I spent most of last week parked in my chair. I was working hard to finish the first draft of my new book. On the day before I turned it in, I sat at my desk for 12 hours. It was no surprise that my back was sore—really sore—by the end of the day.

My first instinct was to buy a better chair. But after reading an article by Dean Karnazes in Runner’s World, I realized that the real problem was the sitting itself.

We all know the physical benefits to running. I won’t waste your time by repeating them here. However, people who don’t run, often miss the non-physical benefits. To me, these are even more valuable than the physical ones.

This week, I have been running outdoors. I have chosen to run in the heat of the day—usually when the temperatures are 90° or more. I know, I’m crazy. But I am loving it.

We live in a world that is desperate for fathers. I am not just thinking about the millions of children who grow up without the benefit of a biological father. I am talking about the need for men who act like fathers and are willing to assume the role of fatherhood—with their families and in their communities.

This beautiful infographic tells the whole story about Father’s Day with some interesting facts about fatherhood in general. I am offline today, choosing to disconnect from Twitter and Facebook to reconnect with my family. I hope you will do the same.

After attending the services at our church last night, I am still speechless. Good Friday commemorates perhaps the greatest mystery in the history of the world. How is it that God Himself—the Creator of the Universe—can suffer death at the hands of His creatures?

Last night, our church observed the ancient service of the Twelve Passion Gospels. Though I have participated in this service more than twenty times, I never cease to be amazed—and deeply moved. I am almost always brought to tears, as I contemplate God’s extreme love for us.

Financial advisor and author, Dave Ramsey, says that one of the keys to financial success is to spend less than you earn and do it over a long period of time. The key to weight loss is similar. Burn more calories than you consume and keep doing it until you reach your target weight.

This is also the premise behind LoseIt.com, a Web site and app that Gail and I have been using since the first of the year.

This blog post has absolutely no point, other than a good laugh. Kick back and enjoy the fun! Thanks to my brother-in-law, Jack, for sending this link to me.

For many evangelical Christians, the word eucharist is a scary word. It suggests ritual, sacrament, and liturgy. For them, this seems to be the very opposite of a personal relationship with God through Christ.

But eucharist is word that all Christians, regardless of tradition, should embrace. It is no accident that for two thousand years it has been central to the experience of millions and millions of Christians.

This is a technical post for power users who want to setup a vanity URL shortener for HootSuite. Admittedly, it is off-topic for most of my readers. This is something I wanted to do, and it turned into a bigger project than I anticipated. So I thought I would document my experience and post it for posterity.Hopefully, it will save others some grief.

As you may know, a URL shortener is a way to take long Web site addresses and shorten it to a fraction of its size. This makes it much easier to share links via Twitter and other social media services where you have a limited number of characters to work with.

Several days ago, my wife, Gail, forwarded to me a Franciscan benediction that she had received from a friend. I thought it was so good, I just had to share it.

Warning: this is completely counter-cultural to the feel-good, prosperity spirituality that is so popular today.

In the last 48 hours, we have had 10–15″ of rain in and around Nashville, Tennessee. I have lived here for 26 years and have never seen rain or a flood like this. It was eerie last night to watch National Guard trucks roll by in front of our house with soldiers in full camouflage and helmets.

Last Friday, I watched the Tiger Woods press conference in amazement. I was stunned at his candor. He didn’t sugar-coat his sin. Instead, he repeatedly acknowledged the magnitude of his wrongdoing and the scope of its impact.

Yesterday was hard. A business deal stalled. I didn’t make much progress on several key projects. I was discouraged. And toward the end of the day, I learned that a friend had died. I just wanted to go home, put on my pajamas, and go to bed.

A few weeks ago, I wrote a post about “Why You Should Sign Up for a Half Marathon”. I provided eight reasons why you should get off the couch and out the door. Today, I want to take that challenge to the next level.

I stumbled across this video in one of my RSS feeds. Honestly, it is difficult to believe that people like this still exist. It is embarrassing. It just goes to show you that religion—in the worst sense of the word—is still alive and well. Frankly, it makes it that much more difficult to communicate the true nature of Jesus to the world.

After I finished reading Born to Run by Christopher McDougall, I bought a pair of Vibram FiveFingers shoes. I have been running in them now for five weeks. I am loving them. The only negative is that I am continuously having to explain them to curious strangers. In fact, three people stopped me today in the space of three miles.

If you have been reading my blog for a while, you know that I am runner. I didn’t start until age 50, so I am making up for lost time. I just finished a fascinating book on running by Christopher McDougall. It is called Born to Run. At the end of this post, I will tell you how to get a copy free.

By now, you have no doubt heard about the new Apple iPhone 3G S. It looks pretty cool, but I’m not too excited about the pricing—at least for existing AT&T customers. At any rate, Julian Smith, a very bright, young filmmaker, did a video tribute to the new device last week. You may remember Julian: he’s the one who created the popular 25 Things I Hate About Facebook.

So, how many pair of shoes do you have? Stop what you are doing, go to your closet, and count them. I know this sounds like a random question, but hang with me. It’s important.

When I went through this exercise yesterday, I counted fourteen pair, including two pair of golf shoes. Worse, I had just said to Gail before church, “I need to buy another pair of casual shoes to wear with my jeans.” (Before you judge me too harshly, count the shoes in your own closet.)

Today is Memorial Day in the United States. It is a day that we set aside to commemorate those who have died in the service of the military. It was first enacted to honor those in the Union Army who died in the American Civil War. After the first World War, it was expanded to include American casualties of any war or military action.

Unfortunately, I have never had the privilege of serving in the military. However, I am profoundly grateful for those who have. In the U.S., I fear we have come to take our national security for granted. The tragic events of 9/11 were a wake-up call. The fact that we have not had another terrorist attack on U.S. soil is a testimony to the brave men and women who work tirelessly to protect our freedoms both here and around the world.

I am still trying to process my experience in Ethiopia. It was so profound that I can barely articulate it. It has been a true shift in my worldview. As I have thought about this, I have realized that “I need Africa more than Africa needs me.” This has been beautifully depicted in this video:

I would be grateful if you would consider sponsoring a child from Ethiopia. For $35.00 (U.S.) a month, you can make a huge difference. You may not be able to change the world, but you could completely change the world for one child. In fact, as we witnessed first-hand, child sponsorship has an impact far beyond the life of one child.