The UmBlog

Evangelical Resources on Homosexuality : "many homosexuals, still looking to fill spiritual longings within a Christian worldview, have used God's grace to interpret Christian liberty to include homosexuality. This antinomian understanding of grace unfortunately is only half of the gospel message, as it forgets the transforming work of the Holy Spirit in the believer's life, conforming him to the image of Christ, not to the image of the world. There is a serious danger that the new homosexually inclusive churches will slide far from Biblical orthodoxy and become cults unto themselves in the coming years."

Evangelical Resources on Multi-Level Marketing : "Every year thousands of well-meaning individuals are lured into Multi-Level Marketing plans, only to destroy everything that is meaningful and important in their lives. The dreams of the past begin to be replaced with the dreams of making millions through MLM, and like an acid their life is literally burned away from the inside out. For people who have been deeply hurt, I have collected these resources, some from an Evangelical Christian perspective, some from a secular perspective, to help recognize the problem, and to recover the meaning of living free as a child dependent on God."

Just a Thought on Iran and Thorium - Acton Institute PowerBlog : "As Tim Dean highlights the possibility in the Cosmos article: “Imagine the West offering thorium-fuelled ADS reactors to countries such as Iran or North Korea: this would satisfy their demands for cheap nuclear power, but entirely avert the risk of the civil nuclear program leading to the development of nuclear weapons.” "

Compass Direct "August 28 (Compass Direct News) – Multiple attacks and arrests in recent weeks demonstrate ongoing hostility towards Christians in India. Police have cooperated with Hindu extremists, in some cases claiming “tremendous pressure” to charge Christian ministers with forced conversion. On August 20, extremists burst into a church service in Kolar district, Karnataka state, beating the pastor and his assistant. Prison guards in this state on August 14 also failed to prevent Hindu extremists entering a prison to beat up a Christian inmate."

My wife was interviewd by our local paper. Smart Mom Blog: Not-back-to-school shopping

paskewich.com: Did Bob Marley Become a Christian? : i have a copy of some old Marley and the Wailers when they were doing gospel stuff. this article is very interesting. "In the midst of his cancer battles and on his last tours Bob Marley's faith and worldview began to change. On November 4, 1980, Marley was baptized by the Archbishop of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church in Kingston Jamaica. Here's the account of the Archbishop concerning Bob Marley, his baptism and conversion: 'Bob was really a good brother, a child of God, regardless of how people looked at him. He had a desire to be baptized long ago, but there were people close to him who controlled him and who were aligned to a different aspect of Rastafari . But he came to Church regularly. I remember once while I was conducting the Mass, I looked at Bob and tears were streaming down his face...When he toured Los Angeles and New York and England, he preached the Orthodox faith, and many members in those cities came...

paskewich.com: Katrina Reflections: One Year Later : "Another untold story is the response of the Faith Community. Dozens of church parking lots along Route 90, Mississippi’s coastal throughway, were transformed into feeding, care and information centers, serving thousands. In the days following Katrina FEMA estimated that over 500,000 people had taken refuge with churches. Tom Delay noted that in Houston alone 500-600 churches opened their doors to people fleeing the storm. . In the three months following Katrina, the Southern Baptist Convention reported preparing nearly 14 million free meals. Volunteer labor from the Baptists during that period was 155,502 volunteer days. When George Bush showed up in Biloxi, he made his speech from Camp Hope, constructed by Denny Nissley (who we worked side by side with at Ground Zero in Manhattan after 911) of “Christ in Action.” which was feeding 5,000 daily. Our ministry out of Calvary Chapel in Montville, Connecticut has mobilized over 6...

Christian Persecution Blog: INDIA: Pastor Forced From Home for Not Bowing to Hindu Gods Updated : Aug 30, 2006 (9:45am) August 30, 2006 Just after 10:00 p.m. on August 21st, Pastor Joseph’s rented house was broken into by militant Hindu groups accusing him of not bowing before the Hindu gods. The 50-year-old pastor led 18 families for three years at the Kodambi Village Church, located in Hankaltaluk in Uttera Kannada district, Karnataka state. He was forced from his home in the middle of the night as Hindu radicals accused him of converting Hindus to Christianity. The attackers loaded Pastor Joseph’s possessions onto a tractor before sending him out to the Mundgode police station, nearly 20 miles from Kodambi. Taking him into custody, the officers refused to unload the pastor’s seized property. He was released shortly thereafter. On August 23rd, Johnson, a senior pastor in Dakshina Kannada district, and a local Christian leader, David Chacko, planned to visit the police station in Mu...

