An Invitation to Christian Feminists

May 24, 2013 By Leave a Comment

For the week of June 10, I am turning this blog over to feminist and womanist authors.

Some, whom I already read, I have already invited to post. Others, whom I do not (yet) read, can submit posts here. If I receive more entries that I can reasonably post, I have a small group of people (not me) who will sort through and select the entries.

Each post will be unedited. Criticism of me and my work is acceptable, as is criticism of the emergent movement. I’d prefer it if ad hominem criticism were avoided. Ad hominem criticism of others will not be accepted.

For those who have validly wondered if this blog is a safe space for female voices, I will not be actively moderating the comments. Nor will I be commenting. I will be reading, and listening.

If you are a Christian (or post-Christian, or non-Christian) feminist (or womanist), I hope that you will consider contributing a post.

Also, be sure and bookmark Fred’s Bonfire List.

Filed Under: blogging Tagged With: Leave a Comment

Forgive Me, Too

May 23, 2013 By Leave a Comment

Rachel wrote a very difficult post earlier this week. Then she asked for forgiveness from her readers if she hadn’t dealt with the topic perfectly.

The first was a courageous post.

The second was even more courageous, and I’d like to echo it here, for my readers: [Read more...]

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Is My Version of the Gospel Exclusionary?

May 20, 2013 By 9 Comments

I spent a lot of time sitting quietly in the woods this weekend, waiting to shoot a wild turkey who never arrived — he just gobbled at me from behind some trees, mocking my attempt to plate him. So I had a lot of time to think.

Then, I ran my ideas for a blog response to last week’s kerfuffle by Courtney, who had been out of town all weekend, and she gently told me that they were all bad ideas.

As an Enneagram 8, my overriding desire is always always always for justice. Justice for others, justice for me. In years past, I became incredibly morose over the injustices in the Family Court System during my divorce — in fact, in Minnesota it’s called the “Family Justice System,” but my therapist told me to stop calling it that because it’s not really about justice, at least not in the sense that I understand it. (That therapist also refers to me as the “Big Boy Scout” for some of the same reasons.)

What felt unjust to me last week and over the weekend is that I felt unjustly accused, and I felt that I was not heard. David Miller, a frequent critic of mine, wonders the same thing in a less-than-totally-affirming post (that I nevertheless encourage you to read). But Courtney convinced me that spilling more pixels trying to make everyone understand that I really am quite aware of my privilege and my social location won’t help.

So, I am instead going to respond to the heart of Dr. Cleveland’s objection to my talk in Springfield last month: that claiming one version of the gospel is preferable to another version is necessarily exclusionary of diverse voices.

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Filed Under: blogging, theology 9 Comments

Housekeeping

April 26, 2013 By 6 Comments

-Disqus is now fully functional. Thanks to BlogOps at Patheos for getting it up and running. All of your former comments should now be imported into the Disqus system, so please let us know if you see any glitches.

-Disqus allows for some things that I’ve wanted and some of you have asked for. It allows for deeper and more intuitive threads on conversations. And, best of all, it allows you to “like” a comment — comments (and threads) with the most likes get bumped to the top.

-I recommend that you get a Disqus account, or link it to your Facebook or Twitter. I think you’ll like the improvement.

-Patheos is currently working on some other back-end changes that will decrease load times, so thanks for your patience.

-Patheos is also moving to a new mobile platform. That means for the many of you who access this blog via iPhone and Android, the blog will show up in a much more readable format. Again, thanks for your patience during the transition.

-Yes, the pop-ups suck. I hate them. I’ve been assured that they will go away on the new mobile interface. I’ll keep fighting to get them to go away everywhere (at least on my blog).

-I’m getting on a plane to go to Lauren Winner’s wedding (yay!) — I’ll write my thoughts on God’s omniscience en route.

-I’m done quarreling with David Fitch (yay!) — it seems he’s incorrigible.

OK, open thread in the comments today. Do you have any thoughts on the points above, or is there anything you’d like to see addressed in the blog? (As always, shoot me links and questions through my website, Facebook, or Twitter.)

Filed Under: blogging Tagged With: 6 Comments

Of Baseball Mitts, Resurrections, Announcements, and New Beginnings

April 1, 2013 By 11 Comments

I received the baseball mitt on the left in second grade. It was way too big for me then, in 1976. It’s a Bob Grich playmaker model, and I loved it. I played with it through middle school; it came with me for intramural softball in college and seminary in the ’80s and ’90s, and church league softball in the ’00s. Its latest endeavor is to accompany me as the Little League coach for my oldest son.

