He may not realise it, but... When asked his favorite novel in an interview shown yesterday on the Fox News Channel, Mitt Romney pointed to “Battlefield Earth,” a novel by L. Ron Hubbard, the founder of Scientology. That book was turned into a film by John Travolta, a Scientologist. There's a little family history behind …
Candlelight Service of Lessons and Carols
This year's Chattanooga Candlelight Service of Lessons and Carols will be presented by the Roueché Chorale and Orchestra on Friday, December 9 at 7:00 pm at First Baptist Church, 401 Gateway Avenue, down-town Chattanooga. Prelude music will begin at 6:40 pm. The only way to describe this performance is jaw dropping. You'll need to get …
Continue reading "Candlelight Service of Lessons and Carols"
TAC Archbishop John Hepworth's Tough Trip to the Bottom
The Catholic Church will allow him to come to Rome as a layman: John Hepworth, the Archbishop of the Adelaide-based Traditional Anglican Communion (TAC), will be received back into the Roman Catholic Church, but only as a layman. Sources say Hepworth was given a letter from Rome by the hand of Melbourne Archbishop Denis J. …
Continue reading "TAC Archbishop John Hepworth's Tough Trip to the Bottom"
A Couple of Things Worth Remembering About Advent
Today is the First Sunday in Advent, and along with all of the coverage of Black Friday, Cyber Monday and the plethora of Christmas stuff around, we're also presented with another way of celebrating the time before the birth of Our Saviour: Advent. The first season in the liturgical calendar, this year promises to be …
Continue reading "A Couple of Things Worth Remembering About Advent"
Pentecostal Biblical Studies: Is Going Back to the Source Really All That Bad?
It seems that my friends in the Pentecostal academic world have come up with another interesting link, this time to Jaques Berlinerbau's An Afternoon With the Society for Pentecostal Studies. It's an opportunity for me to opine on a subject that has lurked in the background ever since my brother's unfavourite Episcopal minister taught me …
Continue reading "Pentecostal Biblical Studies: Is Going Back to the Source Really All That Bad?"
Certified for Occupancy: Will the Re-Opening of the Palm Beach Publix be the Next "Event of the Season?"
Publix has cleared yet another hurdle in its process to re-open its Palm Beach store: The new Palm Beach Publix was issued a conditional certificate of occupancy Wednesday from the Town’s Planning, Zoning and Building Department. The store was inspected Tuesday and late last week. “This essentially means that the project is substantially complete,” said …
"Extreme events induced by man:" the new euphemism for acts of terror
While digging through my email, I could not help but notice this, from the promotion of a new publication by the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO): New and extensively researched, Bridge Security Guidelines offers guidance on bridge design for extreme events induced by man. This document provides the designer with information …
Continue reading ""Extreme events induced by man:" the new euphemism for acts of terror"
Baptists: the "One Way Calvinists" Split Over Making It a Two-Way Street
George Conger documents the growing split in the Southern Baptist Convention over the adoption of Calvinism: The question of Calvinism is one of the major challenges facing American Christianity today, a leader of the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) said last month. In an 18 October 2011 interview posted on the website of SBC Today, the …
Continue reading "Baptists: the "One Way Calvinists" Split Over Making It a Two-Way Street"
Reply to Brian McLaren: If Church is the Problem, Maybe We Should Get Rid of It
I have to confess that Brian McLaren's piece Seminary Is Not the Problem -- the Church Is is one of the most curious pieces I have ever read. It's not often that an academic (?) so baldly proclaims that the "real world" is so deficient that it should be remoulded to follow the academic one …
Continue reading "Reply to Brian McLaren: If Church is the Problem, Maybe We Should Get Rid of It"
Today's Iraq, From a 2005 Post
What I thought was going to happen in Iraq now that we are leaving and other things, from a July 2005 post: A hallmark of Ba'athist regimes is minority rule. In Syria, the Alawi al-Assads have ruled a predominantly Sunni country for many years. In Iraq, the Sunni Saddam Hussein had ruled a predominately Shi'ite …
Positive Infinity 