Richard Beck:

Because here’s the deal, does I’ll Fly Away make any sense when it’s sung by rich people of power and privilege? I mean, what the heck are you flyig away from? Life in suburbia? The Caramel Macchiatos at Starbucks? The vacations at the beach? The fact that you have clean water, indoor plumbing, central heating/air, and two cars? … So of course when the privileged sing the song it sounds theologically shallow. The privileged shouldn’t be trying to fly away. They should be worrying about the injustices at the gate.

…

In sum, I’m back to the realization that Christianity sounds different—theology, hymnody, and the bible itself—when heard from the margins of society. What doesn’t make sense at the centers of power, prosperity and privilege often make a while lot of sense on the periphery.

John C. Dvorak:

It’s all very superficial and annoying. Awards, however, are often designed to be slightly controversial and draw attention. Otherwise, nobody would write about them. It’s part of the game. So, a few editors decide on stupid nominees, bad winners, and weird anomalies, typically over lunch. Decades ago, I was in such a meeting and one of the managers rigged a specific award because he was getting laid by the “winning” company’s PR representative. Whatever works.

He may not be your kind of guy, but just watch this video of him playing up there without all the assistance and he will definitely show you what it’s like.

via @CoffeeGeek

Andrew P. Napolitano

The problem with most wars is that they are more strategic and adventurist than they are just.

via @southern__bread

Tal Givoly:

What happens when people have the “illusion of privacy”? Naturally, they feel more comfortable in sharing information, uploading photos and videos online, etc. Once they feel more comfortable about doing so, they do it more often. This, obviously, is the intention of Facebook, and many other corporations.

via Dave Winer

Scot McKnight:

Instead of having a doxological orientation (how does this bring glory to God) or a christological orientation (what does this say about Jesus, King and Lord) or a theocentric orientation (how does this all reveal God), we too often judge whether something is good by asking selfish pragmatics: How does this help me?!

Rachel Held Evans:

It was easier before, when the path was wide and straight.

But, truth be told, I was faking it. I was pretending that things that didn’t make sense made sense, that things that didn’t feel right felt right. To others, I appeared confident and in control, but faith felt as far away as a friend who has grown distant and cold.

Now every day is a risk … but the view is better, and, for the first time in a long time, I am fully engaged in my faith.

When asked which command was the greatest, Jesus said:

I take this to mean that God does not want us to check our brains in at the door. He demands our whole mind. That includes the part that asks questions, the part that thinks rationally. He wants our whole heart. That includes the part that hurts when people suffer and cries when he realizes he was part of the problem. We must ask the hard questions, use the brains he gave us to make sense of this world, and use the talents he gave us to change the parts of the world that make no sense.

Michael Wolfe:

Let’s take a hike on the coast from San Francisco to Los Angeles to visit out friends in Newport Beach…

via Marco Arment

Scot McKnight:

…twelve ways revivalism’s theories of conversion have shaped and permeated evangelicalism:

1. Conversion is equated with salvation
2. There is an emphasis on human choice and decision. It’s all about the will.
3. Conversion is seen as punctiliar, something that happens all at once, can be dated and marked and known.
4. Revivalism is ambivalent about the intellect and is often anti-intellectual.
5. Conversion becomes an individual transaction with God, apart from the faith community/church.
6. Revivalism is ambivalent about or even anti-sacramental. (Including baptism.)
7. For revivalism, conversion is easy and painless and certainly not costly. “Just accept Christ today.”
8. Among revivalists, evangelism is reduced to techniques.
9. Revivalism pushes that God has no grandchildren, but is ambivalent about second-generation Christian nurturance into conversion and faith.
10. Revivalism has at times struggled with connections between conversion, baptism and the Holy Spirit.
11. The church’s mission is to obtain conversions.
12. Revivalism focuses on the after-life with minimal reference and orientation to this world.