Jon Acuff's Blog, page 162

1 Yard Pop Culture Fumbles.

Last night, we went to a toy store to buy some marbles. I think our family is going through an "old-timey" phase. Who plays with marbles? A marble app on the iPhone? That makes sense. But real marbles? I think we are about 10 minutes away from churning our own butter and chasing a hoop down the street with a stick.

During the marble excursion, I noticed that the store we were in was playing music over the loudspeakers. Christmas music? No. Holiday themed favorites? Not exactly. They were playing Lady Gaga songs sung by little kids. While shopping, I was serenaded with a 5 year old's intepretation of the song, "Paparazzi."

I can't stand that kind of thing. I get that it's cute that kids are singing songs that aren't really meant for kids, but the window of childhood is already so narrow. Why do we have to slam it shut even faster by teaching our kids Katy Perry? As I've said before, you can fast forward a kid's childhood, but you can't really rewind it.

Pop culture is funny like that. There are so many tricky ways it influences us, so many weird ways we bump into it and one of them is what I call the "1 yard pop culture fumble."

What's that? Simple, the 1 yard pop culture fumble is when you're about to share an Internet link with a friend or a funny video or maybe even make a movie recommendation when the item in hand fumbles at the 1 yard line. Right before you send it, you realize there's something horrible at the end that no Christian should ever tell another Christian about. It's so bad you can't even throw out a "Christian disclaimer."

Case in point, the other day I saw a really funny video about the iPhone game "Angry Birds." Someone had arranged a peace treaty between the pigs and the birds, the two warring parties of this popular game. And it was really funny, for about 30 seconds. Then the birds started dropping the f bomb all over the place and it fumbled like a football player who is about to score a touchdown.

How does this happen? Here are the most common 1 yard pop culture fumbles:

1. Random nudity

For years, I've enjoyed watching the Christmas movie, "Love Actually" on the USA channel. So one year my wife got me the DVD. We threw it in and whoa, nudity. All of it was removed on the television version but the DVD was jam packed with naked. That's a pretty obvious fumble. You're in love with something and are about to recommend it until for no reason there's a naked parade at the end of the movie.

2. Sweary McCusserton

You love that clip. It's brilliant. It's the funniest online video you've seen in months. This is a homerun. You can't wait to tweet it and post it on your blog! People are going to love it. Except here comes Sweary McCusserton, a character whose only role is to swear, a lot. Right as you get ready to send it out there are words you've never heard before strung together like the scene in "Christmas Story" where the little kid beats up the bully.

3. Jesus Hatin'

This happens on the Onion pretty regularly. They write a hilarious article like, "Cockroach King Concerned Over Recent Rise of Bedbugs," and you think, "that's funny. I could see people laughing at that. I think I'll tweet it." But then the article next to it is titled, "NFL Star Thanks Jesus After Successful Double Homicide." Aww man! That whole article is going to be about hatin' on Jesus. I can't link that.

4. Political Grenade

I don't write about politics that often because it's not what I'm good at. It's not something I feel skilled at and there are so many other great blogs that do that topic justice already. But it's also one of those topics that gets people crazy instantly. I once had a guest post on SCL that was about being liberal. It was a great guest post and it was post #819 on this site. Someone tweeted me after it was posted and said, "Remember when Stuff Christians Like was funny instead of being all political?" There are had been 818 non political posts. There was 1 political post. If you're going to send out a link to an article, beware the fallout from politically flavored fights.

Maybe this has never happens to you. Maybe the 1 yard pop culture fumble is only something I suffer from. But I wish it didn't happen and not because people Jesus Juke me when it does. I wish my filter was not built to find reasons not to send something, but instead designed to find reasons to send something. I wish that I was more focused on finding things that were going to encourage and challenge, instead of counting the things Sweary McCusserton says. You have to call into question the pop culture stuff I'm digesting at the very least.

But maybe this has happened to you too. Have you ever experienced a 1 yard pop culture fumble?

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Day 7 of the 12 Days of Fantasticalness.

I usually don't post on Sunday, but you can't stop the 12 Days of Fantasticalness. Today is day 7. What's on the line?

A Dave Ramsey Shopping Spree.

One lucky person who pre-orders my new book, "Gazelles, Baby Steps and 37 Other Things Dave Ramsey Taught Me About Debt," will win a $200 shopping spree on DaveRamsey.com.

