My 2016 Reading List

I'm almost 2 years late with this post, but better late than never, right?  What follows is my 2016 reading list--some great stuff here.

My 2016 Reading Goal

I set a goal to read 50 books in 2016.  But, just as in 2013, 2014, and 2015, I fell short: I read 32 books in 2016.

My Rules

I only count books I read all the way through, cover to cover.  I read lots of journals and periodicals and online resources, and in my weekly sermon prep read parts of different books and commentaries, but for my reading goal, none of those count.  Why not?  I find that the concentration and focus required to read a book all the way through is different (and more valuable) than reading a magazine article or blog post or even part of a book, for example.  (Also, reading blog posts and articles isn't life-giving to me the way reading a book is.)A book that I keep thinking about months afterward, a book that adds enduring value to my life, that's a book I'll define as good.  Since I'm writing this post in 2018, books I rate well below are books that really stuck with me.I use a 5 star system in my ratings to signify the following:★★★★★  life-changing and unforgettable★★★★  excellent★★★  worth readingBooks getting less than 3 stars aren't on my Best list, which doesn't mean they were necessarily bad--just not books that I'd excitedly recommend to you.★★  read other things first★   not recommended 

The Best Books I Read in 2016 (in chronological order)

The Rage Against God: How Atheism Led Me to Faith, by Peter Hitchens

 Peter Hitchens has become one of my favorite writers, and I try to read everything he publishes.  He writes a column for the "The Mail on Sunday" newspaper, and blogs regularly at that site.  (His blog is particularly entertaining and informative.)  Mr. Hitchens is the brother of the late Christopher Hitchens, a man well-known for his strident atheism.  Peter Hitchens, in contrast, had an adult conversion to conservative Anglicanism, and this book is partly a memoir of that journey.Most of the work of Mr. Hitchens has an elegiac quality, a mournful look at the way the world used to be and will never be again.  He is too honest and too intelligent to believe that everything about the world of his boyhood is better than the modern world, but also too honest and intelligent to go along with the unthinking modern worship of Progress.★★★★  The Rage Against God 

All the Light We Cannot See, by Anthony Doerr

What I remember most about this lovely novel about a blind French girl during the Second World War is the appreciation the author has for the thingness of things--old-fashioned keys, the oiled tumblers of a lock, the feel of braille on a page, worn carpet on rickety steps.  Just as Marie-Laure comes to know the world through senses other than sight, so do we, the readers, experience the reality of her world.I loved this novel all the way up until the final few pages, which I felt were a betrayal of the hundreds of pages that had come before.  Still, the best novels create a world that you live within while you're reading, and this one does it.★★★★  All the Light We Cannot See 

An Officer and a Spy, by Robert Harris

I'd heard about L'Affaire Dreyfus since high school, and I could have answered a trivia question that asked about Emile Zola and J'Accuse, but beyond that I didn't know much of anything about it, other than it involved the French army and nasty anti-Semitism.  On a recommendation from Peter Hitchens (see above), I decided to try Robert Harris's historical novel about the Dreyfus Affaire, and I've been thinking about it ever since I read it.The most remarkable thing about this remarkable story is that virtually all of the major and minor characters in the novel were actual historical people.  The story is both thrilling, sickening, and fascinating.  And, to look back with hindsight and know that within 20 years of the original event France's army would be decimated in the Great War gives the entire story a foreboding quality.(I listened to the audio version of this novel, read by David Rintoul.  He is an EXCELLENT reader, and I cannot recommend the audiobook highly enough.)★★★★  An Officer and a Spy 

Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World, by Cal Newport

Tim Ferriss has this great question he asks the guests on his podcast: "What is the one book you've most gifted--given to other people--in the last year?"  For me, one of the books (the other being Rocket Fuel, see below)  I've most gifted in the past couple of years is Deep Work.  I wrote in greater detail about this book in May 2016, so here I'll just say that though I'm constantly surprised at how few people I know seem willing to do anything about the problems of distraction in our wireless world, maybe that unwillingness will give those of us who are trying to learn how to focus a competitive advantage.★★★★  Deep Work 

Rocket Fuel: The One Essential Combination That Will Get You More of What You Want From Your Business, by Gino Wickman and Mark C. Winters

Reading this book permanently changed the way I think about my role as the leader of an organization.  The argument in Rocket Fuel is simple: at the top of any organization, there needs to be a partnership between the visionary--usually but not always the point leader--and an integrator, who implements the vision.The book gives some helpful tips for finding out which role you are better suited for, and how to find your counterpart.  Very simple ideas, but powerful in practice.★★★  Rocket Fuel 

Voyage to Alpha Centauri, by Michael D. O'Brien

Michael D. O'Brien has become one of my favorite novelists, and this long novel about a long journey to our nearest solar system set in the near future has been rattling around in my mind since I finished it over 2 years ago.  O'Brien is not a science-fiction novelist, and this isn't really a science-fiction novel so much as a religious novel: in a secular future, a lonely, irascible scientist is invited to be a passenger aboard the first manned spaceship to leave our galaxy.  I found the description of the ship and the technological advances it contains as well as the bureaucratic rigidity and cruelty that the main character faces to be both believable and terrifying.  This isn't a perfect novel, and though I'm inclined to agree with this reviewer's criticism here, I actually think it stands up over time.  Of all the books I read in 2016, this is the one that has most haunted my thoughts 2 years later.★★★★1/2  Voyage to Alpha Centauri 

Advise and Consent: A Novel of Washington Politics, by Allen Drury

I read this 1959 novel over Thanksgiving break 2 years ago, but I found myself thinking about it constantly during the confirmation hearings for Justice Brett Kavanaugh earlier this fall.  Advise and Consent is a long novel about a national political controversy, not unlike the Kavanaugh controversy in that it brings political passions to boil over.  It's about what men will do to gain power, and about how ideology causes people to congratulate themselves on their deceit.  The central act of the novel is a betrayal that is among the nastiest, cruelest things I've ever read, which has caused me to think about the Presidents in my lifetime--would these men resort to that kind of action?  I fear the answer is yes.  This is a book for anyone who loves politics (and you'd better love politics, since the book is over 700 pages long); along with Richard Ben Cramer's nonfiction magnum opus What It Takes: The Way to the White House, which I wrote about here, Advise and Consent is one of the best political books I've ever read.★★★1/2  Advise and Consent 

The Rest of My 2014 Reading List (Some Great, Some Worthless--in Chronological Order)

Silence: A Novel, by Shusaku Endo

An historical novel about Jesuit missionaries to Japan during a time of great persecution in the 17th century, Silence asks the question, Is it right to deny Christ in order to alleviate suffering?  I think the novel gives one answer, whereas Martin Scorsese's excellent film adaptation gives a contrary one.  I'd recommend both the book and the movie.★★★  Silence 

The New Rules for Love, Sex, and Dating, by Andy Stanley

The sermon series on which this book was based was excellent, the book less so.★★  The New Rules for Love, Sex, and Dating 

