Category Archives: news

There is No Such Thing as a Ground Zero Mosque

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There is an old saying that goes “You can’t believe everything you hear.”  In this day and age, what with viral videos, soundbite political ads, Twittering, mass e-mail forwards and ever-shortening attention spans, we do tend to believe everything we hear.  Research is time consuming and considered perhaps somewhat unnecessary in the information age.  This is especially true if a piece of information creates an emotional response.  We hear something that makes us mad, and in a blind rage forward e-mails, talk out of our heads, or fire off a heated blog post.  Does it matter whether or not the info is true?

And that brings us to the Ground Zero Mosque. Continue reading →

Jesus Would Not Burn a Koran

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Last Wednesday I asked the question “Would Jesus burn a Koran?”  I was responding to recent events in the news regarding Terry Jones and his Gainesville, FL church.  Jones and company will be hosting Burn a Koran Day on September 11th, marking the anniversary of the 9/11 terror attacks in 2001.

That post was somewhat stream of conscience as I worked through the issues and hoped we would all arrive at the same conclusion.  I have worked those ideas into a sermon, with more focus on exactly what Jesus would do and why.  The major points are:

  1. In his Sermon on the Mount Jesus teaches us to live counter-culturally.  He speaks on anger, retaliation, going the extra mile, turning the other cheek, and the golden rule. Continue reading →

“This Means Something”

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“This means something.  This is important.”  So said Roy Neary in Close Encounters of the Third Kind.  He was right.  But what does this mean?

Anything?  Nothing?  Some things are still considered acts of God; hurricanes, tornadoes, floods, lightning, etc.  It’s all over the Internet, but just in case you’ve been hibernating, your power’s been out, or perhaps you’re a long-haul truck driver that just got in, what you’re looking at is the 62′ statue King of Kings.  The statue was completed in 2004 on the site of the Solid Rock Church in Monroe, Ohio.  It was highly visible even while speeding by on the Interstate.  On Monday night the statue, molded styrofoam  over a steel frame, was stuck by lightning and quickly burned down.  Hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of damage was done to the church’s amphitheater, seen behind the statue.

Is this God’s judgement for building a 62′ styrofoam Jesus, or an attack of Satan against the church?  Or maybe when you put up anything 60 feet high made of steel in a state as flat as Ohio it is going to be struck by lightning.

Separation of Church, State and Twitter

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Read the full story here (CNN).  The issue is over Rep John Shimkus (R- IL) posting Bible verses daily on his Twitter account.  Political activist Barry Lynn claims that Shimkus tweeting Bible verses is a violation of separation of church and state.  My argument is that the only people reading the verses are the 3,000 or so followers who subscribe to receive the tweets.  There is no violation here.  Hundreds of comments took the same or similar positions, including those of atheists, agnostics, and those simply identifying themselves as non-Christian.

The establishment clause states that Congress shall make no law establishing a religion.  Sending personal tweets is not a legislative procedure.  Shimkus is also granted the first amendment right to express himself and exercise his religious beliefs freely.  Again, he is not quoting the Bible on the floor of Congress but in tweets read by his followers.  Does anyone care to weigh in, or is this matter too cut and dried to debate?

A Letter to the President

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Tom Foreman is a correspondent on Anderson Cooper 360.  I actually read through his letter the first time thinking that it was written by Anderson Cooper, and although it’s not, it is written by one of his guys and displayed by CNN on their website.  Foreman has been writing President Obama a letter each week since he took office.  Here is a sample of his latest offering, in reference to Christians in America, since Easter is this week:

People of faith sometimes mistake their own fist for the hand of God; non-believers sometimes mistake scientific findings for proof that God is not there. Faith by its very nature is not subject to proof one way or the other. If you had proof, it would not be faith. If you need proof, faith is far away.

And if we can learn to accept those opposing stances in each other, we’ll be a stronger nation where both the faithful and faithless can share the peace and wonders of our world…

Read the entire letter here, and tell me what you think.  Is Foreman’s take on religion in America just about right?

Israel, Hamas, and My Friend That Lives There

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isreali-tank-in-gazaUPDATE:Israel has announced a unilateral cease fire, Hamas has pledged to keep fighting.  Read the full story here. 

I have somehow avoided blogging on the Israel/Hamas conflict, at least mostly.  I mentioned that there was a conflict in my Welcome 2009 post, and I’ve commented on other blogs about the situation.  I plan to be brief.

Peace in the Middle East: It’s a catchy slogan, rhymes well, and became very popular back in the 80’s.  It is also highly unlikely.  Correct that; according to the Bible it is not going to happen.  Continue reading →

Uncle Jay Explains the News

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I just leaned about Uncle Jay tonight.  This is his year in review for 2008.  You can check him out on a regular basis at  www.unclejayexplains.com