Commentary - Gathering In Light

Catholic Women as Priests

Yesterday, the New York Times posted a slideshow from Judith Levitt of Catholic women who are priests. This might come as a surprise to some of you, but there is a growing resistance movement among Catholics who have been able to find loopholes in their own bi-laws and begin ordaining

Church in Mission

Denominations and Traditions: Thoughts on Differences

“To stand within a tradition does not limit the freedom of knowledge, but makes it possible.” Hans Georg Gadamer Today I spent a few hours working on my Mid-Program defense for my PhD program, I will be presenting it to my committee on May 14th. This entails laying out the

Green

Thanks, Rose Bowl Parade, For The Trash!

As most of you know yesterday was a big day here in Pasadena because of the annual Rose Bowl Parade. People started camping out on Colorado Blvd. 12pm the day before the parade. And while I won’t fault anyone for wanting to see an army of Storm Troopers and

Blog Entries

First Glance at Radiohead’s In Rainbow

I was in the middle of reading some websites when I got the email notification at 10:50pm tonight that Radiohead‘s new album “In Rainbows” was ready for download. I almost jumped out of my skin trying to switch over to mail and hit the special “UNIQUE DOWNLOAD ACTIVATION

Blog Entries

London, the Olympics and Getting Rid of the Poor

I read this article today in the Guardian and thought it was worth pointing out. The article, “London is getting into the Olympic spirit – by kicking out the Gypsies” by George Monbiot argues that the Olympics, often thought of being a way to boost the economy for the poor, is

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Some Problems with Online Christian Communities | And Why You Should Stay Away

Online communities continue to grow Myspace, Virb, Facebook, delicious, flickr, twitter, digg, 30boxes, box.net, etc, etc, all offer a way for people to share and stay in touch. I personally like the attention web 2.0 companies have paid to making the web more interactive in this way. I

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Elvis Perkins @ the Echo: Already Looks Like A Classic

This past Friday night I went to see Elvis Perkins with Emily, Cate and Bob. Recently, I found out about Perkins through Paste Magazine. Their review concluded with a statement that grabbed my attention. They said though this guy hasn’t been around long, and it may be too early

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Review of Relient K’s New Album: Five Score and Seven Years Ago (Or Has it Been that Long?)

Relient K’s new album, Five Score and Seven Years came out today [you can read more here] and is currently in 6th place on Itunes. I’m kicking myself currently because I’ve been wanting to write about the album for a while and give a preview of what

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James Cameron Found Jesus And He’s Not Even a Theologist!

The Filmmaker, James Cameron, known best for his overblown, and over sunk, romance movie the Titanic is now trying his hand at archaeology, well kind of. See, Cameron has done something no one actually in the field of archaeology has been able to do, he’s found the coffin of

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The Questions Pacifists Always Get Asked

I found this article “Five Questions Your Pacifist Friends Are Tired of Answering” from the Burnside Collective. The article, written by Jonathan Fitzgerald, is an easily accessible article on specific questions that pacifists often get asked. Fitzgerald introduces his article by saying, “What follows are five questions about/arguments against

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DVDevos – Video Devotionals for Visual Christians

This week I wanted to highlight the ministry of two Evangelical Friends and some of the cool things they’re doing. Matt Taflan and Shawn Belt, both from Ohio, have joined together in Florida to make short video devotionals they are calling DVDevos. They see this as an opportunity to

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Left Behind Video Game Hopes to Improve Public Relations Before It’s Too Late

[Edited to Add Picture Link see the bottom of post for more details] I’ve writen a couple time on the new Left Behind Video Game called “Eternal Forces.” Post #1 — Left Behind Eternal Forces: Violence for Christians Post #2 Training Violent Behaviors: Media and the Message of Desensitization [rant]

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Gathering In Light 2006: A Year in Review

This past year has been a lot of fun on many fronts for me but I’ve had an especially great time blogging in 2006. I thought it would be fun to post some of the things that standout in my memory as important events for gathering in light and

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Airport Love – Is It Possible?

Landed in Vegas about an hour ago, did you know they offer free wireless here! I paid my dues in the form of $1.50 in slot machine goodness. Wireless, is a treat especially if you’re flying home alone. Emily has to finish out the week teaching class, and

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UCLA and the Taser Incident – We Tase in the Stacks Now

I don’t go to UCLA, but because I live in LA this incident hits close enough to home to draw some reflection and criticism from where I stand. If you’re not sure what I am talking about Slashdot has a succinct explanation based on the article in the

Blog Entries

Review of Reviewme.com

Just the other day, a new service became available: reviewme.com. It is a service that pays bloggers to review websites and products. It’s similar to many things that already happen now, where bloggers get sent books and other products for free in lieu of writing reviews about those

Blog Entries

Ted Haggard and Jim Wallis: A Couple Brief Thoughts

I found this post over at God’s Politics – Jim Wallis’ blog it was a statement about Ted Haggard and the issues that were raised in the last couple weeks, and I think it’s really good to read. My impression of this whole thing is that like everything else,

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America’s Overbearing Appetite

Emily pointed this political cartoon out to me the other day. It’s more true than we’d like to admit.

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Training Violent Behaviors: Media and the Message of Desensitization

I had the opportunity to read a fascinating and very thought provoking book this past week called, “Transforming the Powers: Peace, Justice and the Domination System.” The basic idea of the book is taken from Walter Wink’s idea of the “powers and principalities” which consist of the “spiritual dynamics

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The Rise of Christian Terrorism: Fear Based Religion

I admit that can be hard on the church from time to time, but this is in part because I believe that we have such a grave responsibility to bear peace and reconciliation to the world. In this way I tend to enjoy people like Stanley Hauerwas, John Howard Yoder,

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Accessorizing the Christian Life: What Would [Can] Jesus Sell?

Emily ran across an article in the LA Times about a new ‘Christian’ perfume called ‘Virtuous Woman.’ The article is entitled “What Would Jesus Sell?” The main gist of the column is about a new perfume that is hopefully “enticing enough to provoke questions: ‘What’s that you’re wearing?