Google Drive

Last updated on: October 10, 2012 at 10:07 am By Daniel Harrell

If you’re a Google Docs user, perhaps you’ve been a little perturbed with their shift into Google “Drive.” I know you have to change or die in technology, but why is everything that Google does always in beta? Speaking of Google Drive, did you see the announcement about Google’s Driver-less car? California is the latest state to allow testing of Google’s self-driving cars on the roads. The cars use a combination of technologies, including radar sensors on the front, video cameras aimed at... Read more

A Message in a Bottle

Last updated on: October 13, 2012 at 8:39 am By Daniel A. Siedell

God calls an artist to be a particular kind of artist in a particular kind of way in the world. This specificity reveals the diversity of artistic practice and the various ways that it is embodied institutionally. Most Christian thinking about art, however, ignores this basic social reality, which every artist (Christian or not) confronts daily. Theological reflection on art begins with the felt reality of the studio, addressing the technical and vocational decisions that confront the artist. Whether... Read more

So Romney won Round One: But I Don’t Care

Last updated on: October 4, 2012 at 11:16 am By Kyle Roberts

A CNN poll this morning confirms what the pundits were saying last night: Romney was the winner of round one. The survey shows that 67% of viewers believed Romney to be the winner. But my question is, how much do these debates really matter? They can galvanize and inspire a base around a candidate when they do well, they can serve as a wake-up call for a candidate when they do poorly (as Obama supporters hope will happen here), and... Read more

Debatable Lies

Last updated on: October 3, 2012 at 8:08 am By Daniel Harrell

This wouldn’t be a proper theology and culture blog without a comment about the cultural event of the evening, the presidential debates. Before commenting on those, however, I thought I should say something in response to the gauntlet thrown down by my esteemed colleague in blogging, the right Rev Kimberly Hyatt. On Monday she asked why we pastors don’t just tell the truth, suggesting that we might be better off preaching as academics presenting research rather than as lawyers arguing... Read more

Art and Faithful Presence

Last updated on: December 17, 2012 at 8:58 am By Daniel A. Siedell

Mako Fujimura’s new studio, Princeton, New Jersey. Photo courtesy Robert Puglisi Artists must make decisions all the time. Even before an artist paints on a canvas, it is already the result of a decision to make the painting surface that size and not another. Every brushstroke is the result of a decision to put that stroke here and not there; to use that color; and then, after stepping away from the painting, the decision not to eliminate it and... Read more

Homecoming Prank Turns Positive

Last updated on: September 29, 2012 at 11:29 am By Kyle Roberts

Bullying is a major problem. At least we’re hearing more about it–and talking more about it–now. I love this CNN story about a sophomore girl nominated–as a prank–to the homecoming court. By embracing her nomination, when she was tempted to pull out, she had a positive experience. I imagine the experience of garnering courage and “choosing herself” will serve her well in the future. I also hope it will have been a lesson for the bullies. Read more

Original Innocence? Children, Race, and the Kingdom of God

Last updated on: September 27, 2012 at 9:04 am By Kyle Roberts

One of the highlights of my summer and early fall has been regular trips to the neighborhood park, with our two-year old daughter, Ella. Just yesterday, she had a great time playing with her best friend at the park, Sharlene (Ella calls her “Sha-Lee”). Sharlene is a fun, African-American girl who lives a few blocks from us. A few years older than Ella, she can be found most days at the park, playing and making friends. She was the first... Read more

Good Work

Last updated on: September 25, 2012 at 5:57 pm By Daniel Harrell

Humans may be a disobedient lot by and large, but “be fruitful and multiply” (Gen 1:24) is actually one command we’ve obeyed pretty well. The earth’s population currently numbers seven billion plus souls; and we’re being fruitful and multiplying by the minute. On the other hand, once you go a little further into the Old Testament, and further still into the New, you find “being fruitful” is not about sex and reproduction anymore. With Israel, and especially with Jesus, being... Read more

Luther, Evangelicals, and Modern Art

Last updated on: September 30, 2012 at 6:46 am By Daniel A. Siedell

Lucas Cranach the Elder, The Wittenberg Altarpiece, 1547, Wittenberg, Germany Modern and contemporary painting is the heart of my theology of culture. It is not the kind of cultural practice, however, that receives any positive attention from evangelical cultural theologians and critics, for whom art is irrelevant at best and harmful at worst. But painting is much more than meets the eye, as both the tradition of icon painting within the church and the history of modern art outside the... Read more

Words

Last updated on: September 20, 2012 at 8:53 pm By Daniel Harrell

Today’s guest blogger is John Cuyler, Pastor of Storrs Community Church in Coventry, Connecticut since 1994. He has a Doctor of Ministry degree in Christian Spirituality from Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, South Hamilton, Massachusetts. John and his wife Carmel have three grown children. I listened attentively as President Obama and Governor Romney sought to inspire American voters and last week we were sobered as rage flamed across the Middle East, ignited by a video mocking the Prophet Mohammad. No doubt about it; words are powerful. On one such... Read more