I did it.
I finally did it.
After writing devotionals for nearly 10 years, I figured it was time to make my favorite devotionals available in an easy to read PDF format for those wanting to get back into the Word daily.
Thanks for all your prayers, love, and support.
I’m so glad this day is finally here!
[Book Review] If you’re grappling with life’s inconsistencies and trials, if you’re searching for an encounter with something real, if you’re craving a story that’s just a wee bit odd…
This book is for you.
My author friend Josh Riebock did it again. His sophomore release is a memoir of his life.
Let me say that it’s so comforting to know that as the story of our life continues so does the pain. This is not comforting. But–the fact that Josh was willing to go there–and share, is!
I don’t want to ruin his story for you. Instead, here are a few of my FAVORITE quotes from the book. Isn’t he an amazing author?
“Imagination is considered a form of genius in our family.”
“I don’t understand, but understanding something isn’t a prerequisite to feeling it We don’t have to understand things in order to be affected by them. I may not understand any of this stuff with my dad, my family. But I feel all of it.”
“We didn’t know what we wanted. Sometimes I wonder if anyone really does…I guess it’s true what they say: if you don’t know what you want to fill your life with, there’s a good chance you’re going to fill it with everything that you don’t–.”
“Everyone tells me that wandering is bad. But is there ever a time when I’m supposed to wander? I’m hoping there is. I’m hoping that sometimes it’s only through wandering that we can find our way. Right now, that’s the best I can do.”
“I was hoping that our love would act as an elixir and make all of this baggage go away, but it hasn’t. Love hasn’t fixed my issues, it’s exposed them, exposed me to the reality that I don’t trust anyone–and with good reason, right? Right!”
“Love is a force furious enough to require a conscience, and trust is that conscience–the only thing that keeps love from killing, because without trust, love murders.”
“Like most people, I’m afraid to be weird, so I’m always concealing my quirks, which is a shame. Our quirks are the very things that draw people to us…Without them, we’re boring. Hide you’re quirks and you’re a Volvo.”
“Love without communication is guessing. To love is to be intentional.”
“How is it possible to spend all these years with myself and yet understand so little of who I am? This is just another answer that I don’t have.”
“Why is it that I struggle so much to enjoy people for who they are? Why, if I’m so passionate about not conforming, do I press others to conform to me? And why am I so sure I’d enjoy people more if they were like me, when I don’t even like myself?”
“But I do want a mission, an expedition, a quest, something that I must do. I do want a fiery ring that I must take to Mordor…Because if I don’t have that, what am I here for?”
“My dream can’t live without her. Dreams can’t live alone. Sharing our dreams with others may risk destroying them, but without sharing them, we destroy them ourselves. Most dreams aren’t murdered. Most dreams commit suicide.”
“Life isn’t just about me finishing what I started. No, no, it’s about [God] finishing in me what he started.”
“All good things must come to a beginning.”
Somewhere between my twenty-fifth and twenty-seventh birthdays, my status as a single man in the church downgraded from laudable to questionable. People stopped celebrating my singleness as a gift affording me undivided focus on performing God’s will (see I Corinthians 7) and began seeing it as a problem. They also began analyzing why I had failed to solve it. The message was clear: My “malady” of being single was somehow my fault.
It wasn’t anything I did.
It was what I didn’t do enough of.
I didn’t do enough to prove my independence.
American men who cannot demonstrate enough independence begin to feel weak and undesirable. Once we hit twenty-five, any failure to become fully independent becomes pronounced—especially for men in the church.
At twenty-five, I was working my way through graduate school, driving a car that was held together by prayer, and living with a gracious family from my church. I was anything but independent, and I felt like a total failure. Then I visited Argentina the summer before my last year of graduate school.
In Argentina, all my presumptions about independence and manhood were challenged. I noticed how many of the single men or women lived with their families well into their twenties and thirties. They simply didn’t value independence the way I did.
The experience caused me to reexamine what the Bible has to say about independence.
