Albert Mohler: Atheists in the Pulpit — The Sad Charade of the Clergy Project

Wednesday, August 29, 2012

“It is hard to think of any other profession which it is so near to impossible to leave.” That is the judgment of Richard Dawkins, perhaps the world’s most famous living atheist, as he welcomes unbelieving pastors to join the Clergy Project, a group designed to help unbelieving pastors make their way out of the ministry. Apparently, some are not moving out very fast.

Dawkins explains that the Clergy Project “exists to provide a safe haven, a forum where clergy who have lost their faith can meet each other, exchange views, swap problems, counsel each other — for, whatever they may have lost, clergy know how to counsel and comfort.” Dawkins, who once held one of the world’s most coveted academic posts, has now reduced himself to addressing small gatherings of atheists and celebrating a motley crew of pastors who have abandoned the faith — even if some have not abandoned their pulpits.

The Clergy Project’s own statement is even more blunt, describing itself as “a confidential online community for active and former clergy who do not hold supernatural beliefs.” Most people, believers and unbelievers alike, are no doubt in the habit of thinking that the Christian ministry requires supernatural beliefs. That assumption is what Richard Dawkins and the Clergy Project want to subvert. More precisely, they want to use the existence of unbelieving pastors to embarrass the church and weaken theism. the rest

Dennett and LaScola made a very interesting and important observation in their research report. They acknowledged that defining an unbelieving pastor is actually quite difficult. Given the fact that so many liberal churches and denominations already believe so little, how is atheism really different? In the name of tolerance, the liberal denominations have embraced so much unbelief that atheism is a practical challenge.

AnglicanTV: Archbishop Duncan discusses the AMiA Crisis

Aug 29, 2012

Kevin Kallsen and Archbishop Duncan sit down to an intense interview about how the year-old AMiA crisis is affecting the Anglican Church in North American and international relations with the Global South and GAFCON.

Teach a bird to fish...

Scrolling around...August 28th, 2012

A Surgeon Cuts to the Heart of the ObamaCare Nightmare
..."But when I go to meetings now, I see that there's very little innovation going on. Everything's being impacted by ObamaCare, which, among other things, raises taxes on medical devices.

"You know, doctors are people, and we're being hammered on all sides here.
It's the paperwork; it's insurance; it's transitioning to electronic medical records, so the government can get their mitts into your practice. It's lawsuits; it's rising overhead and decreasing compensation; it's stress upon stress upon stress.

"And a lot of doctors are going to say, 'Forget it. I don't want to do this anymore.' Guys that are 5 or 10 years older than me are just going to give up and walk away.

"Why should I be a slave to the government? You know, it used to be that doctors would do charity work at a charity hospital. Nobody wants to do it anymore, because we're too overwhelmed.

"I work 60 to 70 hours a week, so how am I supposed to fight back against this? Most doctors don't have the time to lobby their congressman or go to Washington. If you're a doctor in the trenches, you've got a stressful job; you've got a family. You're seeing the same number of patients and making half the income you used to make. People are litigious these days, so you've got to worry about lawsuits. When are you going to find time to lobby a politician?...

World Council of Churches to Highlight Pakistani Girl's Imprisonment at Global Conference
As most of the western world remains in shock over the news in Pakistan that an 11-year-old Christian girl believed to have Down syndrome was imprisoned over the nation's strict blasphemy laws, the Institute on Religion and Democracy (IRD) has praised the World Council of Churches (WCC)'s decision to hold an urgent international conference on the issue.
"At the best of times, the situation for most of Pakistan's Christians is deplorable. They live in extreme poverty and degradation, limited to the lowest of job and educational opportunity. But there is hardly ever a best of times. They always live under the Damocles sword of this abominable Blasphemy Law, never knowing when they could be accused, or what ridiculous issue will cause mobs to form," said IRD Religious Liberty Program Director Faith J.H. McDonnell in a statement...

California earthquake swarm enters third day; hundreds of temblors
Hundreds of earthquakes have rattled Imperial County since Sunday morning as an earthquake swarm continued.
But experts say the swarm does not necessarily indicates a larger temblor is on the way...

Christian In Pakistan Blasphemy Case Ruled A Minor
An official medical review of a Pakistani Christian girl accused of desecrating the Quran has determined that the girl is a minor, a lawyer for the girl said Tuesday.
The finding, which means the girl will be tried in the juvenile court system, could possibly defuse what has been a highly contentious case in Pakistan, where blasphemy can be punished with life in prison or even death...

A “Duty” to Engineer Morality?
...Savulescu’s more blatant error is to say that by killing your child, after having discovered it has or lacks certain genes, is giving it “the best opportunity for a great life.” Killing your child gives it no opportunity for life at all. Instead, to state what should be obvious but is not, at least to Savulescu, killing the child removes all its opportunity. And this is still true if per impossible you believe that an unborn child is not a human being: because, of course, this unborn-child-which-is-not-a-human-being is at least still alive, and killing it removes all its opportunities...

Not a Joke: Solyndra investors could reap tax windfall
Two investment companies stand to receive hundreds of millions of dollars in tax breaks under a bankruptcy exit plan for failed solar company Solyndra, government lawyers say.
Nearly a year to the day after the solar company filed for bankruptcy owing taxpayers more than $500 million, Solyndra is poised to restructure under a deal that government lawyers fear could provide a tax windfall to the investors...

Inspiration...

August 27, 2012


The Harms: A Story of God’s Faithfulness

Let It Fly
This week, former LSU goalie Mo Isom will try to become a kicker for the Tigers football team. But even if she makes the team, her greatest accomplishment may be surviving the past five years... (long, but find some time to read this!)

The Cosmos's Best-Kept Secret: Who we really are in Christ.

...These days I am reading Colossians, the book of Scripture that proclaims the "fullness of Christ." As I read the first chapters, I feel the strain of language as the writer attempts to tether to the page the incomparable majesty of Christ: he who is in all and above all, who is before all things, who is the firstborn over all creation, who holds all things together. We discover that the fullness of Christ's gospel has been a mystery, something "kept hidden for ages and generations." But now that mystery is made clear.

Here it is, the deepest secret that our forbears and even angels longed to hear and know but were not told: "Christ in you, the hope of glory" (Col. 1:27, emphasis mine).

I hope the parallels here are not trivializing: the mobility of it! Who could imagine a church pew on the deck of a barge, sailing the ocean? Who could imagine God inhabiting people, inhabiting us? The very Son of God, a tabernacle in sneakers. It is so bizarre that most who have heard the claim throughout the ages have rejected it. image

Scrolling around...August 27, 2012

Extraordinary Photographs of Animals Inside the Womb-Wow!


