Trivial Pursuits

Why Your Real Life Is More Than Media, Money, and the Pursuit of Happiness

by: Ian Diorio

• Format

  E-Book

  ISBN

  9781441245571

  Pub. Date

  Apr 2014

  SRP

  $14.99

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About

"Ian has written a prophetical call to probe a deeper faith. It is an invitation to the search for substance."--John Ortberg, senior pastor of Menlo Park Presbyterian Church; author of Who Is This Man?


Your life is not a reality show. It's actual reality. But too many of us spend our lives discontented with reality and focused on trivial pursuits--media, money, perpetual youth, and a culture of constant entertainment. We try to avoid the realities of pain, depression, loneliness, and mortality by filling our lives with diversions. Even worse, our churches that might use the reality of pain and suffering to point us to the cross instead dress the gospel up in the world's clothing so that it will seem more "relevant."

With pinpoint accuracy, LA club DJ-turned-pastor Ian DiOrio diagnoses the problem and gives us the cure. Exposing our most common empty attempts to find meaning apart from God, DiOrio points us back to God and calls us to find meaning in our identities as followers of Christ, as shapers of culture, and as people who participate in communities of worship.

"This book promises to liberate many from the entanglements of our culture. It is a wonderful offer to join Jesus in finding our lives by giving them away and to laugh when folks try to convince us that happiness has a price tag."--Shane Claiborne, activist and author

"My friend Ian DiOrio hits the nail on the head. Significance in life isn't found through success, salary, status, or sex. It's the result of serving God by serving others."--Rick Warren, senior pastor of Saddleback Church; author of The Purpose Driven Life

"Ian DiOrio winsomely invites us to become curators of beauty, grace, hope, and love."--Dave Gibbons, founder and lead pastor of NEWSONG; founder of xealots.org

"DiOrio dismantles many of the false hopes in our culture and points to Jesus, the ultimate source of hope for us all. Learn from this book, live its message, and you'll be filled with renewed purpose."--Jud Wilhite, author of Pursued; senior pastor of Central Christian Church

Ian DiOrio (MDiv, Fuller Theological Seminary; DMin, Azusa Pacific University) became a Christian in his twenties after spending his younger life in the underground music scene in Los Angeles as a DJ. Ian has served as a teaching pastor at Eastside Christian Church, and currently writes and speaks from Southern California. He was recently featured by Christian Standard Magazine as one of the top 40 leaders under 40. He is thrilled to be the husband of Julia and the father of Semeia, Asha, and Zion. Learn more at www.iandiorio.org.

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Endorsements

"Ian has written a prophetical call to probe a deeper faith. It is an invitation to the search for substance."

John Ortberg, senior pastor of Menlo Park Presbyterian Church; author of Who Is This Man?

"My friend Ian DiOrio hits the nail on the head in Trivial Pursuits. Significance in life isn't found through success, salary, status, or sex. It's the result of serving God by serving others."

Rick Warren, senior pastor of Saddleback Church; author of The Purpose Driven Life

"Thanks for this inaugural book, brother Ian! It promises to liberate many from the entanglements of our culture and many others from the chains of empty religion. It is a wonderful offer to join Jesus in finding our lives by giving them away and to laugh when folks try to convince us that happiness has a price-tag."

Shane Claiborne, activist and author

"Ian DiOrio, a thoughtful and insightful young leader, challenges us to be free from our natural compulsions. He winsomely invites us to become curators of beauty, grace, hope, and love. I am inspired by Ian to live in this artful way of love."

Dave Gibbons, founder and lead pastor of NEWSONG; founder of XEALOTS.ORG

"Ian DiOrio is a great communicator who does an amazing job of showing us what matters most. He dismantles many of the false hopes in our culture and points to Jesus, the ultimate source of hope for us all. Learn from this book and live its message, and you'll be filled with renewed purpose."

Jud Wilhite, author of Pursued; senior pastor of Central Christian Church

"Unhappy with life as you now know it? Tried all roads and found dead ends? Wondering if there is anything else? Or maybe you're wondering if the world is spinning out of control with no good end in sight? In Trivial Pursuits, Ian Diorio is revealed as a competent and delightful guide to the place where numb hearts awaken, anxious minds relax, and despairing souls find peace."

Bishop Todd Hunter, rector of Holy Trinity Church; author of Christianity Beyond Belief and Our Favorite Sins

"Life can often be confusing and disappointing. We sometimes take roads and later wonder why, and we can feel defeated and alone. What I love about this book is that Ian DiOrio is writing as one of us who has experienced these very things, yet comes through with great hope and meaning. But it isn't just a self-help, you-can-do-it type of shallow encouragement you will read here. Instead it is guidance that shows how we can align ourselves with God and the input and vantage point of life from God's Scriptures, which makes all the incredible, tremendous difference. But again, this isn't simple 'read a happy Bible verse and everything will be OK' advice. This is a true, 'living in reality with all its ups and downs' message of hope. If you are feeling that you are facing yet one more disappointment or wondering if you are putting yourself down a path that may end up empty in the end, you must read this book. It may give you the exact direction based on God's guidance to shift your thinking, which will in turn shift your entire life."

Dan Kimball, author of Adventures in Churchland: Finding Jesus in the Mess of Organized Religion

"Ian DiOrio, without question, is a modern-day prophet who seeks to adjust the contemporary nonsense of trivial fulfillment and success into a biblical worldview that quenches the thirsty soul, invigorates the postmodern mind, and incites the need for transformational action. The quotes from Kierkegaard alone are worth the price of the book."

Dr. Tony Baron, director of Azusa Pacific University Graduate School of Theology; author of The Cross and the Towel and The Art of Servant Leadership

"In unpretentious and often humorous prose, Ian DiOrio draws our attention to the ways we avoid living real life. DiOrio does more than just rail against the prevailing culture; his own experience as a club DJ gives him a broad understanding of--and sympathy with--the attractions of pop culture. Nevertheless, the stories DiOrio tells lead us toward a deeper reality and a deeper Christian life that is art more than just entertainment."

William T. Cavanaugh, director of the Center for World Catholicism and Intercultural Theology at DePaul University

"Ian DiOrio's Trivial Pursuits is anything but trivial. It's a master tour guide through the amusement park that American culture has become. Bold, incisive, and beautifully clear, it forces upon us the questions that clear away the clutter so that we can once again live obedient lives to Jesus Christ."

David Fitch, professor at Northern Seminary, Chicago; author of Prodigal Christianity

"We live in a culture that threatens to lull us all into mindlessness, and DiOrio's book helps us to see the subtle influences in our everyday lives that are dulling our hearts and minds. But he writes not just to join the critical voices; he writes to encourage us--especially those who care deeply about Christ's church--to be more purposefully engaged in our lives and in the redemption of the cosmos. The book would be an excellent tool for inciting weeks of discussions among disciples of Christ who want to live more mindfully when surrounded by technology and entertainment."

Dennis Okholm, professor of Theology, Azusa Pacific University

"God uses prophets to rip open the heavens in such a way that reality invades illusion. In Trivial Pursuits, former DJ Ian DiOrio anoints our eyes to see beyond the superficial to what is real and meaningful. As you read, you will come to realize that not only is the unexamined life not worth living, but the unexamined practices of the church lead to 'cultural capitulation' instead of transcendent beauty and a subversive spirituality."

JR Woodward, national director of the V3 Movement; author of Creating a Missional Culture

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