http://www.tangle.com/view_video?viewkey=76822072c0beaf313ad2

Apparently, the creator of the video didn’t tune in for the other 95% of Obama’s speech, which was about the importance of incorporating faith into the political process. The part of Obama’s address we see in the video concerns how to properly do that.  But I’m getting ahead of myself.  First, let me share the context with you that this video conveniently leaves out:

OBAMA’S CHRISTIAN TESTIMONY
In the first part of his speech, the president shares how he came to personal faith:

My father, who returned to Kenya when I was just two, was born Muslim but as an adult became an atheist. My mother, whose parents were non-practicing Baptists and Methodists, was probably one of the most spiritual and kindest people I’ve ever known, but grew up with a healthy skepticism of organized religion herself. As a consequence, so did I.

It wasn’t until after college, when I went to Chicago to work as a community organizer for a group of Christian churches, that I confronted my own spiritual dilemma.

I was working with churches, and the Christians who I worked with recognized themselves in me. They saw that I knew their Book and that I shared their values and sang their songs. But they sensed that a part of me that remained removed, detached, that I was an observer in their midst.

And in time, I came to realize that something was missing as well — that without a vessel for my beliefs, without a commitment to a particular community of faith, at some level I would always remain apart, and alone. And if it weren’t for the particular attributes of the historically black church, I may have accepted this fate. But as the months passed in Chicago, I found myself drawn – not just to work with the church, but to be in the church. . . .

It was because of these newfound understandings that I was finally able to walk down the aisle of Trinity United Church of Christ on 95th Street in the Southside of Chicago one day and affirm my Christian faith. . . . Kneeling beneath that cross on the South Side, I felt that I heard God’s spirit beckoning me. I submitted myself to His will, and dedicated myself to discovering His truth.

THE PROBLEM WITH LIBERALS
Next, the president slams those in his own party for leaving faith and spirituality out of the equation so often:

The discomfort of some progressives with any hint of religion has often prevented us from effectively addressing issues in moral terms. Some of the problem here is rhetorical – if we scrub language of all religious content, we forfeit the imagery and terminology through which millions of Americans understand both their personal morality and social justice.

Imagine Lincoln’s Second Inaugural Address without reference to “the judgments of the Lord.” Or King’s I Have a Dream speech without references to “all of God’s children.” Their summoning of a higher truth helped inspire what had seemed impossible, and move the nation to embrace a common destiny.

Our failure as progressives to tap into the moral underpinnings of the nation is not just rhetorical, though. Our fear of getting “preachy” may also lead us to discount the role that values and culture play in some of our most urgent social problems.

After all, the problems of poverty and racism, the uninsured and the unemployed, are not simply technical problems in search of the perfect ten point plan. They are rooted in both societal indifference and individual callousness – in the imperfections of man.

Solving these problems will require changes in government policy, but it will also require changes in hearts and a change in minds. I believe in keeping guns out of our inner cities, and that our leaders must say so in the face of the gun manufacturers’ lobby – but I also believe that when a gang-banger shoots indiscriminately into a crowd because he feels somebody disrespected him, we’ve got a moral problem. There’s a hole in that young man’s heart – a hole that the government alone cannot fix. . . .

My Bible tells me that if we train a child in the way he should go, when he is old he will not turn from it. So I think faith and guidance can help fortify a young woman’s sense of self, a young man’s sense of responsibility, and a sense of reverence that all young people should have for the act of sexual intimacy. . . .

Secularists are wrong when they ask believers to leave their religion at the door before entering into the public square. Frederick Douglas, Abraham Lincoln, Williams Jennings Bryant, Dorothy Day, Martin Luther King – indeed, the majority of great reformers in American history – were not only motivated by faith, but repeatedly used religious language to argue for their cause. So to say that men and women should not inject their “personal morality” into public policy debates is a practical absurdity. Our law is by definition a codification of morality, much of it grounded in the Judeo-Christian tradition. . . .

Across the country, individual churches like my own and your own are sponsoring day care programs, building senior centers, helping ex-offenders reclaim their lives, and rebuilding our gulf coast in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. So the question is, how do we build on these still-tentative partnerships between religious and secular people of good will?

CHURCH AND STATE
Having established that religious principles should have a place in our government, the president now focuses on how the two should come together:

While I’ve already laid out some of the work that progressive leaders need to do, I want to talk a little bit about what conservative leaders need to do — some truths they need to acknowledge.

