Do You Wear The Black Hat?

/ Alex Doriot / 1 Comment

“The villain is the person who knows the most and cares the least.” – Chuck Klosterman, I Wear The Black Hat

In his new book I Wear The Black Hat, Chuck Klosterman writes about villains both real and imaginary. As with everything he writes, Klosterman’s book is an inventive and thought-provoking examination peeling back layers of pop culture to reveal truths that seem obvious until you realize you never realized them before. (There’s a particularly interesting discussion about what would happen if a real life Batman began to fight crime.)

But what sticks out the most is Klosterman’s main theory: A villain is a person who knows the most and cares the least. If you know all the facts about a particular situation, if you know what harm your actions will bring and you simply do not care what happens, then you are a villain in your story.

In a roundabout way, I Wear The Black Hat reminds me of another book about story: Donald Miller’s A Million Miles in a Thousand Years. Continue reading →

5 Ways You Can Be A Rock Star Today

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photoYou can be a rock star today.

You may not be performing before 10,000 adoring fans inside an enormous arena as you read this.

But trust me on this one.

No, I’m not *technically* a rock star. But I did see some live and in person last week.

The Killers are a rock group out of Las Vegas who have been performing their hits “Somebody Told Me” and “When You Were Young” around the world for the past 10 years.

I got to see them perform at Verizon Wireless Amphitheater in Alpharetta, GA last week. Lead singer Brandon Flowers turned out to be a fantastic live performer and the entire band put on a great set.

As I watched the show, I noticed a few simple traits The Killers embraced which all great rock stars have in common. Turns out you too can apply these 5 practices to your life to become a rock star in your office: Continue reading →

Surf Like A Dog

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(Click Here if you can’t see the video above.)

It’s Friday.

The summer is almost over.

Why don’t you go for an adventure today?

Try something the world says you shouldn’t be able to do.

Swim outside of your boundaries.

Have fun beyond your species.

Do something wild just to make your heart smile.  You never know who might be watching. You never know who you’ll inspire just with your sense of adventure.

Surf like a dog.

Happy Friday.

Fire The Coach

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** FILE ** This is an Oct. 11, 2008 file photo showing Georgia head coach Mark Richt gesturing on the the sidelines during an NCAA college football game against Tennessee in Athens, Ga. Judging from the chatter on Internet message boards, Georgia fans are fretting a little more than usual, clearly bothered by the perception that their program is starting to lag ever so slightly behind the other elite schools in the powerful Southeastern Conference. (AP Photo/John Bazemore, File)

Last year saw marks the launch of the SEC Network, the latest in a line of 24 hour sports networks. It joined the relatively new Fox Sports 1 and NBC Sports Network as well as the already established ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, ESPNews, and about 100 other “all sports, all the time” channels.

Sports dominate the American culture like nothing else. You could say sports rule the day because of fantasy teams, or because of geographical rivalries, or because live sports are “DVR-proof”.

You might even say sports rule the day simply because of the thrill of victory. But I think it’s the opposite. Continue reading →

Why I’ll Always Love The O.C.

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http://nowhitenoise.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/ocpilot.jpg

Everything I’ve learned about leadership I learned from The O.C.

Maybe that’s a stretch. But as the landmark soap marked it’s tenth anniversary this past week (and retrospective articles like this one from Grantland were all over the place) I started thinking about why I have such a soft spot for this bubblegum show.

I realized none of the articles I found on the internet really got to the heart of why I loved The O.C. – the heart of it all. Continue reading →

Monday Morning Music – Silent Sunlight

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(Click Here if you can’t see the video above.)

Mondays are daunting.

The drive back to the office is dreadful.

The work we’ve been avoiding all weekend has piled up.

Sometimes you need the Monday Morning Music to get you going.

Last week I stumbled across a record for 20 cents at Salvation Army – “Catch Bull At Four” by Cat Stevens. On it was the perfect Monday Morning Music – a song called “Silent Sunlight”.