You'll get $200 you can use on books, DVDs, board games and the dozens of other options we have. You can probably clear your entire Christmas list in one visit.

Pre-order my new book today for your chance to win a $200 shopping spree on DaveRamsey.com

Click here to order!

Here are the rules.

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What's the best Christmas song of all time? A short Saturday question.

You know what I'm going with. If you've read this site for more than 10 minutes, you know exactly what song I am going to say is the greatest Christmas song of all time. Here's my vote:

"All I want for Christmas is you," by Mariah Carey.

That is my favorite song. But I also like some George Winston and Harry Connick Jr. I'll even bust out some fancy choirs in robes music every now and then. (I don't know an official name for this type of music, maybe "choral music." I prefer to call it "robe music," because the people who sing it tend to be wearing robes.)

How about you, what do you think is the best Christmas song of all time?

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Can I guest post on your blog?

It's the Saturday after Thanksgiving, there are approximately 12 people reading Stuff Christians Like right now. Knowing that, I thought it might be fun for Day 6 of the 12 Days of Fantasticalness to be a little different.

Last week, I had a blast calling people to thank them for buying my new book. Inevitably, a lot of the calls turned into rapid fire discussions on how to blog. With that in mind, I decided to give away 3 blogs.

Today, 3 people who pre-order my new book will win a blog analysis and a guest post from me. I will write an exclusive Stuff Christians Like entry, never to be published on my site or in a book, specially for your site. I will tell the 150,000 people who read SCL every month to check out your site. I will tweet a link to your blog and do everything I can to help you grow it. I will then give you a call on the phone and give you a few tips I learned about blogging. I will personally analyze your blog and walk you through some ways to add to it.

You in?

Pre-order my new book, "Gazelles, Baby Steps and 37 Other Things Dave Ramsey Taught Me About Debt" and you'll be instantly entered. Then email me the link to your blog. You might be one of the 3 winners.

Click here to order!

Here are the official rules.

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Leg dropping elves (Or the real meaning of Christmas)

(Now that Thanksgiving is officially in the rear view mirror, it's time to start talking about Christmas. This is the most popular Christmas post we've ever had on Stuff Christians Like and it's essentially a brawl/street fight between Elf on the Shelf and the wise men. Enjoy!)

Last year, someone gave my family an "Elf on the Shelf." If you're not familiar with it, it's essentially a small elf in a box and a book. The book tells you that you're supposed to hide the elf each night during the holiday season and let your kids find it. It's magic or a messenger of Santa or something. It was wildly popular last year and is probably continuing to sell well this Christmas too.

But as I started to think about the whole "real meaning of Christmas" debate and "is Santa bad" discussion that you almost are required by law to have if you're a Christian blogger, I started to think about that elf. He was just sitting there with a smug look on his face perched on the fireplace mantle looming over our nativity scene below on the hearth. Instead of the traditional Santa vs. Jesus discussion, I began to imagine what would happen if that elf ever ran into the characters from the nativity scene. What would that conversation look like? I present you:

Elf on the shelf meets the characters from the nativity scene.

Wise Man 1: "Whoa, whoa, whoa. Who are you?

Elf on the Shelf: "I'm the Elf on the Shelf."

Wise Man 1: "I can see that. It's right there on your box. I can read, kind of goes along with the territory. I'm a 'wise man.' But what are you doing here?"

Elf on the Shelf: "I came to spread holiday cheer and tell people about the magic of Santa Claus."

Wise Man 1: "That sentence is so wrong on so many levels I don't even know where to begin. First of all, please help me understand what 'holiday cheer' is. Is that some sort of glitter? Like a pixy dust or giggle spray or other elf razzle dazzle?

Wise Man 2: "Slow down Myrrh man. No need to get sarcastic."

Wise Man 1: "You stay out of this Gold Guy and don't call me Myrrh man. It's 'M&M.' No one knows what Myrrh even is. I sound like some sort of under the sea creature. I knew I should have brought the gold. Everyone loves you. My gift is judged as slightly better than paprika or cinnamon. Awesome."

Wise Man 3: "Myrrh man, Christmas is not about the gifts we give, it's first and foremost about the gift we received. Jesus Christ."

Wise Man 1: "I know I know, Frankincense Fellow, it's just that you don't understand the pressure I'm under with the Myrrh reputation. At least your gift sounds like Frankenstein and is easy to remember. When people say my gift, they never know where to finish the word, they always just kind of trail off and say, Mryhhhhhhhh. But this isn't about me, this is about this punk elf."