Scot Mcknight, again at Jesus Creed , has written on conversion and asks "What does “If you confess with your lips Jesus Christ as Lord…” mean?"

Scot McKnight at Jesus Creed » On Seeker-friendly churches touches on the issue of church monoculture. "Wells makes other points, and I’ll look at them in another post, but this one has focused on the homogenous unit principle as underlying the strategy of megachurches. It seems to me that this problem may not be a problem with megachurches so much as it is with all churches. In fact, I’m seeing signs at Willow Creek that it might be paving new ground for how to end the homogenous unit principle."

Together for the Gospel : "One part of clarity sometimes missed by earnest evangelists, however, is the willingness to offend. Clarity with the claims of Christ certainly will include the translation of the Gospel into words that our hearer understands, but it doesn’t necessarily mean translating it into words that our hearer will like. Too often advocates of relevant evangelism verge over into being advocates of irrelevant non-evangelism. A gospel which in no way offends the sinner has not been understood. Look at Peter at Pentecost in Acts 2. He wanted to be relevant. But that relevance gave his words more bite, not less. How did Peter witness to those he wished to see saved? He said to them, among other things, “let all Israel be assured of this: God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ,” (Acts 2:36). Relevant? Yes. Pleasing? No. Clear? Undoubtedly. Be clear about the fact of sin (Isa. 59:1-2; Hab. 1:13; Rom. 3:22-23;...

Jehovah's Witnesses :: Husband renews effort to make medical decisions for his wife : "Tawnya Nissen, 28, was hospitalized Aug. 4 with neuroleptic malignant syndrome, a condition caused by a reaction to diet pills. She entered a coma and physicians at the University of Iowa Hospitals honored health care decisions made by her husband, a Jehovah's Witness. Earlier this month, a Johnson County judge suspended Chris Nissen's ability to make medical decisions for his wife, awarding temporary guardianship to the woman's father, Richard T. Reid. Tawnya Nissen emerged from a coma last week and requested a transfer to a Davenport hospital, and despite a setback late last week is recovering, attorney Frank Santiago said. "She's talking, laughing ... doing a lot better," Santiago said. "Even her husband went back to work, and he wouldn't have done that if things weren't getting better.""

A forward from my friend Keith... Some folks in middle Tennessee got together and translated the "King James" into "Jackson County" language: The Hillbilly's Ten Commandments (posted on the wall at Cross Trails Church in Gainesboro, TN.) (1) Just one God. (2) Honor yer Ma & Pa. (3) No tellin' tales or gossipin'. (4) Git yourself to Sunday meetin' (5) Put nothin' before God. (6) No foolin' around with another fellow's gal. (7) No killin.' (8) Watch yer mouth. (9) Don't take what ain't yers. (10) Don't be hankerin' for yer buddy's stuff.

This pastor doesn’t advocate hearing voices, but he happened to hear one and it is fascinating to hear the range of responses in the comments. Not that this guy is hearing anything cultic, but some people want to be around others who hear from God, so if you wanted a following, start claiming God converses with you. It really is the easiest way to start a cult. God warns against it too, in his conversation with Moses. Deuteronomy 13 Worshiping Other Gods 1 If a prophet, or one who foretells by dreams, appears among you and announces to you a miraculous sign or wonder, 2 and if the sign or wonder of which he has spoken takes place, and he says, "Let us follow other gods" (gods you have not known) "and let us worship them," 3 you must not listen to the words of that prophet or dreamer. The LORD your God is testing you to find out whether you love him with all your heart and with all your soul. 4 It is the LORD your God you must follow, and him you must revere. ...

John H Armstrong asks, Can an Archbishop Change His Mind? "It was reported in yesterday’s London Sunday Telegraph that Rowan Williams, the Archbishop of Canterbury, has changed his view regarding accepting homosexual practice in the the Anglican church. He now says homosexuals should change their behavior if they want to be welcomed into the Anglican Church. Williams has increasingly distanced himself from his one-time support of homosexual relationships and stressed that the tradition and teaching of the church has in no way been altered by the Anglican Communion's consecration of its first openly homosexual bishop within the very liberal Episcopal Church USA..."

i added stuff to the sidebar, technorati and feedburner and mapstats. i turned on blogger's backlinks and also added haloscan for linking.

alot of info for the kind of stuff i've been looking at...

i guess the lesson learned is to read the press release...

