Reclaiming The F Word

Sin Boldly and Other Summer Reads

One of our local religion writers here in Chicago - a columnist for the Sun-Times - has just published a new book. It has a decidedly familiar ring to it, for all of us Lut'erns out there, although the author isn't, I don't think. It's titled Sin Boldly: A Field Guide For Grace. I haven't read it yet but plan to. Amazon.com, for what it's worth, is pairing her book up with an Anne Lamott book - one of the few "Christian" readers I regularly really enjoy, mostly because she's just so flippin' real but also because nobody gets "left behind" in her Christian universe.

   

Continue reading "Sin Boldly and Other Summer Reads" »

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Technorati Tags: cathleen falsani, anne lamott, sin boldly

Now this is what I'm talking about. 

My post on The Audacity To Laugh was featured on the Faithful Democrats website earlier this week. Readers commented that I was maybe making a mistake by not taking the McCain campaign's underhanded, malicious, and all out nasty tactics seriously enough. One of the other writers at FD spelled out the evidence that McCain really IS trying to paint Obama as the Anti-Christ in scary detail. I responded that, even if that's true and the McCain campaign is serious, it just won't help to turn all self-righteous. Nobody likes a prude.

Well, it turns out that, by refusing to get his boxers in a bunch, Obama has allowed McCain's junior high-school advertising campaign to backfire.

Continue reading "LOL" »

So I found a sane, snotty, sacrilegious, (often) spot-on, new (to me) blog this week. Check out Letters From Kamp Krusty. The author hosts a radio show and works with Compassion International and writes things like this:

PZ Myers is a biologist, U of MN prof, and blogger who broke the story on this side of the border about a couple of pesky Toronto college students who took all the books on the "Bibles & Bible Studies" bookshelf in their local store and quietly reshelved them in other areas i.e. Fiction, Humour, Sexuality, Erotica, Cuisine, Parenting, Mental Disorder, Parapsychology and the Occult. They left one book standing on the Bible Study shelf: Sam Harris' "Letter to a Christian Nation" calling all reasonable people to embrace a worldview sans god.

Not quite a year ago, I wrote a short but sharp piece critiquing the web sites of mainline denominations, including my own (ELCA). It went something like this: 

"Check out the web sites of these mainline denominations and ask yourself, "Which of these faith communities are expecting to EVER be visited by people who aren't members? Which ones are working to communicate with people who don't speak 'our' language? Which ones are really serious about reaching 'new' generations? New cultures? New people of ANY generation or culture?"

Last August, the answer was basically "none of them." In fact, I concluded: 

"...overall this is a dismal exercise. It's no wonder we just keep shrinking. Not even WE expect new people to show up."

Not so today.

So, I'm blogging about Barbara Walter's new book and the importance of love as you're leading organizations through change over at A.R.E. today. And I think it might be helpful and interesting to anybody out there who cares about revitalizing the mainline, especially church leaders who occasionally get sucked up into thinking that "the secret" to renewal is found in a business seminar somewhere. There's good stuff coming out of the business world, of course. But nobody beats Jesus when it comes to knowing a thing or two about transformation. "Love God," he said. "Love one another. And love your neighbor as yourself." Could it be any simpler? Anyway, here's an excerpt (below) from today's A.R.E. post, "The Power Of Love":

My friend, Steve, who is a pastor in Wisconsin, sent me a link to this video by a student at Luther Seminary.

LutheranChik, whose beautifully crafted posts from daily church & home life can't help but warm you up, rarely says anything I actually disagree with...but it happened last week! On March 31 she said that a recent excursion into the world of social networking led her to conclude that kids growing up today are doing it in a world that is worse off than the one she and I grew up in back in the old days. (OK, the 70's.) Maybe she was overstating it or just had a singularly bad experience online. On the other hand, I can understand why somebody would feel that way...I've wandered around FaceBook & MySpace, too...I have three kids (21, 19, 15)...I know there are a lot of crappy things going on out there today. But I think this sentiment is wrong. I left a comment to that effect before I left. Here's what I said:

David Hayward, "an artist trapped in a pastor's body," doing a Vineyard ministry out of New Brunswick, Canada, continues to be one of my favorite and I think one of the most honest Christian bloggers out there today. Check out his "Jesus Love Me, This I Knew" T-shirt concept at nakedpastor. And, if you're somebody who, like me, is committed to helping the mainline move out from under the shadow of the radical Christian mega-right so that the world hears a different, compelling, but more nuanced voice (and, ok let's just say, wants to see mainline and progressive churches GROW again!) go ahead and laugh at yourself here:

Interesting conversation over at BeliefNet started by sarcastic lutheran herself, Nadia Bolz-Weber, on the so-called Grassley Six - prosperity preachers under investigation for lavish living and misuse of funds - and the "plank in her own eye." Her view is that, while Jesus would surely "throw up a little in his mouth" at hearing what passes for the gospel in these churches, anybody (including herself) who makes a living on the tithes and offerings of others is on dangerous ground when it comes to passing judgement.

