Christian Piatt's Blog, page 25

Is Christianity Keeping People Poor?

Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me.                         -Matthew 25:40 At the heart of the Christian Gospel is an unequivocal mandate to care for the poor, the marginalized and the disenfranchised. We are to be [Read More...]

Michael Brown, Iraq, Putin, Gaza: How to Reconcile the Brokenness?

A soon-to-be college-bound Michael Brown is shot by Missouri police, reportedly while holding his hands above himself in surrender, and while unarmed. The resulting protests turn violent, leading ultimately to police setting up barricades, complete with snipers, tear gas and flash grenades. Local stores are decimated and scores are injured in the resulting tensions. Not [Read More...]

Five Reasons post-Christianity is Good for Us

Anyone who has been paying attention knows that Christianity is in decline in the western world by all accounts. From progressive mainline churches to evangelical mega-churches, most institutional religious bodies are experiencing precipitous drops in attendance and giving. Meanwhile, the Christian voice in the civil and political conversations is also giving way to other perspectives, [Read More...]

God Isn’t Punishing Mark Driscoll

This week has been a rough one for Mark Driscoll, pastor of Mars Hill Church in Seattle. Following one scandal after another, the Acts 29 Network – which he helped found – removed his standing and his church’s standing within the network. They also encouraged him to step down as the leader of Mars Hill. [Read More...]

postChristian: The Foreword

Following is the foreword pulled from my book, “postChristian: What’s left? Can we fix it? Do we care?“, being published by Jericho Books/Hachette August 12, 2014.      This book will piss you off, at least a little bit. It should, anyway. The Christian religion is not what it should be, what it claims to [Read More...]

A postChristian dialogue with Romal Tune

I sat down with my friend Romal Tune, an author, speaker and reformer for education focusing on at-risk students, to talk about my new book, postChrisitan: What’s left, can we fix it, do we care?”  (Hattchette/Jericho).  We talked about some aspects that the book addresses:  what the church has become fixated on instead of the [Read More...]

Homebrewed Wet & Wild at the Goose

Christian and Amy join the rest of the Homebrewed team at the Wild Goose Festival. Though it poured (and unfortunately not beer) everyone had a great time thanks to Phillips Theological Seminary who sponsored beer steins for brews and John Vest who smoked some North Cackalacky BBQ. Christian, Amy, Tripp and Micky talk with Everyday [Read More...]

Five Reasons Progressive Christians Secretly Love Mark Driscoll

Anyone who reads my stuff with some regularity probably already knows that Mars Hill pastor Mark Driscoll isn’t exactly on my speed dial list, and I’m probably not in his. From his misogynistic quips to his hellfire hyper-Calvinist rants, he and I see almost all social and theological issues as differently as two people could [Read More...]

Church Sign Epic Fails, ‘Pastor Judgment Day’ Edition

Little known fact: The church sign phenomenon was started by a traveling letter salesman by the same of Alfonz Farkle back in the mid-17th century. Was known as the “Johnny Appleseed of church nomenclature.” Look it up!

“Everyday Sunday”: The Interview

I don’t usually find myself listening to traditional Christian Music. Though I can get behind the music, I can’t usually get behind the theology of the lyrics. However, Trey Pearson and his band Everyday Sunday caught my attention at the Wild Goose Festival. With more than a dozen top-ten hits on the Christian music charts, [Read More...]