It's a Christmas Miracle – Yes, I know; the rule in journalism is that you usually end with the feel-good story. But this one couldn't wait: "When a young Filipino girl received a Christmas gift-filled shoebox in 2000, she couldn’t have imagined that one day she would meet the 7-year-old boy from Idaho who packed the box in a small town 7000 miles away. And, she never dreamed that she would marry the American boy, now grown up, 14 years later." The story even has a letter that was never received. Where do I option the rights to this?
The End of Religion – The Australian Broadcasting Corporation, the country's public broadcaster, seems to be targeting one particular part of its Radio National (RN) schedule for cuts: "RN is the home of specialization at the ABC, and religion has been one of its signature specializations, because of the public broadcaster’s ‘cultural diversity’ charter obligation, and the fact that, often and increasingly, there is a deeper religious or spiritual explanation to what is happening in our world that eludes most, if not all, other mainstream media. Yet religion is a particular target of the ‘reshaping’, with a 40 per cent staff loss compared to 10 per cent in other RN program areas."
What the Evening News Means to the Church – Our ears hear "ISIS captured the city;" but we don't really know what that means in practical terms. "Since taking over Mosul on June 10, Aina News reports that ISIS has destroyed, occupied, converted to mosques, converted to ISIS headquarters or shuttered all 45 Christian institutions in Mosul." The list includes Catholic, Orthodox and even a Presbyterian Church. One goes back to the 8th Century.
Losing My Denomination – It wasn't just sexuality or gender issues that led entire congregations to exit. "Among the broader, longstanding concerns that convinced departing congregations that they no longer had a home in their denominations that Carthage College researchers found were: 'Bullying' tactics by denominational leaders; a perceived abandonment of foundational principles of Scripture and tradition; and the devaluation of personal faith. 'The ones that left said reform was not possible,' said Carthage sociologist Wayne Thompson, study leader." The study focused on churches exiting the PCUSA and ELCA.
Everyone's Overwhelmed but Nobody's Whelmed – So also with the idea of privilege. I have a friend who says if you're going to be poor, it's better to do it in a poor country. In the West, perspectives get confused. "All my life I’ve heard the term “underprivileged.” It was used when we talked about people in impoverished countries or children who needed assistance with school lunches. I’ve never heard anyone take exception to the term. But for some reason when you bring up the idea there are people who are privileged, folks get real bent out of shape. This seems a little crazy to me since you can’t have people who are underprivileged without having people who are privileged." Jayson Bradley brings a broad worldview and encourages the church to "break out of our intellectual, theological, and sociological cul-de-sacs."
Exciting Ministry Opportunities for Women – At the Seminary Wives Institute of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, those opportunities include courses in Ministry of Hospitality (including etiquette and menu planning) and Hymn Playing (accompanying the congregation at the pianoforte.) But what if it's the woman who feels called to ministry leadership and it's the husband who is the supportive spouse? At the blog Spiritual Sounding Board looking at the SBTS options, writer Julie Anne was simply not amused.
Any Excuse for a Party – The NIV Bible was first published in New Testament form in 1973 and in a complete version in 1978. So it's time already for its 50th anniversary. You do the math. Expect 2015 to contain a greater spotlight on issues in scripture translation, such as this summary of a presentation given by Dr. Douglas Moo, chair of the Committee on Bible Translation on the need to go beyond a "word-for-word" translation philosophy. You can read a live blog at BibleGateway, or a shorter summary at Zondervan. To be fair, it is the 50th anniversary of the commissioning of the project though Wikipedia traces its roots to 1956.
Another Christmas in Prison for Saeed – Given the U.S. penchant for attaching all manner of unrelated spending initiatives to a single government bill, perhaps we shouldn't be surprised that the situation involving jailed American pastor Saeed Abedini in Iran is now enmeshed with the nuclear talks with that country. His wife, Naghmeh Abedini states, "I am beyond heartbroken… While I have never wanted my husband to be a pawn in these political negotiations, I recognize that his freedom might be tied to our government being able to reach a final deal. The thought of waiting another seven months for resolution sounds unbearable at this time." Saeed is part of the nightly prayer list at our home; Fox News recounts the backstory.
One for the Road – When someone leaves 3,600 provocative blog comments in 12 months, he has enough profile, right? Someone thought Atheist Max and others like him deserved to be the subject of an interview.
Paul Wilkinson blogs daily at Thinking Out Loud.
