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As someone who highly values learning, growing and productivity, fiction can feel like a dirty word. But I’ve realized significant benefits from digging into fiction books over the last year, specifically Christian fiction (with a handful of dystopian novels thrown in). Why Fiction Rocks 1. Relaxing Reading fiction is engaging in passive learning. Instead of highlighting, dog earing and taking notes in fiction books, I feel the freedom to just read and let the words wash over me. After reading a string of non-fiction books, no matter how good they are, it’s nice to read a book without a pen in hand. 2. Expanding vocabulary I can’t remember the last time I read a book and didn’t have to turn to a dictionary to find the meaning of a word. I love it when an author uses such a precise word for a particular situation. We’re truly blessed in the English langauge to have so many specific words for certain scenarios. I use Terminology by Agile Tortoise (also the makers of Drafts for iOS) for looking up words and synonyms. 3. Looking for deeper meaning What I love about Christian fiction is finding pieces of the gospel wrapped in the stories. It’s as if there’s a whole other layer waiting to be explored in every well-written fiction book with new ideas to discover. ...

One of the most fascinating things in the world is how impressively good people are at lying to themselves. Humans are masters of rationalization (myself most certainly included). “It’s ok to eat that whole cake–I walked on the treadmill for 15 minutes this morning.” “It’s ok to spend money I don’t have–I should be getting a bonus soon.” “It’s ok to buy the latest, greatest whatever–my current one is going to die soon anyway.” Some of these lies are worse than others. But we rarely admit to ourselves that we’re lying. We turn our backs on truth and logic. Instead of facing truth or guilt head on, we rationalize. What is Rationalization? Here’s a definition snagged from everyone’s favorite encyclopedia, Wikipedia. In parenthesis on the page next to rationalization it actually says “making excuses.” That’s awfully clear. But here’s a fuller [definition](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rationalization_(making_excuses): Rationalization is…a defense mechanism in which perceived controversial behaviors or feelings are logically justified and explained in a rational or logical manner in order to avoid any true explanation, and are made consciously tolerable – or even admirable and superior – by plausible means. Essentially, it’s forcing illogical things into a logical box. We twist and turn, prod and poke until something that was once irrational becomes not just acceptable but perhaps even admirable in our own minds. ...

Uniting theology and productivity is no easy task. Fortunately, Matt Perman marries the gospel and getting things done in a beautiful ceremony in What’s Best Next: How the Gospel Transforms the Way You Get Things Done. Usually, productivity is left to gurus and hackers, while theology is reserved for the super-spiritual and seminarians. What’s Best Next thoroughly dismantles the separation of the spiritual and the practical, and puts the gospel at the center of our work–no matter what we do. Matt Perman has written about productivity from a Christian perspective for years at whatsbestnext.com. He helped build John Piper’s Desiring God ministry, and he’s more than qualified to merge theology and productivity. His book is a treat through and through, and I’ll be referencing, re-reading, and recommending it for years to come. [Note: This is one of my longest posts ever. If you trust my judgment, go buy What’s Best Next right now, at Amazon (affiliate) or WTS Books. Feel free to skim and scan this review to get a glimpse into why I loved the book.] The Aim Much is lacking in literature on work from a Christian perspective–and I’d argue even more so is missing on the way Christians should work. Matt’s goal in “What’s Best Next” is to fill in that gap of wanting literature. My aim in this book is to reshape the way you think about productivity and then present a practical approach to help you become more effective in your life with less stress and frustration, whatever you are doing. He wants to help equip us, inspire us and prepare us to serve God in all we do, through the how and why of our work. And he does just that. ...

What good could drawing a red “X” on my hand possibly do? How could that help? How could it make a difference? According to the End It Movement, an awareness group and coalition of anti-slavery organizations, there are 27 million slaves in the world. More in sheer number than any other time in human history. Forty percent of those slaves are sex slaves. That reality knots my stomach. I’ve read stories of slaves stolen for forced sex, forced labor and even organ harvesting. It’s nauseating and heartbreaking. So how does me posting a picture of an X to Instagram and Twitter make any impact? I wrestled with the idea. I didn’t want to be a slacktivist–posting a picture with a trendy icon or a link to a website just because everyone else (in my circles) was. I’ve thought a lot about how to tackle a problem with a massive, global scale. Human trafficking. Extreme poverty. Unreached people groups. Issues that all deserve our attention. But how do I make a difference without knowing how to be actively involved? Kevin DeYoung says in Crazy Busy, We won’t all care about every issue in the same way, but there are some issues we should all care about, some issues that should at least prick our hearts and prompt us to pray. Not giving a rip about sex slaves is not an option for the Christian. I’ve just dipped my toe into the cesspool of human trafficking. I don’t have all the answers, and honestly I’m just trying to learn and help others do the same as we fight one of the greatest injustices in our world today. Any problem buried this deep in sin requires a multi-faceted solution to fix. I believe that solution travels four concentric circles, all working together to find a solution. Promotion, personal choices, partnering, and prayer. Here’s how I see pandemic issues being tackled, specifically in the context of human trafficking. ...

