Schmidt
Tony Sheng
Sam Radford
Chris Marsden
Alan Liu
JD Heffern

If you’re a dad with a daughter, and interested in joining us, let me know. It should be a really great experience for all.

i am not a television watcher, but i just watched all four seasons of battlestar galactica over a span of two months earlier this year, and I’ve got to say the series rocked. There’s so much in there, I wish I blogged about it throughout each season.

I don’t want to give away too much if you haven’t watched it, but it’s a sci-fi oriented post-apocalyptic drama – a bit like the explorations of noah’s ark in space. It sounds kooky but the characters and the questions it provokes are phenomenal.

What I loved about the show:

How humans have an incredible capacity to survive the toughest conditions

Questions of why we of all species deserve to survive?

How humans were either atheists or polytheists, while the ‘evil’ robots were monotheists

What it’s like to become that which you hate

pressing the limits of what it means to love and value – regardless of beliefs and even origins

How they managed to mix themes of technology and progress with mythical stuff like angels

The cyclon robots seemed to have a type of militant evangelicalism.

Themes of Islamic jihad and even Buddhist reincarnation were explored (ie. the downloading to new bodies)

Questions of who your creator is, why he made us, and what good is he?

I didn’t like Baltar’s christ-like evolution, but I loved the subtle bits of him despising his farm boy childhood and re-embracing it.

Whether we truly value the soul, or the shell it’s encased in?

I could go on and on. Anyone else love Battlestar? See incredible themes that tie in issues of faith and humanity?

Did everyone catch the live streaming U2 rose bowl concert? They should be rebroadcasting it here soon. I got a ton of hits from people searching for song lyrics and meanings. There’s so much great stuff in One, but did you ever notice the lyrics in this verse?

It’s too late
tonight
to drag the past out
into the lights

Besides being profound and rhyming, every line here starts with a different variant of the sound 2… yet the song is called One… intriguing eh?

Here’s an awesome rendition with Mary J. Blige

I’m fairly blown away by this video below from Ukraine’s got talent. No it’s not one of those funny ones, the artist Kseniya Simonova retells the story of Russia’s ‘Great Patriotic War’ against the Nazis in the 1940’s. Definitely check it out.

My thoughts were, wow. How do we get her to do something for our church? And this is just another example that goes in the face of people who always mutter “it’s all been done before”. There is talent, creativity, and beauty, yet to be seen…

I’m such a jerk. I’ve been sponsoring a child for the past couple years and after several handwritten letters to me, only today have I finally got around to emailing her back.

It’s absolutely ridiculous. It’s easier for someone of my piddly income to fork over cash each month, than simply write a personal letter of compassion.

The problem with financial support is when it ends there. Sure, a child gets needed funding and I feel slightly absolved of my guilt. But when child sponsorship organizations like world vision get reduced to a distribution center, we get the illusion that everyone connects and gets what they need… but is anyone truly transformed?

Anyhow, here’s my open letter to this child I ought to be loving on…

Dear Uwayisaba,

Thank you so much for your past letters! I need to start by sincerely apologizing for taking so long to write back to you. We have a photo of you up on our wall and think about you often. However, it’s silly how busy our lives can get here in Toronto. It is so easy for us to get caught up in things that aren’t meaningful and forget what’s truly meaningful.

Your life is meaningful. We believe your struggles and your hopes are meaningful to this world we share as well. We have a daughter who’s a bit younger than you, and she reminds us everyday how every single life is precious and sacred. Once she learns to write we really hope that she can write to you herself as well.

I know that God is working in your life and ours, and we look forward to hearing more about you, your school, and your family.

With love

Anyhow, I know every one of you can do better than I have. I’m currently partnered with Food for the Hungry, I hear great things about Compassion as well.

Below is a recent video from the Catalyst conference of a child meeting their sponsor after 19 years. The sharing starts around the 3 minute mark.

This must be one of the top five most overplayed U2 songs ever. But it’s still worth mentioning.

