I won’t mention the obvious listens like This American Life or Radiolab. Chances are if you don’t listen to them already it’s because you don’t own earbuds.

If you are a Church Planter, Pastor or just a reflective follower of Jesus, you should be listening to the following podcasts:

10. Pray as You Go

About a year and a half ago, I discovered a new level of anxiety I didn’t know how to handle. One of the lifelines I found was the Pray as You Go Podcast. Produced by British Jesuits, this daily Lectio Divina podcast has become central to my daily spiritual practice.

Where to Start: Anywhere! However, I recommend subscribing to the podcast instead of using their website or app.

9. The Liturgists

Unless you have a time machine, you’re probably ministering to “post-Christendom.” Almost everyone I know in my age cohort has had to reconcile the faith they received a very, very different post-modern world. The Liturgists follows David Gungor and Science Mike as they rebuild their faith in Jesus after stints with atheism.

Where to start: Episode 2—Genesis & Evolution

8. Sermonsmith

My co-conspirator at Austin Mustard Seed delves into the process of preparing to preach. As a busy bi-vocational guy, having a clear process is essential for anyone who wants to have something meaningful to say.

Where to start: Brian Zahnd

7. Robcast

Whatever happened to that proto-hipster Pastor who lost his platform for having doubts about Hell? He moved to California, took up surfing and got a job working for Oprah. Rob Bell has spent the last few years surf and deconstructing, now he’s back with a Podcast! This isn’t like the old Mars Hill sermons—it’s more like the notes from Rob’s own therapy sessions.

Where to start: Episode 3 | Receipts

6. Serial

If you don’t know what Serial is, where have you been? Besides just being an incredible feat of true crime storytelling, Serial is a portrait of 21st century, post-white American youth culture. Stop everything you’re doing and listen to it now. Where to start: Listen to the whole thing from beginning to end!

5. Seminary Dropout

Host Shane Blackshear describes it as halfway between seminary and youth camp. Shane talks to brilliant thinkers as an equal, drawing out their hopes and intentions. Every interview is insightful, even if you haven’t heard of the guests.

Where to start: Scot McKnight Part 1 and Part 2

4. You Made it Weird

Pete Holmes has a bit in his stand-up that his natural skill set only allows him to be either a youth pastor or a stand-up comedian. After a painful divorce and a lot of deconstruction, Pete is carving out a comedy career and rediscovering his faith. In each episode, Pete asks comedians to describe their opinion on comedy, sex and God.

Where to start: Zach Galifianakis or Dana Carvey

3. Reply All

Simply put, it’s a show about the internet. The two guys that created TLDR for On the Media jumped ship for Gimlet. The fact is, much of our life takes place on the internet today. It’s crucial to think missionally about the internet.

Where to start: An App Sends A Stranger To Say I Love You

2. Tear Gas and Gumdrops

When I said “Hey Kyle, we should have a podcast. What do you want to call it?” He said “Tear Gas and Gumdrops, because ministry is really tough, but it’s really good, too.” We try to be brutally honest about church planting, youth ministry, and our own—often painful—journey. Take a listen, subscribe on iTunes and tell your friends.

Where to start: Secrets I’m Afraid to Tell My Church or Unwanted? Single Christians in a Church for Married People

1. Startup

If you ever think you want to plant a church, listen to this podcast. If you ever think you want to start anything, listen to this podcast. If you like good stuff, listen to this podcast. Alex Blumberg captures his journey of leaving This American Life to start his own network. He takes the microphone everywhere, captures tons of blunders, and somehow manages to get a his company off the ground.

Where to start: Listen to the whole thing from beginning to end!

What do you think? What else should we be listening to?

The post Top 10 Podcasts Church Planters Should Hear appeared first on Chris Morton.

This is a good thing.

When I was growing up, I was incredibly insecure and had a hard time making friends. My primary value was to avoid the shame I felt when I failed to connect with others. By focusing on avoiding the shame of connection, I grew increasingly lonely.

For years, I was embedded in churches that focused on a set of “legalisms,” specific rules that couldn’t be broken. These mainly had to do with language, dress, sexuality and how often we showed up for church. By focusing on rules, I grew rigid and judgemental.

