Ethos by Randy Elrod - How To Create Culture

Ethos Has A New Name & Location..

It is now located at:

http://randyelrod.com Please do me a HUGE favor and change the URL in your blogroll accordingly.

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A 2 Minute Vlog Review of "Sex, Lies & Religion"

How You Can Have - 20 Minutes With The Author - of "Sex, Lies & Religion"

My new book Sex, Lies & Religion is now officially available EVERYWHERE! You may choose your favorite option in Deluxe Hardcover, Paperback & Kindle. Of course, you may buy it at bookstores such as Amazon or Barnes & Noble, but for a signed copy and exclusive online content, buy it at my preferred vendor, Skyroo.com 

I am happy to announce a brand new option: Twenty Minutes With The Author

If your small group or book club buys a minimum of 12 books at a special group rate of $10. each, you get a 20 minute Q & A with me (Randy Elrod) via iChat or Skype. This will enable your group to ask questions and discuss issues with the guy who researched for two years to write this book.

Just buy the Books and you will receive a personal e-mail to set the date of your choice.

Please tell your friends about this book.

# of books (Min.12)

12 Books $120.00 13 Books $130.00 14 Books $140.00 15 Books $150.00 16 Books $160.00 17 Books $170.00 18 Books $180.00 19 Books $190.00 20 books $200.00

Sex, Lies & Religion - Book Trailer (30 sec)

Here's Why I Wrote "Sex, Lies & Religion"

For the majority of my life, I had no framework for the interrelation of sexuality and spirituality. In my religious circles, sex was what everybody thought about, but nobody talked about.

I hope this book will start conversations. We Americans generally stink at controversial discussions and the subject of sacred sexuality is more than worthy of honest and open debate. Sex is at the heart of almost everything we do as human beings, and if it truly is the essence of existence, then it bears thoughtful and loving consideration among those of us who call ourselves spiritual.

Some people will undoubtedly find portions of this book shocking. Others will think it is tame. It is in no way intended to be a sex manual or a theological treatise. My wish is that it will cause all of us to examine closely our personal longings, our marriages, our relationships, and what we teach our children about sex. Perhaps it’s time to utilize the Bible as our sex manual. And for those aspects where it is silent, we then depend on an open dialogue with those we trust.

My candid conversations with young men I mentor, my own struggles, the shocking results of our online survey, and the inordinate amount of moral dismissals in our churches provided me the incentive to write this book. I have seen wives leave their husbands because of pornography addictions and marriages fall apart due to misplaced affections. Throughout my life, I have seen religion provide judgment instead of grace in almost every situation.

Of course, there are extreme cases of sexual dysfunction that need to be dealt with. Seeing a qualified sex therapist, psychiatrist or licensed marriage counselor is one of the most spiritually mature actions we can take in cases of severe problems.

But I can’t help but think that if we really believed our misplaced sexual longings were an indication of a desperate search for God and the original experiences of the garden, many of us would find redemption instead of condemnation. That’s what I’ve been given. And I’m thankful.

If you get nothing else from this message, know that this book is about redemption. I suppose you could say it is controversially redemptive. I have realized through the years that it takes shaking up the status quo to get anything accomplished. So be it.

You can be one of the first to read it by pre-ordering HERE

Pre-Order "Sex, Lies & Religion" Now & Get Immediate Bonus Online Content

 We took all of your ideas (over 300 of them) and aggregated them into a book cover that best represents the content inside. Your help was invaluable!! We hope you like it. YOU CAN PRE-ORDER NOW by clicking the book cover or this link.

Pre-order the Deluxe Hardcover Package or the Paperback Edition TODAY you will get immediate access to private online content including:

• The Introduction from the Book
• Table of Contents
• Bibliography
• Deleted Content
• Detailed Sex & Religion Survey Results

*You may also pre-order a Kindle edition on Feb.14

Please Help Me Choose the Book Cover for my Upcoming Book "Sex, Lies & Religion"

It will only take 10 seconds.

Click HERE to vote.

