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	<title>Provoketive Magazine &#187; Glenn Hager</title>
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	<description>Provoking The Imagination With Conversation</description>
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		<title>Thin Blue Smoke</title>
		<link>http://provoketive.com/2012/11/13/thin-blue-smoke/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=thin-blue-smoke</link>
		<comments>http://provoketive.com/2012/11/13/thin-blue-smoke/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 13 Nov 2012 16:00:36 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Glenn Hager</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Books]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Featured]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[barbecue]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Doug Worgul]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Kansas City]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Thin Blue Smoke]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://provoketive.com/?p=8004</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[I am seriously moved, definitely warmed and inspired as I just finished a new novel by Doug Worgul, entitled, Thin Blue Smoke. These characters got into my heart and let me know I still have a heart. They’re real and flawed. Some of them have had some really bad breaks in life, but those bad breaks did not set their destiny; one human being caring about another did. Having stumbled upon a review while surfing my Facebook updates, it was the context of Kansas City barbecue that intrigued me because I love barbecue and spent a good many years living just north and later, just south of KC. A downtown hole-the-wall barbecue joint is a connecting point for many of the characters in the story. Food, friends, and faith are all meshed in a raw and real way to keep you eagerly reading. I was sucked in with a mention of my hometown in the first paragraph of chapter one and later references to obscure northwestern Missouri locales, all of which were familiar to me. Worgul is a former features, book and magazine editor for the Kansas City Star, the author of two non-fiction works, and a bona fide barbecue expert. He... ]]></description>
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		<title>Love to Hate</title>
		<link>http://provoketive.com/2012/10/12/love-to-hate/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=love-to-hate</link>
		<comments>http://provoketive.com/2012/10/12/love-to-hate/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 12 Oct 2012 15:00:09 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Glenn Hager</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Featured]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Humanity]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[anger]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[conflict]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://provoketive.com/?p=7842</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[One look at the news lately tells me that human beings are drawn to conflict. Iran wants to wipe Israel off the face of the earth. Israel demands a red line from the United States, so it can bomb Iran. Militants execute a 9-11 anniversary attack and kill our ambassador to Lybia. Muslims around the world use an idiotic and inflammatory film as an excuse to attack U.S diplomatic institutions in their countries. Obama and Romney get ready to duke it out for the best zinger of the debates.. The Republican House passes bills that the Democrat Senate rejects out of hand. A couple of days ago, I witnessed two men nearly come to blows in the local  Walmart parking lot because one walked in front of the other’s vehicle. Why do we seem to love conflict? It makes us feel alive. There seems to be something almost therapeutic about getting riled up. It makes us feel principled. We love to fight for what we believe. It gives us a simple framework for understanding things. It’s black and white. “I am right. You are wrong. I am standing up for what I believe. You are an idiot.” But, consider the... ]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>5</slash:comments>
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		<title>Strange Places</title>
		<link>http://provoketive.com/2012/08/10/strange-places/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=strange-places</link>
		<comments>http://provoketive.com/2012/08/10/strange-places/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 10 Aug 2012 15:00:01 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Glenn Hager</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Featured]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Featured Series]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Spirituality]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Synchroblog]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://provoketive.com/?p=7305</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[“Follower of Jesus” is the new cooler way to say “Christian”, a word loaded with centuries of baggage that no longer seems very Christian. Yet, “follower of Jesus” sounds a little smug to me. It reminds of those church-goers in ancient Corinth who weren’t in the camp of Paul or Apollos; they followed Jesus. Smug. However, trying to figure out just what it really means to follow Jesus is something that merits careful consideration, especially, because it so misunderstood. Following Jesus in his day meant just that. That’s how the cream of the crop, the young people with the most potential were educated. They followed their Rabbi for years. They lived and traveled together. The kids who were not the best and brightest, learned a trade. There are no rules for following Jesus, you just stay with him, watch him; see what he does, how he responds; watch what he does when he is stressed. He took his followers to the darndest places. Think about where they wound up as they followed Jesus. You might find yourself in some of the same places. You might wind up… At parties with the most notorious people in town At the graveside of... ]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>13</slash:comments>
