About Recommendation #2

A pastor from a church in Salisbury, NC, has some interesting commentary on the second recommendation of the ELCA sexuality task force:

I am a sinner and I know it. I am not proud of this fact, but once in very clear terms I talked to a referee in a basketball game about, how can I say this now, his mother’s sexual behavior and then also in very clear terms talked about where I felt he should spend eternity.

I don’t want the church to dialogue with me about my actions. I want the church to be honest with me about my actions and to call me to repentance and faith in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior.

I am a sinner. I eat too much and too often. My body is a temple of the Holy Spirit and I should take better care of it. My body is a gift to me from God, and I should take better care of it. I don’t want the church to come up with even unofficial acts of blessings all the M & M’s that I eat to make me feel better about my sin. I want the church to be honest with me about my actions and to call me to repentance and faith in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior.

I am a sinner. I lose my temper too often, especially while driving a car. I don’t want the church to talk to me about how it’s the other drivers’ fault and they should be blamed. I don’t want a blessing for drivers who lose their cool while driving. I want the church to be honest with me about my actions and to call me to repentance and faith in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior.

The church cannot bless, either officially or unofficially acts that the Bible calls sinful. The Bible is our norm for faith and life.

---
Click on the title to read the entire article. Interesting stuff.
---Katie

Please, can we have socialized medicine too?

Girl fed through a tube for seven years discovers burgers

By Nick Britten(Filed: 26/02/2005)

An eight-year-old girl who has been fed through a tube all her life is eating normally for the first time after doctors discovered that a rare nerve illness she was diagnosed with as a baby was just enlarged tonsils.

Tilly Merrell was fed directly into her stomach after doctors said that eating normally could kill her. When she was 12 months old they diagnosed Isolated Bulbar Palsy, a weakness in the nerves controlling swallowing, meaning that food could enter her lungs instead of her stomach.
Her local community recently raised £10,000 to send Tilly to America for tests and doctors in California said that all that was wrong was enlarged tonsils and Tilly could eat normally. She is expected to lead a full and normal life.

In the past few days, Tilly has been making up for lost time by tucking into burgers, chips and other fast food and her family are planning to throw her a huge party when they return to their home in Warndon, Worcester today. Yesterday Tilly said her first meal consisted of "a burger with cheese, bacon, egg and ham. And some hash browns with grease". Breakfast the following day included two strips of bacon.

Her mother, Amelia, 36, said: "I'm so grateful to everyone who has helped. It has been really difficult for Tilly. She could be very nasty to me. She would snatch at the dinner table. You couldn't sit and have a meal in peace. It was traumatic for her."

Tilly suffered eating problems a week after being born. After extensive tests at her local hospital in Worcester and Birmingham Children's hospital, doctors noticed that liquid was seeping into her lungs when she ate or drank. They took her off foods and fed her through a tube in her nose, and later diagnosed Isolated Bulbar Palsy.

As she grew up, Tilly was forced to wear a backpack providing her liquid feed through a hole in her stomach, which took two hours at a time to administer, three times a day. Her mother, Amelia, said that doctors "clung" to the diagnosis although they said that they suggested she might recover.

Mealtimes became a nightmare, and as she grew older Tilly seemed to crave normal food, often being caught rummaging through cupboards.

She was given hope after her grandmother, Sonia Merrell, 60, read about a girl with a similar condition being treated in California. She contacted the Lucile Packard Children's Hospital and they invited Tilly along for tests.

Consultants there were intrigued that she had no neurological symptoms often associated with the palsy and they concluded that while she had had infections, they were long gone and food was now able to go straight to her stomach.

Marianna Thorn, an occupational therapist treating Tilly, said the medical team had not ruled out that the youngster had had a problem at some point, such as a viral infection that cured on its own."

Dr Peter Koltai, who also treated Tilly, said it was a "pretty strange case", but he refused to blame British doctors for not making the same discovery.

A spokesman for Birmingham Children's Hospital, said: "We cannot comment further until these results are available."

A spokesman for Worcestershire Acute Hospital NHS Trust said it was awaiting with interest the finding of the American team.

The doctors clung to the diagnosis...I wonder if that means they ran any tests or just stood by their years-old opinion. Yeah, I want government health care. Yeah. Really.

---Katie

Be on the lookout for this guy...

A journalism student at Cornwall College Camborne, England, is planning a US crime spree. Click on the title.

---Katie

ELCA Minority Report

A member of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America Task Force on Sexuality has issued short statements on what he calls a “minority report” on the task force’s “Report and Recommendations” to The Lutheran Magazine, Solid Rock Lutherans and a longer version to WordAlone.

Here it is:

Why I Dissented: Some Thoughts
Lou Hesse

For the sake of clarity and accepting personal responsibility for my actions, I wish to “come out of the closet” with some of the reasons why the position one dissent in the ELCA Sexuality Task Force report came from my pen.

On Unity: “Who is this disturber of the peace of Israel?”

Unity in our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ is a laudable goal for which we all should work, but unity in some sort of fallen human entity can be as fundamentally misdirected as any individual sinner. King Ahab’s quote above (speaking about the prophet Elijah) reminds us that sometimes the cause of Satan is served by pressing for unity above all in “our mission together.”

“No one would choose to be gay.”

One thing I have changed due to my involvement in the task force is that I no longer refer to gay expression as simply a matter of choice. This drives at the heart of a matter, which is very important to Lutherans and differentiates us to a certain extent from our brethren in theEvangelical and Catholic camps. Evangelicals and Catholics love to talk about free will – sin is a matter of choices made or not made. Lutherans should talk about the bound will. We are in bondage to sin and bound to Christ – at the same time saint and sinner – simul iustus et peccator.

The gay community argues no one would choose to be gay, so it must be a created good. I do not choose to be prideful, envious, greedy, lustful,angry, gluttonous, or slothful (the seven deadly sins of Catholicism). Since I regularly engage in all of those behaviors, does that mean they are all good? No, it means, “I am in bondage to sin and cannot free myself.” No one chooses to be an alcoholic, a drug addict, addicted to gambling, a nymphomaniac, a pedophile, or a hebephile, among many other things that the community frowns upon. Are these then good as well?