For many churches “success” means a growing number of bodies in seats on Sundays, and a growing budget. By focusing on the numbers, churches often go to ungodly lengths to gather more people.

For fundamentalists (Christian, Muslim, Atheist, etc.) intellectual assent to core beliefs is essential to one’s identity. By focusing on right belief, fundamentalists often will excuse hurtful behavior.

Sadly, what often happens is that our ideals change but behavior does not.

We all know the truism that what you measure is what gets done. Whether we like it or not, our ideals often get trumped by our score card.

So how do we redefine a win when our values have changed? Here’s a five steps that I’ve found helpful:

1. Do some careful deconstruction

You can sometimes see when someone is working through a shift in values. They might become angry or depressed. They might go off the radar altogether.

Often, what is happening is a lot of internal deconstruction. When deconstructing you might ask questions like:

• What if the Bible isn’t what my church said it is?
• What if my self-righteousness has hurt other people?
• What if the organization we call “church” is an extension of Western market values?

Disentangling what you have believed is necessary for maturity. However, if given free reign, deconstruction can result in nihilism, or at least, a lot of bitterness.

The key is to not deconstruct alone. Find an outside voice, someone who has no “skin in the game” and can help guide you through the sadness, anger and shame to the meaning on the other side.

2. Find new heroes

When your values change, your heroes are called into question. Having someone you look up to is necessary to defining who you want to be.

Rather than simply writing off your heroes, or getting angry at them, find new heroes that represent part of what you want to be.

A few of mine are:

• Francis of Assisi, for his focus on gentle simplicity and self-sacrifice.
• Dallas Willard, for his commitment to the kingdom of God.
• Dietrich Bonhoeffer, for using his intellect to take a stand on the great issues of his day.
• Brené Brown, for modeling how to speak honestly about shame.
• Seth Godin, for modeling how good marketing can help people.

Who are some of your heroes?

3. Define where you are and where you are going

When running or swimming, the most powerful movement takes place in the beginning. You set yourself firmly in place, then launch toward the goal.

You can’t just define a new win without honestly assessing where you are. For instance:

• Saying you will lose weight requires honestly assessing your current body composition
• Saying you will be a forgiving person will require that you assess your current capacity for forgiveness
• Saying you will be an evangelistic church requires assessing your churches comfort and skills regarding evangelism

You also have to have a clear idea of what it will look like when you succeed. For instance:

• Saying “I want to lose 30 pounds by December” is more actionable and measurable than saying “I want to lose some weight.”
• Saying “I want to forgive my neighbor for not mowing their lawn” is more actionable and measurable than saying “I want to be more forgiving.”
• Saying “Our church will be comfortable and equipped to share their faith” is more actionable and measurable than saying “We should be more evangelistic.”

4. Set process goals

If your win is only an end goal, it becomes tempting to cheat. How do you get past a “win at any cost” mentality?

One way is to set process goals, as well as end goals. In other words, finish this sentence:

“We know we are succeeding at ______ because we have accomplished the following ______.”

As Community Developer at Austin Mustard Seed, my end goal is to see our people become a “community of disciples on mission together.” We aim for process goals that help us grow in our sense of community, our personal discipleship, and our capacity for mission.

5. Welcome outside opinion

Finally, remember the words of Proverbs 15:22:

“Refuse good advice and watch your plans fail;
take good counsel and watch them succeed.”

The problem with having values and goals is that we can’t get out of our head. We can’t see how we look to other people. We will often lie to ourselves and say that we’re getting better.

This is a real danger if we want our lives to reflect our change of values. However, it is easily remedied by asking outsiders opinions.

Do whatever you have to—pay a therapist or consultant or secret shopper—to get an honest, outside perspective. Then reevaluate your process.

Our ideals shift, but not always our lives.

The post How Do We Redefine a Win When Our Ideals Have Changed? appeared first on Chris Morton.

But the fact is, we all have small things we can do, right now, that could immediately give us a better life. Why not start there, instead?

Here are 51 ideas I had. What would add?