Neil Armstrong: How to Step Away
We didn’t know him. We didn’t have to. We knew all we needed to know: his name was Neil Armstrong, he flew to the Moon, and he put a human print on the surface of another celestial body. The act was so audacious, so revelatory of mankind’s potential, that the usual machinery of pop-culture celebrity seemed abashed: this one gets a pass. This one stands apart. When you heard he died you may have struggled to call up the face, and all you got was a publicity photo of an ordinary fellow with a Rotarian grin. He was as remote and unreachable as the moon itself. That was okay with Neil; that was okay with everyone else, too.
He’s remembered for one thing, but he had a life before, and a life afterwards. The latter is more fascinating. How does a man incorporate such an accomplishment into his life? When does he start defining himself by something else? He had the life we all have: birthdays, toothaches, haircuts, oil changes. But when he looked up at night he saw something in the sky that had shone down on humanity from cave-age to yesterday, and he knew his relationship with Luna would always be unique. No one else would ever be first... image

The Economist: Neil Armstrong obituary

Pakistan: Christian children are the focus of Muslim wrath
Last week in Pakistan, Waiz Masih – a 14-yer-old Christian boy living in Islamabad – was murdered by young Muslims following a “discussion on religion,” according to the Fides news service. Savagely beaten to death, Masih’s body was thrown into a ditch. Other cases that have galvanized international attention included the bizarre murder of Sunil Yaqoob Masih, an orphaned Catholic from Faisalabad, whose body was found mutilated with several organs removed. In another case, Rimsha Masih, an 11-year-old Christian boy, has been arrested and kept in jail on charges of offending Islam...

FEMA prepares New Orleans for a possible hurricane-strength Isaac
Emergency officials breathed a sigh of relief as the center of Tropical Storm Isaac moved past Tampa and the site of the Republican National Convention, but planners ramped up preparations in New Orleans and the Gulf Coast as the storm appeared to gather strength and march toward Louisiana and Mississippi.
The National Weather Service said the New Orleans could be in the path of the storm, which is projected to become a Category 1 hurricane by the time it makes landfall on the Gulf Coast late Monday or early Tuesday...

Seventeen people including two women beheaded by Taliban in Afghanistan for taking part in a village music festival ...The slaughter took place yesterday in a village in the Musa Qala district of Helmand Province in southern Afghanistan - an area said to be completely under the control of insurgents...

How is 9000 Women Listening to Beth Moore’s Bible teaching over two Days not a Major Local Story?
...Now explain something to me. How is this not a major story? Would you not want, say, to interview Beth Moore? To talk to some of the participants (who came from every Christian tradition imaginable)? To find out why people came and stood in line for hours just to get inside? To ask them what they learned? To talk to the (quite talented and influential) music team? To find out why the wife of a local Episcopal Church minister (yes, you read that correctly) was the local area coordinator for the event? My questions could go and on...

Fired General Theological Seminary workers claim church making their lives ‘a living hell’
...“Working for a church is different, it is not like any other job, we thought we were like family,” said Godfrey Johnson, 52. “But now we have been let go with nothing, not even a word of thanks.”
Not to mention severance pay...

Dawkins: Creative intelligence not so ridiculous
...Dawkins, who is known for ridiculing the different interpretations various religions have of God, noted that the idea of there being some kind of "creative intelligence" in the universe is at least more likely than there existing any one specific deity.
"I think a particular god like Zeus or Jehovah is as unlikely as the tooth fairy, but the idea of some kind of creative intelligence is not quite so ridiculous," he said.

Rahm Emanuel Turns Homeless Services Over to Catholic Charities
Catholic Charities is taking over as the agency giving people late night rides to shelters as part of Chicago's latest plan to fight homelessness...

NYT: Paper of record or the church bulletin of the left?
...It’s interesting to read through some of the comments from readers, too. Ron from New York City says, “I’m all for gay marriage. But the obsession of The Times with gay marriage and all gay issues is beyond bizarre.” Dave from Texas writes “Groupthink can be a very dangerous thing. So many at the Times think the same way that they literally cannot comprehend how any thinking person could hold an opposing viewpoint. Sadly that inability is costing the Times tens of millions of dollars a year because their thinking is so one-sided that half, yes half, their potential customers refuse to buy their product.”...

Becoming bishop: New Anglican church consecrates Steve Wood

Sunday, August 26, 2012

Add “The Most” to his title, for no longer is Steve Wood a mere Reverend.
The rector of St. Andrew’s Church in Mount Pleasant became bishop on Saturday, consecrated to lead the newly formed Diocese of the Carolinas, part of the Anglican Church in North America. The diocese oversees parishes in North and South Carolina.

ACNA is an Anglican body established in recent years to accommodate disaffected Episcopalians and others who prefer an orthodox reading of Scripture. Here

Interview: Steve Wood of St. Andrew’s Church to lead new Anglican Diocese of the Carolinas

Albert Mohler: 4 Responses to the Challenge of Same-Sex Unions

Aug 24, 2012

Excerpt:
We are facing a true moral inversion — a system of moral understandings turned upside down. Where homosexuality was even recently condemned by the society, now it is considered a sin to believe that homosexuality is wrong in any way. A new sexual morality has replaced the old, and those who hold to the old morality are considered morally deficient. The new moral authorities have one central demand for the church: get with the new program.

This puts the true church, committed to the authority of God’s Word, in a very difficult cultural position. Put simply, we cannot join the larger culture in normalizing homosexuality and restructuring society to match this new morality. Recognizing same-sex unions and legalizing same-sex marriage is central to this project.

Liberal churches and denominations are joining the project, some more quickly and eagerly than others. The cultural pressure is formidable, and only churches that are truly committed to Scripture will withstand the pressure to accommodate themselves and their message to the new morality.

What, then, is the true church to do? the rest

Scrolling around...August 25, 2012

Anti-Obama Film 2016 Shocks Hollywood by Opening at #3 in the Country Overnight
But this has got to be eating away at Obama supporters in Hollywood...

Catholic innkeepers fined $30,000 and lose wedding business for not hosting reception for gender-segregated couple
What's the price for defending gender-integrated marriage?
How much did it cost a Vermont business to live out its faith?
The answer: $30,000.

American Pediatricians Endorse Circumcision
...A leaked copy of the new American Academy of Pediatrics’ policy statement on circumcision, scheduled to be released on Monday, reveals a change in the prestigious medical body’s previous position (set in 1999) on the medical benefits of the procedure from “neutral” to “pro.” It details how a comprehensive evaluation of research from the last 15 years demonstrates that the medical benefits of circumcision—including “prevention of urinary tract infections, penile cancer, and transmission of some sexually transmitted infections”—outweigh the risks...

Abby Johnson: Clinic Workers Leaving Could Take Down Abortion
...“Planned Parenthood’s greatest fear is that clinic workers will leave and that they will come out against them and that they will air their dirty laundry, just like I did, and they will expose their secrets,” Johnson said...

No babies allowed at Democratic National Convention: feminists revolt
...“When the Democratic Party refuses to provide child care at the convention and denies automatic access for young children to join their moms who serve as delegates on the convention floor, an entire group of women are disenfranchised,” said Shannon. “Moms with young children 6 years of age and under who cannot be left at home, some of whom are breast-feeding, are relegated to second-class status within the Democratic convention.”...

Hollywood bailing on President Obama and the Democratic National Convention.