Please let me know if this site is useful. Thank you. "This site is maintained by Christians who are friends of Hindus. If you are a Christian, we hope these ideas will clarify the teachings of Jesus and give you a basic grasp of Hinduism. If you are a Hindu, we hope that these ideas will clarify the teachings of Hinduism and give you a basic grasp of the teachings of Jesus. We have worked hard to present both the teachings of Jesus and the beliefs of Hinduism to the best of our ability and understanding."

Compass Direct : INDIA - TOWN PLANS BAN ON PREACHING NON-HINDU FAITHS : "August 24 (Compass Direct News) – The Congress Party-led government of the southern state of Andhra Pradesh has decided to enact a law banning preaching of any religion other than Hinduism in Tirupati, a “temple town” in large measure under the administration of its shrine. National daily The Hindustan Times reported on Monday (August 21) that the state government had made the decision under pressure from Hindu groups that had “expressed resentment over missionaries preaching Christianity near the shrine.” The daily quoted Endowments Minister J.C. Diwakar Reddy as saying that a bill would be introduced in the state assembly calling for imprisonment and a fine of 2,000 rupees (US$43). The temple administration has jurisdiction over two of the township’s seven hills. The state government plans on bringing all seven hills under the purview of the temple administration."

An Argument for Hierarchy provocative and challenging

Here's a novel accusation. The CIA is a covert US missionary sending agency... Sudarshan said the CIA and the entire Bush administration “want to convert India to Christianity with the help of non-governmental organizations” while Indian Maoists “are the main authors of terrorism spreading in the country”. Fr Joseph told AsiaNews: “NGOs belong to all religious communities and if their work creates better social cohesiveness, economic prosperity and religious respect among people, they should be supported rather than accused of nonexistent crimes.” “Sudarshan’s observations about Maoists operations are dangerous and they call for serious and concerted action from all concerned authorities to redress the social and economic grievances of innocent people,” added the priest. Much the same view was held by the Jesuit priest, Cedric Prakash, a renowned human rights activist, who told AsiaNews: “The comments are typical of the mindset of the likes of Sudarshan.” Not without irony, he cont...

Motivated campaign against Christians in Tirupati Pro-Hindu groups have launched a campaign in Tirupati recently that Christian missionaries are carrying out evangelical and conversion activities in the Hindu place of worship. Fr. Anthoniraj Thumma, Executive Secretary of the Andhra Pradesh Christian Federation presents a few facts against this motivated campaign... A motivated campaign is being waged by the B.J.P. and T.D.P. to gain political mileage out of the Tirupati controversy. The ultimate target of attack of the Hindutva forces is Dr Y. S. Rajashekara Reddy and Smt Sonia Gandhi, the Chairperson of U.P.A. and the President of the Congress Party. Being Christians, both of them are accused of conspiring to convert the whole of India to Christianity by encouraging the evangelical and missionary activities. In this whole vicious political game, the Christians have been made pawns and some of them have already become victims...

simplechurch.co.uk : "CHANGING FROM TRADITIONAL CHURCH TO NEW TESTAMENT CHURCH FIFTEEN ESSENTIAL STEPS"

Sadly, very educational

This is a pretty cool concept....... Handing me a three-foot long receipt, the mystified clerk said, "See you soon." "In about a year," I replied. On the way to pack our car, Donna and I grinned at our secret: we shop for groceries and household products only once a year.

some ideas for those kids (and adults too) who get bored in church...

In New Method for Stem Cells, Viable Embryos - New York Times : "Biologists have developed a technique for establishing colonies of human embryonic stem cells from an early human embryo without destroying it. This method, if confirmed in other laboratories, would seem to remove the principal objection to the research." it's gratifying to hear that science is responding to ethical concerns. there are important voices who are objecting even to this method. but i appreciate the effort. i'm not sure why the resistance to more adult stem cell research.

Commentary: Welfare Reform is Working by Anthony B. Bradley, Research Fellow August 22 marked the tenth anniversary of welfare reform. The 1996 legislation made radical changes to the process of receiving unearned government cash. The results have been massive reductions in child poverty, increases in employment, and a subsequent increase in the freedom of the poor from government control. In the mid-1990s many attempted to incite fear to kill the reforms. Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan (D–NY) proclaimed the 1996 law to be “the most brutal act of social policy since Reconstruction.” He ridiculously predicted, “Those involved will take this disgrace to their graves.” Marian Wright Edelman, president of the Children’s Defense Fund, declared the new reform law an “outrage … that will hurt and impoverish millions of American children.” As expected, these projections were dead wrong. ... The facts tell a powerful story: When the poor are invited to live as people with dignity, within struc...

