Most photos we get from planetary/lunar landers are aimed downward, but this one is a time-lapsed one looking upward, showing the ice clouds in the north polar region of Mars. From the Phoenix lander, courtesy of this site.
More on Commitment and Homosexuality
The comments to my last post on this subject have been interesting. Let me start with Margaret: I also am puzzled by this insistence that “committed” equally “right”. Ahab and Jezebel were “committed” but it was never “right” for a Jewish king to marry outside the faith. Similarly Samson and Delilah were “committed” at least …
Blast From the Past: On Trade Unions and Churches
I originally published this piece 31 July 2005. I'm putting it up again because a) it's Labour Day weekend, and b) the political season is finally becoming a conscious reality for most Americans. It's a repeated warning about over-reliance on state institutions to advance an agenda of any kind. Since that time the Democrats have …
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When Ministers are Asked to Underperform
Recently I was talking with some Episcopalian friends of mine about the rather vacuous, primer-like articles that their bishop (Diocese of East Tennessee's Charles von Rosenberg) had written (and had been spread around the Anglican world by Kendall Harmon) in anticipation of and in the wake of the Lambeth 2008 conference. Needless to say, they …
Reply to Jonathan Martin on Pentecost and Catholic Theology
I noted here that Jonathan Martin has written a paper entitled, "Spirit, Apocalypse and Ethics: Reading Catholic Moral Theology as a Pentecostal" in The Journal of Pentecostal Theology. (The abstract is here.) First: congratulations are in order. It's great to be a published author. It's not always easy either, because everyone else wants "a piece …
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Sarah Palin, and the Most Dangerous People on Earth
In the last part of J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings, one of the most important victories that took place before the Ring was killing the Nazgul Lord. It had been prophesied that he could not be killed by a man, so the deed was started by a hobbit (Merry) and finished off by …
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Unlike us, when God speaks, He has something to say
This pithy observation from Forward Leadership: Unlike us, when God speaks, He has something to say. My Pastor spoke last Christmas about the 400 years of silence “between” the Old and New Testament. When He finally spoke…WOW! I don’t offer this post as if I always hear God’s voice, never get discouraged, or that you …
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Bill Clinton, Candidate X and Candidate Y
Sometimes this man amazes me: Suppose, for example, you're a voter, and you have candidate X and you have candidate Y. Candidate X agrees with you on everything but you don't think that person can deliver on anything. Candidate Y disagrees with you on half the issues, but you believe that, on the other half, …
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Brian McLaren Trashes the Concepts of Hell, the Atonement and Divine Justice
The day after I posted Brian McLaren's Learning How to Love, now this: Hat tip to Stand Firm in Faith for this.
Get Away from Victim Politics. But How?
Nancy Pelosi hasn't quite thought this through just yet: "I think that women, we have to get away from the politics of victim. This is about you go out there and you fight," she said. "I think that what Hillary Clinton did was tremendous for the country. She has kicked open many doors, which now …
