Diana Butler Bass, author of Christianity After Religion (my review), recently wrote a piece about hope in the fall 2012 edition of Reflections, a magazine of theological and ethical inquiry produced by Yale Divinity School. She writes: I wonder if hope and courage will join hands to forge a new sense of the common good. But hope comes not through political campaigns. Rather, lasting hope will spring from a rebirth of courage in faith communities, when God’s people prophetically act Read More …
Celebrating 2 Years of Daily Blogging (#0885)
Today I celebrate two years of daily blogging. Amazingly, I have now written at least one post every day for the last two years. A year ago I reflected on my first 365 days. This year, I opt for an approach that is more celebrative than reflective. I celebrate Friendships - those that have emerged or developed as a result of my writing Learning - the ongoing opportunity to be a lifelong learner (and to relate what I am learning in community -- see friendships above) Read More …
Student Loans in Younger Households (#0884)
The Pew Research Center recently featured an article highlighting the overall trends over time in the percentage of households with outstanding student debt. By reporting on the percentages by the age of the head of household over time, the graph provides a picture that illustrates how the experience of possessing student debt has become increasingly normative in younger households. More specifically, from 1989-2010 the percentage of households in the youngest two age cohorts Read More …
Review Of Jesus: A Theography (#0883)
Meet the Authors Leonard Sweet, E. Stanley Jones professor of evangelism at Drew University and visiting distinguished professor of Evangelism at George Fox University, was voted one of the 50 Most Influential Christians in America, and continues to write and speak prophetically about the church. An ordained United Methodist pastor, Sweet has authored over 20 books (read my reviews: Viral: How Social Networking is Poised to Ignite Revival - 2012, I Am a Follower: The Way, Read More …
Cultivating Community (#0882)
I spent the past week in Orlando, FL learning about online education. As a part of that experience, I attended (along with 1500+ in Orlando and 1200+ virtual attendees) the 18th Annual Sloan Consortium International Conference on Online Learning. The Sloan conference offered hundreds of formal learning opportunities alongside several scheduled networking events. While I was in the minority as a first time attendee, I had no trouble finding my way into any and all of Read More …
Religious Athletes (#0881)
According to recent research by Grey Matter Research & Consulting "relatively few Americans react negatively to the frequent intersection between professional sports and religion." The study considered seven different types of religious expression: Athletes from opposing teams gathering together on the field or court after a game for prayer, Athletes speaking up about their faith in interviews after the game, Athletes speaking up about their faith in interviews after the Read More …
Misusing Statistics (#0880)
Ed Stetzer, President of LifeWay Research, recently blogged about findings of research his organization conducted on how pastors use statistics in their ministries. The findings are based on a phone survey of over 1,000 pastors in late 2009. When these clergy were asked if Christians frequently misuse statistics to fit their own agenda, the vast majority (66%) responded affirmatively. Stop and think about this statistic about the use of statistics. According to Read More …
An Honesty Experiment (#0879)
Are certain groups of people more honest than other groups? Honest Tea sought to answer that question via a 30 city experiment designed to test people's honesty. They sold their drinks at the price of $1 per bottle at unmanned pop-up stores then published the results as the National Honesty Index. The interactive National Honesty website allows users to view information about and compare different groups. For example, the image at right appeared when I Read More …
Implied Messages (#0878)
Jim Palmer is the author of three books, including Being Jesus in Nashville (2012). Recognizing the wisdom of Marshall McLuhan's idea that the medium is the message, he recently constructed a list of ten implied messages given by the institutional church. Church is a place, a location, a building. Christianity happens in services, classes, meetings, events, and programs. What people need most is good information about God. "God’s work” needs organizational or corporate Read More …
What is Freedom? (#0877)
Roger Olson, professor of theology at Baylor University’s George W. Truett Theological Seminary, wrote an article in the October 2012 edition of Christianity Today exploring how different the popular American view of freedom is from the biblical view (p.35-38). No truth is more pervasive in Scripture and Christian tradition than this one – that real freedom is found in obedience and servanthood. And yet no truth is more incongruous with modern culture. Here we stand before a stark Read More …