LOL

Now this is what I'm talking about. 

My post on The Audacity To Laugh was featured on the Faithful Democrats website earlier this week. Readers commented that I was maybe making a mistake by not taking the McCain campaign's underhanded, malicious, and all out nasty tactics seriously enough. One of the other writers at FD spelled out the evidence that McCain really IS trying to paint Obama as the Anti-Christ in scary detail. I responded that, even if that's true and the McCain campaign is serious, it just won't help to turn all self-righteous. Nobody likes a prude.

Well, it turns out that, by refusing to get his boxers in a bunch, Obama has allowed McCain's junior high-school advertising campaign to backfire.

Continue reading "LOL" »

So I found a sane, snotty, sacrilegious, (often) spot-on, new (to me) blog this week. Check out Letters From Kamp Krusty. The author hosts a radio show and works with Compassion International and writes things like this:

PZ Myers is a biologist, U of MN prof, and blogger who broke the story on this side of the border about a couple of pesky Toronto college students who took all the books on the "Bibles & Bible Studies" bookshelf in their local store and quietly reshelved them in other areas i.e. Fiction, Humour, Sexuality, Erotica, Cuisine, Parenting, Mental Disorder, Parapsychology and the Occult. They left one book standing on the Bible Study shelf: Sam Harris' "Letter to a Christian Nation" calling all reasonable people to embrace a worldview sans god.

Not quite a year ago, I wrote a short but sharp piece critiquing the web sites of mainline denominations, including my own (ELCA). It went something like this: 

"Check out the web sites of these mainline denominations and ask yourself, "Which of these faith communities are expecting to EVER be visited by people who aren't members? Which ones are working to communicate with people who don't speak 'our' language? Which ones are really serious about reaching 'new' generations? New cultures? New people of ANY generation or culture?"

Last August, the answer was basically "none of them." In fact, I concluded: 

"...overall this is a dismal exercise. It's no wonder we just keep shrinking. Not even WE expect new people to show up."

Not so today.

So, I'm blogging about Barbara Walter's new book and the importance of love as you're leading organizations through change over at A.R.E. today. And I think it might be helpful and interesting to anybody out there who cares about revitalizing the mainline, especially church leaders who occasionally get sucked up into thinking that "the secret" to renewal is found in a business seminar somewhere. There's good stuff coming out of the business world, of course. But nobody beats Jesus when it comes to knowing a thing or two about transformation. "Love God," he said. "Love one another. And love your neighbor as yourself." Could it be any simpler? Anyway, here's an excerpt (below) from today's A.R.E. post, "The Power Of Love":

My friend, Steve, who is a pastor in Wisconsin, sent me a link to this video by a student at Luther Seminary.

LutheranChik, whose beautifully crafted posts from daily church & home life can't help but warm you up, rarely says anything I actually disagree with...but it happened last week! On March 31 she said that a recent excursion into the world of social networking led her to conclude that kids growing up today are doing it in a world that is worse off than the one she and I grew up in back in the old days. (OK, the 70's.) Maybe she was overstating it or just had a singularly bad experience online. On the other hand, I can understand why somebody would feel that way...I've wandered around FaceBook & MySpace, too...I have three kids (21, 19, 15)...I know there are a lot of crappy things going on out there today. But I think this sentiment is wrong. I left a comment to that effect before I left. Here's what I said:

David Hayward, "an artist trapped in a pastor's body," doing a Vineyard ministry out of New Brunswick, Canada, continues to be one of my favorite and I think one of the most honest Christian bloggers out there today. Check out his "Jesus Love Me, This I Knew" T-shirt concept at nakedpastor. And, if you're somebody who, like me, is committed to helping the mainline move out from under the shadow of the radical Christian mega-right so that the world hears a different, compelling, but more nuanced voice (and, ok let's just say, wants to see mainline and progressive churches GROW again!) go ahead and laugh at yourself here:

Interesting conversation over at BeliefNet started by sarcastic lutheran herself, Nadia Bolz-Weber, on the so-called Grassley Six - prosperity preachers under investigation for lavish living and misuse of funds - and the "plank in her own eye." Her view is that, while Jesus would surely "throw up a little in his mouth" at hearing what passes for the gospel in these churches, anybody (including herself) who makes a living on the tithes and offerings of others is on dangerous ground when it comes to passing judgement.

