A few years ago, in conversation with artist Dylan Mortimer, we identified what we called “3rd rail” topics; things that, when talked about (or sometimes even approached) overcharged conversations to the point of explosion; topics that blew things up between individuals as well as whole people groups. Dylan, then in his early 30s and staring … Read More
Shaun Groves Intro It was 1997 in Palo Alto, CA. I remember sitting 7th row from the stage, listening to a man named Tony Campolo talk about loving people well. He talked about neighbors and kids. He told a story about Jesus I’d heard before touching and healing a leper. Then he started talking about … Read More
Albert Camus writes about ethics, “A man without ethics is a wild beast loosed upon this world.” And while I think we’d be hard-pressed to find someone who denies the importance of ethics, the practice and application of ethics can get tricky when related to cultures and disciplines in which we’re not as knowledgable. Specifically, … Read More
One of the most persistent criticisms of religious progressivism is that it is reactive, pushing back on (and sometimes warring against) older, institutional practices deemed out of date, unhelpful, and even unjust. And while there is some good to such a posture, it doesn’t constitute a full enough profile of leadership. In his book “The … Read More
It’s one thing to say “we’re in this together.” It’s another thing entirely to practice “belonging” and pay the kind of price required to actually broaden one’s tent; to include people who would just as soon exclude or eliminate you from the socio-cultural mix altogether. For many years now, Ben McBride has been doing the … Read More
This episode airs in February of 2020 and gyms all over the country are wrapping up their New Year’s deals to entice newcomers. It’s a poorly kept secret in the fitness world that most gyms (24 hr Fitness, Planet Fitness and the like) harvest the majority of their memberships in January and then.. come February … Read More
In a recent poll of Australians, 70% of those polled claimed to mistrust religious leaders. Of course, I don’t spend a lot of time searching Australian polling data. I saw this because I pay attention to author and missiologist Michael Frost. Michael, has spent much the past two decades tilting his ear towards those who live well beyond … Read More
In his early letters to Jesus followers the Apostle Paul regularly and specifically warned against a religious philosophy called Gnosticism. In short, Gnosticism valued immaterial things and particular devalued the human body. Over 2000 years later, it seems to me that disembodiment of various kinds continues to pose a threat, not just to a healthy … Read More
The power of those who identify, translate and communicate current events is truly massive; sometimes frighteningly so. In 1978, Science fiction writer Philip K. Dick warned against the power of what he called “the media,” writing… “I distrust their power. They have a lot of it. And it is an astonishing power: that of creating whole universes, universes of the … Read More
World suicide prvention day is Sept 10 this year. If you’ve been around my life or work for any stretch of time, you know that suicide, depression and related realties have played a significant role for me, in the show of my father’s suicide in may of 1998. I can trace back just about all the work I do as an artist and advocate to … Read More
