Blogs I Wrote

There’s No Such Thing As Being Overcommitted: I don’t believe in overcommittment. This post is my manifesto on the topic.

4 Words That Changed My Life: I found out how many people are deathly afraid of confrontation. I shared a phrase that changed my whole perspective on how to handle confrontation with the right attitude.

Where Are All The Trophy Husbands?: Sparked by some Twitter conversation, I decided to share my thoughts on being a trophy husband. Great comments on this one!

Blogs I Read

Creativity Is Not Optional by Jason Stasyszen: Jason had some great thoughts on creativity. I really liked his point that God doesn’t use formulas but we always try to use them.

Influencers by Chris Brogan: Chris wrote an excellent piece defining influence and how to use it for good.

Two Very Encouraging Words by Edward Paz: Edward gives us a short exhortation: “say it.” He says that if you’ve never said it, it’s never been said. It definitely encouraged me.

Critique By Creating by Stephanie Smith (via Relevant Mag): Stephanie and I had an exchange  on her blog around the topic of critiquing by creating. I asked her to give me some examples and she came up with this essay that was picked up by Relevant. If you read nothing else, read this one. It was my favorite read of the week.

Share The Wealth

What’s the best thing you wrote this week?
What’s the best thing you read this week? 

Are your dreams God’s dreams?

These days there is no shortage of voices encouraging you to follow your dreams. Countless books and websites provide strategies to pursue whatever makes you happy. But what if your desires aren’t God’s will? How do you know?

In Expect The Exceptional, I share the key to unlocking God’s plan for your life. The desires of your heart line up with God’s will when your identity is found in who you are and Whose you are. As the truth of God’s word is illuminated, His plan for your life is revealed.

This understanding of identity has the potential to redefine our perceptions of full-time ministry. Whether you’re a missionary, own your own business or are somewhere in between, this book will show you how to line up your life to live exceptionally for Christ.

You don’t have to second guess your passion. You can stop worrying if your dream is an idol. This book will help you reconcile God’s purpose to your passion and give you the faith to expect the exceptional.

Expect The Exceptional
When your dreams meet God’s dreams 

Blogs I Wrote

The Hustle Switch: I was having a little writers block and I got some inspiration to push through. I was provoked not just in my writing but in my devotions. Short and sweet.

Amnesiac Grace: I talk about how easy it can be to forget the grace we’ve been given and return to our old ways. I distinguish between when we hear and forget and when we do and act. It’s all about self forgiveness.

My Unfocused Life (guest post): I loved this post by my friend Alise Wright. She approached the topic of identity in such a unique way. I loved her perspective on focus.

Blogs I Read

Love and Justice by Michael Gungor: I had a draft with the same exact title and I planned to write about this very subject. I’m glad I didn’t because Michael wrote more eloquently than I had ever planned. Best read of the week for me.

Are We Writing Things That Actually Help? by Ed Cyzewski: With the barrage of posts that come out for every scandalous event (ahem: Casey Anthony, Mark Driscoll, et al), Ed provides a sobering perspective. Read this!

This Is My Story by Alece Ronzino: I’ve been following Alece and reading her story for awhile now. I can relate so much to her pain in the aftermath of divorce. She gives such beautiful perspective on her story and His story and how they are one in the same.

Is Building Your Social Platform In Conflict With Building Christ’s Kingdom? by Stephanie Smith: Yeah it’s a mouthful of a title but it was a great read. Stephanie dissects whether self-promotion can harmonize with kingdom building.

5 Reasons Why Your Writing Matters by Ali Hale: This is a must read for anyone that writes. Great encouragement for both the veteran and aspiring writer.

Guest Posts Coming Soon

I’ll be writing a few guest posts in the near future. I’m excited about all of them:

@jenluit – I’ll be featured in Jennifer’s #identityseries talking about success and failure.

@popparables – I’ll be writing a Pop Parable for Keri about the movie The Company Men. Yes, of course it’s about identity.

@alisewrite – I’ll be sharing my story for Alise in her Not Alone Series. It is a post on depression. Wait, what?