Alternative Views

So I found a sane, snotty, sacrilegious, (often) spot-on, new (to me) blog this week. Check out Letters From Kamp Krusty. The author hosts a radio show and works with Compassion International and writes things like this:

A Friday Funny

PZ Myers is a biologist, U of MN prof, and blogger who broke the story on this side of the border about a couple of pesky Toronto college students who took all the books on the "Bibles & Bible Studies" bookshelf in their local store and quietly reshelved them in other areas i.e. Fiction, Humour, Sexuality, Erotica, Cuisine, Parenting, Mental Disorder, Parapsychology and the Occult. They left one book standing on the Bible Study shelf: Sam Harris' "Letter to a Christian Nation" calling all reasonable people to embrace a worldview sans god.

A Great New Front Porch

Not quite a year ago, I wrote a short but sharp piece critiquing the web sites of mainline denominations, including my own (ELCA). It went something like this: 

"Check out the web sites of these mainline denominations and ask yourself, "Which of these faith communities are expecting to EVER be visited by people who aren't members? Which ones are working to communicate with people who don't speak 'our' language? Which ones are really serious about reaching 'new' generations? New cultures? New people of ANY generation or culture?"

Last August, the answer was basically "none of them." In fact, I concluded: 

"...overall this is a dismal exercise. It's no wonder we just keep shrinking. Not even WE expect new people to show up."

Not so today.

Link To Love

So, I'm blogging about Barbara Walter's new book and the importance of love as you're leading organizations through change over at A.R.E. today. And I think it might be helpful and interesting to anybody out there who cares about revitalizing the mainline, especially church leaders who occasionally get sucked up into thinking that "the secret" to renewal is found in a business seminar somewhere. There's good stuff coming out of the business world, of course. But nobody beats Jesus when it comes to knowing a thing or two about transformation. "Love God," he said. "Love one another. And love your neighbor as yourself." Could it be any simpler? Anyway, here's an excerpt (below) from today's A.R.E. post, "The Power Of Love":

What is a witness?

My friend, Steve, who is a pastor in Wisconsin, sent me a link to this video by a student at Luther Seminary.

Kids Today

LutheranChik, whose beautifully crafted posts from daily church & home life can't help but warm you up, rarely says anything I actually disagree with...but it happened last week! On March 31 she said that a recent excursion into the world of social networking led her to conclude that kids growing up today are doing it in a world that is worse off than the one she and I grew up in back in the old days. (OK, the 70's.) Maybe she was overstating it or just had a singularly bad experience online. On the other hand, I can understand why somebody would feel that way...I've wandered around FaceBook & MySpace, too...I have three kids (21, 19, 15)...I know there are a lot of crappy things going on out there today. But I think this sentiment is wrong. I left a comment to that effect before I left. Here's what I said:

Does Size Matter?

David Hayward, "an artist trapped in a pastor's body," doing a Vineyard ministry out of New Brunswick, Canada, continues to be one of my favorite and I think one of the most honest Christian bloggers out there today. Check out his "Jesus Love Me, This I Knew" T-shirt concept at nakedpastor. And, if you're somebody who, like me, is committed to helping the mainline move out from under the shadow of the radical Christian mega-right so that the world hears a different, compelling, but more nuanced voice (and, ok let's just say, wants to see mainline and progressive churches GROW again!) go ahead and laugh at yourself here:

Whoa There

Interesting conversation over at BeliefNet started by sarcastic lutheran herself, Nadia Bolz-Weber, on the so-called Grassley Six - prosperity preachers under investigation for lavish living and misuse of funds - and the "plank in her own eye." Her view is that, while Jesus would surely "throw up a little in his mouth" at hearing what passes for the gospel in these churches, anybody (including herself) who makes a living on the tithes and offerings of others is on dangerous ground when it comes to passing judgement.