That’s what I’m offering to you for the first time ever.  You and me trade blogs…for a day.

For two years, I’ve churned out three posts each week, and only invited a few guests to share my blog.  I have always been humbled by the dedication so many of you show to me with your comments and contributions.  So to show my appreciation to all of you who so loyally read and comment on my blog while you toil away on your own blogs, I want to open up my platform to a few of you.  Likewise, if you have a blog and you want me to write a guest post for you, now’s your chance to make that happen.

It’s super easy.  Here’s how it works…

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I have to say, I am disappointed in Mark Driscoll…

…that he would make a comment that would light up the internet with conversation more colorful than a gay pride parade, while I was out of town, and unable to blog about it.

But it’s all good.  I’ve taken a lot of time to reflect on the topic.  If you are unaware of all the kerfluffle, Pastor Mark Driscoll of Mars Hill Church, Seattle, posted this on Facebook:

“So, what story do you have about the most effeminate anatomically male worship leader you’ve ever personally witnessed?”

And all hell broke loose.  People ganged up on Mark, demanding apologies, calling him a bully.  And somewhere, Rob Bell was a little bit jealous of all the negative attention.

I’m glad I’m late to the game on this one.  Because I think I can say something that hasn’t been said yet.  And this topic is so much bigger than Mark, or all the people he offended.  This is all about what we think “real” men and women are…and how wrong we have it.

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I am back to the blog after a three week hiatus.  I hope you’re still here!

Thank you so much for being nice to my guest bloggers.  I really appreciated them.

So, I’m back home after a week of sweating in Mexico.  What happened over those few days?  A lot of work, and a lot of sweating among communities of poor okra farmers.  I played and prayed with a lot of children who accepted the gospel.  I played soccer like a total gringo and got schooled by eight-year-olds.  And I did a lot of grunt work.  And while our silly matching T-shirts didn’t spontaneously catch fire as Jamie the VWM had wished for, a lot of things did…and did not happen.

Keep reading to find out just what I learned under the searing Mexico sun.

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Today marks the final day on the blog that I’ll be absent while in Mexico!

And guess what? Today, there is no “Best of the Blog” post. I’m not featuring a guest blogger. Because the guest blogger is me. I’m just not…here. I’m over at Jamie the Very Worst Missionary’s blog.

There was one question that kept coming into my mind as I tried to decide what to write for the Very Worst Missionary…

What’s it like to be the very worst at something?

No one ever sets out to be the very worst.

We all want to the best at whatever we try to do. And if we can’t be the best, then we want to at least be decent. And if not decent, then at least not embarrassing. And even if we embarrass ourselves, we hope there’s still someone even worse than us, so we aren’t the very worst. Everyone needs some poor sap nearby so we can say, “At least I’m not as bad / uncoordinated / stupid / ugly as that guy.”

It turns out, I’m the very worst at quite a few things. But you’ll have to go to Jamie’s blog to find out! I’ll see you right back here on Monday. Cheers!

While I’m on vacation and then on a mission trip to Mexico, I’m treating you to some exceptional guest bloggers and reposting some of my best content from the last year.  I’ll be tweeting and commenting off and on, but will be back full time on the blog July 25th.

“Hey Matt, are you Reformed?”

Pretty often, I get asked about whether I’m a Calvinist, or an Arminian or Reformed or something else.  Or someone will want to talk about Luther or Augustine or some other really really dead guy.

And when asked if I’m a Calvinist or whatever, my answer is usually the same.

“I don’t know.”

To most people, that’s about the worst answer I can give, especially as someone who actually went to seminary.  A lot of people expect me to be thoroughly read up on what a bunch of dead guys thought about theology.  But I find myself balking at these conversations more and more, for a lot of reasons.  Maybe you’re a theology buff, or a total noob, or a contientious objector.  Let’s find out…

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Okay, I’m off to Mexico.  During the final week of my absence, I’m still treating you to some exceptional guest bloggers and reposting some of my best content from the last year.  I’ll be tweeting and commenting as I’m able, but will be back full time on the blog July 25th.

I’m really excited about today’s guest.  She’s the whole reason I’m in Mexico today: Jamie the Very Worst Missionary.  Jamie’s a missionary in Costa Rica, and when she broke from her delightfully cynical attitude to feature Seth Barnes, founder of Adventures in Missions, it lit a fire under my butt.

When I asked her to guest post, little did I know that she’d write about how she had been praying for me…to have a disastrous mission trip.  Good ol’ Jamie.

If you don’t read her blog, you either don’t know about it, or you are an idiot.  Sorry, that’s just the way it is.  Here’s Jamie…

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