By: Richard Rhoads on February 23, 2014
With the United States having 50 independent primarily self governing States, you would assume that many have similar laws. Yet, for many states within the union, old bizarre laws still remain on the books. Here’s a few which may provide some laughter or in some cases, tears. In Ohio, it is unlawful for a…
By: Garrick Roegner on February 22, 2014
A few years ago, my church was picketed within the span of a month by both anti-gay protestors and pro-gay protestors. Our church members kindly offered both groups free coffee. We are currently, at least in the USA, and probably in the wider evangelical global church, caught up in a debate over sexuality. It has…
By: Becky Stanley on February 22, 2014
When a child is conceived the first inquiry often is not whether it he or she is healthy but whether the tiny human is a male or a female. And it is the sex of the child that goes on to define an individual’s primary identity. Society by and large continues to live by the…
By: Fred Fay on February 20, 2014
Last week I had a coffee appointment with a man named Dave. I had totally forgotten who he was and why we were to meet. He reminded me that he sent me a book to read. I remember receiving it but had not been able to read it yet. This was awkward. I forgot who…
By: Sandy Bils on February 20, 2014
Last week the Oscar-winning actress Ellen Page was trending in all news and social media channels. At the Human Right Campaigns– conference “Time to thrive” she came out as a lesbian. The youtube video was seen by over 4.000.000 viewers after just one week. (here is the full text of the speech) I don’t want…
By: Sharenda Roam on February 20, 2014
Adrian Thatcher, in his book “God, Sex and Gender: An Introduction,” approaches the topics of sexuality and gender from a theological approach while Andrew Marin, in his book “Love is an Orientation: Elevating the Conversation with the Gay Community,” takes a personal look at the GLBT community and its relationship to contemporary Christians. Thatcher discusses…
By: Chris Ellis on February 20, 2014
Today’s theme music is brought to you by Salt-N-Pepper. Our D.Min. cohort has finally gotten to one of the most challenging and divisive topics for contemporary Christians: sexuality (specifically homosexuality). Our assigned texts were God, Sex and Gender: An Introduction by Adrian Thatcher and Love is an Orientation by Andrew Marin. Thatcher lays out an…
By: David Toth on February 20, 2014
Real theology can be real messy. A few days ago I traveled from Kyiv, Ukraine to Odessa, Ukraine by van with three others. We drove for over nine hours in fog, sometimes so dense that it was really difficult to see the white line in the road in the middle of the afternoon! Since I…
By: Sam Stephens on February 20, 2014
I must confess that my readings on the subject of sexuality and particularly that of same-sex orientation has been very limited. The two books I read this week God, Sex, and Gender: An Introduction by Thatcher and Love is an Orientation: Elevating the Conversation with the Gay Community Marin would be a rather unusual collection…
By: Phil Smart on February 19, 2014
In spite of the fact that I had to hide my God, Sex and Gender book by Adrian Thatcher within a newspaper while at church (the cover was a little risqué for some of my conservative friends),I found it fascinating and indicative of the prevailing shift in position among many evangelicals. My assumption is that…
By: Mark Steele on February 16, 2014
Stephen Garner in his chapter Theology and the new media, shares his thoughts about developing and reflecting about a theology of technology and the internet. Garner challenges his audience to expand theology from just talking about religion to reflecting about the internet from the Christian tradition p. 252. He further expounds upon three areas to…
By: Sandy Bils on February 16, 2014
In previous posts I already addressed the issue of social media in the daily life of our churches (e.g. here and here). In one of the articles we read this week, the author Stephen Garner enfolded the more underlying and fundamental topic of theology and internet in general. Garner approaches the discussion by defining theology…
By: David Toth on February 15, 2014
Just before leaving the house my wife reminded me that I should steer clear of Independence Square. So much for wifely advice. Not that I do not take her words seriously, she has a tendency to allow her protectionist and motherly instincts take over if there is even a hint of threat. I was in…
By: Sam Stephens on February 14, 2014
This blog is written and posted from Goerlitz/Zgorzelec one of the most beautiful and well preserved European cities I have been in, bordering Germany and Poland with the river Neisse separating the two. On the banks of this river rise two tall steeples of St. Peter’s and Paul’s Church, construction of which dates back to…
By: Fred Fay on February 14, 2014
Interacting with popular culture as a Christian has been an interesting journey. In the church of my youth we couldn’t dance, drink alcohol or go to movies and a few other abominations. We looked at pop culture with suspicion. When I was in middle school a friend asked if I had heard the song “I’m…
By: Richard Rhoads on February 13, 2014
This past week a good friend of Naomi and I lost their mom to cancer. In preparation to go to Costa Rica for a wedding, she wanted to have some upper chest issues looked at by her family Dr.. From that first appointment, hospitalization and diagnosis till today, it has been less than a month. …
By: Phil Smart on February 13, 2014
A new sermon series on the Holy Spirit began last weekend called “Catching Fire…Every revolution begins with a spark,” based on the Hunger Games books and movies. The pastor briefly summarized the movie and how one person can infect a whole population and in this case, create a revolution. He went on to discuss how…
By: Sharenda Roam on February 13, 2014
Our readings this week consist of several writings examining the topics of popular culture, technology, media, theology, and religion. One aspect I found intriguing was the study of how popular culture affects religion, and specifically Christianity in the United States. Forbes and Mahan, in their book Religion and Popular Culture in America ask the following…
By: Chris Ellis on February 13, 2014
I’ll be the first to admit that I’m skeptical of an online church, which is one reason I’ve chosen to reflect on Tim Hutchings article entitled Online Christian Churches: Three Case Studies. I’m skeptical because I really do believe in church. I believe that we’re better together than we are apart. I believe that the…
By: Garrick Roegner on February 13, 2014
My cell is ringing No ID I need to know who’s calling My garden’s overgrown I go out on my belly crawling I got CCTV, pornography, CNBC I got the nightly news To get to know the enemy -U2, Fast Cars This week as a D.Min cohort we have been pondering the intersection of theology,…
