Stop Waiting For God To Call Your Name

IMG_5248It must be one of the greatest feelings in the world to hear your name called to compete on “The Price Is Right”.

I can only imagine the elation running through a contestant’s body when the announcer tells them to “Come on down!” After waiting and waiting they get to be one of the lucky handful of people who actually get to play the game.

Just look at the celebration which took place just the other day as one contestant crowd surfed his way to the stage:

Of course, most of us will never get the chance to be on a game show. We’ll never get the chance to celebrate when an announcer calls our name.

In fact a lot of us spend our days the same way in the audience of life, waiting around for God to call our name. We watch us our fellow contestants have all the fun and hope our turn will come. If only God would call us.

Here’s the thing though: the simple fact that you’re alive means that He’s already called your name. He’s yelling it at the top of his lungs, calling you from out of the crowd and onto the playing field.

If you’re alive, then you’re in the game. You’ve still got a chance to win.

So stand up. Cheer. Get excited. Go crazy. Make your way out of the audience and onto the stage.

The cameras are on. The show’s already started.

Come on down. It’s time to play.

2 Dirty Little Secrets About Performers

IMG_4141A few weeks ago I had the chance to step back on a theatrical stage for the first time in a year. I was just playing a minuscule background role, but it was a special performance for a couple of reasons.

For one thing I got be on stage with my wife. It was also my very first – and probably very last – time performing in an opera.

Thankfully, I didn’t have to sing. My only real role in the show was to throw a punch at a guy who was trying to steal my girlfriend away (a punch I never could get the timing right on).

As I sat in the background of the show waiting for my moment to come around, I noticed a few things about my fellow performers.

Now, if you’ve ever performed on stage before as an actor or musician,  you probably already know these secrets. But if you’ve only sat in the audience, I’m going to pull back the curtain and let you in on some juicy behind-the-scenes dirt.

I’m not doing this just to stir up gossip. Instead I think these are 2 secret tricks about performers that can help you be more successful on any stage in life: Continue reading

What’s The Meaning Of Mad Men?

mad-men-season-7-posterA lot of critics have been questioning this final season of Mad Men, as is their job. Seems like there’s been a rising tide of criticism that these last 6 episodes have not been up to the quality of the rest of the series.

One common complaint is that it seems like there’s no urgency to the story. Most people are wondering just what it is this final season and this show in general is all about.

For me this season it’s become fairly clear what Mad Men has been all about this whole time:

Mad Men is about the way Don Draper, and our culture as a whole, seeks meaning in meaningless things. Continue reading

Your Life Is An Advertisement

ChicFilABurgerzUnderrated aspect of living in Atlanta? Getting to see new Chick-Fil-A billboards driving down the highway everyday. When I see a new one I get as excited as Homer Simpson.

Seriously – the people at Chick-Fil-A aren’t just experts in deliciously addictive food. They’re also masterful marketers.

In 1995, Chick-Fil-A launched their definitive and often hilarious “Eat Mor Chikin” campaign. Surely you know the premise well by now: a group of cows band together to show off their talents (excluding spelling) to prove how they can be more than just food, imploring customers to eat chicken sandwiches instead of burgers.

How effective are the cows in marketing chicken nuggets?

The billboards in Atlanta featuring the cows don’t even mention the name Chick-Fil-A. Yet everyone driving by knows exactly what the billboard is advertising. Continue reading

When Your Story Goes Up In Flames, Remember This:

IMG_5092This past weekend my wife and I got the incredible opportunity to spend some time working at Pioneer Plunge, a majestic Young Life camp in Weaverville, NC.

If you’re not familiar with it, Pioneer Plunge is unlike any other Young Life camp. Nestled high in the mountains and hidden away at the top of Windy Gap (another Young Life camp), Plunge consists of only 3 minimal cabins, a pond and a garden. There’s no electricity or amenities of any kind.

The purpose of the camp is to provide young people with a chance to live in the wilderness for a week and discover God’s calling unhindered by any distraction.

Kate and I met as Young Life leaders and look for any chance we can to give back to the ministry. We never had the chance to visit Pioneer Plunge when we were leaders so when the chance came up to participate in a Work Crew weekend at the camp we jumped at the opportunity.

