A Rant of Sorts: Grappling with Religious Belief, Belonging, Exclusion and Community

Recently I’ve been having some pretty fascinating conversations about what it means to belong to community. In fact, just this week I sat in room full of colleagues and debated whether or not someone needed to become a member of a local church in order to be considered a full participant. The whole conversation left [...]

Hermeneutics: A Sincere Question for Readers and Thinkers

Friends,
I implore of you to tell me what you think of : hermeneutics?
What is it? What are the criteria of good hermeneutic theory? What do you think is the hermeneutic of this age?
Seriously, scholars and friends, please indulge me with your responses.
Joshua

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My Friend and Podcaster: The Hopeful Skeptic

Nick’s book is live!
Here is an interview I did with Nick about his book. Also, here is link to an interview that Becky Garrison did with Nick about the book for God’s Politics.
Enjoy!
JC

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Epiphany in Poetry

Tom Frank writes, “to grasp what makes a place itself, to name its distinctive qualities, is a task for poetics” (141). In this light, I wrote the following poem as a descriptor of my recent internship experience at the Episcopal Church of the Epiphany.
#317
Leaves of fire, trees of old,
The ground is crackling with the fresh [...]

Is belief in God consistent with Human Autonomy?

First, precisely because the language of belief in the Christian God provides an acceptable language for understanding human autonomy, one can conclude that these two terms are consistent. For example, free and slave are also terms within the framework of Christianity (as used by Paul and others) which, though seemingly paradoxical, continue to provide a [...]

New Podcast with Brian McLaren

There is a new podcast up with Brian McLaren at The Nick and Josh Podcast. Before getting to the interview there is some pretty witty banter between Nick and I. He accuses me of becoming a neo-conservative, among other things. With drinks in hand, we have a good time! Remember to subscribe to the podcast [...]

A Good U2 Article

I’m working on my own exegesis of the most recent U2 album. My hunch is that those who are able to be involved in the Candler Emergent Conversation on Mission in the Emerging Culture: How Bono Re-shaped the Church (April 7th) will get to hear some of it then.
Until then, check out this article by [...]

A Parable to think on

Parable of the crude little life-saving station (by Dr. Theodore O. Wedel)
“On a dangerous sea coast where shipwrecks often occur, there was once a crude little life-saving station. The building was just a hut, and there was only one boat, but the few devoted members kept a constant watch over the sea, and with [...]

The New Conspirators & Tom Sine

Today I did a podcast interview for an upcoming release on the Nick & Josh Podcast. I am continuing my duties with the fellas even as the transition continues. And to be honest, I love the gig as much as anything!
Today I had the privilege of talking to Tom Sine of Mustard Seed Associates and [...]

Newest N&J Podacast Interview is Available

Make sure to check out the latest podcast with me and Josh, plus an interview with my good friend Pete Rollins.
You can also check out some other fine folks that we support such as The Church Basement Road Show and The Homebrewed Christianity Podcast. The Homebrewed guys are recording some nice interviews so be sure [...]