Humans unfortunately have a tendency to accept the status quo. We’re like the arcade machine aliens from Toy Story, seemingly pre-programmed to respond in certain ways. After all, common advice says if you “keep your head down, do what you are told, and wait your turn,” you will likely advance over time. If you break with convention or...

Looks like Christians aren’t the only ones with an image problem. Now Atheists are now struggling with the way people perceive their movement. "Atheism is quite often mistakenly seen as a cold and distant world, rather than the beautiful, important, and engaging philosophy that it is," says Matt Luckhurst, an MFA student at the School of...

Belief in God and eternity and other basic religious assertions have dominated public opinion surveys for some time, but there are some who now believe that non-belief may...

I first learned of Matthew Paul Turner when I read The Christian Culture Survival Guide, a satirical look at the wonderful world of American Christianity. I laughed, I cried . . . Actually, I just laughed. A lot. I knew then that Matthew Paul Turner wasn't going away. Today, Matthew has written or contributed to over a dozen books on subjects...

Oprah Winfrey is one of the wealthiest and most influential people in America. She is also one of the most controversial among people of faith. Winfrey's motto is "Live your best life," a maxim which bears eerie resemblance to the title of Joel Osteen's bestselling book and influences her talk show, magazine, book club, and unique brand of...

This article was originally published on RelevantMagazine.com.

I don't know when it began. The moment when Napster launched, maybe. Whenever it was, it set off a cultural ripple infecting the masses with an insatiable desire for more, faster and free. It's called the free culture movement, and it advocates increased access to creative goods...

Recently, I've been thinking about the free culture movement. Wikipedia aptly defines it as "a social movement that promotes the freedom to distribute and modify creative works in the form of free content by using the Internet and other forms of media." If you lay awake at night seething over copyright laws, you're probably a proponent of this...

I've heard so many people talking about "The War on Christmas" recently that I decided to gather my own thoughts on the subject. This is a two-part post. The first is "Who is the enemy?" and the second is "What is the answer?"

In my last post, I spoke about how consumerism grips Americans--both Christians and non-Christians--during the...

I've heard so many people talking about "The War on Christmas" recently that I decided to gather my own thoughts on the subject. This is a two-part post. The first is "Who is the enemy?" and the second is "What is the answer?"

A few weeks ago, I walked into the mailroom at our church office and found a stack of "I Say Merry Christmas" bumper...

When American soldiers returned from World War II, the so-called mainline churches were pillars of Protestantism in the United States. (The six denominations typically considered to be "mainline" are the Episcopal Church, the Evangelical Lutheran Church, the Presbyterian Church (USA), the United Methodist Church, the United Church of Christ and...

I've never been one to fix my bayonet over gender issues in the church. There are some people out there who get some sort of thrill from talking about gender roles into the wee hours of the night. These people love debating why women can't preach or teach or pastor or lead men and why men should do all those things. If your internet browser's...

The following post was first posted on the Q Ideas blog:

On a recent visit to New York City, I stumbled upon a outdoor art market in Soho. Intrigued by the organic “New Yorkiness”, I stopped to encounter gritty “starving artists” with musty suitcases full of original artwork. I couldn’t help but purchase a couple of pieces and as I was...

It was the motivation behind the WWJD bracelets of the 1990's. It is the overarching ponderance of Christian ethics.It is one of the most difficult questions that every pastor must ask when preparing Sunday's sermon.This question: What if Jesus were here today?

I don't know that we can ever fully or accurately answer this question. We can...

I'm struggling with a decision, and I need your help. For some time, I have wanted to get a tattoo of either the word "Hope" or "Created." These are meaningful words to me personally but are also scriptural allusions--1 Peter 3:15 and Colossians 1:16, respectively. I would like to get it on the underside of my wrist.