Elf on the Shelf: "I'm Elf on the Shelf."

Wise Man 1: "Here you go again. There's no shelf in the nativity scene and therefore no elf. I've got some good news and some bad news for you. The good news is I'm wearing my traveling robes and won't be able to tune you up myself. The bad news is the shepherds are always up for a beat down."

Shepherd 1: "What's going on?"

Wise Man 1: "This Peter Pan looking doll over here is trying to distract us from the birth of Christ. He's trying to steal some of sweet baby Jesus' thunder."

Shepherd 2: "Oh, that's not happening on my watch. It's on like Donkey Kong."

Elf on the Shelf: "On like Donkey Kong? Isn't that violent? Can't we all just giggle and watch my Will Ferrell movie, "Elf?"

Shepherd 3: "Agreed, tossing you out of this nativity scene like a bouncer at a bar is violent but people overestimate how clean and well behaved we shepherds were back in the day. We were like longshoreman. Think of us less as caretakers of sheep and more as Pastoral Hooligans. We live under the stars and wrestle bears for fun. David was a shepherd and he cut Goliath's head off."

Elf on the Shelf: "Gulp."

Shepherd 1: "Don't worry we're not going to do that to you. We are going to bounce you out of town like a super ball though. Drummer boy, hit me up with my theme song."

Elf on the Shelf: "Wait, the drummer boy wasn't at the birth of Christ either. Why isn't he getting the bum rush?"

Shepherd 1: "Because Jesus is funky and loves a good beat. Plus, every superhero needs a theme song."

Wise Man 1: "You're a superhero now? How'd that happen? I must have missed that in the Bible."

Shepherd 1: "Easy Myrrh-lin, the magician of questionable gifts. According to Matthew you guys didn't even show up at the manger. And at least you have a name, I'm just lumped in as a "shepherd." I've got no identity. I had to create my own, with a theme song.

Wise Man 1: "Good grief!"

Elf on the Shelf: "That's from Charlie Brown's Christmas!"

Shepherd 1: "You're still here? Let's do this thing."

(Commence elf beat down.)

I'm not sure if that's exactly how the great elf/nativity scene clash of 2008 happened, but it's how it happened in my head.

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Win a Wii!

Today is Black Friday, the day that businesses go into the black as shoppers go into the red buying tons of stuff. [image error]

I thought it might be fun, for day 5 of the 12 Days of Fantasticalness, to give away a black Wii. Consider it the "Black Friday, Black Wii," special.

If you pre-order my new book today, "Gazelles, Baby Steps and 37 Other Things Dave Ramsey Taught Me About Debt," you will automatically be entered. In addition to getting the free audio book and free e-book when you order my new book for $10, you'll have a chance at winning a new Wii.

Click here to order my book today.

Here are all the official rules.

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Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving people who are in the United States of America. Happy 26th of November, people who are in Australia, England or lots of other fun places.

I'm in Florida for a few days with my family and hope you've had a chance to connect with your family too.

Here are a few things I am thankful for:

1. My new job with the Dave Ramsey team.

2. New friends we've met since moving to Nashville.

3. Being in the same city for the first time with one of my brothers.

4. Books, not a specific one, just the whole category. I love books.

5. Watching my two daughters grow up.

6. My wife's constant encouragement.

7. Salt & Vinegar Pringles (I needed at least one shallow one)

How about you, what are you thankful for this year?

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The SCLCAP.

What's that? The SCLCAP is short for "Stuff Christians Like Christmas Awesome Pack." And one lucky person who pre-orders my new book, "Gazelles, Baby Steps and 37 other things Dave Ramsey taught me about debt," today will win it. Click here to order the book!

What's inside the SCLCAP? Everything you need to get into the Christmas spirit:

1. Mariah Carey's Christmas Album

2. Mariah Carey's Christmas II You Album

3. Playmobil Advent Calendar

4. White Christmas DVD

5. Christmas Story DVD

6. Christmas album from Trans-Siberian Orchestra

7. It's a Wonderful Life DVD

Happy Thanksgiving and Day 4 of the 12 Days of Fantasticalness!

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Our $29,000 God.

A few months ago, my five year old, McRae told me, "The biggest number I know of is 26."

