Sunday, February 12, 2012 @ JP Hops House

This coming Sunday, February 12, 2012 we’re going to experiment with a change of venue and time for Pub Theology. We will gather at the JP Hops House,

located at 2317 Highway 6 S.–just north of Westheimer and next to Shipley’s [MAP]. Start time for our fellowship and conversation will be 5:00 pm.

Beginning at 6:00 pm, the Hops House has a weekly open mic night, which often features some of the musicians who have played at Theophilus. So that option is available for those who might like to stick around for a little live music.

Hope to see you there!

PUB THEOLOGY October 16 @ The Boneyard

Our next Pub Theology will be this Sunday, October 16 at 6:00 pm.  This week we’ll be checking out a new venue:

The Boneyard at 8150 Washington Avenue (MAP).  Looks like a great venue for conversation and relaxation. And it’s a dog-friendly environment.

For an initial discussion topic, I’d like to suggest that we look at materialism and how it impacts our lives.  We’ll also take a quick look at some of the things Jesus said about wealth and possessions.  Often I think his words have been interpreted too simplistically, and he said some things that could be really helpful to us in a society of abundance.

But, as always, if you have other topics you’d like to discuss, please bring them to the table.

The weather should be great for an outdoor get-together.  Feel free to bring your four-legged friends.  And bring along a human friend or two as well!

Sunday, August 7 @ The Stag’s Head

Our next session of Pub Theology is this coming Sunday, August 7 at 6:00 pm. Pub Theology is a low-key, informal roundtable discussion of faith, God, life and spirituality. We will meet at The Stag’s Head, 2128 Portsmouth, which is near the intersection of Shepherd and Richmond (MAP).

RSVP to the Facebook Event page HERE.

Discussion this Sunday, July 24

Pub Theology will convene this coming Sunday, July 24, at 6:00 pm.  We will once again be gathering at “The Stag’s Head,” which seems to work quite well.  It’s located at 2128 Portsmouth near the intersection of Richmond and Shepherd.

Looking ahead, we will continue to meet on the second and fourth Sundays of the month.  So our next session after this Sunday will be August 14.

Hope to see you there.  Feel free to bring a friend to expand the fellowship.

Next Session: July 10 at The Stag’s Head

Pub Theology convenes again this coming Sunday, July 10 at 6:00 pm.  We will be meeting at The Stag’s Head, 2128 Portsmouth, near the intersection of Shepherd and Richmond.  We have found The Stag’s Head to be a good summer-time meeting place; it’s quiet, cool, and conducive to good conversation.  (During the summer, our plan is to meet on the second and fourth Sunday of the month.)

This week I am proposing that we kick-off the conversation by exploring the topic of miracles and the supernatural.

Pub Theology is simply a time of fellowship and open discussion about faith, life, and spirituality.  There is no agenda other than to explore life together.   Pub Theology is always open to all.  If  you’ve been checking us out online  but haven’t shown up yet, I’d encourage you to take the plunge.    I think you’ll find us friendly and open to new ideas.

Hope to see you soon.

Mike

 

Pub Theology Resumes June 26

After a few weeks off because of people’s summer travel plans, Pub Theology resumes this coming Sunday, June 26.  We will be meeting at The Stag’s Head, 2128 Portsmouth near the intersection of Shepherd and Richmond. 

If you are new to this site, Pub Theology is just a chance to gather for informal and open conversation about issues of faith, life and spirituality.  It’s always open to all.  Hope you can join us and bring a friend.  We will start at 6:00 pm and the conversation will last an hour.

Looking ahead to July, we will meet on July 10 and July 24.  Stay tuned for details just in case we decide to try another venue.

 

 

Update from June 5 Pub Theology

We had a good discussion which started on the topic of what it takes to cultivate a consistent sense of amazement at life.  The conversation also led to an exploration of the topic of happiness in general, which I think would be worth re-visiting some time.  As promised, here are a few good book titles pertinent to the topics of happiness and human nature:

“The Happiness Hypothesis” by Jonathan Haidt

“Thrive” (Finding Happiness the Blue Zones Way) by Dan Buettner

“The Blank Slate” by Steven Pinker

“The Moral Animal” (Why We Are the Way We Are) by Robert Wright

“Thrive” is the easiest, quickest read.  “The Happiness Hypothesis” is the best book on happiness I’ve ever read.  Both “The Blank Slate” and “The Moral Animal” are a little more technical, but are well worth the effort.  Both books will likely change the way you look at many things in life.

