Shepherding in the Modern Age and the Best Things You'll Read All Week

by Ben Howard and Sebastian Faust

Reads of the Week

1) Upward Mobility by D.L. Mayfield

"When you want to tell the whole story of your life, you find few takers. We want either communists or patriots, sell-outs or self-righteous. We are seeking either blessing or lament, despair or hope, faith or faithlessness. But I have always had everything, everything in spades. Hope and doubt and fear and faith. I accept good gifts from God and I feel angry that others don’t get the same."

2) The Origins of "Privilege" by Joshua Rothman

"But what I believe is that everybody has a combination of unearned advantage and unearned disadvantage in life. Whiteness is just one of the many variables that one can look at, starting with, for example, one’s place in the birth order, or your body type, or your athletic abilities, or your relationship to written and spoken words, or your parents’ places of origin, or your parents’ relationship to education and to English, or what is projected onto your religious or ethnic background. We’re all put ahead and behind by the circumstances of our birth. We all have a combination of both. And it changes minute by minute, depending on where we are, who we’re seeing, or what we’re required to do."

3) Don't Let Jesus Trump the Bible by Nate Pyle

"Everyone picks and chooses which parts of the Bible they listen to and which parts they ignore. Everyone gives some attributes of God’s character more weight than other parts of his character. We naturally develop a Christianity that challenges us in the places we are comfortable being challenged in while dismissing, sometimes self-consciously, the words of God that challenge us in the areas we should be challenged in."

4) Finding God in Exodus International by Ben Moberg

"In the aftermath of the Exodus shut down, I wrote: 'I am dragging my feet toward forgiveness,' and as time has gone on, I have covered so much ground. In the freedom of Christ, I have learned grace, I have learned that I am enough, and part of this walk means making peace with those who implied I never was. And in my process, I made a radical decision. I decided to open my eyes and look for grace. And to my surprise, in the darkness, I found the face of God. This is the truth I am unearthing about him: He is always on the job. Even in the darkness."

5) Before You Get Off This Bathroom Floor by Osheta Moore

"Before you get off this bathroom floor, I want to send you out with one more piece of advice.  You are braver than you know, yes.  You are selflessly stunning, yes it’s true.  You will get through this—of that I’m sure.  But one more thing you need to know: even though you don’t have a husband and even though your parents may disown you, you are not alone. When you step out into the world with your round belly and ring-less left hand, remember this: there is a God who sees us and deeply, deeply loves us."

Honorable Mention

In Which I Am Learning to Obey the Sadness by Sarah Bessey

It's Not About Conforming to the World by Rachel Held Evans

Not All Pastor's Kids Are Christian. Sorry. by Jamie Wright

This Is the Sunday School Pagaent I'd Love to See: Psalm 82 by Fred Clark

Tweets of the Week

"And when you gaze long into a selfie the selfie also gazes into you." - @JohnLuce

" I'm Johnny Knoxville and this is Jackass *proceeds to live a sincere and selfless life*" - @mattytalks

" I agree, it's hard to explain Michael Sam's situation to a child. The nuances of ideal defensive roles and speed/size makeup are complex." - @harrypav

On Pop Theology Week in Review

Eight Shades of Crayola by Rebekah Mays

"As a child, I used to spend hours coloring paper doilies. I’d click my Lion King cassette into the tape player and line my markers up, single-file."

Tech Is Not Your Enemy by Christopher Hutton

"My phone and I have a symbiotic relationship. It feeds me information, and in return, I keep its batteries charged."

An Apology for the Post-Egyptian Ownership of Domesticated Felines by JaneAnn Kenney

"The subject of domesticated felines (for the purposes of this essay, hereafter called 'cats' with wavering regularity) is suspiciously lacking in the Jewish and Christian canons."

On TV Shows and Process by Ben Howard

"I know I’ve been good at hiding it, but I must confess that I’ve been in mourning this week. I lost something that was very close to me, something that brought me joy and laughter, something that I regarded it as a friend for the last five years."

On Abominations by Sebastian Faust

"In my last podcast interview with Professor Baruch Levine on the text of Leviticus, I lamented that the prohibition on homosexuality is perhaps the text’s best-known passage within popular Christianity."

Song of the Week

"The Truth is a Cave" by The Oh Hello's

Peace,
Ben

You can follow On Pop Theology on Twitter @OnPopTheology or like us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/OnPopTheology. If you'd like to help us pay the bills, you can donate via the button on the right of the screen.

Contact us at onpoptheology [at] gmail.com.  