It is an awful big leap from not being a choice to being good. A leap I can’t make.

Pastoral Care: Is it “I’m OK, you’re OK” or “I’m a sinner, you’re a sinner, Jesus is Lord”?

In our self-centered therapeutic culture, pastoral care is evidently becoming that which makes one feel good about oneself. I’ll be the first to agree that pastoral response is going to be far different to a person holding a gun, threatening suicide in a profound state of depression and despair, as opposed to a person living in a full state of denial claiming “all is well with my soul,” but the rubrics of pastoral care and response must begin with the understanding that Jesus Christ died and rose for the sake of sinners. Law and Gospel are both required. Law, so we recognize the truth of who we are, fallen beings before a holy God; and Gospel, so we realize what God has done to deal with our fallenness. All else is simply denial and deceit.

“Let your conscience be your guide.” -- Jiminy Cricket, or

“Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life,” and Jesus said to him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good but God alone.” --Mark 10:17b-18

How do we decide what is good? Conscience matters a great deal toLutherans, right? After all, it was “conscience bound to the Word ofGod” that Luther cited at Worms. The important part is bound to the Word of God, in my view. Please note Jesus’ words cited in the story of the rich young ruler above. “No one is good but God alone.” I have listened carefully for a place from scripture (God’s Word) where God says gay expression is good. Everyone on the task force has agreed, “Scripture has nothing good to say about gay expression.” God deals with his people through the Word. In the absence of a good word from God and the presence of a number of negative words from God, I am left saying this is not good.

“I am a new thing.” – Gene Robinson, among other gay advocates, or

“I make all things new.” -- Jesus Christ

What is the “new thing” of scripture? The experience of new things in the Christian community has been fairly consistently a cry taken up by false prophets. I live in a Mormon community, so Joseph Smith comes to mind immediately. A personal claim to being a “new thing” from God strikes me as an ultimate claim of human hubris. In my mind, the new thing of the scriptural witness is that Jesus Christ has power overdeath. He brought people back from death and He himself rose from the dead. I think that is the last “new thing” worth paying attention to.

“God don’t make no Junk” -- mantra of the 1970s

“A weed is a plant out of place.” -- basic agronomy

The engineers who design a highway lay out the roads and then lay out the rules of the road – stop signs, do not pass stripes, wrong way signs, one way signs, do not enter signs, speed limits, cornering speed recommendations, etc. The designer has in mind how things will go best and sets boundaries for his creation to best function as it is designed. It’s all designed and planned with good intentions of helping people to get where they need to go. Problems arise when boundaries are violated. What was designed as a good thing suddenly results in death and destruction when someone decides to go the wrong way on a one-way street. One of the ways a person can recognize he is going the wrong way is by the death and destruction surrounding or impacting upon himself as he makes his journey.

While the analogy of a highway system is, of course, incomplete, much the same can be said for the functioning of God’s creation. When things are not going according to design, parts of God’s good creation suddenly have impacts they should not have, causing death and destruction. God created things like syphilis bacteria, gonorrhea bacteria, HIV, the viral agents that cause cervical and anal cancer, herpes virus, and numerous other agents which shouldn’t be a problem if we would or could simply pay attention to His road signs (His will). We can’t, (we sin) and we fall short (hamartia = sin), so we suffer the consequences, which God himself laments. All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and one sign of our fallenness is the suffering inflicted upon us by agents in God’s good creation. The severe mental, physical, and emotional health problems connected with gay expression and our current sexual mores should drive us to recognize we are going the wrong way, and it is time to turn around (repent).

“Honor your Father and your Mother.”

My paternal grandfather died when my father was three years old. My father was surrounded by loving people including a couple of caring uncles and many cousins, but no one could replace his father’s love and guidance. My father has acutely felt the pain from this loss for the last 72 of his 75 years. He has had a wonderful and blessed life, but one cannot truly know my father without recognizing this wound in his psyche. He has always stated to my mother and the rest of us that the most important thing to him was being a good father to his children. The most important thing a father can do for his children is love their mother.

It is simply a tragedy when a child is deprived of a mother’s and/or father’s love due to death, disease, divorce, or other dysfunction. This is a fundamental paradigm of healthy human community recognized by communities even beyond the Christian sphere.

I had a long conversation (among several such encounters) with a gay man in Issaquah, Washington. He and his “husband” have several adopted children. My final questions to him in our conversation were:

“What will your children know of a mother’s love?”

“What will the children of a lesbian couple know of a father’s love?”

The Judeo-Christian community has always declared this kind of deprivation tragic. Some faith communities believe it to be unimportant. The concept that both motherly AND fatherly love in a child’s life is unimportant cannot be described as anything but wicked, in my opinion.

My final prayer for those who cannot see this is a calm reiteration of what must be among the holiest words of scripture:

“Father forgive them, for they know not what they do.”

With all due respect,
Louis M. HesseMember,
ELCA Task Force on Human Sexuality


How difficult must the years of serving on the sexuality task force have been for this man. God bless him.

---Katie

It is cool to cut yourself (not)

There is a new craze out there, or maybe it is not so new, but kids are cutting themselves for kicks. From Michelle Malkin's column:

Have you heard of "cutting?" If you're a parent, you'd better read up. "Cutting" refers to self-mutilation— using knives, razor blades, or even safety pins to deliberately harm one's own body— and it's spreading to a school near you.

Actresses Angelina Jolie and Christina Ricci did it. So did Courtney Love and the late Princess Diana. On the Internet, there are scores of websites (with titles such as "Blood Red," "Razor Blade Kisses," and "The Cutting World") featuring "famous self-injurers," photos of teenagers' self-inflicted wounds, and descriptions of their techniques. The destructive practice has been depicted in films targeting young girls and teens (such as Thirteen). There is even a new genre of music — "emo" — associated with promoting the cutting culture.