Tortured for Christ, by Richard Wurmbrand

A famous memoir about the evils of Communism and the horrors of Ceaucescu's rule in Romania.★★  Tortured for Christ 

Moonfleet, by J. Meade Faulkner

This is an adventure story along the lines of Treasure Island or Kidnapped--though not as good as either--written at the end of the 19^thcentury about the south coast of England during the 1750s.  A recommendation from Peter Hitchens (see above), it had me reaching for the dictionary, but I loved the antiquated speech of the characters.★★1/2  Moonfleet 

Arts and Entertainments: A Novel, by Christopher Beha

This novel made me queasy the whole time I was reading it, and I had to make a commitment finish it.  It's about a guy who sells a sex-tape that contains a scene with a now-famous ex-girlfriend.  What made me queasy was not the sex-tape (no details are given), but the nauseating sense of celebrity culture and reality television that pervades the novel, and, of course, everyday life.  This novel is a satire, and Mr. Beha clearly does not think that reality television is a good thing; nonetheless, I still disliked reading about it.★  Arts and Entertainments 

Discovering the Shepherd: a Study of Psalm 23, by G.E. Johnson

★  Discovering the Shepherd 

The Big Short: Inside the Doomsday Machine, by Michael Lewis

Infuriating, because the people who did the wrong thing got away with it.  Interesting portraits of the sort of people who saw what no one else actually wanted to see, even though the evidence was there the entire time.★★  The Big Short 

Fight for the Forgotten: How a Mixed Martial Artist Stopped Fighting for Himself and Started Fighting for Others, by Justin Wren & Loretta Hunt

Justin is a friend of mine; the story of his conversion to Christianity and his subsequent adoption by a Pygmy tribe in the Congo Rainforest is one of the more amazing stories I've heard.  I'd rate this book higher, but hearing "the Big Pygmy" speak in person has spoiled it for me.★★  Fight for the Forgotten 

Reflections on the Psalms, by C.S. Lewis

Great chapters on the violent psalms and on the use of scripture.  Really insightful book.  Recommended.★★★  Reflections on the Psalms 

Dictator: A Novel, by Robert Harris

3^rd and final novel in a trilogy about the ancient Roman statesman Cicero.  Very creative.  Gave me a lot of perspective on ancient Rome, and the fall of the Roman Republic.  I liked this, but not as much as An Officer and a Spy by the same author (see above).  Certainly worth reading, though.★★★1/2  Dictator 

Fifth Business, by Robertson Davies

A very strange novel about the life of a Canadian bachelor.  Don't really know if I liked it or not.★★  Fifth Business 

Spirituality of Gratitude: The Unexpected Blessings of Thankfulness, by Joshua Choonmin Kang

Simple, holy reflections on gratitude.★★  Spirituality of Gratitude 

Unleashing Opportunity: Why Escaping Poverty Requires a Shared Vision of Justice, by Michael Gerson, Stephanie Summers, and Katie Thompson

This is the kind of book in which the authors say things like "Government and church should work together to help children." Okay.... But what does that mean?  The only part of the book I found interesting was the chapter on payday lending.  Banks usually lend money to people that can pay it back; in payday lending, the whole point is to lend money so that people will never pay it back.★  Unleashing Opportunity 

The Power of TED* (The Empowerment Dynamic), by David Emerald

The drama triangle stuff is worth the price of the book, though the little fable is a bit much for me.★★  The Power of TED* 

Manage Your Day-to-Day: Build Your Routine, Find Your Focus, and Sharpen Your Creative Mind (99U)

Simple little book.  Worth reading for those who are in the creative professions and struggle with distraction.  I really liked the ideas of routine.  Reminded me of what I already knew (which is not a bad thing).★★  Manage Your Day-to-Day 

Team of Teams: New Rules of Engagement for a Complex World, by General Stanley McChrystal, Tantum Collins, David Silverman, and Chris Fussell

I previously reviewed this book.  From that review:

Team of Teams is an interesting, thorough book (I've only referenced a very small part of its content here), but I'm not totally convinced by its argument.  General McChrystal and his co-authors argue that in our complex world, a great team or team of teams is a greater strategic advantage than a great leader.  I agree with that, as far as it goes, and I think the insights in the book about how to create an organizational culture that is adaptable and resilient are helpful.  But, I can't help thinking that part of the story of the book is also that it takes a great leader to create that kind of organizational culture.  Maybe the kind of leader who could lead that kind of change would end up thriving in any situation, complex or not.  The Admiral Nelsons of the world might just make any team successful.  A team is important, but a team requires a leader.  As Bill Hybels likes to say, 'Everything rises and falls on leadership.'  As I said, the more I read General McChrystal‘s book, the more I thought, 'This guy is impressive.'

★★  Team of Teams 

If You Can Keep It: The Forgotten Promise of American Liberty, by Eric Metaxas

When asked by a passerby in 1787 what the Framers of the Constitution had been creating on behalf of the American people, Ben Franklin replied "A republic, if you can keep it."  I strongly dislike both the Bonhoeffer and Luther biographies by Metaxas--I can't stand his writing style--but I really liked this little book about America.  Highly recommended.★★★  If You Can Keep It 

The Chimera Sequence, by Elliott Garber

Look up "Beach Read" in the dictionary, and this novel about mountain gorillas and terrorists and heroic scientists would be pictured.★  The Chimera Sequence 

Laurus, by Eugene Vodolazkin, trans. by Lisa C. Hayden

After reading Rod Dreher's rhapsodic review of this modern Russian novel, I wanted to like it...but I just didn't.  I thought it was okay and interesting, but nothing close to as good as he seems to think.★ Laurus 

Streamline: How to Create Healthy Church Systems, by Michael Lukaszewski

★★ Streamline 

Leadership Axioms, by Bill Hybels

One of the many sad parts of the Bill Hybels situation this year is that Bill was someone with good stuff to say...if only he would have applied it to himself.  This is a good book, regardless of its author's hypocrisy and failings.★★★  Leadership Axioms 

With: A Practical Guide to Informal Mentoring and Intentional Disciple-Making, by George G. Robinson and Alvin L. Reid

I remember literally nothing about this book.★  With 

The Checklist Manifesto: How to Get Things Right, by Atul Gawande

Really interesting case studies (aviation, surgery, etc.) of the usefulness of checklists.★★  The Checklist Manifesto 

Werewolf Cop: A Novel, by Andrew Klavan

Yes, I actually read this.  And no, I have no idea why.★  Werewolf Cop 

Red Moon Rising: Rediscover the Power of Prayer, by Pete Grief and Dave Roberts

I heard Pete Grieg give a talk at a conference, and so I bought this book.  Wasn't particularly helpful to me, though I was struck by the 24-7 Prayer emphasis.★  Red Moon Rising  

The Simple Technique Anyone Can Use To Become a Better Communicator (Immediately)

I've written a very short whitepaper on a subject I care a lot about: communication.Click HERE to subscribe to my newsletter and I'll send it to you for free:The Simple Technique Anyone Can Immediately Use To Become a Better Communicator.(If you are already a subscriber, drop me a line and I'll send you the whitepaper.)

