Friday, March 31, 2006
Religious schools & religious faculty
Academic fights are so vicious because the stakes are so small.
Pat Moynihan
What's happening at Baylor? read more here
Pat Moynihan
What's happening at Baylor? read more here
Power of prayer
Read about the most extensive study ever. here
Thursday, March 30, 2006
Outreach
The thing that really kills our outreach is our lack of real conviction that when someone steps into eternity, he either goes to Heaven or Hell.
Anne Graham Lotz
Anne Graham Lotz
Wednesday, March 29, 2006
Pride
If you think you are not conceited, it means you are very conceited indeed.
C.S. Lewis
C.S. Lewis
Tuesday, March 28, 2006
to-do
A national call for sleepouts and vigils on March 31st to honor those who are
or have experienced homelessness, and also to call for increased efforts to
end poverty and homelessness has been put forth by many organization including
the National Coalition for the Homeless, Call for Renewal, Students Mobilized
to End Hunger and Homelessness.
1. Tuesday, March 28th at 7p.m.: a free showing of "Illegal to be Homeless"-
a half hour documentary regarding the criminalization of homelessness
specifically focused on Mpls.
The film showing will be at the Martin Luther King Jr. Park Building (42nd
and Nicollet) and will be followed by question and answer and information on
the March 31st vigil.
2. March 31st--- A vigil from 7p.m. March 31st to 8a.m. April 1st on the
sidewalk, in front of the Martin Luther King Jr. Park Building.
This will not take place in the park itself. This is not a sleepout.
If you come, please note: please do not bring tents, or anything that will block
the sidewalks. Bring whatever will make you comfortable on the sidewalk,
i.e. sleeping bags to sit on or stay warm in, etc.
Feel free to stop by anytime during the vigil...for a minute, an hour, or
overnight.
or have experienced homelessness, and also to call for increased efforts to
end poverty and homelessness has been put forth by many organization including
the National Coalition for the Homeless, Call for Renewal, Students Mobilized
to End Hunger and Homelessness.
1. Tuesday, March 28th at 7p.m.: a free showing of "Illegal to be Homeless"-
a half hour documentary regarding the criminalization of homelessness
specifically focused on Mpls.
The film showing will be at the Martin Luther King Jr. Park Building (42nd
and Nicollet) and will be followed by question and answer and information on
the March 31st vigil.
2. March 31st--- A vigil from 7p.m. March 31st to 8a.m. April 1st on the
sidewalk, in front of the Martin Luther King Jr. Park Building.
This will not take place in the park itself. This is not a sleepout.
If you come, please note: please do not bring tents, or anything that will block
the sidewalks. Bring whatever will make you comfortable on the sidewalk,
i.e. sleeping bags to sit on or stay warm in, etc.
Feel free to stop by anytime during the vigil...for a minute, an hour, or
overnight.
Saturday, March 25, 2006
Afghan Christian Convert Abdul Rahman
“They want to sentence me to death and I accept it, but I am not a deserter and not an infidel. I am a Christian, which means I believe in the Trinity.”
(see yesterday's post)
(see yesterday's post)
Evangelical theologian's view on gay rights
Jesus, the Bible, and Homosexuality: Explode the Myths, Heal the Church is a new book by former Moderator of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), Jack Rogers. more
“The best methods of interpretation, from the Reformation on down through today, call upon us to interpret the Scripture through the lens of Jesus Christ’s life and ministry. Using this method we see clearly that Jesus and the Bible, properly understood, do not condemn people who are homosexual”
“The best methods of interpretation, from the Reformation on down through today, call upon us to interpret the Scripture through the lens of Jesus Christ’s life and ministry. Using this method we see clearly that Jesus and the Bible, properly understood, do not condemn people who are homosexual”
Friday, March 24, 2006
Where are the "peace-loving" Muslims?
Senior Muslim clerics demanded Thursday that an Afghan man on trial for converting from Islam to Christianity be executed, warning that if the government caves in to Western pressure and frees him, they will incite people to "pull him into pieces."
Cleric Abdul Raoulf, who is considered "moderate," said, "Rejecting Islam is insulting God. We will not allow God to be humiliated. This man must die." more
More discussion in The Tablet.
Cleric Abdul Raoulf, who is considered "moderate," said, "Rejecting Islam is insulting God. We will not allow God to be humiliated. This man must die." more
More discussion in The Tablet.
Thursday, March 23, 2006
Forget yourself
The real test of being in the presence of God is, that you either forget about yourself altogether or see yourself as a small, dirty object. It is better to forget about yourself altogether.
C.S. Lewis
C.S. Lewis
empty desk = empty mind?
