Hey Gang,

Time for a Monday Muse.  I ask a question … and you answer.  Be sure to click the “subscribe to comments” button when you leave your comment so you can be engaged in the ongoing discussion, ok?

So, I’m reading Ephesians 5 this morning and I’m always challenged by that chapter as a Husband and as a Christian.

“Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her”.
(Ephesians 5:25)

So here’s the question:

Men:  what are some specific ways you can (or do) show love for your wife?  (Dial the x-rated stuff down to R if you are going there, ok!?)

Ladies:  what are some specific ways you WISH that your husband would show you love?

Singles:  answer it based on what your desires would be.

Please consider joining this discussion and inviting others to do the same.  If you are uncomfortable answering, feel free to just put “anonymous” as the name and “nobody@nobody.com” as the email address (just don’t check the subscribe to comments box, as it will be bouncing back to me!).

I have a crisis.

I have over 4,000 tracks in my iTunes library.  Many of which are ripped sermon CDs, demos from songwriters, sample audio bits for sermon ideas, etc.  Bottom line – a HUGE portion of those tracks are junk tracks that aren’t really meant to be my every-day listening options.

I’ve just erased and restored my iPod.  My crisis?  How do I manage it from here on?

I thought I’d create a playlist of the songs I want on the iPod and “sync selected playlists”.  But that’s such a drag – wading through 4,000 tracks and dragging what I want.

Plus, I inevitably forget to move new tunes to the “Fred’s iPod” playlist.

I could just go back to “sync all” – but then it takes an eternity to select an artist or album.

One way is clear and efficient at playback time, but takes a lot of work to maintain.
The other way is no work to maintain, but the iPod is messy.

So … how to you manage your iTunes and iPod library?

Manual sync?
Sync selected playlists?
Sync all?

Hey Gang,

A quick after-lunch blog post … returning to the “Monday Muse” – where I ask a question on Monday, and hopefully, some of you will respond.  These days, there are less comments on the blog (insert picture of Fred with sad face) and more replies via Twitter and/or Facebook.  For what it’s worth, the ole’ fashioned blog comment is still my favorite.

So, here’s the question …

When you pray, who do you pray to?  God?  Jesus?  The Holy Spirit?

Comment with your answer, and any explanation you’d like to share.

Challenged by my own “rebuke” of sorts on last week’s popular blog post, “Who Are We Kidding“, I decided I’d better get myself in the Word this morning.  YouVersion.Com and my “Daily Reader” program on my Treo phone took me to Proverbs 8:12-13.

So, if “wisdom” hates “perverted speech” (referred to as “perverse speech in many translations) …

What exactly is “perverse/perverted speech”?

I think of the movies and TV shows we, as Christians, watch with little or no conviction any longer … filled with what I’d consider to be “perverse” speech.  Drink it in.  Filthy water.

What do you think “perverse speech” is referring to?

That’s today’s Monday Muse.  Tweet it, invite your friends to answer, and let the comments begin.

So here’s my “Monday Muse” question for us all today.

“FriendFeed” - do you have it?  Do you use it?

I stumbled upon this site a while back and created a profile but only started using it last week.  I was getting dozens of “____ has subscribed to your friendfeed” emails and wasn’t sure what that meant or why.

Basically, “FriendFeed” allows you to aggragate your online activity into one, continuous stream.  For me, that’s more than a stream, that’s whitewater rapids!  (and all my local buddies who see me at church and say “man, you twitter WAY too much” sound out a hearty AMEN)

Thanks to my buddy Scott who sent me these tips for getting started and using FriendFeed.  In addition, I’ve discovered that it can be quitehandy to use.  I’ve installed the FriendFeed Desktop Notifier and setup my preferences so that:

1. I get a popup notification when one of my “friends” posts something to their feed.
2. I get an IM and email notification if someone comments on my feed so that I can engage in the discussion with them.
3. I have the opportunity to use the FriendFeed interface to update my “stream” and cc: it to Twitter, if I so desire.
4. I can setup multiple “categories” like TweetDeck (ie. all friends, church staff, blog buddies, etc) and setup my IM/Email/Desktop Notification preferences accordingly.

So for now, I’ve got the following useless information going into my FriendFeed:  (subscribe to it if you’d like!)