How Make the Ridiculous Time Change Work For You

I think the concept of Daylight Saving Time is one of those bureaucratic and ubiquitous aspects of modern life which everyone more or less accepts but which is actually pointless when you consider it for more than 5 minutes. But, since my ranting won't do anything to end the practice, let's do this instead: let's make this ridiculous time change work for us.

Early Mornings Are Everything

"Morning" is my word for 2018. If you win the morning, you win the day. But, it is hard to get up early. Fortunately, the time change?offers you the perfect opportunity to revise your morning routine. With the change back to standard time, the extra hour you?ll gain could be exactly what you need to start a new morning routine. Here are 4 steps to take so you can start getting that early worm.

1. Go to Bed Early This Saturday Evening.

Don‘t make the mistake of thinking that the extra hour means you can stay up later. Head to bed at your normal time (or even better, a bit earlier) on Saturday.

2. Don‘t Sleep In on Sunday Morning

Set your alarm for the new early time you?d like to get up on Monday morning.

3. Begin An Evening Routine

The key to getting up early is preparing the night before. Set out your clothes for the next morning. Shut down your email. Lay out your workout gear. Put out your coffee cup. I find that I need to begin shutting down around an hour before I want to be in bed.

4. When the Alarm Goes Off, Get Your Feet on the Floor ASAP

Once you get your feet on the floor, you‘ve already won. Resist the urge to hit snooze and say I’ll get up in a few minutes. If you roll back over, you?re toast; get up immediately on your alarm. I've found that putting my alarm/phone beyond arm's reach--thereby forcing me to put my feet on the floor in order to silence it--ensures that I actually get up when my alarm goes off. 

Make Early our Watchword

Greatness starts early in the morning. Anyone can learn to get up early, and this weekend offers you the perfect opportunity. Don‘t miss it. 

I‘ve written a very short whitepaper on a subject I care a lot about communication.Click HERE to subscribe to my newsletter and I’ll send it to you for free:The Simple Technique Anyone Can Immediately Use To Become a Better Communicator.(If you are already a subscriber, drop me a line and I’ll send you the whitepaper.)

92 Days....

Tomorrow is October 1, the first day of the last quarter of the year. God willing, I have 92 mornings left in 2017, 92 days between now and the end of the year. I like clean beginnings, and the fact that October 1 falls on a Sunday has got me motivated to nail down some goals for the rest of 2017. Call them End Year Resolutions.Like you, I began the new year with hope, and wrote down some goals for 2017. Now, however, some of those goals seem unattainable, and some just don't interest me any more. So, I'm spending some time today to gain clarity and focus on what I really want to accomplish in the last three months of 2017. I'd like to share one of my year-end goals with you, in hopes that some of you will join me.

"Consistency is More Important Than Intensity"

I believe that consistency is more important than intensity. In other words, sustaining a behavior over time is more valuable than an intense but brief change of behavior. So, I've staked out a few habit goals between now and the end of the year, one of which has to do with daily scripture reading. I've written before about the power in spending the first few minutes of every day in prayer and scripture: it's?a keystone habit that will affect every area of your life. So, I'm re-committing myself to spending the first 30 minutes of every day in silence,?prayer, and scripture. ?(For me, my scripture reading is that day's portion from The One Year Bible.)What about you? I'd love to hear some of your year-end resolutions in the comments below. P.S. It really has to be your first minutes every morning. If you think, Let me first check my texts or see the previous evening‘s news or briefly scroll through Instagram, and then I’ll read and pray? it just won‘t work. If you crack open the door of your mind to the Cloud? even just the tiniest bit, it will force the door wide open and invite in all its distracting (but oh-so-beguiling) friends.First things first. Then and only then let the iPhone turn you into a zombie.

My One Word for 2017

As I've done for the past three New Year's Days, today I'm choosing a one word theme to live into for the coming year.  I've made goals for 2017, too, but there's something I like about the simplicity of choosing just one word to knit all my goals together. 

My One Word for 2017

For 2017 I'm again choosing the same word I've chosen for the past three years.My one word for 2017 is early.I will:

• wake early
• pray early
• workout early
• arrive early
• get things done early
• finish my sermon early
• get to bed early

What about you?  What‘s your one word for 2017?  Why? 

P.S.  Fox and Hedgehog

The Philosopher Isaiah Berlin, drawing on a line from the Ancient Greek poet Achilocus, wrote a famous essay in 1953 entitled The Hedgehog and the Fox.  The basic idea is that the fox knows many things, but the hedgehog knows one big thing.  Foxes have a variety of interests; hedgehogs have one stubborn idea.In this space, I follow my interest wherever it takes me (like a fox) while always writing in the service of The One Big Thing (like a hedgehog).What‘s that One Big Thing?  You?ll have to read to find out.Click here to subscribe and get my posts delivered straight to your inbox.

Read the Bible With Me in 2017

Can I suggest a New Year's resolution for you? Make the commitment to read through the Bible with me in 2017. At Munger, 2017 is our Year of the Bible, and we're launching something called The Bible Project. Here are 3 reasons why I hope you'll join me in?reading through the Bible in 2017. 

The Bible is Difficult to Read Alone

Lots of folks struggle to understand the Bible, which shouldn't be surprising: the Bible is a collection of ancient documents, written by strange people in strange languages--of course it's difficult to read and understand all by yourself. Through the Bible Project (we've taken the name from some folks in Portland with whom we're partnering), however, we'll be updating our blog?every day with explanatory notes, videos, charts, etc. To give you an example of the kind of resources available, check out this great intro video to the Book of Genesis:[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KOUV7mWDI34&index=1&list=PLH0Szn1yYNee8aedW_5aCpnzkxnV7VQ3K[/embed]The Bible is difficult to read alone--so don't. Read along with me.

The Last Time You Tried It, You Quit in February

Many of you have probably tried to read through the Bible in a year, only to abandon your resolution in February when you got to Leviticus (if you made it that far). You're much more likely to complete marathon training in a group, and in the same way you're much more likely to read through the Bible along with other people. I'm preaching through the Bible in 2017, we'll have a weekly Bible study, a daily blog, podcasts, etc. All these resources are to help you persevere. Good things come to those who persevere.

Nothing Has More Potential to Change Your Life

I guarantee you that 2017 holds unexpected challenges for you. How will you prepare? There is nothing you can do that will have greater potential to change your life and prepare you for the future than the daily discipline of spending time in silence and scripture.

