Christian Piatt's Blog, page 19

When love with limits isn’t love at all: thoughts on exclusion in a time for inclusion

While I’m hard working on following Jesus – My Jesus Project - I’ve invited my friend Adam Phillips to share his most recent Sojourners article. Adam is a new church planter for an Evangelical Covenant church in Portland. However, when they were questioned by their denomination about being welcoming of LGBTQ people, it was suggested [Read More...]

Day Two of My Jesus Project: Are We Done Yet?

First, the good news: After four months of preparation, I have officially started my year-long quest to more seriously understand what it means to follow Jesus, AKA “My Jesus Project.” And now the bad news: After today, I still have 363 days left of this. Turns out, Jesus stuff is hard. It’s not even that I’ve [Read More...]

Charlie Hebdo: Comedy as an Act of Courage

I love Jon Stewart. I mean, like “maybe jump the fence” love him. His presence on The Daily Show has spoken to and with my generation through some of our most formative years. And yes, he tells fart jokes (which I also love). And yes, he editorializes, (which is nearly ubiquitous in “legitimate news” streams [Read More...]

Ryan Bell: Adventist to Atheist…Really?

Seventh Day Adventist pastor Ryan Bell spent a year intentionally living as an atheist and came out on the other side (surprise!) as a nonbeliever. But on further inspection, is he really a tried and true atheist? What Bell says he has let go of is the certainty required by his previous religious affiliation, and [Read More...]

Why Christians Should Support the “Satanic” Statue in Oklahoma

Oklahoma may seem an unlikely place for what has been called a satanic sculpture to be installed on government property. In fact, there may be no better place for it. Considered by many to be the buckle in the proverbial Bible Belt, the Statehouse in Oklahoma City has boasted a sculpture of the Ten Commandments, [Read More...]

25 Christian Blogs You Should Be Reading (2014 Readers’ Choice)

Welcome to the annual “Blogs you should be reading” blog!  If your New Year’s resolution is to search out relevant, interesting, and challenging blogs, you are in the right place! There’s such a thing as too much of a good thing sometimes.  And though there are so many more bloggers worth following who aren’t on this [Read More...]

AJ Jacobs, Sony, Summer Camps & Semi-Nude Skyping

After a, um, hiatus of sorts Christian, Amy, and Andy are back to talk about all things important… like summer camp for asthmatics, Beer and Hymns protests, and semi-nude Skype conversations. This episode’s interview is with A.J. Jacobs – author, journalist, lecturer and human guinea pig. He has written four New York Times bestsellers, including The Year of Living Biblically. [Read More...]

Five Ways I Suck at Following Jesus #MyJesusProject

As you may know by now, I’m starting a new project (ramping up now, starting in earnest in February) in which I try for a year to really, seriously understand what it means to follow Jesus in western, post-industrial 21st century society. What does that look like? Do any of us actually do it? And [Read More...]

My Seizure Diagnosis: Is there a Pony in this Shitpile?

I was sitting on the couch, working on an article on the morning of December 4th when the first one hit. I was consumed with a surreal sense of Deja Vu, followed by a dreadful sort of panic that insisted, in my mind, that whatever was in front of me at the moment was the [Read More...]

Dear America: We’re Not Losing to Cuba

The end of a five-decades-long embargo against Cuba has people buzzing. some are excited to be able to visit finally, and maybe bring back a few cigars and a bottle of Cuban rum. Others, like Congressman Marco Rubio, are incensed, or are at least pretending to be as a matter of political expedience. The biggest [Read More...]