In Britain, health care researchers estimate that one in ten teenagers engages in addictive self injury. According to psychiatrist Gary Litovitz, medical director of Dominion Hospital in Falls Church, Va., the growing trend here in America has alarmed school guidance counselors around the country.

It's not just delinquents and social misfits who are doing it. A concerned parent sent me the following letter recently:

"I just found out this week that my 14-year-old daughter is a 'cutter.' She has a 4.0 average, 8th grade, goes to a good school, and is well-liked by all who know her. She is popular, has 2 homes (mine and her dad's) with supportive loving families in each. Her own friends cut, too: 4 of them that I know of now between the ages of 11 and 14…[a]s do her 2 cousins, ages 11 and 15.

My daughter cuts herself with a safety pin. I found this out on her own personal website which I discovered she had been hiding on a hidden account she used at another relative's home. She had links to web rings about cutting, suicide and broken hearts as well as images and poetry. Her friends all feature cutting/suicide links, icons and song lyrics as well.

Read more by clicking on the title.

This is sad, sad, sad. Why do these kids feel such a need to self destruct?

---Katie

Another I hate AARP post

I think I hate AARP with good reason. Here is an excerpt from an article from AnkleBitingPundits that examines the leftist slant of the supposedly all-American organization:

The AARP likes to make the public think that they are as American as Mom, baseball, hot dogs and apple pie. After all, who would dare question the integrity or bias of an organization that is doing but looking out for Grandma and Grandpa. Why don't you know if not for the AARP your elderly relatives would be eating dog food? But what you might not realize is that the AARP is laying down with some of the most disturbing far-left wingers in the country, and in some cases promoting their messages.

Click on the title for the entire article and lots of good links about AARP.

Another interesting development is that the left is beginning to notice that AARP is taking some heat from the right.

Enjoy!

---Katie

A Response from Doug Wead

Doug Wead is the guy who taped GW Bush and made some of the tapes public. I called him a slime...here is a post from Freeper Richard Kimball who sent him an e-mail telling him what he thought:

I sent a pretty scathing email to Doug Wead. To my surprise, he sent back an actual, personal, note. Here is the text of his message:
I was wrong to tape the president without his permission. wish I could live my life over and do things differently. Actually, I think the released tapes made him look good, that unlike other tape stories this was not about catching someone doing something wrong but catching someone doing something right. and the media just reacted knee jerk to the word "tapes."

Actually, started taping him in 1988 - with his permission - and still have those tapes. saw him as a future leader and was proud of him. and so it was natural to keep taping, even without his permission sense i never imagined they would more than source notes for history books. i just wanted to some day write about it all in an accurate way.

Anyway, this is what I am doing now, not sure what else I can do. Asking my attorney to direct any future proceeds from the book to charity and to find the best way to vet these tapes and get them back to the president to whom they belong. History can wait.

Doug Wead

---So perhaps this is just someone who showed poor judgement. He made a mistake...OK, buy his book.

---Katie

Blog by Hugh Hewitt

I just finished reading Blog by Hugh Hewitt. In this book, he compares what is happening in the area of information sharing and information gathering to what happened during the Reformation. The Reformation shook everything up in the 1600's when the printing press and growing literacy took control of Biblical interpretation away from the elite few in the Church and allowed average people to read and understand God's word for themselves, in their own language. Now, blogs give the average person the opportunity to write and express their opinions and takes on the news of the day. Bloggers have driven some very high profile investigations that most likely would have been ignored by the mainstream media (Swiftboat Vets, Rathergate) and have even driven an important political campaign. Do you think Howard Dean would be the new DNC chair if his campaign had not been so high profile? Thank bloggers and his savvy use of the internet for that.

Hewitt recommends that individuals who want to have an influence on their world, their business, their church or any other organization should get blogging. If you like to write or like to express your opinions, do research and figure things out - read Hewitt's book. I have linked the title to his blog.

---Katie

More on voting reform

Here is more on the "Count Every Vote Act of 2005" from Mac Johnson of Human Events:

Republicans hope for high turnout among the military, the middle class, suburbanites, businessmen, married mothers, and the religious. So, who do the Democrats hope will show up at the polls? Rapists, Murderers, Child Molesters, Check Kiters, Illegal Aliens, Thieves, Crack Heads, Illiterates, the Confused, the Unprepared, and those who for "some" reason are afraid to show photo ID. I'll let you decide what that says about the identity and values of the Democrat's base. What evidence do I make this shocking and impolite assertion upon, you ask? Why, the "Count Every Vote Act of 2005," a bill proudly introduced into the Senate last week by Senators Hillary Clinton (N.Y.), Barbara Boxer (Calif.), John Kerry (Mass.), Frank Lautenberg (N.J.) and Barbara Mikulski (Md.) -- all Democrats.

In short, the Bill seeks to make a number of changes to Federal election law, foremost among which is overruling the right of the States -- the jurisdictions that are supposed to author election law -- to prohibit convicted felons from voting. Such laws are on the books in many states and have been for some time. The obvious logic behind these laws is that anyone who has been convicted by a jury of his peers of having willfully and knowingly violated one or more of society's most important laws -- such as those prohibiting murder, rape, torture, terrorism, kidnapping, drug dealing, embezzlement, etc. -- has shown himself to not have society's best interests at heart and to lack good judgment. Such a person should not, therefore, be allowed to help choose the ruler of the free world or help decide the laws under which all citizens must live.

It sounds reasonable and wise, but Democrat leaders apparently believe that people who do "not have society's best interests at heart and who lack good judgment" sounds a lot like their voters. Otherwise, why would they want such laws repealed? So, under the Orwellian subtitle of the "Civic Participation Act of 2005," the "Count Every Vote Act of 2005" proposes to require that States allow every form of predator, thief, and con-man free access to the polls. I mean, why should they just be allowed to run for office? It all makes perfect sense if you think about it -- a murderer probably has a lot to say about the death penalty and a rapist is sure to be concerned with a woman's right to choose.