So, Here's What to Do

If you are a Mungarian, pick up one of the?free One Year Bibles we're handing out at church; if you don't live in Dallas, get one of these from Amazon. (We're using the ESV translation, but they are currently out of print.) You could also use the Bible app on your smart phone and pick the One Year Bible reading plan, but I recommend using the hard copy.Follow along with our blog: bibleproject.mungerplace.org.Watch my sermons: http://www.mungerplace.org/sermon-library/.Start on Sunday morning.Of all the New Year's resolutions you could make, reading through the Bible is the most important.So, are you in? 

The fox knows many things;The hedgehog knows one big thing.Click?here‘to subscribe to regular updates from this blog.

How to Use the Time Change to Get Up Early

If you win the morning, you win the day. This weekend offers you the perfect opportunity to revise your morning routine. With the time change back to standard time, the extra hour you'll gain could be exactly what you need to start a new morning routine. Here are 4 steps to take so you can start getting that early worm.

1. Go to Bed Early This Saturday Evening.

Don't make the mistake of thinking that the extra hour means you can stay up later. Head to bed at your normal time (or even better, a bit earlier) on Saturday.

2. Don't Sleep In on Sunday Morning

Set your alarm for the new early time you'd like to get up on Monday morning.

3. Begin An Evening Routine

The key to getting up early is preparing the night before. Set out your clothes for the next morning. Shut down your email. Lay out your workout gear. Put out your coffee cup. I find that I need to begin shutting down around an hour before I want to be in bed.

4. When the Alarm Goes Off, Get Your Feet on the Floor ASAP

Once you get your feet on the floor, you've already won. Resist the urge to hit snooze and say "I'll get up in a few minutes." If you roll back over, you're toast; get up immediately on your alarm.

Make "Early" Your Watchword

Greatness starts early in the morning. Anyone can learn to get up early, and this weekend offers you the perfect opportunity. Don't miss it.  

Make your inbox more interesting: click?here‘to subscribe to regular updates from this blog.

In Praise of "Deep Work"

As focused attention becomes rarer and rarer in our distracted culture, the people who cultivate focused attention will find themselves becoming more and more valuable. In other words, you can't afford NOT to be doing deep work. This is the thesis of the book Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World by Cal Newport, a book that I cannot recommend highly enough. Here's why.

Deep Work: A Definition

Cal Newport, computer science professor at Georgetown University, defines deep work in this way:

Deep Work: professional activities performed in a state of distraction-free concentration that push your cognitive capabilities to their limit. These efforts create new value, improve your skill, and are hard to replicate.

In contrast with deep work is shallow work:

Shallow Work: noncognitively demanding, logistical-style tasks, often performed while distracted. These efforts tend to not create much new value in the world and are easy to replicate.

Most knowledge workers spend most of their time engaged in shallow work--email, anyone--so that, though they may be busy, they are not productive.The people who are writing the best-selling books, making the blockbuster movies, creating the irresistible advertising campaigns, winning the major tournaments, and leading the market-beating companies, these are the people who are doing deep work (whether they realize it or not). Deep work makes a difference.

The Deep Work Hypothesis

The prevalence of shallow work in our culture leads to Newport's deep work hypothesis.

The Deep Work Hypothesis: The ability to perform deep work is becoming increasingly rare at exactly the same time it is becoming increasingly valuable in our economy [and becoming valuable because it is becoming rare--AF]. As a consequence, the few who cultivate this skill, and then make it the core of their working life, will thrive.

Newport also argues that deep work actually makes people happier. As someone who has certainly spent a day being busy without being productive, I know that he's right: I'm happier when I'm able to focus.So, if you want to thrive in our knowledge work economy and if you want to be happier while doing it, you need to learn how to do deep work.

The Deep Work Rules

Newport has come up with what he calls The Rules of Deep Work.

1. Work Deeply
2. Embrace Boredom
3. Quit Social Media
4. Drain the Shallows

1. Work Deeply

Deep work is something we can learn how to do. Focused attention is not something you can just turn on or off--it's something that must be trained and cultivated, like a muscle. Just as someone who spends his time sitting on the couch eating Doritos and watching television cannot overnight become a marathon champ, neither can someone who spends his time like that be immediately good at deep work. Deep work requires practice and planning.

2. Embrace Boredom

Internet tools (social media, on-demand video, infotainment sites, etc.) have taught our minds to need constant stimulation, but deep work requires focused attention, and our need for shallow stimulation will undermine our ability to do deep work. Therefore, we need to embrace boredom. It's good to resist the urge to pull out your smart phone when waiting in line at the post office: our minds need boredom.

3. Quit Social Media

You knew this was coming, right? Newport makes the argument that people who are actually producing deep work (best-selling authors like Michael Lewis, e.g.) produce deep work because they do not allow themselves to be distracted by social media. I know lots of people believe that social media is like alcohol--to be used and enjoyed in moderation. I wonder, though, if social media is more like heroin: addictive and distracting for everyone. (UPDATE: In conversation, I could say something provocative like that and you'd understand from my jocular tone what I was trying to convey, but I realize that, if you just read those words, they come across differently. My church actively uses social media (and I use it, too) and I have many friends who work in social media marketing; if I really believed that social media was the same thing as heroin, I'd stop using it immediately. I think social media marketing is necessary in our culture. My point is just that I think all of us are much more easily distracted than we want to admit.)

4. Drain the Shallows

By "drain the shallows," Newport means that we should aggressively eliminate the non-essential from our working lives. For example, he gives practical tips on how to cut down on email, a major source of shallow work for most people.

Why I Need This Book

About 45 times a year, year after year, my professional responsibilities require me to create a brand-new, relevant, engaging, and faithful presentation and then deliver it in front of an average live audience of about 1,000 people, each one of whom is judging me savagely (even if they seem to be nice people!) on that presentation. In addition to that, I also create multiple smaller presentations and essays through the year that also need to be original, relevant, helpful, and faithful. In our distracted world, it seems as if everything but the truly important is screaming LOOK AT ME! PAY ATTENTION TO ME!, and so I've come to the following conclusion:

if I don't learn to do deep work, I'm not going to make it.

Deep Work is one of the most insightful, practical, and challenging books I've read about work and creativity...maybe ever. I cannot recommend this book highly enough.★★★★ excellent

Note on My Rating System

I use a 5 star system in my ratings to signify the following:

★★★★★  life-changing and unforgettable★★★★  excellent★★★  worth reading★★  read other things first★   not recommended

Click here to subscribe to updates from this blog. (I'm sure Cal Newport would approve.)

How to Remember Names

"How do you remember names?" I'm?naturally good with names, but I also work at it. Even if you're one of those people who says, "I'm just terrible with names!" it's possible to get better. Here?are 4 steps I take after meeting someone that help me remember names.

1. Repeat the Name Multiple Times Right Away

When I meet someone, I focus on his or her name, and then repeat it, and then often repeat it again.

"Hi, I'm Andrew.""I'm John Doe.""John Doe? Nice to meet you."Blah, blah, blah. Then, at the end of the conversation:"It's John Doe, right? [Pointing to myself:] Andrew. Nice to meet you."

