Tony Jones: July 2009 Archives

So says McSweeney's:

Generally, I now think I can do more for the planet as just a guy who used to be God instead of the guy who currently is God, you know what I mean by this? Life is too short to compromise time and resources...it may be tempting and more comfortable to keep your God-head down, plod along, and appease those who demand, "Sit down and shut up," but that's the worthless, easy path − that's a quitter's way out. You can't sit down and shut up when you're God, which is why when I'm not God anymore, I can stand up and do other stuff, like not doing stuff, which is also important, yes?

You betcha.

HT: Rick Bennett

I'm self-employed. That means that I pay for the health insurance premiums for all five members of my family -- it's about 9% of my monthly gross income. But, because I'm not part of a group plan, the plans available to me aren't very good, so each member of my family has a $5,000 deductible every year.  That's a maximum out-of-pocket of $25,000 per year, plus the premiums. This year I had back surgery, so I tore through that deductible for myself in about 90 minutes on February 10.

As a small-business owner, and independent writer/speaker/consultant, I know first-hand that health care costs can be crippling, and they are a huge disincentive for entrepeneurialism, in the for-profit or non-profit world.

Well, if you register for Christianity21 by midnight (CDT) on Friday, you'll be entered to win a private lunch with her.

see more Funny Graphs

Before you post an angry comment, repeat this 10 times: Yes, I do have a sense of humor.

It seems that the "Church" of Scientology has jumped on the marketing language of the emerging church movement if their Google Ad Words campaign (on my blog feed!) is any indication. We have definitely jumped the shark.HT: Simon Willer (aka,...

"It's a clean sweep for the liberal agenda in the Episcopal Church," said David Virtue, editor of VirtueOnline.org, a conservative Web site. "The orthodox are finished."So begins the NYTimes article on the annual cluster meeting known as the Episcopal Church...

An interview with me on the issue of gays and the church just went live on the new interfaith website, Patheos.Q: In a now famous post, you came to the conclusion that GLBTQ folks can "live lives in accord with...

Probably the most anticipated element of Cornerstone that I was involved with was a panel discussion entitled, "Gay Rights or Wrongs," which was a conversation about how the church should approach the issue of GLBT persons. (I wrote about other...

Today and tomorrow only (July 14th and 15th): TODAY ONLY Receive a copy of Ask, Seek, Knock: Prayers to Change Your Life for only $5 (plus free shipping)! Visit www.navpress.com and use the promo code H20E2M3X6 at checkout.Ask, Seek, Knock...

Believe it or not, I do have an opinion on the matter. But you'll have to read Jason Boyett's piece on The Daily Beast to find out what it is....

I didn't see much music while at Cornerstone last week. Occasionally I could hear, or feel, the thumping of a bass while I was giving a talk. Someone told me that there were about 500 bands there, which is an...

My primary role at Cornerstone was co-presenting a three-part seminar with Phyllis Tickle, long-time friend and author of many books. We did a dog-and-pony show on the emergent/-ing/-ence movement that we've done before. IMHO, we work pretty well together, due...

For the rest of the week, I'm going to look back on my experience of the legendary Cornerstone Festival. What many are going to want to hear are my thoughts on the panel on which I sat which dealt with...

All I had today at Cstone was the second of a three-part series with Phyllis Tickle.  We had a great and engaged crowd, and it seems that people are intrigued by the emergence of Christianity. For those of you who...

I'm about to run out the door for Day Two of the Cornerstone Festival, so this will be a quick post. Yesterday was good fun, for sure. Unfortunately, there's no public wireless on the grounds, so liveblogging is out.  And...

I'm diving back into the blogosphere after a needed break (ever feel overwhelmed when you open your Google Reader after a few days away and see that Andrew Sullivan has written 343 posts?!?). I'm at the Cornerstone Festival, a legendary...