Yesterday, April 17th, was a day to make us Episcopalians proud. Ian Douglas was ordained bishop in the Church of God, as bishop of Connecticut. It was a grand service with about a bazillion people present, Archbishop Desmond Tutu as Preacher, The Presiding Bishop in the Chair, a wide variety of bishops participating and good friends in the congregation.
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Ian, bishop in the church of God
Pope Benedict XVI met Sunday with a group of clerical sex-abuse victims and promised them with tears in his eyes that the Catholic Church would seek justice for pedophile priests and implement “effective measures” to protect young people from abuse.
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Tearful pope says church will better protect young
Some South Florida adherents of Jainism , a small Indian religion with perhaps 10 million believers throughout the world, have donated $600000 to Florida International University to facilitate study of the faith. …
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Study of Jainism gets a lift at Florida International University
One of the reasons I look forward to Fridays in general is that they herald the upcoming weekend, and also because Bill Maher is on HBO at 10 PM. I recorded his last show and finally got time to sit down to watch it a few days ago. His second guest of the night was Chef & Restaurateur Alice Waters .
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Bill Maher Chose Right
Randall Stephens Allan Sears, president of the Alliance Defense Fund , worries that a US District Judge could be putting another nail in the Christian America coffin. In the face of legal threats to the National Day of Prayer, Sears calls for support . (Is there a Nationalists’ Day of Prayer?) “We must see victory on the appeal,” Sears writes, “and if necessary this case must go to the U.S.
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National Day of Prayer Supporters Fear Dark, Prayerless Days to Come
Fox News commentator Glenn Beck claims that faith-based calls for “social justice” are really ideological calls for “forced redistribution of wealth . . . under the guise of charity and/or justice,” and that Christians should leave their churches if they preach or practice “social justice.” Rev
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Wallis vs. Beck: The politics of social justice
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Roe of Roe v. Wade is now pro-life
Everyday stresses can build up and hang around in the back of our minds so that even when we have free time to relax and unwind, we find ourselves stressed out about all the little things that are bugging us. So today I would like to invite everyone to let go of all their frustrations and, as part of the cleansing process, tell us about the stuff that’s been driving you crazy
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Frustration Friday: Vent And Be Free!
Before I delve into this rant that has a brother scalding under the ministerial collar, allow me to share a divine perspective: These six things the Lord hates, yes, seven are an abomination to Him: A proud look, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked plans, feet that are
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Make that eight things God hates
What is the meaning of life ? Why are we here? What is the answer to life, the universe , everything? Have you ever asked yourself these questions? Quite probably you have. Whether you were having some kind of crises in your life, or you just like exploring your own inner existentialism, the need to know, or at least feel better, about our existence is one that has plagued mankind since the beginning of time. At least, I assume it has. It sure as hell messes with my mind. You might be thinking that I am going through a crises, since I am obviously thinking about my existence. Well, I actually do enjoy thinking about my existence, and how it fits in with the big scheme of things. Do I have any answers? Of course not. I don’t believe in definite answers, at least where existence and the meaning of life are concerned. First off I would like to say that, in the big scheme of things, we are nothing. We are next to nothing. We aren’t even dust in the wind. Think about it. Think about the immensity of the universe, of everything. Supposedly, in our galaxy, there are two hundred billion stars. Just in our galaxy. And speaking of our galaxy, scientists estimate it is about thirty kiloparsecs in diameter and about one kiloparsec thick. Now one parsec is about 3.262 light years , or 19 trillion miles. So that would make our galaxy approximately ninety-seven thousand, eight hundred and sixty light years across. Ok, now, supposedly there are one hundred and twenty-five billion galaxies in the universe. These numbers are, to me, almost completely unimaginable. These are expanses that I can scarcely even conceive. And here we are. On one little planet in one little, microscopic solar system . To believe that we are all along in the universe, as far as sentient life goes, seems kind of ridiculous when imagining the awesome size of existence. But unlike other believers in aliens and what not, I don’t really think it has any bearing on us whether there is life out there or not. If there were aliens and they had the ability to cross vast reaches of space, then they would most likely have technology far in advance of ours that it might as well be magic. So why would they be interested in the strange, primitive, and mostly harmless creatures that rule over one little tiny speck in a vast vast ocean? The answer is: they wouldn’t. They wouldn’t care. They wouldn’t even slow down to dump their alien trash, assuming they were traveling in a manner where speed is actually relative. So for all intents and purposes, we are alone. Left to our own devices. When we reach a technological level where we have achieved faster-than-light travel , well, then maybe the aliens will stop by, but only to vaporize humanity and leave the earth a lifeless rock
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Existential Nonsense
For some unexplainable reason, surfing keeps finding its way into my life lately. I dreamt of surfing the other night. The following day, I sat down on the couch after straightening up our kitchen and the show Parenthood was ending by showing one of the show’s fathers sitting on a surfboard and smiling contently as he looked out to sea.
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Dropping In On A Killer Surf Art Blog
At this historical moment, with China undergoing dynamic change and internal challenges, its philosophical underpinnings are revisited. Speakers from Tsinghua discuss Marxism and Confucianism as understood in China, historically and within the contemporary context
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Marxism and Confucianism Today: Comparative Philosophies in the Eurasian Realm
What mother doesn’t want to become kinder, gentler, and more loving? Remember how Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz was searching for a way home and finally found out she had the magic slippers that he had on the whole time? You have the answer inside you now.