Today is my first day away from my full-time job in almost five years. Yet this song reminded me the work has only just begun.

You may be out of a job as well this morning. Or you may be stepping into a job you’re not in love with. Or you may be stepping into a project you’ve been putting off.

Whatever Monday you’re stepping into, simply sing a song of love and truth into everything you do. Be strong. Be courageous. Do the work. Rest your eyes. Wake up. Do it again.

Keep pushing through, having faith in what the Lord is bringing you into with each new sunlight.

photo-6I’d love to know – what are you facing down this Monday? How can we support each other as we do the work of a new week?

Take A Full Measure

/ Alex Doriot / 1 Comment

Mike The Cleaner Ehrmantraut is the best character from “Breaking Bad”.

Mike is a “cleaner” – a mysterious man who plays every side in the crime world, taking care of business for the highest bidder. He says only what needs to be said – no more, no less. He always puts business first.

Mike meets his match when he stumbles across Walter White in the show’s second season. While Mike always uses logic and sensibility in his criminal pursuits, Walter is reckless and dangerous. Worst of all, Walt is full of hubris.

At many points during “Breaking Bad” Walter has a chance to escape from his life of crime and the constant fear for his life that comes with it. But Walter, knowing he should seek safety, refuses to leave so easily. He can’t help but keep stacking the odds against himself. Continue reading →

The Death Of Rock Band

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76181_166540390043728_7807469_n“I’ve got next on Rock Band!”

When I first stepped onto the job as youth pastor at The Hill Baptist Church five years ago, this was the call I heard every time a student would arrive at church.

Literally every Sunday and Wednesday before and after church we would spend at least an hour playing “Livin’ On A Prayer” and “Alive” (or at least pretending like we were playing them). We themed 2 Lock-Ins after our Rock Band and Guitar Hero addiction.

I even spent one Saturday afternoon with two students playing through the ultimate setlist of every song on Rock Band 2 in one sitting. We played through half of the setlist before I accidentally tripped over the power cord to the Xbox 360. So we turned the machine back on, started from the beginning, and played through it all again.

Rock Band and Guitar Hero were obsessions for this group of students and for so many teenagers across the world. Which is kind of crazy, considering how nonexistent Rock Band and Guitar Hero are just a few years later. Continue reading →

The Breaking

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forbes.com

Walter White never expected to be on the run. As the final season of “Breaking Bad” began last summer, the show flashed forward to a scene a year into the future. Walter White is on the lam in disguise using a stolen identity, running away rom God only knows what kind of violent pursuit.

When he began his descent into murderous meth-cooking kingpin, Walter White just wanted to get in and out of the drug business with a nest egg for his family.

Walter White never expected to become a drug dealer in the first place. He was just a chemistry teacher with no savings facing down a terminal lung cancer diagnosis which would bankrupt his family.

Of course, Walter White never expected to develop terminal lung cancer. No one ever plans on having cancer. Life just sort of breaks that way.

Life has a way of escalating quickly. Maybe not as quick as “Breaking Bad” or those DirecTV commercials. But the plans we construct for our lives always seem to be unraveling. Continue reading →

My Favorite Verse In The Message

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Some people hate on The Message, the modern translation of the Bible crafted by Eugene Peterson. Not me. While it’s not my everyday Bible translation, I often turn to The Message for a fresh perspective on God’s word. Plus it’s probably the only Bible translation with a quote from Bono on the back.

There’s a lot of great translations in The Message. John 1:14 gets tossed around a lot by Younglife leaders – “The word became flesh and blood and moved into the neighborhood.”

But my favorite verse in The Message doesn’t come from the Gospels.

It doesn’t come from Genesis.

It doesn’t come from a prophet major or minor.

It doesn’t come the Psalms or the Proverbs or the Song of Solomon.

In fact, it doesn’t come from any of the 66 books of The Bible.

My favorite verse in The Message translation comes before the table of contents: Continue reading →