Posted by Chris on Jan 23, 2012 in
Life “In Judaism, there is a distinct activity called kavanah. It is cultivated in order to maximize the inwardness of our actions. It means to pay attention, to direct the mind and heart in order to maximize the levels of intentionality in our actions. This applies to actions/deeds as it does to the study of Scripture and to prayer but goes beyond these activities themselves to the notion of attentiveness to God Himself.
It is not primarily an awareness of being commanded by God, but an awareness of the God who commands. The focus in kavanah shifts from the deed itself to its inner meaning, the goal being to find access to the sacred in the deed itself. It is finding the essence of the task, to partake of its inspiration, to be made equal to the task of fulfilling holy command’s. Abraham Heschel says that ‘kavanah is direction to God and requires the involvement and redirection of the whole person. It is the act of bringing together the scattered forces of the self; it means the participation of heart and soul, not only of will and mind.’”
Frost and Hirsch Shaping of Things to Come (in print and digital.)
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Tags: 2012 Reading List, MAGL
Posted by Chris on Jan 3, 2012 in
Life Here’s my To Read list for 2012. It’s far from complete. What would you add?
Academic
This list will grow through the year, but here’s what I have for the spring semester of the MAGL:
Culture Making: Recovering Our Creative Calling by Andy Crouch
Shaping of Things to Come, The: Innovation and Mission for the 21st-Century Church by Alan Hirsch and Michael Frost
The Meeting of the Waters: 7 Global Currents That Will Propel the Future Church by Fritz Kling
The Invisible: What the Church Can Do to Find and Serve the Least of These by Arloa Sutter
Public Faith, A: How Followers of Christ Should Serve the Common Good by Miroslav VLF
Theology & Spirituality
Freedom of Simplicity: Finding Harmony in a Complex World by Richard Foster by Richard Foster
The King Jesus Gospel: The Original Good News Revisited by Scot McKnight
Evolving in Monkey Town: How a Girl Who Knew All the Answers Learned to Ask the Questions by Rachel Held Evans
The Politics of Jesus by John Howard Yoder
Life Together: The Classic Exploration of Faith in Community by Dietrich Bonhoeffer
1491: New Revelations of the Americas Before Columbus by Charles C. Mann
Life, Relationships and Vocation
Free Agent Nation: The Future of Working for Yourself by Daniel H. Pink
Keith Ferrazzi, Never Eat Alone
Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi
What Should I Do with My Life?: The True Story of People Who Answered the Ultimate Question by Po Bronson
Fun
How to Live Safely in a Science Fictional Universe by Charles Yu
Neuromancer by William Gibson
Stranger in a Strange Land by Robert A. Heinlein
Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins
Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins
The Walking Dead: Compendium One by Robert Kirkman, Charlie Adlard, Cliff Rathburn and Tony Moore
The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas
A Clash of Kings by George R.R. Martin
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Tags: books, Church, Jesus, leadership, MAGL, sci-fi, Science Fiction
Posted by Chris on Jan 2, 2012 in
Life 
The New Year is upon us, and it’s now to late to determine what you will do to make it your best year yet. This year, I’m choosing themes to help me understand my goals for the year. 2012 is to be the year of Consistency, Margin and Risk.
CONSISTENCY
Spiritual Life
Three practices I’m hoping to develop consistency in are Bible reading, scripture memorization and writing prayer lettters to God.
Fitness
My goal is to work out three times in week. This will include Crossfit, running and bike riding. I also hope to drop from my current weight of 180.5 lbs to my ideal weight on 165 in the next three months.
Relationships
My best relationships are the ones that I have built a regular time to spend together. I hope to expand this to having dinner once a week with friends and roommates. I am also seeking out discipling relationships, both those I can disciple and others to disciple me.
Creativity
Five days a week, I will write a minimum of 200 words that is purely creative, neither school or work related.
Education
I will build in regular daily time for graduate school classes as well as my 2012 reading list.