Repeat the name several times, and then repeat it again at the end of the conversation.

2. Write the Name Down Right ASAP (With Context Clues)

I've written before about how I carry a small pocket notebook and bullet pen?with me all the time.When I meet folks, I try to write down their names and relevant details ASAP. For example, after meeting John Doe, I might write:

John Doe. Likes elephants. Went to Notre Dame. Kid in 1st grade.

The more context, the better. The hardest names to remember are the names with no context. When I meet a group of people all at once, their names--and faces--blur in my memory.

3. Use Facebook as a Face Book

I dislike Facebook, but the one reason I haven't yet deleted my account is because I use it to match faces with names. ASAP after meeting people for the first time, I'll use Facebook to help me connect names and faces.

4. Be Bold (and Unapologetic)

I'm at the point now that I don't feel badly if I don't remember someone's name. I'll take a risk and try to call someone by what I think is his name, but if I'm wrong, I'll just say, "I'm sorry--I don't remember your name."It's like removing a band-aid--it's best to rip it right off. Then, I start at step #1 and repeat.

"3 Words To Transform Any Relationship" [VIDEO]

I was interviewed on the front steps of my church a few weeks ago by Jane McGarry of Good Morning Texas, and the interview aired this morning on WFAA Channel 8 (ABC) in Dallas. We did the interview in one take, and the good folks at GMT aired it in its entirety. I'm grateful for the opportunity to share a message I really believe in: 3 words that can transform ANY relationship. [Click the link below to see the 3 minute video.]http://www.wfaa.com/entertainment/television/programs/good-morning-texas/soulful-stoop-munger-place-churchs-rev-andrew-forrest/224681060  

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New Plans for This Blog

Since I started this blog on New Year's Day?2014, I've been asking myself these questions: "Who am I writing?for? What am I trying to achieve?" I've read the experts and I know that I'm supposed to have a specific topical focus and a specific audience for this blog. Here's what I've decided.

My New Purpose for this Blog

I've decided that I'm going to be writing for one reason only: to learn how to write, and on deadline. Ideas aren't my problem--I have plenty of ideas--my problem is consistently applying the seat of my pants to the seat of my chair. My problem is the discipline?of writing.I want to learn the discipline of writing in the same way that I've learned the discipline of preaching. I preach about 46 original sermons a year. Preaching a few good sermons is relatively easy; what's very difficult is to preach week in and week out, to preach when you've had a week of funerals, to preach when you're tired, to preach when you feel as if you've already said everything interesting about Christmas Eve, to preach when you feel as if you aren't prepared--that's what's difficult, and it's that discipline that I've been learning when it comes to preaching. It's‘that discipline I need when it comes to writing.

My New Schedule

I will publish a new post at 5:00 AM 3 times a week: Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. After I keep up that pace for a month, then I'll see about publishing more frequently.

The Fox and the Hedgehog

The Philosopher Isaiah Berlin, drawing?on?a line from the Ancient Greek poet Achilocus, wrote a famous essay in 1953 entitled "The Hedgehog and the Fox." The basic idea is that the fox knows many things, but the hedgehog knows one big thing. (Berlin's essay applies this formula to Tolstoy (fox) and Dostoevsky (hedgehog).) Foxes have a variety of interests; hedgehogs have one stubborn idea.

My New Topical Focus: Fox and Hedgehog

I'm going to follow my interest wherever it takes me (like a fox) while always writing in the service of The One Big Thing (like a hedgehog).What's that One Big Thing? You'll have to read to find out. 

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A Framework for Understanding the Bible

I'll be the first to admit that the Bible is a difficult book. One of the reasons it's difficult is that it's not really even?one book, but rather a collection of books. (That's what "bible" actually means: a?collection of books.) Over and over again people will say to me, "I'd like to read the Bible, but I just don't understand it." I hope the following simple framework helps you get a little more clarity and understanding.

All of History in?3 Acts

The Bible tells the story of the great drama of History in 3 acts, with a prologue at the beginning and an epilogue at the end.

Prologue

Subject: Beginnings. Adam to Abraham. The Prologue tells us why the world is the way it is. After a beautiful beginning ("And there was light....") the story quickly becomes a story of blood and betrayal: Cain kills Abel, and we've been killing our brothers ever since.Scripture: Genesis 1-11

Act 1

Subject: Israel. The Lord's plan to save all of humanity begins with one man--Abraham--and it culminates in one of Abraham's descendant's: Jesus of Nazareth. Act 1 is about God's chosen people Israel, and Israel's slavery, exodus, kingdom, exile, and return.Scripture: Genesis 12-Malachi

Act 2

Subject: Jesus. Act 2 is all about Jesus, from his birth to his death to his Resurrection.Scripture: Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John

Act 3

Subject: The Church. Act 3 is about how the church is God's means to redeem the world. It begins with a small group of disciples in Jerusalem on Pentecost Sunday and?it's still going, right up to and including the present. We are living in Act 3.Scripture: Acts-Revelation 20

Epilogue

Subject: Forever and Ever Amen. The Epilogue is about History's culmination, when Jesus returns and all the bad things come untrue and evil is finally ended.Scripture: Revelation 21-22

Conclusion

I realize that the above doesn't answer most of our good questions about the difficult parts of scripture, but it does give us a framework within which we can at least get our bearings when reading scripture. Keep reading--it's worth it.   

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You Need a Sex Habit*

Couples who are having problems aren't having sex. Yes, I'm not a researcher or a therapist and my evidence is all anecdotal from conversations with lots of different couples, but I'm telling you: couples who are having problems aren't having (enough) sex. Correlation or causation? Here's what I think.

Sex is a Keystone Habit

I've written previously about keystone habits:

A keystone habit is a simple habit that has effects that cascade into other aspects of an individual‘s or a group‘s life.So, a keystone habit might be:

• Exercising every morning;
• Making your bed every morning
• Having all?players on the team put on their socks in a certain way;
• Putting safety concerns on the top of your corporate agenda.

To think of it another way, a keystone habit is the first domino that falls and knocks down all the others with it.So, a keystone habit in healthy families is having dinner together at home every evening. That simple practice affects?the relationship between the mom and the dad and the kids? behavior in school and even their reading level. It‘s one domino that falls, knocking over a bunch of others."

It's not the keystone habit itself that matters as much as what that particular habit represents and sets in motion. I think sex between a husband and a wife is exactly that sort of habit; it's a domino that falls and knocks over a bunch of others. Here's why:

• Sex requires proximity. It's good for a husband and a wife to spend time together--too much time apart is never good.
• Sex requires selflessness. Like everything else in life that's good for you, sometimes you won't feel like it, but there are times when your husband or your wife will need?it, and therefore your relationship needs it.
• Sex requires?intentionality. Unlike in the movies, married folks don't walk around ripping each others' clothes off whenever possible. With jobs and kids and schedules, sex requires intentionality.
• Sex sends a message. Women tend to become self-conscious about their bodies as they age and have children, and when a husband tells his wife she is?desirable, it draws them together in a profound way. And vice versa (though not the having children part).

