On Saturday I shared a couple of reflections on the ELF in Hungary as related to preaching. Here are a few more to ponder together: 3. Watch your language for second language listeners. In some ways I’d expect this to be obvious, but obviously it wasn’t for one or two speakers. When there are people in the audience that are listening in their second language, watch yours
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More Reflections on the European Leadership Forum (ELF)
| PAKISTAN LEDGER | پاکستاني کھ
Over the past week Terry’s been pursuing the question: what is the mainstream press saying about where Judge Sonia Sotomayor falls in the spectrum of Catholic practice? Well, New York Times reporter Laurie Goodstein has been researching this for all of the curious minds who read that newspaper (not to mention GR readers), and here’s what she has found out: Four of the Catholics on the court are reported to be committed attenders of Mass, and they make up the court’s solid conservative bloc — Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr
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Sotomayor? Probably a “majority” Catholic
After losing Baba Sadhu Singh ji from Nanaksar few days back,it was another sad day for Sikh community after the boat which was taking 13 people in Harike Pattan during ‘jal parvah’ of baba ji’s remains,sunk and all fell into the water body. As per latest reports,out of 13 people, 10 were taken out and three are still missing. Among the missing one’s are famous ragi, bhai zorawar singh ji (ludhiana) and bhai gurcharan singh ji who is son of another renowed ragi bhai harbans singh ji jagadhari and one more baba ji’s sewak harjinder singh
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Ragi Bhai Zorawar Singh & 2 others Missing in Boat Accident
31 May 2009, 1810 hrs IST, PTI KUALA LUMPUR: An ethnic Indian family is fighting with Islamic authorities in Malaysia for claiming the body of a Sikh art director who allegedly converted to Islam 17 years ago. The family of Mohan Singh, 41, who died last week, wants to cremate the body according to Sikh rites while the Islamic authorities want to bury him according to Muslim rituals. Currently, Singh’s body is in the hospital, family lawyer Rajesh Kumar said.
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Family fights for right to cremate ‘converted’ Malaysian-Sikh
Published by: Noor Khan Sun, 31 May 2009 Jalandhar, May 31 : A day after Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal’s assurance to Dera Sachkhand to review cases against protesters who indulged in violence after the killing of a sect leader in Vienna, a group of social and religious leaders today threatened an agitation if the cases were withdrawn. The group had a meeting at local Paragpur Gurudwara and constituted a 101-member committee to take up its issues with the State Government
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Sikhs to agitate if cases against protestors are withdrawn
Today the Catholic Church celebrates Pentecost Sunday, the day on which we celebrate the descent of the Holy Spirit on the disciples, an event generally thought of as the event that marks the birth of the Church. What that descent looked like is not something we can speak about with certainty. Acts describes a sudden “noise like a strong driving wind” followed by what appeared to the disciples as “tongues of fire, which parted and came to rest on each one of them.” John says simply that Jesus breathed on the disciples and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit.” However it happened, we know that the disciples were filled with the Holy Spirit and, through the power of that Spirit, able to do marvelous things, far more (in the word of Ephesians) that they could ask for or imagine
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Veni, Sancte Spiritus
The Catholic Diocese of Bridgeport on Friday filed a federal lawsuit against Connecticut’s Office of State Ethics seeking to enjoin the Office from taking action to force the Diocese to register with the state as a lobbyist. Catholic Online reports that the state ethics office wrote the Diocese raising questions after the Diocese took part in a rally in March opposing Raised Bill 1098 that would have forced reorganization of financial oversight in Catholic parishes (see prior posting ). The state also questioned a posting on the Diocese’s website urging its members to oppose another bill relating to same-sex marriage
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Connecticut Diocese Sues To Avoid Registration As Lobbyist
Sometimes I am prone to forgetting that everything is terrible, and in those moments, if I am brave enough to re-embrace reality, I turn to Everything is Terrible to remind me of the world’s vast stores of the terrible. Today, a visit to those edifying climes produced a palpable hit only a few posts in: a bracing message from no less than the guy who portrayed TV’s Spock and some English-sounding guy that Y2K would likely spell ruin for everything we labeled civilization circa 1999
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The Unexamined Life Is Not for Me
In Netherland v. City of Zachary, Louisiana , (MD LA, May 27, 2009), in a case on remand from the 5th Circuit (see prior posting ), a Louisiana federal district court held that a city’s disturbing the peace ordinance was unconstitutional as applied to defendant’s religious speech. John Netherland was threatened with arrest for his loud preaching, standing on a public easement near the parking lot of the Sidelines Grill yelling at customers
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Court Says City Unconstitutionally Applied Law To Restrict Street Preacher
