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My lovely wife was featured in this great interview at Christianity Daily!

PJ interview

Her leadership, wisdom, and pastoral insight are so vital—not only for Anchor City, but for San Diego and the world.

Working side-by-side with her and watching her mentor & coach other pastors & planters, discern & guide the culture of our church community, and pour into the lives of our leaders and church members is a tremendous honor and joy.

As Philippians 1:27 says (emphasis mine), “Only let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of you that you stand firm in one spirit, with one mind striving side by side for the faith of the gospel.”

As I told a friend on Facebook, she’s the beauty & brains in this operation. Fortunately, I can provide some of the brawn!

For sheer naming enthusiasm, Crowder’s Fantastical Church Music Conference should win something.  I am intrigued by the lineup — a mix of radio-friendly best sellers (DC*B, Hillsong, Matt Redman) and more indie-inclined artists such as The Welcome Wagon, John Mark McMillan (the songwriter behind How He Loves) and The Civil Wars.

I appreciate the musical diversity of the lineup (although, I have to say, it would be nice to see a little more racial/ethnic diversity from the stage, too).  Whimsy and play are vastly underrated when it comes to musical expressions of worship (we tend to stick with highly polished stadium anthems these days) — it is to Crowder’s credit that this event seems to stand out from the crowd.

Download a free live album from The Civil Wars here.

… It’s good!

(In case you missed the Ren and Stimpy reference, check out this classic commercial jingle)

Just a couple of quick updates:

  • Also, updated my Currently Enjoying page (to reflect what I’m liking today, not from like two months ago)

I often hear complaints about the state of praise & worship music these days (including Jesus is my boyfriendtype lyricism, blatant commercialism, bland musicianship, etc.). While much of this criticism is warranted, the question before us is How do we move forward? I continue to believe that connecting and worshiping God through music is important for individuals, families and churches — so, how do move from a posture of frowning critique into constructive adaptation?

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While the idea of Becoming a Contagious Christian has always kind of offended my OCD-ish sensibilities, I was extremely interested to learn that, according to recent research, happiness really is catching.

According to researchers from Harvard and UC San Diego:

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