Solomon’s Summaries could help you read more efficiently

Too many books, too little time.

Several years ago when I was teaching English, my students and I had the opportunity to meet Sandra Day O’Connor in her chambers at the Supreme Court. Justice O’Connor told us she was required to read over 1000 pages a day. Then she gave my students an inspirational speech that ended with a single piece of advice: "Learn to speed read."

(She also shook my hand and told me, "You teach at a school with my name on it." "Yes, your honor," I said. Then her voice adopted that Supreme Court Justice tone of gravitas and she said, "Don’t let me down." Gulp.)

Still her advice to students comes from that age old problem. Too many books. Up to 190,000 new titles every year according to some counts.

High Calling Blogger Heather Goodman and her husband are offering another solution to deal with the overload of information: Solomon’s Summaries .

Officially, we don’t do endorsements here at HighCallingBlogs.com, but Heather is offering a free download to people who are interested in exploring the service. Heather also let me review her summary of Mere Christianity . It’s good. Because the summary includes 14 discussion questions at the end, these could serve as a small group study guide as well.

I especially like what Heather and Chris said about the philosophy behind the service:

God had really been stirring a passion in our hearts to engage people in authentic, relevant, and transformational discussions about Christianity. Our society’s beginning to move to a more post-Christian culture. On the other hand, God in his grace leaves imprints of himself everywhere–in stories, art, business, and especially in the Church. We love talking about how culture intersects with Truth–how it shows Truth, and where it needs to be transformed by Truth.

Through Heather’s writing and speaking, Chris’ work with bible.org, and projects like Solomon Summaries, we have opportunities to help people see the Bible and God as relevant issues from practical everyday decisions about weekly financial and church life to bigger questions like purpose, calling and gifting.

I love that last idea. Helping "people see the Bible and God as relevant issues from practical everyday decisions about weekly financial and church life to bigger questions like purpose, calling and gifting" — that’s what high calling blogs is all about.

Can you imagine a world where everyone tried to help people discover God’s relevance to their purpose, calling, and gifting?

HighCallingBlogs.com is part of a larger vision

Recently, there was a feature article in the San Antonio Express-News about the H. E. Butt Foundation. That organization makes it possible for us to publish this blog network.

Be sure to look at the companion slideshow of pictures from our Foundation Free Camp program. Each year, more than 20,000 people use the H. E. Butt Foundation Camp property for retreats free of charge.

I just thought some of you might be interested in the larger vision that this network is part of.

Confessions of a great leader

Tod Bolsinger has a post up at It Takes a Church… called Is the Head the Problem or the Problem the Head? It’s heart-wrenching in its honesty. But it is also a great example of how much we learn from our weaknesses.

Tod was meeting with a consultant to help him evaluate the health of their church in San Clemente where he is the "Pastor and Head of Staff." The consultant didn’t mess around. Here’s how Tod tells it:

He said, “First of all you have to see the problem for what it is.  For all the strengths you bring, Tod, the problem is you. We have rarely seen a church that is as healthy as this one.  We have NEVER worked with a church that talks about its pastor as much as the people here talk about you.  The people are here because of your preaching and your leadership. Many believe that this church was turned around, even ’saved’ because of you. The people who left did so because they thought that you can’t relate to them.  The people who are excited feel personally close to you, the people who are complacent say that they need you to support their visions and dreams.  And most people believe that the church will die if you leave. This whole church is built around you.”

I gulped.  I honestly didn’t know what to say.  I didn’t like the idea that this church was so much about me.  I felt a bit embarrassed and defensive.  I really hadn’t tried to make the church so centered around me.  But obviously, that is exactly what had happened.  So, I just asked, “What do we do?”

Read more.

By the way, Tod Bolsinger is one of those bloggers that has been with us since the beginning. He’s written lots of articles at TheHighCalling.org for quite awhile, he speaks at Laity Lodge regularly, and he’s partially responsible for helping us snag Mark D. Roberts as director of Laity Lodge.

Also, both Tod AND Mark have already installed their HighCallingBlogs.com Lijit search widgets…

Party Time - Random Acts of Poetry

L.L. here. I am SO loving Random Acts of Poetry. Because poetry publishing has too often resembled a back room party. A private club. Or, like my eldest daughter recently explained to my youngest daughter, regarding some kids who developed a secret group, “They’re just inviting select people, and we weren’t selected.”