Click on the title to read the whole article.

---Katie

Why is Michael Schiavo so desperate to have his wife dead?

I really do not understand why this man doesn't just give responsibility for Terri to her parents and get on with his life. They want to care for her and do not want to let him allow her to die in a such a gruesome way.

What I also don't understand is why it is ok to allow someone to suffer for days from starvation and dehydration to let them "die with dignity" rather than just give them an overdose of morphine. That would be so much more merciful. And no, I don't support euthanasia. I think that allowing death by withholding food and water is just as evil as actively killing someone with morphine.

What I also wonder about Michael is why he is so determined to limit Terri's contact with her family. And why he accepted money as settlement of a lawsuit and said he would use it to care for Terri and then proceeded to spend it fighting to end her life. And why he thinks anyone would believe that he has Terri's best interests at heart when he is living with another woman with whom he has two children. This is such a weird situation...and what is weirder to me is that the courts keep ruling in favor of this man.

If you want to read some pro-life stuff regarding Terri, click on the title!

---Katie

This is what the welfare state combined with liberal moral values can lead to....

Germany legalized prostitution a couple of years ago and gave brothel owners the same rights and responsibilities as other employers. They pay tax and employee health insurance and have access to official databases for job seekers.

Any woman under 55 who has been unemployed for more than a year can be required to take any available job or lose her unemployment benefits. Can you see it coming? Click on the title above to read about the logical conclusion of this situation.

---Katie

With friends like these....

Did you hear about the guy who taped GW Bush a few years ago during a private conversation and is now making parts of the tapes public? What a slime. Oh, and did you hear he has a book coming out about presidents? He says releasing the info on the tapes has nothing to do with promoting his book. Oh, no, of course not....Didn't Linda Tripp get in trouble for taping Monica Lewinsky talking about Clinton?

Anyway, here is what Boortz has to say about it:

THE PRESIDENT AND HIS "FRIEND"Who needs enemies when you have friends like these? Doug Wead, who has a new book about presidential childhoods, once worked as an aide for Bush senior. He had several conversations some years ago with then-Governor George W. Bush. They talked about all sorts of issues, including the presidential campaign. It was then that Mr. Wead decided to stab Mr. Bush in the back and record the phone calls.

Flash-forward to 2005. Wead has a book coming out, and he'd like to drum up a little publicity. He decides to play some of the telephone conversations for the New York Times. He denies that the purpose of this was to promote his book. Now we all believe that, don't we? But you're really going to have to strap on the wading boots for this one: Mr. Wead says he didn't mean for the transcripts of the conversations to be published. I'm sure that's why he played them for a New York Times reporter.

As for what's in the tapes, nothing really too bad. Bush talks about his refusal to bash homosexuals just to score points with the religious right, all but admitted to using marijuana and criticized his rivals for the 2000 Republican presidential nomination. Beyond that, not much else. The media is running with the drug part of the story.

Wead says he's keeping some of the tapes private, because they contain personal information that could land him in legal hot water. How long before those become public?

---What an absolute slime ball!!! I hope all of his books end up on the remaindered tables or at overstock.com. Don't buy his book!!!

---Katie

Supreme Court to decide if your property is really yours...

If you aren't familiar with the practice of government taking property from one taxpayer for the purpose of allowing another taxpayer to develop it, you must not listen to Neal Boortz! The Supreme Court is hearing a landmark case this week that could affect any one of us:

On February 22nd, the future of property rights in America will be at stake as the Supreme Court begins oral arguments in the case of Kelo v. New London. The central question at issue is: should the government be able to use its power of eminent domain to seize property from one private party and transfer it to another?

Click on the title above to read the entire article and listen to Boortz this week. I am sure he will be discussing it! (Oh, and pray...we don't want this to go the wrong way!)

---Katie

America's Most Dangerous Gang

This is rather disconcerting. It caught my interest because this gang is the biggest gang in my hometown of Charlotte, NC. Here are the basics:

Spreading from El Salvador to L.A. and across the United States, Mara Salvatrucha 13 is increasingly well organized and deadly.

Within one hour, two people were found murdered miles apart in suburban Nassau County, N.Y. After an intensive investigation, police officials learned the murders were the work of the violent street gang Mara Salvatrucha 13. It also soon became apparent the gang was sending a bold message to its members and associates. That message: “If you are not loyal, you are dead.”

But there was another message in the brutal slayings for the people of Long Island. And that message was that gang violence had moved into the upper middle class enclaves of the Island, into the kinds of communities where the locals assume that crime is somebody else’s problem.

Mara Salvatrucha 13 (MS-13) is unfortunately becoming everybody’s problem. This plague that came to Long Island from El Salvador by way of the streets of Los Angeles follows the same migratory patterns as the Salvadoran immigrant community that it preys upon, fanning out across the United States from ethnic enclaves in California.

I know Orlando has a gang problem. I wonder if this group is part of it.
Click on the title above to read the entire article.

---Katie

The Death of Canadian Scouting

This article is sort of old, and I am linking to FreeRepublic rather than MensNewsDaily because the article there was accompanied by some, well, rather male-oriented ads (that I would rather my children not see.) If you want to read the original article which is from August of last year, go to MensNewsDaily.com and search the archives for The Death of Canadian Scouting.

I have always admired the Boy Scouts because of the stand they take on God and on morality. The Scouts in Canada decided to be more inclusive, of everyone and every point of view, apparently, with disastrous results. Here is an excerpt from the article:

Scouts Canada's new non-discrimination code reads: "Scouting is a worldwide, multicultural movement. We welcome people to membership regardless of gender, race, culture, religious belief, sexual orientation or economic circumstances. Youth members are strongly influenced by the behavior of adults. We need to be sensitive to the traditions and beliefs of all people and to avoid words or actions which "put down" anybody."

And so, in its attempt to include everybody and everything, Scouts Canada is effectively dead.

