April DeConick of Rice University has some thoughts about Athens and Jerusalem, and has invited others to blog on the subject. I may post later, once I catch up with other things. Here’s the fuller stating of the question: “What indeed has Athens to do with Jerusalem? What concord is there between the Academy and…

Did you hear about the recommendations of what to do if a compact fluorescent bulb breaks? How much mercury can actually be in one of these things? Surely not as much as was in a thermometer–and who hasn’t broken one of those? Some friends and I were talking the other day, before this report, and…

It’s been a long day. I had a day long meeting in Alvarado today, and since I teach on Monday nights, I had to fly up and back to Dallas Love Field and rent a car. I’m sitting in the airport now checking my mail and the blogs waiting for my flight. It’s a short…

I didn’t watch. Had better things to do. But the one movie I watched (on DVD) that had some nominations actually won some awards: La Vie en Rose.

Katherine Paterson, author of Bridge to Terebithia and other children’s books, is in Houston for a talk and book-signing this afternoon. We’ll be going. Her husband, John, was pastor of the First Presbyterian Church of Barre, Vermont, for many years. We were part of the same clergy association when I was pastor of Shepherd of…

An indication this world is going nuts. Check out eBay to see the number of copycats, t-shirts, coffee cups, etc., piggy backing on this crazy thing. One self-proclaimed replica is currently going for $20,000.

April DeConick invites other bloggers to a conversation.

For newcomers to this blog, may I direct you to a post I had last year which expresses this blog’s philosophy of commenting: On blogging.

Dan Kimball has some thoughts and questions about the Barna/Viola book.

Liberal German scholar Gerd Ludemann bitterly attacks the recent book on Jesus by Pope Benedict XVI, calling it an “intellectual scandal”–because the pope dares to assert the divinity of Jesus, the inspiration of Scripture, and the reliability of the Gospel accounts. Ludemann is a fan of the “Jesus Seminar,” and his review has been expanded…

Back in October, 2007, a blogger posted on the Spectrum blog about questionable youth ministry tactics. He was jumping off of a New York Times article about church youth groups using the violent video game, “Halo.” That’s a rather shocking methodology for evangelism. I don’t see how it can be excused. But I don’t see…

The Baltimore Sun profiles Barry Black, the SDA pastor who rose in the ranks of Navy chaplains to be Chief of Chaplains, and is currently Chaplain of the US Senate.

A Georgia teenager tells a Congressional hearing of terror in front of ICE guns. Agents searching for illegals burst into homes of Hispanics without showing warrants and without regard to whether they were, in fact, illegal.

A Florida church has issued a 30 Day Sex Challenge, asking married couples to engage in sexual activity for 30 days and unmarried folks who are active to abstain. There’s more to it than that, though, as you’ll see if you go to the webpage. Article.

Rob Bell’s latest NOOMA video is on-line, for 48 hours only, at Facebook. It was uploaded yesterday, so that means it is coming down about noon on Wednesday. It’s about prayer, and why it seems that God answers some, and not others. Take a look.

After nearly fifty years, Fidel Castro has stepped down. After fifty years of American hostility and opposition, after failed CIA coup and assassination attempts and blockades and embargoes and boycotts, Fidel Castro has stepped down. He was a survivor. He outlasted Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson, Nixon, Ford, Carter, Reagan, Bush, Clinton, and Bush. They all hoped…

Julius Nam has announced that the audio and written materials from October’s conference at Andrews University on the 50th anniversary of the book, Seventh-day Adventists Answer Questions on Doctrine, are now on-line. My reflections on the conference.

In Tampa, a sheriff’s deputy was caught on video unceremoniously and without provocation dumping a quadriplegic man, Brian Sterner, out of his wheelchair onto the floor. Other deputies stand around unfazed watching. Deputy Charlette Marshall-Jones has resigned from the department, and has been arrested for felony abuse of a disabled person. Many stories.

The Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston is selling the “Bishop’s Palace” in Galveston. The mansion, completed in 1892 and designed by architect Nicholas Clayton, was originally the home of Col. Walter Gresham. When his widow passed away, it was purchased by the (then) Diocese of Galveston and used as the chancery and bishop’s residence. After the diocesan…

I’m home from the NAD youth/young adult summit in Dallas. I set up a blog here for some of the participants to post their thoughts. Please feel free to join in the conversation.

I don’t often rattle the tin cup (and so far, I’ve only gotten a total of about $60 from doing so), but I’m going to do so again. If you are a regular reader of this blog, and would like it to continue, consider making a contribution. I’ve purchased a $500 Compaq laptop, despite the…

Nuns claim “Miraculous Medal” made Giants win–and Catholic News Service thinks that worthy of a headline story.

Keene, Texas, is a dry town–but a  group called Citizens for the Growth of Keene is circulating a petition calling for allowing sale of beer and wine, saying it would attract business. Hmm. Keene has 5000 residents, a Seventh-day Adventist university, high school, and elementary school,  a Seventh-day Adventist church with 2,880 members, and a…

The eyes of Texas are now on the presidential race. Today a couple of campaigns kicked off their Texas push–we went to Ron Paul’s rally in his hometown of Lake Jackson, where he gave his stump speech that basically comes down to “the Constitution still matters.” It was a diverse crowd–young, old, white, black, Hispanic,…

British would-be Olympians to be required to sign an oath promising not to criticize the Communist government.

David Penner has resigned as principal of Newbold College, the Seventh-day Adventist college in England. He was my U.S. History teacher at Broadview Academy–one of my favorite teachers through high school, who helped instill in me a love for history. We often found ourselves painting in the art studio, too, as we both loved to…

Tomorrow is Tết Nguyên Đán, Vietnamese New Year. We can expect the sound of fireworks in our neighborhood tonight. It’s also the 30th anniversary of the Tet Offensive.

Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, the creator and marketer of Transcendental Meditation®, is dead at 91.

Our era’s Dr. Frankenstein, Gunther von Hagens, the man behind the “Body Worlds” exhibit and its many imitators, has one-upped himself. No longer will you have to wait in line to gawk at his plasticized corpses set up in amusing flayed poses. No, now you can get a slice of a corpse for your living…

Today is Mardi Gras, Fat Tuesday (aka Shrove Tuesday and Carnival). It’s the day before Ash Wednesday, the start of Lent. Lent is a church-imposed discipline of preparation for Easter. It originally was intended as a period of fasting and prayer for those preparing for baptism at Easter, and was later extended to all Catholics.…