MARGIN
In 2012 I hope to grow in my practice of margin with time and finances. In order to maintain margin, I plan to practice a true weekly sabbath, with no school or work allowed. I will also take two weeks of vacation. Financially, this means reestablishing, and sticking to a strict budget and creating an emergency account.
RISK
The last few years of my life have been about survival and recovery. This year I hope grow beyond that into Risk. A mentor of mine defined me as a strange mix of adventurous and risk averse. It’s sad but true. Here’s a few risks I want to conquer this year.
Vocation
In the next few months, I have plans to take concrete steps toward a new vocation. I currently have a comfortable job and a predictable way of life. This will be quite the risk.
New Blog
I’m experimenting with at least one new blog, seeing if I can focus my content into something that will get more attention and maybe even produce some revenue.
Relationships
I’ve “taken myself off the market” for the last few months for personal reasons. However, I want to take more risks this year when it comes to romantic relationships. This means having awkward conversations I’ve avoided, seeking out new ways of meeting people, and being more honest than I might usually be.
Fitness
I want to conquer something physical as well. I’m not sure of details yet, but I’m thinking it will either be a Century (100 mile ride) or a half marathon.
How I’m Tracking My Goals
Perhaps the biggest reason we don’t achieve our goals is that we’ve never stated them. The second is that we don’t try to track them. I’ve spent some time over the last few days creating quite the spreadsheet, listing each thing that I want to do weekly and monthly. I hope to end my day everyday by visiting this spreadsheet, and having cool graphs showing how I’ve succeeded.
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Posted by Chris on Dec 31, 2011 in
Life 2011 has been a rough year for a lot of people I know. For me there was disappointments at work, life without a car, some personal issues, and the all time hottest summer in Austin. I am not sad to see 2011 go.
However, if I really take stock, I remember some great things have happened this year. For instance:
- Spent two weeks in Colorado with my MAGL cohort. Not only was this a fantastic learning experience, but I got to see how God is at work throughout the world, and made some great friends.
- Rode my bike. A lot.
- Read some great books. My favorite of the year.
- Threw an epic triple birthday party with the roommates.
- Grew an amazing beard.
- Spoke twice at Vox Veniae. The staff there always pours a lot in to us volunteers.
- Got to know the Ladies and Gentlemen of the Ecclesia Network.
Whether you are sad to see 2011 go, or happy to get on to 2012, try to remember the best of 2011, and be grateful.
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Posted by Chris on Dec 30, 2011 in
Life Contrary to popular belief 2012 does not have to be the end of the world. Actually, it can be your best year yet. Here’s five steps I’m taking, and I hope you will join me.
- Imagine Who You Want to be in 2013
You’ll never reach a destination if you don’t choose one. What kind of person do you want to be? Decide that, and everything else will fall in to place.
- Set Clear Goals
The problem with New Years Resolutions is that they are usually broad sweeping proclamations. Often they focus on getting rid of vices. They are seldom accompanied by a specific plan. A good goal is “SMART”, or:
Specific
Measurable
Attainable
Realistic
Timely
To make 2012 the best year yet, make some SMART goals.
- Clear out your Bucket List
What is is you’ve always said you wanted to do? Why wait? Determine what really is on your bucket list, and make 2012 the year to get started on it.
- Focus on Relationships
It’s so easy to get caught up in the day to day tasks, only to realize that you no longer pray, you feel estranged from friends or family, or you are just lonely. Relationships are the both the fuel that keeps you moving and the reward for your hard work. Make them your focus.
- Track EVERYTHING.
Believe it or not, almost everything in this life is quantifiable. Not sure how you are going to pay the bills? Keep a budget. Want to loose weight? Track what you eat. Want better relationships? Block out time with people. Want to grow spirituality? Keep a record or your spiritual and discipling experiences. The very act of tracking something allows you see your progress, see how you need to improve, and testifies to how you’ve grown.
In January, I’ll let you in on my plan 2012. I’m excited to hear yours. If you have any SMART goals for 2012, share them here.
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