Fortuitous Bouncing

First fortuitous bouncing of 2011. For those of you new around here, just about every Saturday I post a “best of” list from great blog posts and news articles I found throughout the previous week. I encourage you to discuss any of the posts in the comments or just tell me how you’re doing.

One thing I would not like to discuss is Nebraska’s bowl game last week. It was not enjoyable to watch for 3.5 hours.

Blogs

1. Interesting post and discussion in the comments on church growth strategy.
2. How introverts can build confidence.
3. Digital formation and God’s presence in a world of absence. Great talk from Shane Hipps.
4. A well researched piece on what millennials want from leadership: “They want to be led and taught in their places of work, in their churches and in their families. They particularly want to learn from couples who have had long and successful marriages. Many Millennials see such examples as heroes to emulate.”
5. Why Seattle hates Portland.

News

• Take a listen to the entire upcoming album from The Decembrists. It’s very legit.
• Interesting to read this article while thinking the implications for pastors and churches.
• 2011 National Park Free Admission schedule has been released. Worth keeping in mind when planning trips.
• I’ll be honest, none of this was running through my head when I saw “True Grit.” Either I’m just dumb or this guy thinks on a different wave length. “In the novel and in the Coens’ film it is always like that: things happen, usually bad things (people are hanged, robbed, cheated, shot, knifed, bashed over the head and bitten by snakes), but they don’t have any meaning, except the meaning that you had better not expect much in this life because the brute irrationality of it all is always waiting to smack you in the face.”

Here’s to a great 2011 for you and yours.