Niki and I have an unhealthy crush on budgeting. It’s not quite teenage-girls-for-Justin-Bieber love, but it’s close. You probably already know I have a thing for apps, so you can imagine how a budgeting app could be my digital best friend. We’ve been using Dave Ramsey’s system of zero-based budgeting for two and a half years, and it’s been an amazing journey. We’re debt free, saving for retirement and a future home and we’re able to be generous toward people and causes we believe in. At first, we used the cash-only system. Every single category we pulled cash out for, except for savings. That amounted to a scary stash of cash in our home every month. So we migrated to an Excel spreadsheet for our larger categories. We still use cash for daily expenses–groceries, entertainment, toiletries, etc., but for things like car repairs and our own personal allowances, we switched to digital tracking. It wasn’t a great system, but it worked for us. That hardest thing was that we didn’t have a ledger or report detailing where the money went for each category–just an updated balance for the category and the date it was last updated. We needed a budgeting app that was: more convenient than a spreadsheet not made by Microsoft easy to use on the go good for keeping a record of expenditures a good fit with our zero-based budgeting system pretty After lots of rave reviews about the software You Need a Budget (YNAB), we decided to pull the trigger on the desktop and iPhone software (mostly because we bought it on sale for half price. Budgeting, FTW!) YNAB is based around four solid rules that mesh perfectly with Dave Ramsey’s plan. Give every dollar a job. Save for a rainy day. Role with the punches. Live on last month’s income. Here’s how we’ve put it to use in our system. ...

Your account has been hacked. That unfortunate news makes its way to my inbox on a near-weekly basis. Most recently Kickstarter’s databases were infiltrated and usernames, emails and passwords were lifted. I normally respond with a sigh and quickly swap my password. It’s frustrating that digital theft is a daily reality, but for many (perhaps most) people, one stolen password from a website you rarely use means bad guys probably have access to your email inbox, Facebook, Twitter and maybe even your banking passwords because you use the same password on every site. Tisk _tisk. _ I was in the same boat. I had a few main passwords I used for everything, and if I wanted to make it super secure I’d toss a few capital letters into my normal string of letters and numbers. Trying to pilfer my info wasn’t quite like trying to ravage through Gringotts. We live in an increasingly complex world. Everything has a password (and for the developers who are masochists, we have a username that isn’t just our email). I’ve heard countless comments about passwords in recent weeks: “I have to change my password every 90 days and it can’t be one of my last 4 passwords used. I can’t come up with any more passwords that I can remember.” “I just use the same password for everything.” “My mom has a word document with her passwords in it on her desktop.” The ultimate goal of passwords is to strike a balance between security and convenience. Simple passwords mean effortless access to your account (for you and for hackers.) Complex logins brings increased protection but a mini-stroke every time you try to rack your brain for your password. So how do you balance a secure password, a memorable login and multiply it over 100+ websites (between apps, utility bills, financial logins, social networks, etc.) without going to a Montessori school? A password manager. Specifically, 1Password. ...

It’s practically a requirement to write major posts for major holidays. I’m not sure who collects the unwritten rules of the blogosphere, but I know for certain that one of those rules is that bloggers must write posts about their overwhelming gratitude and thankful hearts on Thanksgiving. I’ve expressed my gratitude here before. Instead of a traditional gratitude post, I thought I’d share a revolutionary thought I’ve been learning from John Piper in his book Future Grace. Gratitude doesn’t function properly when it is forced to look forward. We can’t express gratitude in the future. We can express it for the past. And we can let that gratitude direct our hearts for what’s to come, but gratitude is a distinctly past-oriented emotion. ...

No one goes skydiving without going through training. It’s mandatory, it’s essential and it’d be pretty foolish to launch out of a moving aircraft without knowing what you’re doing. Employers that have a high emphasis on training have a high value on effectiveness, efficiency and keeping their employees. If your organization doesn’t “believe in” training, that should be a red flag. Here’s why training is essential for success. ...

Niki and I enjoy pretending that we’re coffee snobs.[footnote]I mean this in the most loving way possible. Snob is a term of endearment here.[/footnote] We’re not. A few things disqualify us: We occassionally drink our coffee with cream and not black. Strike 1. We most regularly brew Eight O’Clock coffee, Hazelnut variety. Not fair trade, not locally roasted, and flavored. Strike 2. We most often brew coffee via a standard, (yet convenient) drip coffee maker.[footnote]We love this coffee maker. It has no pot, so it’s most ideal if you have a sprayer attached to your sink to add water, but being potless is awesome.[/footnote] Strike 3. Now, I’ll make a case for us being moderate coffee snobs: We own an AeroPress and a French Press (but the latter is currently collecting dust). We use a burr grinder instead of a blade grinder (a cheap one, but it gets the job done). I drink close to half a pot of coffee a day. Starbucks isn’t our favorite variety of java. I hope that gets us at least partially into the graces of those who are true coffee connoisseurs. At any rate, I’ve searched around the Interwebs a fair amount to find a “Starter Guide to Coffee Snobbery” and I’ve come up short. Since I don’t fully qualify for full-on coffee snob status, I’d say I’m in a good position to take a stab at helping others climb the latter to fancy coffee drinking. Let’s go. ...

My phone is the first thing I grab when I wake up and the last thing I put down before going to bed. That is a problem. I love notifications. They are instant validation. It’s easier to check Facebook or Twitter than it is to solicit feedback or invite actual human interaction. Another like, favorite, retweet or comment. Someone else used my referral link! A free set of razor blades or a book or extra space in Dropbox. They are cheap substitutes for actual interaction. And I’m practically addicted to them. I have a few theories on why. ...