Compass Direct : INDIA - FOUR CHRISTIANS ATTACKED, ARRESTED AFTER SERVICE August 22 (Compass Direct News) – Four Christians, including a pastor, who were beaten up and later arrested on charges of “forced conversion” in Madhya Pradesh state were released on bail yesterday. Pastor K.K. Jwala of the Sheopur Bible Fellowship church and three members, identified only as Anup, Jijo and Raju Mathew, were released from the Sheopur district jail at 8 p.m. on Monday. A group of about 15 extremists punched and hit the Christians with hockey sticks soon after worship ended at about 10:30 a.m. on Sunday (August 20). The extremists dragged the Christians to the Sheopur police station about 500 meters away, beating them en route. The police promptly arrested the Christians; the four accused will have to appear before the court on August 30. The officer in charge of the police station, Hukum Singh Yadav, also allegedly beat up Pastor Jwala at the facility.

Liberal Birth Dearth - Acton Institute PowerBlog : "According to the 2004 General Social Survey, if you picked 100 unrelated politically liberal adults at random, you would find that they had, between them, 147 children. If you picked 100 conservatives, you would find 208 kids." might depend on which population believes the author of a certain book really said, "go forth and mutiply"....

Vietnam: Spencer C. Tucker : i finally felt ready to read a Vietnam history. my only knowledge of the war came from the wave of movies in the 80's. so, i didn't know anything really. this book helped me learn that the Tet Offensive was actually pushed back by the South and considered a failed offensive. the book is short and informative and well-written. i'm back to the Korean War now. "A concise, analytical survey of Vietnamese military history that concentrates on the French and American 20th-century wars. Former US Army captain Tucker (Military History/Virginia Military Institute) presents a readable, fact-filled examination of the military history of Vietnam. He begins with a brief history of the Southeast Asian nation, starting with its legendary founding in the third century b.c. Tucker clearly shows that the dominant feature of Vietnam's first thousand years was nationalist rebellion against Chinese domination. Tucker offers detailed examinations of the Fren...

LDS Temple Information Site - www.SacredorSecret.com : "Without their temples, Mormons are told that exaltation (or Godhood) in the next world is an impossibility. By completely obeying various laws and ordinances, faithful Latter-day Saints hope that they too can achieve the status of “Gods” and “Goddesses.” Since its founding in 1830, the LDS Church has caused quite a controversy among Bible-believing Christians. While Mormons have every right to believe as they may, many leaders of the LDS Church have made some serious accusations against what millions of Christians hold dear. These statements must be challenged in light of history and the Bible."

Don’t speed. Driving 65 mph instead of 75 mph will increase your fuel economy by about 10 percent. Pride yourself on being a slowpoke. Avoid "jack rabbit" starts. Flooring the gas pedal wastes gas and leads to drastically higher pollution rates. Anticipate stops. Think ahead to anticipate stops so your vehicle can coast down. Accelerating hard and braking hard wastes gas, increases pollution, and wears out your brakes. Keep your tires properly inflated. For every 3 pounds below recommended pressure, fuel economy goes down by about 1 percent. Avoid rush hour , if possible. Stop-and-go driving burns gas and increases emissions of smog-forming pollutants. For hybrids that can stay in electric mode at low ...

is it consistent for God to command Joshua and his army to disregard the commandment to not commit murder and include children in the total destruction of cities in the holy land? Was Joshua Justified in Exterminating the Whole Population of Jericho? # The priest initiated any war by reminding the Israelites that Yahweh fights for them. This clearly shows the war's sacred character (Deuteronomy 20:2-4) -- that is, this is God's war. He fights through His people. # Cities outside the land of Palestine do not need to be entirely destroyed, but attacks on cities inside the land require destruction of all life (Deuteronomy 20:10-18). This practice is known as the "ban" or "herem". To put a city under the ban was to devote its occupants to Yahweh for destruction. It is often translated "completely destroyed" or "devoted" (Deuteronomy 20:17, 2:34, 7:2; Joshua 6:17, 8:26). # They are specifically to show no pity to inhabitants of the land (Deute...