The Abortion Convention: Will Democrats turn opportunity into disaster?
...Still, we're inclined to agree that the Democrats are behaving recklessly in seeking to Akinize the GOP. They not only plan to put abortion at the center of their own convention--as the Washington Examiner reports, the list of speakers now includes the heads of the Planned Parenthood Action Fund and NARAL Pro-Choice America, not to mention abortifacient poster child Sandra Fluke--but the Hill reports they also plan to break with tradition and wage "a full-scale assault on Republicans next week during their convention."...

Radical Islam revives an ancient hatred
...You won’t have heard about this atrocious persecution. That’s because – forgive me – I’ve played one of the oldest tricks in the journalist’s book. For Jews, read Christians. For anti-Semitic, read anti-Christian. For synagogues read churches.

I hope Jewish readers won’t take offence: I’m not denying that actual anti-Semitism is spreading like a virus throughout Arab societies. It’s just that, if these attacks against Christians were being directed against Jews, the precedent of the Holocaust would shock the world into action.

This new persecution is the result of the simultaneous revival of militant Islam in many countries. We can say that with confidence. What we can’t say, however, is that there is a co-ordinated Islamic plot to exterminate Christianity as a stepping stone to a universal caliphate...

Blue heron on the Seneca river

Blue heron

In flight

Wildflowers in the Montezuma preserve

8/24/12-Raymond brought back these pictures taken today while he was kayaking on the Seneca-Cayuga river.
(Click on pictures to enlarge)

Scrolling around...August 24, 2012

More than 2,200 hospitals face penalties under ObamaCare rules
A provision of ObamaCare is set to punish roughly two-thirds of U.S. hospitals evaluated by Medicare starting this fall over high readmission rates, according to an analysis by Kaiser Health News...


Audio: Obama Says "That Fetus or Child" Was "Just Not Coming Out Limp and Dead"
Obama's argument: Trust the abortion doctor...

Over 12 thousand Christian faithful "starving" in the village of Rableh: humanitarian law is invoked
...For more than ten days the village of Rableh is subject to a strict blockade by armed opposition groups, which surround it on all sides. One of the leaders of a local parish, B.K., who requested anonymity for security reasons, told Fides that a few days ago three young men of the village were killed by snipers: George Azar 20 years old, another 21 years old, Elias Tahch Semaan, 35 years old, married and father of four children...

More Christian Colleges Sue Over Contraceptive Mandate
...The lawsuit was filed Thursday in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Indiana by attorneys of the Christian legal group Alliance Defending Freedom on behalf of Grace College and Seminary in Indiana and Biola University in California...

Pakistan: Muslims demand that 11-year-old Christian girl with Down's syndrome be punished for blasphemy
..If guilty of blasphemy, the child should be punished according to the laws of the country. This is a widespread view among Muslims in Pakistan, whether laymen or religious leaders, regarding the tragedy of an 11 year old Christian girl who is disabled and was recently charged under the "black law"...

UK: Life with an inner-city [Anglican] church

August 24, 2012

IN the heart of London, an Anglican leader – and former Whitehaven man – visits prisoners, helps the homeless and supports people in need.

The Rev Paul Sawrey is living and working in the notorious Kings Cross, where “world’s collide” and people from all walks of life mix.

He, along with his wife Katy and a group of friends, set up the community hub of Kings Cross Church (KXC) two years ago. In June, the 33-year-old was ordained at St Paul’s Cathedral as a pioneer minister – an unconventional role in the Church of England.

It means he doesn’t have a parish to look after and can hold church anywhere, not just in a traditional church building.

“Kings Cross Church is a completely new church plant,” he said. “We create a pop-up café before church and hang out together, we then go to the pub afterwards. It’s such a broad expression of church. We tend to be more informal and relaxed than a traditional Anglican church.”

The church, which currently meets in a former Welsh chapel based near Kings Cross and St Pancras station, is made up of a 300-strong congregation. Members are involved in a host of projects, from working in homeless shelters, cooking for ex-offenders and doing DIY for single mums. They work with gangs, in housing estates and pray with the police. the rest

For Paul, his role of assistant leader in the church is about reaching all areas of the community, by being part of the community. It is not a traditional Anglican church as many people would envisage. The average age of people going to Anglican churches in England is 53, whereas the average age of people going to KXC is 25.

Cardinal: disestablishment would benefit the Church of England

Reverend Bob Horrocks, Church of England vicar and part time nudist

When we come to faith and grow in Christlikeness...

When we come to faith and grow in Christlikeness, the Lord pours more light into our lives and illuminates our circumstances. He does this to call us to partnership with him in transforming his creation. It is a call to thoughtfully and intentionally participate in Kingdom building. While he need not count on us, he delights to do so. We do this in loving response to all he has done for us, as a response to his grace. When we partner with him, we achieve great things for the sake of his Kingdom and the glory due his name. ...Jonathan S. Raymond
 image by Lars Kasper

Inspiration...

August 23, 3012

Wisdom on Steroids: Conversations with J. I. Packer
Almost everything about J. I. Packer is counter-cultural. When asked a question, his answers tend to be 7-8 minutes long, and come out in full paragraphs. One of my favorite quotes from Packer is where he warns against the spirit of this age, which holds that “the newer is the truer, only what is recent is decent, every shift of ground is a step forward, and every latest word must be hailed as the last word on its subject.” Packer represents the opposite. He is “old school.” Listening to him talk is sometimes akin to hearing someone speak in your second language. You might understand what is being said, but you have to lean in and listen because the cadence and vocabulary are not your mother tongue. But I am convinced that we ignore the biblical, historical, theological, practical wisdom of this octogenarian to our peril.

I’m thankful Desiring God recently posted some clips of a conversation with Dr. Packer. I thought it might be helpful to collect them here.  [Several short videos here-excellent! -PD]


Walking toward Wellness: How Healthy Eating Informs Our Kingdom Work

Scrolling around...August 23, 2012

LATimes: As circumcision declines, health costs will go up, study projects
...If circumcision rates remained about 50% instead of the higher rates of years past, the lifetime healthcare costs for all of the babies born in a single year would probably rise by $211 million, the team calculated...

The Return of the Extended Family
  Millions of middle-aged people have had to find room in their homes both for their grown-up children and their elderly parents as traditional large households make a comeback, a study shows.

A Nation Adrift From the Rule of Law: We are losing sight of the basic principles that made us great in the 20th century.
...Though one might excuse departures from the rule of law at the height of a crisis, one would expect to see a prompt reversion to rule-of-law principles immediately thereafter. The most famous 20th-century illustration was the Supreme Court's invalidation, in the 1952 case Youngstown Sheet & Tube Co. v. Sawyer, of President Harry Truman's attempt to take over the steel industry during the Korean War.
By far the most disturbing element of recent trends is that precisely the opposite seems to be taking place. The commitment of government officials to the rule of law has continued to crumble—even after the crisis has subsided...