I have never been quite comfortable with a man in an office who always has a perfectly clean desk. There is something a little too sterile about it. He is too well caught up on his work and it could mean that he is not participating, he is not in contact, he is not involved with enough unfinished things in his life ...
Carlyle Marney
Carlyle Marney
Think about it
Wednesday, March 22, 2006
Will pipe organs be outlawed?
Europe may restrict the building of pipe organs due to health hazards. more
Tuesday, March 21, 2006
Holy kissing
What did Paul mean when he told us to "greet one another with a holy kiss"? more
Sunday, March 19, 2006
Too much to juggle?
The tragedy of war
These people you so casually dismiss as "robots" sign up, generally speaking, when they're eighteen or nineteen years old; they believe, almost without exception, that they are doing so to serve their country, to protect the Constitution and the flag and Mom and apple pie. And you know what? At most times throughout our country's history, they've been right.
Just a few years later, if they're unlucky enough to have enlisted at a time like the current one, they're old men, scarred by things no human being should ever have to see. That's what war (any war, including the "good" ones) does to people. That doesn't happen to robots.
I started out as one of those nineteen-year-old grunts; a couple of years later, dimly sensing what was coming down the pike, I cross-trained as a medic, in which capacity I served in Desert Storm. I had no desire whatsoever to "profit from the misery of others" -- I wanted to serve, and I was, relatively speaking, one of the lucky ones. I don't have anyone's death on my conscience. I do have memories of things that will give me nightmares and flashbacks for the rest of my life ... and mine was a very, very short war. What those kids over there are going through now is so much worse I can't quite get my mind around it.
They're not robots. They're your son, your niece, your little brother, caught up in a horrible situation not of their own making. Don't take your anger out on them. Save it for the evil old men who never exposed themselves to that kind of horror, who would never allow their own children to go through it, who casually, thoughtlessly, cheerfully send other people's kids off to hell.
Daniel Dvorkin's comments on a blog
Just a few years later, if they're unlucky enough to have enlisted at a time like the current one, they're old men, scarred by things no human being should ever have to see. That's what war (any war, including the "good" ones) does to people. That doesn't happen to robots.
I started out as one of those nineteen-year-old grunts; a couple of years later, dimly sensing what was coming down the pike, I cross-trained as a medic, in which capacity I served in Desert Storm. I had no desire whatsoever to "profit from the misery of others" -- I wanted to serve, and I was, relatively speaking, one of the lucky ones. I don't have anyone's death on my conscience. I do have memories of things that will give me nightmares and flashbacks for the rest of my life ... and mine was a very, very short war. What those kids over there are going through now is so much worse I can't quite get my mind around it.
They're not robots. They're your son, your niece, your little brother, caught up in a horrible situation not of their own making. Don't take your anger out on them. Save it for the evil old men who never exposed themselves to that kind of horror, who would never allow their own children to go through it, who casually, thoughtlessly, cheerfully send other people's kids off to hell.
Daniel Dvorkin's comments on a blog
Saturday, March 18, 2006
+ anselm
It is not a question of suppressing one's inner drives but of becoming a new person.
Friday, March 17, 2006
The 1st Robin of the season
Wednesday, March 15, 2006
What kind of revival should we pray for?
+ anselm
You will not arrive at your destination without an inner struggle.
Tuesday, March 14, 2006
The Lego Bible
Important exhibit
The most important Biblical artifacts ever found will be exhibited in the U.S. for the first time. more
Monday, March 13, 2006
Write it down!
The faintest pencil is keener than the sharpest mind.
Should church books be open?
Yes, we have snow
Sunday, March 12, 2006
A book to check out
WHAT JESUS MEANT by Garry Wills; Viking. $22.95
Wills finds the real meaning of Jesus in faith, not history. more
Wills finds the real meaning of Jesus in faith, not history. more
Saturday, March 11, 2006
Searching for God
What is it that has made me evil and hateful to myself? It is my own folly, my own darkness, which have divided me, by sin, against the light which God has placed in my soul to be the reflection of His goodness and the witness of His mercy.
Shall I drive evil out of my soul by wrestling with my own darkness? This is not what God has planned for me. It is sufficient to turn away from my darkness to His light. I do not have to run away from myself; it is sufficient that I find myself, not as I have made myself, by my own stupidity, but as He has made me in His wisdom and remade me in His infinite mercy. For it is His will that my body and soul should be the Temple of His Holy Spirit, that my life should reflect the radiance of His love and my whole being repose in His peace. Then will I truly know Him, since I am in Him and He is truly in me.
Thomas Merton
Shall I drive evil out of my soul by wrestling with my own darkness? This is not what God has planned for me. It is sufficient to turn away from my darkness to His light. I do not have to run away from myself; it is sufficient that I find myself, not as I have made myself, by my own stupidity, but as He has made me in His wisdom and remade me in His infinite mercy. For it is His will that my body and soul should be the Temple of His Holy Spirit, that my life should reflect the radiance of His love and my whole being repose in His peace. Then will I truly know Him, since I am in Him and He is truly in me.