GetReligion: August 18, 2006 "...I was reading a Michael Luo piece in The New York Times about Muslim schools for New York. There, the students memorize the Koran in two to three years instead of studying subjects like math and science. Once they’ve memorized the Koran, they earn the title of hafiz. They also believe they are guaranteed entrance to heaven, along with ten other people... I’m a graduate of a parochial school. And personally speaking, I’m completely laissez-faire about education. But I just couldn’t help but think that a story about Christians in Alabama denying elementary-aged children education in science and math would not be spun the same way by the Times. What about the fact that only boys are enrolled? We see a violation of state law explained in the nicest way possible. Is that normal for most papers?"

Christian Persecution Blog: Hindu Militants Threaten Orphanage Staff and Children in India On the night of August 5, more than fifty Hindu militants stormed the House of Hope orphanage in Dantewara, Chhattisgarh state in an attempt to forcibly close it. According to VOMC sources, the mob was armed with clubs and bamboo sticks. They beat the director, Suresh (35), and threatened to kill him if he continues with the orphanage. They also questioned and threatened several of the children. Suresh is presently in treatment for his injuries. Efforts to lodge a police complaint have failed.

Too bad Terri Schiavo wasn't in Iowa.... IOWA CITY (AP) — A Jehovah’s Witness who would not permit blood transfusions for his comatose wife has been barred from making her medical decisions. Tawnya Nissen, 28, of Clinton, who has been in a coma for about two weeks, will be under the guardianship of her father until she can make her own decisions, according to a ruling issued Wednesday by a Johnson County judge...

Compass Direct : INDIA - PASTOR IN JABALPUR ARRESTED FOR ‘FORCIBLE CONVERSION’ August 16 (Compass Direct News) – A group of 45 to50 Dharma Raksha Sena Hindu extremists on Monday (August 14) mobbed Pastor Vinod Karsal, 50, as he visited another pastor in Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh to pray for him. Karsal, a pastor at the Assembly of God Church in Jabalpur, was praying for pastor Shaun Kushwaha when a mob of 45 to 50 people from the Dharma Raksha Sena (Defense Army) gathered outside the house, began shouting anti-Christian chants and broke in. Unable to find the Bible the pastors had hidden, the Hindu extremists planted gospel tracts in the glove compartment of his Karsal’s scooter and police soon arrived to arrest him for “forcible conversion.” Police held Karsal until 11:30 p.m., until raging crowds outside the station baying for the pastor had dispersed. Dr. John Dayal, general secretary of the All India Christian Council, told Compass, “The escalation of incidents against Christians in...

Blog Nation Captain Jack Sparrow - PC Magazine Thu Aug 17, 7:23 AM ET In only a few short years, blogging has become a vital part of many Americans' lives, according to a phone survey of 7,012 people by the Pew Internet & American Life Project. ADVERTISEMENT Here are some of the highlights: 39 percent of U.S. Internet users, or about 57 million Americans, read blogs; 8 percent, or about 12 million Americans, keep a blog; and more than half of bloggers are under age 30. Political and journalistic (or pseudo-journalistic) blogs have been in the spotlight recently, but the Pew study found that 37 percent of bloggers cite "my life and experiences" as what they blog about, while only 11 percent cited public issues as typical topics. Also, 60 percent of bloggers are white, while 74 percent of the country's Net users are, according to the data. Oh, and 55 percent of bloggers write under a pseudonym. That's a key difference between them and most journalists.

Townhall.com::Does U.S. bigotry cause Muslim madness::By Michael Medved : "For anyone who takes Islamic teaching seriously, the current state of the world offers a glaring, painful example of cognitive dissonance: the backwardness, poverty, and endemic misery of Muslim societies—particularly compared to the privilege and prosperity of the West—either undermines the validity of the Holy Koran, or proves that evil infidel conspirators have upset the natural, proper, and Godly order of things. In the 1930’s, the passion behind Nazism arose from a burning sense that the German people had been gypped, that the infamous “stab in the back” of the Versailles Treaty had deprived the nation of its rightful position of world leadership. Islamo-Nazis feel an even more galling sense of injustice, oppression and unfairness, since hostile forces have, in the view of the devout, denied them the chance to live out their divine endowment of world dominance. Unlike the controversial “Chosen People” ...