Report Highlights Consistent Pattern of Hostility Toward Christians in US
A new 140-page report released by the Family Research Council and Liberty Institute reveals a pattern of hostility toward Christians and Christianity in the U.S. The report was released earlier this week and includes over 600 incidents over a 10-year period.
The attacks range from rulings from the judiciary branch to an elementary school student who was physically lifted from his seat and reprimanded for praying before eating his lunch. Yet another example shows a Christian couple was fired as apartment complex managers and forced to move because a painting with a Christian reference was displayed in their office...

Prayer Vigil Shuts Down UK Brothel
...Thus began a month of prayer, with a small group posted across the street from the brothel each night, praying for those inside. “When we were praying, there was this sense that ‘We’re not alone in this,’” says Elyse. “Even when pimps were angry and telling us to leave, I had no reason to be afraid. God was in our midst.”
One particularly painful night came one week into prayer when the team witnessed young girls being delivered to the brothel. “It’s the difference between watching a documentary and seeing it right before your eyes,” says Elyse.
A month after praying began, the signs were removed, a notice was put on the door, and the brothel was shut down. The team couldn’t believe it at first; they continued to pray another night before actually reading the sign on the door that confirmed it. Elyse smiles as she remembers her team’s response. “We were kind of like ‘Whoa! It actually worked!’”...

Unearthed Video Shows Obama Supporting Late-Term Abortions
OBAMA: “I am pro-choice.”
REPORTER: “In all situations including the late term thing?”
OBAMA: “I am pro-choice. I believe that women make responsible choices and they know better than anybody the tragedy of a difficult pregnancy and I don’t think that it’s the government’s role to meddle in that choice.”...

Report: Multisite Churches Number Over 5,000, on the Rise
..."Of the 621 new churches started since January 2008 at least 50 percent or more were multisites," said Shockley.
"Of the 1,000 new churches we intend to start between 2013-2016 we are targeting 60 percent to be multisites, extensions or satellites of a vibrant existing UMC."...

Prelate laments desecration of churches in Cyprus
...Archbishop Chrysostomos II said that 120 churches have become mosques, museums, or storage facilities and that Turkey is attempting to eliminate Christianity in the area...

‘Fetal Flaw’: the new eugenics rising
This year has seen a rash of medical studies reporting on developments in cell-free fetal DNA (cffDNA) prenatal testing. Not too long ago, one commentator cautioned that as prenatal genetic testing becomes more pervasive, our society risks developing a “eugenics common sense.” The reporting on the new cffDNA testing suggests that some have already developed this sensibility...

Robert George: The Coming Pro-Abortion Spectacle in Charlotte
It looks like the Democratic Party’s leadership has decided to make the Party’s fierce commitment to protecting abortion against meaningful legal restrictions of any kind and extending its availability a, if not the, central theme of its national convention...

Americans Having Fewer Babies Crimping Consumer Spending
...“Children are really expensive,” Mollen said, and the 2008 financial crisis shows the importance of building a nest egg. “Retirement is not an option for a lot of folks.”
Mollen isn’t alone, as Americans have had fewer babies each year since the 2008 financial meltdown, with births falling to a 12-year low in 2011, according to the National Center for Health Statistics. The low birth rate and reduced immigration resulted in the smallest gain in population since World War II, which may hurt spending on everything from Huggies diapers to pregnancy kits, child care and education...

UK: ONLINE PORN BLAMED FOR RISE IN SEX ATTACKS BY CHILDREN
CAMPAIGNERS yesterday called for new curbs on online pornography as it emerged the number of children facing sexual assault charges has more than doubled over the last year.
Official figures also revealed that rape charges against underage boys had reached a five-year high...

Beware of Anglicans Bearing Gifts

By the Rev. Canon Phil Ashey
August 21, 2012

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
I had intended to write this week on the role of the Primates’ gatherings as a body of governance, and, specifically, with regards to their role in guarding the faith and order of the Anglican Communion.However, just this month Secretary General Kenneth Kearon of the Anglican Communion spoke with The Episcopal News Service, the public relations arm of The Episcopal Church (TEC). In the interview, Canon Kearon made several interesting remarks about the proposed Anglican Covenant and The Episcopal Church USA’s refusal to take a position on it at their General Convention, a gathering similar to a provincial synod, in July. Here is a portion of the the article:

Kearon said he also is “very impressed” with the extent to which the Episcopal Church has taken seriously the Anglican Covenant, a document that initially had been intended as a way to bind Anglicans globally across cultural and theological differences.

Through Resolution B005, the Episcopal Church declined to take a position on the Anglican Covenant at this time but committed to remaining a part of the process and to continuing to monitor the ongoing developments.”

Remember, of course, that it was TEC’s consecration of a non-celibate homosexual as bishop that precipitated the Anglican Communion crisis in faith and order, the Windsor report, and the proposed Anglican Covenant. At their July General Convention, TEC approved provisional rites for same-sex blessings. This, as with their consecration of now two non-celibate homosexual bishops, is in direct violation of Lambeth Resolution 1.10 (1998) which clearly sides with the Biblical definition of marriage. These acts were also in direct violation of the “moratoria” proposed in the Windsor report.Secretary Kearon goes on to say of TEC and others opposed to the Covenant: the rest

If you are an Anglican reading this message, do you know who the representatives from your Province to ACC-15 are? Are they prepared to vote their conscience, informed by God’s word, rather than endless “dialogue” in small groups? Are they willing to stand up and challenge false teaching and ongoing violations of Anglican Communion faith and order? Pray for your Province's representatives that they would be able to stand firm for the faith once delivered.

Scrolling around...August 20, 2012

Apple is now the most valuable company of all time.
...The stock recently rose 1.8% at $660, pushing Apple’s market capitalization up to $619 billion, FactSet data show. The previous historical record for top market cap belonged to Microsoft, whose market value topped out at $616.3 billion in December 1999, according to Howard Silverblatt, senior index analyst at S&P Dow Jones Indices...

Nigeria: Armed Muslims attack church and police station
AGI, August 20: Abuja - This morning an armed commando attacked a Catholic church and a police station in Damagun. The city lies 30 km from Damaturu, the capital of the Federal State of Yobe, in North-Eastern Nigeria. The attack, local authorities explained, was fended off by the police forces that had been deployed in the area after a car-bombing attack against a school on Sunday...

Newsweek: Obama’s Gotta Go
...Mitt Romney is not the best candidate for the presidency I can imagine. But he was clearly the best of the Republican contenders for the nomination. He brings to the presidency precisely the kind of experience—both in the business world and in executive office—that Barack Obama manifestly lacked four years ago. (If only Obama had worked at Bain Capital for a few years, instead of as a community organizer in Chicago, he might understand exactly why the private sector is not “doing fine” right now.) And by picking Ryan as his running mate, Romney has given the first real sign that—unlike Obama—he is a courageous leader who will not duck the challenges America faces.
The voters now face a stark choice. They can let Barack Obama’s rambling, solipsistic narrative continue until they find themselves living in some American version of Europe, with low growth, high unemployment, even higher debt—and real geopolitical decline.
Or they can opt for real change: the kind of change that will end four years of economic underperformance, stop the terrifying accumulation of debt, and reestablish a secure fiscal foundation for American national security...

