Reflecting on Donna Freitas’ Talk on Hookup Culture at #QNashville

Another presentation that I find myself thinking a lot about is Donna Freita’s “Hookup Culture.”  Feel free to psycho-analyze – I have been too.

She’s the author of  The End of Sex: How Hookup Culture is Leaving a Generation Unhappy, Sexually Unfulfilled, and Confused About Intimacy and she sees answering the hookup culture as a “justice issue.” While I have never thought of it in that light before, I certainly think exposing the damage of things like the hookup culture potentially contributes to the common good, the betterment of society, and better-lived lives.

The first line of her talk:
“I feel like I have to warn you, I’m Catholic. We have the Catholic explaining hookup culture.”

IMG_3465 Rest of my notes:
Young adults believe they are supposed to be casual about sex in college.

The official social contract of the hook-up:
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“Pre-suppositions & Expectations” – Reflecting on Noah Post 1

The other night, my wife and I went to see the new movie Noah. In short, I liked quite a bit about it which I want to share why but it seems most helpful to begin with pre-suppositions and expectations.

If you need a literal re-telling of the Noah story found in say, the NIV/KJV, I’m not sure I know of a movie to recommend. From what I know, all attempts for a literal re-tellings of Scripture come off comical, boring or flat (as in lacking of any creative imagination). I’m not sure any serious reader of Scripture will ever be completely pleased in a screen adaptation of scenes in the Bible.

As I mentioned in my Facebook post:

”…Frankly, it’s very difficult for me to be satisfied with any piece of art that is describing, re-creating, painting, telling, interpreting our sacred Scriptures. Everything from sermon to canvas to film falls short. So given that, what goodness can be found then? And though things like Last Temptation of Christ and “Piss Christ” are offensive, oddly enough, I think this is where some Christian art has failed us as well – because many have settled for a boring and flat retelling of events that our mind’s eye does a far better job with than their storytelling, cinematography, etc. SO, Noah was actually really good for me (not “perfect” mind you). Ok, blog post coming.”

In thinking about this, I found myself wondering why I even wanted to see this movie. It’s wrought with controversy, I don’t need any more and after an intense week, I could really use a laugh. Frankly, would this be worthwhile for the trouble it might cause? I’ll get to that.

Like most, I desire to be fluent with various aspects of culture – you cannot say you love people and [Read more…]

Staying in the Conversation on Why Millennials Are Leaving the Church by Rachel Held Evans – Post 3

Depending on who you are, you may be tired of talking about Rachel Held Evan’s piece on Millennials leaving the church on the CNN Belief Blog. I am among those that are not … at least not yet. For me, I’ve really enjoyed (most of) the follow-up posts, tweets, Facebook comments and the offline conversations.  Some have offered excellent critique and have respectfully engaged while others have been uncharitable and unnecessarily argumentative.  This is life and I comfort myself knowing that some  cardboard boxes in heaven will be bigger than others.

Still, some excellent writing, thinking and practicing is happening out there and the best part is interacting with people (even if it’s brief) – I’ve included some links at the bottom and can’t help but  think Rachel’s piece was a gift.  Frankly anytime the CNN Belief Blog isn’t posting about a church/pastor scandal but rather posting an evangelical lamenting the loss of young people from our community is a good thing.  I commend my sister in Christ for her work.

My regrets are about my inability to engage more and I’ve been hoping we Christians do not consume this [Read more…]

Millennials Aren’t the Only Ones with Sensitive BS Meters – Rachel Held Evan’s Reflecting on Why Millennials Are Leaving the Church – Post 2

Many are reacting and responding to Rachel Held Evan’s piece on the CNN Belief Blog called, “Why Millennials Are Leaving the Church.” From my vantage point, majority have resonated with Rachel’s big picture assessment. Of course some have been critical (that’s good), some have been uncharitable (that’s never good) and many are continuing the conversation as it is worth having (thats me – thanks for reading :)

The church is losing Millennials. Further the church has lost and is losing people from all the generations. And yes, many are [Read more…]

Reflecting on Rachel Held Evans’ Why Millennials are Leaving the Church Post 1- Style Vs. Substance

I have huge respect for Rachel Held Evans. I like her blog, I’ve enjoyed her books and I follow her on Twitter. Further I appreciate her mind, her love for Christ, her heart for others and from where I sit, I find her to be a wise and faithful steward of her platform.

The other day she wrote an excellent piece on CNN Belief Blog and her basic thesis was that Millennials are leaving churches because they are looking for “more substance than style.” In short, she concluded “we’re leaving the church because we don’t find Jesus there.” Ouch.

Her critique is too many churches are making the mistake of seeking to be “more relevant” as opposed to being more substantial.  That may not sound original to some but the real problem is it’s a consistent and oft-heard criticism.  Seeking to be a “little more relevant” is a very tired practice in many congregations throughout our country [Read more…]

Where Have All the Great Presidents Gone?

In America, most of us grew up receiving great stories about our American Presidents – Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln (and depending on what type of home you were raised in) … Reagan.

Shortly after the Presidential debate last week, I saw a tweet inquiring “Why aren’t there any great Presidents anymore?” I assume its an offshoot of the often-heard statement, “I don’t like either candidate” mixed with the classic lament, “A good man/woman is hard to find these days.” Whatever is meant by those saying it, I’ve been thinking about it.

Understandably, it is easy to feel a measure of disillusionment towards our nation’s political leadership. There is a lot of posturing, a lot of game playing, some scandals and a good bit of deflection and deception. The only thing the public really wants is someone they can trust, someone who keeps their promises, someone who really is trying to serve the country but as we all know, this is a rather complicated thing.