New archaeological evidence is raising more questions about the conventional interpretation linking the desolate ruins of an ancient settlement known as Qumran with the Dead Sea Scrolls, which were found in nearby caves in one of the sensational discoveries of the last century. Skip to next paragraph Multimedia Video: A New Dead Sea Challenge Related Web Links Qumran—The Pottery Factory (Biblical Archaelogy Review) Israeli Antiquities Authority Tsila Sagib/Israel Antiquities Authority Some of the scrolls were hidden in jars like these, found in an excavation of the site. The New York Times After early excavations at the site, on a promontory above the western shore of the Dead Sea, scholars concluded that members of a strict Jewish sect, the Essenes, had lived there in a monastery and presumably wrote the scrolls in the first centuries B.C. and A.D. Many of the texts describe religious practices and doctrine in ancient Isr...

sometimes, i use the blog as a replacement for bookmarks... the blog is easier to search than bookmarks. this is part of my theme on building a 21st century house. hopefully, i'll build it before the 22nd century. "Cementitious SIPs are typically manufactured of cellulose reinforced cement boards, for inside and outside skins. The material can be taped and finished on the interior surface. The fire-resistive cement board eliminates the need for gypsum drywall. The exterior surface can be painted or coated with a vinyl or synthetic stucco permanent finish. If siding or brick veneer is to be used, oriented strand board (OSB) can be applied on the exterior to accept nailing of siding or brick wall ties. It is not necessary to have both OSB and fiber-cement board on one side for brick and stucco applications. OSB can be used instead of fiber-cement board for such an application. However, there may be some difficulty in finding a manufacturer that produces this type of SIPs." ...

Compass Direct : INDIA - FOUR WOMEN ACCUSED OF ‘FORCED’ CONVERSION : "FOUR WOMEN ACCUSED OF ‘FORCED’ CONVERSION Compromise agreement forestalls charges; school officials in neighboring state attacked. August 11 (Compass Direct News) – Hindu extremists have threatened four Christian women accused of “forced” conversion in Tamil Nadu state, while two priests of a Catholic high school in neighboring Karnataka state have been attacked. Albert Lael, organizing secretary of the All India Christian Council, told Compass that police on August 5 led a team of four women from the Good Shepherd Community Church in Erode district of Tamil Nadu to reach a compromise agreement with the person who had accused them of forced conversion. The women had shown a Christian film to about 150 people without incident. Under the agreement, the women are not to preach Christ to anyone who objects or expresses unwillingness to listen. That same week, in Hebbagodi, near Karnataka’s capital of Bangalore, Fath...

Compass Direct : INDIA - HINDU EXTREMISTS ATTACK JAILED CHRISTIAN : "HINDU EXTREMISTS ATTACK JAILED CHRISTIAN Authorities do nothing; High Court overturns quashing of ‘forcible conversion’ charge. August 14 (Compass Direct News) – A group of about 15 Hindu extremists in the southern state of Karnataka on August 4 entered a jail and attacked a Christian businessman accused of compelling his wife to commit suicide. About 15 extremists of the Bajrang Dal, a militant Hindu organization, managed to get into the Mardala district jail and brutally beat Chetraven Rajan, Albert Lael, organizing secretary of the All India Christian Council, told Compass. “No jail official came to save the victim,” he said. “Despite the fact that Rajan had several injury marks and said he could identify the attackers, jail authorities refused to register a complaint against the miscreants, nor did they take him to a hospital for treatment.” On the same day that Rajan was attacked, the Supreme Court of India ...

i didn't know most students in high school and college read Elie Wiesel 's book Night , because i didn't. i only heard about it recently as i was skimming through the radio dial and stopped briefly at an NPR interview with him regarding the new edition of this book. i forgot about it quickly until i was stymied during a quick search in the new book section at the library and came across it. i don't regret reading it. it was so sad though. in the book he lost his faith. its not hard to understand his doubts. in the preface to the new edition he remarks, "The infants thrown into fiery ditches...I did not say that they were alive, but that was what I thought. But then I convinced myself: no, they were dead, otherwise I surely would have lost my mind. and yet fellow inmates also saw them; they were alive when they were thrown into the flames. Historians, among them Telford Taylor, confirmed it. and yet somehow I did not lose my mind." p xiii-xiv would he have los...

Michael Hamblin does a thorough job at Evangelical Resources » Spencer Burke, A Heretic’s Guide to Eternity, and Early Fallout summarizing a recent blog storm...

