Again, thanks to all of you who contributed to my challenge for progressive theo-bloggers to say something substantive about God. We received about 60 submissions, and they’re being curated into a page by Patheos for release early next week. You can read about it here first. 🙂 And, we’ve loved doing it so much that we’re planning on quarterly challenges for progressive theo-bloggers, to live under the #progGOD heading. Let me know your suggestions for future topics. Read more
My friend Bruce Reyes-Chow has proclaimed that he will never own a gun, and he’s encouraged all fellow Christians to sign a petition against gun violence. I won’t sign it, because I don’t sign petitions. Well, I do sign silly petitions. I don’t sign real petitions, because they’re silly. They don’t do anything. And Christian leaders are real fond of them. But that aside, I own a gun now, and I plan to own one until I’m too old to... Read more
I’m still in Sri Lanka, which means that of the 40 television stations on my hotel TV, four are showing cricket matches! For the life of me, I cannot figure out how to score this blasted game. 4 overs for 135 and blah blah blah. I’m used to sports where when you score, you get one point. Or sometimes two or three. Occasionally six. But, still, it makes no sense. Someone help me out! Read all of my posts from Sri... Read more
One of the criticisms of development work — that is, when money from the US funds projects in needy places like Sri Lanka — is that it creates a “culture of dependency.” Not unlike the knock on welfare and food stamps, the theory goes that foreign money will only teach the lesson that there’s always more coming, thus there’s no reason to learn a trade, plant a field, or otherwise provide for your family. As progressive as I am on... Read more
Recently, I posted about Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove’s new book, The Awakening of Hope: Why We Practice a Common Faith, of which I am very fond. Now, you can win a package package of the book and DVD. I’m thinking of a number between 1 and 100 — I told my fellow travelers in Sri Lanka the number. Leave your guess in the comment section. One entry per person. Whoever gets it right wins the book/DVD set. Four runners up will win the book.... Read more
When Courtney and I decided to sponsor a child after I was asked on this trip to Sri Lanka, I opened the World Vision website and asked Courtney to choose a child. She flicked through a couple pictures of boys, and then a girl popped up. A Muslim girl. And a girl the same age as my youngest child — in fact, exactly one week older than him. Her name is Afra, and I got to meet her today. And... Read more
As with any trip like this, my co-journeyers are as much a part of my experience as anything else. They are a fantastic collection of individuals. We were brought together by sheer serendipity — we differ on theology, politics, and much else. And yet we have gelled into a cohesive and supportive group. I recommend you click thru to each and read what they’re writing about the trip. (All photos by Matthew Paul Turner, who is also on the trip.)... Read more
In non-Sri Lanka news, 1) MinnPost ran a nice profile of me: “What Tony is good at is being willing to call into question people’s assumptions about how the church should be,” said David Lose, a professor at Luther Seminary who knows Jones and invited him to speak this summer at a conference in Atlanta. “He does that outside a denomination and has a certain freedom or willingness to see things that you can’t perhaps from within. And he is also tremendously... Read more
So, not to be a jerk or anything, but I’m pretty sure I did something on Sunday that you did not do. After some sightseeing and shopping, Has, the World Vision staffer who is our guide and handler here, asked if we’d rather shop some more or swing by a Hindu temple to watch a ceremony that was taking place. The latter easily won out. About an hour after her seemingly harmless question, we found ourselves in the middle of... Read more
A couple of weeks ago, I mentioned to my friend, Tim, that I was going to Sri Lanka. “Oh,” he exclaimed, “One of my favorite authors is from Sri Lanka. You should read about Michael Ondaatje’s trip back there.” That day, I ordered Running in the Family. Ondaatje, the Booker Prize-winning author of The English Patient, grew up mainly in Canada, but he has roots in Sri Lanka. In 1978, he traveled to what was then known as Ceylon, to revisit... Read more
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