top ten lists - i'm gonna cave

i haven't been a big list-maker - i always feel like i'm leaving out someone or something. but, in the aftermath of recently alphabetizing my way-too-long list on the sidebar of "sites i love, blogs i read" i have decided to cave in and do an unsorted list of ten blogs i thrive on reading. so here goes:

• dino rizzo - ok, so this one's at the top of the list on purpose but not just 'cuz he's my boss here at healing place - his posts almost always have something in there that reminds me to keep my focus on helping hurting people find hope in Christ.


• dave ohlerking - my dad - a missionary (founder of children's cup and writer with wisdom like crazy - coming from 35 years of experiences as a missionary - well over 100 countries he's travelled to, and almost 40 years of being my dad. i wonder how many guys like me there are who can say that their dad's blog is one of their favorite to read...


• ben abu saada (babulife) - very open, willing to ask questions, great sense of humor and a thread of missionary-mindedness that i love.


• lori fitzgerald - from seacoast church - she's like a modern-day erma bombeck. terribly funny, especially if you have kids or remember being one.


• dan kimball - author of "emerging church" a book that helped open my eyes to a lot of how i now see church.


• gary lamb (mad babble from a church planter) - some of the best conversations i've read in a blog anywhere. he's open and authentic about stuff and a great source for thoughts and lessons on church planting.


• david russell - when my rss menu shows a new post in david's blog, it's the first one i go to. he recently joined the ncc team with mark batterson. smart, loves God, and has a lock on using technology in minstry like few others i've heard of.


• geoff surratt - another from seacoast church - a genius in the world of multi-site church. and a pretty nice guy, too. drinks diet coke.


• patrick conti - a missionary working with children's cup in swaziland - he has a great mind, and an even bigger heart for the kids (aids orphans and other ovc's) he works with there.


• perry noble - another pastor with at least his fair share of cool factor but with a ton of great insight as well.


• shawn wood - yet another from seacoast church, and another IT dude making the list here - he's a new dad, and that always makes for some great posts. one of the nicest bloggers out there.


• tony morgan - "simply" tony. he's got a ton of great stuff in a lot of different directions on his site. insight into his church and what he's doing there, but way more - a great source of info and inspiration.

okay, so that's more than 10. see? i can't do pick one of these not to include. and there's so many more - leadership blog (josh sargeant), monday morning insight (todd rhoades), blogging church (brian bailey/terry storch).... i could go on for days. i literally have almost 80 blogs in my rss menu. which right now shows 114 unread - so i'll stop typing for now and start reading some more.