I found out that God doesn’t like it nearly as much as his American children do. He’s into something quite different: interdependence. Why? Because it’s a reflection of his own mutually dependent, three-gods-in-one, nature. As early on as Genesis 2:18, God tells us it’s not good for a man to be alone (and lest you ladies think that doesn’t apply to you, the word for “man” here can also be translated as “human”). In Psalm 68:6, God tells us that he sets the solitary in families. In I Corinthians 12, we are given a lovely metaphor of the church as a body that can’t function unless each part works interdependently. Through scripture, the value on interdependence is upheld as God’s best for us all.
It promotes loneliness and teaches us to judge those who can’t make it on their own. It teaches us to never ask for help for fear we’ll appear weak. It prevents us from receiving God’s blessings that come through others. In contrast, interdependence is beautiful. It keeps us from staying lonely and builds compassion into our hearts.
When I learned to embrace interdependence as the cultural value of God’s kingdom, much of my frustration as an “old” single man faded away.
It didn’t change the fact that I was single.
It didn’t change how people treated me.
But it did change me.
So where does that leave you? Are you still striving after independence or have you embraced the kingdom value of interdependence? Do you even know where to start? Lest I leave you empty-handed, let me offer you some parting suggestions:
+Commit to a small group. Almost every church has them these days. Some churches are basically nothing more than networked small groups. As nice as Sunday morning worship services are, you can’t really experience interdependence in larger groups.
+Live in community, not alone. Remember that God sets the solitary in families. This doesn’t mean you should move back in with Mom and Dad, but you should consider finding people to occupy your extra rooms or seek to occupy someone else’s empty room.
+Borrow stuff (and share it, too). Have you ever wasted money on purchasing something you needed to use only once? Could you have borrowed that item from a friend? Independently minded people don’t even think to ask others about borrowing their stuff, and they don’t like lending it. That’s a far cry from the fine folks in Acts 4:32 who “had everything in common.”
+Become a people gatherer. Host events that promote interaction: Bible studies, potlucks, book clubs, game nights, etc. And don’t just invite your single friends. Married people need interdependence, too.
Vinnie Kinsella is in his early thirties and single, which makes him the male equivalent of a spinster by many churches’ standards. He works in the book publishing industry as a book editor and a consultant to independent publishers. He also teaches editing workshops and college classes in and around Portland, Oregon. If you ask him what he feels God has called him to do, he’ll look you square in the eye and say he’s already doing it.
I’m really excited about an article I wrote because I anticipate my first Easter as a newlywed.
Easter exists.
I don’t know about you, but I need the resurrection.
I need the reminder of the empty tomb.
Jesus did actually die and come back to life.
To continue reading the article please click here.
If conviction follows intention, then confession must follow both.
This is my confession.
Before I chicken out; I am taking the rest of the year off from speaking and writing my fourth book.
The past few years I have been furiously working, writing, researching, and speaking towards 20-somethings.
This girl needs a break.
I finished the work, the race, and I sped my little heart out.
My third book is done, minus edits.
My second book is launched.
Now it’s time to rest and wait on God to show me His glory.
Exodus 33:3, NIV84 says, “Go up to the land flowing with milk and honey. But I will not go with you, because you are a stiff-necked people and I might destroy you on the way.”
I refuse to go anywhere without God. The blessings of the Lord are not enough. His presence alone is worth more to me than the calf. I have made my blessings into an idol and for that, I confess.
Everything I write and speak must be from personal conviction. My intentions are not good enough. I must leave room for faith.
Hebrews 11:1, NIV84 says, “Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.”
The guest pastor at North Coast Calvary last night said, “Religion is not just memorizing it and doing your best.” I want the thrill of sin to repel me. I refuse to go anywhere unless God goes with me.
This is not an emotional high.
This is about me instantly obeying the voice and command of God to remain intentional.
I wouldn’t have written Faithbook of Jesus, Not Another Dating Book, and especially not my third book without intense years of suffering in prayer for God to restore me so I could publish His deeds across the nations.
With that said, I find myself overcoming self–to once again be led by God. I’m excited to honor two words for the year, “Remain” and “Intentional.” My blogs will still continue, but other than that who knows. God?
To view this week’s video log, click here.
