I will continue this goal into 2012 and hope to read another 50 this next year.

1. The Cross and the Switchblade
by David Wilkerson
2. The Complete Insider’s Guide to Romania: 2011
by Sam R
3. The Cause within You
by Matthew Barnett
4. Wild at Heart: Discovering the Secret of a Man’s Soul
by John Eldredge
5. When Helping Hurts: How to Alleviate Poverty Without Hurting the Poor . . . and Yourself
by Brian Fikkert, Steve Corbett
6. Same Kind of Different As Me: A Modern-Day Slave, an International Art Dealer, and the Unlikely Woman Who Bound Them Together
by Ron Hall, Denver Moore
7. Radical: Taking Back Your Faith from the American Dream
by David Platt
8. The Poor Will Be Glad: Joining the Revolution to Lift the World Out of Poverty
by Phil Smith, Peter Greer
9. Poke the Box
by Seth Godin
10. No B.S. Time Management for Entrepreneurs
by Dan Kennedy
11. In God’s Underground
by Richard Wurmbrand
12. Forgotten God: Reversing Our Tragic Neglect of the Holy Spirit
by Francis Chan, Danae Yankoski
13. Everyone Communicates, Few Connect: What the Most Effective People Do Differently
by John Maxwell
14. Down Where My Love Lives: The Dead Don’t Dance
by Charles Martin
15. The Release of the Spirit
by Watchman Nee
16. Transformational Discipleship
by Greg Ogden
17. Epic
by John Eldridge
18. Abbas Child
by Brennan Manning
19. Don’t waste your Life
by John Piper
20. The Irresistible Revolution
by Shane Claiborne
21. The Pig’s Slaughter
by Florin Grancea
22. Primal
by Mark Batterson
23. Family Wealth
by James Hughes
24. Tortured for Christ
by Richard Wurmbrand
25. The Seven Levels of Communication
by Michael Maher
26. Boundaries
by Henry Cloud & Townsend
27. Passport through darkness
By Kimberly Smith
28. Erasing Hell
by Francis Chan
29. Connecting Like Jesus
by Tony Campolo
30. Speaking of Jesus
by Carl Medearis
31. God’s Supernatural Powers
by Frank DeCenso
32. A Crime So Monstrous
by Benjamin Skinner
33. The Way In Is the Way On
by John Wimber
34. The Jesus I Never Knew
by Phillip Yancey
35. The Gift of Being Yourself
by David Benner
36. Alone with God
by Richard Wurmbrand
37. Untitled
by Blaine Hogan
38. Gracenomics
by Mike Foster
39. Weird
by Craig Groeschel
40. Ordering Your Private World
by Gordan MacDonald
41. Eat that Frog
by Brian Tracy
42. A Spirituality of Fundraising
by Henri Nouwen
43. The Travelers Gift
by Andy Andrews
44. Onward
by Howard Schulz
45. Celebration of Discipline
by Richard Foster
46. Human Trafficking
by Louise Shelley
47. Let Justice Roll Down
by John Perkins
48. Not For Sale
by David Batstone
49. God in a Brothel
by Daniel Walker
50. Steve Jobs
by Walter Isaacson

I’m pleased to share that I was able to pass on a few of my ventures to friends that were able to roll them into their existing businesses.  My Indianapolis Real Estate website my317home.com was bought by a great friend Paula Henry and merged with her amazing site www.hometoindy.com.  I spent a lot of time building & optimizing the website and I’m glad that someone was able to put it to good use.  I’ve gotten to know Paula pretty well over the last few years and appreciate all the time I’ve been able to spend with her and her husband.

My Indianapolis DJ business – theSimpleDJ was bought by another friend Danny LaPlante.  He will also be merging the business with his own – Elite Beat Mobile DJ.  Andrea & I personally DJ’d over 100 weddings.  We never thought we’d be DJing, but found it to be great fun.

