The following is excerpted from my weekly Heretic’s Guide to the Bible study. To read more, CLICK HERE or on the banners above or below. I recently attended a lecture by a sociologist who suggested that our tendency to see history as both linear and progressive is a symptom of our modernist western way of thinking. We tend always to presume that things will generally improve over time, and that we’re headed toward something better than the present offers us.... Read more
Somehow I’ve had the good fortune until recently not to know who Theresa Caputo, (AKA the Long Island Medium) was. The long and short of it, in case you’ve been similarly privileged, is that she has a reality show and claims to speak to dead people. She also has a book (which I saw in the airport bookstore) and tours extensively (including where we are on vacation). Before I knew who she was, just looking at her book cover and... Read more
I was worried about building up interest on my sin account, then I checked the fine print. Turns out, as long as you pay them all off by the due date every month, you’re all good. Read more
The following is excerpted from my weekly Heretic’s Guide to the Bible study. To read more, or to take part in the study, CLICK HERE or on the banners above or below. Apple’s cofounder Steve Jobs was, by all accounts, a tremendous success in the fields of technology, design and business. He was meticulous, a perfectionist and so obsessed about the quality of his work that some found him fairly impossible to work for. But what some people don’t... Read more
The story on NPR finally aired yesterday about our Beer and Hymns events. Here’s a brief excerpt from the story, followed by links to the full piece on the NPR site: *** In downtown Portland, Ore., at the stately old First Christian Church, one Saturday night a month they open the parish hall for an event called Beer & Hymns. There must be 100 people here tonight, most of them young, the kind you rarely see in church on Sunday... Read more
The best thing about putting a church billboard just below an ad for a strip bar is that, every time you see boobs after that, all you can think of is “Jesus.” Good thinking, church. Read more
This was written by a friend of mine, Sunny Buchanan Ridings. I am sharing for a couple of reasons. First, it’s personally affecting and inspiring. Second, I think it’s a perfect model of the kind of vulnerable transparency we’re called to in the intentional community of Christian faith. Read and learn from her fine example. *** RUNNING: MY WHY I’m sure people have all different reasons for running. In part, I wanted to see what all the fuss is about-... Read more
I’ve been working with videographer Gregg Brekke on a series of videos related to the Banned Questions books. The books include: Banned Questions About the Bible Banned Questions About Jesus Banned Questions About Christians (Dec 2013) Below is a preview of one of the videos in the series. So far, we have three complete and ten slated. Right now, we have one of the videos (the one featured in this preview) available through Patheos Premium. The videos are 3-4 minutes... Read more
As if it wasn’t chilling enough to learn that NSA cronies are poring over your web browser history, now we discover that Barack Obama sits in bed at night and listens in on German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s cell phone calls to Domino’s. Okay, maybe those are a bit of a stretch, but quite a buzz has been generated as of late about the revelation that the United States does, indeed, monitor the communications of leaders from allied nations, including the... Read more
First, we want to welcome the inimitable Andy Campbell, who is sitting in for Jordan Green while he attends to family matters. Our thoughts and prayers are with the Green family during this difficult time. We cover a lot of ground in this edition of the culture cast. In the echo chamber, we let Amy vent about her pick for the Nobel Peace Prize this year being passed over. Geez, Amy, keep it in perspective. It’s not like it’s the... Read more
Christian Piatt
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