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How to Become a Kinder, Gentler Mother
Easytone shoes help tone your butt and legs with every step – available in Lifestyle Sports stores nationwide! Reebok Easytones are an ultra-comfortable shoe inspired by balance balls so you can take the gym with you wherever you go. The balance pods built into each shoe causes a natural instability, toning muscles an additional 28% more in your glutes, 11% more in your thighs, and 11% more in your calves with each step.
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Lifestyle Sports Reebok Easytone – Reetone Campaign Ad
Revelation 12 (The woman is not the church) I want to make it clear that the order of events written in the book of Revelation provides no reason to lump every tribulation (thlipsis) into a single ‘Great Tribulation’ that’s coming. Revelation 12 demonstrates the non-chronologic nature of the book as chapter 11 has already reached the apex of events in that (Rev 11:15) “ the kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and his Christ ” is the end of the story. Revelation 12:1 goes back in time and symbolically describes Judah as a woman who is pregnant, v5 with one who will rule all nations, clearly Jesus (It should be noted that Judah gives birth to Jesus).
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Understanding End time Prophecy (How the accepted scenario went off the track) Part 5 of 5
Karl Jo Seilern and Anton Waldburg, managing partners of theblogpaper.co.uk , seem to be swimming against the currents in the ever turbulent waters that are the publishing industry. While most print publications are moving more and more content online in order to reach an increasingly tech-savvy, internet-based and mobile readership, Seilern and Waldburg are taking blog content offline in the blogpaper–the UK’s first completely user-generated, free newspaper
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The Blogpaper, Moving Blogs Into Print
Several Anglican Primates from the so-called global south have written in the past week to make it clear to the world that they believe actions of The Episcopal Church and the Anglican Church of Canada are wrong-headed and evil, that the Archbishop of Canterbury has allowed the bureaucracy of Lambeth and the Anglican Communion Office to usurp the powers of the Primates and that the ABC must convene the Primates immediately, but without the presence of the TEC or ACoC Primates. Those writing have made it clear that they hold to 1998 Lambeth Resolution 1.10, and The Windsor Report. Some, but not all, have said they are for the Anglican Covenant.
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A Beam in the Eye: Anglican Primates blinded by the vision of the Colonialists Wrong.
by Ed Blum The West coast will miss Jonathan Walton. In the same week that we cheered the tremendous new resources for the study of religion in the American West, we now boo the fact that Professor Walton will trek from Riverside, California, to Cambridge, Massachusetts. There, he’ll be a new professor at Harvard Divinity School .
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Watch This! Jonathan Walton’s Trek to Harvard Divinity School
Going it alone really doesn’t work for most of us. We need help and encouragement from others
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Who’s Watching Your Back? How to Find Members For Your Support Network
The GAFCON/ FCA Primates Council have just met in Bermuda and have published a communique. It can be read HERE. The Primates Council is now billed as “The Primates Council of GAFCON / FCA.” But it is the same self appointed righteous remnant of the past, claiming to be Global South Anglicans but not including Brazil, IARCA and Mexico
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Anglican Communion II… I don’t know why we bother. (Corrected)
I have a theory about how we ended up here on Mother-Ship Earth . After all, isn’t almost everything about our precarious futures just a tad too ominous, seemingly set into a pattern of continuous lucid movement?
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Would You Jump Onto A Moving Planet?
Who is SteveFantastic? Why he is the most fantastic new addition to the BlogCatalog family. He is so damn fantastic that I hear this song every time I see him… He’s just freaking fantastic!
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He’s Steve Fantastic!
Yesterday, I read a post on freelancewritinggigs.com titled Google CEO Eric Schmidt not on board with bloggers . A major theme of the post was that while “writers” are respected “bloggers” are not. A more minor point in the post, but the one which I found quite interesting was that editors are a vital part of the publishing industry who ensure only quality material makes it to print….something that the blog world lacks: And if you’re ever confused as to the value of newspaper editors , look at the blog world
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Google CEO Eric Schmidt’s View Of Blog World Is All Wrong
I go with Recon. M-95, extra ammo, binoculars, and that cool revolver I unlocked yesterday. Let’s do this. I drop down through the air, my parachute billowing and slowing my descent. I look down and notice a vacant tank, something Russian , like a T-90 or something, just waiting for someone to drive it. Unfortunately, another soldier, SuperPhat420 by his blue name hanging over his head, also notices it and starts steering his parachute towards it. Since he was quite a bit lower than me he gets there first. As he enters the tank its engine rumbles to life and he guns it. The big machine lurches forward, but I had timed it correctly and make it in just in time. I don’t mind not driving though. Gunning is preferable since, when the tank is inevitably destroyed, you can always blame it on the driver.
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A BFBC2 Moment
Last night, when I should have been asleep, I was up reading some random blog posts and checking out my friends posts on Facebook and friedeggs.com . During my late night browsing session, I came across a post by SelinaJane–one of my new best buddies –about 60 Cool & Creative 404 Error Pages .
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Creative Inspiration From 404 Pages & Pancakes
“Oh, how the mighty have fallen.” It’s a quote of the dramatic many equate to some movie from the roaring 20s or some such, but not so fast. It’s actually one of the plethora of pop culture references that are really biblical writ.
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Crystal Cathedral loses even more luster, staves law suits
Paul Harvey Brandi Denison has started a new blog that some of you will be interested in: Religion in the American West , an offshoot of the Seminar on Religion in the American West of the American Academy of Religion .
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Religion in the American West: New Blog and Seminar