• I am sad and irritated at this: http://www.s.am/
• I had a great time catching up with Justin Wise yesterday. I can’t say enough good things about that guy. Oh, and if you’re interested in social media, blogging, productivity, and being a better human being, sign up for his newsletter. The subscription comes with his free ebook about social media, which is equal parts accessible and meaty.
• I am putting the finishing touches on my Luminous talk this week. Will I see you in Nashville on May 9th?
• I expect to have the final printing schedule for my book today (fingers crossed!) which means I’ll know exactly when it will be (finally!) available in print.
• Two weddings this summer. I’m officiating one, and standing up with my college roommate in the other.
• Baby #2 is due July 4th.
• Kennedy’s second birthday is also in July. I can’t wait to give her the present I’ve been working on for her.
• I aim to launch two ebooks this summer, and will distribute via my monthly newsletter. Have you subscribed yet? Subscribe now.
• Did I mention this is going to be a busy summer?

One of my goals for 2012 is to invest in the right things. Most often, this will center around building relationships, and investing in those people.

I observed Lent this year, as you know if you’ve read the blog in the last month or so. I wrote a daily series on my observations as a way to both keep myself accountable, and have something to look back on when it was over. Now that we have celebrated Resurrection Sunday, I am moving on from that series. But I’d love to share something with you about what happened during Lent.

Relationships

Since I was feeling the weight of the looming Holy Week for the first time in my life, I asked a few colleagues if they’d be interested in getting together to read scripture and reflect over the lunch hour. I tell a bit about this in my post, Insurrection in the Empire, which you can read here. But out of those conference room meetings came deeper relationships that I would have ever imagined forming at work. I made the small choice to invite a few guys to read and reflect. I took a very small step with the aim of investing in relationships. No end goal. No book sales. No increased blog readership. Just relationships. And image what happened…relationships formed.

What does this have to do with a newsletter? Great question….allow me to explain.

While I will continue to invest in you, the reader of this blog, I am not sure what 2012 will look like here , as I’ve wrestled with its direction for some time now. I will continue, at least for now, to post on faith and creativity, and my observations of their intersection. But as the year unfolds, my newsletter readers will get the best of what I have. There’s a few reasons for that.

Inbox permission

My newsletter subscribers have granted me access into their inbox. This is important. If you think about your social networks, and who gets what permission, the inbox is the most guarded. I want to honor this with my time, attention and output. I’ll make more time for those who respond to my monthly newsletters. I’ll engage in conversation and provide feedback. I’ll also continue to dedicate exclusive content only for those who subscribe, which is my small way of saying thanks. You may get this blog delivered to you inbox, which is awesome. But it isn’t quite the same. Case in point: you can’t reply to me out of that email. It’s not built for conversation, it’s built for delivery. I’m striving for conversation.

Long-term Connection

You may be an avid reader of this blog, subscribed and engaged. Thank you. I truly mean that. My goal is not just to keep you reading. My goal, in the grand scheme of things (this is my being completely honest) is to build a community around my work. It’s the same theory that drives Noise Trade; I plan on giving away great content in order to build a base. Any marketer, especially in the publishing world, would call this building the platform. But more than just a career move, this is about connection. Remember, my goal for this year (and beyond) is to invest in these relationships. Yes, my newsletter subscribers will hear about new projects first. But this is only because I will be creating projects (books and whatever else gets dreamed up) for the community. This is about resourcing a community, not throwing together random projects.

unMarketing

I mentioned building a platform. Usually this requires engaging big names to talk highly of you. I did a bit of this when I solicited for endorsements of my book. But really, building a platform is about having relationships with others who may be interested in your work. This blog is part of my platform for sure. In fact, that’s why I created a subscribe page. I would consider my social networks to be a part of my platform as well. So when it comes to marketing a book, these are the folks who get blasted with marketing. While I have engaged in that, and will continue to a degree, the email list is what many would consider a warm market. They know me, they know my writing, and they have given me permission to share with them directly. The more of this, the less I rely on tweets, posts, blogs, interviews, etc etc etc. And for a writer who is just insecure enough to hate all of the self-hype, this is gold. So to help me in my attempts to unmarket my work, I will offer my best stuff. Conversations with thought leaders, giveaways, long form reminations on faith and creativity and publishing and justice and life, and other things you may be interested in hearing.

Join us!

The community is brand new (only 4 newlsetters sent so far) and will grow and change over time. I’d be honored to have you as a part of the community. You can sign up for my newsletter by clicking here.