At Sunday’s gathering, we decided to meet twice a month for June and July, at least.  Our next meeting of Pub Theology will be Sunday June 26 at 6:00 pm.  (In July we will meet on the second and fourth Sundays.)

Our tentative meeting place on June 26 is The Stag’s Head, 2121 Portsmouth, near the intersection of Shepherd and Richmond. 

The dashboard for this blog indicates quite a few visitors.  So I’d just like to issue a warm invitation to join us for an upcoming meeting.  Pub Theology is always open to all who are interested in sharing some fellowship and good conversation about life and spirituality. 

 

 

 

Pub Theology Venue Change for 5/29/11

Sorry for being in touch so late this week.  At last week’s meeting we discussed a temporary venue change because it’s getting a bit sultry outside and they’ve been having the volleyball tournament at Washington Avenue Drinkery.

So this week we will be trying out the air-conditioning at The Stag’s Head at 2128 Portsmouth, which is right near the Shepherd/59 intersection.  It’s also near Cactus Music and Amy’s Ice Cream.  (In fact, if we all get to the Stags Head and want to go to Amy’s instead, I’d totally be up for that.  So let’s meet at the Stag’s Head and decide if we’re in the mood for ice cream or not.)

Hope to see you Sunday, May 29 at The Stag’s Head at 6:00 pm.

Pub Theology, 5/22 @ Washington Ave. Drinkery

Just a quick reminder that we’ll be gathering again this Sunday evening at 6:00 pm for Pub Theology at The Washington Avenue Drinkery, 4115 Washington Avenue.

This week’s topic will be “Spiritual Growth.”  Here are a few questions to ponder that we might incorporate into our discussion:

• What does it mean to my life to be a follower of Jesus today?  (What difference does faith make?)
• How did I get to where I am today, spiritually? (What has been the trajectory of my spiritual journey so far?)
• What has my experience of “church” been like over the years?  What’s been particularly helpful for my journey?

Don’t worry, this isn’t “homework!”   Just a few thoughts to jump-start the conversation.

I hope you all are having a great week and hope to see you Sunday.

Blessings,

Mike

May 8: God, Evolution and Altruism

My apologies for the delay in getting a synopsis of the May 8th discussion up on the blog.  We had planned on having a discussion about pre-destination and determinism, but it seems that we were pre-destined not to have that discussion!    One of our members has been reading “Mere Christianity” by C.S. Lewis and brought up Lewis’ observation that the human tendency towards self-sacrificial, altruistic behavior is a uniquely human characteristic that sets us apart from the rest of the animal world.

However, since Lewis’ day, research by biologists has shown that the roots of altruistic behavior can be observed in various primate populations.  (See “Gorillas in the Mist, for example.)  So it really can’t be said that altruism has been specially planted in humans by God.   But one thing I do find puzzling is this:  Although the theory of Darwinian natural selection is a very powerful explanation for how life developed the way it did, everybody recognizes that the way natural selection actually operates is a cruel, violent and wasteful process.    Natural selection explains how we got here;  but it seems hard to explain our instinctive revulsion at how it works.   Nobody, not even the most hard-core atheist, would want to live in a human society where the rules of natural selection became the basis for life together.  Perhaps that yearning for something different is the prompting of God?  I don’t know.   But more and more I’m beginning to see the teachings of Jesus as an attempt to re-wire our brains from numerous impusles we inherited from our hunter-gatherer past which no longer serve us very well.

So, this week, May 15, we will talk about pre-destination:  Do things happen for a reason?  Is so, how can we know?  Are there such things as coincidence or is something else going on?

See you at 6:00 pm at the Washington Avenue Drinkery, 4115 Washington Avenue.