Budgets have run dry. Troop halls and old campsites sit vacant. Professional staff salaries are severed. Membership is mostly decimated. In the past, membership roles consistently exceeded 300,000. Around the peak in 1965, there were 320,000 Boy Scouts. Today, despite a one third population increase in Canada over four decades and a doubling of the demographic possibilities (with female members), Scouts Canada has dwindled to a puny 130,000 and it is rapidly declining.

Click on the title to read the entire article, as well as FR comments. I am so appreciative of the Scouts in the USA and encourage everyone to continue to support them. They have taken a lot of flak for standing up for what is right and pursuing their mission. They need us to continue to stand with them, for there are those who would like to destroy them just as the Scouts in Canada have been destroyed.

---Katie

Hillary wants felons to vote...

for her, I assume. For whom would felons vote for, anyway, a democrat or a republican? Hmmm. I wonder.

She also wants election day to be a federal holiday, enabling those who get federal holidays off (certainly not my engineer husband!) to vote more easily. Government workers, those in education, etc. would be off and, hmm, for whom would they be more likely to vote?

Click on the title for the whole article. Thanks to Lowell Pointe at Moonbat Central.

---Katie

herchurch.org???

Sigh. It's not just the sexuality study, you know. Here is an excerpt from the web page of Ebenezer Lutheran Church in, where else, San Francisco:

We are a diverse community, standing firmly within the Christian tradition in order to reconstruct the divine by reclaiming her feminine persona in thealogy, liturgy, church structure, art, language, practices, leadership, and acts of justice. Challenging the church’s restricted language of the past, we pay special attention to images and metaphors that attempt to embrace divine fullness and that offer a witness of holy nurture and inclusive justice, both to the church and to the world.

A new form of church is happening at Ebenezer Lutheran Church, 678 Portola Drive in San Francisco. Gather at 10:30 AM Sundays for a lively, engaging, thoroughly inclusive and feminist service of worship. Led by Pastor Stacy Boorn, the liturgy features images and metaphors that will enlarge understanding of and connection with the sacred. Music and readings will further reflect this commitment to reclaiming feminine persona of the divine.

Come as you are – you’ll find welcome, hope, healing, and community. This feminist liturgy will take place on the first Sunday of each month and is open to all. All other worship events are inclusive, diverse and dynamic!

Our Mother who is within us

we celebrate your many names.

Your wisdom comeyour will be done

unfolding from the depths within us.

Each day you give us all that we need.

You remind us of our limitsand we let go.

You support us in our power

and we act with courage.

For you are the dwelling place within us

the empowerment around us

and the celebration among us

now and for ever. Amen

Text by Miriam Therese Winter

Medical Mission Sister,

Professor of Liturgy, Worship and Spirituality.

Author of WomanWord and other

books and resources for Ritual.

Has anyone else noticed how self-centered feminist theology (and gay centered theology, for that matter) is?

Martin Luther must be spinning in his grave.


---Katie

Amazing Tsunami Story...

...from Blogger CrownofHeart in Israel.


We know that 80% of the town of Meulaboh in Aceh was destroyed by the Tsunami waves and 80% of the people also died. This is one of the towns that was hit the hardest. But there is a fantastic testimony from Meulaboh.

In that town are about 400 Christians. They wanted to celebrate Christmas on December 25th but were not allowed to do so by the Muslims of Meulaboh. They were told if they wanted to celebrate Christmas they needed to go outside the city of Meulaboh on a high hill and there celebrate Christmas.

Because the Christians desired to celebrate Christmas the 400 believers left the city on December 25th and after they celebrated Christmas they stayed overnight on the hill.

As we all know the morning of December 26 there was the earthquake followed by the Tsunami waves destroying most of the city of Meulaboh and thousands were killed. The 400 believers were on the mountain and were all saved from destruction.

Now the Muslims of Meulaboh are saying that the God of the Christians punished us for forbidding the Christians from celebrating Christmas in the city. Others are questioning why so many Muslims died while not even one of the Christians died there.

Had the Christians insisted on their rights to celebrate Christmas in the city, they would have all died. But because they humbled themselves and followed the advice of the Muslims they all were spared destruction and can now testify of God's marvelous protection.

This is a testimony of the grace of God! Bill Hekman Pastor Calvary Life Fellowship in Indonesia

Wow.

---Katie

Please feel free to comment....

I had been feeling bad that so few people were commenting on my articles, but then I did a little research and realized that my default setting required that a poster be registered with Blogger to comment on my blog, so...I changed it, I think. Please, anonymous comments are welcome! If you know me, please sign your name! Nasty and/or grossly inappropriate comments will be removed, of course...


---Katie

ELCA gets mention in World

In case you missed it, here is what World Magazine (fourth largest news magazine in US) had to say about the ELCA sexuality study in the Feb. 5 issue:

Look away

Like many other mainline denominations, the 4.9-million-member Evangelical Lutheran Church in America is torn by controversy over homosexuality. Under current ELCA policy, ministers must refrain from sexual relations outside marriage, defined as "a lifelong covenant of faithfulness between a man and a woman." Also, the church's bishops in 1993 adopted a policy forbidding clergy from performing ceremonies to bless same-sex relationships.

But gay activists and their allies in the church are pressing the ELCA to loosen its standards. Ignoring the standards altogether, some congregations are ordaining noncelibate homosexuals, and some ELCA clergy are conducting rites to bless same-sex unions, much to the displeasure of many in the denomination.

To head off a threatened split, a 14-member ELCA advisory panel this month recommended an odd solution: The church's policies should remain in effect, but no disciplinary actions should be taken against clergy who for "conscience" reasons disobey them.

Traditionalists and gays alike condemned the proposal. Gays said it didn't go far enough in removing stigma from same-sex relationships. Conservatives said it was an attempt to "hoodwink" church members into thinking nothing had changed. Delegates to the ELCA churchwide assembly will vote on the proposal in August.

