Category Archives: Miscellany

Miscellany

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Happy Thanksgiving! I hope you’re able to enjoy at least part of the day with family and/or friends, and maybe even catch a little football along the way.

Continuing my now ongoing series of things I really want to do but most likely never will, here is another video for viewing pleasure:

1. This post seems fitting for the day. Everything you wanted to know about the history of margarine vs. butter in this country.

2. Felix Salmon talks about how to kill a city’s mojo with parking lots, while Andrew Sullivan discusses how highways can do the same.

3. Bruce Reyes-Chow delves into the radical Jesus bubble in contemporary Christianity.

Miscellany

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I want to do this so badly…

1. I almost laughed as I read this. It seems the article could be summed up as “Talk to gay people like you do everyone else, because they are like everyone else.” I realize that not everybody has spent much time around someone who is gay, and that many people have been told that gay people are somehow evil and icky, so this is a pertinent message. I also realize not everyone has had bosses who are gay, spent time with people in long-term same-sex relationships (even marriages), or watched them lovingly parent beautiful little girls. It’s good for me to realize that, because it’s really easy to forget here in the Bay Area.

2. I pass this along both because it touches beautifully on the heart of the forgiveness Jesus calls us to exhibit to all, and because I’ve met Jeremy and he’s a really nice guy.

3. An intriguing post. I don’t know the science behind this really at all, but I do know that there are times Reggie will do something he clearly knows he isn’t supposed to and will show it in his body language before Kate or I can even say anything. He has this hunkered down quick slink away that only gets used when he’s willfully disobeying us.

Miscellany

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1. John Stackhouse addresses the the topic of expertise and authority in this answer to a reader question. He makes a great point about understanding what type of question we’re asking, so we can then know what kind of knowledge is needed to answer it. How different would our discourse be if we took these points to heart?

2. Brian McLaren continues the talk about thinking through our questions in this response to a reader question.

3. Tracy Howe Wispelwey thinks through the implications of the music we use in worship (h/t BM).

Miscellany

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Credit Wikimedia Commons

This is a regular post I’mgoing to start doing as a way to bring together links to posts and articles that I think should be read, but I don’t have the time or feel the need to add to. I may add a short comment with my thoughts, but I’ll mostly just set it up and let you enjoy. So here are today’s:

1. Rachel Held Evans discusses biblical complementarianism, but even more, she discusses scriptural interpretation. I can’t tell you how maddening and offensive it is when someone who disagrees with me about theology or faith tells me I don’t take the Bible seriously, or that I pick and choose just to prove my points. My personal favorite though, is when I’m told I don’t love Jesus enough. That one just makes me laugh. So Rachel’s point that we need to give each other the benefit of the doubt and extend mutual respect is instructive. (h/t TF&F)

2. Mike King talks about why working with youth isn’t just a stepping stone to greater things, but fundamentally important to the life of the church.

3. Mark Lynch uses political science to discuss Jay-Z’s hip-hop hegemony.