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Thoughts and open discussion about spirituality, nature, faith, science, food, atheism, Christianity and life.
Recent Posts Tagged With 'God'
Forgiving Blues
I love the blues. 17 years ago I bought a double CD - Alligator Record’s 20th Anniversary Collection - and it was, as expected, superb. On that album I was introduced to a wonderful trio of ladi...
The Danger of Attracting the Wrong Kinds of People
I once belonged to a small church and (possessing no musical talent whatsoever) took on a supporting role in our music ministry. Part of this ministry involved the promotion of a concert series using ...
Naked Faith
“I don’t understand what all the fuss is about,” said a spokesman for the Gan Eden or Garden of Eden group. “We are just a group of Christians and we want to hold a church serv...
Atheists Take On U.S. Prayer Warriors
“The Freedom from Religion Foundation filed a claim last week that President Bush in conjunction with the Evangelical based Focus on the Family group who runs the National Day of Prayer Task For...
Different Visions of the Cross
“A Meal, Not a Theory”
We’ve been talking about the crucifixion of Jesus and what it means. In his book on atonement, Saved From Sacrifice, Mark Heim quotes Gil Bailie, Professor of Comparative Literature at Princeto...
Dead Jewish Comedian Preaches on Atonement
Driving home from the beach yesterday we were listening to one of the comedy channels on XM Radio, Laugh USA (it’s the only one that is without raunchy profanity). One of the shorter segments wa...
Dateline Rome: Caesar Sends New Governor to Juneau with Orders to Crack Down on Pesky Community Organizer
Tennessee Democratic Representative Steve Cohen said on the House floor the other day; “If you want change, you want the Democratic Party. Barack Obama was a community organizer like Jesus, who our ...
Outta This World
Overheard during choir practice: “As long as you continue to sin by playing in that rock band you cannot sing in the choir. It’s your choice, not ours.” Overheard in church on any S...
“Oh. Is That All?”
“A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” “As wel...
American Idol
Over the past week or so I’ve received a bunch of e-mails like the one above. Sorry guys, but I go right for the delete key. My question is; what’s all the commotion about? This quasi-reli...
Mythologizing Christ
Is there a tendency for Christians to turn Jesus into a mythological hero in the same way the we have made myths out of other beloved historical figures, like George Washington, Abraham Lincoln and Da...
Physician Heal Thy Self: The Imperfect Saviour
There once was a great physician who specialized in treating one specific and very deadly disease. Leaving the big city behind, the good doctor and her entourage headed for the rural coast, where man...
Roberta Bondi’s Nightmare
In his book on atonement theology, “Saved from Sacrifice”, Mark Heim tells us of a dream that Roberta Bondi once had: I dreamed I was with Richard in my great-aunt Blacky’s farmhou...
Too Late For Murdered Girl, Saudis Warn of the “Dangers of Christian Internet Websites “
This horrifying story is from yesterday’s issue of the Gulf News. What is so scary is that this sadistic monster was not just some isolated one-off religious kook with angels whispering in his ...
Salvation Is Not By Faith Alone
In Matthew’s Gospel account, Jesus gives us a couple of examples of what it takes to be ‘damned’. In chapter 18 he tells us about a servant who is forgiven an astronomical debt by hi...
Evolving Christians: Is Darwin Really the Enemy of Faith?
Concerning God and Evolution, there seems to be 5 primary positions;: 1. Atheists who feel that Evolution thoroughly disproves the existence of God 2. Atheist/agnostics who feel that Evolution has no ...
Remember Hiroshima: August 6th, 1945
I almost didn’t. On this day in 1945, 45,000 people died in the single bomb explosion at Hiroshima with 19,000 more dying over the next 4 month. At Nagasaki, just three days later on August 9...
Off Tract
Handing out tracts; a time honored Christian tradition. This is how a lot of people first come into contact with Christianity and Christians. I remember being handed a very similar, if not the same t...
Have You Heard This One? A Lesbian, a Playboy and a Biker Walk Into a Bible Study….
You just gotta love British television. They’ve come up with a new ‘reality’ TV show called Make Me a Christian in which we watch people of disparate backgrounds resist the conversi...
10 Answers to the Question: Is the Church Still Relevant?
Chad, over on Blooming in Bullock reminded me of a little exercise that Brian McLaren tells of in one of his books. Brian asked two questions of a group of young people and Chad recently asked the sa...
Benny Hinn’s Holy Lotto
Just when you think you’ve heard it all, the world’s leading prosperity guru sets a new record for audacity. According to South Africa’s News 24, at a “Miracle Crusade” ...
Faith Based Boondoggle
Last week the Reverend Jessie Jackson made headlines by uttering an epithet under his breath that was not very reverent. He was near a microphone, and not realizing that it was ‘hot’, made...
Street Corner Babble
One of my closest friends called me the other day. He and his wife moved to Nashville about 6 or 7 years ago so we rarely get to see each other. We only talk on the phone about once a month, but each ...
Written on the Heart: Some Thoughts on the Law
Rather than share my thoughts on law I figured it might be better to ponder the words of some other, more learned, people. I like these quotes because most of them seem to hint at what Jesus meant ab...
God Hates You
“George Bush hates the environment.” “Obama is anti-American.” “John McCain is a warmonger.” “Hillary is a control freak.” “Bill Clinton has no morals.” “Reagan only cared about ...
Surface Tension
Far away, in a distant galaxy, the small blue watery planet called Thera revolved slowly around its sun, the white star Deios. Beneath the endless seas of Thera thrived an intelligent race of aquatic...
The Dude Meets Iron John and the Duke
There’s been a fair amount of discussion going on recently about Church; what it means, what it should mean, is it valid and is it even relevant. Both Buddy and Brent have some very thoughtful ...
Curtains
“No, I’m telling you this is the last show. When the curtain comes down tonight that’ll be it. Kaput. Finito. Finished.” Victor was dabbing rouge onto his powdered cheeks. He ...
Children With Special Names
A woman in church today stood up and suggested that we recognize, by naming them aloud, those members who had served the community in various ways. At one point she experienced a slip of the tongue, m...