Everybody likes sex, but contrary to what a 15 year-old boy would think, it's not the sex itself that makes the difference for couples so much as it is the proximity, selflessness, intentionality, and message of commitment that regular sex brings to a marriage.At least, that's my theory. What do you think? *If you're married. I subscribe to the outlandish and clearly ridiculous belief that sex has a purpose, and that that purpose is only realized within a marriage between a husband and a wife. If you're not married, not having sex won't kill you, believe it or not. You should try it.   

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My One Word for 2016

Resolutions don't work. Rather than focusing on a list of specific ways we want to live differently each year, I've written the last two years?about a better alternative: focusing and living into a one word theme for the new year.

My One Word for 2016

If it ain't broke.... For 2016 I'm keeping the same word I've had the previous two years.My one word for 2016 is?early.I want to:

• wake up early
• pray early
• workout early
• finish tasks early
• get to appointments early
• finish my sermon early
• get to bed early

What about you? What's your one word for 2016? Why? 

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What I Read

What do you read on a regular basis? We are what we eat, and that includes the words we consume. Today's post (part 3 of a 3 part series) is about the magazine, journals, and books that make up my media diet.

Print Subscriptions

In addition to?The Dallas Morning News (mentioned in part 1),?I subscribe to the print editions of the following periodicals:

• First Things,?a magazine founded by the late Father Richard John Neuhaus that, while including Protestant writers as well, tends to come at things from a conservative Roman Catholic perspective. First Things is hit or miss for me: some of the long essays are just first-rate, while others are either over my head or boring.
• The Atlantic, a magazine that I've been reading since I was in middle school and that used to be much better than it is. (I guess I subscribe out of loyalty.) In the 90s and early 2000s when Cullen Murphy and then Michael Kelly (who was killed in Iraq in 2003) were editors and William Langesweiche and James Fallows were writing frequent longform pieces for the magazine and Benjamin Schwartz (especially Benjamin Schwartz!) was editing the Books section,?The Atlantic was one of my favorite magazines. I'd receive a copy in the mail and read the whole thing, almost in one sitting. In recent years, though, The Atlantic (founded in 1857!)??has seemed to me to foolishly chasing "relevance" and adopting the perspective of the sort of 25 year-old secular graduate student in the humanities who gets his wisdom from?The Daily Show. (This is not a perspective I share, if you couldn't figure that out.) Although The Atlantic published‘some great longform pieces from time to time, I get each new copy of the magazine out of the mailbox with much less enthusiasm than I did 20 years ago.
• Outside,?a glossy adventure magazine. I wish?Outside devoted more space to book reviews, as I've ready some really excellent novels the past couple of years that I first read about in?Outside, e.g.,?The Dog Stars and?The Abominable.
• Texas Monthly, which has enough ads to fill JerryWorld?, but also includes in each issue something I find worth reading about my adopted home state.
• Plough,?a small Christian journal that, while ecumenical, draws on the Anabaptist tradition.
• Books and Culture,?a newspaperish magazine that covers, from an evangelical perspective, exactly what the title suggests. Like?First Things,?Books and Culture?is hit or miss for me, but I recently resubscribed because I really believe in its mission.
• The American Conservative, a magazine that I discovered from reading Rod Dreher's blog. I don't know of any other place online or in print that is similar to?TAC: small c conservative, isolationist, contrarian, and realist. (I was pleased when Benjamin Schwartz, whose work at?The Atlantic I referenced above, joined?TAC last year as national editor.) For a good example of the kind of stuff?TAC covers that no one else does, see this piece from April on suburban sprawl and walkable cities called?"Cities for People--or Cars?".

The Dallas Public Library

Where would I be without a good public library? Well, I'd have a lot more shelf space, that's for sure. Here is my current library shelf in my home office:Don't be impressed--I have a habit of hearing about a book, placing it on hold at the library, and then stockpiling a bunch of great books I haven't yet and probably won't ever read.

And Most Importantly, Real Books!

I love reading, and I love reading physical books. I have aKindle and I use the Kindle app for iPhone; I like the way I can quickly annotate an ebook. But, despite the convenience of the ebook, I still think the regular old book is a pretty great form of technology, and reading a good book can quiet my mind better than just about anything else.I read books on theology and leadership for my job, but what I really like reading are books on history and especially long novels. I try to vary up the books I read: something on one topic, and then something completely different. (As an example of something really different, I read a very long novel this summer, completely unlike anything else I've read in years:?Kristin Lavransdatter, Sigrid Undset's 1100 page masterpiece about a woman living in 14th century Norway, and one of the best books I've ever read.)

In Conclusion: I Need to Make Some Changes

As I've been thinking about my media diet these past few weeks, I've once again been confronted with the fact that I fritter away too much of my time on unimportant online content that cuts into my time and ability to read books that matter.My goal is to read 40 books this year, which would be more than I've managed in the previous 2 years. My current total: 29.Maybe I need to stop watching so much?Arrested Development.  

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The 2 Skills Every Man Needs

When I was a boy, I thought that grown men men knew about the world; I thought that grown men weren't afraid of anything. But now that I'm a grown man myself and now that I know lots of other men, I've come to realize that most grown men are just as insecure, feel just as inadequate, and are just as fearful as they were when they were boys, but that now, as grown men, they have more power, more responsibility, and more potential to hurt others. Unfortunately, our culture doesn't teach men the skills we need to thrive as men; there are 2 skills in particular that I believe every man needs to know.

Every Man Needs to Know How to Pray

Men don't know how to pray. I talk to guys all the time who feel completely inadequate when it comes to prayer. Prayer makes the man. To be a man of confidence, peace, and inner strength, you need to be a man of prayer.I talked at length about prayer here, but I believe there is one thing any man can do immediately to become better at prayer:To become better at prayer, you need to be specific.

• Be specific in your time and place for prayer. Pick a favorite arm chair, or your kitchen table, or your front porch, and pray there every morning.
• Be specific in your prayer requests. Lots of men are afraid of really asking the Lord for specifics, but this is a misplaced fear. God desires our specific prayers. "If you want a brown hat, don't just pray for a hat." I keep an index card in my Bible with specific prayer requests on it. Pray for a specific meeting at work, or a specific issue with a child, or a specific fear or worry. (It's also powerful to be specific in your prayers of gratitude.)

Learning to pray can do more to change how a man sees and engages the world than anything else.

Every Man Needs to Know How to Apologize

Do you know how to repair relationships that you've damaged? Many men, not knowing how to apologize, do one of the following:

• they either walk away when relationships become injured; or
• they ignore‘the problem, hoping that it will somehow get better.

Neither tactic works. And we wonder why so many men are so lonely. If you don't learn how to apologize, you'll live with failed relationships, and over time you'll see marriages and friendships wither. A failure to apologize is one of the primary ways I've seen men fail at relationships.There are 3 parts to a good apology.