---Katie

Conscience and the ELCA

Conscience appears to be the buzzword in our discussion of what we should do regarding the ordination of non-celibate homosexuals and the blessing of same-sex unions in the ELCA. Because we are Lutherans, we study what Luther says about the matter of conscience. Here is a quote:

"Unless I am convicted by scripture and plain reason - I do not accept the authority of the popes and councils, for they have contradicted each other - my conscience is captive to the Word of God. I cannot and I will not recant anything for to go against conscience is neither right nor safe. Here I stand. I cannot do otherwise. God help me. Amen."

Obviously, Luther's conscience was bound to the Word of God. Our interpreters in the ELCA have stated quite clearly that they cannot find anything in scripture to support non-celibate homosexual clergy or blessing same sex unions. They admit that nothing positive is said in scripture about homosexual practice. It is thoroughly condemned. What I wonder is how our leadership can use Luther's statements on conscience to promote going ahead and doing both things anyway, if our conscience leads us to do so.

---Katie

Pets get nipped and tucked.

People are spending big bucks on plastic surgery for pets. Good grief! (as Charlie Brown would say.)

(Click on the title.)

---Katie

Wacky Warning Labels

M-LAW, or Michigan Lawsuit Abuse Watch, has a contest for the wackiest warning labels. Here is this year's winner:

A flushable toilet brush that warns users, “Do not use for personal hygiene” has been identified as the nation’s wackiest warning label in an annual contest sponsored by a consumer watchdog group.

Here are more entries:

OTHER WINNERS:

The $250 second place award went to Matt Johnson of Naperville, Illinois for a label on a popular scooter for children that warns: “This product moves when used.”

Third place and $100 went to Ann Marie Taylor of Camden, South Carolina who found the following warning on a digital thermometer that can be used to take a person’s temperature several different ways: “Once used rectally, the thermometer should not be used orally.”

Fourth place was a label on an electric hand blender promoted for use in “blending, whipping, chopping and dicing,” that warns: “Never remove food or other items from the blades while the product is operating.” Sent in by Ken Stein of Berkeley, California.

In fifth place was a label on a nine- by three-inch bag of air used as packing material. It carries this warning: “Do not use this product as a toy, pillow, or flotation device.”Sent in by Christen Millard of Westerville, Ohio.

Read more by clicking on the title above...

---Katie

Did I mention I despise AARP?

I really do. I will never join their lying, socialist, leftwing obstructionist organization. I hate writing checks to them for my dad, but that was his choice. There is no way that continuing the way we are going with Social Security is going to work. Our children and grandchildren will be in bondage to Social Security if we don't do something to let people invest their own money. AARP will do whatever they can to stop Social Security reform. Rich Lowry writes:

The AARP recently announced that it is taking its campaign against President Bush's proposed Social Security reform to the nation's youth, hoping to broaden its target audience from the credulous elderly to the credulous young. Thus, the AARP further cements its status as the country's foremost lobby against reform. So inquiring minds should have a few questions for AARP CEO William D. Novelli, the architect of the group's crusade to keep young people from having personal retirement accounts as part of Social Security:

Since Bush has said that any proposal won't affect anyone 55 years of age or older, what possible reason — other than sheer ideological hostility — do you have to oppose reforming the system?

Your group's advocacy suggests that reform puts at risk the benefits of current Social Security recipients, even though cutting those benefits is off the table. Are you routinely so dishonest, or is this a special case?

In 1950, 16 workers supported each retiree. By 2040, there will only be two workers per retiree. Does it occur to you that that is very bad news for workers? Or is your ultimate ambition to have each retiree supported by his own individual worker? Perhaps this worker can be made to fan his designated retiree with a palm frond and deliver him fruity drinks poolside?

Read the rest of the article by clicking on the title.

---Katie

I guess it's "them" vs. "us," hmmm?

I found an interesting quote from Martin Marty, a well-known Lutheran historian, in an article about the lack of response from evangelicals in the Chicago area to the GOP in the recent election. Here it is:

Church historian Martin Marty said that, while many Chicago area evangelicals are against abortion and gay marriage -- two hallmarks of the current Republican platform -- they aren't "summonable" as a group the way their counterparts in other areas of the country are.

"I love the moat we have around Illinois," Marty said. "We are so far from being a red state, it's hard for them to get things going here."

I suppose that as a conservative, Christian GOP activist and voter, I am one of those "them" he is talking about. It's nice to know that the leadership and visible representatives of the ELCA are so appreciative of the diversity of their denomination.

---Katie

JEB for president?

I know that Jeb Bush has said he is not interested in running for president, but that is not stopping the bloggers and others from talking about the possibility. As a Florida resident, I have found him to be an excellent governor. Here is what Perry at obnoxiousfumes.com has to say:

On economics issues, Bush presided over what could have been a catastrophe: The effects of 9/11 on a state economy based largely on tourism. Instead, Bush avoided major problems and the Florida economy is doing well.

[Bush embraced] the Reagan economic philosophy. Florida eliminated some $6 billion dollars in taxes on businesses and those who invest in the state's economy. The result is a rebounding jobs market that is back to pre-9/11 levels, and boosted by a continuing expansion in economic sectors like construction and development. In fact, Wall Street has just upgraded Florida's credit rating for the first time in 30 years.

He has succeeded in other areas as well:

Gov. Bush deep-sixed the good-ole-boy system of state government, a relic of Florida's old days of system-abusing, "hail-fellow-well-met" Democrats. He passed legislation that transformed Florida's civil service system into one that is merit-based, not tenure-controlled. Many positions in state government that were once private political fiefdoms are now accountable to the state's chief executive. That includes Florida's head of public education, once elected, now appointed by the governor. Bush even dispensed with the Board of Regents -- almost universally a private little kingdom with too many kings -- instead of allowing state universities to continue serving as their own governing bodies.

And speaking of education: Bush has spearheaded the Florida Comprehensive Achievement Test (FCAT), which has set real standards for public schools. The governor has held those schools accountable for their test results. It was controversial with the state's teachers union, but it has proven the catalyst for real improvement in public schools.

