Some interesting food for thought, no matter where you fall on the religious spectrum:
What the Bible Got Wrong at Jesus Needs New PR
“What does a chart like this make you feel? Anger? Doubt? Frustration? Confusion? Does it challenge your faith? Were you aware of these “errors”? How should Christians respond?”
The comments on this post are as fascinating as the post itself.
Medium: Cool by Brett McCracken
I always find Brett’s analysis of the Christian hipster culture fascinating, especially because it often sounds like he is describing my very church. I share his concerns.
“Can we embody that selfless, humble, transcendent Gospel of Christ when we look the part of a self-focused, vain, trendy hipster?I think we need to deal with this dissonance, and confront the implications of cool head on. I think we need to redefine cool in terms that aren’t as much about consuming the right sorts of things or having privileged knowledge of what is or isn’t fashionable, as much as about the things that are truly attractive and appealing about our faith.”
God Loves Jay Bakker at NY Times
“Tonight’s message—that religion is divisive, a bane rather than a balm—is one that Bakker, the fallen scion of American’s most infamous Christian family, knows his way around. But Bakker isn’t thinking about himself right now. He’s thinking about the country seething over the “ground-zero mosque,” about the umpteenth round of Middle East peace talks, about the soldiers who are finally returning from a war in Iraq that’s been considered an American crusade . . .”
Not knowing what to do about good friends who are raising punk kids. by Stuff Christians Like
(And by punk, he means brats. Not fans of Social Distortion. Because THAT would be really bad parenting. *cough*)
Christmas: Thinking about Whose Birthday It Is by Anne at A Holy Experience
“It’s been over ten years of nothing under the Christmas tree here. Strange, the way children teach men. . . .”
Are Short-Term Mission Trips the Answer? by Heather Hendricks
A few years ago, if you would have asked us, “Can mission trips be a bad thing?” our church-going, party-line answer would have been, “No. Never ever. Mission trip, good. Grunt. Grunt.” We may have even talked about what a jerk you were to raise such a ridiculous question. Now, we’re always a little leery of people who are threatened by questions, and our thoughts on mission trips have morphed a bit.
