Joshua Porter

Joshua Porter is an author and pastor in Vancouver, Washington with a master’s degree in biblical studies. As a generational millennial, his spiritually turbulent past started from his upbringing in the evangelical American South, afterward founding the punk-band “Showbread” in 1997 as its lead singer, to eventually questioning the validity of theism or Christianity.

The rethinking or deconstructing of one’s faith is a popular topic of conversation in Western Christianity as of late. The dichotomy between the text of the Old/New Testament and the current zeitgeist has led some to attempt to conform the God of the Hebrew bible to humanist ethics and current personal experiences. In some circumstances, individuals may outright eliminate theism altogether at the end of their deconstruction journey. For Joshua who was cultivated in an evangelical world, he eventually found himself stricken with existential dread, challenged with conflict between what was being taught in the bible verses the reality of the world he was experiencing. In the pursuit of truth, Joshua ventured toward deconstruction, having explored what he saw was an antiquated faith run by repressive, morally bankrupt individuals engulfed in racism, homophobia, and nationalism.

However, Joshua’s subsequent investigation towards authentic faith was not constructed through the erroneous world of the sensationalized American evangelicalism, nor was it built upon the amorphous “you do you” psyche of the deconstructionist. The way forward for Joshua was within ancient Christian orthodoxy. The faith of the early followers of Jesus who were called to, “take up your cross and follow Jesus.” In essence, be willing to die to oneself and follow God was a true act of rebellion for Porter. To be molded by God, as opposed to shaping God into our own imagine. Joshua’s thesis is ultimately exemplified in the New Testament quote, “whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for Me will find it.”

Whether its Joshua Porter’s theological, philosophical, and poetic polemic on a particular type of American Christianity or its reactionary variant - the spurious reasoning of the deconstructionist, this book will absolutely challenge or captivate readers. In short, if I was to boldly write a critique of the excess and ignorance of Western Christianity or on those who elect to alter or denounce the authenticity of the historical faith, it would very much look like Joshua’s book. Every word is impactful and quotable. Theologically, this is a great book. For me personally, I relate to Joshua’s story in almost every conceivable way.

Thank you, Joshua, for sharing your intimate story.… (meer)

Porter introduces a quite accessible and useful design framework for web services aiming for communication between humans. The focus is on practical advice, ranging from user-interface design guidelines to a selective offering of insights from social psychology and communication studies. I would imagine that the book works well for the professional interaction designer moving towards "social apps" and the integration of material from disparate fields makes it a useful resource also for more experienced readers.… (meer)