About 3 years ago, I stumbled upon this really neat YouTube channel called "Smarter Every Day". The creator, Destin, is an engineer who posts videos about various topics and explains the science behind things you have always wondered about. In the first video I saw, he made a bicycle with a gear so that when the handlebar moved right, it turned the wheel of the bike left. In the video, he showed how difficult it was to re-train his brain because the neural pathways had been developed over years where this simple adjustment to the mechanical function of the bike caused significant problems in being able to ride it. It took him months to be able to ride the bike. Then he had his son try it, and he learned significantly quicker because his brain was more elastic and those pathways were not as developed. Amazing. 

Around society and within the evangelical world, there is a lot of discussion happening on the issue of social justice. Both sides are digging in and many are listening to the conversation finding aspects of both sides that they can both affirm and deny. In a conversation like this, it is important to understand some context, define terms and think through it from a Biblical worldview. Enter Al Mohler. If you are not familiar with Mohler, he is the president of The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary and has a gift for thinking through social and secular issues in a way that is gospel-saturated, Christ-centered, and comes from a carefully thought out and applied Biblical worldview. He recently did a question and answer session at Southern Seminary and I would commend this to you for thought and consideration as we think through these issues. 

If I see a great idea, I'll gladly steal it. Barnabas Piper, a blogger and podcaster had one such idea that I am now stealing. Every week, he posts 3 things he loves that he has seen throughout the week. So, Barnabas, thanks for the idea. It is now officially stolen. Each week, I will highlight a few things I come across that are fun, amazing, or I find to be awesome. There is enough garbage in the world that it's easy to miss the good stuff. The stuff worth noticing. This helps me find and focus on some greatness in the midst of the stuff that clutters live. So, here are 2 things that I thought were awesome that I saw this week. 

Here is the problem... I like to read. Specifically I like to read a lot of different stuff. From Red Sox updates to news to blog posts, it can get overwhelming quickly. Especially if you want to keep up with some specific sites. My email inbox has become cluttered with all the subscription emails notifying me that there is a new post, so much so that it has become counter productive. Instead of reading the email, I normally just delete it sight unseen so I can get to the important stuff. As a result, I have to hunt down specific blogs or sites and check them manually which is tedious and annoying. 1st world problems right?

​Enter Feedly. Feedly is an rss reader (I will explain that in a minute) that catches all the content I tell it to from various sites and gathers it in one place. The app is free and it basically consolidates all content I want to regularly check in on into one place and allows me to sort it for easy access. I have had a couple of people ask how to subscribe to my blog. Feedly is the easiest way. If you want, skip down to the instructions at the bottom of the post to get that info. I've also added a video tutorial at the bottom for you visual people. 

This last week I posted on the Arbor Drive Facebook page that there was some exciting news coming down the pipeline. Well, here it is. Starting in January, we will be launching a  weekly podcast called Pastor Discussions. Hooray!

How much stuff happens throughout the day that you forget and wish you could remember? I'm not talking about scheduling things or meetings. I'm talking about little events in your life that you would like to remember in a year or five years and laugh about again? Enter Day One.