This will be the fourth summer that I’ll coach Little League, and I knew that one thing needed to change. I needed a new mitt. As much as it pains me to retire my beloved Rawlings, it is simply too old to continue its decades-long service to me. The leather is threadbare and torn, and no amount of oil can resuscitate it.

And so, I bought a new mitt last week.

I’m sure that the Louisville Slugger Omaha Flare will serve me well, but it will never be the Rawlings. That’s okay. I have no remorse about it, but it is change.

Speaking of change…

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Filed Under: blogging, books, christianity in america Tagged With: 11 Comments

Why Was He Crucified?

March 22, 2013 By 16 Comments

There’s still time for you to enter our latest #progGOD Challenge: Why a Crucifixion? Remember, this time there are prizes for the best entries. And, being that it’s Holy Week next week, so lots of preachers will be cruising the internet looking for material. You might get quoted at your parents’ church!

Filed Under: blogging Tagged With: 16 Comments

Regarding My Popularity with the Secular World

March 12, 2013 By 61 Comments

As this blog has grown in popularity, I’ve been getting more and more unsolicited email through my website. That’s been interesting. So, I thought I’d occasionally post them here, since I figure that you can help me respond. Here’s one from Antonette:

Tony you are preaching a false Gospel, you are part of the apostasy that the Word of God talks will come about in the last days…………you dont preach what was delivered to the saints for once for all Jude 1:4. I suggest you repent and go back to the Word of God, other wise on that judgement day Jesus will say to you. “Go away you evil one, for I never knew you.” You must preach what is written in Gods word, not what you hope it says ………..just to be popular with the secular world…..who do not love you, for it was Christ who died for you not the world who Gods says, if the world hates us, it hated Him Jesus first. where do you stand?

Let’s hear some responses. I’ll pick my favorite and send it back to her. Then, of course, I’ll let you know how she replies.

Filed Under: blogging 61 Comments

A Week Away

March 4, 2013 By 1 Comment

Beginning today, I will be away from the blog for a week. I only take two weeks per year off of the blog — now and in August. But don’t worry — I have awesome guest posts set up by my friends all week. You’ll be hearing from Darrell Dow and Jon Huckins, Christine Sine and Peter Rollins. Plus, a special surprise tomorrow with this week’s Questions That Haunt.

So please stay tuned all week for great posts and even better comments!

And I’ll talk to you next week.

Filed Under: blogging 1 Comment

Hey Slacktivist, Here’s Another One for the Bonfire List

February 19, 2013 By 15 Comments

Blogger/rocker Brianna Kocka

Like so many of us these days, Brianna Kocka is on the boundary of faith and doubt, Christianity and non-Christianity. She’s blogging through her thoughts and experiences. I met with her last week, and she’s sharp. You should read this post, and subscribe to her blog:

So where did this break down for me? I can’t remember if it was while I was in class, or maybe I was doing some reading on Socrates. Either way, I came across his paraphrased quote: “All I know is that I know nothing.” It was like ripping a muscle to make you stronger: it hurt like hell when I read it, but I knew, in all of its humility, that there was something there, it was burning and ripping something new in me. If there was one assertion that could ever be made, it was that we can’t fully ‘get at’ anything, except admitting that we can’t.

This Socratic concept was an act of grace and humility for me. I began to accept that my worldview was but a speck in the great cosmos. In this I had to admit to myself that maybe, just maybe my understanding of the Bible as I knew it was wrong, or at least not right. My foundation was crumbling, and next I had to ask myself, ‘how then do you view the Bible?’

Upon a lot of introspection and critical thinking, I’ve now learned that most of what I am reacting to is bad theology.

Read the rest: Blame it on Socrates: The Bible and Doubt | brianna kocka.

See Fred’s amazing Bonfire list for more women theobloggers.

Filed Under: blogging, christianity in america Tagged With: , 15 Comments

Some Blog Housekeeping

February 18, 2013 By 8 Comments

Time to talk shop. 

Last August, my literary agent and I pitched a book proposal around and, though we got some interest and even a couple offers, we felt that the time wasn’t right. We pulled the proposal and I set about to write the book in full. I also set about to get my traffic up over 100K pageviews per month. I succeeded at the latter, but not the former. The book didn’t get done, and we’re currently shopping a new — but related — proposal around.

But the blog grew, and it continues to grow. Even lacking a breakaway post, Theoblogy is up every month over the previous month. And, even more gratifyingly, the commentary is voluminous, robust, and respectful.

Blogging is a grind. There’s no two ways about it. With the goal of posting 11 times per week, it never stops. It’s disputed about who first said it, but someone famous once said that the study of history is just “one damned thing after another.” Blogging can feel like that at times. That’s what it’s felt like this weekend, facing another new week with few new ideas.

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Filed Under: blogging Tagged With: 8 Comments