Life as an unmarried grad student/SEO guy allows me to be pretty mobile.  A long time ago I decided to live by the adage “Never leave the house without a book.”  My list has grown to the following essentials.  If you work remotely, or are a student, or just wish you could spend more time out and about, here are a few things you’ll absolutely need.

1. Macbook Air
   I switched to the MacBook Air from a MacBook Pro about 6 months ago and have never looked back.  It’s beautiful, incredibly fast and super light.  I chose a 13″, mainly because of the longer battery life, but the 11″ is just as good.  Don’t let the bells and whistles of the MacBook Pro fool you.  Unless you are a professional video editor, the Air is all you need.
2. A Quality Bag
   The essential parts of my lifestyle and career deserve a good home.  I’m thrilled Mamba Courier Booq I got for Christmas. It looks great, has just the right number of pockets, an easily adjustable “seatbelt” style belt and is water resistant.
3. Moleskine
   So essential, I actually carry two.  One is for journaling, ranting and doodling.  The other is for taking notes and creating To Do lists.
4. Kindle
   When it comes to having a book at all times, Kindle is the best way to go.  Two best practices:
   -Always have two books loaded.  I suggest one serious reading and one throw away novel.  The worst thing is to find yourself in an airport terminal, and finish the last line of your only book.  It helps if you have prepared a Reading List.
   -Schedule time to charge your Kindle once a week, just in case.
5. Pocket Bible
   I’ve extended the goal of “never leave the house without a book” to include “never leave the house without a Bible.”  I have a small NIV (2011) that I try to keep with me at all times.  I want to be one of those guys who has a beautiful marked up copy of the scriptures, and I hope by keeping this with me, I will be someday.
6. Headphones
   Whatever you do, don’t leave the house without headphones!  You never know know when you’ll get stuck with the Mimosa girls yapping about nothing next to you at the coffee shop, or be given a mindless task at work.  There are a few things I don’t even get out of bed without, and one of them is headphones.  Start saving up today for a nice pair: something comfortable enough to wear for hours, that provides a quality of sound that you can listen to for awhile.
7. iPhone To be more specific, I should say “audio content delivered by iPhone.”  I would be lost without my constant stream of audiobooks from my Audible app and a good podcast app.  Hours of commuting, mindless labor and things like cooking and cleaning become opportunities to learn.

What do you have with you when you leave the house?

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What the Church can do, that no one else can, is be a safe place where difficult questions can be discussed.  I’m happy to be a part of a little church here in Austin that’s really good at this.  However, at least in the world of popular podcasted sermons, I only know of two places where this happens.

1.  The masterful series from Erwin McManus at Mosaic back in 2006 called Life’s Toughest Questions, including “What About Sex?” and “Is There a Hell?”  Nobody can frame a discussion like Erwin.

2.  Then there’s this strange phenomenon north of the border.  The fasting growing church in Canada is a multisite megachurch in Canada called The Meeting House.  Each week Bruxy Cavey takes on the sacred cows of religion with rhetoric that is fiercely Mennonite (well, as fierce as a pacifist can be) and unflinchingly Arminian.

His most recent series My God Why? creates space to wrestle with the problem of evil.  The previous series Grace Anatomy offers a solid foundation for a theology of grace, while offering an alternative to popular conceptions of depravity and election.  Before that was a helpful series on evangelism that gives the listener a listening based framework to discuss eternal issues.  Possibly the bravest (and most Mennonite) of all their material was a series making the case for non-violence called Inglorious Pastors.  This features interviews with such peace focused rabble-rousers as Jim Wallis and Greg Boyd.

Bruxy’s sermon’s are intellectual yet accessible, and in my opinion, a lot of fun.  Coming from a country a few miles down on the post-Christendom road, The Meeting House is an example of what a meaningful conversation can be.

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The podcast started when two friends decided to give up their monumentally lazy lives and run a half marathon together.  Living on opposite sides of the country, they decided to podcast the whole thing.

The journey has been a difficult one, causing everything from blisters to shingles, and even one gomer getting hit by a car while running.  It has also been a ton of fun.  The gomers are true nerds, and children of nineties.  In many episodes, the running related content seems to be tacked on top of references to Full House, descriptions of their love for fast food and stories from growing up.

The Gomer phenomenon is a case study in modern media.  Both seasons have consistently highly rated on iTunes.  They have nearly 1,000 Facebook fans, and raised over $3,000 from charity.  They are a perfect example of Seth Godin’s Tribes or the 1,000 true fans theory.    Three things make the Gomers stand out, and teach us about how to connect and inspire:

1.  Looking Stupid Can Be Inspiring.  Even by choosing the name “Gomer,” they started the project with a sense of self deprecation.  They have never stopped flaunting their ignorance, or their desire to overcome it.

2.  Interact Relentlessly.  Originally, it started with the Gomers asking for running tips.  However, conversation has included everything from how to revive leftovers to thoughts on the iPad.  These conversations have engaged fans on Facebook and Twitter, and find their way back into the podcast.

3.  Authentically Display Your Faith.  TGRAM is not a Christian podcast, however, it is a podcast made by Christians.  Mentions of prayer and spirituality pepper the conversation.  This gives the discussions an added level of depth and inspiration.

Last Sunday, the two Gomers ran a marathon.  The podcast is coming to an end, and I feel like I’m saying goodbye to friends.

You can catch up on the whole saga at TwoGomers.com or search for Two Gomers on iTunes.  Here’s another inspiration of the Gomers.

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