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by Ben Howard

Reads of the Week

1) Sinners in the Hands by Sonia Smith

"Three days later they returned. As they drove through town, they came across four teenagers in a pickup truck. Andy started to ask them where to find the church, but before he could finish his sentence, one of them cut him off. 'You’re looking for the cult,' he said."

2) Don't Put Down the Camera by Carol Howard Merritt

"But I have to admit, my long defense also comes with a pang of guilt and another revelation of my ever-present insecurities. I’ve never started some amazing non-profit (something I thought I was called to before I began at Western Presbyterian). I often hear my activist friends saying, 'Shut up and do something.' And I always feel like I’m not doing enough. I’m not going deep enough. I’m not… enough."

3) Privilege and the Pill by Rachel Held Evans

"As we discuss contraception, Christians especially must be committed to telling the truth and getting our facts straight, or else we risk losing credibility in the conversation and leading the faithful astray."

4) More Than A Feeling: The Cup That Faith and Marriage Share by Shannan Martin

"Worship, like love, is a certain steadiness. It's staying consistent and present when the days are too long and the nights are lonely. It's all the little things, the small obediences and unacknowledged tasks. Worship is the salt-tracks of grief and quiet reflection. Love is toes touching under the covers when words have been scare or raw."

5) When Having an Opinion is a Weary Endeavor by Nate Pyle

"Writing becomes exhausting when you are constantly expending emotional and mental energy to disregard personal attacks. And that’s what they are, personal attacks. The blogosphere – and society in general – has become a place where the exchange of ideas has been replaced by the attacking the holder of ideas. Ideas are not put under scrutiny, the person is."

Honorable Mention

Justice Broken: How A Poor Theology Of The Cross Created America's Broken Justice System by Benjamin Corey

Boycotting for Sport: Why The Olympics Must Go On by Matthew Towles

Here's to the Children by Micah Murray

Tweets of the Week

"Weird. I wrote 'croissant' but it autocorrected to 'the terror of human life is that we are stalked by Death which may strike at any time.'" - @tejucole

"What if Daft Punk was actually Scott Stapp and Chad Kroeger?" - @ethanluck

"yeah lorde is younger than me and has two grammys but I'm sitting on the floor eating pizza rolls so who is the real winner here" - @aguywithnolife

On Pop Theology Week in Review

Take Your Son, Your Only Son: The Binding of Isaac and the Unbinding of God

"God said to Abraham, 'If you will, take your son.' And Abraham answered, 'I have two sons.'"

Les Revenants and the Christian Imagination

"The French show Les Revenants (translated as “The Returned”) appeared on the Sundance Channel at the end of 2013 to much acclaim."

On Pop Theology Podcast: Episode 48 - On Being Muslim in America w/ Amir Arain

"This week Ben talked to Dr. Amir Arain, the President of the Islamic Center of Nashville, about his Muslim faith, and in particular the experience of Muslims in the American South."

A Series of Outright Lies About the Eucharist

"So with the fundamental ethos of the internet in mind, we bring you A Series of Outright Lies About the Eucharist."

Song of the Week

"Ghost" by Chelsea Lankes



Peace,
Ben

You can follow On Pop Theology on Twitter @OnPopTheology or like us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/OnPopTheology. If you'd like to help us pay the bills, you can donate via the button on the right of the screen.

Contact us at onpoptheology [at] gmail.com.  

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by Ben Howard

Reads of the Week

1) The Box Under the Tree That You're Allowed to Open by Kenny Pierce

"You never knew me, really. And I never knew you.
We were hidden boxes wrapped tightly, in gold and ribbon,
never to be touched or unwrapped."

2) Kanye West, Evangelist of the 21st Century by Erin S. Rodenbiker

"Kanye’s depiction of Jesus may seem, at first, like farce or mockery—a caricature with the aims of postmodern indulgence or a racialized political statement. But, while iconoclasm and activism may be present, they do not dominate." 

3) Just Be Kind by Gregory Stevens

"But once again, after all those many pages and hours of reading, the message I can relate through big-fancy words and theoretical concepts boils down to one thing: Be kind."

4) Advent is for the Magnificat by Benjamin Moberg

"They sang Mary’s song, the Magnificat, loud and painfully, and the government felt at its’ throat. They plastered her words on posters on street corners and in office windows, and the despots drew back like a tiger, thrashed forward, slammed a fist, banned the song from being sung outright."

5) Jesus Really is the Reason by Nate Pyle

"Christmas changes when you begin to see it through the eyes of a child. All the wonder and magic is resurrected when a child eyes widen at the sight of a lit tree. Their ability to easily believe and accept the mystery of God incarnate moves us to, not only want to accept it with the same ease, but begin to as we recount the story."

