Category: Culture
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The Sacrament of Pokemon
Read more: The Sacrament of PokemonEarlier this week, a friend of mine pulled out his phone and opened what looked like Google maps. Only, it looked more pixelated, and it showed not restaurants but Pokemon. I was introduced then to the new craze that is Pokemon Go. Pokemon Go is a virtual reality smartphone game in which players can find,…
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Confessions of a Bridezilla-to-Be
Read more: Confessions of a Bridezilla-to-BeWith the age of Pinterest and bridal websites galore, wedding planning has become such an enormous commercial industry. As a bride-to-be, I’ve had to wade through the myriads of bridal advertisements that flood the inbox of my email, post on the ad space of every website that I visit, and pop up on every Facebook…
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On Travel, the Limits of Language and Being Known
Read more: On Travel, the Limits of Language and Being KnownThis summer for me has been one of language learning and travel to foreign countries — an experience that continues to bring home for me the difficulties involved with human communication. It is hard enough to complete a shopping transaction in a foreign language let alone present a lecture or tell someone how I am…
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Harry Potter: Worse Things than Death, Better Things than Life
Read more: Harry Potter: Worse Things than Death, Better Things than Life[If you haven’t read Harry Potter, don’t read this post. Exit out of it and buy the first book here]. This week was the anniversary of when Harry Potter and his friends entered the department of Mysteries in the Ministry of Magic (in Order of the Phoenix). It is by far my favorite scene in the…
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Where did Christian Baptism Come From?
Read more: Where did Christian Baptism Come From?Question of Origins What are the origins of Christian baptism? A quick perusal of the biblical texts might leave one perplexed as to the sudden appearance of baptism in the New Testament.1 Immediately and without explanation one is confronted with the appearance of John “the Baptist” and the practice of baptizing in water (Matt 3:1ff)….
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One Body, One Suffering: Stop Telling Members They Don’t Hurt
Read more: One Body, One Suffering: Stop Telling Members They Don’t HurtIf one member suffers, all suffer together; – 1 Corinthians 12:26 I’m going to be addressing an issue that I couldn’t possibly hope to fully articulate nor cover in a single post, so I’d like to ask for grace in that from all parties reading before I get started. What I do hope to address…
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Supercheesionism: Has Mozzarella Been Replaced by Cheese?
Read more: Supercheesionism: Has Mozzarella Been Replaced by Cheese?ATLANTA, GA – This past November (2015) the Cheesological Society had their annual meeting to discuss one thing: cheese, of course. At this annual meeting there was a session dedicated to the relationship between Mozarella and cheese. The two plenaries were given by Jack McGouda and N.T. Swiss. McGouda argued that Mozarella was such a…
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The Emerging LGBT Initiative Against Christian Colleges
Read more: The Emerging LGBT Initiative Against Christian Colleges**UPDATE, June 9, 2016. The California Senate Appropriations Committee struck down SB-1888 (proposed by Assemblyman Evan Low), which was the primary legislative bill focused in the article below. However, SB-1146 has been approved by the Appropriations Committee and is moving forward for a vote in the California Senate. SB-1146 was authored by Assemblyman Ricardo Lara (D-Bell…
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Biblical Injunctions for Bearded Awesomeness
Read more: Biblical Injunctions for Bearded AwesomenessI’ll admit, lately I have become a bit obsessed with my beard. Strangely, this unruly hair that is growing out of my face has captivated my attention, adding a minutes to my daily grooming schedule. For people that don’t know me that well this is a pretty big deal. It’s true, I am a clean…
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Israel’s Cry for a King, Our Cry for a Nominee: Reflections on 1 Samuel 8 – 12
Read more: Israel’s Cry for a King, Our Cry for a Nominee: Reflections on 1 Samuel 8 – 12We’re on the home stretch of the next presidential election, and we’re left with three possible candidates: Bernie “Feel the Bern” Sanders, Hillary “Email Extraordinaire” Clinton, and Donald “I Have Big Hands” Trump. I’m sure I’m not alone when I say I don’t fully identify with any particular candidate (though I do have my leanings,…