Category "Life With God"

Maybe We’re Addicted To Bad News

Brian Dolleman - February 25, 2016 - Life With God, Uncategorized

I once heard Paul Scanlon say something like this:

A bad report makes it around the track 10 times before a good report gets around once.

Headlines aren’t made with sweet stories of love and peace and harmony, now are they? Maybe we’re addicted to bad news – so addicted that we can’t recognize what’s good, even when it’s sitting right in front of us.

The other day I stumbled across this headline: Today’s Teens Are Better Than You, And We Can Prove It. The article is online – and it’s interactive. You can select the year you were born, and it will compare your generation to this generation on things like drug use, sex, suicide, and weapons.

The bottom line? Today’s teens are better than you.

It’s shocking, I know.

We’ve been given a script and we bought in… Read More

The Me Who Isn’t Performing… Do I Like Him?

Brian Dolleman - February 24, 2016 - Life With God, Uncategorized

Acting is all about faking things… —John Cleese

I was watching Jimmy Fallon the other night – and he had a famous starlet / actress / singer on the show. The first few minutes of her interview was OK, but I kept thinking she seemed uncomfortable. At times, her voice was a bit shaky.

Then, they did a fun bit called “Wheel of Musical Impressions” where you spin the dial and it “randomly” gives you a song to sing and an artist to impersonate. For example, Jimmy Fallon got “I’m a Little Tea Pot” in the style of Dave Matthews. His guest got “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star” in the style of Fetty Wap and “Spongebob Squarepants” in the style of Christina Aguilera.

She nailed it. I mean, she performed with confidence, gusto, soul… it was impressive and funny and attention-grabbing. She is obviously a performer.

Something about the whole interview struck me: there was a notable change in confidence or comfortability with being herself -vs- performing.

She was visibly more comfortable performing.

I’ve noticed this before on late-night show interviews and… Read More

Why I Want These “Feminine” Qualities

Brian Dolleman - February 19, 2016 - Life With God, Uncategorized

*picture above: Coptic Ethiopian painting of Jesus washing his disciples’ feet.

I couldn’t resist clicking. The title read, What a Leader Needs Now: 7 ‘Feminine’ Qualities. And here’s what the Inc.com article had to say…

* * * *

Labeling traits as masculine or feminine reflects popular perception rather than evidence-based fact.

But it’s a handy way to think about what works in organizations today. The following qualities, traditionally identified with women, produce results for leaders of… Read More

The Question I Will Keep Asking Over And Over Again

Brian Dolleman - February 10, 2016 - Life With God, Uncategorized

Everybody needs beauty as well as bread, places to play in and pray in, where nature may heal and give strength to body and soul alike. No synonym for God is so perfect as Beauty. —John Muir

As I’ve shared before, my word for the year is Beautiful. It shows up in my goals…

Make beautiful food. Write beautiful words. Say beautiful things. Dream up beautiful things to do. Go beautiful places. Notice beautiful things and learn from them. Take beautiful pictures. Design beautiful artwork. Think beautiful thoughts. Pray beautiful prayers. Find the beautiful in the unexpected or where it has been previously unnoticed.

So, with goals like these, I will obviously be asking myself this question over and over again: Is it beautiful?

In a recent staff meeting, I shared with the team that I will be asking this question about our church too, “I’ll want to know that what we are doing and saying and giving and making is beautiful. If it’s not beautiful, something needs to change.”

In that meeting, I read some words by… Read More

Shouting But Not About The Super Bowl

Brian Dolleman - February 7, 2016 - Guest Posts, Life With God, Uncategorized

I like to give some shout-outs on Sundays, sharing what I read online during the past week that I just can’t keep to myself.

So today I’m shouting, but not about the Super Bowl (mostly because my beloved Seahawks are taking a year off from participating in it).

Anyway, check out the following…

1. This post by Addie Zierman, Size Up. Here’s my favorite line(s):

“See?” some wise voice says from the deep place of my heart. “You are too old and too awesome to wear things that don’t fit you.”

And it’s about the jeans… and it’s not.

It’s about my body… and it’s not.

It’s about letting go of what doesn’t fit anymore, of who you used to be, of who you thought you might turn into.

(You are too old and too awesome for all that nonsense.)

In the mirror, the reflection you see is not one of… Read More

How A Sermon Becomes A Sermon

Brian Dolleman - February 5, 2016 - Life With God, Uncategorized

Obviously this post is not very clickbait-y. Perhaps a couple of my pastor friends will read it (although I think even they are more inclined to only click a link when I’m saying scandalous-sounding things. No worries. Maybe I will require staff members on our church’s teaching team to read this post. Haha, yes, that’s a great idea.

Rather than sharing all the relatively boring things I do in crafting sermons, I thought I’d share a few words from Barbara Brown Taylor.

First, a little about her… she is an Episcopal priest, professor, author, theologian, and is one of the United States’ best known preachers. In 2014, the TIME magazine placed her in its annual TIME 100 list of most influential people in the world. Impressive!

Here’s what she says… Read More

I Have Something To Learn From Old Ladies In Wheelchairs

Brian Dolleman - February 4, 2016 - Life With God, Uncategorized

Earlier this week, Shari and I walked around Lake Wilderness together as we do most days. But on this particular day, I came across a scene that captured my thoughts and imagination. I’ve been thinking about it for days – and honestly, I’m not sure why it made such an impression on me.

We saw an elderly woman in a wheelchair at the water’s edge. She looked to be in her 80′s or 90′s. And there was a young woman, maybe 19 or 20 years old, standing behind her – obviously the one who drove the old woman to the park and brought her to the lake.

The old woman was surrounded by happy, loud ducks. She was throwing pieces of bread to them as quickly as she could.

Although I couldn’t see her face, I imagined it to be lit up with a grin and sparkle in her eyes.

The young woman behind her had a… Read More

The Present

Brian Dolleman - January 31, 2016 - Life With God, Uncategorized, Video

This beautiful, animated short The Present has won over 50 awards, and it’s not difficult to see why. For reals, watch it…

Now be honest, you felt differently about the boy when he finally got up off the couch, didn’t you? I did. What a vivid reminder:

Knowing someone’s story changes how you see them.

Or, as Brian Zahnd has said… Read More

Thinking About What We Praise Our Kids The Most For

Brian Dolleman - January 24, 2016 - Life With God, Uncategorized, Video

The picture above shows London Hagebusch carrying a heavy bag of groceries. Just behind her is Haven Wheeler. And a number of other children were there too…

They were helping at our Thanksgiving Grocery Give Stuffing Party – it’s the event the day before the event. We ask people to come set everything up for the big day. The Stuffing Party was noticeably, beautifully diverse – people of all ages and races and socio-economic backgrounds serving together. Perhaps most striking, though, was the image of young children throwing themselves into the task. I mean, they were actually sweating. And they were having a blast.

I’m not sure if we made a big enough of a deal about it.

I think it probably got mentioned a few times – like in church during our “main” services. But I wonder if we made a big enough of a deal about it with the kids.

Please take a minute to watch this… Read More

Because Then I Would Be Enough

Brian Dolleman - January 22, 2016 - Fun / Humor, Life With God, Uncategorized, Video

“Because then I would be enough.”

These are the words of Jim Carrey – presenting at the Golden Globes – making fun of himself and the whole spectacle that is celebrity award shows…

He said, “And when I dream, I don’t just dream any old dream. No sir. I dream about being three-time Golden Globe winning actor Jim Carrey. Because then I would be enough. It would finally be true. And I could stop this terrible search… for what I… Read More