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Playing God
Playing God by Andy Crouch is a really good book. I’d heard the author allude to this project a couple of years back, if memory serves, and had been anticipating it ever since. As a white man who serves a multi-ethnic church in a predominately African-American neighborhood, I’ve thought about power a lot. I was curious…
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The End Of Authenticity
For the ten years I’ve been a pastor there’s been one priority most everyone I’ve worked with (pastors, lay people, and ministry authors alike) has agreed with: authenticity. This is interesting. For one thing, church folks don’t often agree on priorities yet this one has gone unopposed. For another, how is authenticity a thing that can be…
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Breaking Bad Isn’t Worth The Time
The big, sprawling multi-season dramatic series that have received the greatest commendation in recent years — from The Sopranos to The Wire to Deadwood to Mad Men to Breaking Bad — have never seemed to me to be worth the enormous investment of time they require. The one that I followed the most closely, The Wire, is really fantastic — but I have to say, if…
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Ask a Slave
A few years ago, after I graduated New York University, I returned to my home town in the DC/Maryland/Virginia area (or the DMV as it is affectionately termed) to start my life as an actor. The DMV is home to some of the greatest regional theatres in the country. Of course, it is also home to some…
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Andy Crouch on Occupying vs Marching
Occupying a park is very different from, say, marching down a street. A march has a destination and a goal, passing through space and time and then disbanding, leaving space before and after for others to flow into. And because marches flow through space and time, they can grow, including more and more people in…
David W. Swanson
Pastor and Author
David W. Swanson 