My condolences go out to all of our competitors. I’m sure there were several in the running, but I’m afraid the contest is closed. In fact, I didn’t even know there was a contest until my three-year-old daughter proclaimed to my wife and me, “We’re the best family ever!”
I’d like to thank the Academy, Mom & Dad, my wife, …
Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi “quoted” from the Bible on Earth Day:
In her April 22 Earth Day news release, Pelosi said, “The Bible tells us in the Old Testament, ‘To minister to the needs of God’s creation is an act of worship. To ignore those needs is to dishonor the God who made us.’ On this Earth Day, and every day, let us pledge to our children, and our children’s children, that they will have clean air to breathe, clean water to drink, and the opportunity to experience the wonders of nature.”
Hm. Can’t say that I remember that one. Must be from one of those modern paraphrase translations. Then again, according to Wikipedia, Pelosi is a Roman Catholic. Maybe it’s a quote from the Apocrypha.
OK, look, it’s got to be somewhere! A public servant of her stature wouldn’t just make something up!
Web designers will be glad to know that ColorBurn is back!
Shortly after the first of the year, ColorBurn just stopped working. I looked around on the Net for an explanation, but all I could find were others also wondering what had happened. I had given up hope, assuming that the guys at Firewheel just got tired of maintaining it. But here they are with entries for today and the last week as if they never skipped a beat.
And there was much rejoicing.
I am now the proud owner of a Mac.
That’s right, as of Valentine’s Day 2008, I am the cool guy on the right, not the geeky guy on the left.
Well, OK, it’s gonna take more than an Apple product to make me cool.
For the last few days, we’ve been looking for our TV remote. Behind the sofa? Nope. Underneath the cushions? Try again. Stuck in a drawer? Oh, sorry! Thanks for playing. Buh-bye.
Well, as my wife is taking down the Christmas tree today, she finds one last present wrapped in a blanket under the tree. Courtesy of our three-year-old.
Here’s to a happy new year to you, and a more blogful new year to me!
I launched this blog about the time I started working a lot of overtime, then teaching Bible class for a quarter at church, then changing jobs, and finally the holidays. I hope to be a quite a bit more active in this space now in the new year.
Linda sends this one along:
So there I was . . . just relaxing in front of the TV when the kids yelled, “Hey Mom, come see the kittens.”
We worshipped with the church at Elgin Hills last Sunday, and part of our study was in the book of Luke:
Now He was teaching in one of the synagogues on the Sabbath. And behold, there was a woman who had a spirit of infirmity eighteen years, and was bent over and could in no way raise herself up. But when Jesus saw her, He called her to Him and said to her, “Woman, you are loosed from your infirmity.” And He laid His hands on her, and immediately she was made straight, and glorified God. But the ruler of the synagogue answered with indignation, because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath; and he said to the crowd, “There are six days on which men ought to work; therefore come and be healed on them, and not on the Sabbath day.” The Lord then answered him and said, “Hypocrite! Does not each one of you on the Sabbath loose his ox or donkey from the stall, and lead it away to water it? So ought not this woman, being a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan has bound—think of it—for eighteen years, be loosed from this bond on the Sabbath?” And when He said these things, all His adversaries were put to shame; and all the multitude rejoiced for all the glorious things that were done by Him. — Luke 13:10–17 (NKJV)
Something hit me as we read that passage. All His adversaries. It occurs to me that not all His adversaries were in the room, per se. Yes, there was the hypocritical ruler of the synagogue. Some Pharisees were probably in the room, too. But was there anyone else in view here?
The Greek word we translate “Satan” is literally “adversary.” The devil was among those adversaries put to shame that day. Jesus even made a point of saying that it was Satan who had bound this woman for eighteen years. Yet Jesus Christ, in but a moment, with a word and the touch of His hands, loosed the bond that Satan had had over this woman for nearly two decades. Put to shame indeed!
Jim plays the party monk and has described his character this way:
I am cut like a knife!! And, if you think I wear a shirt, you are mistaken.
In an encounter with a fearsome owlbear, as Jim reached with steely resolve for his faithful 20-sider to roll a Stunning Blow, we heard the following:
I’m going to try and stun him again—OOPS! I think I just got a paper cut.
While blasphemy against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, it’s a good thing for comedienne Kathy Griffin that blasphemy against the Son of Man may be (Matthew 12:32). You see, Miss Griffin won an Emmy for her reality program on the Bravo channel, and Reuters reported on her acceptance speech:
“A lot of people come up here and thank Jesus for this award. I want you to know that no one had less to do with this award than Jesus,” an exultant Griffin said, holding up her statuette. “Suck it, Jesus. This award is my god now.”
Classy, for sure. I haven’t seen Miss Griffin’s television program, but I imagine that she is correct about one thing: Jesus is likely the last person who would give her an award.
At the same time, she does highlight how silly it is for gangsta rappers, promiscuous rockers, and depraved Hollywood types to thank God for their awards. If you want to see the things of Galatians 5:19–21 on parade, take in almost any modern movie or primetime television program. Listen to today’s popular music. To thank God for that rubbish can only be an insult to God! But I digress.
Griffin dismissed her comments as a joke:
Griffin’s reaction to the imbroglio, according to a statement issued by her publicist: “Am I the only Catholic left with a sense of humor?”
A sense of humor? If you think, “Suck it, Jesus,” is funny, you’ve proven to me that you don’t have a sense of humor.
Even if you could somehow make the case that there is some humor here, there are some things you just don’t joke about. “At the name of Jesus every knee should bow” (Philippians 2:10). If the very name commands homage, how can it be right to direct such a scornful insult—kidding or not—at the very Son of God? God the Father, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit must, without exception, be the objects of utmost reverence.
