“Woah,” Mattias’ eyes bulged when he walked in and saw the red mountain bike, sitting in the hallway of our house. Is that for me?” “No buddy, we’re giving this away.” “But why?” “To help feed 5,000 people.” He looked at me for a minute, trying to figure out if I was serious. “You’re going to feed five thousand people,” he said warily, “with a bike.” “Not exactly,” I said. We trade this for something more valuable to someone else. Then... Read more
I’m spending 18 months trying to figure out what it really means to follow Jesus. I mean, I’m not trying to be jesus, per se, and that’s probably best for all of us. I’m pretty sure I would suck at it. The thing is, Jesus called different people to different things, from what I can tell. He challenged a handful of disciples to drop everything and follow him, walking away from their jobs, homes and families in the process. But... Read more
I don’t think I’ve ever been quite as excited about receiving something I don’t get to keep. Just this morning, I posted a request to do a “trade-up” to help raise resources necessary to feed 5,000 people. As part of my 18-month project to try and follow Jesus, like for real, I figure taking on the fishes-and-loaves miracle, in which 5,000 people were fed, is a good starting point. Though I don’t start my “Jesus year” for a few more... Read more
As you may know if you’ve read my previous posts, I’m in the process of doing an 18-month project in which I’m trying to figure out what it REALLY means to “follow Jesus.” One order of business my readers have suggested I take on is the miracles recorded in the Gospels. Obviously some are tougher than others, but the “feeding of the 5,000” story seems to be one that has captured lots of peoples’ imaginations.But since I can’t magically multiply fish... Read more
If you haven’t already read from my post yesterday, I’m doing an experiment over the next 18 months to try and figure out what it is we really mean when we talk about “following Jesus.” Does he want us to be just like him? Does he want everyone to walk away from their families, jobs and give everything to the poor? Are we just supposed to listen to our hearts and try to be better people, whatever that means?You can help... Read more
Follow Christian Piatt’s 18-month attempt to really follow Jesus. Search the blog category to the right called “My Jesus Project,” or search “#MyJesusProject” on this blog, on facebook or Twitter. Being a Christian, by definition, means we endeavor to follow Jesus. But few, if any, of us does it, really. I mean all the way. As Shane Claiborne famously once said, Jesus ruined his life. Once he went all in on what he felt God was calling him to do, everything... Read more
“Do not suppose that abuses are eliminated by destroying the object which is abused. Men can go wrong with wine and women. Shall we then prohibit and abolish women?” -Martin Luther You all know by now that I’ve been on a national tour, talking about my latest book, “postChristian: What’s Left? Can We Fix It? Do We Care?” I knew that it would raise a few hackles along the way; after all, the first line in the book offers fair... Read more
“You know what, it’s not your life, it’s life. Life is bigger than you, if you can imagine that. Life isn’t something that you possess, it’s something that you take part in and witness.” ― Louis C.K. It was a striking coincident that, just before the Brittany Maynard “Right to Die” storyline unfolded in the public forum, my wife and I had watched “How to Die in Oregon,” a documentary about the very same “Death with Dignity” Law at the heart of Maynard’s... Read more
As you know I am in the middle of a book tour for my new PostChristian: What’s left? Can we fix? Do we care? . A few weeks ago I was in soCal where I spoke at Chapman University, Loma Linda University, the Pacific Southwest Regional Assembly of my denomination – Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) and I got to hang with Tripp Fuller of Homebrewed Christianity where we cross pollinated this CultureCast podcast with TNT (Theological Nerd Throwdown) We were joined by Bart Campolo,... Read more
In the middle of my book tour, my wife and I traveled to Rome, Italy to visit Cinecitta Studios and the set of Christ the Lord a move based on Anne Rice’s book, Christ the Lord Out of Egypt. Not quite on the PostChristian book tour path, but we had a great time enjoying tiny Italian hotel rooms and lots of vino and gelato! La vita è dolce! Read more
Christian Piatt
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