For one, they need to understand the critical role that the separation of church and state has played in preserving not only our democracy, but the robustness of our religious practice. Folks tend to forget that during our founding, it wasn’t the atheists or the civil libertarians who were the most effective champions of the First Amendment. It was the persecuted minorities, it was Baptists like John Leland. . . . It was the forbearers of the evangelicals who were the most adamant about not mingling government with religious, because they did not want state-sponsored religion hindering their ability to practice their faith as they understood it.

Moreover, given the increasing diversity of America’s population, the dangers of sectarianism have never been greater. Whatever we once were, we are no longer just a Christian nation; we are also a Jewish nation, a Muslim nation, a Buddhist nation, a Hindu nation, and a nation of nonbelievers.

And even if we did have only Christians in our midst. . . whose Christianity would we teach in the schools? Would we go with James Dobson’s, or Al Sharpton’s? Which passages of Scripture should guide our public policy? Should we go with Leviticus, which suggests slavery is ok and that eating shellfish is abomination? How about Deuteronomy, which suggests stoning your child if he strays from the faith? Or should we just stick to the Sermon on the Mount – a passage that is so radical that it’s doubtful that our own Defense Department would survive its application?

You have to admit, he has a point. If you ask for state-sponsored religion (as many conservatives seem to), which one do you want?  Christianity?  OK, well, which “brand” of Christianity?  Which denomination?  Which specific interpretation of the Bible?  What would you do with Levitical laws banning the eating of pork?  Or the many other ceremonial laws that most Christians agree no longer apply?

But the Old Testament is an easy target. Almost all Christians agree these issues.  (No one is lobbying for a constitutional amendment banning shellfish.)  But what about the New Testament?  Whose reading of that do we go with?  If you ask Jim Wallis and other progressive Christians, the Defense Department’s actions during the past decade would violate many of Jesus’ teachings.  However, if you ask a fundamentalist like Pat Robertson, he would they didn’t go far enough (hinting that there’s some loophole in the “turn your cheek” passage I haven’t found in the Bible yet).

So, if we’re to establish a state religion, whose religion do we establish? That’s the question Obama was getting at.  And that’s far from mocking the Bible.  That’s seeking an intelligent way that we can integrate faith into politics.  Instead, all to often, we see religion used as a blunt object, an instrument of war, used to manipulate people into voting a certain way.

The person who created this viral video and posted it on YouTube may be guilty of just that. Now, I hope that you can see the context of the entire speech and how utterly different it is from what is presented in the video.  The president concludes, as do I:

So we all have some work to do here. But I am hopeful that we can bridge the gaps that exist and overcome the prejudices each of us bring to this debate. And I have faith that millions of believing Americans want that to happen. No matter how religious they may or may not be, people are tired of seeing faith used as a tool of attack. They don’t want faith used to belittle or to divide. They’re tired of hearing folks deliver more screed than sermon. Because in the end, that’s not how they think about faith in their own lives.

You don’t have to worry about Twitter bringing something offensive to you. This technology is about a neutral as it gets.  It’s not good.  It’s not evil.  It’s just a series of tubes* through with information flows.  For the person who follows @RickWarren and @AndyStanley, Twitter will be a source of great Christian encouragement.  For those who follow vulgar comedians or brash shock jocks, Twitter will deliver just what they ordered as well.

Twitter will never bring you something you didn’t ask for. If you only follow your mom, your best friend and me (@billwhitt), you won’t have to worry about encountering something that might violate your Christian sensibilities.  And check this out:  Even if the heathen follow you, you don’t have to follow them back, and their pagan ways will never make it onto your screen.  (I hope you can sense the sarcasm here…)

And there is a great benefit to Christians staying on Twitter instead of running for the hills: As we tweet about life from our perspective, we’ll have the opportunity to influence a lot of people… including a lot of people who may not share our worldview or faith.  An old friend from high school may end up following you.  Someone who shares your passion for knitting may read your tweets too.  On Twitter, it is easy to influence a lot of people — Christian or not.  Not so on ChristianChirp.com.

Ultimately, ChristianChirp.com is the next evolution of monasticism, the Amish, GodTube, etc. All examples of sectarian communities that have removed their “salt and light” from the world.  I don’t want to do that.  I don’t want to be one to get in the way of Jesus’ desire for his followers, as recorded in John 17:15.  Listen to how Jesus prays to his Father:

“My prayer is not that you take [my followers] out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one.”

