Chanel 8 in Dallas is reporting that Ed Young is now under investigation by Grapevine Police to see if his church violated any animal safety laws in their inclusion of a live Lion in last Sunday’s worship service. The investigation is silly & will probably not result in any charges. As silly as it is, it doesn’t even come close to being as silly as the constant parade of stunts which Young has made his signature. In the past Young... Read more

The New York Times published a 2 part story by Stanley Fish which deals with how we deal with evidence in Science and Religion. It’s well done & I recommend that you take 15 minutes and read the whole thing. Part 1 is here, Part 2 is here. Here’s a quick summary for those who don’t have the time to read, but want the concepts. Fish is articulating the ways in which scientists fall prey to their own logic, dealing... Read more

Sentimentality (my definition): softening the blows of reality by telling ourselves half-truths and untruths which temporarily assuage the nagging feeling that we are all living in a tragedy. Sentimentality is what a sleazy guy says to a lonely girl; it comes off cheesy, but just sweet enough to distract her from the fact that he’s only trying to sleep with her. Sentimentality is when parents continue calling tantrums and aggression “cute” or “a phase” long into the pre-teen years instead... Read more

I confess that Easter may be my favorite day of the year. I love to tell the story… it never gets old. I confess that I love the culture hasn’t found a way to steal Easter yet. I confess that the day after Easter is one of the lowest days of the year for me for two reasons: First, Christmas is more like a feast week. Christmas Eve turns into Xmas Day & rolls on to the New Year w/little... Read more

Frederick Buechner is one of my favorite writers. On the really big days of the Christian Calendar I look to him to speak to me, as I try to speak to others. This is a great interview he did for Religion and Ethics Newsweekly on PBS. Here are a few great pull quotes. I recommend reading the whole article. On the Resurrection: “I have no idea what happened except, as I say, what really matters is not so much what... Read more

My friend Matt Nagel died last week & left a great number of people so very sad, myself included. I was reminded with his passing that Matt did all of the branding work for the church where I pastor. Matt worked hard to come up with an aesthetically pleasing logo we could embrace for years to come; one that would say something about who we are as a church. This is what he came up with. We love it and... Read more

  My friend Scott Savage just let me know you can download three Francis Chan books for Kindle free of charge from Amazon. I’ve never read Francis Chan, but at some point I know I will need to. These are pretty well selling books, big titles, & free is always a good price. If you do not own a Kindle, you can download a free kindle application for your computer (that’s how I do it, I don’t own a kindle),... Read more

I really needed a laugh today, so this post is dedicated to Matt Nagel who would have laughed out loud at this. We should be remind that life is good, even when it has a bitter after taste and gives us gas. Before you watch it, just know that what follows is wrong on so many levels, and yet there’s something very right about learning how to laugh in the midst of the pain. Anyway, don’t take it too seriously and... Read more

  I’m biased, I know, but this is interesting. Gallup has recently done some research on the impact of religion upon our lives. They found there is a direct correlation between positive emotions/good moods and how often you attend church. They’ve developed something called the “well being index” in which the very religious people (defined as those for whom religion is important for their daily life), are simply better off in their lives than those who are not. Moving from... Read more

I confess that my friend & Paperback Theology reader Matt Nagel had a stroke on Sunday while running with friends. After two surgeries he is fighting for his life at KU Medical Center while his brain swells far beyond the point of significant risk. I confess that I am heartsick. I confess that I will spend the day praying for Matt, Molly & their family, as well as the Hope Center Family. I confess that I hope you will pray with... Read more