Jon Acuff's Blog, page 189

I was "flat pissed."

This is easily the best email and book review I've received this year.

I say that because the author of the review had never heard of SCL before. And he was mad. It's raw and real and reminded me why I wrote the book in the first place. (I get wrapped up in trying to sell it and ego drunk sometimes.) I asked him if I could share this on the site and he generously said yes. The book exists in large part because you read the site and I wanted to share what's going on out there that we sometimes ...

The fictional family your family compared you to.

"There are lots of other families who don't even have televisions."

I heard my wife say that to our four year old the other day and instantly thought to myself, "there's a post." Actually the first thing I did was put on a Bill Cosby sweater that kind of looked like a bowl of vegetable stew went to a Latin dance club where the colorful pastels of Gloria Estefan were in full effect. I then sat McRae down and gave her some dad wisdom and then sent her on her way with a stick of licorice.

I think ...

Why worry? (A giveaway.)

I worry more than you.[image error]

It's not a competition, but if it were, I want to be honest, I would crush you. When I'm out of worries, when things feel calm, my wife says that I "interview" new worries. I poke the emotional bushes in my heart and head to see if I can stir up some new trouble.

But I might be relinquishing my title soon because my pastor is kicking my butt as of late. North Point Community Church, where I attend and a new sponsor of Stuff Christians Like, recently gave me a sermon...

Winner of rap giveaway.

The winner of last week's rap giveaway is Leann Allen. (I used a random number generator to pick the winner.) If you happen to be Leann Allen, email me your mailing address and the record label will send you the special record package.

Thanks!

Having Your Life Edited By Your Parents

(I've never met Lyndsay Rush, but I have to confess I am a big fan of her motto, "No cheese left behind." As a fan of queso, that is a motto I can get on board with. I can also get on board with her tale of having her life edited by her parents, something I've said my in-laws were pros at. I hope you dig it. I did.)

I'd like to start this post with a simple, three question test. Please answer honestly.

1. Have you ever been forced to walk out of a movie because your mom thought there were...

Caption please.

After the jump is a page from the Stuff Christians Like book. (Which is now available.)

There are two unicorns galloping, or maybe frolicking really. It's a pretty stunning scene actually. (It's from a chapter about how easy and fun and spiritually uplifting it is to work at a church. Seriously, it's like one long quiet time and people are always playing acoustic guitars around the office and hugging and church members only send you positive, encouraging emails.)

I think it would be fun to do a...

Thinking the church is not wisely spending your tithe.

The other day during church, someone leaned over to me and said, "Yikes, they're buying that? I don't think they're using my tithe very wisely."

I wanted to turn around and hug them. Seriously, I was feeling a front hug because that is such a perfect topic for Stuff Christians Like.

There's a chance you've never felt this way. Maybe you've never seen something at church and thought, "Great, glad my hard earned tithe is funding that." But if you haven't ever thought that, here are some...

The Sidehug Machine.

I have a full time job. And although by getting up at 5AM and tweeting while I walk between buildings at work and hustling I can do most things other writers do, I can't really do book tours. The reason is that I have a limited number of vacation days and have to use some of them for conferences and speaking at churches. So if I told my kids, "We're going to hold Christmas in February because dad is really busy this year," they'd probably tell me, "What you talking about Willis?"

But writers w...

Believing in logic.

Long before Napoleon Dynamite made the offspring of lions and tigers popular, I knew all about ligers. An outdoor mall in Myrtle Beach used to have a few huge ones on display outside in case you wanted to look at deadly jungle cats while shopping for braided leather belts.

Behind a small fenced in wooden enclosure were three massive ligers. Easily eight feet long and weighing hundreds of pounds, these beasts were terrifying. Normally, the ligers just laid there, looking like killing machines o...

6 chances to hang out next week.

I'll be in North Carolina, California and Georgia next week. I'd love to give you a bunch of Booty, God, Booty buttons and hang out. Here is where to find me:

Saturday, April 17, Flyleaf bookstore at 11:00AM, Book signing – 752 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd, Chapel Hill, NC 27514

Sunday, April 18, Gathering Church at 10:30AM, Speaking – Church is held at Creekside Elementary School. 5321 Ephesus Church Rd Durham, NC 27707

Tuesday, April 20, 8:15PM – Bel Air Presbyterian – The Foundry. 16221...