You love social media for maintaining your dating groove. Then again, you hate it. Social media affords the opportunity for a non-committal, casual relationship style to prosper, eluding those old-fashioned consequences of traditional courtships. And yet, the Facebook updates, Twitter feeds, and the instant power to shoot and receive a text make those lingering, shallow relationships hard to shake. You are caught in a sickening digital “soap opera,” as NPR recently explored. Read more
"Some people will pay to play Candy Crush Saga until they can’t cover their mortgage." Read more
"Whatever you do, don't simply leave. If you do, you'll rob yourself of the chance to see what Jesus is doing in that community He's covenanted Himself to" Read more
On March 11, 2011, a massive earthquake occurred off the coast of Japan, creating powerful tsunami waves that battered the country’s northeastern region. The resulting damage was nigh-apocalyptic: nearly 16,000 people were killed, over 6,000 were injured, and over a million buildings were damaged or destroyed. The earthquake and tsunami caused a massive failure at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, leaving hundreds of thousands of people without power and leaking radiation into the environment that has diminished little since... Read more
Last week, I posted a piece on the “self-quantification” movement, which seeks to use technology and data analysis to improve the quality of one’s life. And now, Slate‘s Evgeny Morozov has posted an article on “lifehacking” that questions whether or not it makes us better and more efficient, or if it just makes us work more. Or, as Morozov puts it, “Is there anything more self-defeating than using technology to free up your time—so that you can learn how to do an... Read more
I’m sure you’ve seen by now links to the recent Fox interview with author Reza Aslan regarding his new book about Jesus titled Zealot: The Life and Times of Jesus of Nazareth. However, according to The American Conservative‘s Alan Jacobs, the real news should be that Aslan’s views are not nearly as new or revolutionary as they seem. Or, as Jacobs puts it, “Reza Aslan’s book is an educated amateur’s summary and synthesis of a particularly skeptical but quite long-established line of New... Read more
The media doesn’t know what to do with Pope Francis. In an interview with Vatican journalists, he reportedly said, “If a person is gay and seeks God and has good will, who am I to judge?” It would be easy to confuse this with bland affirmationalism – you’re okay, I’m okay jingoism – but that is a mistake. The media – and the secular public – should take this opportunity to learn that many Christians endorse traditional marriage and hold to a... Read more
"Acting as though the Bible only requires us to show compassion and acceptance toward legal immigrants is wrong and unloving." Read more
Pet costumes aren’t new, but designer Leah Workman has put a new twist on it for so-called “pet-parents” who want to nurture the inner pop star of their “pet-child.” Her handmade fashion wigs turn your beloved cat or dog into Katy Perry or Lady Gaga. Squint your eyes as you look at the slideshow to see if you can spot the famous idols these pets are striving to emulate. This is how we spend $55 billion on pets in 2013. Read more
In words I affirm, Mike Hogan at HuffPost writes on the value of seeing Dylan in concert at the age of 70, listening to song arrangements you hardly recognize. Whether or not Dylan’s music is a staple to you, his career can teach us what it means to be real, to be vulnerable, and to be ourselves. Giving insight to the mundane moments of life, Dylan is worth more than a casual turn of our musical ear. Read more
Christ and Pop Culture
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