I confess that I love the Super Bowl. It doesn’t matter who is playing, I can always get up for that game. I confess that although I’m not a huge Jim Harbaugh fan (I’m still bitter about 1995-96 playoff win over the Chiefs), I still cheered for SF to come back and win. I was bummed when they came up short. I confess that I thought Beyonce was great at half-time even though I’m a rock and roll guy, not... Read more
So much of what gets called religion is about control, what we think, who we love, who is in, who is out, what the right doctrine is… Control is not Jesus’s game. Jesus is wild. Jesus is free. How often is our quest for “truth” just a thinly disguised quest for control? Religion that focuses on control is subject to every critique of power that the Postmodern philosophers can offer – and they have a lot, and they are mostly... Read more
Pete Rollins always wigs me out a little bit. My philosophical vocabulary is sorely lacking – continental philosophy all the more. So when I try to listen to someone like Rollins or Caputo I know that I’m barely reaching for the low hanging fruit. If I could change one thing about my life it would probably be that I would have majored in Philosophy in college instead of Biology, then maybe I’d be more conversant. Still I find Rollins to... Read more
I am not a Glenn Beck follower myself, so I knew nothing about this until I saw this video which is, whatever you think about Beck, hilarious. So, I watched these segments from Beck’s show in which he walks the viewer through the plans he’s developed in his American Dream Labs for a full scale city complete with it’s own theme park and working ranch. The planned community is to be called Independence U.S.A. – a sort of a libertarian... Read more
This video provides the answer to the question “What will make you cackle awkwardly in a public place?” Maybe it’s because I remember playing this game with my own kids, “Who’s your favorite, mommy or daddy?” It went similarly… a clip for you on Friday because every Friday should have just a little bit of funny. Read more
For the record – I don’t care that Beyonce lip-synced. Back when I was touring & performing for a living, two guys from my band went to see Destiny’s Child in concert (Beyonce’s old group). In the middle of the set they did this incredible acapella rendition of Amazing Grace that brought down the house, then they kicked straight into “Bootylicious.” It’s an example of how the sacred/profane divide only exists in the minds of religious people who do not understand that... Read more
“The life of faith cannot be lived in general or by abstractions. All the great realities that we can’t touch or see take form on ground that we can touch and see.” (p.12) The spirituality I was handed through evangelicalism was profoundly dismissive of “this world” stuff in favor of “spiritual things.” As many have pointed out, this is Platonic-dualism. As a result evangelicals have a tendency to analyze their faith instead of living it. This is a pervasive problem.... Read more
When Kristin and I decided we were ready to have children, we made a few of crucial decisions I’ve never regretted. One of the best is establishment of the the evening meal as sacrosanct. From the time our kids were old enough to sit in a high chair, even before then, we started the family meal at six o’clock every evening. We’ve been going now for almost ten years now, only missing on rare occasions when one of us is... Read more
I confess that I’m working at my favorite Panera this morning and I’m sitting next to two colleagues who are talking very loudly. At first I was judging them for being loud enough that all the people around me keep shooting them looks, to which they seem either oblivious or indifferent. I confess that have now stopped judging them for talking loudly and have become fascinated by their conversation. They work for one of the big tobacco companies and they are talking... Read more
When you spend time on Facebook, you have to take the good with the bad. If you have ever wondered where the bad came from, maybe it was from this focus group. Read more
Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In