Honorable Mention

Here's The Thing About That Bakery That Won't Serve a Gay Couple... by Zack Hunt

Can a Jesus Feminist Wear High Heels?: Evolutionary and Incarnational Reflections on the Male Gaze by Richard Beck

A Herod of My Own Making: An Advent Reflection by Natalie Trust

Tweets of the Week

"Can't wait for the director's cut of the Hobbit trilogy, which will show us Bilbo's life in real time, from birth until death." - Peter Suderman (@petersuderman)

"NSA snooped on online fantasy gamers is one way to put it. NSA paid a bunch of people to play online fantasy games is another way to put it." - Matt Stoller (@matthewstoller)

"Unrelated: I just discovered that if you sing 'I Will Survive' to yourself in a robot voice, it takes on a new, more threatening meaning." - Maureen Johnson (@maureenjohnson)

On Pop Theology Week in Review

Jesus Looks Like Me: A Story of Narcissism and Imagination by Ben Howard

"For a few months during my sophomore year in college I went to a stereotypical evangelical megachurch complete with pseudo-hipster praise band, husband and wife “teaching” pastors, and a vaguely spiritual abstract noun in place of a church name or affiliation."

Nostalgia: The Christmas Addiction by Charity Erickson

"When I was in my early teens, I spent many December evenings lying on the floor with my head beneath our fake Christmas tree, looking up through the papery-plastic branches at the colored lights we’d woven through the ever-ever-evergreen."

Christmas Magic, Miracles, and Doctor Who by Ben Howard

"I don’t believe in miracles. As a matter of faith I confess to believing in a few, the virgin birth, the resurrection, even the occasional healing, but they aren’t the cornerstones of my faith."

The World Needs More Unironic Glitter Glue (Or, I Can't Help Loving Christmas) by Lyndsey Graves

"I can’t help loving Christmas. Sometimes I think it’s not very cool to love Christmas."

Your Favorite Movie Needs More Pandas by Lane Severson

"What would make every movie from Citizen Kane to China Town better? Pandas."

Song of the Week

"Young Fathers" by Typhoon

Peace,
Ben

You can follow On Pop Theology on Twitter @OnPopTheology or like us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/OnPopTheology. If you'd like to help us pay the bills, you can donate via the button on the right of the screen.

Contact us at onpoptheology [at] gmail.com.  

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A Great Reason to Save the World and the Best Things You'll Read All Week

by Ben Howard

Reads of the Week

1) The Scourge of Moral Liberalism by David Sessions

"Not to put too fine a point on it, but this is a devastating mentality for the left to embrace. I left behind the religious conservatism I grew up with partly because I saw, over the first 20 years or so of my life, the self-defeating absurdity of movement orthodoxies and the obsession with moral shibboleths. There is some basic part of humanity that resists imposed conformity, especially when it claims the authority to judge even one’s individual inner experience."

2) False Future of Ideologies by Nate Pyle

"Ideaologies promise something they cannot deliver on: a perfected future. Pick your '-ism' and you will find a promised future free of the evil causing the need for the ideology. Feminism promises a future free of inequality between women and men. Socialism promises a future free of inequality between the rich and the poor. Nationalism promises a a future where ones nation embodies the best the world has to offer while surrounded by evil nations."

3) How I Became a Jesus Feminist by Micah J. Murray

"There are a few phrases of Scripture that ring in my ears when we talk about feminism – words about doing justly, about loving mercy. Words about letting justice and righteousness roll down like rivers. And most of all, those words about how every valley will be exalted and every mountain and hill made low."

4) Thinking Outside the Middle Class Box by Christena Cleveland

"More often than not, the low-income people who attend predominantly middle-class churches are marginalized as 'recipients' rather than invited in as 'irreplaceable participants.' They’re directed to apply for benevolence fund money, but they’re rarely seen as individuals (with insight, perspective and skills) that can contribute to the central life of the church. As a result, they aren’t seen as 'influencers' and are often overlooked for leadership positions in the church."

5) Living More With Less by D.L. Mayfield

"I just want to share this with you as a way of extending the conversation here. Lord knows it’s a truth I need to sit with awhile. I love having a few lifestyle choices in the bag that ensure I am following Jesus–like only shopping at thrift stores. It’s a neat thing to say that makes me different from people, possibly even holier. But in reality, in the trenches here, I am finding I don’t have the time, energy, or gas to go thrift shopping."

Honorable Mention

My Eyes Are Up Here by Emily Maynard

On Humility and Privilege by Richard Beck

Lessons From a New Orleans Playground by Sarah Richardson

Song of the Week

"Hard Fall" by The Wallings Jr.

