Perhaps Architect Frank Gehry’s most famous building stands in Bilbao, Spain. His design is framed with steel and sheaved in titanium. This sculpture, created to display art, opened in 1997 to immediate acclaim. Gehry responded to all the noise by noting, “I do think architecture is a profession that deserves to have its masterpieces and occasionally somebody manages to eke one out. Not everybody can do it and, God knows, I didn’t know I could.”

Bilbao lies at the heart of the Basque region of Spain, an area long torn by the terrorism of Basque separatists. Gehry has discussed his design as an attempt to represent the idea of “democracy.” He created a building that appears to be breaking apart; fitful pieces slide askew, yet remain together, fixed in space. The sheets of titanium reflect the sun above and the water below; a shifting façade responsive to rippling water and clouds sliding by.

I had the chance to attend the Rally to Restore Sanity this past weekend.  In all, I thought the rally was really effective.  There were moments of silliness, and quite a few times when my friend and I observed that the programming felt a bit reminiscent of our youth ministry days.  There were some brief moments when I wondering if this was all a big festival of hipsters reveling in irony . . . and there was certainly that element going on.  But what drew me to the rally, and what sealed my admiration of the event, was the call to putting aside our difference and our fears in order to make our country better.  I think everyone there had a sense of patriotism and a desire to see our country less polarized. 

This article originally appeared on the Mars Hill Church Creative blog.

USA Today announced recently they're significantly restructuring of their newsroom, starting with a big layoff. Underlying the physical effects are real changes in their business of journalism. As newspapers and magazines continue their sprint away from physical towards digitally distributed content, we gain some helpful visibility into how Americans consume news and, far more importantly, how and what news is reported on. Fundamental shifts in how Americans produce and consume news are happening quickly, and, rather subtly. We'll take a look at why this matters to you, but first, some brief background.

Some have said that modern satire--comedy's brainy older brother--is peaking these days.  Sarcasm has colored our language and shaped our thinking, and as a Christian, I must ask myself where humor fits into God’s worldview. In my biblical concordance there are no categories for comedy, humor, satire, or irony, but let's not assume God has nothing to say about such things. I can't find topics like blogging, blind dates, or broom hockey in the Bible either, but God's principles, as revealed in the Holy Scriptures, have a way of illuminating the non-essentials.

Somewhere in the middle of Jon Stewart’s faux civics textbook entitled America is reprinted the daily schedule of a fictional political convention. It includes, among other things, the 7:25 a.m. “Adulterer Walk of Shame” followed by the juxtaposition of an 8:00 a.m. prayer breakfast.