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These things are connected: A conference, a magazine, a flight, and dogsitting.

This Fall I attended (actually served at) a brand new conference/event called STORY. I volunteered for 2 reasons: 1.) Then digital (now real life) friend of mine named Ben Arment was the founder and architect of the event. 2.) There is something about the word ‘story’, and the concept of stories that stirs something deep within my soul. I knew I needed to be at this event.

At the conference everyone received a bag with all kinds of promo, conference info, and a free issue of a magazine called Collide. This particular issue of collide had the word ‘STORY’ written on the front in a very cool font (liken it to dangling a shiny object in front of me). I liked it, but apparently not enough to read it.

I’m typing this blog on a plane via the WordPress app on my iPhone (I love technology). Up until now, my iPhone and all of its marevelous apps has merely served as means of providing a soundtrack (John Mayer, Switchfoot, Johsua Radin). This is primarily because I have been reading the afformentioned magazine. Turns out this issue contained all sorts of articles that captured my attention, and directly addressed a topic that I’ve found myself engrossed in lately: The idea of leveraging our lives to tell a story, and our participation in a Grand Story.

I think that it is no coincidence that I have chosen to read this 6 month old magazine while on a plane travelling to Florida where I’m spending the next 7 days primarily alone, at my friends house in Bradenton caring for his dogs while he is out of town. I have a full plate of work planned for these 7 days, but I’ve made the commitment to myself, to others, and to God that a primary purpose of this trip will be focused dreaming, thinking, and listening.

I’m listening to, observing, and participating in The Story. I’m confident the next 7 days will be providential for my life, ministry, and future.

I’ve read a couple of blog posts in the past few minutes that have really struck a chord with me. I encourage you to go to the following two links and check out the posts. Don’t stop there though, go through the comments and hear what others are doing in similar situations. Post 1 from Ragamuffin Soul. and Post 2 from Joshua Griffin. Check them out!

The reality is, we live in a fascinating time. We have dozens of affordable luxuries at our fingertips daily. The question for us should not be: “Can I afford that”, but “Do I need that”. What do we really need? what could we do without? 

I’m wondering what some of you have to say about this. I’m wondering if you’ve ever gone without a modern luxury, so that you can tackle debt, be obedient to God, sponsor a Compassion child, to “Go Green”, or anything else along those lines. 

In the spirit of full disclosure, I feel the need to say that I don’t do without any of these things. I’m not seeking to convict, just to spark conversation! Jenessa and I have digital cable with DVR. We have RoadRunner cable internet. We both have cell phones. We do NOT have a home phone, but only because we honestly have ZERO need for one. We drive two cars, but have no car payment… when we purchased a new car after totaling our old car, we stayed within the boundaries of the insurance check to replace that car.

 I actually went through a period about  a year ago where I contemplated killing the cable at our house. After thinking about it, and figuring out the money I would be saving, I determined that it wouldn’t be “worth it”. Turns out that I’m on some freaky cheap package with Time Warner Cable. I get Digital Cable + DVR + Roadrunner Internet for $85.00 per month. If I cancelled the cable, my RoadRunner internet would go up to $45 per month by itself. The nature of my work situation at Journey Church does not allow me to go without the internet at my house, so we determined that $40 a month was worth the Cable & DVR.

For the record, I could totally go without cable. There are resources & tools out there that would enable me to enjoy all of the same programming I do now, without the cost. My ideal setup would be: Apple TV + BoxeeTV + Hulu + Netflix. Now I just need someone to step up and buy me that Apple TV for Pastor Appreciation Month!  (I never thought that I’d link to CBN on this blog!)

You know those people that you wish you “knew”? You might read their books, hear them speak, or watch them from afar, and they just seem like they would be so cool to “know”. Like… hang out with, go to dinner with, watch football with. People that just seem like they would be a lot of fun to be around. 

Well, Lanny Donoho is one of those people. The dude is hilarious… he seems down to earth, and he’s typically brutally honest. His book: God’s Blogs is absolutely hilarious, yet utterly insightful. I wish I “knew” Lanny… that would be fun. 

You can understand why I was excited when I discovered that he had just recently began to Twitter. The excitement doubled when I realized that he started blogging a couple of months ago. He has now assumed a prominent place on the list of “Blogs I Dig” to the left. 

If you want a glance inside Lanny’s head, read his first blog post here. If you want more, add him to your RSS and enjoy the ride! In the meantime, I’m curious… who is the person you watch from afar that you wish you “knew”?