To my mind, poetry shouldn’t be like that. It should belong to people. It should be a communal celebration, a dialog in pictures and sound. I think about early poetry, how it was a memorable communication in song or story—a way to share, to frame community life with its joys and sorrows.

Then poets like T.S. Eliot (God bless him) made poetry complicated. You practically had to be a rocket scientist to figure out The Four Quartets . Don’t get me wrong. Eliot was a genius. And I’ve always adored The Love Song of J Alfred Prufrock . I’m a good former English major. I like symbols, adore metaphor.

But I like simplicity too. I love celebration. And I think everybody should be invited to the party (even if some send regrets). My idea of a good time would be to have you all over for tea— coffee for you sleepy types— and just read good poetry around the table, without a lot of fuss regarding the meaning and the form. All kinds of poetry would be welcome: happy, sad, or the kind that simply leaves you speechless because it’s just darn’d beautiful.

So for today, maybe you could think of this as L.L’s living room. Tea, coffee, scones (my husband is famous for his scone-making abilities, which he often showcases at my various book club gatherings). And happy poetry.

Why happy poetry today? I still remember Erica’s question from our first Random Acts of Poetry. She said, “Maybe I could learn to write poetry in Joy after all?” Poetry, we learned later from Erica, had often been related to sadness in her life.

Anyway, grab a scone and the hot drink of your choice. Then kick up your feet and enjoy this playful poem from Marcus Goodyear . He wrote it after a crazy bit of play with his son, when they pretended that love bugs were snow, ‘cause after all “there’s never snow in South Texas.”

Yes, Erica, I’m thinking we can write poetry in joy.

Welcoming Summer

Two love bugs mate on my leg
Until I draw them off with this
#2 pencil. The pair crawls past
my thumb as I write–then up
to the pink eraser which must taste
funny to tongue buds on their feet.
They fly away, black-legged snow-
flakes. We think of Christmas specials
where painted children catch snow
on tongues to welcome winter.
“Open wide, kids,” I say. “There’s
never snow in South Texas.”
My son plays along and we run
up and down the blacktop lot–
heat rising in waves around us–
we must look a pair of Baptist Johns,
prophesying protein in the desert.
A voice of two calling between
parked cars: “Prepare the way
for summer bugs. Make straight
your tongues for them.” Push that
play too far and bugs become God.
All mankind finds salvation in bugs.
And why not? God can raise up
children from rocks and bugs,
even cars with bug-splattered bumpers.

Welcoming Summer was first published by Marcus Goodyear as a response to a Robert Hruzek writing project. Special thanks to everyone who’s already joined the RAP party, by commenting or posting a companion Random Acts of Poetry (great idea Erica!). Here are your equivalents to a signed thank you note (just a little link love)… Billy Coffey , Merrie Destefano , Laure , Lorrie , nAncY , me (I thought I’d thank myself too, because it amused me to do so), Megan , Prairie Chick , and Yvette Massey . Oh, and I guess you count too, Marcus .

Love Bug photo by Anne W. Gideon, Bugwood.org

Working Matters Podcast - Toughing Out a Tough Job

Karl Edwards has been blogging and recording his podcast, Working Matters, for several years now. After spending some time studying at Fuller and then helping them reorganize some staffing issues–he launched Bold Enterprises. He’s a great guy, one of those high calling contacts that became a friend rather than just a contact.

Karl is one of our business bloggers who helps people think through the meaning of their work. Often, Karl never talks about faith explicitly, though his faith supports all the advice and insight he has about the workplace.

His latest podcast series really struck me: Toughing Out a Tough Job. Here’s what Karl has to say about it:

When we talk about “toughing out a tough job,” (our current podcast discussion series ), we are not talking about passively enduring an awful situation until something better comes along.

We’re talking about finding meaning in the mean time.

We’re talking about making the time work for you instead of against you.

We’re talking about taking control of the tough experience and creating as good an experience as possible.

Read more of this series and/or subscribe to the Working Matters podcast on itunes .

Network Search Helps Readers Find Your Blog

Lijit is something we discovered at Blog World Expo in Las Vegas. First, I "lost everything" in a pitiful but friendly game of poker with the b5media people

The b5media people recommended that I not play poker in any of the casinos. Ever. (I didn’t.)

Then, they indirectly recommended that I explore Lijit. It’s the network search tool that they are already using for their b5media blogs. Visit Phil Gerbyshak’s b5media blog Slacker Manager , and you’ll see the Lijit search just under the fold on the right. (Hi Phil!)

