How Being Open to Serving Can Bring Joy

From Cathy’s blog. 

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It Takes A Religion for a Community to Forgive

A friend recently turned me on to South Park. He told me about their religion episodes and one of the ones I saw was the Scientology episode. A ways into the episode the South Park character that is discovered to be the reincarnation of L. Ron Hubbard becomes a true believer and is ready to give Scientology’s secrets away for free. Why? Because that’s the right thing for a “church” to do. It should be all about helping people.

Despite all of the hand wringing about the culture that evangelicals are supposedly doing these kinds of citings actually reveal the deep impact that Christianity has had on our culture, deeper than most are conscious of. Continue reading →

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Pentecostalism and Science

I’ve long thought that the Pentecostal wing of the church is not so much a theological branch as it is a cultural branch. Here is an interesting piece that explores that that cultural branch engages with science.

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Marissa Mayer and the Nature of Woman’s Work

Another great post on Her-meneutics. How do our bodies intersect with our vocations? Women face this more poignantly than men often. Continue reading →

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Links on the Shooting at the Sikh Temple

On Media Coverage

Reactions

Background

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Son of Sam Reflects on His Past Self

NY Daily News Interview with David Berkowitz the 44 Caliber Killer.

Sitting in the prison’s visitors room dressed in a bright yellow polo and green elastic waist pants, Berkowitz grimaced when he recalled the past.

“I tell you, I felt like I was under demonic control,” he said. “I don’t even recognize that person. ‘Son of Sam’ represents evil and satanic things. That person is like a total stranger to me now.”

Ten years into his prison sentence, Berkowitz became a born-again Christian. Over the years, he has taken on various prison ministries.
“Some guys call me Pops,” he said. “I’m like a grandfather figure to some of them.”

But, he added, “Even here, guys can’t get over my past. They hold grudges. I try to keep a low profile but not everyone likes me. They keep their distance though, they don’t bother me.”

Each day, there’s a 5:30 a.m. wakeup for food service, and he spends two to four hours in the morning on his electric typewriter (he’s not allowed on a computer and he’s computer illiterate) writing letters to his friends, preparing the youth messages. He studies the Bible.

His afternoons are spent working at the prison’s Intermediate Care Program, a 64-man housing unit for prisoners with mental health issues.

“I enjoy working with them. It’s one of the gifts God has given me,” he said. “I’ve walked in their shoes. I know what it is like to struggle with depression and suicide attempts and despair. I feel needed there.”

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/son-sam-david-berkowitz-speaks-daily-news-decries-violence-senseless-prays-victims-notorious-1976-77-killing-spree-article-1.1133269?pgno=2#ixzz23A9lOXwP

http://www.ariseandshine.org/videos.html

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Women, Sex, God and Olympic Coverage Links

Lolo Jones: 

God and Winning

Women, Sex and Olympic Coverage

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Some Small Meanness

Scott Hoezee with a nice blog post on “Thetwelve” on the senselessness of evil. Great Tolkien illustration of Saruman.

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Ann Voskamp’s “If you’ve ever been wounded by women”

Link. She has often has a piercing honesty about her posts.

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Tim Keller: 4 Wrong Answers to the Question “Why Me”

4 Wrong Answers to the Question “Why Me?” 

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