It’s nice to flatter one’s self and think that people miss your blog when it’s been silent for a little while. I’m not sure if anyone actually misses this one or not, but it has been fairly silent for a while. I wanted to give a quick update on why that it, and what I hope to do about it.

My family and I are in the process of moving to a new home. Since moving to AZ approximately 10 months ago to start Church of the Cross, we have been in a rental home. God has been good to us and provided a home that we have been diligently trying to get ready to live in. Lord willing, that day will be soon and once we’re settled, I’ll have some more time and energy to put back into this blog. In the meantime, you can read some thoughts on the Church of the Cross blog. Please join the discussion as we as a young church try to work out many issues.

A picture a day, every day for the past year, from 05/18/08 to 05/18/09, except, for some reason, 07/15/08.

It started with the idea that “social media” seeks to keep people connected in somewhat real time, but many people have photos of themselves that are years old. So I started changing my profile picture every day, and then I just kept going. Yes, I know that you will say this is narcissistic.

I typically try to save links for the Weekly Town Crier post on Fridays, but I wanted to pass this one along on its own. By now, many of you have taken the time to watch this video, but in case you haven’t, please take the time to visit Death Is Not Dying and hear the story of Rachel Barkey. It’s definitely worth an hour of your time.

Browse to your heart’s content:

Be my friend on Facebook.

Follow me on Twitter.

And while you’re out there scouring the world-wide-web, you’ll need some good music. Join eMusic, we both get free music and everyone wins.

Browse this list of iPhone Twitter apps compared.

Read about Facebook shutting down a KKK group.

Read as Paul David Tripp suggests five things that are true of every child.

See toilet paper tube faces.

Read Time‘s recent piece about Twittering in church.

Browse Amazon’s selections for “Greatest Jazz Albums of All-Time,” which, I humbly think they got wrong.

Read about the new Acts 29 UK Network.

Browse Paste’s suggestions for five amazing albums you probably haven’t heard.

Read as “Relevant” examines the renewed practice of “dumpster diving.”

Browse Jonathan Dodson’s suggestions for simplified missional living.

Read about “Cleveland,” the Family Guy spinoff that’s been renewed for a second season before even airing.

Read the theory about what really happened to Van Gogh’s ear.

Read about recent findings claiming that the French eat and sleep more than anyone else.

Read about the High School music based on Neutral Milk Hotel’s classic In the Aeroplane Over the Sea.

Read about the continuing role, relevance and impact of Devo.

Download Daytrotter’s session with Neil Halstead.

Read Christianity Today‘s review of the new album from Future of Forestry.

Read as Christianity Today wrestles with the question: “Secular or Sacred? Or neither? We should stop trying to define a dividing line, because when it comes to music, it’s all spiritual.”

See the iPhone doormat.

Read Glide’s review of the new album from Bob Dylan.

See this guy remix YouTube videos.

See this interactive YouTube experiment.

Watch videos of Steve Timmis’ Total Church lectures.

Read Glide’s interview with John Medeski.

See the new Microsoft ad going for the target group of artists, except for the fact that the main character doesn’t seem like an artist at all.

Read about the Guggenheim celebration of Frank Lloyd Wright.

See the monks who have taken a vow of silence performing the “Hallelujah Chorus.”

Read Jonathan Leeman’s “Theological Critique of MultiSite.”

Read a post from the elders at Sojourn in Louisville on why they believe the mulit-site model is not only right for them but biblical.

Read a post from Justin Anderson of Praxis Church in Tempe, AZ introducing their new “mission.”

Read Barna’s latest research finding that: “Many Churchgoers and Faith Leaders Struggle to Define Spiritual Maturity.”

Follow the scurfuffle regarding Derek Webb’s (maybe) upcoming album.

See the upcoming Vans coffee table book.

Read about Joshua DuBois, the President’s faith-based point man.

Want to Twitter with just Christians?

Have you ever just been bursting at the seams with something to say but you just know in your knower that the best thing to do is just keep your thoughts to yourself?

This is something I’ve been learning over the years and it’s rarely an easy lesson. Proverbs 10:19 says: “When words are many, transgression is not lacking, but whoever restrains his lips is prudent,” while Ecclesiastes 5:3 says that “a fool’s voice with many words.”