Diamond Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II (morph sequence)

This is a video tribute to Queen Elizabeth II on achieving 60 years as the constitutional monarch of the Commonwealth realms, and head of the Commonwealth of Nations, head of state of the Crown dependencies and British Overseas Territories, Supreme Governor of the Church of England and in many of her realms she carries the title Defender of the Faith.

Scrolling around... August 19, 2012

Obama camp - We are intentionally limiting crowd size at rallies
The presumptive GOP presidential and vice presidential nominees Mitt Romney and Rep. Paul Ryan are attracting thousands of supporters to their campaign rallies since Mr. Romney named Mr. Ryan to the bottom of the ticket. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee has taken notice of the massive crowds at the Romney Ryan stump speeches and sent out an urgent e-mail to their supporters, reported The Washington Examiner last week.
However, President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden are not drawing the crowds they once could. The New York Times reported that the Obama campaign said that it is intentionally limiting crowd size at their events because of security and cost...

The amazing little story that didn't happen on Obama's big bus trip
President Obama was back in Iowa for several days this past week. He has winning memories there. But the fact that an incumbent president feels it necessary to invest three of only 79 precious remaining days there says how close the presidential race now is.
Obama's experienced advance team had a bunch of flubs. That farm family with all the windmills that President Quixote loves to laud turns out to be Republicans and informed reporters after Obama's visit that he sure wasn't getting their votes this time...

Code Pink members attend We Are Woman rally in vagina costumes
...Representatives of Code Pink, NOW, Planned Parenthood and Rock the Slut Vote were scheduled to speak on the west lawn of the Capitol, addressing the issues of reproductive rights, equal pay and the Equal Rights Amendment...

California law barring parents from 'curing' gay children moves through legislature
A first-of-its-kind state law that would restrict parents from trying to "cure" their minor children's same-sex attractions seems headed to the governor's desk.
If both state houses can agree on the final language, the legislation, which would ban all sexual orientation change effort (SOCE) treatment for minors, will be sent to Democratic Gov. Jerry Brown for his signature sometime in September. But, so far, there has been no indication from his office on whether he will sign the bill into law...

Atheists claim Ground Zero cross sickens them
A lawsuit that challenges the placement of the cross at the site of the 9/11 attack on the World Trade Center alleges atheist plaintiffs have suffered serious physical and mental illness because the religious symbol has made them feel excluded...

NYT: Obamacare 'Ambiguity' Could Make Health Care Too Costly for Millions
The New York Times reports that an “ambiguity” in President Obama’s signature health care law may make the Affordable Care Act unaffordable for millions of American workers and their families.

Nigerian Anglican Archbishop Okoh Says North America is Fertile Soil for the Gospel

CANA, ACNA, GAFCON is way forward for the Anglican Communion says Primate
By David W. Virtue
August 18, 2012

VOL: Archbishop Okoh, The Nigerian Anglican Church's proxy church - the Convocation of Anglicans in North America (CANA) is now well established. Are you happy with the progress CANA is making in establishing an orthodox Anglican footprint on North American soil?


ARCHBISHOP OKOH: We praise Almighty God for the ministry of CANA which was established by the Church of Nigeria [Anglican Communion] in 2005 in response to the divisive actions of The Episcopal Church. We are moving from strength to strength with a firm focus on Gospel mission. Churches and dioceses are being planted, well trained candidates are being ordained, the historic Gospel is being faithfully proclaimed and people are responding to the love of God through the ministry of CANA congregations. Interview here

Christian community...

Christian community is not an ideal that we must realize, but rather a reality created by God in Christ in which we may participate. The more clearly we learn to recognize that the ground and strength and promise of all our community is in Jesus Christ alone, the more calmly shall we think of our community and pray and hope for it. ...Dietrich Bonhoeffer picture by Raymond Dague

Anglican Unscripted Episode 48

Aug 18, 2012

Scrolling around...August 18th, 2012

Why Were Millions Upset by Mom Who Aborted Twin Babies?
I learned this week that a picture is worth a thousand words…and millions of views on the internet.
My head is still spinning from the response to my blog about late term abortions in America. When I wrote it 72 hours ago, I had NO idea that it was going to spread like a wild fire. I’ve spent the past 3 days answering emails, taking phone calls and moderating comments on my website. (I finally turned off comments because it got to be more than I could handle.) As I type this, the view count on my blog alone (which usually averages about 200 views a day) is at over 100,000 views in 36 hours. Several sites that shared this story kept crashing because the traffic was so heavy. At last count, this story has been translated into 17 different languages. I’ve been called every name in the book, although liar seems to be the most popular among those who found the truth of abortion and the picture to go with it unbelievable. It IS unbelievable…it’s also 100% true...

Readers Digest Pushes Eugenics
...Eugenics originated as a “moral obligation,” moved from there to legal coercion, and ultimately crescendoed into the worst evils of human history. And now many of those same ideas have regained sufficient respectability the Reader’s Digest editors think them worthy of respectable presentation. This won’t end well.

Former Uighur Surgeon Discloses Live Organ Harvesting in China
“At that time, my first instinct was that the person was still alive. Although he was executed, the bullet hit the right side of the chest. They did not shoot the left, where the heart is, but targeted the right, so the person would remain alive until after we remove the organs.”

Before Shooting: Southern Poverty Law Center Put Family Research Council on ‘Hate Map’
...The map and SPLC listing of "hate organizations" equates groups such as the Family Research Council, which promotes the traditional Christian view of marriage and sexuality, with racist groups that violate Christian teaching on human dignity...

Sri Lanka church leaders attacked by Buddhist mob
Vicious attacks targeting church leaders and the harassment of other Christian workers and church members are increasing the pressure on the vulnerable Christian community in Sri Lanka...

U.S. Government's Foreign Debt Hits Record $5.29 Trillion
 The money the U.S. government owes to foreign entities rose to a record $5.2923 trillion in June, according to data released by the U.S. Treasury Wednesday afternoon....

PA: Mom seeks heart transplant for autistic son: Disability shouldn’t be a death sentence
 A Pennsylvania woman whose autistic adult son was not recommended for a heart transplant because of his illness and the complexity of the process, among other factors, said she wants to bring more attention to the decision-making process so that those with ailments or disabilities are not passed over without careful consideration...


Foodborne Illness and Plastic Bag Bans

Muslim Brotherhood Supporters Scourge and Crucify Secular Protesters

August 18, 2012

According to reports on Friday, Muslim Brotherhood supporters scourged and crucified secular protesters in Egypt’s capital city of Cairo. Using the same punishments described in Bible as having been inflicted on Jesus, Brotherhood backed mobs rampaged through the streets, seizing protesters against the Islamist government of Mohammad Morsi, and dragging secular journalists from their offices. Their victims were beaten, scourged with whips, and crucified naked on trees.

