Gimme that Ole Time Religion?

There is an old song called “Give Me That Old Time Religion.” It goes as follows: Give me that old-time religion, Give me that old-time religion, Give me that old-time religion, It’s good enough for me. Here is my question: To which religion does the writer refer? The religion where humanity was cursed for wanting […]

Theology for dummies (nomenclature, part 1)

Eggnogstic: Individuals who believe that the trinity is nothing like the reproductive system of a chicken or its offspring.

Spooky Spells (alternative title: Altered States)

I had lunch with a friend today. We were kidding around when the topic of religion came up. We have similar backgrounds and have complementary world views. He said something that, while making me laugh, took me to another place and time, when I was another person. It would be like watching someone brush their […]

Groupy

I start this post with a quote. I would never want to belong to any club that would have someone like me for a member. –Woody Allen as Alvy Singer in Anne Hall Something rather unexpected has happened. I joined a … … not sure what to call it. It is a group. I can […]

Imagine, part 1

What do you know about the circumstances of your birth? There are a couple of tidbits I remember hearing about the day I was born. First of all it was August and my mother just wanted me out. It was hot and nobody in Colorado had AC back then, except of course the hospital. My […]

The Many Faces of One

For the past few months, my wife and I have been watching reruns of Star Trek Voyager on Netflix with my son. I make no apologies for trying to get him hooked on science fiction. I think science fiction teaches us a lot about what it means to be living in an ever changing world(s). […]

All is Relevant, None is True

The final hours of 2011 are ticking away. And my thoughts in these waning hours, as is often the case, revolve around faith. I guess the title of this entry pretty well sums up my recent train of thought. I have been pondering the words of John Lennon in the song Imagine and reading some […]

Moo Year

Let me say up front, that I do not make New Year’s resolutions. I think trying to change your behavior because of an arbitrary date is doomed to failure. Making little changes over time that is eminently doable. So in no particular order, here are some things I would like to improve upon (that is […]

I Can Do All Things (Phil four thirteen)

Go to church long enough and the same topics and scriptures are repeated. If they use the lectionary it is roughly every three years or so. At most churches it is somewhere between 3 and 5 years…except around Christmas and Easter, they are repeated annually. Rarely do you hear a good sermon about Jael driving […]

Thought Crimes

I went to a small Bible College with an enrollment of roughly 500. It was a conservative college right smack in the middle of Santa Cruz County. To say that our neighbors did not share our world view would be a gross understatement. We used to joke about ourselves saying that we lived in the […]