May This Prayer Never Become So Familiar That I Miss It

God grant me the serenity
to accept the things I cannot change;
courage to change the things I can;
and wisdom to know the difference. Living one day at a time;
Enjoying one moment at a time;
Accepting hardships as the pathway to peace;
Taking, as He did, this sinful world
as it is, not as I would have it;
Trusting that He will make all things right
if I surrender to His Will;
That I may be reasonably happy in this life
and supremely happy with Him
Forever in the next.
Amen. --Reinhold Niebuhr

The Winning Wines At Our New Year's Eve "Toast To 2010" Blind Tasting

Congratulations to Brian & Lisa Beathard of downtown Franklin for winning "A Toast To 2010". All proceeds benefit Kalein Center for Creative Studies

We had a blast and enjoyed great wine!! It also proves my long standing belief that a great wine does not have to cost a fortune.

Here are the top 5 placing wines:

1. 2007 Napa Creek Cabernet $10. (Brian & Lisa Beathard)

2. 2008 Pali Pinot Noir Bluffs Russian River Valley $20. (Dr. David & Rhonda Kemp)

3. 2005 Eden Stuart Napa Valley Korte Ranch Zinfandel $22. (Michael & Gail Hyatt)

4. (Tie) 2008 Baqueano Patagonia Cabernet Malbec Argentina $9. (David & Shelley Breen)

4. (Tie) 2007 Chateau Musar Cuvee Rogue  Bekaa Valley Lebanon $15.99 (Audrey Assad)

5. 2008 Venta Morales Tempranillo $8. (Gabe & Keely Scott)

Merry Christmas To You! A Watercolor PostCard

 

A White Christmas

This is the view from my writing desk today as I finish my upcoming book: Sex, Lies & Religion

I am thrilled with how the book is taking final shape and much of the inspiration comes from this magnificent setting. A special thanks to Ken & Diane Davis for the gracious use of their cabin in the splendor of the Colorado Rockies. This is our (Chris & I) first white Christmas in many, many years.

A Call To Creative Convergence - A White Paper

By Randy Elrod

A recent issue of Fast Company magazine recognizes Nashville as a city on the verge - as one of five Cultural Centers shaping the world's future.

A convergence city possesses opportunity (a culture that nurtures creative action and game-changing enterprise), innovation (investing in physical, cultural, and intellectual infrastructure that will sustain growth) and energy (that ethereal thing that happens when creative people collect in one place). 

When asked about prior knowledge of Nashville, Irish guests visiting O’More College of Design answered, “Tennessee Ernie Ford, Jack Daniels and country music.”

We who call Music City home know there is much more to this artists' paradise. Nashville is known as “The Athens Of The South” because of its myriad institutions of higher education. Today we are a metro area that claims more musicians per capita than anywhere on earth. The Schermerhorn is one of the finest Symphony Halls in the world. We have a Film Festival and a Screenwriter’s Conference. Our Nashville Children’s Theatre has been ranked by TIME magazine as one of the top five children's theatres in the country.

The new downtown library is one of the finest in the world. The library’s Public Arts Program brought in local graphic artists, authors, photographers, painters, sculptors, and metalworkers to enrich the building. Within her environs Nashville contains world famous Music Row, music powerhouses BMI and ASCAP, over 180 recording studios, more than 80 record labels, 130 music publishers, 40 national producers of ad jingles, 27 entertainment publications, 5,000 working union musicians, the Contemporary Christian Music Industry and major book publishing companies, including Ingram Industries - one of America’s largest privately held businesses.

Total employment impact of her music industry is more than 54,000 jobs and the economic impact totals $6.38 billion. Billion! Seattle, Austin, Memphis and the state of Georgia combined totals only $3.14 billion.

This “green” multi-billion dollar arts business also brings the advantage of a clean industry. Brains - not buildings and factories - house the power of the creative class, producing beauty rather than toxic waste.

Like Florence, Italy and the powerful Medici family - Nashville affords local connoisseurs the ability to patronize the arts as do few cities worldwide. We must rethink our buying patterns and look within to our own creatives for art purchases and commissions.