Jesus promises to protect us from the evil in the world, and that’s precisely because he expects us to be in the world. Online or offline.  Twitter, Facebook, YouTube.  Office parties, sports leagues, concerts.  In the world.  That’s where God wants us, and that’s why you won’t find me on ChristianChirp.com!

—

*tip o’ the hat to Ted Stevens for the “series of tubes” word picture!

A lot of children go as what they’d like to be when they grow up. (For adults, we often go as what we wish we’d become when we grew up.)  I got to thinking about that and came up with several possibilities:

• A tennis star. But I already dress like that every time I play tennis.  I have several Nike outfits and shoes from the Federer collection.  In fact, I use the same exact racquet, strung with the same guage strings at the same tension as my tennis hero (Wilson natural gut and Luxilon Power Rough hybrid).  I get to live out my dream of being a tennis star about twice a week.  No halloween needed!
• A musical artist. But I already dress like that at concerts.  For example, when I go to the Dove Awards, I dress like the rest of the guys there…  I have to tone it down a little bit for Sunday morning worship, but I still get to live out my dream of playing and singing in front of folks every week!  No Halloween needed!

Most of the things I wanted to be in life are actually part of my life. That’s a great feeling.  No need to pretend.  No need to long for a better future someday.  No discontentment.  Many of my goals and dreams became reality.

But there is still one thing I still lack: I never became a doctor… and I never grew an afro.

I guess I’ll be content to keep pretending on that front for a while!

What do you want to be when you grow up?

The online experience I check out most frequently is by North Point Community Church (northpointonline.tv). They broadcast just one service each week, and the video quality is great (about the same as the recent U2 live concert on YouTube).  The musical quality is phenomenal as well.  And they have something no other church has — Andy Stanley’s teaching.  Ultimately, content is king, and no matter how great the light show or graphics are, I’m never going to tune into an online church with a boring or irrelevant communicator.

But possibly the most innovative part of North Point’s venture into online church is their experiment with online small groups. Jessica and I participated in the first round of these groups, which met immediately after the online church service to discuss the sermon.  Just listening to Andy’s teaching can impact your life, but when you take the time to digest the lessons with others, it really sinks deeper into you.

Video chat was done via Tokbox, and it was pretty enjoyable, even though a few seconds of delay maked it difficult for people to talk back and forth (think of news anchors interviewing foreign war correspondents via satellite). And if one group member doesn’t use headphones, it can create a horrible feedback loop that disrupts everyone’s ability to enjoy the conversation.  But these are limitations of the technology as it exists now, and you learn to adapt.  For instance, you discover that you just can’t talk while other people are talking.  (Wouldn’t it be nice if it worked like that in the real world too!)

I found that the discussion questions were a little on the elementary side, so the group leader (or members) determine how lively and engaging the discussion will be. Good leaders take time to prepare and bring in relevant Scripture, experiences, personal stories, etc.  And thanks to technology, you can share Flickr photos, YouTube videos or Web links to help illustrate what you’re talking about.  Very cool!  The sky’s the limit with creativity in this medium.

Maybe the most important question, though, is: Can you form real relationships in an online small group? Well, I missed the first week of our group, and the second was canceled because the group leader’s Internet service was down.  For that reason, I only got to meet with my group via video chat twice.  For that reason, I don’t feel like enduring relationships formed.  However, I can definitely see the potential for that happening under normal circumstances.  Group members can become friends on Facebook, Twitter, Tokbox or other social media sites so that they can keep up with each other between group meetings if they want.  I communicate with people I know in the real world via those means anyway, so the boundary between “real” friends and “virtual” friends really is disappearing.  As the song says, “It’s a small world after all!”

All in all, I applaud North Point for incorporating small groups into their online service. They tell the folks in their Atlanta congregation that a “win” for them is not simply filling the auditorium full of people sitting in rows facing forward.  No, their ultimate goal is to get people sitting in circles facing each other in small groups.  It makes perfect sense, then, for them to invest in making that a key part of their online church strategy too.

The debate about “online church” will continue to rage for many years, I’m sure. Many say that watching some songs and a sermon on your computer monitor is not the same as attending church.  And I would tend to agree.  Even North Point would tend to agree!  (They say that their online “experience” is not a substitute for involvement in a physical church, and they still hope people to get plugged in at a church in their community.)  But, I believe some people are making this issue more divisive than it should be.  For years, many people have benefited from sermons pastors have placed online.  The next evolution is to include the music too… and even small groups!  It’s a natural progression, and nothing to be afraid of… even if the valid question remains:  Is it “church”?