Thomas Merton
Thursday, March 09, 2006
my preaching schedule
This Sunday I will be at Maranatha Free Lutheran Church in Spring Lake Park, Minnesota, the church we belonged to while I was at seminary. I'll be preaching on the Gospel text, Mark 8:31-38, The Dilemma of the Cross.
Service time is 9:30 a.m.; I'll also be teaching the adult Sunday School class at 11. For a map, click here. The street address is 8375 Pierce St. N.E.
I hope to see some of you there.
Service time is 9:30 a.m.; I'll also be teaching the adult Sunday School class at 11. For a map, click here. The street address is 8375 Pierce St. N.E.
I hope to see some of you there.
Thoughts for Lent
Fasting is the food of the soul.
St. John Chrysostom
St. John Chrysostom
What are you looking for?
Seek what you are seeking,
but not where you are seeking it.
St. Augustine
but not where you are seeking it.
St. Augustine
Wednesday, March 08, 2006
something to think about
What kind of a car should a pastor drive? more
Monday, March 06, 2006
One pastor's view on the effects of gay marriage
No damage observed
A gay couple from my hometown, population approximately 2,500, were married in Massachusetts a while ago. They were made famous by coverage in the Star Tribune, among other places. Since they came home, absolutely nothing has happened to the marriages of the straight people in our community. Furthermore, young straight couples continue to fall in love! I myself have consecrated several straight marriages since that gay marriage happened.
I don't know what world those opposed to gay marriage are living in, but here in the real-world town of Glenwood, it's obvious that straight marriage has not been damaged in the least by gay marriage.
THE REV. GREG KAPPHAHN
GLENWOOD, MINN.
Star Tribune, March 5, 2006
A gay couple from my hometown, population approximately 2,500, were married in Massachusetts a while ago. They were made famous by coverage in the Star Tribune, among other places. Since they came home, absolutely nothing has happened to the marriages of the straight people in our community. Furthermore, young straight couples continue to fall in love! I myself have consecrated several straight marriages since that gay marriage happened.
I don't know what world those opposed to gay marriage are living in, but here in the real-world town of Glenwood, it's obvious that straight marriage has not been damaged in the least by gay marriage.
THE REV. GREG KAPPHAHN
GLENWOOD, MINN.
Star Tribune, March 5, 2006
Saturday, March 04, 2006
IRS & politics in the church
Consider yourself warned. That's a key message the Internal Revenue Service sent to churches and charities with the materials it recently released on impermissible electioneering. While the IRS has merely slapped the wrists of most non-complying organizations in the past, it has now put churches and charities on notice that it will react more vigorously to violations in future election cycles. It will be increasingly important for religious organizations and individuals to do the right thing, both for legal and non-legal reasons. The public should resist every attempt to drag houses of worship into partisan politics, whether these efforts come from outside or inside congregations. Contrary to recent suggestions by the North Carolina Republican Party, which has asked individuals to forward their church directories, churches aren't part of any political “base.” They are houses of prayer for all peoples. Heaven help us if we forget that.
Melissa Rogers
Melissa Rogers
Pastor acquitted in gay marriage case
A longtime Presbyterian minister who was the first of her faith to be tried for officiating at the unions of gay couples was acquitted Friday of violating her denomination's position on same-sex marriage. more...
Thursday, March 02, 2006
How much time do you have?
You have just enough time to do God's will.
Rick Warren
Rick Warren
Wednesday, March 01, 2006
+ anselm
Why do we condemn others whose sins or temptations are merely disreputable,
when our own may be disastrous?
a book worth checking out
Penguins, Pain and the Whole Shebang: Why I Do the Things I Do, by God (as told to John Shore)
more
more
Ash Wednesday
The Lord my Creator took me as dust from the earth,
and formed me into a living being,
breathing into me the breath of life.
God honored me,
setting me as ruler upon earth over all things visible,
and made me companion of the angels.
But Satan the deceiver,
using the serpent as instrument,
enticed me by food --
parted me from the glory of God,
and gave me over to the earth and to the lowest depths of the earth.
But in compassion, O Savior, call me back again!
Byzantine Vespers
and formed me into a living being,
breathing into me the breath of life.
God honored me,
setting me as ruler upon earth over all things visible,
and made me companion of the angels.
But Satan the deceiver,
using the serpent as instrument,
enticed me by food --
parted me from the glory of God,
and gave me over to the earth and to the lowest depths of the earth.
But in compassion, O Savior, call me back again!
Byzantine Vespers