1. Wake up five minutes earlier. Spend the time in bed enjoying the silence.
2. Work more kale into your diet.
3. Carry cash and be ready to “give to him who asks you.”
4. Make a list of the decisions you’ve been procrastinating.
5. Stretch.
6. Call people by their name.
7. Spend 15 minutes reading something on paper.
8. Write notes.
9. Call your grandmother.
10. Take short breaks and do ten push ups.
11. Set special time aside for intercession.
12. Never leave the house without a book.
13. Sing along with an up beat song in the car.
14. Ask someone to tell you a story. Listen from beginning to end without interrupting.
15. Take a short walk.
16. Pet a dog.
17. Make your bed.
18. Post a picture of someone you love online. Write a caption about why they are great.
19. Read a random wikipedia page.
20. Use a neti pot.
21. Go to a different restaurant/bar/coffee shop and try to meet someone you wouldn’t normally.
22. Make a list of books to read.
23. Get an audiobook to listen to in traffic.
24. Become a member of a local library.
25. Do not take your phone, computer or television into your bedroom.
26. Make a meal plan for the coming week.
27. Tell someone who you think is cool that you’d like to be friends.
28. Reconnect with someone online.
29. Make a list of people who have influenced you and tell them thanks.
30. Reread your favorite book from childhood.
31. Make a list of everything your parents did right.
32. Laundry.
33. Iron and starch a shirt you’ll want to wear in the future.
34. Throw away a piece of trash every time you get out of your car.
35. Get a massage.
36. Buy a foam roller and use it for 10 minutes a day.
37. Make a list of healthy foods you like and be sure to keep them on hand.
38. Try butter coffee.
39. Use the pomodoro technique.
40. Consider the lillies.
41. Make plans to take kids you know to zoos and natural history museums.
42. Watch a documentary on a subject you are unfamiliar with.
43. Pay for the drink of the person behind you in line.
44. Keep a gratitude journal.
45. Choose a few things to arbitrarily measure from 0-10, such as energy level, happiness, etc., and track your measurement daily.
46. Practice Lectio Divina.
47. Take a multivitamin.
48. Take a social media fast.
49. Hang out with a grandparent, or someone your grandparent’s age.
50. Offer to babysit for someone who is stressed out.
51. Create your own list of ways to be a better person, and share it in the comments below.

The post 51 Small Acts That Will Immediately Improve Your Life appeared first on Chris Morton.

There are a lot of good reasons to be a part of a church community.

A few of them have to do existential affirmations on eternity.

People who are a part of a church community tend to live longer, stay married longer and be generally healthier. Church provides a sense of shared cultural practices identity that seems to be disappearing from our increasingly monolithic culture. A lot of people go to church because they think it’s good for their families.

So it has its benefits.

Beneficial enough that some might consider joining a church community even if they don’t buy into the belief system. Faking it can lead to three different results:

1. Internal angst from a sense of dishonesty
2. Outright hypocrisy
3. Slowly assimilating to the beliefs around you

None of those seem terribly honest or helpful.

The Idol of Certainty

Greg Boyd is talking a lot these days about how our culture tends to make an idol out of certainty. Our world is changing faster than we can comprehend. Groping for something to anchor us, we manufacture a sense of certainty.

You’ve probably encountered some religious people like this. They place all beliefs are on a level field. You must have complete and certain trust in Jesus. You must also have an equally strong faith in other concepts, such as the historicity of Genesis, certain sexual ethics and a specific political platform.

I have encountered people that said that if you consider the first few chapters of Genesis to include metaphor, then Jesus’s death is meaningless.

Unfortunately, we’ve seen how idolizing certainty plays out.

The loner who has no one to tell about their pain. Their loneliness might lead to risky behaviors or even suicide.

The heresy hunter makes it their personal quest to discredit or even ruin those who doesn’t fit their definition of orthodoxy.

The manipulator, who uses the language of certainty to gain prowess.

The phony, who creates a secret life to indulge in what they cannot publically proclaim.

None of these is good options. But let’s be honest. We all have doubts.

How do we move beyond faking it?

1. Admit we have a problem.

Be certain of this: forced certainty is not the answer.

You will have doubts. They might never go away.

There is an amazing sense of freedom and relief that comes from just saying to yourself and to others: I’m not sure about _______.

Many people aren’t exactly sure what specific doubts they have. Admitting that you have doubts and learning to name them clearly is the first step to learning how to live with them.

