Scrolling around...April 2, 2013

An Open Letter from Robert Gagnon: Does Leviticus Only Condemn Idolatrous Homosexual Practice?
..I could go on and easily show that your reading of other biblical texts, including the story of Sodom in Gen 19:4-11 (see now for this http://www.robgagnon.net/homosex7thDayAdvArticleSodom.htm) and Paul’s indictment of homosexual practice in Rom 1:24-27 (to say nothing of, Jesus’ teaching on a male-female requirement for marriage), ignores numerous weighty counterarguments against your claim that Scripture only clearly indicts specific cultic or exploitative forms of homosexual practice. Why would you bother to write (or a publisher to print) a book on the subject that systematically ignores the mountain of evidence from historical and literary contexts that challenges your prevailing perspective?

I find it puzzling that in your book you say that you were “disappointed” that the Bible didn’t “clearly answer” your question about the rightness or wrongness of committed homosexual relationships between consenting adults (187-88). As it is, I see no indication in your study of the most relevant biblical texts that you ever gave careful consideration to the biblical witness. One would think that for such an important issue you would have done so, all the more since you even wrote a book about your wrestling with this and related issues. It is not too late to do your homework on the subject; a belated enterprise, certainly, but not too late...

America in the Age of Myth
...You see, Obamism is an emotional flight from reality, completely unsustainable to the degree it is a paradigm for anything. It is mythical, this notion of borrowing vast amounts of money to grow government and subsidize a new cadre on government support, or demonizing millions as suspect for their success, or assuming that foreign nations react best to apologies, contextualization, and sermons, or wish to join in the cultural adulation of an American president. Putin could care less. Ditto the North Koreans.

In short, in this mythical age, we all know that Barack Obama won the Nobel Prize, but none of us quite know what for... image

Johns Hopkins Denies Pro-Life Club, Equates Them to White Supremacists  On March 12th, a pro-life group at Johns Hopkins University, Voice for Life (VFL), was denied the right to become an official student club by the Student Government Association (SGA) during a student Senate meeting, after having been recommended for approval by the SGA Appointments and Evaluations Committee.

At that same SGA meeting, though, another new group was approved called Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP).  Although SJP has a history of anti-Semitism and disruption on other campuses, the SGA decided that the students from JHU creating the group were separate from other campus affiliations, and they couldn’t be punished for potential violations.  Somehow, these standards were not applied to Voice for Life...

Stealth Fees Driving Up The Cost Of College
...A new report by ProPublica shows that several schools around the country say they're keeping down tuition costs. But at the same time, more and more fees are popping up on bills --- and those might not be part of the official price tag that prospective students look at....

Poll: Obama Support Dives After Sequester Flop
...These findings may reflect fallout over the sequester, the automatic cuts to defense and other discretionary spending that began March 1...

Former Abortion Worker: I Held Up Feet to Check the Dead Baby’s Age
...My official title at the mill was “health worker.” I did various duties-lab work, leading groups (deceiving women about their abortions), “advocating” (deceiving women during their abortions), and assisting the abortionist, which included helping during the abortion and checking to make sure all the parts of the baby were there in the collection jar afterwards. I will never forget, in the second-trimester abortions, holding those little feet up to a chart on the wall to make sure of the age of the baby.... image

Hobby Lobby gets boost in battle against abortion mandate
Hobby Lobby's legal battle against the abortion/contraceptive mandate received a boost Friday (March 29) when the full 10th Circuit Court of Appeals agreed to hear the company's case...

7 Church Ministry Models from Ideal to Awful
Small single-service churches . . . home churches with rotating locations . . . mega-churches with thousands of seats . . . large churches with home groups . . . mega-churches with multi-services at different times and days . . . multi-site churches with recorded messages and online campuses . . . multi-site churches with live feed from the main campus . . . multi-service churches with rotating preachers . . . single-service churches with rotating preachers . . .
When it comes to American church ministry models, if you can imagine it, it exists....