Welcome back to my regularly scheduled sounding, but in reality completely lacking in any regularity series affectionately and uncreatively known as This Week In Jesus. This week, we say hello to the apocalypse and goodbye to car insurance. But first up, we have the worst or at least the grossest Jesus appearance of all time. In the UK, a woman from the town of Crowthorne (English towns sound so much cooler than ours) is convinced that a bird pooped the image... Read more

From time to time, I stumble upon a kitschy Jesus themed product that’s intentionally tongue-in-cheek that I personally find amusing. Like Jesus soap. Or the Cheesus Christ Cheese Grater. But along with the intentionally funny Jesus stuff, there’s a whole host of Jesus related stuff out there that ranges from the unintentionally hilarious to the bizarrely awful. Here are just 5 such weird Jesus products that shouldn’t exist.   5. “You Need Jesus” T-shirt (Credit: Redbubble) Jesus themed t-shirts are... Read more

If you’ve followed my blog for any length of time, or you just happened to read my post on Monday, then you know that social justice is very important to me. Although my current situation in life prevents me from being as involved in nonprofit work as I’d like, any time I can use my blogging platform to shine a light on folks doing incredible justice work anywhere in the world, it’s something I’m more than happy to do. Today,... Read more

I’m getting ready for that blizzard you might have heard is getting ready to attack New England tomorrow. Actually, I got ready yesterday ’cause ain’t nobody got time for the craziness at the grocery store the day before the storm. Unfortunately, there are far too many people for whom fighting crazy lines at the grocery store is the least of their concerns. They’re just worried about surviving to see another day. It’s no secret that countless people in this country will go... Read more

(Credit: Chineka, Flickr Creative Commons) Bribing kids with candy (or other prizes) to memorize Bible verses is an ancient tradition in the Church. And by ancient, I mean it dates back to at least the 1980s when I was a kid and like every other red-blooded American I just assume everything from my childhood is the way it’s always been and, therefore, the way it always should be. In theory, teaching our children to memorize scripture is a wonderful thing.... Read more

I love communion. And baptizing my daughter was one of the best moments of my life. But washing other people’s feet? I get all panicky and desperate for an excuse to leave anytime a pastor or retreat leader brings out the basin and tells me to kick off my shoes. The whole thing makes me super uncomfortable. It’s just too intimate and too awkward and too humbling…and I’m guessing that’s exactly why Jesus did it. It inverts the power structures that... Read more

I love Jesus. And I love Ghostbusters. But I don’t think I’ll be getting this tattoo anytime soon.   Read more

(Credit: Sean Davis, Flickr Commons) I’m embarrassed to admit this, but I got lost in my own hometown last week. In my defense, the Nashville I grew up in and the Nashville I went back to visit are two almost completely different places. The skyline looks different, new restaurants have popped up all over the place, new people have popped up all over the place, and even the streets go slightly different places than they used to. Fortunately, my misadventures... Read more

There is, quite literally and quite unfortunately, a Bible for every occasion under the sun. Though I do believe that certain types of study Bibles can be very helpful, the special edition Bible phenomenon is both unnecessary and increasingly more ridiculous. Maybe you’re buying what they’re selling, but personally I’m not convinced whatsoever by the idea that a Bible for NASCAR fans will make NASCAR fans who don’t already read the Bible (or even those that do) anymore likely to read the Bible... Read more

(Credit: New York Magazine) Show me a person without insecurities and I’ll show you a liar. Whether you’re an artist or a teacher, a preacher or athlete, a business tycoon or world-famous musician, we have all things we’re insecure about, even if we’re not willing to admit to them publicly. Like every other writer that’s ever lived, I can become incredibly insecure about sharing my thoughts with the world. The mere prospect of criticism of something I put some much time and so much of... Read more