shelbyabbott.com

The new schedule has just been posted for my traveling dates this fall semester. I'm pumped. At most locations, I'll be bringing my new book, "Jacked", if you'd like to purchase a copy. They sell online for $9.75, but if you buy one directly from me at a show or speaking engagement, they will be $6. Aren't I nice?

See you on the road!

Justin Bieber, I’m scared for you.

At the tender age of 16, you are on the verge of “the phase” that transforms every boy into a man, leaving the charm behind and ushering in (pun intended, because you were discovered by Usher) a world of acne, uncomfortably large front teeth, a bigger nose, and an unpredictable voice. Herein lies your problem, my little friend.

The magic of what makes you a worldwide draw is that pure, adorable clean sound that emanates from your mouth and touches the heart of every hormone infested 14-year-old girl from Los Angeles to Scranton. If that beautiful tone is lost to the evil thief of innocence called “puberty”, what will become of your 2-year-old career? Will it be lost forever, or will you pull a Hanson and wait for 8-10 months before you make another public appearance to sing for the masses? 

Yes, the Hanson brothers released a few more albums after they made the switch, but their popularity took a giant hit, not being able to recapture the charming effects of “Mmm Bop”, and they relinquished their teen dream throne for lives of marriage and producing children with their wives before barely escaping their twenties. Will you follow in their footsteps or will you keep the beats coming after transformation takes place?

We shall all see very soon...unless you’re like me and your genetic makeup keeps you in the kid world for way too long, rendering you a laughing stock because you don’t get hair under your arms until the ripe old age of 18.

I’m scared for you, Justin Bieber, but I hold onto the hope that the eventual maturity in your singing voice will make you a better artist and not an awkward one, the likes of which no one has ever seen...with the obvious exception of Lady Gaga.

If you'd like to purchase a copy of my book "Jacked", it is now available online here. Great for individuals and small group studies that desire growth in the area of evangelism.

Just a note: I don't make a dime off the sales of my book. Any and all profits go directly back into the ministry of CruPress. Ergo, there is no conflict of interest here as I promote my writing.

Happy reading!

"Who am I if I'm not a skier?"-Lindsay Vonn

Let me first start by saying that I've been totally riveted by the Winter Olympics this year. I never really thought that I would care about 'Men's Nordic Finals' or 'Women's Curling', but I simply can't get enough of these Olympic Winter Games (NBC is praising God that most people are feeling that way...it's really all they've got).

Interestingly, though, I caught a short interview with downhill skier, Lindsay Vonn before the Olympics started this year, and she casually said something that made me pause and think more deeply about where our significance comes from and what I really believe success is in light of my view of God. In the midst of answering a few questions from an NBC reporter, she said, "who am I if I'm not a skier?"

Vonn, of course, probably communicated that without much thought in an attempt to validate who she is and what she does as a profession, but it really struck me that in her reality, being a skier is all of who she is...at least in her mind. That is, however, simply not true.

There is much more to Lindsay Vonn than just being a skier and perhaps one day (I hope) she will come to that realization without a tragedy befalling her. Ironically, she fell yesterday on the downhill slope and broke her right pinky finger, so we'll have to wait and see if this subsequently effects her skiing in the immediate future.

C.S. Lewis once said (and I'm paraphrasing here), "You don't have a soul. You are a soul. You have a body." How backward is that in comparison to everything else taught by the communicators of this world? Our significance cannot come from what we do and rest wholeheartedly on the performances we put out day after day, it must come from another place (a heavenly place) that once understood in its purest sense, alleviates the need and pressure to try harder all the time.

The Olympics have opened my eyes to how much value we place on performance. Notice I said we. I am 100% guilty of validating my life based upon how good I've performed in a given situation. But after connecting with the truth that God accepts me for who I am (a retched sinner, saved by the perfection of Jesus Christ alone), my performance barometer begins to loose its effect when I think about what kind of person I am.