So, I tromped over to the Lijit people. They were so gracious, I couldn’t believe it. Just because I liked them, I gave the widget a try. Why not?

Well, I have had it for a month now, and it’s pretty awesome. There are lots of bells and whistles, but their big service comes down to this-we can all search each other’s blogs from our own blogs.

Think about that for a minute.

No, forget that. Stop thinking and just go do it. Visit GoodWordEditing.com and run a search on the word “retreat.” You can see that we have the Lijit search just to the right here, but I need you to stay on this page and keep reading after you play around with the search.

By exploring the Lijit Picks and the Network search, you’ll organically find your way to these other network blogs and network writing projects…

• http://freedominthedance.blogspot.com/2008/05/retreat-retreat-retreat.html
• http://spaghettipie.wordpress.com/2008/05/06/retreat/
• http://middlezonemusings.com/the-power-of-retreat/
• http://www.reallivepreacher.com/node/211
• http://seedlingsinstone.blogspot.com/2008/08/arrested.html
• http://successcreeations.com/value-in-getting-away/435/
• http://www.goodwordediting.com/retreat-get-a-handle-on-gods-design/418/

*** Warning Geek Paragraph Ahead ***
And the search is customizable. You’ll get more network results at GoodWordEditing.com, than you will on some blogs. That’s because in addition to providing search results from my blog, I’ve told Lijit to search my network of social media contacts through the services like del.icio.us, linkedin, disqus, flickr, and youtube. And that includes a whole lot you YOU GUYS. If that makes no sense or seems too complicated for you, don’t worry about it.
*** Resuming Content for Nongeeks ***

The point is, we’re already all connected just a little bit because of the social media work that Chris, Gordon, L.L., Sam Van Eman, and others are already doing.

But now we have the opportunity to connect even more closely . And that’s what this network is about, right?

Real connections. Real conversations. Real encouragement.

Real community. Shared values.

So, if you’re interested in installing Lijit, leave a comment here or email Marcus at marcus@highcallingblogs.com . I’ve been working with the Lijit staff for a month now, and they are going to help us load as many people as possible into the network search.

Remember, once you install Lijit, any search on any blog in our network can return results from YOUR BLOG. And vice versa. b5media is already using this–and they are pretty much the most successful blog network in the world. You’ll be able to search the entire network without ever leaving your own URL!

If you don’t trust me, look into Lijit yourself.

Then leave a comment here or email me to let me know you’re interested.

Lost in a Spooky Maze? Take Coffey’s Advice

Marcus here. It’s a beautiful Monday morning.

I’m one of those people who loves Mondays. I’ve always loved them because I feel refreshed from the weekend. And why not? I’ve just spent lots of time with my family, and I feel good about diving back into work. With five whole days of work ahead of me, I always feel like I’ll be able to conquer the world. I’m stupidly optimistic like that. Every Monday.

Billy Coffey of What I Learned Today must be refreshed this morning too. He had a great weekend getting lost with his family, and he posted a good essay about it today. He writes,

My family and I stopped by a local church yesterday for a little pre-Halloween trick or treating. Cars lined the parking lot with trunks open and full of candy, around which hovered an assortment of kid-sized ghosts, princesses, and super heroes. A moon bounce and the playground helped limit the damage of the inevitable sugar rush, and a hay wagon ride helped ease the transition between having fun and going home.

But it was the maze our family enjoyed the most. Not the mile-long labyrinth of corn a few towns over. Smaller. For the kids. And for parents who pretend they’re kids at Halloween. Read more…

(Special hat tip to Jennifer Dukes Lee of Getting Down With Jesus for sending us this link this morning. Her blog is well worth your time too!)

The Art of Editing Feeds

One of our primary goals here at HighCallingBlogs.com has always been to help Christians blog well . In some ways, we’re not even all that concerned about what you say. We certainly don’t presume to have a strangle hold on Christian orthodoxy or anything.

We just want to give you the tools to interact in this world fluently.

That’s one of the reasons we sponsor GodblogCon and attend Blog World Expo .  We’re also members of the International Blogging and New Media Association that sponsors Blogworld. You might consider joining if you’re serious about blogging. It’s not expensive. But if you’re unsure, just read their blog regularly and see if you find it valuable.

Recently, I posted on an article on their blog called "The Art of Editing Feeds ." It’s about some ways Christianity Today is using RSS to keep its readers informed. Take a look–and give my article a thumbs up if you like it!

(I know, I know. I’m shameless.)

