Stop Telling Me What is Anti-Christian

Last updated on: June 5, 2013 at 5:36 pm By Christian Piatt

Anyone who listens to our Homebrewed Christianity CultureCast knows that we love Game of Thrones. The writing is complex, dramatic, and the characters are fascinating. What’s more, after the recent “Red Wedding” episode, we’re all too aware that no character, no matter how important or beloved, is safe. The series, set in a fictitious medieval Europe, is also dark, exploitive, highly sexualized at times, and one has to stretch to glean any moral redemption from the episodes. As such, there’s a... Read more

Tyler Durden’s Gospel / Kings Behaving Badly (Heretic’s Guide for June 16, 2013)

Last updated on: June 3, 2013 at 6:22 pm By Christian Piatt

Bible Cliff’s Notes (My dog ate my Bible!) First Reading 1 Kings 21:1-10, (11-14), 15-21a King Ahab wants Naboth’s vineyard but he won’t sell. So Jezebel, Ahab’s wife, sets Naboth up and has him killed. Elijah prophesies to Ahab that ruin will come upon him for doing this evil. (and) 2 Samuel 11:26-12:10, 13-15 King David marries Bathsheba after sending her husband, Uriah, to die in battle. The prophet Nathan calls David on his greed and David confesses his sin.... Read more

Church Sign Epic Fails, “Arrogant Rabbis” Edition

Last updated on: June 2, 2013 at 5:09 am By Christian Piatt

There’s really nothing worse than an uppity Rabbi. Except maybe for intransigent Swedes. They’re so radical! Read more

God Hits the “Smite” Button (Bonus Heretics Guide “Year D” Content For June 16, 2013)

Last updated on: May 31, 2013 at 9:46 pm By Christian Piatt

God Hits the “Smite” Button A Heretic’s Guide to the Bible Bonus Readings from Beyond the Lectionary by David Ackerman for Proper 6: June 16, 2013 Bible Cliff’s Notes Gospel Matthew 12:43-45: This is a strange statement by Jesus in which he talks about how an unclean spirit wanders through deserts after leaving a person and returns to the house from where it came. It brings along seven spirits more evil than itself so that things are worse for the person than... Read more

Patheos CEO Leo Brunnick, Dental Drama & Playing Doctor (HBCultureCast)

Last updated on: May 31, 2013 at 4:08 pm By Christian Piatt

This week we settle in with Patheos co-founder and CEO, Leo Brunnick to talk about how one goes about taking an idea sketched on a cocktail napkin to being one of the biggest interfaith websites in the world. Sadly, we got no leads on magic words or fairy dust; just lots of hard work and good fortune. Dammit! In the echo chamber we talk about which countries are looked upon most and least favorably worldwide. The highest esteem country will... Read more

Jesus, Don’t Let Me Die Before I’ve Had Sex

Last updated on: May 29, 2013 at 10:34 pm By Christian Piatt

I wrote a piece recently about the Christian challenges of what I call “marriage worship,” in which we focus so intensely on getting kids married before they have sex that we neglect necessary education and discourse about healthy emotional, spiritual and physical sexual expression. Though lots of people seemed to really appreciate the perspective in my post, several responded with a sort of, “So, what DO we do?” comment. Well, it just so happens that there is a movie in... Read more

God is a Sock (Heretic’s Guide Sampler for Sun, June 9th 2013)

Last updated on: May 28, 2013 at 10:30 pm By Christian Piatt

Bible Cliff’s Notes (My dog ate my Bible!) First Reading 1 Kings 17:8-16, (17-24) A widow and her son living in Sidon are starving to death as the result of the famine. Elijah assures her that her food source will not run out. He also resurrects her son after he gets sick and dies. Because of this, she believes he is a man of God. Gospel Luke 7:11-17 Jesus arrives in the town of Nain with his disciples and a... Read more

Church Sign Epic Fails, “Drop It Like It’s Hot” Edition

Last updated on: May 27, 2013 at 6:32 pm By Christian Piatt

I once prayed for tickets to the Radiohead concert, and instead I got two tickets for Carly Rae Jepsen. I must have prayed in the wrong direction… Read more

Why I Am Actively Supporting the Boy Scouts

Last updated on: May 25, 2013 at 5:36 pm By Christian Piatt

A kid no more than thirteen or so came to our door yesterday. We stood tall and was freshly pressed in his scout uniform, his black canvas Chuck Taylors the only betrayal of his otherwise high-and-tight appearance. “Hello sir,” he said. I tried to mask the cringe I always feel coming on when someone calls me sir. “I’m helping out with a fundraiser for our troop, and I wondered if you would be willing to support us.” He explained how, for... Read more

Animate.Faith: A Review

Last updated on: May 24, 2013 at 7:13 pm By Christian Piatt

(Following is a guest post by Andy Campbell, blogger at The Crooked Mouth and professor at George Fox Evangelical Seminary.) When I worked as a college minister, and later a pastor for small groups at a large suburban church, I slogged through my fair share of DVD-based group curricula. Some were good, most were not. They tended to fall into two categories: the informational and the inspirational. The former is often used to set or reinforce doctrine, whereas the latter serves... Read more