My technology (and consequently, my blog) has gone Mac.  Thanks to all of you who had a hand in this from Fellowship Church and other friends.

The question is:

Will I ever go back?

This is my 500th post.

What should I write about next?

One of a kind

Mike Burns, my friend and compadre from across the pond and beyond, is like a mountain man who likes to hang out in a mall.  A diverse fellow for sure, who can try to explain to you what a particular verse means is Scripture, and then offer you a torrential outpouring of verbal abuse like you haven’t had in your life time, all with a smile on his face.  This is why I like Mike – I dig the diversity, and the bit of the sacrilege he brings to the table.  I’m sure Jesus would have had hung out with him if He were here, so I will too.

Mike wrote the last comment of my post yesterday (up to this point) called, “Not that person anymore” where he said, “I mostly only read the comments (speaking of my blog), and not the post.”  Knowing Mike, this was meant to be a quick jab at me.  Mike claims (and certainly in some ways is right) to be “a friend who will help me with my ego.”  However, this particular jab was very much a compliment, whether it was intended or not.

I’m no genius like Garret or Jeffrey or the other engineers, doctors, and scientists God has blessed me to be around in this wonderful area of new England.  Nor do I claim to have a corner on God speaking to the masses in America or anywhere else.  But what I do bring to the table, Mike pointed out covertly.  I bring out an idea, let people process the idea and share their opinions, then connect with one another like they might not have done otherwise.

The geniuses are the ones commenting on these blog posts and sharing their opinions, and helping me to form my own through their relationship, both with this blog and face to face.  The real authors are the ones who follow up my posts with their insights, more times than not much better than my own.  The real innovaters are my friends who directly share their opinions, many time unwaveringly, and respond passionately to my quick thoughts or ideas.  the Daves, Ians, Katies, Brians, Dionnes, Darrens, and others of you who make this blog worth reading beyond my own thoughts.

The real geniuses are you.  So… thanks.

The Baltimore Sun picked up a quote from Martyholman.com this week when reporter Andrew Ratner featured President Obama and the Pope, and how they have each utilized the internet to share their message with the people they represent.  The article in the Sun is here. The post that Ratner quotes from is here.

Last week at Fellowship Church, we finished a series called “The Worst Story ever told” from Judges 19-21.   Last Sunday, we focused on standards and how we need self imposed boundaries of people, ideas, or organizations that restrict us with the purpose of personal growth or protection.

I thought I’d leave a thought from Scripture on martyholman.com as an addendum to the message on Sunday.

I said that we not only need boundaries in our lives for the aforementioned reasons, but we are the ones who decide either to impose boundaries on ourselves or to ignore the boundaries around us.  Ultimately we need boundaries and disciplines to be successful in this life (understanding that the word ‘successful’ is open for definition).

And the truth is, the higher our standaries or boundaries, the better we can become.  For instance, if I have standards in my eating habits, I have a better chance of staying healthy and feeling better than if I eat whatever I feel like eating, whether that is greasy fries (which I love) from McDonalds or a huge Homewrecker from Moes.

So what’s the top standard or measure I could subscribe to?  Perfection, I would guess.

I believe that the only perfect person that has ever walked the earth is Jesus.  So would we be successful if we followed Him and made Him our standard in deed and in motivation?  In deed, doing the things He asked us to do and did Himself, and in motivation, doing those things for the reasons He did them.

The author of the Biblical book of Hebrews seems to think so.  In chapter 11 they write about many of the great God followers in Old Testament times, a chapter which has been dubbed “the Hall of Faith.”  then in chapter 12, it’s followed up this way:

Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.
Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

The writer uses an athletic analogy to call for raising the standard in our lives.  There are going to be so much stuff that comes in and out of our lives, but anything that hinders our calling, sin or otherwise, shed it!  Then keep going!  And my favorite part is this- all the while, keep your eyes on Jesus.

There are a lot of boundaries you could have, whether its food, material possessions, relationship boundaries or financial, but the one that is the highest standard is that of perfection-

Jesus Christ.

Someone just sent me this t-shirt in the mail.  It arrived today.  Thank you to whoever sent it and to those of you who read my blog.

Any guesses on who sent it?

And now it’s time for the 2nd Bloggle awards, an award ceremony that happens every 6 months here on martyholman.com, giving the common person (like the author) access to some amazing blogs on the web 2.0.  Hopefully, we’ll get some acceptance speeches.

Most focused blog
Nominees:
Ethos: a cultural Watercooler by Randy Elrod;  From where I sit by Michael Hyatt; Gotcha by Jake Holman;  History in the making by Ben Arment;  Reluctant Republicans for McCain by Clay Davis
THE WINNER:  History in the making by Ben Arment
Anything this guy writes is gold.  He’s somewhere around brilliant and then some.  His focus is creativity in the church.