Whatever you call it, it changes lives. Back when North Point streamed their singles worship service, 7|22, I watched faithfully every week.  This was one of the greatest sources of encouragement and inspiration I’ve experienced in my entire life.  Who I am now as a worship leader and fill-in speaker has been shaped, in large part, by that webcast.  I can’t wait to see what great things God will do next!

A thermostat is far more valuable than a thermometer… The thermometer is an indicator… The thermostat, on the other hand, manages to change the environment…

Which are you?

Thermometers know when something is wrong. Thermometers known when it’s too cold in church.  Thermometers can see your house’s paint is chipping and lights are burning out.  Thermometers can tell you that your Internet service is down… again.  Thermometers watch and complain.  But they do nothing.

Thermostats take action. When it’s too cold, thermostats turn the heat on.  When home repair needs to be done, thermostats grab a paint brush and a ladder.  When computer problems happen, thermostats try solutions until something works.  Thermostats don’t complain.  They do something.

The world has plenty of human thermometers.

What we need are more thermostats.

[ht: Photo by Axel Bührmann]

Andy says that we weren’t created to receive glory, but rather to reflect it to God. In every decision we make, we should make the choice that brings the most glory to God instead of ourselves.  That’s easily said, but how do we apply that?  My small group had a great insight!

One key area of application is in how we use social media like Twitter and Facebook. These sites have revolutionized the way people communicate today.  While much of that revolution is good, many criticize social media for catering to people who love bringing glory to themselves.  Narcissists.  And as you probably know, narcissists don’t usually anything interesting to say.  I’ve found that useless and insipid vanity is the substance of  most Twitter traffic.  (”Having chicken for dinner tonight.”)  In today’s world, it’s not just nerds and geeks like me who get the chance to share the mind-numbing tedium of their day-to-day activities… it’s all of us, just as long as it’s 140 characters or less.

Twitter reveals a lot about the state of our hearts, and for many people, their tweets add up to say, “It’s all about me.”  That’s not just my opinion; a new study by Rutgers University found that 80% of social media users primarily post “Me Now” status updates — details about their activities, feelings, thoughts and social lives.  The remaining 20% can be classified as “informers.”  These few users primarily share informational updates such as helpful links.

Rutgers University Professors Mor Naaman and Jeffrey Boase classified users’ tweets as:

• Me Now
• Opinions and Complaints
• Self Promotion
• Random Thoughts
• Questions to Followers
• Presence Maintenance (”I’m backkkk!”)
• Anecdotes
• Information Sharing

So what do your tweets say about you? Which category above would primarily summarize your presence online?  (And how about your real-life relationships too?)

I’d like to do an objective analysis of my own Twitter history, but that would take forever. Just scanning back over this week’s tweets is helpful, though… and easy enough.  It looks like I’m primarily an information sharer (facts and links about music, cameras, audio/video, technology, ministry, etc.).  But I also throw in some anecdotes from my life so that my Twitter presence has a personal side as well.

Rutgers found that the “Me Now” user has an average of 43 followers, while the “Informer” has an average of 112 followers. (For reference, I currently have 124.)  It appears people like bring around helpful people and not narcissists.  What a revelation!

Ultimately, the question every Twitter or Facebook user should be asking is, “How do I point this tribe of people who follow me to God, and how do I reflect His glory to them?” My small group at North Point discussed this question Sunday night, and our consensus was that every post doesn’t have to quote Scripture or exclaim, “Hallelujah!  God is so good.”  It’s important to be authentic, even if that means admitting discouragement or frustration.  Ultimately, though, Christians are in the best position to turn a very narcissistic medium on its head and point people to truths far more interesting than what we had for dinner last night.

Let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven. -Matthew 5:16

[ht: Illustrations by thenextweb and Matt Hamm]

Church music has always been evolving. From simple Hebrew melodies… to Gregorian chant… to harmonious choirs and majestic pipe organs… to soft-pop ballads with the acoustic guitar… to “praise teams” singing highly repetitious “praise choruses”… to stadium-rocking anthems driven by electric guitars.  Change is the only thing that has remained the same over the centuries of musical evolution.

A lot of churches have pushed the pause button at their favorite era of church music. If they’ve made it to “contemporary music” at all, most churches in my area are stuck in the “praise team” thing, with over 10 singers doing their rendition of “Lord I Lift Your Name On High” or “As The Deer.”  One problem with that.  “Contemporary music” is not contemporary any more.  Since when do you turn on the radio and hear a “team” singing anything?  Since when have choirs been all the rage in pop culture?