Weaving the Hours - Random Acts of Poety

Marcus here. Last week on a whim, we posted some Random Acts of Poetry. Suddenly, it seems the network poets came out of the wood work!

Next week, I’ll show more restraint, but for now I’m going to let the links fly like a blast from a Texas shotgun. Yeehaw!

To start, I want to thank those of you who commented on the first post Merrie Destefano of Alien-Dreams, Lorrie of Grow Up Deep, Erica Hale of These Three Remain (thanks for the response post this morning, Erica), nAncY of the The Blog of Nancy, and of course L. L. Barkat of Seedlings In Stone whose poem we featured.

A special thanks to Laure of Weaving the Hours. As I understand it, she actually joined the network because of Random Acts of Poetry. Yay!

I noticed more people writing poetry this week too. Which may mean only that I was looking for it. nAncY posted some new ones, but I’m going to recommend What Would Happen from several weeks back. Great imagery!  Merrie Destefano posted a suprising (and sensual) poem at Alien-Dreams called The Other Side about the intimacy of sharing her writing with someone. Yvette Massey posted a concrete poem at Journey Through His Garden. And my own dad came out of blog retirement to post The Last Day, something he wrote at Laity Lodge. Love you, Dad. Steve McCoy of Reformissionary, one of my favorites in the network,  posted lots of links about poetry as well as an update about how his wife is doing.

If you aren’t praying for Steve McCoy and his wife, please do so. She’s been very sick for awhile.

Which brings me to this Friday’s Random Act of Poetry from Laure of Weaving the Hours. Because anyone who joins the network over poetry deserves to get featured.  Her poem from yesterday on the 9 o’clock hour was quite moving.

this is why i love the morning …

it comes

inevitable as joy
which night cannot endure
for weeping.

it comes

necessary as, “but,”
when suffering makes me forgetful.

As a bonus, here is an animated poem from Billy Collins. A lot of people ask me how to write better poetry. I don’t know why they expect me to know the answer to this because I’m really just a hack poet myself. I like to play around with words, but that’s about it. I do know that I started becoming better when I began reading good poetry. What a concept right? Billy Collins is a good start. His Poetry 180 will keep you occupied in good verse for awhile, starting with Billy Collins own Introduction to Poetry. Also, I really enjoyed his book Questions About Angels and the animated videos of Billy Collins poetry, like this one called Some Days. For me, this poem is a good reminder not to think of myself as a little god, though I think God gives me more creative power than a plastic doll. Watch the poem, and you’ll understand what I mean.

Ten Commandments of Blogging

It is possible to get yourself into a lot of trouble very quickly with your blog.

In the time I’ve been blogging I’ve heard about cases where people have lost their jobs, upset clients, created problems in their marriages, broken relationships with family and friends, and even gotten themselves arrested - all becasue of things they published on their blogs.

Internet is Forever

I tell people that they shouldn’t post anything that they don’t want to become part of their own permanent record. While the adage, "The Internet is Forever" may be a bit of an exaggeration, once things are out there on the web it is often very difficult to make them go away. Between Google Cache & the WayBack Machine things on the web can be remarkably persistent.

I generally advise people not to post anything that they don’t want a future potential boss to have a print out of alongside your job application. For my own posting habits I just keep one rule in mind.

Don’t Be Stupid

So far that’s worked for me.

Unfortunately "stupid" can be a very subjective term and that rule may not be enough for some folks. On the good news side, the folks over at the Evangelical Alliance have gone back to the Bible for inspiration on some more refined blogging guidelines.

Ten Commandments of Blogging

I first heard about the list in this Information Age article . And while it may not be exactly right for everyone, these are some very good guidelines that will keep you out of the most serious pitfalls that can result from blogging while stupid.

Here’s their list:

1. You shall not put your blog before your integrity.
2. You shall not make an idol of your blog.
3. You shall not misuse your screen name by using your anonymity to sin.
4. Remember the Sabbath day by taking one day off a week from your blog.
5. Honour your fellow-bloggers above yourselves and do not give undue significance to their mistakes.
6. You shall not murder someone else’s honour, reputation or feelings.
7. You shall not use the web to commit or permit adultery in your mind.
8. You shall not steal another person’s content.
9. You shall not give false testimony against your fellow-blogger.
10. You shall not covet your neighbour’s blog ranking. Be content with your own content.

It is an interesting take on the original Ten Commandments . What do you think? Are these good blogging guidelines?

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