I have climbed the highest mountains
I have run through the fields
Only to be with you
Only to be with you

I have run I have crawled
I have scaled these city walls
Only to be with you
But I still haven’t found
What I’m looking for
But I still haven’t found
What I’m looking for

I have kissed honey lips
Felt the healing in her fingertips
It burned like fire
This burning desire
I have spoke with the tongue of angels
I have held the hand of a devil
It was warm in the night
I was cold as a stone
But I still haven’t found
What I’m looking for
But I still haven’t found
What I’m looking for

I believe in the Kingdom Come
Then all the colours will bleed into one
But yes I’m still running
You broke the bounds
You loosed the chains
You carried the cross
And my shame
And my shame
You know I believe it
But I still haven’t found
What I’m looking for
But I still haven’t found
What I’m looking for

This song still resonates today because it connects with the struggle of the human spirit.

No matter how much you’ve steeped yourself in routine and the mundane, there’s something inside of us all that remains unsettled, longing for more.

We try everything we can to satisfy that craving. Relationships, children, love, significance, unique experiences, and yet something still gnaws at our souls.

Some of us even discover God. The last section of the lyrics speak of Christ, and not what we can accomplish, but what God has already done. Taking the chains and our shame away. Replacing it with freedom.

Yet we’re still running, searching. At least I am.

Because with all that freedom and grace, I still find myself rejecting it. If it’s true what the Scriptures say, that belief must lead to actions, then the truth is, I spend my days not really believing.

And so, I still haven’t found what I’m looking for. Though I sure hope to someday.

* btw, that lyric “I believe in the Kingdom Come, Then all the colours will bleed into one” I’ve got to say is sheer brilliance. But how much blood must first be shed? Or has it already been shed, but then why aren’t we ‘one’?

I wish I had the guts to do this.  Absolutely love it.  h/t to nathan for the find. You can watch the entire series here.

Continuing the series of posts on U2 songs, “City of Blinding Lights” is also a favorite.  It’s musically reminiscent of “Where the streets have no name” with a brilliant intro.

I think I heard Barack Obama use it as his entrance music a number of times during the campaign.

As with many u2 songs there are a number of conflicting images in the song.

A couple of simple repeated lines throughout the song, make me go hrm…

Oh you look so beautiful tonight
In the city of blinding lights

Can you see the beauty inside of me?
What happened to the beauty I had inside of me?

For some reason it makes me think of an old story I heard originally by H.G. Wells called Country of the Blind.  (Doing some research on it, I realize there’s several renditions of it, below is a summary strictly from my own twisted memory).

There once was a remote city struck with a disease that caused complete blindness of all it’s inhabitants and it’s descendants.

The people eventually adapted to life being blind.  It became so normal that the very concept of sight was all but forgotten after several generations had passed.

A man with perfect vision stumbles into the city.  His heart breaks because he realizes an entire people group have no idea of the colors and beauty that surround them as they feel their way through the dark.

He commits himself to sharing this wonderful gift of vision he has with the people of the city.

He befriends the people and begins describing to them textures, and tints, and things in the distance.  He points out beautiful features on their faces, the blues across the skies, and the yellowness of the sun.

But the people of the city think he’s gone mad as they are unable to comprehend what the man is passionately illustrating.

Having compassion, the people of the city take hold of the man, to help cure him of his illness.

And they gouge out his eyes.

I wonder if this man would be singing “Can you see the beauty inside of me?  What happened to the beauty I had inside of me? ”

Ever been there? Had a spark of hope that no one understood?  Saw something that was so overwhelmingly beautiful that you couldn’t put words to it, but you tried to share it anyways?  Only to then have them crush it and rip it from your soul?

Photo Credit: paolomargari

Since my last post about U2’s song “moment of surrender”, there’s been a number of verses that provoke me, but the line “vision over visibility” has really stuck with me.

Is there something that you see, that others can’t?  A vision, a reality of what could be, that others don’t seem to ‘get’?

It looks dark and murky but you’ve got this strong gut-level hunch it’s a direction you ought to be going in?

Please keeping moving forward. 

Seize it, for the love of God.  Do something about it.

We’ll always be working in low-visibility, but vision doesn’t always come.

Take a hold of it and make it into a reality.  We need you to help us see it.  Our world is filled with too many people with eyes wide shut, working merely with the visible.

That statue waiting to be carved out of that stone block; that word of truth or encouragement that no one else can quite articulate the way you do; that service your community or city desperately needs but knows how to go about it… we need you to help us see the invisible.

Because if you don’t, it might slip away.  And worst yet, it might be lost to humanity forever.