Stanley Hauerwas is a once in a generation mind. He has a dual appointment at Duke Law & Duke Divinity School. He has said on many occasions that the true enemy of the Christian faith is not atheism, but sentimentality. He’s a brilliant provocateur whose talents are on full display in this clip. Here, as always, Hauerwas is trying to get Christians to believe that their faith should matter in a deeper way than most Americans have the imagination for.... Read more

I’ve got a new article up at the Huffington Post on the future of art – here’s an excerpt: Cornel West fired off an interesting tweet this week: “The challenge artists face today is whether to be an underground, unheard genius, or to dilute their art for the marketplace.” In less than 140 characters West placed his finger on one of the more important questions of our time: Can we escape the commodification of everything? Is there a point at... Read more

I wrote an article for the July/August issue of a great youth workers journal called Immerse. Immerse is trying to foster rich theological conversation among those who work with students in the church. My friend Mike King is the managing editor. If you have a youth minister, or volunteer working with students at your church – you really should turn them on to this resource! I’m really grateful to Mike for allowing me to be a part of the rich... Read more

Cornell West fired off an interesting tweet today. It read: “The challenge artists face today is whether to be an underground, unheard genius, or to dilute their art for the marketplace.” I’ve been thinking about this quite a bit as an artist/musician and as a writer. Can we escape the commodification of dang-near everything? Case in point – West’s deconstruction was instantly published via twitter. The moment he did it became a sort of commodity. How can he maintain his... Read more

I’ve been thinking through the idea of a theology of work this week, and reading some interesting stuff on it. Work in the Spirit by Miroslav Volf is a dense attempt at a theology of work. Volf is brilliant in this book & I’ve not given it the time it deserves. I’ve also been reading again in Norm Wirzba’s book Living the Sabbath. He’s got a wonderful chapter in there on work. I’m reminded that our work is meant to... Read more

I’ve got a new article up on the Huffington Post today. Here’s an excerpt: “The evangelical church will have its impact on American culture not through political maneuvering, lawsuits, electing evangelical candidates, controlling the arts, or boycotting movies and products, but when evangelicals begin to embody the virtues derived from our faith. Kindness, generosity, peacefulness, hospitality, patience, self-control — these are radical virtues that should define the people called evangelicals. Instead we are largely defined by what we are against... Read more

A friend from seminary has been reading the book and firing off some good tweets and pull quotes. Here’s an interesting discussion about leaving church: http://www.jeremydscott.com/2011/06/leaving-church.html Read more

http://o.aolcdn.com/videoplayer/AOL_PlayerLoader.swf Read more

Can I trust you not to think I’m endorsing Grey’s Anatomy if I say that Erwin McManus’ s daughter’s song is beautiful? Read more

Untitled from The Work Of The People on Vimeo. Read more