That’s why I’ve set up our music ministry differently. Just like any song you’d hear on the radio (pop, rock, country, even Christian radio), our sound is driven by drums, bass and electric guitar, with hints of acoustic guitar, keyboards, drum loops, synth programming, strings and other sounds added as necessary.  Top it off with a lead vocal and one or two harmonies, and there you have your recipe for making music that has the potential to sound like the CD’s people buy off the shelves or the latest hit single on the radio.  When the unchurched visit our services, they don’t have to enter a strange musical subculture to become Christian.

For years, this rock model has been the standard.  But is it time to change again? I’ve been a fan of Derek Webb for many years, and for all those years, his name has been synonymous with acoustic guitars and folk songs.  He chose to write in this style because  folk songs were the vehicle culture had been using to carry the ideas of a generation.  Then came his latest album, Stockholm Syndrome… and a very abrupt departure from the style that had characterized his entire career beforehand.

Relevant Magazine asked Derek this question:

Part of your appeal is that people know they’re going to get good music with challenging lyrics that doesn’t fit into any one box. With Stockholm Syndrome, that’s proven true with the sound as well. It’s changed and progressed from a folk sound to a more synthetic vibe. Can you explain how your sound has changed and if you’ll ever go back to a more acoustic feel?

Derek’s response:

The one consistent thing for me, the thing that hooked me early on, was this posture or approach of these folk musicians—the protest movement of the ’60s, Pete Seeger, Woody Guthrie, Joan Baez, Bob Dylan—the people who were really representing the stories of the people, telling the unfiltered stories of what’s happening in culture. They put a voice on the issues of the day. That’s the thread that I follow. Where I have picked up the thread again over the last 10 years or so is hip-hop. Hip-hop is contemporary folk music. That is one of the only genres that really seems to be fearless in terms of the way it speaks on behalf of the people. That style and the sound of the music started to just kind of infect me a little bit.

Those are brave works from a brave artist, willing to leave his comfort zone to speak in the heart language of a new generation. I pray I might have the same courage as church music continues to evolve.  Even though I love where we’re at now, may I never be guilty of selfishly hitting the pause button so that I can have my preference while the world moves on.

God is sovereign, after all, so how could driving by the drive-thru without getting supersized fries cause him change his mind? “God is not a man, that he should lie, nor a son of man, that he should change his mind” (Numbers 23:19).

Maybe it’s not about changing his mind as much as it is knowing his mind. But, see, I’m not really much of a charismatic Christian either.  I’ve been led astray one too many times by “gut feelings” that I mistakenly attributed to God’s leading.  And it seems like every cult on earth today started with some guy hearing voices and assuming it was a new revelation from God.  So I didn’t go into the experience expecting to hear anything from God that I could not read for myself in the Bible.

Still, I wanted direction from God, and even though I assumed he didn’t lead that way, I wanted to give it a try. The idea came from a good friend of mine who shared that he was regularly fasting about a situation in his family.  In the providence of God, I also stumbled upon several books and Websites about the topic (five of them, to be exact).

So I dove in, and here’s what I learned:

• It’s amazing how much time we spend on food — buying food, planning how we’ll cook food, shelling out money for food, passing the time munching on food, etc.  You don’t realize this until you stop.  The time you get back is amazing, and if you devote it to God, that alone is worth the experience of fasting.
• Most of us eat more for entertainment than nutrition. We eat to socialize.  We eat to calm our worries.  We eat to ward off boredom.  I’m even eating cereal right now for that very purpose.  It’s not that I’m hungry.  It just feels weird whenever my mouth is not chewing on something sugary… even at midnight.  How much money could we save by stopping eating for non-nutritional purposes?  How much healthier would we be?  Imagine the resources that would free up in our budgets and calendars so that we could do those things we’ve always wanted to do… like help feed those around the world who can’t even eat for nutritional purposes, much less entertainment.
• I learned that it’s OK to tell your body, “No!” Fasting is a discipline that helps put your mind and spirit in control.  In a strange way, it was gratifying to feel hunger pangs and interpret them as something normal and expected — even, dare I say, good — instead of a god that must be obeyed.
• Fasting in a safe way is healthy for your body. According to much of the literature out there, it’s a good way to detox and help your bodily systems regulate themselves.
• The experience was not a magical window into the mind of God for me. My questions were not clearly or fully answered.  Neither was I able to alter the plans of God to fit my desires.  But it did increase my faith, and my spiritual life definitely benefited from the exercise.  Although God did not give me revelation, he did give me illumination as he deepened my understanding of the Scriptures I read.
• The concept of fasting can be applied to more than just food. For example, I also chose to refrain from using Twitter and Facebook on Sundays.  This refreshing Sabbath from social media was a type of fasting that enabled me to keep them from becoming idols in my life.
• Finally, I learned that being secretive about fasting is as dangerous as being boastful about it. In desiring to be discreet, I declined going to lunch with friends and coworkers without giving a reason.  By the end of the month, I had some explaining to do because they thought I hated them!  A non-prideful explanation that you are fasting is a perfectly legitimate response to those who ask.