"Australia's aboriginal integration program of the 1930s broke countless hearts -- among them, those of young Molly (Evelyn Sampi), Gracie (Laura Monaghan) and Daisy (Tiana Sansbury), who were torn from their families and placed in an abusive orphanage. Without food or water, the girls resolve to make the 1,500-mile trek home. Meanwhile, a well-intentioned tracker is trying to return the girls to the authorities." cultures die all the time, but when their death is forced, the noun "genocide" comes up. here a dominant, invading white culture is not pleased with the miscegenation between whites and aborigines and devise a plan to compel their progeny back into white society. the story is tragic and the fall-out from the "solution" to the "problem" will last more generations than if the "problem" had been left alone. the fall-out includes the Stolen Generations without family identity, only orphanage identities, orphanages not populat...

i didn't think this book would have any tie-in to the two genocide books i read this vacation but it does. this is a well told story of a nice family and two "nice" murderers, who might have been better off with a court sympathetic to the insanity plea. capote spends plenty of pages explaining the debate on the insanity defense. the issue is, can they tell right from wrong and do they understand the consequences of their actions. a more recent insanity defense takes into consideration their upbringing, passion at the moment, etc. he didn't dive into it that much. he worked very hard at explaining one of the murderer's life history, which was tragic and horrible. the other was mostly a high achieving athlete who might be considered ADHD now, or OC, whose only flaw was overspending, murder conspiracy, larceny, and pedophilia. they attacked a family that the less tragic guy heard in jail was very successful. so, assuming there was a lot of money in the house, kept th...

the first book i finished reading was by Harry Stout called Upon the Altar of the Nation: A Moral History of the Civil War . he alternated between praising and condemning Lincoln. He condemned Lincoln for escalating the warfare to one on civilians but also praised him for rising above the claims of whose side God is on. there were several quotes that stood out to me... p.4-5 Both candidates- and their parties- believed that america stood in the vanguard of world history. The issue was in what way. In essence, the Lincoln-Douglas debates suggested two conflicting moral visions for america. Douglas's vision privileged democratic local preferences over all else in political decision making. In this context, slavery emerged morally neutral. If the people, territories, and states wanted it, they could have it; if they did not, they could refuse it. Lincoln's vision subjected local consensus to moral dictates, whether based on history, the Bible, or enlightened rationality. Any d...

when i'm not blogging, i'm on vacation reading. i got alot read. some of the books were recommended by friends and family and some by my choice. for fun i read Marley and Me , by John Grogan. i don't think i would have liked it as much without having the empathy of a fellow dog owner. in short, "i laughed, i cried, it was better than cats." some topics mentioned are for mature audiences, especially the trials and tribulations of trying to get pregnant...the dog was a trial run at nurturing. the other books i read were about genocide in one form or another. not light reading.

Tuesday, August 8, 2006 Hopegivers International faces big challenges after double victories in Rajasthan High Court By Dr. Bill Bray Special to ASSIST News Service COLUMBUS, GA (ANS) -- Thousands of Christians all over India rejoiced today as lawyers for Emmanuel International emerged from the High Court in Jaipur, Rajasthan with positive rulings revoking a series of injunctions that had crippled their humanitarian and educational outreaches in Kota since February 20. On Monday August 7, Dr. Samuel Thomas, president of the indigenous mission partner of Hopegivers International, was granted bail on charges that have kept him from public activity since May 20. Then, on Tuesday August 8, in a separate judgment, the court granted relief from bureaucratic restrictions that had frozen bank accounts and prevented Christians from operating Hope Home orphanages, schools, a hospital and other institutions in the state. “Glory to God!” exclaimed Dr. Samuel Thomas, “that’s all I can say. Amen! Al...

Tuesday, August 8, 2006 Persecution, Anti-Conversion Laws Plague Christians in Indian States For Immediate Release INDIA (ANS) -- So-called “Religious Freedom” laws have been passed in the Indian states of Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh with the expressed intent of stopping people from receiving Jesus Christ as their Savior. Gospel for Asia regional leader M.A. Lalachan said the bills in the two states were passed to “make conversion tougher, targeting Christian missionaries and their activities.” The Chhattisgarh government, run by the fundamentalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), pushed for the law “penalizing those who change their faith without informing the authorities.” In fact, national BJP chief Rajnath Singh ordered all state governments where his party has a majority to bring in “legislation forcefully punishing conversions.” He even admitted that the purpose of the anti-conversion laws was “to destroy the plans of Christian missionaries.” According to the bill, people wishin...