You probably didn’t notice, but just in case you did- (or, in the extremely likely chance this blog GOES VIRAL AND PEOPLE I WILL NEVER MEET SPEND SOMEWHERE IN THE BALLPARK OF 1 MINUTE SKIMMING ITS CONTENTS WHILE WAITING IN LINE AT A…
Trendy? Maybe, but the church needs more of it
By Amy Butler I am, in general, a bigger fan of starting trends than following them. Which is why, when I read about Ashes on the Go last year in the Washington Post, I firmly told myself there was no…
‘Son of God’ fails as movie
By Michael Parnell Movie-going is a subjective experience. A movie plays on different levels with different people. Each viewer has an experience unlike others who also see it. My church took a group to see Son of God this past…
You mean they weren’t so bad after all?
A recent cover story on Christianity Today tells of the groundbreaking research of Dr. Robert Woodberry. Dr. Woodberry has done a thorough examination of the economic and political realities of a number of formerly colonially-controlled modern nations and sought an…
Get off my Back, Leonard Sweet, I am trying to get some work done here!
Play? How dare my friend, Len Sweet, suggest I interrupt my lifelong commitment to workaholism and please God with play. I’m too busy working for God to play with God. Fortunately that is exactly what Len Sweet does for me…
Blurry vision and how we got here: The ex-SBC, part II
By David Gushee Follow David on twitter: @dpgushee Given the wide conversation sparked by my last column, about the lack of theological clarity and identity found in that slice of the U. S. Christian community that became ex-Southern Baptist, I…
The beauty of Ash Wednesday (and Lent)
By Jeff Harris Ash Wednesday is one of my favorite days of the year. I realize this may sound odd, as I usually prefer feast days to fast days (feel free to insert joke about Baptist preachers and fried chicken…
Finding ourselves
By Molly T. Marshall Have you succumbed to discovering which state you really belong in, what literary character you are, which biblical heroine or hero you are, or whether you live upstairs or downstairs in Downton Abbey? (I am Lady…
Taking aim at the bull’s-eye of religious experience
By Joseph Phelps There is something so obviously amiss with the Kentucky Baptist Convention’s gun-giveaway evangelism that it may not require commentary. But ecclesial silence might be confused with complicity. Someone needs to state the obvious. What most offends some…
Top 10 Things that Show You are Not taking Lent Seriously
In commemoration of the Lenten season, a top ten list of things that show you just aren’t taking Lent seriously. 10. You think Ash Wednesday is kind of like “Downtown after Five,” only on Wednesday and only once a year….
A sacred moment in a hair salon
By Gary Cook Thai Le Nugyen is my first really good friend who is Vietnamese, and she is my first really good friend who is Catholic in her faith. I had an uncle who married a young Pennsylvania Dutch woman….
How churches discover world-changing breakthroughs
By John Chandler In last fall’s technology issue of The Atlantic, James Fallows reported the findings of a panel of experts assembled to describe the 50 greatest breakthroughs since the wheel. These historians, entrepreneurs and tech strategists came up with…