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Previous Posts
The Last Text Message
Today is my last day with Beliefnet, and my last day as the author of this blog. The Text Messages archives will remain live at this location, but posting will cease. If that sounds gloomy, it's an accurate reflection of my mind this afternoon. I've chosen to pursue new opportunities, but I'm n
posted 3:47:12pm Feb. 04, 2009 |
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Quitting Church: A Q&A with Julia Duin
Why do people stop going to church? This big question is the subject of Julia Duin's small book, Quitting Church: Why teh Faithful are Fleeing and What To Do About It. Duin is not a disinterested observer of the phenomenon of church-dropping; rather, she's a churchgoer who wants churches to work wel
posted 4:03:51pm Feb. 03, 2009 |
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Rob Stennett vs. Marilynne Robinson
I'm overjoyed that my good friend Rob Stennett has won the Award of Merit from Christianity Today for his novel The Almost True Story of Ryan Fisher. (Here's CT's review of the book.) Stennett's hilarious book is about a real estate agent who joins a suburban church in order to reach the Christian h
posted 2:36:44pm Jan. 30, 2009 |
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What is spiritual restoration?
Slate asked for an essay on Ted Haggard's spiritual restoration. I'm okay with what I came up with for now, but the more I think about it, the more I think we need better thinking on what restoration looks like for very public, outspoken, influential men and women like Haggard:Most people who fail n
posted 9:00:56am Jan. 29, 2009 |
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It's Not TV; it's Ted TV
A blog might not be the best medium for an essay like this. But I want to offer some more considered thoughts on Ted Haggard and his HBO documentary; I hope this performs some kind of service in a story that I hope will end--in its public iteration--very soon. This was written as a stand-alone essay
posted 3:57:44am Jan. 28, 2009 |
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posted October 30, 2008 at 12:31 pm
Thanks for finding this!
posted November 4, 2008 at 11:01 am
This world has become a scary and seriously dangerous place at times. Children and some adults, need places of safety to go in their heads and dreams. A Diversified mind is one that is more creative, a better problem solver, open minded, more accepting and tolerant. All of these qualities we need to move this generation forward.
To put down the concept of fairy tales and fantasy because it is not real is inane. Read the news paper. Are we sure they are not twisted tales? If we remove all fiction what do we have to base on??
I feel that if children/teens are reading, they are learning and if they can seperate fiction from reality then we should encourage and applaud them and the writers who keep them reading!
Thank you for your blog Patton.