We are getting closer and loser to an official mainstream-press language to describe the religious background of Judge Sonia Sotomayor and, to no one’s surprise, the issue that continues to drive this slow process of journalistic revelation is abortion. At this point, however, no one wants to get into the confusing and controversial work of determining the identities of the Catholic judges on the U.S. Supreme Court, as opposed to the “Catholic” judges
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Something akin to a Catholic
Seldom could an outing to see a West End play change history, but I can say with confidence that if this weekend the members of the present Cabinet minus their Prime Minister were to arrange a VIP block-booking at the Haymarket Theatre, hire a minibus, and attend an evening performance of Waiting for Godot with Ian McKellen and Patrick Stewart, they would see more than a brilliant production of that preposterous play. They would also, on reboarding their minibus, instruct the driver to take them straight to 10 Downing Street
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Let's go. We can't. We're waiting for Gordo
Toledo’s first Catholic radio station has cleared two major hurdles to begin broadcasting on its own. Deacon Michael Learned, president of Annunciation Radio, announced that the Federal Communications Commission has granted the station a construction permit and assigned it the broadcast frequency of 89.7 FM. It will use the call letters WNOC, standing for “Northwest Ohio Catholic.” Its 3.8-kilowatt signal should reach north to the Michigan line, west to Swanton, east to Fostoria, and south to Portage, Ohio, reaching a potential audience of 130,836 Catholics
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Catholic station clears 2 hurdles; WNOC expected to be on air in fall
The blusterbuss that is Silvio Berlusconi is firing full blast and all Italy is, yet again, watching him fight his way out of his latest troubles. They include his umpteenth brush with Italy’s magistrates, a damning legal judgment that he bribed David Mills, the British lawyer, a cool $600,000 to commit perjury; divorce, for the second time, in this Catholic country $– a divorce blamed by Veronica Lario, his wife, on her septuagenarian spouse’s “consorting with minors”; and his implausible friendship with a Neapolitan family remarkable only for the beauty of Noemi Letizia, their daughter.
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Silvio Berlusconi survives as the lech with the common touch
This week I had the privilege of attending the European Leadership Forum in Hungary. This is an outstanding event that seeks to connect ministries and leaders across the continent via various “networks” that meet during the forum, then stay in touch in between. The event was exceptionally well run. A few random thoughts as far as preaching is concerned: 1. Evangelical Christianity is intellectually very robust.
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Reflections on the European Leadership Forum (ELF)
Phila likes these structures (well, kind of) and so do I: [T]he special cladding system was installed on-site by forming foil-thin steel into structural shapes and then coating the inside with [CFC-free] spray foam insulation. The polished and crinkled steel not only provides windowsills and eaves but creates an interesting facade of fragmented reflections of sky, forest , and grass which gives the buildings a striking look that is entirely made up of their surroundings. The timber-framed sheds are split down the middle to accommodate a common entry and provide substantial daylighting and ventilation to the studios on either side
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Mind the Gyre
The most massive prayer movement in history is this Pentecost Sunday, May 31st — the Global Day of Prayer ! with registered prayer gatherings in every one of the earth’s 220 countries. Registered or not, Christians worldwide will lift their voices and hearts in prayer to our Almighty and Faithful God! As you pray, where ever you are, you will be joining prayers with millions of others from all around the world! The Global Day of Prayer Broadcast will be live in the USA on DIRECTV Channel 365 or on the web at http://www.god.tv/
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Global Day of Prayer May 31
W.B. Yeats , “Ephemera” ‘Your eyes that once were never weary of mine Are bowed in sorrow under pendulous lids, Because our love is waning.’ And then she: ‘Although our love is waning, let us stand By the long border of the lake once more, Together in that hour of gentleness When the poor tired child, Passion, falls asleep: How far away the stars seem, and how far Is our first kiss, and ah, how old my heart!’ Pensive they paced along the faded leaves, While slowly he whose hand held hers replied: ‘Passion has often worn our wandering hearts.’ The woods were round them, and the yellow leaves Fell like faint meteors in the gloom, and once A rabbit old and lame limped down the path; Autumn was over him: and now they stood On the lone border of the lake once more: Turning, he saw that she had thrust dead leaves Gathered in silence, dewy as her eyes, In bosom and hair
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Poem of the Day: "Ephemera"
I’m currently in Denver, attending the Annual Meeting of the Law and Society Association, where I presented a paper this morning on legal strategies for affecting corporate behavior, premised on the idea that corporations should be viewed as social and moral actors, and not just economic ones. One of the other speakers on the panel on which I presented, gave a paper addressing speculators – what we think about them and about how speculation in the market ought to be addressed. She suggested several possible reasons for why we have a reaction against speculators including that they lack long-term interest, they are not interested in the substance of the investment, but only care about their financial return, and they are only playing a game of arbitrage, with no substantive interest.
