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God At The Movies: Jodie Foster in “Contact” and How Real Belief Transforms
By Steve on March 20, 2014
There is a great scene at the end of the movie Contact where Jodie Foster is sitting before a Senate hearing committee in an attempt to “prove” she had an extraterrestrial encounter. For those unfamiliar with…
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Mark Driscoll’s Open Letter Apology: Has the Mars Hill Pastor Finally Heard the Singing of the Whos Down in Whoville?
By Steve on March 18, 2014
I was a Mark Driscoll fan…and then I wasn’t! Back in 2007 I didn’t know much about Driscoll other than he was that “swearing” pastor Donald Miller mentions in Blue Like Jazz. Then a friend suggested…
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Prominent Pentecostal Pastor’s Conversion to Catholicism Has Wider Implications for Evangelicals
By Steve on March 14, 2014
A common story heard around evangelical / charismatic circles in the ’70s and ’80s went something like, “I grew up Catholic but then I got ‘born-again’ when I was at college” or “I was raised…
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Hyper-Grace: The Dangerous Doctrine of a Happy God
By Steve on March 11, 2014
What is “Hyper-Grace” and why would anyone think it could be a bad thing? In any debate, whether it be cultural, philosophical, or theological, transforming a pejorative label into a positive identity or a “badge…
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Radio Free Christianity and the Dangers of Colonial Theology
By Steve on March 6, 2014
There is a brilliant routine comedian Eddie Izzard does in his standup where he suggests the British Empire advanced through “the cunning use of flags”; We stole countries with the cunning use of flags. Just sail…
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Weekend Distractions: 86th Academy Awards Predictions
By Steve on March 3, 2014
There was a time, when I lived in Colorado, when I was known for throwing some pretty good OSCAR parties. Tammy and I would gather close friends together to watch the big show with a buffet…
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A Response to Kevin Miller’s Article on Rob Bell, Brian McLaren, and Donald Miller
By Steve on February 28, 2014
A friend sent me a Christianity Today article this week. In it author Kevin Miller takes a pot shot at three of the leading voices within, for lack of a better term, “progressive” Christianity; namely…
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Weekend Distractions: Late Night With Jimmy Fallon
By Steve on February 23, 2014
Thought I would change the name of my weekend post from “Update” to “Distractions”. When I re-tooled Beyond the Pale from “multi-topics” to “all faith all the time” just over a year ago I wanted…
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When the “Good News” Becomes “Good” Again!
By Steve on February 22, 2014
Two years ago I had a paradigm shift in my faith when I read Brian Zahnd’s Beauty Will Save The World. As I wrote then “I suddenly had my ‘spiritual mojo’ back!” In hindsight now…
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Ghostbusters: or How Christians Should Behave With “Portable Nuclear Reactors” On Their Backs
By Steve on February 14, 2014
You remember Ghostbusters right? Three guys with portable nuclear reactor laser like weapons on their backs that they would use to blast the demons, ghosts, and goblins invading New York City. The one rule they lived by…