This is a guest post by a friend of mine, Jonny Craig. He’s much smarter than me, regarding theology, politics, and well…he’s just plain smarter than me. I am excited to welcome him to the blog! If you’d like to guest post, shoot me an email; smahlstadt@gmail.com and we’ll chat. Now…Jonny on religion and politics:

Since long before the American Revolution, the notion that Christians should be involved with government has been broadly taught, accepted and practiced. It doesn’t bear repeating here, nor is it necessary, to tell the tale of Constantine and his Divine calling and the affect that the institutionalizing of Christianity has had on European and American politics throughout history. Simply stated, the idea that God-fearing, Bible-believing Christians have a responsibility, nay, aduty to be politically active has reached a hegemonic level. Whether it’s Jim Wallis or James Dobson, Christian leaders are at the forefront of the fray, rallying troops around their own particular positions and parties. Be it a Faith and Family platform or God’s Politics, the assumption remains the same regardless of party lines: the soul of America is at stake, and it’s up to us to save it.

But beneath all of our cultural assumptions are questions that must be considered. What happens when claims based on Romans 13 are held up against Luke 22? Or when Old Testament passages are understood within their proper context? How do we choose between issues like social welfare which is generally supported by democrats, and fighting for the unborn, a Republican standard? How can we reflect God’s perfect will and Christ’s perfect example in a system that is inherently flawed and considerably un-perfect?

In the two party system, the choices we’re left with are severely lacking in a lot of ways. Beyond that, different Christians will have different ideas of what responsibilities the government should have vs. what the church should take care of. Yet listening to the discourse happening during this election cycle, it doesn’t seem anybody is taking time to reflect on these issues, instead opting for the simple way out and flocking to one ideologue or another. The “hip” Christians circle the wagons around Wallis and Obama, while the “value voters” stand with their familiar flag bearers of Dobson and the Republican party. From the looks of things, nobody seems to see a bigger picture, and that’s concerning.

The Bible does not support any one political system. Arguably, the Bible supports every political system. Free marketers will point to the book of Proverbs or Old Testament laws while liberals want to make Jesus sound like a socialist. Both sides are drunk on their own kool-aid, and both sides want to push their political position. Either way, the problem is the same: God never calls us to be involved in politics. Lets repeat that: God, at no point in scripture, commands, implies, requests or even suggests that we mobilize as a group and support a party, politician or platform. It’s just not there. That’s not to say that voting is evil, or having party affiliation will condemn you do damnation, but it is to say that God is far more concerned with our testimony and our relationship with him than he is with who wins school board, or governor, or even *gasp* president.

1 Peter 2 calls us to live as aliens in a foreign land and immediately follows up that call by telling us to submit to governing authorities. Not influence, not campaign for, not campaign against, but submit to. Our allegiance has nothing to do with America. Sure, go vote, but don’t vote because America needs its soul saved. Don’t vote because God told you to. Don’t vote because you know which candidate is a closer approximation of how Jesus would lead. Just vote because of your opinion. Your flawed, imperfect, finite, human opinion. And then accept the results happily, however the chips may fall. Remember, this world is not your home, you’re just passing through.

Jonny is a 25 year old Seminary student currently living in Des Moines, Iowa with his wife, Kayla, and son, Joseph. He enjoys getting coffee with friends, talking sports and theology and getting out to the movie theater once in awhile. He’s passionate about orphan care and the future of the American church. You can reach him at jmcraig009@gmail.com or on twitter @jonny_craig

Whenever the government provides opportunities and privileges for white people and rich people they call it ‘subsidies.’ When they do it for Negro and poor people they call it ‘welfare.’ The fact is that everybody in this country lives on welfare. Suburbia was built with federally subsidized credit. And highways that take our white brothers out to the suburbs were built with federally subsidized money to the tune of ninety percent. Everybody is on welfare in this country. The problem is that we all too often have socialism for the rich and rugged free enterprise capitalism for the poor. That’s the problem.

I posted last year:

Martin Luther King Jr. made numerous profound statements that rattled our nation, and continue to inspire us today. It would be a terrible disservice to his legacy if we merely quoted his famous words and failed to act on the convictions that brought, and will continue to bring about, justice in our world.

I posted two years ago:

In honor of a great dreamer today, I encourage you to keep dreaming. Don’t let circumstances stand in the way of the dream you have in your head, and the convictions your hold in your heart. They can change the course of history.

Dream on.

Audio to the famous I Have a Dream speech: http://ia600402.us.archive.org/29/items/MLKDream/MLKDream_64kb.mp3

May you be inspired to dream a big dream, choose hill you’re willing to die on, and push forward. We need your voice and your work. Let’s honor the great man together as we lend our hand to those who are overlooked, and lend our voice to those who go unheard.