2. Decide on a practical core.

It’s pretty hard to go through life doubting everything. Eventually, you have to make a few assumptions if you want to get through life.

Most people decide to trust gravity. It’s impractical not too. In fact, assuming gravity will always continue to work the way it does today will keep you from hurting yourself.

Rather than focusing on exactly what we believe, we should ask the question: “What beliefs and practices are necessary for me to be the kind of person I want to be and the world needs?” The key is to be practical. Decide on daily actions and postures worthy of shaping your life.

For me, this is the teachings of Jesus, most clearly stated in the Sermon on the Mount. Turning the other cheek (choosing peacemaking over violence) and storing up treasures in heaven (choosing to focus on goals that serve a higher purpose) result in practices that will guide me when my beliefs do not.

2. Determine what is tangential.

Boyd suggests that all Christian beliefs should be formed in four concentric circles.

(Image Credit, ReKnew)

The pain point with the idol of certainty is that ideas that should be opinions are given the same weight as the core ideas. Many people struggle or even walk away from faith when concepts from the outer circle run up against reality.

Just like #2, there’s a lot of freedom that comes with clarifying your doctrines and opinions. When you can say “this is my opinion” you suddenly become a much more pleasant human being. You have to the freedom to admit you are wrong. You are brave enough to admit that people who disagree with you can also be smart.

Admitting you have opinions is part of what it means to be human: we don’t know everything. Opinions change, become nuanced or dropped altogether.

By separating core practices from opinions, you are free to delve into doubt and still live an honest life.

3. Commit to a community.

In The Power of Habit, Charles Duhigg tells the story of an alcoholic who committed to joining AA. He didn’t believe in God.

In time, he sobered up.

In time, he found himself saying “this is what we believe.”

The American ideal of individualism makes it hard to believe things. It is hard to sustain anything, much less an esoteric existential concept, alone.

It breaks my heart when people withdraw from communities because of a sense of doubt. It’s also not a very effective method of dealing with the problem.

You can’t believe anything alone for long. Counter-intuitively, being a part of a community will make you a “better doubter.” You’ll have to make sure your doubts hold up to the beliefs and practices of smart people all around you.

Commit to a community. In time, you’ll know what to believe, and what to doubt.

4. Listen to a multitude of voices.

A sure sign of certainty-worshippers is a fear of outside voices. They tell you what thinkers to avoid. They ban books.

Since we are going to doubt, let’s doubt well. Go out of your way to listen to different voices. Find out what they believe and why.

You wouldn’t stop going to restaurants because of one bad night out. Don’t walk away from everything that might be worth believing because of one voice you now doubt.

5. Submit to the creeds.

Nadia Bolz-Webber tells a story about discovering why the creeds are full of “we” language . The creeds boil down the Christian story into a few dogmatic statements. Over centuries, we’ve decided that these are worthing sharing with those in our church community and the “communion of the saints” across the ages.

The creeds are “we” statements because WE BELIEVE. We, the Jesus followers in the room and for centuries before us.

As we know, I BELIEVE statements won’t get you very far.

YOU might not believe at this moment. But WE do.

6. Forgive those who force their certainty on you.

There’s a lot of pain tied up in certainty worship. Some cling to certainty because of their own insecurities. They can often do hurtful things to others to ensure their certainty continues.

Much of what we call doubt is actually a sense of dread. We’re afraid of being associated with such hurtful people.

Freedom comes from admitting that they hurt you and others with their certainty. This probably is based in deep, sinful malfunctions you’ll never understand.

By forgiving them, you can judge their beliefs on the merit of the belief, not the jerk who held it.

7. Avoid ruminating.

Deep thinking is good. Time for meditation and contemplation is good. Ruminating is bad.

Ruminating, or sustained focus on how you have been hurt will only magnify the pain.

To avoid rumination, find a safe setting to work through your doubts and associated pains. Create boundaries and employ distractions. You might even need to limit some friendships with bitter, cynical people or certain types of media.

The goal is not to create an echo chamber (see #4). The
goal is to address them fully and proactively, without creating more unneccessary pain.

8. Find ways to serve.

A lot of unhelpful doubts crop up in your free time. Focus on doing what you know is right, and also doing what you like.

A lot of doubts come from the theoretical approach we take to faith. Even scripture says that this is a bad idea.