• things that I manually type into FriendFeed
• things that I “tweet” via my Twitter account @fmckinnon
• Videos that I upload on YouTube
• Songs and stations I’m playing from my Pandora.Com account.

I’ve recently subscribed to all my FaceBook friends who have a Friendfeed account.  It allows you to import friends from Yahoo, Twitter, FaceBook, etc.

So, do you use FriendFeed?  If so, how do you use it?

Hey Gang,

Today’s “Monday Muse” has to do with “Twitter”.  At this point, I don’t feel like I need to explain what Twitter.Com is all about – you’ve already heard it everywhere.  (By the way, if you aren’t following my tweets, now is a good time to start!  @fmckinnon from me, @theworshipcomm for TheWorshipCommunity.Com and @ebusinessonline for the E-BusinessOnline.Com forum)

My question is this:

“What is your Twitter Follow Strategy”?

Do you follow everyone who follows you?
Do you only follow a select few people?
If you don’t follow everyone, how do you determine who you DO follow?

I’ve been on the “auto-follow” everyone but I have to confess, I’m seriously reconsidering this strategy.  Although I’ve found some cool people in my timeline talking about worship and leadership, I’ve also found “followers” who had obsene profiles, pornographic material, and other junk that I could care less about.  Not to mention I don’t like getting their “thanks for following me, check my site for the best deals on mortgage loans” direct messages.

So, what’s your strategy?

Budget Cuts:

Most of us have seen them at work, at ministry, and at home.

One of the first things cut in our church budget this year was conferences and events for ongoing training and encouragement.

We’re really tightening up at home as well – I just made several cuts in my e-biz, including the removal of our landline, discontinuing merchant services on a slow-order website, discontinuing some livesupport services, and canceling some shipping subscriptions.

Have you been affected by budget cuts in your personal life or ministry?  What have you done, and how are you compensating for the cuts?

Specifically for those in ministry, I’d love to hear how God has provided for you in the midst of the cuts.

OK – so, it’s Monday Muse … on Tuesday.  (just couldn’t make this happen yesterday)

I’d like to know – what do you think of when you hear the word “charismatic”, specifically, in the context of religion?

Hello Everyone,

Hope your weekend was great.  Today’s “muse” is simply, “How Much is Enough?”

The question this morning is inspired from my reading in Genesis 33:11, where Jacob returns to Esau …

11 Please accept my blessing that is brought to you, because God has dealt graciously with me, and because I have enough. Thus he urged him, and he took it.  (Gen 33:11, ESV, YouVersion.Com, emphasis mine)

There is a lot of trash that is taught in the name of “prosperity”.  Unfortunately, that very trash has made “prosperity” a bad word for many Christians.  I for one believe that God’s desire is for us to prosper so that we can be a blessing to others.

In this case, Jacob blesses his brother Esau.  Maybe his motives weren’t pure .. perhaps he was trying to save his skin with a bribe … but he simply says “I have enough”.

How much is enough?  Do you have enough?

I’ll never forget realizing how dumb it was for me to spend nearly $250/month between my cable, internet, and cell phone bill.  It was then that I realized “I have more than enough” and took my first steps to sponsoring a child in poverty through Compassion International.  Maybe you can do the same thing today?

Think about this question, and post your comment – “how much is enough”?

Hey Everybody,

It’s Monday morning, and that means “Monday Muse” – I’d like to ask a simple question, and you respond.  People are responding to the question on the blog here, via my FaceBook status, and also via Twitter, using the #mondaymuse hashtag.

Today:

What ONE WORD expresses how you feel about where you are in life right now?

Please leave your comment here, and if you use twitter, also reply via twitter using the #mondaymuse hashtag.  Also, please RETWEET it!

PS:  anyone wanna submit a “Monday Muse” banner? …

Big Thanks to Russ Hutto at russhutto.com for submitting the “Monday Muse” banner!

Hey Gang,

Last week I kicked off the week with a question on Twitter.  I asked “What is God speaking to you” (3 words or less).
My Twitter @reply and FaceBook account went crazy with answers.

I decided to kickoff each week with something for us to muse.

muse: to think or meditate, to comment thoughtfully

Monday Muse:

“I am most likely to sin when I ….”

Leave your answer as a comment here.
See other answers from Twitter users who used the #mondaymuse tag.
See other answers from responses on FaceBook.