The Innocence Mission: IMAGE Essay + the VHS Tape We Sent the Band
My latest essay, “The Flowering Dark,” is now available to read on IMAGE Journal’s “Good Letters” blog. Read it here. The essay looks at Lent through the lens of the Innocence Mission’s Birds of My Neighborhood LP, or at least how this record impacted a solemn season of my own life. At the end of...
Download CTJ’s Free 35-Song Anthology: “Source Materials & Sorcerer Materials”
DOWNLOAD THE ALBUM HERE, OR USE THE WIDGET ON THE SIDEBAR! A hearty thanks to the following people for inspiring me to assemble this musical madness: Ben Chlapek, for making a mix of only my songs for his friends a few months back, even if it meant they might all (Gasp!) unfriend him on Facebook....
Guest Post by Joshua Madden: CTJ’s Only Fan Issues Writing Advice for Christians
(Editor’s Note: Chad and his wife Becki call Evie, their 4-month-old daughter, “Evie Wonder” when her head movements resemble those of a certain songwriter. You need to know this to understand Josh’s opening reference.) Since Chad Thomas Johnston has described me as his only fan – something that I think “Evie Wonder” would vehemently disagree...
Virtual Gallery: Danny J. Gibson’s “Mouth Breathing at the Wick of the Apocalypse”
A Word from CTJ: My very good friend Danny J. Gibson has done it again. This March, he wants to land his flying art saucer in your head-space and set up an outpost there. Enjoy this virtual gallery, and consider it a foretaste of what you will experience in the event that you should be...
NOW ACCEPTING: Art Submissions for “Nightmarriage” eBook
As if you artists already don’t already make zilch for all your hard work, I am now offering you another opportunity to create something out of nothing for nothing. Starting today, I am accepting art submissions for my “Nightmarriage” eBook. If you’re wondering what that means, it’s pretty easy to explain: Throughout my short career...
“The Cannibal and the Eucharist” Essay on IMAGE’s “Good Letters” Blog
Today my essay “The Cannibal and the Eucharist” is available to read at IMAGE’s “Good Letters” blog. It describes my none-too-brave encounter with singer-songwriter Michael Knott’s song “Kitty” as a sophomore in high school. “The Cannibal and the Eucharist” is my first essay for IMAGE. I hope to write many more for them if...
Splicing Rubber Into My DNA: On Receiving Criticism with Resilience
If, like me, you are a creator of things, I want to know how you deal with criticism. What strategies do you employ? Read my thoughts below, and offer your own insights. I am most curious about your insights. Anyone who knows me well knows I am awful at accepting criticism. If I could genetically...
Chad Thomas Johnston: BIO
Chad Thomas Johnston is an author, sonuva’ preacha’ man, PhD-dropout, singer/songwriter, daydreaming doodler, publicist, PUN-isher, mixtape maker, & pop-culture junkie. He is represented by Seattle, WA-based literary agent Jenée Arthur, who is currently shopping his manuscript, The Stained-Glass Kaleidoscope: Essays at Play in the Churchyard of the Mind, to major publishing houses. Chad lives in Lawrence, KS...
40 Days of Lent with Don and Karen Peris: The Innocence Mission and I
I grew up in the Southern Baptist church, where traditions such as Lent are wholly absent. As a child (and perhaps as an adult, too), whenever I heard Catholics mention Lent, I immediately thought of bellybutton lint or dryer lint. It certainly did not prompt much in the way of spiritual contemplation. When I was...
Guest Post by Clint Bland: “Darwin’s Bones in a House of the Lord”
Not long ago, I asked my friend and former neighbor Clint Bland to write about how he wishes Christians would act in light of their professed faith. Clint is a self-proclaimed “hard agnostic.” As a Christian, I am painfully aware of things that have been done in the name of Christ. As a Kansan who...
Intercontinental Incontinence: Flying the Friendly, er, Fecal Skies
BEFORE I SHARE MY STORY, PLEASE BE SURE YOU WRITE YOUR CONGRESSMEN/WOMEN TODAY IN PROTEST OF SOPA AND PIPA. Wikipedia has made contacting your representatives easy. Click here. I have no idea how I forgot this story. But the other day, it surfaced in my mind like Luke Skywalker’s X-Wing from the bog on Dagobah....
Every Time a Dog Makes a “Deposit,” Jennifer Luitwieler Sells Another Book
Every time a dog makes a “deposit,” if you will, another copy of Jennifer Luitwieler’s book Run With Me: An Accidental Runner and the Power of the Poo is sold on Amazon.com. This week Run With Me became the third best-selling sports biography on the site, following a favorable review from The Pioneer Woman blog, which...
A Radio Broadcast Featuring CTJ & DJG (Right-Click & Save Target)
Follow Me and Give Me Reason to Issue a Restraining Order