The Biggest Liars in Politics?: “Outside Spending Groups”

Last updated on: July 13, 2012 at 12:04 pm By Tim Suttle

In the midst of the uproar over the Supreme Court’s decision to uphold the Affordable Care Act, and the courts decision to strike down three-fourths of the Arizona immigration law, their failure to deal with the disastrous Citizens United decision was largely unnoticed, which is interesting given that Citizen’s United could end up being the most critical of the three decisions. Citizens United will likely have much deeper impact on our society and could threaten the very basis of free... Read more

Breaking Retreat: Refusing to Evaluate

Last updated on: July 12, 2012 at 8:41 am By Tim Suttle

So my stuff is loaded and I’m spending a few moments writing this, and then a last little while in the basilica praying. The basilica is an amazing room, and I love being there – so I usually break retreat by spending some quiet time in that space. Then I head home (or in this case – to meetings). Breaking retreat is always a little bitter sweet: I get to go see my family tonight, but I know that the... Read more

Learning to Play: After You Have Sinned & Grown Old

Last updated on: July 11, 2012 at 11:45 am By Tim Suttle

My youngest boy is in the throes of learning how to swim. He’s taken the lessons and has been pretty frustrated (ing), at times over the past few summers. When it was time to work on his swimming with me this year, I started out like always. “Hey, let’s work on your swimming, (he groans). Nah, come on! Swim from here to the wall and I want you to concentrate on your kicking.” He’d do that and I’d say, “Good,... Read more

When the Wild Beasts Show Up

Last updated on: July 10, 2012 at 10:55 am By Tim Suttle

Richard Rohr once wrote, “In silence all of our usual patterns assault us… that is why most people give up rather quickly. When Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, the first thing that showed up was the wild beasts.” I know just what he means. When I’m on retreat at the abbey, as I am this week, I typically do my own thing in the morning: run, shower, breakfast, pray the morning office, and read something completely... Read more

Monday Morning Confessional

Last updated on: July 9, 2012 at 1:13 pm By Tim Suttle

I confess that I’m at Conception Abbey for a bit of solitude until Thursday. I confess that the abbey is one of my favorite places on the planet. As a part of my spiritual rule of life, I typically spend around 25 days a year up here. I confess that I miss my family terribly for the first 12-24 hours. Then I can actually give myself to the solitude. I confess that I once went 48 hours w/out speaking here.... Read more

Missional Politics for the Local Church

Last updated on: July 7, 2012 at 8:18 am By Tim Suttle

I have a new article up at The Huffington Post this morning. I’m trying to think about what missional politics would look like. Here’s an excerpt: Christians believe that God is on a mission to make the world right, and that God actually has the power to do it. This power is displayed in weakness. God’s mode of redeeming the way we relate to each other, ourselves, God and the world around us is through the self-sacrificial love of Jesus... Read more

What Issue Drives Your Voting?

Last updated on: July 6, 2012 at 9:38 am By Tim Suttle

For all of the splash created by the two recent high-profile Supreme Court decisions (upholding of the Affordable Care Act & striking down much of the Arizona immigration law), this election is still about the economy. I ran across an interesting blog post by Daniel Drezner, a political science professor and think-tanker who specializes in foreign policy. Based on his experiences with international business leaders, Drezner says that the rest of the world expects President Obama to win the election... Read more

Welcome to Paperback Theology

Last updated on: July 5, 2012 at 12:36 pm By Tim Suttle

Welcome to Paperback Theology. If you have been part of the Paperback Theology world before, I’m glad you found your way to the new site. I couldn’t be more excited about joining forces with Patheos in order to try and increase readership and extend the Paperback Theology conversation to new people. Allow me to express my gratitude to the folks at Patheos for taking me on board. I’m counting on all of the Paperback Theology faithful to continue to comment... Read more

Monday Morning Confessional: I make my confession – come make yours.

Last updated on: July 4, 2012 at 10:35 am By Tim Suttle

I confess that I’m very late in writing the Monday Morning Confessional this week. I confess that I’ve been very lax about blogging lately because I’ve been focusing on a writing project, and some behind the scene developments with Paperback Theology – both of which have taken up all of my spare time. I hope to have some news about that soon. I confess that I’m sad to hear that Andy Griffith has died – I loved the Andy Griffith... Read more

Monday Morning Confessional – (on Tuesday Afternoon)

Last updated on: July 3, 2012 at 11:25 am By Tim Suttle

I confess that I’m very late in writing the Monday morning confessional this week. I confess that I’ve been very lax about blogging lately because I’ve been focusing on a writing project that took all of my spare time. I I hope to have news about that soon. I confess that I’m sad to hear that Andy Griffith has died – I loved the Andy Griffith show. I confess that I think I’ve seen every single episode of the Andy... Read more