It seems to me that this is one of the inherent dangers of blogging. For some reason, otherwise meek young men (it more often than not seems to be young men, doesn’t it?), think they become lions behind a keyboard. Now, everyone (including me) thinks that they have something to say and the entire world should have the chance to hear it. Not only that, blogging often provides the little guy with a chance to throw lobs at a big(ger) guy who might normally remain entirely out of reach.

But love believes all things (1 Corinthians 13:7) and demands we treat others, not just like we would like to be treated (Matthew 7:12), but better (Philippians 2:3) and the tongue is a small but powerful force that can be used for either healing or destruction (James 3).

It should not surprise us that the best wisdom is rooted in Scripture. Our mothers told us that if we didn’t have anything nice to say, not to say anything at all. Something I need to be reminded of as I seek to stay silent, seeking to think the best. I believe it was Abraham Lincoln who said: “Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak out and remove all doubt.”

If you don’t know the music of Joe Pug, please pay attention. Yes, he sounds like a young Dylan, but in my book, that’s a good thing. A very good thing. With honest delivery and earnest lyrics, Pug is one of the few artists recently to earn the repeat button. The YouTube page describes this mini-documentary this way:

On the eve of his two-night stand at Schubas Tavern (Friday May 1st and Saturday May 2nd) Chicago’s Joe Pug spent a Friday evening in late April thanking his fans in the best way he knew how. Beginning at 7pm Pug played six shows in six hours in the living rooms of six different fans around Chicago.

Enjoy:

And if you like what you hear and want more free music from Pug, download this live recording.

What can I say, it’s a bunch of links. It is what it is and it ain’t what it ain’t. If you came expecting more, you’re surely to be disappointed. If you came expecting less, you just might get what you expected!

Be my friend on Facebook.

Follow me on Twitter.

And while you’re out there scouring the world-wide-web, you’ll need some good music. Join eMusic, we both get free music and everyone wins.

See the Kit Kat Jesus.

Browse the lineup for the 2009 Austin City Limits Music Festival.

Tired of your business card? Get a Meat Card.

Read about the woman who was fired for being on Facebook after calling in sick to work.

Mark Driscoll preaching at Crystal Cathedral?

See a kids’ choir singing “Eye of the Tiger.”

Read about Jimmy Carter saying that “Disharmony Among Christians ‘Like a Cancer’.”

Watch as the people at Playing For Change record a version of “Stand By Me” performed by street musicians from across the world.

Read about the new Wilco album being called Wilco (The Album).

Sorry, nude hiking has been banned in the Alps.

Please pay attention to punctuation. Otherwise, you advertise racist furniture.

Read as Time searches for the world’s most influential person, with surprising results.

Read/listen/watch as John Piper explains and applies the Gospel in six minutes.

Read about Matador records losing its vinyl masters after a bankrupt pressing plant threw them out.

Read Paste‘s review of Together Through Life, the latest from Bob Dylan.

Read Rolling Stone‘s review of Together Through Life.

Read as the Guaridan reviews the new Dylan.

Read about rumors of infidelity with Jon and Kate plus 8.

Read Dan Kimball’s thoughts on “Communicating Well in a Fast-Paced World.”

Read as the Phoenix New Times profiles William Elliott Whitmore.

Read this suggested list of 10 novels to read before they become adapted into films.

Read about the resurrection of Lilith Fair.

Read Paste‘s collections of songs about musicians.

Browse the A.V. Club’s selection of songs to make you cry.

Read Drowned In Sound‘s suggestions for the ultimate shoegaze mixtape.

Read yet another examination of the resurgence in vinyl sales. This time from the L.A. Times.

Read Adequacy.net’s interview with Mark Kozelek.

Read/Listen as NPR offers a eulogy for the boombox.

Read as Reuters interviews Steve Earle about his tribute to Townes Van Zandt.

Read as Vampire Weekend talks to Entertainment Weekly about their upcoming album.

Read this post about 20 smart ways to discover new music.

Read these suggestions about how to find new music through Twitter.

Read as the Chicago Reader reviews the new Wilco live DVD.

See the biblical story in four images, the video that opened the recent Catalyst West Coast conference.

Browse and download as Justin Taylor makes available the breakout sessions from the recent Gospel Coalition conference.

Hear Ed Stetzer’s recent talk from the Acts 29 quarterly at The Journey in St. Louis.

Share your adoption story to register to win a copy of Adopted For Life.

Register for the 2010 Together For The Gospel conference.