The hope is that when global citizens are asked in the future what Nashville means to them, they will not answer as Edmund Blackadder memorably lamented, “To us the Renaissance was just something that happened to other people”. Sadly, it was probably the citizens of Florence to whom he was referring. For nowhere else were the ingredients that enabled the Renaissance to flourish--a politically-active citizenry, a vigorous humanist movement and abundant wealth--better blended.

Nashville has these ingredients and must seek to enhance them to hold her head high as a global cultural center. A city that chooses not to sit on her creative class as a Renaissance passes her by.

Randy Elrod is a writer, speaker, artist and founder/CEO of the Franklin based Creative Community, Inc. He blogs regularly here at Ethos.

5 Steps To Take When You are Locked Out of Twitter

The scream you heard yesterday was mine. I admit it. It seems inconceivable that a technology so new can grip us completely by the jugular. From our friends and co-workers daily lives to our business communication, Twitter supplies an integral part of our daily lives. SMS alone simply will not cut it. We must have all the third party apps working like a well-oiled "chirp" in order to survive a day.

So what is one to do, when facing a computer screen that says "Locked out. Chillax a few minutes and try again"? Especially, when looking at the screen for over 30 hours with every effort unsuccessful.

I Twittered via SMS for help and received only two replies that ultimately were not the answer. It wasn't until sitting down to lunch with my friend and fellow Twitter addict @pwilson that I learned the answer. Pete had experienced the chilling "locked out" screen as well - and lived to Twitter another day.

If suddenly locked out because your password is not working (recently changed it, forgot it, or like me, it just quit working for no apparent reason), see below for 5 steps to relief from this interminable agony.

#1. Clean out all cookies in your browser. If possible try a different "clean" browser.

 Clearing Cookies in FireFox: http://bit.ly/7C7z5
 Clearing Cookies in Internet Explorer8: http://bit.ly/WjVLu

#2. Try to reset your password by entering user name or email address here:
https://twitter.com/account/resend_password

Information about resetting your password is here:
http://help.twitter.com/forums/10711/entries/14663

#3.For various reasons, Twitter has difficulty sending emails to smaller domains. If you do not receive the forgot password email, be sure to check your Spam or Junk folder. If you still don't receive the email, try requesting it one more time. If this doesn't work, reply to Twitter with a different email address that they can add to your account (it must be an email address that isn't already associated with another Twitter account). Twitter rarely has difficulty sending emails to gmail, yahoo, or hotmail addresses. When they've added the new address to your account, they'll let you know and you'll be able to request the forgot password email again.

Information about changing your email address is here:
http://help.twitter.com/forums/10711/entries/15356

#4. Scream Loudly!! Then gain your composure and please read the following:
http://help.twitter.com/forums/10713/entries/69322

#5. Whenever changing password on twitter.com, you need to remove and re-add the account to Tweetdeck, Seesmic, People Browsr, Social Oomph, iPhone Twitter apps (or ANY and ALL 3rd party applications you use to access Twitter). If you don't, the application will continue to try logging in with your old password and your IP address will be blocked for an hour because of failed log-in attempts.
For more info, please read this help article: http://bit.ly/88FD1C

Please note that accounts with invalid email addresses will not be indexed in search for quality reasons:
http://help.twitter.com/forums/10713/entries/27744

If you're trying to use an email address or user name that's already taken, please see:
http://help.twitter.com/forums/10713/entries/15348

Hope this will spare you undue agony, but most of all KNOW THAT YOU ARE NOT ALONE!!

My Latest Watercolor "Venice Conclave"

“The surface of Venice is constantly metamorphosing [and] painting Venice is almost like being a restorer, peeling off the layers to find the picture after picture underneath.” -Arbit Blatas

18" x 22" $750.

Order High-Quality Giclee Prints of "Venice Conclave" and also see more of my watercolors at my gallery HERE.

Join Me For "A Toast To 2010" - The Most Unique (and FUN) Wine Tasting of Your Life - And Benefit A Great Cause

 

# of Persons

1 Person $50.00 2 Persons $100.00 3 Persons $150.00 4 Persons $200.00 5 Persons $250.00 6 Persons $300.00