This week has been a rough one for Mark Driscoll, pastor of Mars Hill Church in Seattle. Following one scandal after another, the Acts 29 Network – which he helped found – removed his standing and his church’s standing within the network. They also encouraged him to step down as the leader of Mars Hill. To add to that, Lifeway Bookstores, which is one of the biggest faith-based book chains around, decided to stop carrying all of Driscoll’s books. Basically... Read more
Following is the foreword pulled from my book, “postChristian: What’s left? Can we fix it? Do we care?“, being published by Jericho Books/Hachette August 12, 2014. This book will piss you off, at least a little bit. It should, anyway. The Christian religion is not what it should be, what it claims to be. And whether you’re a religious insider, a battered-and-bruised outcast, or a curious bystander, that should bother you. It bothers me. But for every wound... Read more
I sat down with my friend Romal Tune, an author, speaker and reformer for education focusing on at-risk students, to talk about my new book, postChrisitan: What’s left, can we fix it, do we care?” (Hattchette/Jericho). We talked about some aspects that the book addresses: what the church has become fixated on instead of the Gospel, challenges facing religion, and the inspiration behind writing it in the first place. I enjoyed my conversation with Romal. I hope you do too. ... Read more
Christian and Amy join the rest of the Homebrewed team at the Wild Goose Festival. Though it poured (and unfortunately not beer) everyone had a great time thanks to Phillips Theological Seminary who sponsored beer steins for brews and John Vest who smoked some North Cackalacky BBQ. Christian, Amy, Tripp and Micky talk with Everyday Sunday’s Trey Pearson about progressive Christianity. (Actually, Trey interviews them) The gang talks about the power of God, the purpose and impact of prayer. Join... Read more
Anyone who reads my stuff with some regularity probably already knows that Mars Hill pastor Mark Driscoll isn’t exactly on my speed dial list, and I’m probably not in his. From his misogynistic quips to his hellfire hyper-Calvinist rants, he and I see almost all social and theological issues as differently as two people could and still call themselves Christians. Add to that the recent plagiarism scandal, compounded by the fact that he effectively bought his way onto the New... Read more
Little known fact: The church sign phenomenon was started by a traveling letter salesman by the same of Alfonz Farkle back in the mid-17th century. Was known as the “Johnny Appleseed of church nomenclature.” Look it up! Read more
I don’t usually find myself listening to traditional Christian Music. Though I can get behind the music, I can’t usually get behind the theology of the lyrics. However, Trey Pearson and his band Everyday Sunday caught my attention at the Wild Goose Festival. With more than a dozen top-ten hits on the Christian music charts, five #1 singles and hundreds of thousands of album sales to their credit Everyday Sunday is an international movement, unto itself. With their upcoming show... Read more
Well, the crew is back together in sunny Oregon after various trips to the east coast. They pick up right where they left off. Christian complains about Bagel Thins (“They’re really just less convenient bread…) and the ridiculous economics of eggs. Andy shares the ethics of his becoming a vegetarian. Amy brags about her and Zoe’s unmatched ability to come up with names for pets. Our guest on this week’s show is Jonathan Merritt. Jonathan is an award-winning religion writer... Read more
Let’s face it, people can be jerks online. As a blogger, I get some profane, even violent, comments on my blog posts. Why do some feel the need to act this way, especially when we would never act this way face-to-face? Certainly the internet allows us a certain level of abstraction and anonymity. We create a world for ourselves knowing that no one will ever know who we really are – never mind the faith we proclaim. This distance allows... Read more
Pastor, I promise I thought it was a “PAWN” store. I totally was just cashing in these old offering plates for some track money. Totally above board. Read more
Christian Piatt
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