Featured Posts
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What Is Biblical Literacy?
We complain about it, write about it, claim it’s important or even critical, design programs to create it, but what is it? I don’t mean that none of us know what we mean when we say “biblically literate” or “biblically illiterate,” but do we all mean the same thing? I don’t think we do, and…
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Fences: Mending or Rending
The following is a sermon I presented at the Unitarian-Universalist Church of Pensacola on September 11,2005 and originally posted here on September 13, 2005. I’m reposting it because when I went to look for it, I found that the original post had somehow been truncated, and also because there is a one word at a…
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Experiencing the (Baptism of the) Holy Spirit
This is a topic where I tend to make just about everyone uncomfortable. Long time readers may recall a previous discussion of speaking in tongues, and my own experience of it. Those who expect me to be intellectually oriented and rational are uncomfortable with mystical experiences, and many who are comfortable with the mystical experiences…
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Jody Neufeld on Popular Bible Stories
My wife Jody is basing her week’s series of devotionals on well-known stories of the Bible. She began yesterday with Daniel in the Lion’s Den, and today talked about Moses in the Basket on the River. She’s practical where I’m theoretical.
Good News and Bad News on Religious Tolerance
. . . but which is which? MSNBC.com reports on a study of religious attitudes that shows that Americans are still very religious (92% believe in God, for example), but that they are much more tolerant of other faiths. Among the more startling numbers in the survey, conducted last year by the Pew Forum on…
Example of Energy Innovation
An efficient solar collector that looks promising. Of course, no single technology is going to be a silver bullet.
David Ker is Underemployed
He did this.
More on Campaign Finance
While deploring the hypocrisy of Obama’s switch on the issue (though still preferring him to McCain), I will be very happy if his action is the death-knell of public campaign financing as suggested in this NYT article (via MSNBC).
Moderate Christian Blogroll Feed Problems
Read about them here. I am working to resolve these. They do not relate to the database problems I’ve been having, but rather to some software that has fallen behind the times.
Robert Reich on Offshore Exploration
One of my disappointments in John McCain is the amount of pandering he has done to various people. I regard his vacation from gas taxes as simple pandering. It solves no problems. It potentially creates many more. The only reason to favor it is that some people who don’t think beyond the next paycheck. Now…
Public Financing, Integrity, and Mixed Emotions
Barack Obama has opted out of public financing for his presidential campaign. I greet this event with mixed emotions. On the one hand, Obama said that he would accept public financing and the limits that go with it. He is a supporter (or so he says) of public financing. Thus there is a question of…
Database Problems
For those who may read others of my blogs, or some of the other blogs I manage, my hosting provider has been having database connection problems. It doesn’t appear to have impacted this site, but the Participatory Bible Study blog has been very slow and giving sporadic connection errors, and the Running Toward the Goal…
Gray Areas
Here’s a good post/discussion on complexity and the gray areas. HT: Kouya Chronicle.
Studying the Bible for Yourself
One of the key foundations of my participatory Bible study method is my firm belief that individual Christians can and should study the Bible for themselves. I believe this study will depend on the work of experts in many cases, and that it should be accountable within a church community, but the individual, under the…
Rapture Foolishness
There is nothing that brings out quite so much strangeness as discussion of the end-times. Nonetheless, I consider it fun. It has been commercialized in books, movies, and a video game, and now there is a special web site, You’ve Been Left Behind, which offers to allow you to send e-mails and files to unsaved…
Working on Bloglines
A reader told me that my feed wasn’t updating in bloglines. I have confirmed that indeed it is not. I’m trying a run through the claim process to see if it will repair itself.
New Blog – Clashing Culture
Via Steve Matheson (one of the NCSE Steve’s), I found Clashing Culture, which looks like it will be a great group blog involving atheists and Christians discussing science and religion. I look forward to reading it regularly.
Louisiana Coalition for Science
I’m a bit behind on this, but a group of citizens in Louisiana have formed the Louisiana Coalition for Science, which is responding to similar legislative efforts to the one that died at the end of the legislative session here in Florida this year. Both personally and as a board member of Florida Citizens for…
With Critics Like These
I will probably have to repent for posting this, but I can’t resist. Post in haste, repent at leisure–probably much leisure.
I received the following comment on YouTube responding to my video Why I Hate the KJV.
Gitmo Detainees have Rights
Whoda thunk it? The Supreme Court has ruled 5-4 that the detainees have constitutional rights and can appeal to civilian courts, according to this MSNBC story. While I believe that extraordinary measures may be needed in war, there are several reasons why I don’t think that is the case here. 1) This has gone on…
Ordination and Impartation Questions
I called to congratulate a friend and former student who was just ordained a full elder in the United Methodist Church at annual conference, and he said, tongue-in-cheek, “Yes, I feel much more powerful now!” So since some of the comments here (from PamBG [her comment], Diane R. [her comment] and Peter Kirk [his comment])…
Explaining a Quiet Week
I got to my office this Monday morning following my week in Niagara Falls for my mom’s 90th birthday, and discovered that my hosting provider, had finally moved my main and oldest site, Energion.com to its new server. I understand quite well why it took them some time to move. The site is complicated and…
McCain Supports Warrantless Wiretaps
. . . according to a letter on NRO reported in this MSNBC story. He gets worse as he runs. Too bad. In 2000 I supported him.
Starting User Input Update on MyBibleVersion.com
For the eager multitudes (even if they are only “eager” and indeed “multitudes” in my imagination!) who have been awaiting the changes to MyBibleVersion.com to allow personalized lists of versions, I have an announcement . . . [cue trumpet fanfare, imaginary like the multitudes] The site has finally been moved to the new server, thus…
Dave Faulkner on Lakeland
Dave Faulkner has commented here on posts about the Lakeland Revival, and he has a new article looking at some of the healing and even resurrection claims. He hasn’t come to sweeping conclusions, but is certainly asking the right questions. It’s worth a read, if you’re interested in the topic.
Politicians, Adultery, and Integrity
Despite the broad and pretentious title, this is going to be short and simple. James Poulos wrote today about politicians who commit adultery (HT: evangelical outpost), and said: …What Im angling for here is simple: a basic public consensus that if you sleep around on your spouse you are a bad person, and to hell…
Small Group Error Correction
Last Saturday I attended church with my mother, who is a Seventh-day Adventist. I was visiting for her 90th birthday. During Sabbath School (the SDA version of Sunday School), there were a number of questionable “facts” brought out by various members of the class. Amongst these was “Spare the rod and spoil the child” as…