Google Reader is certainly a double-edged sword. It is a great application for keeping track of blogs and news sites that I enjoy reading, but it's almost too efficient. There is a lot of good and/or entertaining stuff out there, and it's impossible to read it all. I try to throw a couple of interesting finds into the "Interesting Reads" box to the right, but there are three blogs I would like to specifically call out today as they have really pushed me to think hard about some issues recently.

• Jesus Creed is kept up by Scot McKnight, who is a professor at North Park University. I don't know how he does it, but he manages to keep a couple of really good threads up in the air at any given time. Right now there is a thread on the Kingdom of God as well as one on God's Competitors that are both excellent. Each entry is brief, but he throws down some questions at the end of each post for the general public to think about and respond to.

• Kruse Kronicle is authored by a fellow Kansas Citian and Christ-follower, and focuses on faith and economics. There are plenty of posts that point in the direction of magazine and journal articles, and there are also a lot of original takes. A word to the wise: it's deep. As a person who is trying to sort out why free market philosophies make me uncomfortable, it is helpful because it helps me understand better the paradigm. However, I have no intention of getting into any debates with the author. The dude knows his stuff and would argue me under the table in no time flat.
  

• What's Race Got to do With It? This is a fantastic site authored by a white woman who is now living in the predominately black neighborhood that I work in. She doesn't post all that often, but when she does post it is deep and raw. Really raw. In fact, a lot of white people who have not lived in the 'hood will probably disagree with her, but I think that her actions should compell one to graciously listen to her opinions and not light up her blog with negative blasts if you don't agree.

Fair Dinkum