Jon Acuff's Blog, page 176

The other day my 6-year old daughter L.E. and I were hanging out in our home office. I was writing and she was playing "Tap Fish," on my iPhone, a game that for the most part is just a way to teach your kids about death. Seriously, those virtual fish are more fragile than Bradford Pear trees and those things fall down in your yard if someone sneezes vigorously. (Home office? Daughter? Bradford Pear tree? Whoa, that was like a suburban dad reference hat trick!)

Out of nowhere, without looking u...

[image error]When I was in the seventh grade, there was a world of difference between a Ralph Lauren Polo shirt and a Knights of the Round Table shirt. To the average eye, the two logos might have looked similar, but to my low self-esteem, obsessed with what people thought about me eyes, they were wildly different.

My friend Dave Bruce and I used to talk about this all the time. The polo guy was on a horse and had a polo mallet. The Knights of the Round Table guy was also on a horse, but he was not...

"Do you ever think you'll be a real minister someday?"

If I had a dollar for every time someone said this to a youth minister I could probably train a worship eagle to hunt and kill the pigeon that pooped in the mouth of the Kings of Leon bass player, forcing them to cancel their St. Louis show this weekend after only three songs. (In pigeon society this event has already been labeled, "The greatest day ever.")

Alas, no one pays me money when youth ministers get insulted. That's a shame...

Yesterday, my friend Carlos from RagamuffinSoul, asked me what I was listening to right before I spoke. The answer? Kanye West live performance of "Jesus Walks" and NeedtoBreathe, "Something Beautiful." Then some Muse and then some 30 Seconds to Mars.

But that's not all lately, and we haven't really talked about music in a long time. So below are 3 songs I've listened to a lot lately.

Jump in with a comment. What are you listening to?

Video 1: Kanye West, Common & Mase "Jesus Walks Remix."

Video...

(I don't write about politics that often because it's not a topic I can write about very well. There are so many good political blogs that I tend to avoid it. Plus, political comments usually get really ugly, really quickly. But my friend Rachel is going to change that. Today, she checks in with a funny look at the secret life of Christian liberals. Enjoy.)

Last month, Jon Acuff wrote a piece for CNN.com about Christians treating secular media like Satan's newspaper. A faithful reader of...

Last weekend, my wife and I went to Nashville. It was a lovely time full of loveliness and lovely sights that we loved. But, on the way back to Atlanta, we almost got run off the road.

Out of nowhere, a powerful, possibly haunted, vehicle stormed up behind me. I shifted over into the right lane with my cat like reflexes and let them pass on the left. Despite the 85MPH blur that drove by me, I was able to identify the most dangerous vehicle on the road …

The church youth group van.

If you've...

"So why are you airing our dirty laundry in front of the world? They already hate us, why give them ammunition?"

Someone online told me that a few weeks ago about something I wrote concerning us Christians. Their fear was that I was adding more fuel to an already ugly fire. Their concern was that the world already feels we're hypocritical or fake or unloving, do we really want to agree with them? And I honestly thought they were asking a very smart, kind-hearted question. Should we really...

This is the funniest thing I've seen in a long, long time. What a difference editing and mournful music can make. Perfect, perfect Seinfeld clip. What if Seinfeld was a thriller? Video after jump.

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"What sort of aquatic hell hound is this?" [image error]

That was my first thought when I played go fish with my kids and this spawn of satan popped up. Look at it. It's got a horse's head, a dolphin's flippers and Prince's hair from the Purple Rain video.

It's horrifying. It's hideous. That isn't a sunset in the background, that's blood from the people it undoubtedly murdered much like the sharks in what was LL Cool J's best fish based films, "Deep Blue Sea."

It might just be the fourth horseman of the...

"Please tell everyone that our streets are not chock full of lions."

That's the sentiment a reader in South Africa wanted me to share. Apparently, he felt like Christians in America sometimes believe Africa is very similar to the Disney movie, "Swiss Family Robinson."

Remember that one? They lived in a tree house and ate coconuts and zebra. They had monkey butlers and were constantly worried about wild animals and/or pirates.

Although the pirate phenomenon is making a spirited comeback, I'm...