Sky News issued the following translation of the mayhem in Cairo:

“A Sky News Arabic correspondent in Cairo confirmed that protestors belonging to the Muslim Brotherhood crucified those opposing Egyptian President Muhammad Morsi naked on trees in front of the presidential palace while abusing others. Likewise, Muslim Brotherhood supporters locked the doors of the media production facilities of 6-October [a major media region in Cairo], where they proceeded to attack several popular journalists.”

Egyptian website, El Balad, added more details of the violence, saying :

“Thousands of the Muslim Brotherhood’s supporters” attacked 6-October’s media facilities, beat Khaled Salah—chief editor of the privately-owned and secular Youm 7 newspaper—prevented Yusif al-Hassani, an On TV broadcaster, from entering the building, and generally terrorized the employees. The supporters of Tawfik Okasha, another vocal critic of President Morsi—the one who widely disseminated the graphic video  of a Muslim apostate being slaughtered to cries of “Allahu Akbar”—gathered around the presidential palace, only to be surrounded by Brotherhood supporters, who attacked them with sticks, knives, and Molotov cocktails, crucifying some of them on trees, leading to the deaths of two and the wounding of dozens.” the rest

Arab Spring run amok: 'Brotherhood' starts crucifixions
The Arab Spring takeover of Egypt by the Muslim Brotherhood has run amok, with reports from several different media agencies that the radical Muslims have begun crucifying opponents of newly installed President Mohammed Morsi...

Iran: Israel's existence 'insult to all humanity'
Israel's existence is an "insult to all humanity," Iran's president said Friday in one of his sharpest attacks yet against the Jewish state, as Israel openly debates whether to attack Iran over its nuclear program...

Mark Tooley: This Could Be Its Finest Hour

The Church of England defends traditional marriage reverently, advisedly, soberly, and in the fear of God.
8.17.12

The U.S. based Episcopal Church's recognition of same sex unions last month mostly excited a big yawn. More interesting is the resistance of its mother body, the Church of England, to Prime Minister David Cameron's attempt to install same sex marriage in Britain. The latter's opposition is more significant because it remains its nation's established church and still wields political and constitutional powers.

Episcopalians have often behaved as the established church in America. It once was the church of America's elites. But now below 2 million members and spiraling, the Episcopal Church no longer excites more than knowing smiles. Its affirmation of transgender clergy last month, at its General Convention, fulfilled stereotypes about modern, liberal Episcopalians.

The Church of England similarly often has a penchant for striving to be trendier than thou. But even as it presides over an increasingly secular Britain, it cherishes its role as senior church in the global, 80 million member Anglican Communion. And its few pockets of spiritual vitality in Britain often tend to be evangelical, often immigrant. Its second senior most prelate, the Archbishop of York, is himself a Ugandan and potentially the next Archbishop of Canterbury. the rest

AU: Fears rogue priests could sue for damages
The disciplinary processes for dealing with rogue priests in almost every Anglican diocese in Australia are in doubt because of a landmark court challenge to their validity...

If you observe events in our day...

If you observe events in our day that you consider to be God's judgement, don't doubt or lose hope. Look up and see God Almighty. His work of chastisement is to prepare us for the power. Like the early church we are to gather in unity, humility and repentance, waiting for the Spirit to be poured out-and continuing to believe for revival. ...John Dawson image

South Carolina mulls secession

By George Conger
August 15, 2012

The Diocese of South Carolina is on the brink of secession from the Episcopal Church, following the 77th General Convention’s vote to permit a local option on same-sex blessings.

At a 25 July meeting of the South Carolina clergy, Bishop Mark Lawrence said he no longer sees a place for the diocese in the General Convention and announced he would spend the next 25 days praying as to what his, and the diocese’s, next steps might be.

At last month’s General Convention in Indianapolis, the Episcopal Church voted to endorse provisional local rites for the blessing of same-sex unions. Some dioceses have interpreted the vote as permission to authorise their clergy to perform gay marriages in states that recognise such unions. Bishop Lawrence and six of the eight members of the South Carolina deputation to the Convention withdrew from its proceedings after the gay blessings vote, perturbed by what they saw as abandonment by the Episcopal Church of the universal witness of the Church on the purpose and meaning of Christian marriage. the rest

The LEGO® Story

Pastoral Ministry: Things I’ve Learned Along the Way…

August 14, 2012
By H.B. Charles Jr.

Excerpt:
This is not a scientific list. It is in no particular order of importance or category. Just a collection of thoughts. I am sure the list would be much longer if I kept writing. And I would probably replace some things with other things, if I took more time with it. But for whatever it’s worth, here about 103 things about pastoral ministry I have learned along the way.

1. Your primary responsibility as a pastor is prayer and the ministry of the word (Acts 6:4).

2. Sheep bite.

3. Faithful preaching does not guarantee church growth.

4. Just because there is a crowd does not mean there is a church.

5. Nothing is as good as it seems; nothing is as bad as it seems.

6. Don’t assume anything.

7. All church fights are bad. But some church fights are necessary.

8. It happens after prayer.

Much more here-Excellent!

Scrolling around...August 16th, 2012

The Divided Academy
Social Science Research editor Jim Wright is fighting to save his professional reputation. Wright is under fire from fellow sociologists and left-wing bloggers for publishing an article in June by sociologist Mark Regnerus, which concluded that children of parents who had engaged in same-sex relationships fared worse than children from intact, heterosexual families...

Obama 'Intellectually Exhausted, Out of Ideas, and Out of Energy'
Mitt Romney finally caught up with the rest of us via a fiery speech in Ohio on Tuesday where he proclaimed three simple truths that frame Barack Obama: "Intellectually exhausted, out of ideas, and out of energy."...

Promoting Sin in the ELCA
“Grace is not your average Lutheran church,” so says the ELCA’s Grace Lutheran Church in a Houston, TX. I say that isn't necessarily so. I believe Grace Lutheran gives us a picture of what many ELCA churches ARE like and what most ELCA churches will be. And it’s time that all the Midwest ELCA churches, rural ELCA churches, head-in-the-sand churches and members everywhere understand what the ELCA has become...

Why the Amish Population Is Exploding
...Much of the growth has to do with the fact that more Amish children are staying with the religion and starting their own high-fertility families. "Some people would claim 90 percent of daughters and sons get baptized Amish and start families," says lead researcher Joseph Donnermeyer, a professor of rural sociology at OSU. He says this number has been increasing steadily since WWII.
The Amish live in small groups of 20 or 30 families known as settlements, and Donnermeyer's team has shown the number of these settlements to be growing quickly. In 1990, there were 179 settlements in the U.S. By 2012, Donnermeyer and his colleagues counted 456, including a handful in Canada...

WaPo Prints 700-Word Article Attacking Paul Ryan's Suit
Self-absorbed New York Times columnist David Brooks is famous for his insipid belief that Barack Obama's pant crease meant that he'd be "a very good president," now it looks as though the Washington Post has decided to join him in sartorial absurdity by dispatching reporter Katherine Boyle to write a 700-word piece pondering the meaning of Paul Ryan's suit size...