And when it’s complicated, it’s easy to mistrust people. This is even further complicated by all the access we have to all people – not only in terms of our video cameras, teams of reporters, but so many aspects of our technology allow for the discovery and the delivery of so much news, data and gossip to circulate almost instantly. We simply have unprecedented access to the public figure (we also have unprecedented access to each other but that’s another story).

Not only do we have access, but we have an incredible market for the gossip – there’s a huge reward system around it. Certainly people have always been interested in gossip but I think it’s fair to say that as time has gone on, we’ve figured out how to make even more money from it, which has increased not only the efficiency of delivery but the volume as well. To put bluntly, people can get rich by discovering and revealing your worst secrets.

People also get rich and more powerful by not only protecting your secrets but also by growing one’s legend. This is best done to figures in the past (among the reasons I suppose is that they can do little to screw it up). Again, we see this with Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln, Teddy, etc. On Sunday, I attended a class in our Adult Discipleship building on the faith of US Presidents. Normally, I am not into these discussions in a church setting but I had heard such great things of the teacher, Jim Wallace, that I decided to check it out.

This week was on the faith of  Abraham Lincoln which was interesting because I am excited about the new Spielberg movie on him coming out next month. Anyway, the class was great but it wasn’t great because of the presidents – it was great because Jim was giving all sides of the story. Whether it is difficult to figure out where Lincoln stood in regards to his Christian faith (we learned that he was a Unitarian, was very superstitious, participated in cyanoses and though he called the nation to prayer, he rarely ever spoke about Jesus. Then things seem to change spiritually after the death of his son in 1850. Fascinating content but clearly not the modern American evangelical that have some have created him to be. Love that our church is talking about such subjects like this. It’s honest, it’s fresh, it’s needed).

It’s also interesting to see what happens with the legacies of the more recent Presidents has time goes on. This election season shows us a Bill Clinton with a halo on his head. But I tell you, I remember in the late 90’s amidst his scandals and I remember how he was loathed by Republicans … and many Democrats. Loathed. It’s not that we forgot the events that happened 15 years ago. It’s not that the internet has forgotten, it’s that his story is being told differently. It will be interesting to see how this new narrative is received.

We have access to so much gossip, we have a market for it, we have revisionist history for the good/bad/truth/etc. and we have also have so many other figures who are “leaders” in some way as well. Consider today that depending on who you are, you can regard Billy Graham, Tom Brady or Lady Gaga as your inspiration.

What’s the point to all of this? It seems unwise to compare the moral character of Presidents from one era to another or to compare the influence of public figures either.  Though it will be an interesting discussion and insights can be gained, there is no winner to the question because all people have shortcomings, even the most just can be be unjust, all are corrupt.  Thankfully, many have risen and demonstrated profound moments of greatness and God has used countless other moments as well.

But it puts things in perspective. This election season, let’s accept the realities of these figures. Let’s accept the realities of our personal and collective shortcomings and seek to find the solutions as opposed to the blame. For Christians, the shalom of Jesus does not come by securing worldly power, it comes by seeking the Kingdom of Christ. Though I believe we need to be faithful with our civic duties, the question we need to concern ourselves with is, “Where have all the great churches gone?”

Presidential Debates, Facebook Rage, Expectations & Response

As we know Wednesday night featured this campaign’s first Presidential Election debate. A lot has been said on the candidates’ performances and positions but I want to highlight the words of one person when he proclaimed, “This the most important election in our nation’s history.” We’ve heard it all election season, also heard it four years ago, and we’ll hear again in another four years. But that person was of course, the host of the television program that came on after the debate.   [Read more…]

Violence in the M.E. – Let’s Make a Movie Part 2 – Responding to the Polite Push-backs

In my previous post, I suggested that Christians make a documentary “Open-Letter” style movie to Muslims in the Middle East in an effort to seek forgiveness, reconciliation and peacemaking.

Like many blogs, there are a number of hits but only a few comments. The ones I receive are generally positive (which I am grateful for) and the push backs that I get are usually from my friends in the form of emails or conversations (which I am grateful for as well). But it does make it a bit more challenging to facilitate conversation here so I asked permission to share a few thoughts in response to the push backs. I hope I communicate them clearly and fairly.

The first is “Let the Arab world take care of itself …. In fact, whenever America (or the West) gets involved, we’ve added further hurt and done more damage.”

This is problematic for me on a number of levels.
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Responding to the Violence in the Middle East – Let’s Make a Movie

Between the busyness of the ministry fall launch, my thoughts have been pre-occupied by the violence in the Middle East in response to the offensive YouTube movie The Innocence of Muslims.

Today, I find myself reading news of the violence in Pakistan that is said to be in response to this film and now it’s almost two since weeks since the murder of Ambassador Chris Stevens and three others in the American Consulate in Benghazi and I find myself wondering what should/could be down about this.

Every time I see an angry demonstration in the Middle East, I think the following things:
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Reflecting on the Chick-Fil-A Appreciation Day A Week Later – Post 3

I concluded Post 2 by mentioning I would respond to a couple of the pushbacks I received and then I’ll finish this little series with my suggestion of what Chick-Fil-A could do now. So it’s said, I appreciate how polite those responding have been. I’ve received texts, emails, FB messages, and a DM with various thoughts – all have been gracious, which isn’t always the case in the blogosphere. As always feel free to reply somehow or comment below but thanks for keeping it all so classy.

The first was on what do I think Dan Cathy should have said? Before I go further, if this is the first time reading this series, [Read more…]