never been better
The church-wide picnic returns next Sunday, May 16. This time the P. Terry's burger truck will be arriving to serve fresh burgers and fries. Please make plans to join us. You'll need to register, make your menu selection, and pay…
Bring back the Sabbath
When we moved to Austin in 1994 from Switzerland, our family thought we were coming home. As Americans in Switzerland we had been strangers in a strange land, cut off from the English language, college football, Tex-Mex and other such…
About power
Andy Crouch, author of "Culture Making," is at work on a new book about creative power. What does it mean to have creative power in a culture or society … for Christians? What temptations does it present? What possibilities? He's…
The power of poetry illustrated
Reading Peter Hitchens' comments on the power of poetry (see Hitchens & Hitchens below) reminded me of John Updike's beautiful "Seven Stanzas at Easter." He wrote it when he was 28 for his church's Religious Arts Festival and won the…
Talking stones
“I tell you, if these were silent, the very stones would cry out.” (Luke 19:40) Jesus’ stones crying out always brings to mind Annie Dillard’s essay “Teaching a Stone to Talk”: “The island where I live is peopled with cranks…
Hitchens & Hitchens
“I set fire to my Bible on the playing fields of my Cambridge boarding school one bright, windy spring afternoon in 196. I was 15 years old. The book did not, as I had hoped, blaze fiercely and swiftly.” So…
Discussion Questions for Avatar
Seen the movie? Read the review. Consider the following: What did watching "Avatar" leave you thinking about? Discuss your first impressions here, not your considered conclusions about the film. On one hand "Avatar" is an other-wordly fantasy. On the other…