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Progressive Christian

2014-08-19T13:35:20-05:00

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

California Mystery Worship Four: Back in the Saddle Again

Last updated on: August 19, 2014 at 1:35 pm By Christy Thomas

As always, I arrived early. A friend and I had driven 40 miles to the center of Hollywood to attend the 9:00 am service of Saddleback Church, Hollywood site, located at the Palladium Theater. Clearly the set-up crew had already been working for several hours. Saddleback banners flanked the building, making it easy to find from its entrance on Sunset Blvd, just off Vine Street. A sign pointed us to the parking lot, already coned off and ready for visitors.... Read more

substitutionary atonement

2014-08-15T15:52:37-05:00

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Spiritual but not Religious: the Church of Whale and Redwood

Last updated on: August 15, 2014 at 3:52 pm By Christy Thomas

We listened to the preliminaries while still outside the sacred space, the sanctuary. About 35 people had shown up ranging in age from eight to mid-70’s. Groups of two to four had slowly gathered, but did not enter into conversation with others. After an introduction, we were given a quick briefing of behavioral expectations, including an admonition to respect what I termed “the three-point doctrinal stance,” as this would provide for us needed stability in the mysterious time to come.... Read more

spiritual but not religious

whale watching

2014-08-06T12:55:39-05:00

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

California Mystery Worship Three: Matter is Mortal Error

Last updated on: August 6, 2014 at 12:55 pm By Christy Thomas

“Matter is mortal error.” I’m seeking to understand this phrase after attending worship at First Church of Christ, Scientist, in Thousand Oaks, CA. I arrived early, accompanying the friend of a friend who serves as summer vocalist. I had the opportunity to observe the two lay readers, the organist and the vocalist, all female, put final touches on the 10 am service. I sat in the small, unadorned worship center, which would seat 100 comfortably, and thumbed through the hymnal,... Read more

united methodist church

2014-07-30T13:22:07-05:00

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

California Mystery Worship Two: The ROCK, No Babies or Children Allowed

Last updated on: July 30, 2014 at 1:22 pm By Christy Thomas

“No children or babies are allowed in the sanctuary and the youth go to a different place.” With those words disturbingly ringing in my ears, since I think children should observe their parents engaged in worship, I was escorted into the cavernous “sanctuary” of The Rock, http://www.sdrock.com/, the gigachurch founded by Miles McPherson, former defensive back for the San Diego Chargers, and former drug addict, now turned motivational speaker/pastor/author. I chose the Point Loma, San Diego, location of this multi-site... Read more

muscular Christianity

2014-07-25T13:58:38-05:00

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

California Mystery Worship One: Hollywood UMC

Last updated on: July 25, 2014 at 1:58 pm By Christy Thomas

“Good Heavens! Do you know what the land under this parking lot is worth?” That reaction came from the mouth of my friend, a real estate professional, when we found the parking lot of Hollywood United Methodist Church, right in the middle of . . . yes, indeed, Hollywood. As in Los Angeles. As in sidewalks with stars on them and grungy-looking stores and famous landmarks. And a place where parking is nearly impossible to find. I am in Southern... Read more

2014-07-16T07:54:26-05:00

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

War is Normal; Peace is the Anomaly

Last updated on: July 16, 2014 at 7:54 am By Christy Thomas

I have just learned recently that one of the temples in ancient Rome housed the statue of Janus, the two-faced god of boundaries. The temple had doors on each end, so each side of the statue could face a door. During times of war, the doors remained open. They were closed in times of peace. According to Plutarch, who wrote this in “Life of King Numa,” “[Janus] also has a temple at Rome with double doors, which they call the... Read more

war and peace; global instability

2014-07-09T11:18:17-05:00

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Let The Little Children Come

Last updated on: July 9, 2014 at 11:18 am By Christy Thomas

What are we going to do about the children? Anyone close to news sources knows about the increasingly large number of unaccompanied children making their way to the US through our permeable borders. They make the trek by God only knows what horrific means of transport. I have heard an estimate of about 72,000 coming in this year and perhaps up to 90,000 next year. They come, not just from the increasing economic and social chaos to be found in... Read more

Undocumented children

2014-07-04T18:39:02-05:00

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Our Oaths of Citizenship: Earthly and Heavenly

Last updated on: July 4, 2014 at 6:39 pm By Christy Thomas

“I hereby declare, on oath, that I absolutely and entirely renounce and abjure all allegiance and fidelity to any foreign prince, potentate, state or sovereignty, of whom or which I have heretofore been a subject or citizen; that I will support and defend the Constitution and laws of the United States of America against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I will bear arms on behalf of the United... Read more

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ignorance of religion

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Oath of Allegience

2014-06-20T10:22:31-05:00

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

The Religious/Political Connection

Last updated on: June 20, 2014 at 10:22 am By Christy Thomas

A friend of mine who has quite a knack for political analysis wrote this about the growing crisis in Iraq: The problem is that elections don’t work very well in places that do not have a homogeneous population, especially if they have no history of democratic institutions. If you count forced relocation as a kind of genocide, what happened in Europe after the Treaty of Versailles poured democracy over everything was about as big an episode of genocide as the... Read more

2014-06-18T15:03:05-05:00

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Gluten-Free=Gay-Free? A Call to Consistency #UMC

Last updated on: June 18, 2014 at 3:03 pm By Christy Thomas

“Christ our Lord invites to his table all who love him, earnestly repent of their sin and seek to live in peace with their neighbor unless . . . you can’t eat regular bread and don’t participate in the sexual life of regular people and then the invitation is rescinded.” I wrote this after yet one more time, I was excluded from the Sacrament. It was Annual Conference, Monday morning. As a United Methodist Clergy, Annual Conference is my church.... Read more

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