This is another piece in the series I write for First Christian Church, Portland. I respond to questions about faith and theology in (hopefully) simple, straightforward terms. If you have a question you’d like me to take on, email me and I’ll do my best. Where does your faith fit in times of chaos and uncertainty? As a professional author and perennial contract worker, I’m getting kind of used to uncertainty. But I also get thrown off by unexpected things,... Read more
There was a time when calling someone “salt of the earth” was a compliment. It suggested a strong work ethic, moral integrity, and someone whose priorities were in proper order. Today, it seems like more of an insult than anything else. When surveyed about what they wanted to be when they grow up, the most common response from a cohort of school-age children was “famous.” The response revealed nothing about personal passion or ambition, let alone anything about a greater need... Read more
This week’s CultureCast episode starts off with Christian recounting what could well be his worst week ever since entering into adulthood. It’s actually so crappy, it would be funny…that is, if Christian wasn’t the one writing this. Laugh it up, fun boys. We check in on the progress of the homebrew that Andy Campbell and Christian started – next step, bottling! Also, The CultureClub debates such timely issues as commercialism in media, sex in the arts and whether or not... Read more
This church consistently hits them out of the park. Good for them. Read more
What goes better with Valentine’s Day than a nice glass of bourbon? Forget the chocolates and frilly cards; join us for a glass of your favorite whiskey and catch up bourbon value buys, bourbon tasting and a bit of bourbon culture and history. Christian Piatt and Patrick Don Vito break it down this week over a couple of rocks glasses full of Elijah Craig 12-year-old bourbon. They talk about the reason it is so tasty, while also being affordable, while... Read more
I’ve done the Valentine’s Day thing in the past. And with two school-age kids, I still make the annual pilgrimage to the card and candy aisles in the grocery store to buy sufficiently benign greetings for them to hand out to every kid in their class, whether they like them or not. But my wife, Amy, and I don’t do Valentine’s Day. In fact, we don’t even do Christmas anymore, in the way the culture tells us we should, at... Read more
I was interviewed recently by Barry Thompson, a writer for an alt-weekly in Boston called Dig. He was doing a sort of investigative profile on these churches in the Boston area that are very independent and “hipster” in feel (beer and coffee, pop culture references galore, current music, dressed down, groovy beards), but are actually connected to the Acts 29 Network, which helped fund the startup of, among many others, Mark Driscoll’s Mars Hill Church in Seattle. Seems I was... Read more
(Following is from a column called “Christian’s Queries” that I’m doing for our church newsletter at Portland First Christian Church. My focus is to try and take on questions that many people, but especially young adults, wrestle with. Got a question you want to see me take on? Email me at “christian at fccpdx dot com” and I’ll try to add it to the calendar. How can you tell when something in your life is a calling from God? It... Read more
After weeks of planning, we finally sat down with brewmaster-slash-theologian Andy Campbell to homebrew a batch of beer. He takes us step-by-step through the process and helps Christian brew his first-ever batch of pale ale. Now, pretty much all Christian does is sit in his office and watch the yeast make bubbles. One…two…three… Jordan’s also back with us for the Echo Chamber, where we talk up the Winter Olympics and the LGBT drama surrounding Sochi, as well as the “Ham on Nye”... Read more
There was quite a fuss about Coca Cola airing a commercial during the Super Bowl that presented people singing “God Bless America” in various languages. And, to top it off, they even portrayed same-sex couples as families. It wasn’t exactly shocking to see Coke presenting a more pluralistic, harmonious image of the contemporary world today. That’s kind of their thing, after all. Anyone else old enough to remember the “I’d like to teach the world to sing” ad campaign? Peace,... Read more
Christian Piatt
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