Weeks in Review through January 31 2022

 

Some weeks, it just does not happen. I don’t even know what “it” is those weeks, but “it” doesn’t happen. That’s been the past couple of weeks. Truth is, a few things that shouldn’t have gotten to me got to me. Then, the annual bronchial/respiratory infection got to me. When your blood oxygen level isn’t getting much past 90% most days, the brain doesn’t function well. Now, though, I can breathe and we're back on track :)

So, sermons:

Here is what you’ll find: there is an audio player with the sermon audios built-in to it, just click to find the one you want. You’ll also find the embedded YouTube videos of each sermon.

If you’d like, you can subscribe to the audio feed here: http://feeds.feedburner.com/DougHibbardPodcast

Audible Link is coming soon! Search "Doug Hibbard" to see if it's there yet

Spotify is here: https://doughibbard.libsyn.com/spotify

The video is linked on my personal YouTube Page here: https://www.youtube.com/user/dheagle93

Sermons are stockpiled here: http://www.doughibbard.com/search/label/Sermons

Video:

Audio:

Books the past two weeks:

First book was Lost Cities, Ancient Tombs from National Geographic. It’s a gorgeous hardcover book detailing 100 archaeological and anthropological finds that help round out the story of humanity. The various authors are given 6 pages to give the story of the find, its context, and its relevance. Some of that space is also given to full-color pictures and illustrations. So, it’s not a deep-study book. You’ll get a recap of such finds like King Tut’s Tomb or Petra or other finds around the world, hopefully launching you on further study into those parts that interest you. A great book to have in your living room to leaf through at various points throughout the day, and a good history supplement into your teen’s learning situation.

The second book was The Practice of Groundedness by Brad Stulberg. This is more of a self-development book based in classical philosophy than anything else. It’s a good read, and many of the practical ideas are very helpful. I would caution that if your groundedness doesn’t come back to Jesus, you’ve got trouble, but beyond that much of Stulberg’s work is right on. He especially helps the reader by wrapping up each chapter with a guided moment of actual practice of the idea. Many a Christian inspirational work would benefit from that habit: give the reader some specific application rather than nebulous “How does that make you feel?” moments. I liked it, but I would caution against grabbing all of Stulberg’s take on Stoicisim without discussing the thoughts and ideas with others who have studied philosophies and history.

January 10: Week in Review

Good afternoon, good evening, good night, or good morning! Here is this Monday’s post, with 3 major components.

First, an out-of-date Sermon Recap. I failed to get last week’s sermon uploaded, so here it is. Sermon was from Ecclesiastes 12, sparked by a friend’s social media question of “If you were preaching the last sermon you would ever preach, what would you preach?” While the actual answer differs based on congregation context—if I were preaching to a group who had never heard the Gospel, I would preach a different sermon than to a church that has heard it for years, especially from me---my answer comes from Ecclesiastes 12. Here it is in video form:

Second, the up-to-date Sermon Recap

More Sermon Info:

If you’d like, you can subscribe to the audio feed here: http://feeds.feedburner.com/DougHibbardPodcast

Audible Link is coming soon! Search "Doug Hibbard" to see if it's there yet

Spotify is here: https://doughibbard.libsyn.com/spotify

The video is linked on my personal YouTube Page here: https://www.youtube.com/user/dheagle93

Sermons are stockpiled here: http://www.doughibbard.com/search/label/Sermons

Final Monday Note:

Last week’s book was Four Thousand Weeks:Time Management for Mortals by Oliver Burkeman. Very fascinating read, mainly noting that we cannot really manage time well enough to really get *everything* done. We are limited (hence the “Mortals” part of the title). Each chapter was good, although if you’re after straight practicality, jump to the appendix for the “10 tips” list. This was my summary of them:

Appendix points:

1. Adopt the fixed volume approach to productivity: use two to-do list: “open” and “closed:” work from the “closed” list and add only to it from the “open” list when something is completed. Use pre-determined boundaries: I am working in these hours, and not working outside of these hours.

2. Serialize, serialize, serialize: postpone everything but 1 item.

3. Decide in advance what to fail at: choose where to fail rather than failing accidentally; you will come up short on something, so pick the something

4. Focus on what you have gotten done—note the wins/completions

5. Consolidate your caring: decide which activism, charity, politics will get our limited attention

6. Embrace boring and single-purpose technology. Don’t be able to do everything anywhere. Have to do some things in some places.

7. Seek out novelty in the mundane: or liturgy or worship: be meditative and focus on what is happening now.

8. Be a ‘researcher’ in relationships: adopt a deliberate attitude of curiosity

9. Cultivate instantaneous generosity: give on the impulse, whether in funding or even more in contact/relationship, except when you’re doing it to be distracted

10. Practice doing nothing: embrace the idea that your life is not a commodity but to let things be as they are, do not need to manipulate the experience or the people around you.

That’s it for Monday! Just a reminder, Ann and I still do our Morning Reflection videos. They air live on our Facebook page (that we will, SOMEDAY, do something else with) and then show up on YouTube later.