Family Research Council Shooter Worked with LGBT Group
The gunman who opened fire and shot a security guard at the Family Research Council’s Washington, D.C. office has now been identified as Floyd Corkins, a volunteer for the last six months at The DC Center for the LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bi-sexual, Transgender) Community...

Surrogates and Their Discontents
...Consider the commodification of women caused by surrogacy. Gestational surrogacy reduces women to their biological capacities as mere instruments to be used in the manufacturing of a product, comparable to the way we view car factories in Detroit.
At the same time, surrogate-produced children are manufactured as designer babies: Wealthy parents can select their perfect fusion of sperm from an athletic male with the egg of a female who graduated from an Ivy League school with a 4.0 GPA. Indeed, surrogacy is a medium in which couples—or even single men or women—can attempt to create their dream child...

In Harvard essay, young Michelle Obama argued for race-based faculty hiring
During her third and final year at Harvard Law School, first lady Michelle Obama — then named Michelle Robinson — penned an article for the newsletter of Harvard’s Black Law Students Association (BLSA), arguing that Harvard and its students were perpetuating “racist and sexist stereotypes” by not intentionally hiring minority and female law professors on the basis of their sex or skin color...

Study: “In Vitro” Fertilized Children 4x More Likely To Be Born With Malformations
Among the malformations that were detected are heart problems, cleft lips, cleft palates and abnormalities in the esophagus or rectum. These diseases appear once in every 700 births....

Chick-Fil-A and the one day that changed the world
...On Chick-fil-A Appreciation Day, millions of people saw that they were not alone. All those ordinary Americans who decided to Eat More Chicken were standing in line for religious freedom, for the institution of marriage, for free speech. They sat in the traffic jams out of respect and gratitude for the Cathy Family for taking a stand...

Speak for eternity...

Speak for eternity. Above all things, cultivate your own spirit. A word spoken by you when your conscience is clear, and your heart full of God’s Spirit, is worth ten thousand words spoken in unbelief and sin. ...Robert Murray M’Cheyne
image by D. Sharon Pruitt

A.S. Haley: What Are the Choices for South Carolina? (Part 2)

Tuesday, August 14, 2012

Excerpt:
There is also nothing to preclude Bishop Lawrence from participating in meetings of the House of Bishops only to the extent that he finds them fruitful, and furnishing him with an opportunity to have his grievances heard by his colleagues in meaningful dialogue. Attendance at the House of Bishops is a right, not a duty.
As the diocesan, Bishop Lawrence of course retains full control over the licensing of clergy to minister within the boundaries of the Diocese. And Presiding Bishop Jefferts Schori has already made her canonically mandated visit to the Diocese (shortly after Bishop Lawrence's consecration), so there is no need to arrange any further visits from her during her remaining term of office.

So life in the Diocese of South Carolina, at least from its point of view, could continue pretty much as it has to this date. Indeed, by reducing its participation in the national Church to an absolute minimum, the Diocese would be putting into practice the principle of subsidiarity, in which the national Church could stand to have a refresher lesson or two. Subsidiarity is the idea that the affairs of an organization are dealt with at as local a level as possible, and that only those matters which truly affect the organization as a whole need to receive attention at the topmost level. (It is the principle on which PECUSA itself was founded, and which governed its affairs for the first 150 years of its existence.) the rest

“There’s no stopping us. Watch out world, we’re coming.”
Who made this swaggering boast? - (A) Janet Murguic, President of La Raza, (B) Barack Obama, U.S. President or (C) Katherine Jefferts Schori, Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church...

AG Pastor Dragged, Beaten in Sri Lanka

8/15/2012

A national Assemblies of God pastor and his wife were viciously attacked by a mob in Sri Lanka after being accused of "spreading Christianity."

According to reports, the pastor, who is also a regional presbyter, and his wife went to visit a church member. On their way home, they were suddenly cut off by an SUV, and a mob of about 40 people surrounded them. Grabbing the pastor, they dragged him along the ground and beat him, accusing him of spreading Christianity.

The pastor and his wife were then dragged to the home they had just left. The angry mob demanded the church member and her daughter tell how much the pastor paid them to convert to Christianity. Despite the family's adamant claims that they had been a Christians a long time and made the decision voluntarily, the mob beat the pastor again. the rest

Muslims again riot in France, media again cover up their Muslim identity

Scrolling around...August 15th, 2012

At Some Evangelical Colleges, No Pastors
...While many evangelical colleges started out as Bible colleges, with pastors at the helm, their leadership later changed over to academic administrators. Evangelical colleges that continue to choose pastors as leaders -- Wheaton College in Illinois is perhaps the best-known -- don’t face the demographic pressures that forced Catholic colleges to move away from priests and nuns as presidents as the ranks of vowed religious dwindled...

Male and Female — Incomprehensible?
...In other words, the biblical terms for the sexual binary (male/female) will have become “incomprehensible.” Impossible, you may say, but forty-two years later:
■a gender-neutral pronoun has been proposed for use in Sweden’s public schools;
■“M” and “F” are disappearing from birth certificates and passport applications in Western countries, and;
■“parent A” and “parent B” are replacing mother and father...

Poll shows atheism on the rise in the U.S.
Religiosity is on the decline in the U.S. and atheism is on the rise, according to a new worldwide poll...

 UK: More women seek abortions to save money Growing numbers of women are asking for abortions because of financial concerns, a survey of GPs has found...  

Many egg-donor recruiters ignore ethical standards
A sizable share of the organizations recruiting egg donors online don't adhere to ethical guidelines laid out by the American Society for Reproductive Medicine (ASRM), according to a new study...

Paul Ryan’s solid antiabortion credentials
...He has 100 percent “pro-life” rankings from AUL and the National Right to Life Committee. His NARAL Pro-Choice America ranking, meanwhile, is zero...

The United States Of Dependency?
New reports suggest America is not only hurting economically under President Obama, but also on a dangerous road to fiscal decline and growing dependence on government. This is the real legacy of Obamanomics...

Big Business Taking over State Supreme Courts
In state courts across our country, corporate special interests are donating money to the campaigns of judges who interpret the law in a manner that benefits their contributors rather than citizens seeking justice. Americans are starting to wake up to this danger, according to recent polls, and are worried that individuals without money to contribute may not receive a fair hearing in state courts. In a recent poll 89 percent of respondents said they “believe the influence of campaign contributions on judges’ rulings is a problem.”...

Chinese companies pull out of US stock markets
..."Probably all these companies have some questionable accounting, so they may prefer to move out of the U.S., not to come under too much scrutiny," said Marc Faber, managing director of Hong Kong fund management company Marc Faber Ltd...

Why the Doctor Can't See You
The demand for health care under ObamaCare will increase dramatically. The supply of physicians won't. Get ready for a two-tier system of medical care...

Never tolerate through sympathy with yourself...

