Category Archives: Random Thoughts

My friend Mike asked me (along with the other youth ministers he knows):  “What are the top ten characteristics of a healthy youth ministry?”  There are a million lists like that floating around, but it did make me stop and … Continue reading →

There are people who “get it,” and then there is Anna Quindlen (http://parenting.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/03/22/the-best-part-of-parenting/?sudsredirect=true). This isn’t the first time Quindlen has moved me to tears.  I have convinced myself that we are friends, Anna and I, since she obviously knows me in … Continue reading →

My friend Dwayne has me thinking about remorse.  In the last post (“Did Louis Kill Jesus?”), when I talked about making room for remorse, it wasn’t  the bitter kind I had in mind.  Mark Radecke (chaplain at Susquehanna University in … Continue reading →

Just learned that Amazon has found another way to slice and dice books: this time by “Most Highlighted Books of All Time” (based on Kindle activity).  *Almost Christian* is #643, slightly ahead of the Quran (#648) but behind Oliver Twist … Continue reading →

(Thanks to Christy Lang for showing me this!) If you’re not a Hulu user, go register online (it’s free) and then watch this episode of FX’s “Louie.” The show is a mash-up of Louie C.K.’s stand up comedy routines and … Continue reading →

So here’s the most provocative question I’ve heard so far this year…compliments of Youthworker Movement (http://ywmovement.org) via Lars Rood.  (As you can see, I’m the last one to hear these things).  The question goes something like this: If you were … Continue reading →

I’m grateful for the many ways people are diving into Almost Christian–but above all, I have been blessed by the high school seniors who are weighing in.  You don’t get more honest critics than that.  Start with Lydia, my new … Continue reading →

UGH.  That was one reaction to this article (http://chronicle.com/article/The-Shadow-Scholar/125329/#top), from the Chronicle of Higher Education (thanks, AZ, for sending!).  Surprise?  Not so much.  Here is the editor’s note about the article: Ed Dante is a pseudonym for a writer who … Continue reading →

Some of you know that I’m an Improv Everywhere fan.  Now the Philadelphia Opera has caught the “improv” bug–check out this video of the Hallelujah Chorus, performed on a busy Saturday in Macy’s (formerly Wanamaker’s) in downtown Philadelphia – click here. I … Continue reading →