Peace,
Ben

You can follow On Pop Theology on Twitter @OnPopTheology or like us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/OnPopTheology. 

Contact us at onpoptheology [at] gmail.com.  

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by Ben Howard

Reads of the Week

1) Come Hither Men, For I Have Sex Demons by Grace Biskie

"It is those men who have been Jesus to me. It’s the ones who’ve looked me in my eye with definitive actions and words and communicated: you are not your sexuality. Those are the men who have healed. Those are the men who have pulled a miracle of out their damned hats in rescue of my soul. Thank God for these men. Thank God for these men."

2) Your Story is Worth Finishing by Luke Harms

"This is me opening doors that I’ve never dared to open publicly because the fact that you’re reading this means maybe you’re looking for a reason not to and I’m telling you that this is it. This is me, jumping up and down, waving my arms and screaming that I see you, that you’re not alone, that your life has value. This is me telling you all of the things that I wish someone would have told me when I started down that road. It is worth it. You’re worth it. You are loved, you are loved, you are loved."

3) A Threat to Never Forget: September 11 and America's Vengeful Memory by David Henson

"There is a threat implied in refusing to forget. It is a threat against others, a reminder that our collective memory is as deep as our desire for vengeance. We refuse to forget with war, drones, and torture. We refuse to forget with the erosion of civil liberties. We refuse to forget by reminding the entire world that retaliation — not freedom — is our nation’s most treasured value."

4) The Witness of the Saints by Richard Beck

"What holds the church together are the saints. And I think church history bears this out. Before there was a bible or creeds or orthodoxy or an authoritative teaching tradition there were the martyrs and the saints. And it was the veneration of the martyrs and saints that held the church together."

5) Mumford & Sons and Religious Experiences by Nate Pyle

"For the Christian, the church is the thing we connect to that is larger than self.  It gives us a sense of purpose that is greater than just our individual lives.  It connects us to something that transcends the moment and extends back through 2,000 years of history connecting up to eternity.  This is why I believe the church is God’s plan for the world.  Church is supposed to be the ultimate transcendent, larger than life experience."

6) Texas Evangelicals Argue Against Evangelism by Fred Clark

"Here let’s just say this: If you’re an evangelical Christian and you find yourself arguing that “religious liberty” means that religious identity is immutable and unchangeable, and therefore that evangelism is unnecessary and impossible, then you need to rethink the trap you’ve set for yourself."

7) #BlackGirlProblems at a Christian College by Joy Ubani

"I often wonder if genuine racial diversity can be achieved at a Christian college, or any PWI. Generally speaking, students who attend these colleges are privileged, White students. Some of these students and staff members have grown up in a rather homogeneous environment. (Hence the dramatic questions about hair and surprised expressions when they know I can’t twerk like the Black girl they saw on YouTube)."

8) The High Human Stakes of Movie Destruction by Geoffrey Reiter

"Because too many disaster movies fail to earn their stakes by demonstrating the human cost in concrete terms, they are “pornographic” in the same way: they create a brief, artificial thrill that cannot be sustained and comes at the expense of recognizing the implications that such catastrophic events would have on actual lives if they actually occurred. Thus, the terms “disaster porn” or “destruction porn” are actually uncannily accurate."

9) If You Knew Me, You Would Care by D.L. Mayfield

"Because I know people now, and they have made me care. But here is the other truth that no one want to talk about, that we spend all our time protecting at all costs: our culture thrives on forgetting. On distractions, petty concerns, and the crushing pursuit of individual comfort. Every day is a struggle to care. The only thing that makes it easier is if you are forced to confront it, time and time again."

10) From 'Full House' to 'Modern Family': Ten Shows That Forced Us to Reimagine the American Family by Jonathan Merritt

"In the 1950s, television largely mirrored the prevalent concept of the American family. Popular shows like 'Leave it to Beaver' and 'Father Knows Best' depicted the family as a heterosexual, patriarchal, churchgoing unit with chaste children. But in the 1960s, family depictions began to change. And so did America’s thinking."

Honorable Mention

A Piece of the Answer by Elora Nicole

Becoming Madrina: Relationships and World Vision by Micha Boyett

Are Concussions the Price We Pay for Manly Men? by E. Stephen Burnett

Tweets of the Week

"Sort of think Miley Cyrus and Lady Gaga are building towards an endgame where they wear turtlenecks and play sedate piano pop." - Alyssa Rosenberg (@AlyssaRosenberg)

"When Miley Cyrus is naked & licks a hammer it’s 'art' and 'music'.. but when I do it, I’m 'wasted' and 'have to leave Home Depot'" - Ray Lopez (@Raylopez)

"The year is 2015. Someone publishes an article that isn't a list. Is promptly burned for witchcraft." - Jonathan Harrison (@jonateharrison)

On Pop Theology Week in Review

On Pop Theology Podcast: Episode 39 - A Christian Nation Full of Care Bears by Ben Howard

"This week Ben, Jesse and Sebastian talk about whether or not America is a Christian nation."

