still not sure what the deal is with this sadness. it is extremely aggravating though. those of you that know me know that i am not one to remain in a sour mood for very long, but i can't seem to shake it.

if you are looking for an interesting read for some meditation time, i came across a writing from last year's good friday by author james morrow. he did a writing every hour for twelve hours in an attempt to capture his interpretation of the emotions of christ during those final hours. i have been reading them as he wrote them, one section each hour (ok, i didn't start at 7 AM so i read the first couple all at once!).

i listened to an podcast yesterday from youth specialties. they interviewed kara powell to discuss her new book, "deep ministry in a shallow world". she works at fuller theological seminary and directs their program that attempts to pair youth workers and academic folks together to develop deeper strategies for youth ministry. the book, as she even acknowledges herself, is somewhat ironic in that it gives a methodolgy for developing ministry even though she herself has come to realize that there is no way to have a methodology for ministry that works everywhere. she states three common solutions that have been used to answer the question of developing deeper youth ministries,

1. "more of the same"
2. "it worked for my friend"
3. "it's what the book said"

all three of these, as she points out, are poor solutions because they all lack any immediate context. interesting that she writes a book that says that books are not a good solution.

good listen.... check it out here. not sure i'll get the book though as books are not the answer!!