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Musings About Speculators
Observation does not work in haste. It takes time to keep looking at something and really see it. I’m told that you cannot get the best out of an art gallery by rushing around and taking mental snapshots (my default approach). I know that neither can you get the best out of a Bible passage from a quick glance. The problem is that we find triggers to move on. One trigger that often gets us, and therefore undermines our observation, is that we “find a message.” We look at the passage, see a superficial outline, and then move on to forming the message. In reality we would do well to continue observing the passage. For example, Colossians 4:2-6. When I first looked at that a few weeks ago, the structure was fairly obvious. Paul is asking the Colossians to keep on praying (verse 2), for Paul to have opportunities to speak the gospel (verses 3-4). Then Paul moves on to describe how their conduct should be toward outsiders (verses 5-6). The structure is simple and it preaches: pray for ministers, and interact well yourselves.
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Keep Looking
Comparative Religion – Confucianism
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Comparative Religion – Confucianism
Let’s face it, this is a spectacular hook for a story that blends sports with spirituality. The headline gives you an idea where the Washington Post team is going: “For Jaeger, the Point Is Love — Tennis Prodigy-Turned-Nun Wishes to Show Compassion She Once Craved.” As a sports story, this feature really works, with insider details about controversial events in the life of a controversial young star who flamed out in the world of professional tennis. That’s the point
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Unforced error in Jaeger story
Wreaths win Obama praise from Sons of Confederate Veterans Gestures honor black Union soldiers as well as Confederate war dead By WAYNE WASHINGTON wwashington@thestate.com President Barack Obama, the nation’s first black chief executive, will be getting a thank you note from the Sons of Confederate Veterans for continuing a tradition of honoring the Confederate dead on Memorial Day. A group of 48 historians, including one from Coastal Carolina University, had asked Obama not to send a wreath to an Arlington National Cemetery monument honoring Confederate dead — a practice started in 1914 by Woodrow Wilson, who was born in Virginia and lived in Columbia as a young man. Obama sent the wreath to the Confederate monument, but he also sent one to a Washington, D.C., cemetery that honors black Union soldiers.
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Obama: Wreath to Arlington Confederate monument
… here are thousands of sects within Hinduism, and violence between them is unknown…. ”Far from being sprinkled with the magic powder of tolerance, all those religions that rubbed shoulders with Hinduism picked up its divisive caste system….“Nitin Mehta uses a piece of sophistry to suggest the superiority of Hinduism particularly vis-à-…“There is a profoundly disquieting myth about Hinduism which has been put about by its adherents so often and so successfully that it is in danger of crystallising i…
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In the Beginning God created the Big Bang…
We'd better have some political reform quickly, or else – at this rate – we'll have no women MPs left by the next election. The self-slaughter of Julie Kirkbride and Margaret Moran, in both instances suicides assisted by other women – a Louise Marnell in Bromsgrove, an Esther Rantzen in Luton – reminds me that resentment is more easily focused on female politicians, with their whining insistence on seeing their children or partners occasionally. You may have noticed that the only Cabinet members said to be in trouble over their expenses are Jacqui Smith and Hazel Blears.
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I'll show you mine if you show me yours
The son of evangelist Aimee Semple McPherson lacked her charisma but led the church she founded through a period of explosive growth. Rolf K. McPherson, a major figure in the Pentecostal movement who for 44 years guided the International Church of the Foursquare Gospel founded by his mother, charismatic evangelist Aimee Semple McPherson, died of natural causes May 21 at his Los Feliz home, according to a church spokesman.
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Rolf K. McPherson dies at 96; longtime Pentecostal church leader
The good people at Think Progress have assembled a nice compilation of Congressman John Culberson’s staggeringly incoherent statement on gay marriage: If your head doesn’t hurt enough after listening to that, zero in on this part of the statement, which is, let’s recall, part of a larger statement in which the Congressman demands that governments legislate significant details of human pair bonds: Their private life is their private business. I’m fundamentally a libertarian at heart.
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Rep. Culberson: A Titan Among the Stupid