Now throw this in the mix: While some Republican leaders talk about privatization of government services, Bush has set in motion a whirlwind series of initiatives to privatize everything from prisons to mental health facilities. Jeb Bush is a true conservative with a progressive bent.

So Jeb is certainly an attractive candidate. Of course, let's see how my favorite, Condi Rice, does over the next couple of years...the first woman president and the first minority president all wrapped up in one very talented person!

---Katie

Raising Pit Bull Children

One of the most important characteristics I want to instill in my children is courage. Doug Giles has an excellent article on the importance of parents in training children to be pit bulls (courageous).

You know, click on the title to read the whole article.

---Katie

Raising Pit Bull Children

It seems that excellent and courageous kids are getting harder and harder to find nowadays. More and more, we are seeing less and less of the scrappy little Pit Bull Braveheart’s in our schoolyards and playgrounds.

snip

Another reason why we’re seeing a decline in Pit bull kids is that Pit Bull parents are getting obsessed with bigger dog houses … better treadmills … fancier chains … and flashier collars.

It’s not enough to give birth to a little bulldog, Pit Bull Mom and Dad; you must give it constant instruction and love. If you don't love and discipline your kids, you seriously decrease their chances of being champions in the arena.

There's more...lots more....

A Guide to World Ideologies

I ran across this on FreeRepublic - I wish I knew who wrote it.

---Katie

World Ideologies


Feudalism
You have two cows. Your lord takes some of the milk.

Pure Socialism
You have two cows. The government takes them and puts them in a barn with everyone else's cows. You have to take care of all the cows. The government gives you all the milk you need.

Real World Socialism
Your cows are cared for by ex-chicken farmers. You have to take care of the chickens the government took from the chicken farmers. The government gives you as much milk and eggs the regulations say you should need.

Fascism
You have two cows. The government takes both, hires you to take care of them, and sells you the milk.

Pure Communism
You have two cows. Your neighbors help you take care of them, and you all share the milk.

Real World Communism
You share two cows with your neighbors. You and your neighbors bicker about who has the most "ability" and who has the most "need". Meanwhile, no one works, no one gets any milk, and the cows drop dead of starvation.

Russian Communism
You have two cows. You have to take care of them, but the government takes all the milk. You steal back as much milk as you can and sell it on the black market.

Perestroika
You have two cows. You have to take care of them, but the Mafia takes all the milk. You steal back as much milk as you can and sell it on the "free" market.

Cambodian Communism
You have two cows. The government takes both and shoots you.

Militarianism
You have two cows. The government takes both and drafts you.

Totalitarianism
You have two cows. The government takes them and denies they ever existed. Milk is banned.

Pure Democracy
You have two cows. Your neighbors decide who gets the milk.

Representative Democracy
You have two cows. Your neighbors pick someone to tell you who gets the milk.

British Democracy
You have two cows. You feed them sheeps' brains and they go mad. The government doesn't do anything.

Bureaucracy
You have two cows. At first the government regulates what you can feed them and when you can milk them. Then it pays you not to milk them. Then it takes both, shoots one, milks the other and pours the milk down the drain. Then it requires you to fill out forms accounting for the missing cows.

Pure Anarchy
You have two cows. Either you sell the milk at a fair price or your neighbors try to take the cows and kill you.

Pure Capitalism
You have two cows. You sell one and buy a bull.

Capitalism
Because you were forced to give some away, the bank will not lend you money to buy more cows, because you don't have enough cows to put up as collateral. **See Liberalism Below**

Enviromentalism
You have two cows. The government bans you from milking or killing them.

Political Correctness
You are associated with (the concept of "ownership" is a symbol of the phallo centric, war mongering, intolerant past) two differently - aged (but no less valuable to society) bovines of non-specified gender.

Surrealism
You have two giraffes. The government requires you to take harmonica lessons.

Liberalism
You go to school and get a good job, so you can work and buy two cows. You are forced to give one to your neighbor, who never finished school and doesn't work, because he feels you have more than your fair share of cows and everyone should be equal. If you complain, you're told that you are greedy, lack compassion and should be ashamed because you're the reason the neighbor's kids are starving.

Howard Dean to Chair the DNC

Oh boy! This is going to be fun! (Off to pop popcorn and settle in to watch the show...)

ELCA - Are you paying attention?

Episcopal Church funding is down 12 percent in the first full year since they installed an openly gay bishop.

Click on the title for the article.

Here is an excellent observation from Pablo64 on FreeRepublic:

People are hungry for truth. Churches that compromise on Biblical doctrine (and not just the gay issue) are losing attenders. Our pastor was discussing this issue (not specifically the gay issue, but compromise in doctrine) a few weeks ago. He had been noticing a trend in numbers and he made the prediction that a year from now, if one would note the numbers now and then, you will see a noticable change in attendance (and as such, in giving) between denominations that move toward a more liberal policy and those who try to stay as close to Biblical doctrine as they can and not compromise their stance (even though more and more pressure is being applied to try and get them to change).

Attendence seems to be down at my ELCA church. Could this be part of the reason?


---Katie

Thoughts on Christian media

Here is something interesting from AcerbicDiva:

I'm reading a rather neat book for my worldview and life class entitled "Heaven is a Place on Earth: Why Everything You Do Matters to God" by Michael E. Wittmer. The first part of the third chapter briefly describes the "Christian Media" madness that I have only become more and more uncomfortable with. Here are my favorite paragraphs:

"Nearby is the Christian spin-off of Monopoly. Bibleopoly looks like the real game, except that instead of trying to snap up properties so you can build hotels and drive your competitors out of business, the object is to be the first person to purchase the bricks and steeple needed to build a church. Chance cards are replaced with Faith and Contingency cards, and instead of going to jail, unfortunate players are sent to meditation. Of course, the secular streets on the real Monopoly board have been replaced by biblical towns, with sites connected to Jesus' life - Nazareth, Bethlehem, and Jerusalem - occupying the higher rent district. ("Rent" is not the right word here because players who land on their opponent's space are required to pay offerings). The game ends when one of the players obtains a steeple, and wih the other players joining him in celebration, selects a name and hosts a grand opening for his new church.

