Sailing the Last Voyage with Newton and Pascal
George Barna's latest poll on how the economic crash is affecting churches is spot on, as anyone involved in church finance will attest: During the past three months, one of the ways that adults have adjusted to their financial hardships has been by reducing their charitable giving. In total, one out of every five households …
Continue reading "George Barna: Change They Really Didn’t Believe In"
From the 1662 Book of Common Prayer: ALMIGHTY God, give us grace that we may cast away the works of darkness, and put upon us the armour of light, now in the time of this mortal life in which thy Son Jesus Christ came to visit us in great humility; that in the last day, …
Continue reading "The Collect for the First Sunday in Advent"
As did my mother and her brother: I'm not sure of the date but it probably was taken in the late 1920's. Their father worked for the Missouri Pacific Railroad, so this photo was a natural. Although most people think of the Great Depression having its start with the 1929 crash, because of depressed commodity …
Continue reading "In the Last Depression, The Hobos Rode the Rails"
A friend in Indonesia recently sent me a paper by Olena Antonaccio and Charles Tittle from North Carolina State University entitled "A Cross-National Test of Bonger's Theory of Criminality and Economic Conditions."Â In 1905 the Dutch Marxist Willam Adrian Bonger had hypothesised that capitalism, by its de-moralisation (i.e., reduce the moral feelings that people had …
This week's podcast--appropriately enough, since today is Thanksgiving in the U.S.--is Of One Accord, the title track from the Kairosingers' album. The title doesn't sound like a Thanksgiving song, but it is. This album came from Port Arthur, Texas, which was hit hard by Hurricane Ike. One organisation that made a big difference in Southeast …
Continue reading "A Thanksgiving Song–And a Special Reason for Me to be Thankful"
The Fix's Chris Cillizza evidently doesn't have a lot to do with his time, since he is trying to figure out who are the "stars" is what's left of the Republican Party. So let's look at his list from the criterion that has worked since 1988: who are the Ivy Leaguers in the group? I …
Continue reading "Applying the Ivy League Test to the Republican Stars (Such as They Are)"
This week's podcast is I Go To Prepare a Place for You, from the Family of God's album Honor, Wisdom, Glory and Praise. The song features one of the better known passages from the New Testament: “In my Father’s Home there are many dwellings. If it had not been so, I should have told you, …
Continue reading "It’s Time to Get Back to Cabins in Heaven"
I've been making this connnection here and here since shortly after the election. Now the International Herald-Tribune joins in: A faltering auto giant whose brands are synonymous with the open road. Hundreds of thousands of unionized workers with powerful political backers. An urgent plea for the government to write a virtual blank check. This is …
Continue reading "Making the Connection Between the U.S. Auto Bailout and British Leyland"
Thanksgiving Day (in the U.S.) is coming up, and our ministers are gearing up appropriate sermons (I hope they're appropriate, at least) for the occasion. So this is my contribution to raising the homiletical level, and perhaps it will edify you in the bargain. In 1534 Parliament passed the Act of Supremacy, which transferred control …
Continue reading "The Two Sides of Thanksgiving: The Strange Story of the Venite (Psalm 95)"
Since the thirtieth anniversary of the Jonestown massacre/suicide is coming up on Tuesday, it's good to rerun a podcast from last year: the testimony of Sir Lionel Luckhoo, Jim Jones' lawyer and one of the world's most successful trial attorneys. Sir Lionel talks about his relationship with Jim Jones and how he ultimately came to …
Continue reading "The Testimony of Jim Jones’ Lawyer, Sir Lionel Luckhoo"
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