News & Comment - Fall 2008
Tim Snow has alerted us to interesting happenings at the Crystal Cathedral. There are several sources here. First, here is the press release:
Garden Grove, CA October 26, 2008
America’s Television Church ― The Church of Tomorrow
By Dr. Robert H. Schuller
It is no secret to any of you that my son, Robert, and I have been struggling as we each have different ideas as to the direction and the vision for this ministry as we move into the future. For this lack of shared vision and the jeopardy in which this is placing this entire ministry, it has become necessary for Robert and me to part ways in the Hour of Power television ministry to each pursue our own unique God-ordained visions.
For over thirty years, my son and I have nearly exclusively served as the face and voice of the Hour of Power, America’s Television Church. But today, I realize that as America’s Television Church, we need to extend the pulpit of the Hour of Power to serve as a platform for the greatest preachers in the world and this is the exciting news we share with you today.
Forty years ago, we founded the trend-setting Institute for Successful Church Leadership. The ministers who attended those institutes went on to build amazing ministries that transcended mine. The pride that I have felt for these men is akin to the pride that a teacher feels when the accomplishments of the students surpass those of the mentor. Their ministries are renowned and they each have built megachurches that are transforming thousands of lives. For some time now, I have been eager to introduce these preachers on our weekly-televised worship service, as well as others who are powerful voices for Jesus Christ:
• Bill Hybels of Willow Creek Community Church in a Chicago
suburb (weekly attendance of over 20,000).
• Kirbyjon Caldwell of Windsor Village United Methodist Church in Houston, Texas
(14,000 members).
• Walt Kallestad of Community Church of Joy in Glendale, Arizona (12,000
members).
• Juan Carlos Ortiz, one of the world’s premier evangelists who is credited for
influencing the revivals sweeping Latin America including Columbia, Argentina,
Chile, Peru, and Guatemala, where tens of thousands are accepting Christ each
year.
But there is more to this than first meets the eye. This story in the L.A. Times is somewhat revealing. Especially intriguing are Albert Mohler's reflections on all this.
Kent comments:
There are hints throughout all these
sources that one problem is that the younger Schuller had a bit too much Bible
in his sermons. While you would think that might be a good thing,
apparently, for the elder Schuller, it is not. I find the heading of the
press release above amusing, "America's Television Church - The Church of
Tomorrow." Perhaps they shouldn't stop there. How about "To Infinity
- And Beyond!"
Delighted -- or Deflated -- by Dollars
D.C. Students Get First Reward Checks, but Some Come Up Short
By Bill Turque and N.C. Aizenman
Washington Post Staff Writers
Saturday, October 18, 2008; A01
The District's experimental program to pay 3,300 middle school students for good grades and behavior is filled with valuable life lessons about hard work, thrift and showing up on time, its supporters say.
And on yesterday's first payday under the "Capital Gains" plan, kids at the 15 eligible schools cashed in. They earned a total of $137,813 from the initiative, a joint venture of the District and Harvard University. Students can earn a maximum of $100 every two weeks. The average award yesterday was $43.
Unfortunately, students at Shaw at Garnet-Patterson got a lesson officials hadn't planned on: Your check might not be as hefty as you expected.
Kent comments:
The article goes on to explain that, due
to a computer error, some didn't get as much money as they expected. But
my question is this: of recent social engineering projects put forth by
nit-witted liberals, can you think of one more idiotic than this? I'm
trying very hard, but I can't!
from U.K. Telegraph - below is a condensed version, find the
whole article at:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/religion/3198804/BBC-boss-says-Islam-should-be-treated-more-sensitively-than-Christianity.html
BBC boss says Islam should be treated more sensitively than
Christianity
Islam should be treated more sensitively by the media than Christianity,
according to the director general of the BBC.
By Martin Beckford, Religious Affairs Correspondent
Last Updated: 2:39PM BST 15 Oct 2008
Mark Thompson claimed that because Muslims are a religious minority in Britain and also often from ethnic minorities, their faith should be given different coverage to that of more established groups.
The director general, whose corporation faced accusations of blasphemy from Christians after it allowed the transmission of the musical Jerry Springer -The Opera, also said his Christian beliefs guided his judgments and disclosed that he had never watched the Monty Python film Life of Brian which satirizes the story of Jesus.
But asked whether it was correct that the BBC "let vicar gags pass but not imam gags", as Elton claimed, he admitted it did take a different approach to Islam, which has 1.6million followers in Britain, compared to its approach to the Church of England or the Roman Catholic Church.
Mr. Thompson said: "My view is that there is a difference between the position of Christianity, which I believe should be central to the BBC's religion coverage and widely respected and followed.
"What Christian identity feels like it is about to the broad population is a little bit different to people for whom their religion is also associated with an ethnic identity which has not been fully integrated.
