The idea of the Anglican Archdiocese of Sydney (Australia) to empower the laity raises the ire of many churches. It's an issue that has some peculiarly Anglican implications, but it's also interesting for many of the rest of us. The "empowerment" they're proposing is allowing lay people to celebrate the Holy Communion, which traditionally is …
Are We Really Being Persecuted?
The ACLU's Jeremy Gunn and his Evangelical dinner host both show an amazing lack of knowledge of U.S. history in Gunn's piece Accommodating the faithful. The first question was as follows: First, could he identify any country in the world where there is more religious freedom than in the USA? That's not an entirely fair …
When God Pulls the Plug
Jim Workman's piece in The Living Church Foundation on "Turning Away from God" is a good treatment on the subject of institutions and God, and certainly relevant for the present state of the Episcopal Church. But it's also a reminder to everyone that institutionalism isn't God's original plan for his people. God established the proper …
Yahweh in the Morning: Clap Your Hands
This week Emmanuel adds a little "percussion" to their music with Clap Your Hands. Actually, Emmanuel does use some percussion in their music other than that. But the whole business of percussion in Christian music is one that the "Jesus Music Era" had to tackle, both on its "evangelical" (Calvary Chapel, coffeehouses, etc.) side and …
D. James Kennedy Had His Moments, Too
The passing of D. James Kennedy is a loss for Christianity. Kennedy literally revolutionised personal evangelism with his Evangelism Explosion course of study. And he lived his own course, taking the initiative to share the Gospel when the opportunity presented itself. Well, most of the time. I used to be very active in the deep …
From Each According to His Ability. To Each According to His Need. Maybe.
In his Critique of the Gotha Programme, Karl Marx set forth his famous dictum "from each according to his ability, to each according to his need. In the land where everything else is upside down, it should be no surprise that Palm Beachers can obtain free discount prescription card. And from the county no less! …
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The Tricky Part of 9/11 and the Middle East
Today is the sixth anniversary of the 11 September attack, and this time it's on the same day of the week (Tuesday) as the 2001 original. I've spent a lot of time on this site on the subject of the Middle East, from the 2001 piece When the Sheep Have Anthrax onwards. There's one thing …
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The Tyranny of Peer Pressure
George Barna's recent surveys show two things: The future of children is Americans' greatest general concern. The effect of peer pressure is the greatest specific concern surrounding their future. It should be. As readers of this blog are aware, I contend that peer pressure has the rule of law in this society, and this starts …
John Shelby Spong: Calling the Bluff of a White Supremacist
Gary L'Hommedieu's article The 'Honesty' of John Shelby Spong" is an interesting analysis, but there's one point he might want to carry further with a little information. The point is this: According to Bishop Spong, Rowan Williams was "appointed to lead", by which Spong means to manipulate the political process of the Anglican Communion. Such …
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In and Out of the UK
It seems that everyone now is commenting on the high emigration rate of the United Kingdom; the now the Aussies are making this a feature at Winds of change create a very different Britain. It's something that this blog has looked at (here and here.) There's no surprise that wealth is driving it. But, as …
Positive Infinity 