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Follow up thoughts on it isn’t true just because someone told you so

One person who commented on my post, Something is not true simply because someone said so, wondered about the place of the Holy Spirit in my description of the Early Church Fathers: Would you not say that they relied on the Holy Spirit then, as He did His work in that era, but they did so in humility and through their everyday dealings and practices (“Scripture, prayer, reflection, fasting, consultation... [Read more]

support

Something is not true simply because someone said so

Sometimes one reads two totally unrelated posts and it sparks some thinking in one’s mind. This happened to me today. Above is the latest Pithless Thought cartoon. And from another totally unrelated blog and blog post comes the following commentary: The longer I have been a believer in and follower of Jesus, the less I have been attracted to “movements” (“fads?”) in the church. I realize... [Read more]

Rand Paul, the Tea Party and Libertarianism

There has been a lot of furor over the remarks by Rand Paul recently. Needless to say, defenders of Rand Paul immediately charged that it was “gotcha” journalism. This is the favorite political catch phrase when you have uttered something that turned out to be politically unwise. Unfortunately for Mr. Paul, he has a record of similar statements. Please do Google him and see the various... [Read more]

careers

Spanish Judge Baltasar Garzon is suspended

The BBC news has the following article. I will only be quoting part of it: High-profile Spanish judge Baltasar Garzon has been suspended from his post by the country’s judicial body. The decision was unanimously adopted by the General Council of the Judiciary. He is due to face trial on charges that he abused his powers by opening an inquiry in 2008 into crimes committed during Francisco Franco’s... [Read more]

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Missionaries and learning from other cultures

No, this is not one of those syrupy posts about learning from other cultures. But, it is a reminiscence of an encounter I had with an older Quechua man up in the Andes mountains. For those of you who are not aware, my wife and I were missionaries in the southern part of Perú in the Andes mountains. On our second term there, I ended up traveling into the Colca Canyon to a village called Choco every... [Read more]

Jaime Escalante and the problem with Arizona

Jaime Escalante Yesterday, I posted on the State of Arizona and its both mistaken and, I believe, illegal criteria having to do with accents and teaching. Let me emphasize again that I am talking about non-TESL classes. But, let me give you an example of a teacher who could easily not be allowed to teach in Arizona if the rule applies to non-TESL classes. He is the hero of the movie Stand and Deliver... [Read more]

Quenya (Tolkien elf) Paschal greeting

Thanks to a friend, I can pass on to you what the greeting would be that Aragorn and Arwen would have exchanged on Pascha (Easter Day) had it existed back then. Yes, someone has translated the traditional greeting–Christ is Risen! Truly He is Risen!–into Quenya. Ortanne Laivino! Anwa ortanne Laivino! From an Orthodox website, here is a tale of how the Paschal greeting and the exchanging... [Read more]

store

The Census and right wing(nuts)

Rep. Patrick McHenry (R) of North Carolina is one of the more conservative members of Congress. He has even proposed replacing the image of U.S. Grant on the $50 bill with the image of Ronald Reagan. But, Rep. McHenry is in favor of the Census and is encouraging people to fully respond to the Census and/or to Census takers who show up at your door. In part he says: What worries me is blatant misinformation... [Read more]

Tony Campolo, Glenn Beck, and heresy

Over the last couple of days Father Orthoduck and I have been discussing short-term missions, theology, and social justice.  Let me now return to short-term missions with a quote from the article by Tony Campolo that was cited earlier. In this quote, Tony Campolo provides the link between Glenn Beck’s disdain for government and private donations to organizations that serve the poor. And, if... [Read more]

marketing

Glenn Beck and social and economic justice

Recently Glenn Beck said on his radio shows that if their priest or pastor or preacher is using the terms economic or social justice that they should leave their local congregation. To make sure that you do not think that Father Orthoduck is misquoting Glenn Beck, please go here to read his defense on his own website. In fact, Father Orthoduck thinks that there is some interesting stuff in his own... [Read more]

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