1. Make eye contact.? If possible, an apology should be done in person. Apologizing over the phone is a distant second. In my opinion, a man should never apologize in email or over text.
2. Take complete responsibility. Say, "I did [X] and it was wrong." Never ever make an excuse when apologizing.
3. Say, "I'm sorry. Will you forgive me?"

Learning to apologize and repair a relationship?will change a man's life for the better.

Here's the Good News

Praying and apologizing are skills that a man can learn. Like riding a bike, they don't come naturally to us, but we can learn to get better. And, like riding a bike, you have to start somewhere, and when you fall down, you get back on and have another try.  

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My A/V Media Diet

What do you watch and listen to on a regular basis? We are what we eat, and that goes for the information we consume. Today's post (part 2 of a 3 part series) is about the sources that make up my Audio/Visual media diet.

Audio Subscriptions

I have been a devoted listener and subscriber to?The Mars Hill Audio Journal?since 2003. Ken Myers, from Charlottesville, VA, has created an audio journal that is exactly opposite everything our popular culture embraces: his interviews are long, unconcerned with the latest and loudest, and deeply concerned with the deep questions that humans have been asking for millennia.The name of the?Journal comes from Acts 17, where the Apostle Paul goes to Mars Hill in Athens and interacts with the pagan philosophers on their own terms.

Podcasts

• The Eric?Metaxas Show,?which features Eric Metaxas and his wide variety of guests;
• Andy Stanley Leadership Podcast;
• Munger?Place Audio Podcast: though it's painful for me to listen to my own sermons, I still do so from time to time because I know that hearing myself helps me become a better preacher;
• Fresh Air:?Half the time I'm either completely uninterested in Terry Gross's interviews or else in complete disagreement with her perspective, and the other half of the time I'm captivated by the long-form interviews featured on Fresh Air;
• In Our Time, a long-running radio show on the BBC hosted by Melvyn Bragg, who interviews British academics to talk in detail about history, science, etc.
• This Is Your Life with Michael Hyatt. I liked the earlier version of this podcast better than the current episodes, but from time to time I still benefit from Michael Hyatt's insights on productivity and leadership.

Television

I don't watch much television these days and we don't have cable. When I do watch TV, it's mainly with my family and mainly on Sundays: NFL football, 60 Minutes, and America's Funniest Videos. As a family, we also watched American Ninja Warrior on Mondays this summer.I've watched every episode of?Arrested?Development multiple times (via Netflix and Hulu), and, until Netflix took it off the air, would also rewatch?Fawlty Towers. (This watching of the same shows over and over again drives my wife crazy.)

Social Media

I reluctantly use Facebook for my job because it helps me stay connected with people in my congregation, and it helps me remember names. On the other hand, I've been an enthusiastic user of Twitter: I like the ways it allows me to follow lots of really interesting people.However, as I wrote about a few weeks ago, in early summer 2015 I deleted both the Facebook and Twitter apps from my iPhone and I haven't looked back. I still use Facebook from time to time, but I've essentially not read anything on Twitter for over 3 months.

Audiobooks

I love audiobooks, and in the last year have been using the Overdrive app from the Dallas Public Library, which allows you to check out audiobooks from your local public library. (I have to be honest, though, and tell you that I miss books on tape. Those were the days.)

Coming in Part 3

The final installment in this series will run next Monday and will be about I subscribe to and read in print: books, magazines, journals, etc. (Click here to read part 1, about my online media diet.) The above was what I listen to and watch on a regular basis.What about you? What sources make up your A/V media diet?  

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My Daily Media Diet

What are the books, podcasts, websites, blogs, and newsletters that make up your media diet? You are what you eat, and that includes the information you consume. Today's post is about what I read daily as part of my media diet (part 1 of a 3 part series).

What Is a "Media Diet?"

"Media diet" is a phrase I came across several years ago in a web series by?The Atlantic. A reporter would interview public figures about how they stayed informed and what they regularly read and watched and make a simple post out of it. (I still remember Malcolm Gladwell's comment about his daily reading habits:?"Since my brain really only works in the morning, I try to keep that time free for writing and thinking and don't read any media at all until lunchtime." I totally identify....)In part 1 of this series (parts 2 and 3 coming on the next two Mondays) about my media diet, I'll focus on what I read daily (or at least regularly).

What I Do First Thing in the Morning

I've written before about the importance of the First 15, i,e., spending?at least the first 15 minutes of your day in prayer, scripture, and silence. So, I've been getting up really early recently in order to have an unhurried time of prayer first thing, before I workout.Currently this is what I use in my prayer time:

• the NRSV Thinline Bible I was given by the bishop at my ordination;
• the scripture reading calendar my church gives out through our?Eat This Book program;
• Seedbed's Field Guide to Daily?Prayer (I really like the 30 day- reading plan for the Psalms);
• and a small journal that I write in about once a week or so.

 

Breakfast:?The Dallas Morning News and NPR

After working out and while eating breakfast and getting ready:

• I get the print version of?The Dallas?Morning News delivered at home, and read it every morning (except Sundays, when I don't get to it until late afternoon, if at all). I have come to really like?The DMN and get more locally-focused and sports news from it than anywhere else.
• I listen to NPR's?Morning Edition radio program most mornings.

Blogs: Rod Dreher (and Not Much Else)

I used to read Andrew Sullivan's blog almost every day. Now that he has stopped blogging, almost the only blogger I read regularly is Rod Dreher. Rod Dreher is a fascinating and unique writer: a convert to Eastern Orthodoxy living in his native rural South Louisiana who writes about culture from a social conservative point of view.One of the topics Rod Dreher writes about that I find most intriguing and persuasive is the so-called "Benedict Option": the idea that Christians in the West today may need to follow the 5th century example of St. Benedict and spend less time participating in politics and the culture wars and more time deliberately cultivating the practices that will "thicken" our faith and deepen our witness. Here is a post from Rod's blog in July that summarizes his thoughts on the Benedict Option.

Websites I Read Almost Daily

• I read?The New Yorker almost every day. I like the short form pieces from folks like John Cassidy and Amy Davidson, but I really prefer The New Yorker for its?long-form essays like this one about Northern Ireland that I wrote about in April.
• I also browse?The Atlantic's website regularly, though I believe that?The Atlantic?is a much worse magazine since it expanded its online footprint. Many of the online articles seem to be merely a slightly (sometimes?very slightly) more serious version of the kind of thing that I suppose you find on Buzzfeed or The Huffington Post, and I do not mean that as a compliment. The Atlantic these days seems to feature quick-reaction pieces on hot-button topics that lack nuance and wisdom. (I'll say more about my complaints with?The Atlantic in part 3 of this series.)
• I browse the?Yahoo! main site and scroll through the headlines, particularly about sports and politics.
• I check out the?BBC Sport's soccer page almost daily.

