Here is a quiz from quiz farm which is supposed to tell you which political party you should be a part of. This one is pretty funny. I came out as an Anarchist which is very puzzling given my penchant for following the rules. At least I was zero percent Nazi. Here are my results…take the quiz & share your results with us!! . . . What Political Party Do Your Beliefs Put You In? You scored as an Anarchism... Read more

This is a great post from my friend Casey who is in Seminary in Chicago. Thanks Casey for teaching me more about Madeleine L’Engle (pictured here), and for your artistry!...Co-Creatorship & the Influence of Madeleine L’Engleby Casey Thornburgh..Something in me could not let the passing of Madeleine L’Engle on September 6th go by without some reflection. So here I go, doing my best to muster a few words about an author who left more than a few fingerprints in the... Read more

................a quick review of a really great book…..Simply Christianby N.T. Wright.Until I began to read and listen to the work of N.T. Wright, the phrase “putting the world to rights” wasn’t in my vocabulary. Today, I think it is the best short description of what I believe the Kingdom of God is all about. In his book Simply Christian, Wright expands on what he believes is the “echo of a voice (p.3) which we hear in our imaginations and our... Read more

............ Jackson Pollack is one of my favorite artists. I don’t know why but respond very emotionally to most abstract expressionism. De Kooning is another favorite. There is a De Kooning here in town at the Kemper Museum that I like to go see. There is also a Pollock at the Nelson in the new wing. It’s nice, but not one of his more important works. I love the deconstruction of forms and the large scale…I just think it’s beautiful.... Read more

About a year ago my friend Isaac told me about this band – Sigur Ros that I needed to check out. He suggested that I just look on youtube and find live footage. But the first thing I clicked on was this video for the song Glosoli. On youtube it’s low quality and not it the Cinema dimensions. Even so, I fell in love with their music. J. Hall hooked me up with more of their music (thanks J.), and... Read more

Wes Anderson is one of my all-time favorite directors. I love his films because they are quirky and cool. They are almost always about trying to find family, or community. They are also great works of art in terms of the way they are shot. I also really admire his use of music in film and the way he’s crafted his own style that is distinctively his now. That’s no small feat. Anyway, he’s got a new film out called... Read more

When Robert Jenson came to NTS I got to sit in on a couple of conversations with him. In one class he was asked to reflect on what he’d learned from his friends, Karl Barth, Jurgen Moltmann, and Wolfhart Pannenberg. This is what he said about Pannenberg: . . . “What I took from Pannenburg about 19th Century theology, about which he knew just about everything: If there is one God, that God is Triune and the creation of that... Read more

Last night Kristin and I went to The Hope Center banquet to support Chris and Tammy Jehle. Chris has been quite an inspiration to me. I’m not sure I know of another human being that I admire more than I admire him. One of the books I’ve read which has put the pedal to the metal in terms of my desire to stop perpetuating systems of injustice is Divided by faith. Here is my quick review of the material in... Read more

I can’t explain what it is about Wilco. You just have to experience it. The first artist I ever really loved was Rich Mullins. He was not just a musician or a songwriter, but he was a prophet, in a sense. After Rich died in 1997, there have been a few others come along who seem to have a similar effect. Bill Malonee (VOL) was first, then Sean Kelly of the Samples. I found some resonance with Bob Dylan and... Read more

Here are some notes on the final lecture from Robert Jenson. Jenson focused on two topics today – the Holy Spirit in particular, then the New Testament. The Holy Spirit:He began by agreeing with Bultmann that God is the “uncontrollability of the future,” and that “the Spirit is God’s freedom.” It frees the Father and the Son to live for each other and to love each other. [an aside: Jenson talked about the idea that two individual things can never... Read more