FEATURE ARTICLE:UNCLE GOD
by Paul Angone
I was a perpetually petrified
little kid. When I learned how to write, I constructed a “What
Terrifies Me Top Ten,” just so I could keep all my phobias
straight.
The dark and clowns were both mainstays (watching Stephen King’s It without my parent’s knowledge, cemented clowns forever.) Roller coasters, spiders, demons, and my basement all made the list.
Then there were some unusual, miscellaneous fears that rounded off the Top Ten. Ordering at fast food restaurants. Siamese cats. The church sanctuary. (I wasn’t exactly a normal child.)
But my number one on the “What Terrifies Me” list was car washes - the kind where you stay in the car and drive through. Traveling through a car wash was like taking a little jaunt through Hell itself, or so I thought. The water pounded the roof and windows, trying to break through so the menacing rollers and brushes could assassinate me! I’d cry hysterically and make frenzied attempts of escape, like a cat desperately trying to avoid a bath.
The dark and clowns were both mainstays (watching Stephen King’s It without my parent’s knowledge, cemented clowns forever.) Roller coasters, spiders, demons, and my basement all made the list.
Then there were some unusual, miscellaneous fears that rounded off the Top Ten. Ordering at fast food restaurants. Siamese cats. The church sanctuary. (I wasn’t exactly a normal child.)
But my number one on the “What Terrifies Me” list was car washes - the kind where you stay in the car and drive through. Traveling through a car wash was like taking a little jaunt through Hell itself, or so I thought. The water pounded the roof and windows, trying to break through so the menacing rollers and brushes could assassinate me! I’d cry hysterically and make frenzied attempts of escape, like a cat desperately trying to avoid a bath.
UNLEASHING
CREATIVITY - A Podcast with Teel Montague
by Brittian Bullock
Creativity,
artistry, imagination, experiment have been powerful metaphors in my
life lately. While I’ve always been one of those people who have
been encouraged to pursue my passions by my family or others around me,
I’ve also gone through phases in my life where my environment
squelched all practical expression of creativity. I think of the 6
years I worked at UPS, crunching numbers, sifting through the mindless
mundane, hearing corporate mantras. It’s not so surprising that
those were the least experimental and most fundamentalist years of my
life...
SEX-CRAZED: America’s Christian Subculture
by Adele Sakler
Why does the Evangelical community
seem so preoccupied with pointing out what they perceive to be the sins
of others? Why this commitment to the role of morality police,
lambasting everyone with their narrow interpretations of Scripture? It
seems their selective view of holiness is far more important than how
we actually treat our fellow human beings. Maybe if we worked harder on
our own lives, focused on how we are treating others, a more holistic
holiness could finally exude from our lives.
A
FRESH LOOK AT JESUS CHRIST: Invasion from Another Universe
by
Imagine for a moment that a creature
from another universe invades planet earth. This being is male, but he
is profoundly different from us earthlings. He is neither Jew nor
Gentile. He is altogether other. He is a unique creation from a unique
world. He is, if you please, a new species.
As this creature enters into adulthood, he begins to teach the
principles that govern his world. These principles operate on a higher
plane than those that govern our world. He also demonstrates these
principles in visible action..
WE'RE LOOKING FOR A FEW GOOD BLOGGERS - Announcing Viral
Bloggers 2.0
by Michael Morrell
Apply to be an Ooze blogger at ViralBloggers.com- it'll take
three minutes. If you qualify - more on that in a moment - then
you’ll get an email once per month that will invite you to log
onto ViralBloggers.com to look
at that month’s offerings - there might be two books to choose
from, or there might be ten! You choose a book, only if you want to
review something that month. If you look over the books and decide none
of them are your cup of tea, that’s fine too - we’re
inviting a sizable and diverse group of bloggers along so that no one
gets bored.
FURIOUS
LONGING
Brennan Manning
presents a love story for the brokenhearted in his new book, The
Furious Longing of God. For those who are burdened by heavy religion.
For those who feel they can never measure up. It is a provocative and
poignant look at the radical, no-holds-barred love of our Heavenly
Father.
Join the “Furious Longing” Facebook group and watch the trailer.
Join the “Furious Longing” Facebook group and watch the trailer.
FROM ETERNITY TO HERE
“Of all
the sticks of TNT that Frank Viola has launched into a sleepy, status
quo church, this grenade has the most explosive potential to make the
church unashamed of the gospel and to release God’s dynamic power
for salvation.”
—Leonard Sweet, Drew University, George Fox University, www.sermons.com
—Leonard Sweet, Drew University, George Fox University, www.sermons.com
WHO GOES
THERE?
Rebecca Price Janney goes back to the colonization and founding of the United States- from the Great Awakening to the American Revolution, through the tumultuous 19th century, and all the way past two world wars and a technological revolution, Who Goes There? Pieces together a thoughtful narrative of American beliefs about the afterlife.
-
March 31st 2009
TheOOZE.TV Launches!
Join
us for the launch of TheOOZE.TV,
an engaging, viral video internet channel that offers progressive and
emerging church content distribution. Featuring on-demand
viewing, podcasting through RSS and even High Def syndication,
TheOOZE.TV will add a new dimension to the CONVERSATION IN MOTION.
TheOOZE.TV is proudly sponsored by:
-
April 26-29
Mobilization to End Poverty
he Mobilization to End Poverty will be a history-making gathering. Christians from across the country will come together in a powerful movement committed to the biblical imperative of reducing domestic and global poverty. Click here to learn more
Where are you on "religion"?
"Is it important to you that your reality with God takes shape in a list of concrete beliefs or doctrines? Is it meaningful for you to represent or express your beliefs or spirituality through symbols, rituals, and certain disciplined practices? How so" >>READ MORE
"Is it important to you that your reality with God takes shape in a list of concrete beliefs or doctrines? Is it meaningful for you to represent or express your beliefs or spirituality through symbols, rituals, and certain disciplined practices? How so" >>READ MORE
"What were we created for?"
"Whether you think we are created or
evolved, what do you think we are here for?" >>READ
MORE
"Does Christianity need to evolve?"
"or maybe the question is irrelevant, maybe Christianity HAS evolved, and is evolving-- whether we know it or not, or whether we like it or not, or whether we even believe such a thing to be possible or not. Most denominations would say no, the faith is unchanging, and we are the guardians of it, etc.". >>READ MORE
"or maybe the question is irrelevant, maybe Christianity HAS evolved, and is evolving-- whether we know it or not, or whether we like it or not, or whether we even believe such a thing to be possible or not. Most denominations would say no, the faith is unchanging, and we are the guardians of it, etc.". >>READ MORE
