First, the good news: After four months of preparation, I have officially started my year-long quest to more seriously understand what it means to follow Jesus, AKA “My Jesus Project.” And now the bad news: After today, I still have 363 days left of this. Turns out, Jesus stuff is hard. It’s not even that I’ve done anything that’s hard, in particular. I mean, the 30-day fast from solid food isn’t until next month, and I still have time to figure... Read more
I love Jon Stewart. I mean, like “maybe jump the fence” love him. His presence on The Daily Show has spoken to and with my generation through some of our most formative years. And yes, he tells fart jokes (which I also love). And yes, he editorializes, (which is nearly ubiquitous in “legitimate news” streams anyway). But he also often names what people are thinking, feeling, or what they can’t even put into words. And then he helps us laugh... Read more
Seventh Day Adventist pastor Ryan Bell spent a year intentionally living as an atheist and came out on the other side (surprise!) as a nonbeliever. But on further inspection, is he really a tried and true atheist? What Bell says he has let go of is the certainty required by his previous religious affiliation, and thus far in my reading about him, he has not said anywhere that he is an atheist. In fact – at least as I understand... Read more
Oklahoma may seem an unlikely place for what has been called a satanic sculpture to be installed on government property. In fact, there may be no better place for it. Considered by many to be the buckle in the proverbial Bible Belt, the Statehouse in Oklahoma City has boasted a sculpture of the Ten Commandments, paid for by Oklahoma State Representative Mike Ritze, for some time. Actually, the statue is in the process of being rebuilt after a man who... Read more
Welcome to the annual “Blogs you should be reading” blog! If your New Year’s resolution is to search out relevant, interesting, and challenging blogs, you are in the right place! There’s such a thing as too much of a good thing sometimes. And though there are so many more bloggers worth following who aren’t on this list, we can get overwhelmed when we go on a search for something new. Since previous lists of Christian bloggers I’ve compiled have proven very... Read more
After a, um, hiatus of sorts Christian, Amy, and Andy are back to talk about all things important… like summer camp for asthmatics, Beer and Hymns protests, and semi-nude Skype conversations. This episode’s interview is with A.J. Jacobs – author, journalist, lecturer and human guinea pig. He has written four New York Times bestsellers, including The Year of Living Biblically. He and Christian talk about A.J’s. new global family reunion project, in which he tries to show that we’re all related, quite literally. The project... Read more
As you may know by now, I’m starting a new project (ramping up now, starting in earnest in February) in which I try for a year to really, seriously understand what it means to follow Jesus in western, post-industrial 21st century society. What does that look like? Do any of us actually do it? And to what degree, seriously, are we supposed to actually be like Jesus, as opposed to finding our own way to walk a more Christ-like path... Read more
I was sitting on the couch, working on an article on the morning of December 4th when the first one hit. I was consumed with a surreal sense of Deja Vu, followed by a dreadful sort of panic that insisted, in my mind, that whatever was in front of me at the moment was the source of all of the horrible things about to happen to me. Next, a tingling wave of heat swept up from my feet toward my... Read more
The end of a five-decades-long embargo against Cuba has people buzzing. some are excited to be able to visit finally, and maybe bring back a few cigars and a bottle of Cuban rum. Others, like Congressman Marco Rubio, are incensed, or are at least pretending to be as a matter of political expedience. The biggest argument against lifting the embargo, spoken most often and loudest from aspiring Republican presidential candidates, is that we’re giving away the proverbial farm and getting... Read more
I was catching up on back-episodes of 60 Minutes last night (required viewing for all nerds to maintain their credentials) when I came across a segment I immediately found suspect. It was about these “mindfulness coaches” who were being brought into all of these high-powered companies to teach people how to sit, breathe and, yes, walk. Umm, yeah. But these CEOs at the likes of Google and other tech giants insist that these guys are adding efficiency to their workforce,... Read more
Christian Piatt
Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In