However despite the storm over the programme, Mr. Thompson, a practicing Catholic, said his beliefs do play a part in the editorial judgments he makes and disclosed that he dislikes watching shows about the Bible.
A BBC spokesman said Mr. Thompson did not mean Islam should be given preferential treatment, just that all religions are different.
He said: "People should look at his actual comments rather than trying to infer additional meaning that isn't there. What Mark Thompson said is that all religions are not the same - he did not say Islam, or indeed any faith, should be treated more sensitively than Christianity. In fact he made it crystal clear that no religion should be regarded as off limits for the BBC."
Kent comments:
Isn't 'double talk' interesting? Islam should receive 'different coverage' but it should not 'be treated more sensitively than Christianity.' Apparently, if a religion has an 'ethnic identity' then the head of the BBC thinks this somehow puts that religion into some special category. But no 'preferential treatment' - at least according to the BBC spokesman. I must say that I am not convinced by this kind of double talk. I know Christians should expect ill treatment - Jesus often said so - but should we be a bit surprised when it comes from someone who claims to be a Christian?
Do greens really believe plants have rights? [from WeGetIt.org Bulletin, October 15, 2008]
Switzerland's constitution now gives plants inherent value and rights and says experimenters must give due consideration for their dignity. A treatise on "the moral consideration of plants for their own sake," done by Swiss scholars to flesh out the new constitutional protection, says plants' dignity requires that experiments safeguard "their independence, i.e., reproductive ability and adaptive ability."
Never mind that such a law would have forbidden the development of seedless grapes and jackasses (the sterile cross between a mule and a horse). As Gautam Naik asked in The Wall Street Journal, "For a carrot, is there a more mortifying fate than being peeled, chopped and dropped into boiling water?"
But there may be a silver lining in this cloud of nonsense. If plants have rights, surely their most basic right is to adequate nutrition for healthy growth. Part of that is carbon dioxide. For every doubling of carbon dioxide concentration in the atmosphere, plant growth efficiency increases by an average 35%.
Is it time for a class-action suit in a Swiss court on behalf of all the world's plants against all individuals and governments that promote reduced carbon dioxide emissions to fight global warming?
For more on the benefits of rising carbon dioxide, see www.co2science.org.
Kent comments:
For some time I have predicted that the
greenies would begin to talk about the 'rights' of plants. It appears that
time has arrived. Wouldn't it be funny if this became the occasion for the
destruction of their idiotic "save the planet from CO2" campaign? Now and
then, there is justice in the here and now.
One elections office isn't quite sure who is running for
president this year. In an upstate New York county, hundreds of voters
have been sent absentee ballots in which they could vote for "Barack Osama."
According to an Oct. 10 AP story, the absentee ballots sent to voters in
Rensselaer County identified the two presidential candidates as "Barack Osama"
and "John McCain."
When they discovered the mistake, officials shredded the remaining "Osama"
ballots and mailed correct versions to the roughly 300 people who had already
received them. An elections official said the "Osama" mistake was made in only
one of the 13 ballot versions mailed throughout the county.
Kent comments:
What can I say? The truth has a way of forcing itself to the surface, in a manner of speaking.
From: October 12, 2008 - Christian Standard eNewsletter
Southport Heights Christian Church (Indianapolis, IN) recently challenged its members to listen to the entire New Testament over 40 days. The project began Oct. 1 and concludes Nov. 9, and follows SHCC's August emphasis on the importance of the Bible, how it was written, and how to study it. The initiative is part of the nationwide "Faith Comes by Hearing" ministry.
Kent comments:
This church is challenging its members to listen to the New Testament. Checking the church's website reveals that this is, indeed, the case. What about reading the New Testament? If you are among illiterates, then why not teach them to read using the New Testament. That's what people used to do. At the "Faith Comes by Hearing" website we find they are all about "reaching and discipling the world's poor and illiterate with the pure Word of God." That's fine as far as it goes, but what the world needs now is love sweet love - especially the love of reading, and especially the love of reading the Bible.
From: THIS is TRUE #747: 5 October
The state of Maine gave a test to about 15,000 eighth-graders to assess their writing skills, including their ability to form a logical position. When the state refused to release the results, a newspaper filed a Freedom of Information Act request and learned that 78 percent of the kids failed, which was 50 percent more than failed the test the previous year. Maine's Department of Education explained the results were "inconclusive", and they discarded them because students reacted emotionally to the test. "Kids got ticked off at the [question]," explained Education Commissioner Susan Gendron, "so it was not an accurate reflection of their writing skills." The essay-based test asked the students to support or refute the statement, "Television may have a negative impact on learning." (Portland Press Herald)
Kent comments:
It continues to amaze me that people put up with the situations we find in schools, especially government schools. This is the typical approach of education bureaucracies: deny, deny, deny. Find some more comment on this sort of thing here.