Category: reflections

97 hours without Twitter?

This morning I was checking in on Twitter and realized I’ve posted 19,998 Tweets since I joined Twitter in October 2007.

I posed the question… does this make me an oversharer?

19,999th tweet
19,999th tweet

To which my brother-in-law posed the response… go on a tweet holiday and use the 20,000 to announce the birth! Unless you’ve already passed it by now!

Twitter challenge
Twitter challenge

Sounds like a reasonable enough challenge… 97 hours or so without Twitter (well at least without posting to my main Twitter account @jdblundell :-))

So we’ll see if I can do it.

Granted my biggest worry is the various online accounts that automatically post to Twitter for me (probably one of the reasons I’ve reached 19,999 tweets). I think I’ve disabled all the connections, but we’ll see.

Thankfully, Twitter’s started using OAauth, so hopefully I’ve disconnected all these services (check https://twitter.com/settings/connections) to see what sites/applications have rights to your Twitter account).

So there you have it… no Twitter for 97 hours… but I’m betting that may lead to more blog posts, video updates and posts to Facebook.

And for those of you who don’t have Twitter… you can still get the big announcement via a SMS text message.

Simply send a text with the following message to 40404:

follow jdblundell

You’ll likely get a response asking for a username. Simply pick a random username, send it as a reply to the same account and you’ll get the big announcement as a text message on your phone.

And in case you didn’t know…

I also tweet from @sbpodcast @welivesimply @orangenoise @stpetersbrew @blundybabies @travisranch

Yeah, I’m probably an oversharer.

The Gospel of Welcome (video)

I had the opportunity to return to encounter yesterday to fill in for Brian as he attended a family event.

It’s always an honor to be asked to speak to any group and yesterday was no exception.

My thoughts were broadcast on Ustream… and I’ve taken the video and posted my portion of it on Vimeo.

Would love your feedback and thoughts if you get a chance.

Also, I played around with the video on my iPhone Friday before and after our doctor appointment.

In case you missed it – we were given some awesome news Friday… so watch the videos to see what it was 😉

Homeless man Under Pressure

A video shared by Mark Horvath:

(I) Keep coming up with love but it’s so slashed and torn
Why – why – why ?
Love love love love love
Insanity laughs under pressure we’re cracking
Can’t we give ourselves one more chance
Why can’t we give love that one more chance
Why can’t we give love give love give love give love give love give love give love give love give love
‘Cause love’s such an old fashioned word
And love dares you to care for
The people on the edge of the night
And love dares you to change our way of
Caring about ourselves

BTW – I’ll be speaking about this crazy love this coming Sunday at encounter in Waxahachie. Come join the discussion at 10:30 a.m. CST. If you can’t make it to Waxahachie Sunday morning you should be able to join in online – live.encounterthis.com

UPDATE: Mark tells me this man is not homeless. His name is Sky Soleil and he lives in Los Angeles. Mark wrote, “I think this is a cute video and it made me smile, but Sky should have been upfront about not really being homeless. being dishonest and using a gimmick to help a video get views sucks!” I agree.

UPDATE 2: This is from the description on YouTube:

This is a performance meant to entertain and inspire.

If you want to help…

http://www.squidoo.com/help-the-homel…

http://homelessness.change.org/nonpro…

As I said this is a performance. I don’t want there to be any doubts about my situation. I am a performer. I have a roof over my head and I have yet to start my own family. But this video isn’t about me. This is for the men, women and children on our streets who don’t have bright green puppets on their hands. The people who aren’t always as easy to see. This is for you.

http://invisiblepeople.tv/blog/

UPDATE 3: Change.org posted an interview with Sky Soleil, the actor in the video. A great interview – worth reading. Shows how a simple act can really spur a lot of people to action.

All you need is love… but how do we show it?

Love Wins
Love Wins | Photo by Jonathan Blundell

Lately, I’ve noticed a number of people talking about how much they love others.

It reminds me of the “competition” you hear new couples play… “I love you.” “I love you more.” “No, I love you more.” “No, I love you more than that…”

But perhaps the sad side of this love fest is that I’m seeing two different kinds of love expressed.

One side says, “I love you so much I’m going to point out where you’re wrong so you can come clean, repent and get yourself right.”

The other side says, “I love you so much I’m going to ignore everything you’re doing wrong and accept you and everyone else.”

So while it seems that while everyone wants to love others — neither side has agreed upon a proper definition of love.

And to justify their behavior, one side points to Jesus calling out the wrongs of the religious pharisees of his day as the true example of love.

The other side points to Jesus choosing not to condemn the woman caught in adultery as a true example of love (John 8).

Quite an interesting contrast — both coming from stories about the same man.

I’m going to write more about this later but I want to hear thoughts from you — as Insurgents of Love…

How do you show love? How have people shown real love to you? How should we show love?

50 things I look forward to teaching my boys

  1. God is love
  2. Learning to love God and love others is the best thing you can do in this life
  3. Everyone is beautiful
  4. How to treat their mother with respect and love
  5. Life is all about relationships — not the stuff we collect along the way
  6. Learn to forgive — even when others refuse to apologize or forgive you
  7. There’s nothing you can’t tell your mother and I
  8. Your parents will love you no matter what
  9. Family comes first
  10. How to be a gentleman
  11. U2 is the greatest band in the world
  12. You can’t go wrong with The Beatles, Beach Boys, Lenny Kravitz or Johnny Cash
  13. How to build a campfire
  14. How to put a tent together
  15. How to enjoy the freezing waters of Sulphur, Oklahoma
  16. How to blow a bubble
  17. How to blow a bubble with bubble gum
  18. How to throw a football
  19. How to throw a baseball
  20. How to dribble a soccer ball
  21. How to catch a football
  22. How to catch a baseball
  23. How to throw a frisbee
  24. How to catch a frisbee
  25. How to play disc golf
  26. The difference between a goal, a touchdown and a home run
  27. How to fish
  28. How to clean a fish (I may need to learn this myself first)
  29. How to grill the perfect steak
  30. How to grill the perfect burger
  31. How to play the guitar
  32. How to tie their shoes
  33. How to change the oil in a car
  34. How to change a tire
  35. How to drive a car — but only after you turn 21
  36. How to (properly) shoot fireworks
  37. How to ride a bike
  38. How to ride a bike without training wheels
  39. How to pop a wheelie
  40. How to draw
  41. How to cut with scissors
  42. How to imagine
  43. How to shave
  44. How to avoid shaving as much as possible
  45. How to “skin the cat”
  46. How to enjoy good art
  47. How to eat sushi
  48. How to pack for vacation using only carry-on luggage
  49. No one knows everything — not even your parents
  50. Be leery of those who claim they do