I’m glad we’ve been where we’ve been, but I’m even more excited about our future.  So as we close up shop… we’re open another door.

As I look down at my G4 PowerBook, I can’t help but want to spread the good news!  You don’t have to continue your life of errors and reboots… a man named Steve Jobs came to give you the Mac.  To obtain this Mac, you must go and use PCs no more.

It was February 22^nd, 2005 that I gave my heart for technology to Steve Jobs.  I will remember always that day as my technical birthday.  I have not been the same since.  I am called to a higher purpose, that of sharing this newfound computer salvation.  When I see others, computing in a world of trouble and heartache, I cannot help but share my testimony and what I have come out of.  Some reject my offering while others see the “light” (of the apple logo) and know they must not resist any longer.  I feel right now that I am supposed to share my testimony with you, may it encourage you to take a closer look at your own computer life…

I was just like you.  I visited the Mac periodically while in school.  I was not impressed.  It was all so confusing and boring.  I was used to two buttons on my mouse… they only had one.  I was used to the Start button… nowhere to be seen.  I was used to a grey box… now they were green or other strange colors.  They were different and I didn’t like it one bit.  I promised myself that I would never use one again, never say never.  It wasn’t but one year later and Steve Jobs had gotten a hold of me.  My roommate was a convert with a mission, a mission to convert others.  He didn’t come right out and inform me of my inferiority, but instead built a friendship with me.  He would make subtle comments about the dead-end road I was on.  Looking back, I realize that he was quite methodical about his mission with me.  His first attempts to convert me were through his offer to help me select an MP3 player.  “Nothing’s better than an ipod”, he would say.  Blinded by my Windows experience, I no idea where he was leading me.  Once I had tasted of the Apple experience, with that white box of joy, I was consumed.  I knew that I needed more.  My computer started to bug me more than ever before.  With every error or failed disc, the realization of my desperate situation came to life.  I would sit frustrated with my computer, while my roommate would be basking in the “light” (of the Apple logo).  I saw my need for a change and couldn’t take it any longer… I ended the internal battle for the higher road.  I asked Him for help… “I no longer want to live this life of errors and reboots, but I want to give my computer life to Mac.”  I’m not saying that this was easy.  All my friends and family were still on the other side, using Windows.  It was difficult to share my newfound decision to change my ways.  I didn’t want to make them feel as though I was now better, but at the same time I wanted them to realize the impact that it’s had on my life.  When I look back on what I used to deal with, I can’t help but say, “Thank you Steve Jobs!  Thank you for giving me the Mac!”

I am only one year into my walk with the Mac, but I have already changed my life so much.  I look at all the mundane tasks differently.  I now love to check my email and I even love to empty my trash; please excuse my Macintoshese… I believe that you call it the recycling bin.

Even though I am a baby Mac user, I feel that it’s my duty to do coffee shop evangelism.  I just take my new laptop and sit in coffee shops and surf the Internet.  Just the presence of this machine draws people to look deep into their computing experience and find that they are not living up their potential.  It’s fun for a while… when it first comes out of the box it’s great, but only a year later the errors begin and the plethora of shortcuts on the bottom right begin to take their toll on the machine.  When people come to see the Mac, they are taken back by how clean and smooth the overall operation is.  I simply sit back and tell them, “It’s not me, it’s Steve Jobs.”  I always give Him the credit.

I also try to reach out to those closest to me.  I have routinely commented to my friends and family that I no longer struggle with my computer, but my computer actually works for me.  This idea almost seems too good to be true to many of them.  Thankfully, my efforts have not been fruitless… I have seen numerous of my friends convert and buy a Mac.  Although I still have many friends using Windows, I have seen many of them buy ipods and I can’t help but think what’s next.  I know that overtime Steve Jobs will work in their lives and drastically change their computing experience, just as He did for me.