So, where do we go from here? I’m not exactly looking to do a 40-day fast, but I would like to expand to try 48-hour fasts and possibly 72-hour fasts in the future.  It’s undeniable that fasting is prominently featured in the teachings of the New Testament, so it’s a shame many Christians today don’t even give it a try.  I’m still learning, but I am trying.  Hopefully, my comments will be helpful to someone out there in a similar situation.  If you have any comments about your experiences in fasting, I’d love to hear them!

[ht: photo by Christian Cable]

So there you have it! I know, I know.  For some people, the songs are too old.  For some people, the songs are too new.  But that’s exactly the point.

While we’re not trying to be everything to everyone, we are:  1) Balancing the styles of our younger and older congregants.  2) Picking meaty songs with good melodies and great lyrics, regardless of their age (we’ve found most of these come from EMI-CMG).  3) Selecting songs which illustrate the topic of the sermon well to help make the service unified and memorable.

The CEO of Thomas Nelson hooked me up with a copy of Don’s new book, A Million Miles in a Thousand Years, last month, so I’ve had a chance to read it already. I didn’t know exactly what to expect.  I had read online that Miller’s next book was going to be a work of fiction — a break from his characteristic style of reflective memoir.  I was a little worried how that would turn out, and apparently, so was he… so much so that the project never really got off the ground.

In his new book, Miller talks a little about his struggle to write again after the huge success of Blue Like Jazz. Under such enormous pressure, his life stalled.  Unwilling to get out of bed, a sort of depression set in.  He realized he had reached the end of his life’s narrative.  He had accomplished his goal — so now what?

And beyond that, he realized that while he wrote good stories, he didn’t live good stories. This idea came to Don when two filmmakers approached him about making Blue Like Jazz into a movie.  They told him that his life was too boring to make a good movie, so they had to invent a new Don who could carry an audience’s attention.  This inspired him to discover an even greater principle — if he could re-write the script of his life to make a better movie, why not re-write the script of his real life too?  Why not live a better story?

The problem with the real Don’s life was that he was content to be comfortable.  That’s a problem we all face. Generally, humans won’t exchange comfort for anything.  He wrote, “Without an inciting incident that disrupts their comfort, they won’t enter into a story.  They have to get fired from their job or be forced to sign up for a marathon.  A ring has to be purchased.  A home has to be sold.  The character has to jump into the story, into the discomfort and the fear, otherwise the story will never happen.”

Once the story gets rolling, though, that’s not enough.  To be interesting, the character has to want something. Miller writes that the reason Star Wars is such a good movie is that you can point to any character in the movie and say exactly what his or her ambition is.  He added, “It made me wonder if the reasons our lives seem so muddled is because we keep walking into scenes in which we, along with the people around us, have no clear idea what we want.”

But in any good story, the main character can’t easily obtain what he or she wants. The same is inevitably true in life.  We have to overcome obstacles to reach our ambition.  Miller writes, “It would be easier not to try, not to get out of bed.”  But it’s the plowing through these obstacles and making memorable scenes that makes a good movie… and a good life!

All this applies to my life quite directly.  Like Don, I have in many ways reached the end of my narrative. All the goals I had set for myself, I have already reached.  Valedictorian (check).  National Merit Scholar (check).  TV Reporter (check).  Graduate degree recipient (check).  Church staff member (check).  Like Don, I’m at a point now of asking, “What’s next?”

Also, like Don’s narrative, my story has become pretty boring. This book has inspired me to set new goals for the next phase of my life, to question what it is that I really want to devote my life to, and to bravely face the obstacles that I will inevitably find along the path.

It took a brave man to write so honestly about his struggles, and hopefully his book will inspire all who read it to bravery in writing a better story for themselves. Pick up your copy today.  You’ll be glad you did!