Sailing the Last Voyage with Newton and Pascal
This is the first in a series inspired (somewhat) by Noel Barber's The Sultans. Although it's largely forgotten these days (along with most important history, especially by Americans) for five centuries the Ottoman Empire loomed large in every sense of the word. In its highest days (under Suleiman the Magnificent/Lawgiver) it threatened Christian Europe, a …
Continue reading "The Ottoman Tales I: The Hem of His Garment"
Anyone who works in a university environment these days--especially in a public university whose state support continually evaporates--has heard about the concept of "safe space". It's an idea promoted by LGBT advocates where parts of the campus are designated as safe for such people to be without fear of opposition. The problem with that is …
Continue reading "An Important Way Church Needs to Be a Safe Space"
Well, we're up against it: we're starting to see Evangelicals, generally thought reliable adherents to Scriptural Christianity, defect to the other side over the LGBT business. Â For people raised in the system, this is a shock they are not mentally prepared for. Â For those of us who came out of liberal churches of long ago, …
Continue reading "Some Advice to Evangelicals on Major Division from Anglican/Episcopal Experience"
Yesterday I was scrolling through my Twitter feed when this jumped out, from @ourCOG, the social media outlet of the Church of God: The painting they used is "Vercingetorix Throws Down His Arms At The Feet Of Julius Caesar" by Lionel-Noël Royer.  Having just re-read Caesar's De Bello Gallico, it leaped out at me.  I doubt …
Continue reading "The @ourCOG Tweet That Said More Than It Meant To"
Well, at least for their foreign missionaries: After decade-long resistance, the Southern Baptist Convention will admit missionary candidates who speak in tongues, a practice associated with Pentecostal and charismatic churches. The new policy, approved by the denomination’s International Mission Board on Wednesday (May 13), reverses a policy that was put in place 10 years ago. …
Continue reading "The Southern Baptists Bite the Dust on Cessationism and Speaking in Tongues"
Back in 2006, before the accession of the current Occupant, I began to write a little novel entitled The Ten Weeks. It describes, among other things, the result of a democratically elected left-wing government and how it, using the sexual revolution as one of its weapons (and mob action as another), took progressive power in …
Continue reading "The Assault on Christians Wasn't Supposed to Happen This Fast"
It's official:  I felt drawn to the Episcopal church because it offered some practices I felt were missing in my evangelical experience, like space for silence and reflection, a focus on Christ’s presence at the communion table as the climax and center of every worship service, opportunities for women in leadership, and the inclusion of …
Continue reading "Rachel Held Evans Becomes an Episcopalian"
New Wine/Wine Skin LP 259-08 (1973) I've said more than once--too many times, perhaps--that South Florida is one of the toughest places in the U.S. to be a Christian. So it's good to see that someone was trying to make a dent in the situation, just down the road from where I grew up and …
Nick Park, pastor of the Solid Rock Church and Administrative Bishop of the Church of God in Ireland, gets it: The solution is clear. It’s time for the Government to get out of the marriage business. In fact, for most of human history, marriage was something practiced by communities (both religious and non-religious) and the …
Continue reading "An Old Irish Biker Nails It On Civil Marriage"
My church's news site recently noted a gathering down in Jamaica which was a consultation on believers' baptism. There were a couple of ministers from my church there, along with representatives of the World Council of Churches. I'm always nervous when our ministers get involved with WCC people and events. They are like young Siegfried, …
Continue reading "Why I Support the Idea of Believers' Baptism"
Positive Infinity 