@Jonathandkeck – I’ll be featured in Jonathan’s site Theology 21 sharing my thoughts on science and theology.

Share The Wealth

What’s the best post you wrote this week?
What’s the best post you read this week?

Welcome to a new series on the blog. The Weekend Wrap Up will be sort of a digest of the blog week, a highlight of some of my favorite blogs and other odds and ends. I hope you enjoy!

Blogs I Wrote

With the short holiday week, I only wrote two blogs this week:

On Nouns, Verbs and a Writer’s Identity: This was a special one for me as I discuss the dreaded label of “writer”. I talk about how the verbs of what I do cannot not define me. I look to the nouns of who I am to get my identity. A lot of commenters were able to identify (pun intended) with this one.

How Quoting Can Compromise Credibility: I’m a sucker for alliteration so I loved this title. I talk about my love of quotes but how, if you’re not careful, over relying on quotes can compromise your credibility. There were a lot of great comments and quotes on this post.

Blogs I Read

My True Bollywood Story: Part III by Katie Mae: If you haven’t already heard:

I’M ENGAGED!

My fiancé (is it just me that feels weird saying that word?) Katie wrote a beautiful post about our engagement story. Check it out and give her a virtual high five in the comments.

Everyone’s Frozen by Michael Perkins: New handwritten goodness by Mr. Perkins. I’ve missed these.

Why Good Writing Is Like Good Fireworks by Jeff Goins: Jeff wrote an excellent piece comparing the wonder of fireworks to the thrill of a good read.

Welcoming Special Needs Families by Jason Wert: My buddy Jason wrote an excellent piece for Ministry Matters about dealing with special needs families in the church. He lays out 4 practical and feasible steps that churches can take to minister to these families. I’m proud of Jason for accomplishing one of his goals for the year!

Books I Read

Velvet Elvis by Rob Bell: I flew up to West Virginia to drive down to Florida with Katie. I forgot to bring the book I was reading so I looked in my Kindle on the iPhone. Low and behold, I found this book which I got as a free download awhile back. I read it in 3 days. It was actually really good. I definitely would have had BIG problems with this book just 3 years ago but my mindset (and maturity) has changed quite a bit. If you haven’t read it, I recommend it as a great challenge to the status quo. Eat the meat, spit out the bones.

Miscellaneous Blog Stuff

I changed the blog up a bit recently. I moved the navigation up to the top, I removed the categories from the menu and I switched the content over to the left side. I also added a few new pages:

Guest Posting: If you’re interested in submitting a guest post for this site, check out the new page. I provide all the deets which are necessary to contribute.

What I’m Reading: For all my fellow bookworms, this page keeps track of all the books I’m reading this year. I use Shelfari to manage my list. Connect with me if you sign up.

Shameless Promo

What was the best post you wrote this week?
What was the best post you read this week?

Today I make my comedic debut. I know you all think I’m hilarious but I don’t write a humor blog. My posts are mostly serious. So it was fun to let my hair down and share with you something I’m passionate about…telling people how to raise their kids.

KC blogs about parenting pretty regularly so I figured this would be a chance to share my wisdom. What’s that you say? How can I do that when I don’t have any kids of my own? Easy. I watch The Dog Whisperer. End of discussion.

Here’s a little excerpt of the goodness:

Let me go ahead and get this out of the way: I don’t have kids. I don’t even have a dog. I live with my sister. She has a dog. I consider her my niece. These are my credentials. I will now tell you how to raise your kid.

I helped train my niece by using tips from Cesar Milan’s show on TLC, The Dog Whisperer. If you haven’t seen it, your life is incomplete. Not only will you receive tips on raising your dogs, but you’ll also learn how to harness the energy of your own little monsters all in one life-changing show.

Here are some strategies for raising kids I gleaned from The Dog Whisperer:

Don’t Rub Their Face In Crap

Continue reading…

Hop on over and read the rest of the post at KC’s blog. Leave a comment and let me know what you think!