I’m headed to Dallas today with our youngest daughter, Carley, for the Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers concert at American Airlines Center. This is Carley’s birthday present — something she specifically asked for — and I’m all too happy to accommodate. I get to spend awesome alone time with her for the next 30+ hours, I get to share her first big arena concert experience with her, and I can use the opportunity to instill Rock and Roll deeper into her heart and soul. After seeing what has happened to Valerie, I’m concerned that, the longer we live in Amarillo, the chances of Carley eventually turning toward country music increase. I’ve got to do all I can. She’s my last hope.

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Adam Gray turned me on to a wonderful little reflection piece by Richard Beck, the head of the Psychology Department at Abilene Christian University, on how he makes theological sense of listening to Barbara Brown Taylor and Stanley Hauerwas on back-to-back days at Summit. As someone who has read and thoroughly enjoyed Barbara Brown Taylor’s books on preaching and is still reading and learning from Stanley Hauerwas’ books on theology and ethics, I have found Beck’s insights to be very, very helpful. You can read Beck’s analysis by clicking here.

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I will also recommend a wonderful essay in the current issue of Christianity Today by N. D. Wilson. “Called to Be Uncool” is a short piece and a serious call for Christians to stand against the prevailing culture, to resist conforming to the world’s culture, in order to effectively speak a word from the Lord and to live in the name and manner of Christ. The imagery is of cows that turn their backs to the wind so they’re continuously running parallel to the breeze. Wilson writes that we “must be fearless, immune to the pressures of kings and crowds, aligned only with the breath of God.” Whew! It’s good. You can read the entire essay by clicking here.

Have a great weekend.

Peace,

Allan