Perhaps most troubling are the pack of Testamints, those little pieces of white candy that come emblazoned with gold crosses. The display announces that these Christian breath mints provide two benefits. First, they may be a means of evangelism, for the person who gratefully accepts the mint may inquire about the cross on its cover. Second, should you find no takers for your free mint, this Christian candy is still useful for your own spiritual encouragement. Apparently just knowing that the mint in your mouth is emblazoned with a golden cross will draw you closer to Jesus in a way that a regular Certs never could.

It's tempting to dismiss this galaxy of Christian merchandise as just another example of niche marketing in America's vast capitalistic system. Just as there are specialty shops for woodworkers, birdwatchers, and big and tall people, so there should be stores that supply specific products to Christians. I'm not questioning the need for Christian retailers, for we certainly need access to Bibles, books, and quality Christian music. However, I am wondering whether some of what is sold there does more harm than good"

Mr. Wittmer voiced what my fears are whenever I step into a Christian retailer. So much of what they sell has turned into poor versions of what is on the secular market with a Jesus stamp on it! Why do we need a Bibleopoly game? What is in Monopoly that is so offensive? And why, if there is something offensive about Monopoly, do we just "purify" it with names of Bible towns and church steeples?

I was so frustrated one night at work listening to the childrens' music. It was all normal childrens song with new, Christin lyrics. Instead of the waddling duck leading the others with a quack, quack, quack, the song had him going to church and taking his friends with him! Have we all gone mad?? What in the world made the previous song inappropriate for children?

What happened to making an original Christian board game, or original children's music (and leaving the mint market alone)? Am I justified in my thinking that in our fear of being in and of the world we have become satisfied with just ripping off and sanitizing the world around us? We've turned into a bunch of copy-cats! Not only that, but instead of cheap knock-offs, we're selling expensive copies!

You know, I really shouldn't be bothered so much by this. Clearly, so people really want/need this, for there is obviously a market for this. Someone is buying Testamints. But what kind of a signal does that send to the non-christian world? That what they have is only good if we've painted it neon-green and stamped a bible verse on it in gold sparkly letters? We'd have a whole lot more strength in that argument if it were actually true. Instead, I have discovered there is a direct negative correlation between the quality of an object (music esp) and how many times it uses a Christian catch-phrase (and yes, there are exceptions).

So what do I do? I don't know. I'm just not comfortable whole-heartedly embracing the Christian media. I think so much of what is out there cheapens the amazing power and grace of the gospel. How can expect people to take the Gospel seriously if we don't even appear to take it seriously ourselves?

(On a side note, does anyone remember the little Christian "goody bag" trinkets we'd get in Sunday School and at birthday parties? I never knew what to do with those things. I didn't want them, but I sure didn't want to throw anything away that said Jesus on it. And if I broke it - which happened often cause the stuff was *cheap* - uh oh. I didn't know if I needed to pray for forgiveness!)

(and a side note from me...I feel the same way about all the stuff I got as palanca (gifts) from Via de Cristo, a spiritual growth retreat. Cute, but the sheer volume finally made me throw some of it away. I hated doing that - people took the time to get them or make them, plus they had crosses or rainbows on them...)

---Katie

Bishop Benoway's comments on the ELCA sexuality task force report

Several people have asked me if I knew what Rev. Edward Benoway's (bishop of ELCA Fl/Bahamas Synod) stand on the sexuality report is. I found this quote in an ELCA news service article:

"While I understand and appreciate that the recommendations affirm the present practices of the church as is reflected by the majority response in the church, it is also good to hear the position of the minority and to be open to discover ways in which to follow the Spirit's leading in not only welcoming but also including those who are different from us in the ministry that God gives us."

I guess that means if this study is approved as is, we will have local option in Florida. If you want to read the entire article, click on the title above.

---Katie

W. Still the President

This picture really rubs it in. Click on the title.

No Child Left Behind - Football Version

This speaks for itself. Hat tip to Dave Huber of Hube's Cube...

---Katie


NCLB: The Football Version
No Child Left Behind: The Football Version

1. All teams must make the state playoffs, and all will win the championship. If a team does not win the championship, they will be on probation until they are the champions, and coaches will be held accountable.

2. All kids will be expected to have the same football skills at
the same time and in the same conditions. No exceptions will be made for interest in football, a desire to perform athletically, or genetic abilities or disabilities. ALL KIDS WILL PLAY FOOTBALL AT A PROFICIENT LEVEL.

3. Talented players will be asked to work out on their own without instruction. This is because the coaches will be using all their instructional time with the athletes who aren't interested in football, have limited athletic ability or whose parents don't like football.

4. Games will be played year round, but statistics will only be kept in the 4th, 8th and 11th games.

5. This will create a New Age of sports where every school is
expected to have the same level of talent and all teams will reach the same minimal goals.

If no child gets ahead, then no child will be left behind.

(This sort of reminds me of the line in The Incredibles, "When everybody is special, then nobody is..." ---K.)

Here, kitty, kitty, kitty

If you like kittens, click on the title above...cute!

---Katie

I'm back, I think....

Well, everything is back to the regular schedule...I can't say normal yet, because it really does not feel normal. My college kids came home and my sister came from out west. We had such a good time together. She is fourteen years older than I am and we did not really grow up together. Our family had a lot of "issues" and it was interesting to tell each other stories that the other had not heard. My kids *love* being with my sister. I wish we could be together more.

I have to say, having a loss like this really shows you how kind people are. We had so many people bring meals. We received lovely cards from people we really don't know all that well. People came to the memorial service who had never met my mom, but who just cared about us. People from the nursing home and hospice were there. And the love that all the people who care for my dad have showered on him is awesome. I am just humbled. If you are reading this, you know who you are...thank you. I am honored to be your friend.

---Katie