I also have other evangelism efforts that I use to help people come know what Steve Jobs has to offer, but none are better than changing the homepage on their web browser to www.apple.com.  I find that this forces them to face the reality of their situation everyday.  Many of them have no idea how to change it back, which feeds their human desire for simplicity; something only Macs offer.

Mac is continuously trying to make itself more appealing to the average Windows user, without sacrificing its values.  This is a task that only Steve Jobs could handle.  The most recent news is that they are switching from PowerPC chips to Intel, a transition that will make their services a little more contemporary.  I wonder how the longtime Mac users and younger generation of ipod converts (like myself) will get along.  I trust that Steve Jobs will guide us on our track of computing in the next decade.  This is going to a very difficult transition, but I put my trust in Him… won’t you?

Here is a great speech from Dr. Anderson sharing at the 2011 Convocation @ NCU.  I miss this guy!

It’s rare that I remember even the smallest detail from a dream.  Even the best dreams are usually completely erased from my memory within minutes of waking up.  I’m not sure why this is… but maybe it’s for the best.

This week I had a small part of a dream that has stuck with me.  I’m not sure what’s so special about it, but I can’t get it our of my mind.  Let me set the scene…

I’m in a theater sitting in the front row of a balcony (my favorite seat at a live show because you don’t have to stand in order to see).  On the stage is a large group of young dancers (tweens) performing an elaborate routine that they had obviously spent a lot of time rehearsing & practicing.  There was a director up front directing the students as they perform. 

Apparently the show had sponsors because there were banners hanging on the front of the stage.  I don’t remember what all the banners said, but one was a sponsorship from Twitter. 

Right in front of that banner is a young kid (younger than the performers on the stage) sitting in the front row.  This young kid is continually yelling out random facts about Twitter.  “Did you know that Twitter has ____ users?”  “Did you know Twitter does ______?”    This kid was obviously a huge distraction to everyone watching the performace as well as the performers themselves.  It was so much of a distraction that the director & performers actually paused and turned to look at the kid.  After numerous outburts from this kid I couldn’t put up with it anymore and I yelled out “Stop talking about Twitter and let them dance!!!”

At this point, I woke up from the dream.  I am still not sure why I remeber this dream so vividly when I normally can’t even remember the smallest detail of a dream.  However, I had spent the last week giving it some thought and I wanted to share them.

In life, it’s so easy for us to get caught up the things that don’t matter.  We can be in the presence of something truly amazing & rare… yet our attention is consumed by something trivial. (see my blog post about asking Steve Jobs a question)

This kid is sitting in the audience of an amazing show and he can’t get past the fact that Twitter is a sponsor of the event.  (Twitter obviously cared enough about the show to be a sponsor of it, so doesn’t that say something about the quality of the show?)

We can often be a distraction to the very thing we desire to see acheived.  Sometimes the biggest hurdle for seeing God move in power around me is ME!

The interpretation of this dream can be left up to you.  The sponsor of the event is inter-changable.  What’s the trivial thing in your life that has your attention?  What’s interupting the “great dance” that you desire to see?

It’s almost midnight on Friday night after attending the 2-day conference called The Global Leadership Summit.  I’ve attended the simulcast of the summit a number of years now and it’s never disappointed me.  There was something special about this year.  It’s stands out among the rest.  It’s not just because of the amazing speakers in attendance this year. But, look at this line-up….

(there were a few small changes as Howard Schultz was replaced by Patrick Lencioni)

The recurring theme throughout the summit was a simple calling of to be people of action.  To BE & DO.  I was forever impacted and will never forget the privilege of hearing Mama Maggie Gobran speak this morning.  I strongly desire to model my life after her.

I am on a mission to make lesser of myself and more of God.  It will not be easy, but I’m in for the hard work.  Slowly, God has been changing my desires and making less of me.  My desires of the flesh (i.e. entertainment, consumer goods, safety, comfort, wealth, status) are slowly diminishing.   I desire to see them dead, but I know that will be a war and not a battle.  However, I can begin now by humbling myself and beginning to lay my life down for His glory.