Online Newsletters and Other Sites

• I read movie reviews on?Plugged In every few weeks or so. I'm interested in movies, but I like reading reviews from a conservative Christian perspective (a perspective you don't get from mainstream reviewers). I rarely have time to see movies in the theater anymore, so I find myself reading many more reviews of movies than actually seeing movies.
• I've recently discovered?Book Notes,?a free newsletter from Byron Borger, owner of Hearts and Minds bookstore in central Pennsylvania. Through Book Notes, I've stumbled across books that I would never have heard of elsewhere--it's a great resources.
• I read articles and watch videos the videos on the CrossFit main site several times a week.

Coming in Parts 2 and 3....

Parts 2 and 3 will be about what I regularly listen to and watch and read in print. The above is what I read online on a regular basis. What about you? What makes up your daily media diet?  

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3 Reasons to Delete Facebook

It had been coming for a while, but this summer I finally decided I needed to delete social media from my iPhone to maintain my sanity. Here's why I deleted Facebook and Twitter, and here are 3 reasons why you should, too. 

Why I Deleted Social Media from my iPhone

Over the past several years, I'd found that being connected online increased the worry and stress in my life. It's now been 3 months since I made my smart phone dumber by deleting the Facebook and Twitter apps, and here are 3 reasons I'm glad I did.

Reason?#1: I?Have Less Anger and Anxiety

Facebook and Twitter are overrun?with keyboard cops and their self-righteous indignation, and the sad thing is that the self-righteous indignation of other people produced self-righteous indignation in me, directed at them. Anger and self-righteousness come naturally to me: I don't need social media's help to feel superior to the people who feel superior. Without a constant stream of social media outrage at my fingertips, I have less anger and more peace.Facebook in particular also produces comparison in its users: you are constantly thinking, "I wish I had that or looked like that." Facebook too often caused me to break the 10th commandment (that's the one about coveting, for all you biblical illiterates), and without Facebook on my phone I have less of the anxiety that materialism and jealousy and lust produce in my heart.I'm not withdrawn from the world, nor am I naive: I read the paper and catch the news every day. But, there is something about the way social media delivers information that caused me to feel a constant low level of anxiety. Since deleting Facebook and Twitter from my phone, I experience much less anxiety and worry.

Reason?#2: I Have More Focus

When Facebook and Twitter were a fingertip away, I found myself constantly checking and looking at those apps. The irresistible allure of seeing what was happening made it very difficult for me to focus 0n the things that matter. Since deleting social media from my iPhone, I find that I'm less distracted and more focused.And when it comes to prayer there is no question: social media is the enemy. Distracted and unfocused prayer is no prayer at all.

Reason?#3: I?Have More Time

Everybody's busy, but few people are productive. I found that the constant scrolling and checking and commenting and retweeting that social media encourages meant that I was becoming more and more unproductive. Since deleting Facebook and Twitter from my phone, I've found that I have more time to get things done. (For example, I've read more books since deleting social media, and reading is an activity that gives me peace and helps me become a better leader and preacher.)

What Now?

I still have Facebook and Twitter accounts, but to access them I have to use my laptop, which means, because it takes more effort to login, I'm much less likely to mindlessly scroll through them. Will I keep my phone social-media-free forever? I don't know. But, I can honestly say making my smart phone dumber has probably made me smarter.What about you? Are you willing to try it?

6 FAQs About Fasting

Fasting is not something that comes easily for me, and, judging by the questions I've been getting, it's not something that comes easily for many of you, dear readers. What follows are some Frequently Asked Questions on the topics of fasting and Lent.

Why Fast?

I remember asking my dad about fasting when I was a kid, and he told me he had asked my grandfather the same question when he was a kid. My grandfather had said, "Fasting is something Roman Catholics do during Lent, but we Protestants are supposed to give up things all year long." I loved my grandfather, but I think he was wrong to frown on fasting as some misguided practice that Roman Catholics do, and I'm glad that American Evangelical Protestantism has begun to embrace fasting and Lenten disciplines more widely.

• Fasting reminds us that there are people around the world for whom hunger is not a choice, and to a very small degree, fasting can help us stand in solidarity with them.
• Fasting reminds us of the temptations and privations of Jesus in the wilderness. Before there's the Resurrection, there's the Crucifixion. Before the crown, there's the cross.
• Fasting can help us set our minds?on what matters most.
• Fasting can help us pray with more focus and intensity.

I give a brief overview of Lent and fasting here:[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wvPad5PEfjo[/embed]

What If I Can't Fast From Food?

Lots of folks have medical conditions that make it unsafe for them to fast from food during the day. Here's my advice, if you'd still like to fast: make your food as plain as possible, and eat just enough to keep healthy.

What Should I Do When I'm Fasting?

I use fasting as a way to help me pray: throughout the day, I'll pray something like "Lord, help me to desire you and your word as much as I desire food."Another technique is to use hunger as a reminder to pray for some particular topic. Maybe during Lent you can pray for the persecuted Church, or the situation in the Ukraine, or for your neighbor who struggles with faith, or for your marriage, etc. Every time you are hungry, pray for that specific situation or person.One other thing to do is to take on something life-giving while you are giving up something else. If you are fasting from food, take on prayer. If you are fasting from coffee, take on giving the money you would have spent towards a clean water project. (You can see suggestions of what to take on in the chart below.)

Does It Matter What I'm Fasting From?

Traditionally, fasting involves food, but you can fast from other things as well.

• You could fast from caffeine;
• You could fast from television;
• You could fast from complaining.

In the 40 Campaign we're doing at my church, each week during Lent involves a different kind fast. You can see the list below.

Should I Fast On Sundays?

Every Sunday is an Easter celebration, and so Sundays have traditionally been feast days. I like the thought of not fasting on Sundays for this reason.

What If I Give In and Break My Fast?

Try again tomorrow. Fasting isn't about showing off heroic self-denial; it's about learning to pray and focus on what matters most. How has the experience of fasting been for you?

40 Days of Dying to Yourself

How might you be different in 40 days of sacrifice and simplicity? Instead of excess, euphemism, and self-indulgence, I'd like to invite you to 40 days of sacrifice, simplicity, and self-denial. Join the 40 campaign. Take 2 minutes and watch the following video.[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wvPad5PEfjo&feature=youtu.be[/embed]Today is Ash Wednesday, and it marks the beginning of Lent, the 40 days leading up to Easter (not including Sundays). During Lent, we remember the privations of Jesus during his time of temptation in the desert, and that before the Resurrection, there was the Crucifixion. Many Christians prepare for Easter by observing a period of fasting, repentance, moderation, and spiritual discipline during Lent.

Join Me in the 40 Campaign?

Starting today, my church is embarking on our 40 campaign: a Lenten campaign of sacrifice and simplicity. Each week we have a different thing to give up and a different thing to take on:How might you be different in 40 days of sacrifice and simplicity?