Never tolerate through sympathy with yourself or with others any practice that is not in keeping with a holy God. Holiness means unsullied walking with the feet, unsullied talking with the tongue, unsullied thinking with the mind - every detail of the life under the scrutiny of God. Holiness is not only what God gives me, but what I manifest that God has given me.
...Oswald Chambers image by Simon Monk

Scrolling around...August 14, 2012

Investors Prepare for Euro Collapse
...Banks, investors and companies are bracing themselves for the possibility that the euro will break up -- and are thus increasing the likelihood that precisely this will happen.
There is increasing anxiety, particularly because politicians have not managed to solve the problems. Despite all their efforts, the situation in Greece appears hopeless. Spain is in trouble and, to make matters worse, Germany's Constitutional Court will decide in September whether the European Stability Mechanism (ESM) is even compatible with the German constitution...

Federal court upholds firing of Christian bus driver who would not work on Sunday
...“To accommodate his request, New Jersey Transit, which operates on a seven-day per week schedule, would have been required to shift some Sunday driving to other drivers,” the Third Circuit Court of Appeals ruled. “This accommodation would have placed an undue hardship on New Jersey Transit as Fouche’s election not to drive on certain Sundays would have resulted in a breach of the seniority provision of the union’s collective bargaining agreement, thus raising a legal issue.”...

A Mosque Is Not Like a Church or a Synagogue
...No free individual will exists or is allowed when it comes to practices and observances. Sharia must be strictly followed. A mosque is a symbol of this ultimate authority and serves the function of organizing every aspect of life in a Muslim community...

Is it hateful to suggest gays can change?
...Burnett couldn't believe that a Christian would suggest that homosexuals can or would even need to "change." In the course of her remarks, she told Mohler that his statements were "crazy" and "hateful." As usual, Mohler did a fantastic job representing the Gospel and parrying the push-back from a hostile host...

Pakistan: another Christian arrested on unsubstantiated ‘blasphemy’ charges
...Rev. Zafar Bhatti, who heads the Jesus World Mission, has been jailed after Muslims complained that he had insulted Islam in text messages. Christian leaders say that the charges reflect personal animosities against the Protestant minister...

Executive branch porn problem: Bureaucrats risk national security breaches
...This past week, the Pentagon's Missile Defense Agency warned its staff not to view porn on U.S. government computers. The Pentagon also released a report on April’s Secret Service Colombian scandal. The two are connected...

Complaints prompt water park to end discounts for church groups
Now, no one gets the discount...

Elderly patients losing nearly every N.J. hospital some Medicare money
Beginning in October, the federal Medicare program will withhold some money from nearly every hospital in New Jersey because too many elderly patients have to return within a month of being discharged, according to an analysis by the Kaiser Health News...

Some universities require students to use e-textbooks
Students don't seem to want to buy e-textbooks. So some schools are simply forcing them...

New Obama panic: Romney crowd sizes
The recent frantic email theme to supporters from Team Obama about Mitt Romney's run-away fundraising successes has been expanded to the crowd size gap between the thousands who rushed out over the weekend to see Romney and new running mate Rep. Paul Ryan and the hundreds who cheered on President Obama...

N.T. Wright’s How God Became King
...Theologian N.T. Wright’s most recent book, How God Became King: The Forgotten Story of the Gospels, squarely takes on this implication of American Evangelicalism’s “premillennial” theology. Yet as Wright relates in the preface, the book aims to draw the attention of Christian layfolk in all churches to a set of important, yet often overlooked, themes useful to understanding the richness of the gospels...

Scrolling around...August 13, 2012

Treasury: U.S. to lose $25 billion on auto bailout
The Treasury Department says in a new report the government expects to lose more than $25 billion on the $85 billion auto bailout. That's 15 percent higher than its previous forecast...

Colleges and universities rejecting students for being in-state
In state after state, one of the ways public colleges and universities are balancing their budgets is by aiming to admit more students from out of state (who are charged much higher tuition rates). In theory, this means more revenue for the entire university, although critics have warned about weakening the ties between public universities and their own states...

Woman Becomes First Openly Gay General
An Army officer being promoted to brigadier general openly acknowledged her homosexuality on Friday by having her wife pin her star to her uniform, thus becoming the first openly gay officer of flag rank in the United States military...

San Francisco archdiocese bans drag queens from parish; gay group indignant
A group helping homosexuals recover from drug and alcohol abuse has canceled a fundraiser on Catholic parish grounds in protest, after the church said it would no longer allow drag queens in such events...

“Civil Rights Agenda” Files Antidiscrimination Complaint Against Chick-fil-A Based on Chick-fil-A’s Speech
...But the Civil Rights Agenda is going further still: They are arguing that it violates public accommodations environment law for companies to express certain viewpoints even in their officials’ public statements. That theory is even more clearly violative of the companies’ First Amendment rights. I hope the Illinois Department of Human Rights recognizes that Illinois public accommodation law doesn’t cover such situations — but, if it does cover them, the First Amendment prevents it from being enforced.

Child Pornography and the Restitution Revolution
Victims of child pornography are now successfully seeking restitution from defendants convicted of watching and trading their images. Restitution in child pornography cases, however, represents a dramatic departure from traditional concepts of restitution. This Article offers the first critique of this restitution revolution. Traditional restitution is grounded in notions of unjust enrichment, and seeks to restore the economic status quo between parties by requiring disgorgement of ill-gotten gains. The restitution being ordered in increasing numbers of child pornography cases does not serve this purpose. Instead, child pornography victims are receiving restitution simply for having their images viewed...

Illinois to Spend More on Pensions than on Education
The state of Illinois faces at least $83 billion in unfunded liability between its five pension systems, and is on track to spend more on its government pensions than on education by 2016, according to a new study released by Governor Pat Quinn's office, says Fox Business...Meanwhile, Illinois joins New York, California and Maryland in having the highest state tax rates in the country. Illinois was dinged last year for boosting its taxes 67 percent...

Billy Graham admitted to hospital
Billy Graham was hospitalised on Saturday night for the treatment of a pulmonary infection thought to be bronchitis...

Wesley J. Smith: Obama Looks to Strip Entrepreneurs of Religious Liberty
Do entrepreneurs sacrifice their religious liberties merely by seeking a profit? That question would have stunned our Founding Fathers, most of whom were businessmen as well as statesmen. George Washington owned a large for-profit farm. So did James Madison. John Adams and Alexander Hamilton ran successful law practices. Benjamin Franklin was a printer and an inventor. Having secured freedom of religion for themselves and their posterity, these men of liberty would be astounded that the government they established asserted the legal authority to force business owners to violate their religious beliefs in the operation of their enterprises...

Pew Forum: The World’s Muslims: Unity and Diversity
...The Pew Forum’s survey of the world’s Muslims includes every nation with a Muslim population of more than 10 million except Algeria, China, India, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen. Together, the 39 countries and territories included in the survey are home to about two-thirds of all Muslims in the world...

PCUSA dismissals continue after tumultuous General Assembly
The number of churches leaving the Presbyterian Church (USA) continues to increase and, following a General Assembly filled with controversy, the number seeking dismissal shows no sign of abating even as denominational membership continues to also decline.
Most departing congregations are claiming the PCUSA rejects the authority of Scripture. A steady stream of churches has departed for other Reformed denominations following the 2011 passage of Amendment 10A and the new Form of Government...