Anyone who knows a few pastors probably knows someone who has struggled with burnout. Ministry always has been an atypical job with lots of unique demands and stressors, but as reported in a Barna Research Group study discussed in a new article called "Why Pastors Leave the Ministry," it's a growing … Read more about Pastoral Burnout, Healing Spiritual Wounds and How To Hack an Election
PostChristian Piatt Fun!
Christian Piatt of the Homebrewed CultureCast was recently in SoCal to hang with Tripp Fuller and talk about his new book PostChristian: What's left? Can we fix? Do we care? They were joined by Bart Campolo, Peter Rollins and Benjamin Cory to talk about the implications of moving on. Imagine … Read more about PostChristian Piatt Fun!
Plug in ‘the Church’ as an experiment
An interesting way to expose the difference between two things is to take out the subject of great quote and replace it with something else to see if it still works. If your replacement X cannot work in place of the initial Y then you are forced to ask ‘why is this the case?’ Let me give you … Read more about Plug in ‘the Church’ as an experiment
TNT: S T U for the ABC’s of Theology
Micky and Callid join Bo to discuss Salvation, Theopoetics and Universalism for the ABC's of Theology. You can read the original posts here: S is for Salvation (Micky) T is for Theopoetics (Callid) U is for Universalism (Bo) You can follow the rest of series here … Read more about TNT: S T U for the ABC’s of Theology
Jonathan Merritt, Bagel Thins, and Social Media No-Nos
Well, the crew is back together in sunny Oregon after various trips to the east coast. They pick up right where they left off. Christian complains about Bagel Thins (“They’re really just less convenient bread…) and the ridiculous economics of eggs. Andy shares the ethics of his becoming a … Read more about Jonathan Merritt, Bagel Thins, and Social Media No-Nos
TNT: Jesus & Bible Movies
In this throw-down Bo chats with Micky, Callid, Pete Rollins and Tripp about all of the Jesus and Bible themed movies and what they mean to our culture. Earlier, Bo had blogged some thoughts about this whole issue. Now the gang chimes in. The Theology Nerd Throwdown is excited to welcome … Read more about TNT: Jesus & Bible Movies
Jesus (movies) On My Mind
I have Jesus on my mind a lot these days. The 'Son of God' movie was released last weekend. I was semi-interested in the conversation surrounding its release but with a trip to the East coast for family stuff and being off the internet most of time, I watched it all from a distance. The … Read more about Jesus (movies) On My Mind
A ‘Kind’ of Conservatism
Three encounters in the past month have opened my eyes to a ‘kind’ of conservatism that I am suspicious I was not hip to previously. In the heated spectrum-thinking cultural climate that exists today, it is easy to get distracted by the exaggerated and inflammatory. What is more difficult to … Read more about A ‘Kind’ of Conservatism
The Limits of Labels
I have insomnia tonight - a rare occasion these days. I’m not in the mood to read any more about the use of Gadamer’s hermeneutical circle in Practical Theology so I brewed some coffee and revisited some of the online happenings from the past couple of months. I found 3 pairs of things that I … Read more about The Limits of Labels
Leaving Behind The ‘Liberal’ Label
Once is an incident. Twice is a trend. Three times is a pattern. This the now the 3rd time this thing idea about shying away from the label 'liberal' has come up. I heard it for the first time almost 10 years ago: "Emergents are just cool liberals". This came from conservative, evangelical … Read more about Leaving Behind The ‘Liberal’ Label
When God Is Too Powerful
A dear friend of mine is in her final semester of a psychology degree. Somehow Martin Buber came up. The famous work of the Jewish thinker - “I and Thou” - is such a powerful idea from the early 20th century that is resonates in both psychology and theology. Keith Ward explains in God: a … Read more about When God Is Too Powerful
Call In Challenge: the Church & the World
On the most recent TNT, Bo threw out a theory that the dichotomy between 'Church & World' doesn't work well anymore. Part of the thought came from the book Rethinking Christ and Culture: A Post-Christendom Perspective by Craig A. Carter which revisits Niebuhr's influential 1951 work "Christ … Read more about Call In Challenge: the Church & the World