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		<title>Tiny Bubbles</title>
		<link>http://provoketive.com/2012/04/11/tiny-bubbles/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=tiny-bubbles</link>
		<comments>http://provoketive.com/2012/04/11/tiny-bubbles/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 11 Apr 2012 15:00:42 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Glenn Hager</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Politics]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://provoketive.com/?p=5659</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Every day, I listen to NPR. I also watch Fox News on a daily basis. Jokingly, I tell people that I am either perfectly balanced or totally schizophrenic. Some of the shows on the more biased news networks are just straight forward news. Some get high marks for production excellence. Few get high marks for in-depth reporting. They each have their entertainers masquerading as journalists or news analysts who overstate their case, holding up the most extreme example from the opposing view to conveniently ridicule them. They try their darnedest to rile people up and increase their ratings; rather than help their audience truly understand an issue. These so-called news outlets are bubbles presenting their version of what is happening in the world. I have voted for Republicans and for Democrats. Politicians over promise and under deliver. Seldom do they ever finish well. Political parties are just two more bubbles so locked into ideologies and paradigms, that they have paralyzed our government. For over twenty years I was a pastor. Now that I am removed from that scene, I see the church as one of the hardiest bubbles or all. While some churches are doing great things in their communities,... ]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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		<item>
		<title>Am I Good Enough?</title>
		<link>http://provoketive.com/2012/02/22/am-i-good-enough/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=am-i-good-enough</link>
		<comments>http://provoketive.com/2012/02/22/am-i-good-enough/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 22 Feb 2012 16:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Glenn Hager</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Featured]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Humanity]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Now]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[celebrity]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[drug abuse]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[insecurity]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Kevin Costner]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[memorial service]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[The Bodyguard]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Whitney Houston]]></category>

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		<description><![CDATA[I was mesmerized by Whitney Houston’s televised memorial service. Maybe, I do miss church gatherings a little bit after all. They certainly “had church”! Whitney was blessed with an amazing gift, a voice that she honed into something extraordinary. She was, apparently, a very sweet, relational soul with an abiding faith in Jesus Christ; a beautiful woman with poise and grace. She sang. She acted. She modeled. She had it all. I kept hearing about this Whitney. I did not hear about the Whitney who was a drug user, who had a troubled marriage and a daughter who seems be following in her mother’s tragic footsteps. That’s not appropriate material for a memorial service. Yet, I have heard little mention of these painfully obvious realities in all of the days since her death. People of influence are missing a teachable moment for our nation. Whitney’s death should be the beginning of a national discussion about drug abuse, resulting in something that helps people who are struggling with its stranglehold on their lives. Yet, there is deeper aspect to Whitney’s life. There was something that drove her to a drug addiction that has threatened her career for years and finally took her... ]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>4</slash:comments>
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		<item>
		<title>Demystifying Hope</title>
		<link>http://provoketive.com/2012/01/18/demystifying-hope/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=demystifying-hope</link>
		<comments>http://provoketive.com/2012/01/18/demystifying-hope/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 18 Jan 2012 16:00:54 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Glenn Hager</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Humanity]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://provoketive.com/?p=4115</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[You can live forty days without food, four days without water, four minutes without air, but not even four seconds without hope. – Anonymous Hope Described It is laborious and depressing to try to muddle on when you feel hopeless. In my own precarious situation, I have noticed that the slightest development can ever so easily tip my emotional scales one way or the other. Yet, I believe hope is more than a half-hearted, wistful, emotional aspiration. Hope is grounded in belief. For me, those beliefs include a loving God who was outlandish, unexpected, and extravagant in the way he loved through Jesus; and that love story is not over. As a matter of fact, I get to soak up his love and transfer it on to others right now; and if things fall apart, I am reminded that it is not the last chapter and I will never be abandoned by this loving God. Hope is an attitude. Like the UHF dial on a 1970’s TV, it has to be constantly adjusted and carefully tuned in. A little change in weather and the signal gets fuzzy. It takes a constant adjustment process for our attitude to reflect our beliefs... ]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>12</slash:comments>
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