Tag Archives: religion
I Want to Know Your Story, Just Not Like This
Photo credit: flickr/mojoey
As Christians we started with the fish. Something simple. Something intended to let people know that we were, indeed, Christians. No words were necessary, it was as simple as carrying a Bible around. We just wanted people to know.
Then it grew. The popularity of catchy bumper stickers became extreme.
[TELEGRAM] Combat as an Acquired Taste
Judgment: The Generous and Scandalous Message of Christ
Photo Credit: flickr/andhong09
Christian pastor Rob Bell just released a harmless video promoting his upcoming book. In that short clip, he simply asked the question: are we really sure about who’s in and who’s out when it comes to heaven and hell? The neo-reformed Christians didn’t enjoy the video one bit. Now an important dispute has reignited over the theology (and application) of God’s judgment and hell.
The Strange American Reaction to the Egyptian Uprising
Photo Credit: HBO.com
It took just 18 days of protest to overthrow a cruel dictator of 30 years in Egypt. And with that, 3 out of 4 recent uprisings in the Middle East and Asia have been successful so far. But you wouldn’t know it if you listened to certain segments of the American public. These pro-democratic movements (now spreading to Bahrain, Libya, Yemen, Algeria, and further south to the African country of Djibouti) have been met with concern over here. When did hope get the reputation for being naivety in disguise?
What Uprisings in the Middle East and Asia Suggest About Muslims…and Everyone Else
If you follow the news then you know that Egypt is in the midst of a revolution. Don’t be alarmed if you’re experiencing deja-vu. The unrest is something the whole world has witnessed recently in Tunisia, Kyrgyzstan and Iran. What are the goals? And what do these movements say about Muslims and the rest of us?
There Must Be Something More Than Our Worldview
You and I both know that we’ve been shaped by our unique experiences. That we have a worldview is inevitable, and of no inherent concern. It seems to me that a worldview only becomes a threat when we insist that it be universal, and then seek to enforce it on a larger scale.
[TELEGRAM] Haunt Me, Please
Jesus Came For The Broken
My daughter has two frogs that share a little tank. We feed these guys twice a week by dropping four pellets through a hole in their plastic roof. The idea is that they’ll play nice and only take two pellets for themselves, while letting the other two float on. The frogs were the same size when my wife and daughter brought them home six months ago. But over time, one of them has gone to the dark side. He bites the other frog once the pellets hit the water. He lunges violently at the pellets, and ends up snatching most of them before the other one can even try. As a result, he’s a huge froggish beefcake, while the smaller one is wasting away and has also lost a hand (we think the beefcake ate that too). Keep reading →
Pastors As People: Serving and Suffering
Pastor Eugene Cho wrote a fantastic post about the very measurable struggles of being a pastor. Did you know that pastors are experiencing depression, infidelity, divorce and financial hardship at alarming rates? I had no idea. Here are some of the statistics from his post:
If God Searches Our Hearts and Motives, Shouldn’t We?
The book of Proverbs says that “All the ways of a man are clean in his own sight, but the Lord weighs the motives.” In several places throughout Scripture, God examines the hearts and motives of people, often testing them to see where they really stand. Why does He bother? Is he just bored and intrusive? No, I believe God is serious about what really counts, and He’s smart enough to know that appearances can be deceptive while actions can be done with less than noble intentions. But what happens on the inside reveals our true character. So if God weighs our motivations and the condition of our heart, shouldn’t we also? Scripture is pretty clear on this. Yet those of us who study the teachings of Scripture are often the very people to fall into the trap of self-certainty.
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Ian Ebright on [TELEGRAM] When A Parent Dies, and You’re Next in Line
Provender on Mars Hill Seattle, and the Problem of Insulated Churches
Max Andrew Dubinsky on [TELEGRAM] When A Parent Dies, and You’re Next in Line
Taaaaaa on [TELEGRAM] When A Parent Dies, and You’re Next in Line