If you are busy serving others in need, you might find that your doubts seem like that big of a deal.

9. Become articulate in both sides of the coin.

Make it a goal to state what you doubt and why. Be able to argue from both sides.

You may find that you doubted something that was stupid and should not be believed.

You may find that you did not doubt, just misunderstood.

You may find a third way that you don’t doubt.

Most often, I find that when I truly understand an issue my doubt remains, it just doesn’t hurt as much.

10. Be completely honest with at least one person.

Doubts and loneliness are best friends. Those who become phonies or manipulators are often keeping their deepest thought to themselves.

Since doubt is inevitable, find a way to share it! If you can, tell your best friend or a spouse or pastor.

Going to a professional counselor has taught me how to be a person who confides. I continue to confide in counselors and individuals I am learning how to trust others with my doubts, too.

11. Tell your story.

Doubt is always part of a bigger story. It is a journey, where you move from false certainty, through doubt, and land in a place completely new.

Many people don’t realize they have been on a journey until they tell their story. Sharing it with others helps you understand the context of your beliefs and doubts. It may also help you know exactly how much attention a specific doubt deserves.

Get good at telling your story, and you might come to love your doubts!

12. Give up on “arriving.”

Here’s one thing you can be certain of: you will never arrive.

You’ll always be changing. Some beliefs will come and go. Some will become core to your being. Some will cease to matter.

Churches that focus on “making a decision” and holding to specific beliefs make this journey unnecessarily difficult. For instance, it makes sense that if you become a Christ-follower at 16 years old you could have new ideas and doubts at 32. They might be even more different at 64.

Jesus said “follow me!” He never said “affirm these theological statements!”

You have a whole life ahead of you. It will be better if you are a part of a church community. More so, it will be better if you are following a path. I suggest Jesus.

While you journey, get comfortable with doubt. It will often visit you along the way.

The post Beyond Faking It: 12 Steps for Doubting God, Following Jesus and Participating in a Church appeared first on Chris Morton.

The myth of the successful person is that they made stunning sacrifices for their dream. They did a staggering amount of work. Eventually, they were rewarded with a modicum of success and become a minor celebrity.

Then the reckoning. Divorce. Despair. Addiction. Depression. They spiral into breakdown.

Eventually, they discover some sensational principle, achieve bliss and write a New York Times best-seller about it.

These stories are real. Sometimes the books are helpful. But is this nightmare necessary to live the life you want?

These books will teach you great principles like “get into therapy,” “watch your diet” or “practice Sabbath.” Read them. Do what they say.

But there is one surprisingly simple method to avoid burnout and save you from disaster.

It works just like Archimedes dropping the crown into the bathtub. It’s so simple that you may run naked through the streets shouting “Eureka!”

Get a hobby.

It seems that there was a time where everyone had a car in the garage they were tinkering on, or a softball team or membership in the elks club. In today’s world we binge on Netflix, avoid our neighbors and eschew formal membership in institutions.

We’ve made idols out of our careers. We focus on our personal success to the detriment of our families, neighborhoods, and eventually ourselves.

Somewhere along the way, we forgot about hobbies.

I define a hobby as a non-necessary task that energizes you.

The specific hobby doesn’t matter. The key is that it is removed from your job, career ambitions or family responsibilities.

A hobby could be helping with a local service organization, building a widget in your garage, gardening or writing a novel.

A hobby is something you do for fun. It’s something that is so much fun you’d spend hard earned money on it. You don’t need to be good at it. You do need to feel better after working on it.

Think about the most happy and healthy people you know. They work hard. But they also play hard.

Or maybe it’s the other way around?

When Archimedes dropped the crown in the bathtub, the water was raised. This is good news.

A hobby is like the crown. The water is all the stuff in your life, the necessary tasks you can’t escape.

When you drop the crown in the bathtub, some of the water splashes out. Hobbies keep you from filling your life with crap.

Make time and money for your hobby a cornerstone that other things are built off, and you will be forced to spend the rest of your life on things that matter.

Chances are, you’ll be just busy enough, doing things that energize you that you’ll avoid burnout altogether.

The post A Method For Avoiding Burnout So Obvious You’ve Forgotten It appeared first on Chris Morton.