At the end of her understanding of numbers was the number 26. In her mind, that was really how big numbers come. If you wanted to describe how far the moon was from earth, probably about 26 miles. Want to say how long it felt to wait for Christmas to get here? It was like 26 minutes! Number of pieces of candy she estimates she got for Halloween? 26.

It's her biggest number. Until that is, I told her about 27. And blew her mind.

She's not great at "sizing" things. But that's OK, she's 5. She's pretty sure fairies are real. She's convinced every dog in the world would like to meet her. The other day at Costco she saw a man with a white beard and proceeded to yell to everyone in the store, "Santa is shopping here today! He. Is. Here. Today!!"

That's OK behavior for her. She's just a kid. She's little. But oddly enough, she's not the only one who tends to get sizes all twisted. She's not the only one who tends to "under size." In fact, I think lot of us do that, especially when it comes to God.

I learned this last year when the Stuff Christians Like community raised money to build a kindergarten in Vietnam. On a random Monday, I asked readers to help me raise $30,000 and that honestly made me nervous. It's weird to ask for money. It changes your intimacy levels. It's like actually holding hands during couples skate at Roller Kingdom in Hudson, Massachusetts. Sure, you might skate around in circles with Stacy Valentino listening to Bobby Brown's "Tender Roni," but holding hands is a whole nother level. (That example got really specific and 7th gradery.)

But it's true, asking for money is awkward, which is why pastors do the money disclaimer when they preach. They start their sermon by saying, "I never normally preach about money, I never preach about tithing, except today." And that's always the Sunday your neighbor or coworker finally agreed to come to church with you. Your friend always comes on the money Sunday or the day the mime group, "Gloves of Love" is there to perform.

So I was anxious about asking for money. And I honestly thought it would take us 6 weeks to raise $30,000. But if you've read this site for a while, you know that was not the case.

We raised all $30,000 in a matter of 18 hours. It took us less than a day to complete the entire campaign and I realized I had been like McRae with the number 26.

Here's what I essentially said to God before the project started:

"God, you are massive. You are huge. You made the universe and created all space and time. You are without end! But, you are slightly less big than $30,000. You're like a really solid $29,000 God. And that's awesome. I mean that's pretty good. I think you're almost all powerful, you're just not $30,000 powerful."

Have you ever done that?

Have you ever been faced with what felt like an insurmountable challenge and in the midst of that, you've worshiped a really small God? Have you ever prayed something like:

"God, you are gigantic. You rule the universe. You're just not as big as my college application process. You are slightly too small to handle that."

Or

"God, I love you. You are massive and supreme. You are huge, except you're not big enough to handle my divorce. You are smaller than this experience."

Or

"God, you are like the real He-Man, you are master of the universe! You are so big and so all knowing, except you probably don't know how to handle my job search. You're big, you're just slightly tinier than my unemployment."

No one would actually prays those words, but that's what flows from our heart when we allow doubt to set up shop. That's how we live when we feel like we've got to force things to happen or they never will. That's what happens when we under size God.

The truth is, God is bigger than $30,000.

God is bigger than a divorce.

God is bigger than unemployment.

God is bigger than a teen daughter who swears she doesn't love you.

God is bigger that money problems.

God is bigger than our biggest dreams.

And I thank God that he is. I think sometimes we want him to be pocket-sized and manageable. I've heard people say things like, "I want a God who can explain to me why bad things happen to good people." I understand that frustration, I do, but here's the thing. I don't want a God who ever has to fit within my understanding. I don't want a God who is limited by mind and my experiences.

I want a big God. A God that spans generations and space and time. I don't want a God who needs my approval or comprehension to do something big. How we as a people have lost a sense of the mysterious when part of the trinity is the Holy "Ghost" is beyond me, but we have.

This holiday season, as the birth of Christ is remembered, let's celebrate our big God. Let's honor a huge, wild, unable to be controlled by our small minds God.

He's bigger than that thing you worried about or dreamt about.

I promise.

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I will write your Christmas card this year.

That's right, day three of the 12 Days of Fantasticalness is that if you buy my new book today I will write your Christmas card.

How? Simple. Pre-order the book "Gazelles, Baby Steps and 37 other things Dave Ramsey Taught me about Debt." Then email me a few facts about your family. Then I will write a Christmas card (roughly the length of three tweets) in the next week for you. It will be funny. It will be festive. It will probably change lives.

Click here to order the book and get started!

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