Jon Acuff's Blog, page 190

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...

Twudging.

Yesterday I wrote a post that someone didn't love.

In regards to the youth minister's scorecard they commented:

"Funny. Thanks for promoting the stereotypes that youth ministry is only for 20-somethings that make horrible decisions. I was trying to upend the trend, and now my work just got a little tougher…"

I disagreed with them of course. Although the list certainly contained toilet paper references and perhaps too many, I also said wildly positive things like, your youth minister works "at...

I think the Newsboys might be 1 Fergie short of being the Black Eyed Peas.

I feel like the photos after the jump look a lot a like. And how about the longevity of the Newsboys? They're like the Christian U2. (I think part of the reason is they have "news" in their name and things that have "news" in their name are always better. Newsies. Newsradio. News Zealand, etc.)

What do you think? Am I wrong about these photos?

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The Newsboys

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The Black Eyed Peas

Wondering how youthtastic your youth minister is.

I owe you all an apology.

I've been so focused on detailing and chronicling what we call the "Metrosexual Worship Leader" that I've effectively ignored an equally exciting species of church employee – the Youth Minister. Today, I want to make up for that.

Below you will find more than 100 statements about youth ministers. I encourage you to score your youth minister. More than that, I encourage you to email this or tweet this or facebook this to your youth minister. Together, we'll give the...

Huge Rap Giveaway!

If you've read this site at all, you know I love rap. As I kid I grew up on Public Enemy and Eric B. and Rakim. I'm constantly saying, "I wish I was a little bit taller, I wish I was a baller." I regularly argue the differences between Snow and Vanilla Ice. And I started reading the dictionary because one of my favorite freestyle MCs said it was how he built up his vocabulary.

But I never talk about Christian rap. Why? Because I hadn't really found any I liked. Either the flows were too...

Using the Stuff Christians Like book as a devotional.

(John Crist's first guest post, Tangible Sermon Reminders, was one of the best posts of March. Now he's back with a subject I promise I didn't suggest. And because it's in the classic scorecard format, I couldn't resist posting it the same week we did the American Idol guest post. Enjoy.)

Using the Stuff Christian Like Book as a Morning Devotional

Let's be honest…with the book released two weeks ago, we're all dying to know…Does reading Stuff Christians Like count as acceptable reading for...

The best creativity video I have ever seen.

Elizabeth Gilbert wrote a massive book called, "Eat, Pray, Love." Now, she finds herself with the impossible task of trying to recreate that success with her next book. In this video, she details the relationship between people and the creative beauty of God. It's not a "Christian video" but it's the most perfect example I've seen of a person bumping into the beautiful mystery of God and being unable to deny it. Here's one of her quotes:

"Allowing somebody, one mere person, to believe that he ...

Purse dogs, throwing up and criticism.

A lot of folks don't use twitter or follow me. (Click here to, I'm @prodigaljohn)

But Twitter is fun because I get to share deep, vital things like this:

I think "doesn't own a purse dog" should be added to the Proverbs 31 description of a wife of noble character.

Here are a few other things you missed this week in my mirth filled twitter stream…

Criticism we trust as truth. Compliments we disrespect as fluff. Reverse that and your creativity will flourish.

God's generosity with his love will...

Having a favorite, "God is amazing" item.

If you're a Christian, there are 3 things you have to have with you at all times:

1. A Bible.

2. Some sort of journal.

3. A go to "God is amazing" item.

The first two are obvious. The word of God is a must have. I don't even care if you keep it in some sort of bedazzled Bible fanny pack with a multitude of zippers and pockets. The second one is clear too. Even though I recently heard a pastor say, "Jesus never journaled," we all know it's one of the holiest things a person can do. If you don't...