Flirting with Faith

Does the Protestant Work Ethic Hold Up in the 21st Century

Joan Ball — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 19:48:59 +0000

This was originally posted last year, but it's on my mind again today... Reading a "secular" textbook this morning about the roots of Americans' tendency to define themselves by the work they do and came across this: "Calvin's doctrine of predestination led his followers...

Read the full post here »

Does the Protestant Work Ethic Hold Up in the 21st Century?

Joan Ball — Wed, 25 May 2011 16:57:29 +0000

Read the full post here »

Holy Saturday: Thoughts on Sacrifice

Joan Ball — Sat, 23 Apr 2011 13:50:42 +0000

Woke this morning thinking about sacrifice and how infrequently most of us, myself included, actually sacrifice anything of true value to ourselves for God and others. Sure we give money to our favorite charities. But when is the last time we actually parted with money that would have gone to paying our bills or buying food for ourselves or our families for someone in deeper need? And yes, we donate our time. But rarely when to do so places an inordinate burden on our own schedules or the...

Read the full post here »

Maundy Thursday: Inspirational Holy Week Stories for an Extraordinary Season…

Joan Ball — Thu, 21 Apr 2011 13:51:07 +0000

Wondering about the meaning of Holy Week and Easter? A new friend and talented author, pastor, artist Dr. David McDonald, has created a helpful site called The Common Truth: Ordinary Stories for an Extraordinary Season that offers thought-provoking daily reflections and inspirational Easter season stories for Palm...

Read the full post here »

An Ordinary Holy Week Primer for an Extraordinary Season…

Joan Ball — Tue, 19 Apr 2011 04:27:39 +0000

I Don’t Care About Heaven or Hell…

Joan Ball — Fri, 18 Mar 2011 08:34:56 +0000

I don't care about heaven or hell. There, I said it. As I've watched the flood of blog posts, Tweets, television interviews and articles about Rob Bell's new book Love Wins: A...

Read the full post here »

Are We on the Road to Legalizing Incest?: The Rise and Fall of Taboos in a Changing Society

Joan Ball — Wed, 15 Dec 2010 14:56:19 +0000

Columbia University Professor David Epstein was arrested last week and charged with having "consensual" sexual relationship with his 24-year-old daughter. Epstein's lawyer, Matthew Galluzzo, tells ABCNews.com: "Academically, we are obviously all morally opposed to incest and rightfully so. At the same time, there isRead the full post here »

Coming out of the Christian Closet: Guest Post by Author Becky Garrison

Joan Ball — Mon, 06 Dec 2010 22:20:32 +0000

Coming out of the Christian Closet

By Becky Garrison

As part of my ongoing pilgrimage to chat up the themes I raise in my...

Read the full post here »

Can We Apologize in the Name of “Hateful” Christians? Should We?

Joan Ball — Sat, 27 Nov 2010 21:41:38 +0000

A Twitter friend I met in California posted the following Tweet that got me thinking...The conversation that followed went like this...Read the full post here »

What is World Evangelism?: Notes from the Lausanne Congress, Cape Town South Africa

Joan Ball — Sun, 17 Oct 2010 21:15:38 +0000

More than 4200 Christians from across the globe will spend the next week and a half discussing the future of evangelicalism as part of the Third Lausanne Congress on World Evangelism in Cape Town, South Africa. You can follow the Congress via video and audio through posts on Twitter and Facebook . I'll...

Read the full post here »