Happy Birthday Country
Doug Pagitt has a few concise and well articulated points of value about our country
Shayel gets as excited watching equestrian competitions on TV as a football fan does watching football
This is a lovely song from a local artist here in Fort Collins.
Brooke Shields and my 7 year old
Image by Getty Images via Daylife
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If gays are really serious about marriage rights, they need to accelerate the process of coming out. It’s not often that a minority group has this option - African-Americans don’t. But gays, like Jews, can “pass”, and by passing, we don’t even give many people the option of changing their minds and hearts by better understanding who we are, and why our relationships and families strengthen society rather than weakening it.
Yes, donate and campaign and blog. But for all of those of you out there who are gay and do none of this, one simple political act can do much more: let your family, friends and co-workers know who you are. If you don’t, please quit complaining about your lack of civil rights.
Where did she get THAT from?!
My 4 year old had a very bad day today (like 4 year olds often have) - I made it very clear how unhappy I was about it. Later she broke my heart by saying tearfully that she hoped God wouldn’t be mad at her. Where on earth did THAT come from? The only “God talk” that goes on in our house is about how much God loves his/her creation and wants us to do that same. I almost started crying I was so mortified that she would think such a thing. I tried to find out where she would have gotten that idea but if you’ve ever tried to have such a conversation with a 4 year old you can imagine how unfruitful THAT was. Much to my delight though my 7 year old reached over, patted her leg and reassured her that God would never be mad at her and loved her SO MUCH and that mommy was just frustrated. I love my girls.
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Women have fought for their lives against unbearable odds, lived in deplorable situations, endured humiliation and torment. Rape has been a tactic of war since the beginning of war. Female ferocity and endurance are legendary when it comes to protecting children, family, or community — ensuring the survival of home and tradition. (Which is why books like Styron’s Sophie’s Choice are so devastating — a woman shouldn’t ever have to choose which of her children to lose.) Most of these courageous women remain nameless. Not having won their heroism on battlefields or in public, they are not even footnotes to history.
Extra chunky spaghetti sauce - watch it, it’ll make sense.
Call for photos and one-liners
We would like photos of Kingdom living – specifically “every day” acts of kindness, generosity, service, peace making etc. Please send high resolution pictures to us today 
We also want to…
Denominational Loyalty in a Post-Denominational World — Pomomusings
Most of the people my age who care about denominations only care because they grew up that way and it’s the only thing they know or it’s where they had their conversion experience (if you get saved in the Vineyard, you stay in the Vineyard). They know very little about the particulars, just that it’s familiar and comforting….like a big warm blanket on a chilly night, you don’t particularly pay attention to the details, you just know it’s comforting and warm. The few people I know who are loyal and know a lot about their denomination came to it later in life and really thought and studied long and hard (for a variety of reasons) and CHOSE their denomination - this is where I find the most hard core denominationalists. Converts to RC and EOC are also very devout/loyal.
Beyond that small handful, everyone else in my age bracket and younger couldn’t possibly care less about denominations. This doesn’t mean however that they aren’t thoughtful or don’t care about spirituality/religion - they just aren’t concerned much about the polity and theological particulars of a denomination except for the ways those denominations can hinder a vibrant, expressive, involved faith.
Their concerns and convictions tend to be much smaller - they care about the values of their particular faith “community” - the small groupings of like-minded Christians they choose to associate with.
I think this shift is often confused as “post Christian” or part of a secular shift - I actually don’t think the secular shift exists outside of Europe (and maybe Australia). Secularization has not delivered as promised and people are wanting more than ever to be a part of a cohesive spiritual expression - they just don’t care about denominations (or often, even the particulars of religion). Not to mention that many of them grew up unchurched so they don’t even know anything about denominations anyway.
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