How to Get Abs Like Jesus by Lane Severson

"Ever since the Disciples asked Jesus how to pray people have been changing up the pattern to work better for their schedule, personality, or just to get better results."

A Series of Outright Lies About the Bible by Ben Howard

"There's a lot of misinformation in the world today. Some argue that's simply the nature of the internet and the democratization of information itself."

Song of the Week

"Wrecking Ball (The Country Version)" by The Gregory Brothers

Peace,
Ben

You can follow On Pop Theology on Twitter @OnPopTheology or like us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/OnPopTheology. 

Contact us at onpoptheology [at] gmail.com.
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Located outside Fulham FC's Craven Cottage

by Ben Howard

Reads of the Week

1) You Don't Hate Me. You Hate My Brand by Rachel Held Evans

"But we are not our messages, no matter how much we believe in them. We are not our filtered photos, or our tweets, or our political and religious ideologies. We are not even the stories we tell, no matter how carefully and truthfully we tell them."


2) From South Africa to Indianapolis: Allan Boesak Teaches Forgiveness Through the Trials of Apartheid by Robert King

"Boesak is a theologian who has described himself as 'an accidental politician.' Much like King did 20 years before him, Boesak stood at the front of the protest marches, preached in churches, and was himself targeted for assassination. While some wanted a race war, he made the case for nonviolence."

3) How the Church Resegregated Schools in the South by Tyler Glodjo

"As I sought to understand how a public school could be 99% African American half a century after the Supreme Court shot Jim Crow and school segregation dead, I found that race, education, and church have a very convoluted history in my community that has many implications for evangelicals today and the unity of the body of Christ."

4) The Ministry of Funfetti by D.L. Mayfield

"As many of you know, my little family and I are in a Christian order among the poor. I like saying those words aloud, like the way they trip off my tongue. For I have spent my entire life, even as a little girl, pursuing martrydom. When I was small, I was obsessed with missionary biographies, Bible stories, and Joan of Arc was my patron saint. I created a hierarchy in my mind of who God loves best (those who do big and wild and scary things) and I wanted to be right at the top."

5) Seeing a Woman: A Conversation Between a Father and Son by Nate Pyle

"I’m not telling you to not look at women.  Just the opposite.  I’m telling you to see women.  Really see them.  Not just with your eyes, but with your heart.  Don’t look to see something that tickles your senses, but see a human being."

Honorable Mention

Everything I Learned about Reconciliation I Learned in the Church by Christena Cleveland

Why You Shouldn't Growl When People Cry "Jim Crow" about NC's New Voting Law by Morgan Guyton

Simple Love by Veronica Fetzer

Tweets of the Week

"My prediction for Breaking Bad: it's all been a prequel to Malcolm in the Middle. Walt enters witness protection and becomes Hal." - Matt Appling (@MattTCoNP) 

"The more I feel part of a community at church, the less I feel church is shitty. Love covers over a multitude of shittyness." - Jamie Wright (@JamieTVWM) 

"One time, when no one was looking, I acted exactly like myself." - Mark Duplass (@MarkDuplass)

On Pop Theology Week in Review

On Pop Theology Podcast: Episode 35 - Twitter Is Summer Camp For The Internet by Ben Howard

"This week Ben is joined by guest hosts Joanna Bradley and Emily Maynard to talk about the weird and wild world of Twitter."

The Fantasy League of Christian Twitter by Ben Howard

"'Tis the season for fantasy football drafts. Don't let anyone fool you, fantasy football is the most enjoyable thing about football season."

Preying in the Name of God by Sebastian Faust

"I’ve heard it in sermons; I’ve read it in books: 'Remember the widow’s mite. Be like the widow.'" 

An Ordinary Time by Lyndsey Graves

"In the Western liturgical calendar, there are two periods called “ordinary time.” They’re so named because the weeks are numbered “ordinally,” but the reason they’re only numbers is because there’s nothing else going on."

Joy Division and John of the Cross by John Wallace

"Whenever I hear Joy Division’s “Love Will Tear Us Apart,” I always think of St. John of the Cross."

Song of the Week

"Modern Jesus" by Portugal. The Man 

Peace,
Ben

You can follow On Pop Theology on Twitter @OnPopTheology or like us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/OnPopTheology. 

Contact us at onpoptheology [at] gmail.com. 

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