Unfortunately we didn’t see the camp in all it’s glory. In August of 2014 the main cabin at Pioneer Plunge burned down in a tragic accident. No one was hurt by the fire and it was miraculously contained to just the one building. Continue reading

The Way To Move Past Your Breaking Point

How far would you go to prove a point?

That’s the question at the center of the film “Unbroken”, a powerful true story about Japanese POW survivor Louis Zamperini. If you haven’t seen it yet, go out of your way to make it the next movie you watch – it’s that good.

Louis is a man who, without hope of rescue, decides instead to prove a point that his captors will not break his spirit. He would keep defying and keep fighting until his body could go on no more, inspired by the words of his brother who trained him to be an Olympic-level runner: “If you can take it, you can make it.”

Louis Zamperini decided if he could not defeat his captors then he would die proving something to them. Continue reading

How To Survive Being Stuck In An Elevator

FullSizeRenderI work on the 21st floor of my building. As such I’m very dependent on the elevator to take me where I need to go each day.

It’s a ridiculously fast elevator too. As in so fast it makes my ears pop and my stomach queasy (seriously). Sometimes I’m afraid it’s going to fly out of the roof of the building like at the end of “Willy Wonka And The Chocolate Factory”.

Of course not every ride is so quick. If I leave right around 5 then the elevator will usually have to make a few stops on the way down to pick up other riders.

Riding this elevator everyday for the past few months I’ve observed a lot of interesting tics and habits people have on their rides. One of these in particular makes me chuckle a little every time I see it. Continue reading

Why The Apple Watch Might Not Be Terrible

watch-dmI’ve been pretty steadily hate-reading test reviews of the Apple Watch. I don’t know why I’m so interested in reading about a product I think is so dumb.

Seriously – ever since Apple’s announcement back in the fall I’ve been shaking my head at this new digital wearable.

Maybe I’m being short-sighted. I just can’t see myself ever purchasing one. Of course I said the same thing about the iPhone when it debuted, and I finally came around to those in 2012.

There is however one feature of the Apple Watch I find intriguing. Apparently the watch has an innovative way of delivering alerts. They’re called Taptic Notifications.

The Apple Watch buzzes every few minutes, always reminding you of its presence and of your connection to your various networks. Continue reading

What The Church Can Learn From The Masters

IMG_4995This is the first time in over 20 years I won’t be spending Masters Week as a resident of Augusta, GA. I have to admit I’m missing the sights and sounds of the spectacle. It’s the biggest holiday on the calendar for the city.

If you’ve never lived in Augusta, there’s nothing really to compare Masters Week with.

I guess the closest thing would be to when a city hosts an event like the Super Bowl. But even then it’s a different city every year.

For 7 days every year the city of Augusta totally transforms. Washington Road becomes the golf capital of the world. Golf Carts are lined up in front of every business. Even members of One Direction show up.

Corporations take over abandoned buildings and parking lots and turn them into pop-up party tents and memorabilia shops. Thousands of residents flee the city, renting out their homes to tourists and travelers and the golfers themselves.

For one week the city of Augusta becomes a spectacle. Then, the Monday after the tournament, everything goes back to normal. Continue reading

From Bobby To Bob – A Preview Of My Story For Faith Magazine

11137090_10100331137759765_4133455534662635380_n(Earlier this year I had the incredible opportunity to interview Robert Jones IV, the grandson of legendary golfer Bobby Jones, for a feature story for Faith Magazine. The story graces the cover of the March/April edition of Faith Magazine. You can pick up a copy of the free magazine at grocery stores across the CSRA or check it out on the Faith Magazine website. I’m so proud of this interview that I wanted to share a preview of that story with the POP GOD audience. Enjoy this introduction, and check out the full story when you get a chance. )

Bob (as Robert IV prefers to be called) knows the stories well. He can tell you the story of all of his grandfather’s trophies, including the one he broke as a child tinkering around on vacation at his grandparents’ mansion. In addition to his full-time calling as a psychologist, Bob’s other profession is preserving the legacy of Bobby Jones, a man he called “Bub.”

Bob remembers a different side of his grandfather. He saw more than the legend whose name is etched into the foundations of the city of Augusta and the game of golf. He saw more than a statue or a logo or a mythical name. He saw a man who struggled from a crippling disease, who fought valiantly to survive and whose faith kept him on course when his life was fading. Continue reading