I walk away from this conference with a renewed passion and motivation for our work in Romania.  I desire to see God work and I am just thankful to be a part of it.  May His Glory be shown through my life.  Less of me & More of Him!

Honestly, it hasn’t been that big of a deal for me.  Since getting a Kindle a few months ago I haven’t been using the iPad nearly as much.  Our free time has consisted primarily of reading books & working on our organization CrozierLife, Inc. to get over to Romania.

Getting rid of our electronics has been a bit of a trend in our house.  (See blog post on what we did with our t.v.)  I am so free without the burden of all the electronics.  There is no more pressure to buy all the accessories or new cases.  It’s quite nice.

It’s a little odd for an Apple freak like me to NOT have an iPad, but I’m ok with it.  I do believe that I will probably have one again in the future, but for this season of my life It’s just not necessary.

This vacation has become a tradition of sorts. I made my 1st trip to the cabin while Andrea & I were just dating. (You can’t go wrong dating a girl that has a family cabin) I’ve always enjoyed the beauty of nature and specifically the water. Spending the weekend sitting back with a good book & an even better view of the lake is about as good as it gets for me.

This year has been a bit different. There are a mix of emotions as this will likely be our last visit to the cabin for a good number of years. As we prepare to move to Romania by March 2012. We won’t be making the long trip back to Lake Miltona anytime soon.

I’ve been trying to just take it all in this year. I know Romania has A LOT to offer in the nature department, but it’s more than that. We won’t be able to take part in the late night games, funny stories, fishing adventures, birthday celebrations, & trips to Caribou for the vacation refreshments.

Still, we KNOW without a doubt that God is calling us to move to Romania, so it’s exciting to think about living there this time next year. I’m sure we will be creating new traditions & memories with friends in Romania.

As you probably know, I’m a big fan of Apple. I remember getting my first Mac back in college and all the excitement & joy of the day it arrived. At the time, I was one of only 5 or 10 people on the campus of NCU with a Mac. I even wrote a paper in college spoofing the similarities of “getting a new Mac” to “getting saved & finding salvation in Christ”.

Well, here is another comparison that I noticed this morning.

The video below is a presentation made to the Cupertino City Council by Steve Jobs. He came to the council to share/pitch Apple’s plans to build a new company headquarters. They are already located in the city of Cupertino, but they are looking to build a new building that will hold 12,000 employees. (watch the 1st half of the video for the plans) After Steve shares the plans for the campus, the city council members have a chance to ask some questions. This is the part that got me thinking…

At about 11:01 in the video a council woman begins asking Steve what the benefits are for the residents of Cupertino. Steve has already shared how the campus will be eliminating much of the parking lots & actually adding trees to the current space, but she wants to know what else they can offer. This question in and of itself isn’t wrong, but next is where is gets good. After listening to his response about all the benefits (bettering the space, bringing some of the nation’s top recruits to the city, Apple being the largest tax base in the city, etc.) she asks “Do we get the free wifi or something like that?”

WHAT!?! You have the creator of the most innovative company in recent decades standing in front of you and you ask him for FREE WIFI? What a poor decision. How about asking if the students of your community could receive tutoring or listen in on lectures by some of the greatest minds in the world? How about asking Steve if he would be willing to employ local contractors when working on this huge new campus? How about not asking him for anything at all and just being thankful that Apple has decided to reside in your city!

This got me thinking about how we as Christians often come before the King of Kings & Almighty God but simply ask for the most petty of things. Sure, these things might seem important to us… car, house, money, electronics… but we are coming before God Himself the creator of everything. Can’t we just be satisfied with asking for more of HIM!?! I love Steve Job’s response to this question… “I think we bring a lot more than free wifi.”

I think God is saying the same thing to us today…

All those things you’re asking for, I bring a lot more than ________.