Best blog, comedy
Nominees:
Rainy Day Communications by Katie Ferguson; Stuff Christians like by the Prodigal John; Don Miller is by Donald Miller;  Vince Antonucci by Vince Antonnuci
THE WINNER:  Stuff Christians Like by The Prodigal John.  Wildly funny, and will make you laugh out loud in your office every time you dare to read it.

Best blog, story
Nominees:
Trek to the summit by Tom Hogsed;  Scott Hodge by Scott Hodge;  Jenn with 2 n’s by Jenn;  Connecting with Pastor Mike by Mike Laurence
THE WINNER:
Jenn with 2 N’s by Jenn

Best blog, pastor
Nominees:
Velocity by Dave Ferguson; Leading Smart by Tim Stevens;  Life Church.tv:  Swerve by Craig Groeschel and Bobby Gruenewald;  Perry Noble dot com by Perry Noble;  Tony Morgan Live by Tony Morgan;  Without Wax by Pete Wilson
THE WINNER:
Life Church.TV:  Swerve by Craig Groeschel and Bobby Gruenewald.  This was the hardest to judge.  These blogs are amazing!

Best blog post
Nominees:
“A couple of my rules for startups” by Mark Cuban (March 14, 2008);  “Creating WOW product experiences” by Michael Hyatt (May 17, 2008);  “The Lifetime of an opportunity” by Steven Furtick (July 30, 2008);  “The Secret of the web” by Seth Godin (August 11, 2008);  “The Bible said so” by Winn Collier (September 2, 2008);  “What Complaining says about you”, by Ben Arment (September 9, 2008);  “Palin, Religion, and how Secualrism is out of touch” by Dale Fincher (September 15, 2008)
THE WINNER:
“The Secret of the Web” by Seth Godin (August 11, 2008).  This was not an easy task.  I have so many subscriptions to blogs and highlight very few of them, but very few of so many is still a lot.  These are all excellent posts, written originally by the authors.

Best blog, pictures
Nominees:
It’s all going to change by Kevin and Jen Richardson;  Mark Beeson by Mark Beeson;  Ethos:  A Cultural Watercooler by Randy Elrod
THE WINNER:
Ethos:  A Cultural Watercooler by Randy Elrod  Randy always helps me to think more artsy than I really am.  He bring out the culture in me, and I don’t use that term scientifically.

Best blog, intellectual
Brazen Careerist by Penelope Trunk;  Dale Fincher by Dale Fincher;  Jeffs Deep Thoughts by Jeff Campbell;
Jenn with 2 N’s by Jenn;  Winn Collier by Winn Collier
THE WINNER:  Winn Collier by Winn Collier. I’m pretty sure his nominated post for best blog post won him this award.

I wish I knew him or her (no winners, just a list of 3)
Steven Furtick by Steven Furtick
Flowerdust.net by Anne Jackson
Blog Maverick by Mark Cuban

I’m glad I know him or her (no winners, just a list of 3)
Mill Industries by Eric Mill
Brian Howe by Brian Howe
You can know God by Michael Lukaszewski

Thanks for joining me for the 2008 Bloggle awards!  Check back for the acceptance speeches and comments about how wrong I was.  And…

Please vote for your favorite all around blog

So today is my last day of blogging, because I’m going on vacation tomorrow, and I’ve decided not to bring my computer with me for the festivity of rest.  This will be the first time I haven’t blogged for more than a week since I started blogging in early October 2007, so it will be a welcome break.  Who knows, maybe I’ll come up with some fresh ideas for the blog. 
Thank you to all of you who read, subscribe, or just take a looksy at Martyholman.com.  I love writing stuff, and sharing back and forth.
Todays Friday afteroon at the Internet Video will be my last blog until Monday, August 25th. 
Until then, a few thoughts:

My height is not 5-2, It’s actually 6’3″. 5-2 is my people/week ratio.
Wanna help Claire?  Some crazy awesome people already have!
I will be microblogging using Twitter, which connects to my Facebook account.  You can follow me here.
I want to read two books, though I don’t know which ones yet, on vacation.  Any suggestions?
I’m so excited to be a part of Fellowship Church in Holden, Massachusetts!  I believe this fall is going to be one of the most amazing seasons we’ve ever seen at our church.  Just like I believe this summer has been.  We’ve been building community like never before, seeing people growing in their relationship with Jesus Christ, and I believe God is preparing us for something big.
My cousin, Jake is going to be playing at our church on Sunday, September 7th.  You will want to be here for that!

So that’s all for now. Thanks for reading and enjoying or not enjoying my written communication via the internet. 

Live Different!