Great name for a church app. Our small family-run ministry is in the process of launching a small groups movement for mothers that will have international reach. We will use Wordpress as a CMS website/blog platform (StudioPress Genesis framework). However, I want to be able to connect moms interactively through their small groups, and church ministries, and with "experts" in several areas of spiritual mothering, which I think is beyond the capabilities of the basic WP site. I have considered Ning.com, but it just leaves me a bit cold for some reason (and now the price is going way up). Could SoChurch be an alternative for that kind of internal groups networking? There would need to be a process to restrict group formation to "certified" group leaders who would approve their group members, and yet the ability for non-member visitors to benefit from content. Maybe you should consider a SoGroups app, too (better grab that domain while it's still available). I look forward to hearing more about SoChurch. Thanks.

Good post. I'm not addicted, but I am infected. It's an mental virus.

A big time-eater for me is what I call "digistraction." For me, it's going to a site for a specific purpose, getting distracted by an interesting link so I click on it, which takes me down a digital rabbit hole of additional links until I forget original thing I went online for. Long digital detours going nowhere.

Case in point. As I was writing this comment, I started wondering if anyone else used the term "digistraction," which set me off on a wild Google-chase to see when it originated, and...well, you get the idea. (FTR, it was entered in the Urban Dictionary on April 18, 2007, and seems to have originated in Germanry.)

I don't think there's a known cure for the digistraction virus, but Karyn's suggestions are like the doctor saying to "eat well, rest, and drink plenty of water." Good, commonsense advice.

Thanks. Needed that. I think there is a kind of senior malaise that can creep in very subtly and become a secret resignation, or even fatalism, when old dreams of youth begin to die. If new dreams aren't birthed for whatever days are ahead, then I'm just in the process of dying, no longer really living. I'm reminded of Moses' words as an old man in Psalm 90:12 from the NET Bible: "So teach us to consider our mortality, so that we might live wisely." I want to "live wisely" for God all the way to the end, but I can't do that unless I come to grips with the fact that my days are "numbered" (NAS Bible) . I can't help but think of Garth and Hub in Second Hand Lions who died in their 90s flying a homemade bi-plane into a barn, but who "really lived". Your great post and all the comments are an encouragement today to decide to "really live."

OK, in reference to the first two comments, at what age does one officially reach "geezer status"? And when does one then graduate to "wheezer" status?

Your post has me rethinking my mens Bible study. I called it Kindlers with the idea of "keep the fire burning" from 2 Timothy 1:7, but the last few meetings the fire has been waning. Your post is getting me thinking about rethinking the purpose of the group. I feel like I need a mentoring group to keep my fire burning, too, but at 58 I know it's time to take whatever God has put into me and begin investing it in the lives of younger men. I need to spread the flame (thanks to Greg Stielstra for the metaphor). Thanks for the example and the encouragement. I'll be reading Regi's book.

There are three reasons I will be reading this book.

First, I'm 58 and time is short. Most of my ministry in recent years has been about writing, which can be very isolating. I started a men's group called Kindlers (2 Timothy 1:7) to rekindle my own fire for Christ and pass it on to other younger men. I think Mentoring LIke Jesus would help me keep that fire burning.

Second, my wife Sally wants to begin personally mentoring and training other women. She wrote a book that considered how Jesus influenced his disciples, and applied those principles to how a mother can influence her child for Christ. I think Regi's book would be a huge encouragement to her right now, too.

Third, my 25yo daughter, also a writer, is starting a new ministry to promote the power of "story" in one's life as a Christian. She'll be speaking to families, singles, and others who value literature, art, and beauty. I think this book could be an encouragement to her as she forms her messages.

So, if you pass a copy of the book my way, you'll ge a three-fer. And if not, we'll gladly make a contribution to Regi's royalty account.

I like the idea of the "better story" and every family having freedom in Christ to find their place in God's story for them. We've loved homeschooling our children so they could be as "out of the box" as God wanted them to be (all artists and creators now). However, I think it is too easy to demonize the idea of the "ideal" for family.

One of the reasons Christian families are fragmenting at an alarming rate is because the church has NOT held up a biblical ideal toward which to move. As the great theologian Yogi Berra said, "If you don't know where you are going, you might wind up someplace else." And the family has. The goal is certainly not to achieve or conform to the biblical ideal, or to judge families by it, but rather to be on the path that leads to it. I personally believe there is a biblical ideal of family, and even though few (if any of us) ever reach it, being on the right path that leads toward it will lead to greater blessing in the journey. Pastors can preach the biblical ideal without idealizing it or compromising the reality of ministering to broken families in a broken world. I would argue they must.

Family was not an afterthought of God, and it is not whatever we want to make of it--it is the heart of God's redemptive plan for all mankind, and the only institution created before the fall. We may all be broken now, and redemption is always the goal, but that is a journey toward an ideal...God's ideal. I would argue with some of Reggies views, but not with his applications, which are great. I just think, ideally of course, the language of this idea needs more thought and nuance.

As a concept guy, I was immediately captured by the concept of this book--I want to get "It". As I read the qualities of "it-ness" I was even more hooked.

My wife and I lead a small, family-run parenting ministry. We write, speak, and publish, but mostly our hearts are to move Christian parents to see themselves as part of a movement of God. I'm really drawn to It because it is not another "corporate" model, but rather what I'd call a "movement" or "ministry" model for leadership.

We're launching a new ministry intiative to mothers, and it will require not only giving leadership, but training leaders. I think It could give my wife and me language and concepts that will help us to communicate our vision for a ministry movement to mothers, and train them to become leaders.

Thanks for considering me for a copy.

Let me offer two reasons why I would appreciate a copy of Don's book. The first is personal. I'm 58, a writer, a creator, and a restless Christian. I feel intuitively that the resolution of my life story is still ahead. A Million Miles could be a great place to start writing the story of the next stretch of road on my journey with God. The second reason is paternal. My 25 year-old daughter is a writer, blogger, and thinker at the trailhead for her own life journey. She's begun writing and speaking about her experience of being "storyformed" by the hundreds of books she has read. I want to encourage her to keep writing her story. So, if you pass a book my way, it will be a twofer--one book, two lives. I read slowly, she reads fast, so she'll get it first, and then me. And then let the late-night discussions begin!

I'm interested in Wilson's exploration of the artistic and aesthetic qualities of God...the tangible manifestations of transcendence in my daily life. The idea of ongoing creation ex nihilo caught my imagination.

On a side note: First time I've seen and heard you, Mke. I'd like to "see and hear" more of you.

Very helpful and challenging post. My wife and I lead a small family-run ministry (15 years), and we are trying to make the transition to a Web 2.0 approach to how we can build a sustainable national and international movement. I have no staff to lead, but we have a following to lead, and good assets to put to use. I believe the principles should be the same for a large corporation or a small ministry.

The challenge I see for me in Web 2.0 leadership is two-fold: first, understanding how to lead a volunteer team network and retain the authority and control to shape and direct the vision of the ministry long term; and second, mastering Web 2.0 technology without getting tangled up in time and resource intensive, well-intentioned but unproductive internet strategy choices.

I benefit from your leadership and tech wisdom, and your blog is very cool and a great model. (I'm also a PC guy in houseful of Macs, so the pressure in on in that arena, too.)