Passage for Reflection: Proverbs 1:1-7 Happy New Year! I imagine that you’ve heard that greeting numerous times over the last few days. I, on the other hand, have been hearing it for months. The fiscal new year for the faith-based non-profit organization I serve started in November. Happy New Year! The church new year started with Advent. Happy New Year! And, yesterday the calendar year started. Happy New Year! Starting a new year opens people to prayerfully pondering new possibilities. Read More …
God
Thinking Theologically: Exploring 5 Tweets (#1931)
I've been tweeting as @SoWhatFaith since 2009. In 2021, the majority of my tweets have been quotes from new books. Interestingly, according to Twitter's built in analytics, my top tweets this year consist of four such tweets alongside one I wrote in response to a very difficult day. I invite you to read these five tweets, and select one to explore in greater depth. Carry the words of that tweet with you for a few days, then share your reflections. Brian McLaren. "Eventually, I came to Read More …
Americans Pray For (#1480)
Results of a new LifeWay survey suggest that Americans tend to focus their prayers on themselves and close family and friends rather than the well being of the world or people or causes that are beyond their immediate influence. More specifically, when given the opportunity to select as many things from a list as they wished, participants indicated they prayed most for family or friends - 82%, own problems and difficulties - 74%, good things that have recently occurred - 54%, Read More …
God’s Role in the Super Bowl (#1309)
According to a new survey, more than half of all Americans believe God has a role to play in this year's Super Bowl. This number includes: Americans who pray for God to help their team (26 percent), think their team has been cursed (25 percent) or more generally believe God is involved in determining who wins on the court or in the field (19 percent). So What? During my adult life, I have watched at least part of every Super Bowl. My reasons for watching have varied: some years I Read More …
Review of What We Talk About When We Talk About God (#1043)
Meet the Author Rob Bell is the Founding Pastor and Pastor Emeritus of Mars Hill Bible Church (est. 1999), a congregation that grew to over 10,000 under his leadership. While attracting a young audience to the church, his message reached a far wider audience through a series of two dozen thought provoking brief (10-14 minutes per DVD) NOOMA videos (2002-2009). Bell's previous books include The New York Times bestseller Love Wins, along with Velvet Read More …
Super Stats (#0995)
Much has been written about the loss of productivity in offices around the country immediately following the Super Bowl. Rather than add to the conversation about the big game or the expensive commercials that aired during it, I offer statistics from two recent polls that suggest Americans bring together religion and sports in interesting ways. "Nearly 3-in-10 (27 percent) Americans believe that God plays a role in determining which team wins sports events" (Public Religion Research Read More …
Review of When God Talks Back (#0939)
Meet the Author T. M. Luhrmann is a psychological anthropologist and the Watkins University Professor in the Stanford Anthropology Department. Her books include Persuasions of the Witch’s Craft (1989), The Good Parsi (1996), Of Two Minds (2000), and When God Talks Back (2012). Luhrmann was elected as a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (2003) and awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship (2007). Book Basics T. M. Luhrmann grew up in an environment that Read More …
God Is (#0857)
Tripp Hudgins recently blogged about God. He writes: God is who God says God is. God is bigger than the craft that is religion. God is not what we do. Nor is God some Collective Self. God is more than we can contain in even our most imaginative moments. God is more than the people who have claimed God over the years. God is more and thus, when we want to know God we have to pull the Moses Hat out of our bag and ask the Almighty "Who do I tell them sent me?" God is a Who. This is Read More …
Unlearning God (#0850)
Jon Acuff recently blogged about his realization that "God is not who I thought he was," which has led him to new experiences of "unlearning God." So What? Our images of who God is develop over time. In honest exploration, it is often appropriate and helpful to unlearn or set aside some aspects of our prior understanding. What about God are you currently seeking to unlearn? Read More …
12 Marks of Convergence Christianity (#0814)
Eric Elnes, Senior Minister of Countryside Community Church (UCC) and host of Darkwood Brew, has recently written several blog posts on Convergence Christianity. His latest post features twelve defining characteristics, which are evenly divided into three categories: Love of God, Love of Neighbor, and Love of Self. Elnes attributes resonate with others, including Brian McLaren, Phyllis Tickle, Frank Schaeffer, and Diana Butler Bass. Love of God They are letting go Read More …