Meet the Author Paul H. Jones is Professor of Religion at Transylvania University in Lexington, KY. An ordained minister in the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), Jones has written two books: Christ's Eucharistic Presence: A History of the Doctrine (1994) and The Church's Seven Deadly Secrets (2013), and has co-authored two additional texts: The Structure of Religion: Judaism and Christianity (2005) and 500 Illustrations: Stories from Life for Read More …
Affordable Apartments? (#1045)
The National Income Housing Coalition (NIHC) finds a minimum-wage earner with a full-time job can’t afford a two-bedroom apartment in any state in the U.S. This reality is based on rent costs determined by the HUD estimated Fair Market Rent (FMR), and a household budget that allocates no more than 30% of income (of one minimum-wage earner) on housing costs. The group produced a list of just how expensive a two bedroom apartment rental is in each state based Read More …
Seminaries Lack Faculty Diversity (#1044)
While the topic of reforming the seminary experience has been popular for many years (for ideas forwarded by many leaders check out the Future of Seminary Education), it is atypical for such conversations to include expectations for faculty diversity. Even though I would have guessed this was an area in which improvement could be made, I was surprised by the latest statistics. Claudio Carvalhaes recently shared that the Association of Theological Schools reported the 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 …
Still Signing Off Your E-mails? (#1042)
Matthew Maladay recently suggested the time has come to kill off the e-mail signoff. After twenty years of using e-mail, Maladay has decided to end the practice of concluding his notes with a signoff. While sharing his own preferred signoff for many years, "my very best," may have been misunderstood by many recipients of his note, his focus is on how the practice is outdated and unhelpful. As a holdover from an earlier era when notes were written with paper and pen, it is both more Read More …
Which Parent Does More? (#1041)
The Pew Research Center recently released the "Modern Parenthood Report," which reveals the results of their latest polling that asks married and cohabiting parents with children under 18 to compare their workload at home with that of their spouses or partners. In an overview of the research, Kim Parker and Wendy Wang write: The way mothers and fathers spend their time has changed dramatically in the past half century. Dads are doing more housework and child care; moms more paid work Read More …
New $130 Million Church Campus (#1040)
First Baptist Church of Dallas is about to celebrate the opening of its new 500,000 square foot campus. The new facility cost $130 million, which is "believed to be the largest church building campaign in modern history." The celebrations will include: March 24 - lighting of the cross tower and fountain, March 31 (Easter) - grand opening, and April - a special guest or musician each Sunday as a way of celebrating God's faithfulness. The new campus is a "re-creation, Read More …
Facebook Personality Test (#1039)
You Are What You Like offers a free personality test. Rather than asking you a series of questions to determine your personality, the app analyzes your likes on Facebook. Curious to learn more, I authorized the app and received my report: So What? Provided you are yourself on Facebook rather than one who seeks to create an alternative or idealistic version of who you wish to be/become, the test is nearly impossible to fake unlike other types of personality tests that allow Read More …
Worship Swap (#1038)
Earlier this month, the Pew Research Center reported that data from the General Social Survey shows a role reversal in worship attendance when comparing Catholics and Protestants. More specifically: In 1974, Catholics were more likely than Protestants to report attending religious services at least once a week (47% vs. 29%). By 2012, the situation had reversed: Protestants overall were more likely than Catholics to say they attend church weekly or more often (38% vs. 24%). So Read More …
Real Taxation Levels (#1037)
Earlier this year the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy released the 4th edition of "Who Pays: A Distributional Analysis of the Tax Systems in All Fifty States." This report finds that "virtually every state’s tax system is fundamentally unfair, taking a much greater share of income from middle- and low-income families than from wealthy families" (Executive Summary, p.1). The image at right illustrates the regressive reality of the national averages for the percentage of Read More …