There will always be a point in the future when you can get that degree, serve on that board or committee, write that book, take that trip, make that career move. But your children will only be children for a very short time.
That’s Brian McLaren when he came to Harambee for one of our luncheons. That’s me in the background. What you can’t see is a group of 60 or so, mostly Fuller Seminarians, who came to the event.
Kafi is with some girls from Harambee Preparatory School.
What a great shot. It’s Albert Cuellar from Young Life Bay Area, moi, and Dr. Manny Ortiz from Westminster Theological Seminar in the City of Brotherly Love.
I was a tenth grader
lying on my bed
Sunday afternoon
alone in the house
looking out the window
at the clouds moving across the sky
listening
the holy spirit tutoring me
as the synapses fired in my brain
as I thought about things I had seen and heard and experienced
the holy spirit explained these things to me
“see, this scripture connects here”
it was just me and God
that’s how it all started
His claim that Islamic extremism has turned some parts of Britain into “no-go” areas for non-Muslims led to fierce rows between political and religious leaders over the impact of multiculturalism on this country.Those comments were followed soon after by the Archbishop of Canterbury’s suggestion that the adoption of aspects of sharia law in Britain was “unavoidable”….
Yet, in his first interview since the sinister calls were made to his home, the Bishop of Rochester remains steadfastly defiant. He will not be silenced. “I believe people should not be prevented from speaking out,” he says. “The issue had to be raised. There are times when Christian leaders have to speak out….”
Threats were made warning that he would not “live long” and would be “sorted out” if he continued to criticise Islam.
“If you disagree, that must be met by counter-arguments, not by trying to silence people. It was a threat not just to me, but to my family. I took it seriously, so did the police. It gave me sleepless nights.”
However, it’s not the first time that his life has been endangered.
Shortly after being made a bishop in Pakistan - at 35 he was the youngest in the Anglican Church - he was forced to flee to Britain to seek refuge from Muslims who wanted to kill him.
He says that he never expected to suffer the same treatment in Britain and expresses concerns over recent social developments.
“The real danger to Britain today is the spiritual and moral vacuum that has occurred for the last 40 or 50 years. When you have such a vacuum something will fill it.
“If people are not given a fresh way of understanding what it means to be a Christian and what it means to be a Christian-based society then something else may well take the place of all that we’re used to and that could be Islam.”
Here’s Nazir-Ali’s bio. He and his family are in my prayers. The entire article is worthwhile.
I just gave myself a May 1 deadline for finishing my book manuscript.
Mr. Geldof praised Mr. Bush for his work in delivering billions to fight disease and poverty in Africa, and blasted the U.S. press for ignoring the achievement.Mr. Bush, said Mr. Geldof, “has done more than any other president so far.”
“This is the triumph of American policy really,” he said. “It was probably unexpected of the man. It was expected of the nation, but not of the man, but both rose to the occasion.”
“What’s in it for [Mr. Bush]? Absolutely nothing,” Mr. Geldof said.
This article says that Geldof was to interview Bush for Time magazine.
Today is Pasadena’s Black History Parade. I’m part of a group of clergy who will march together at the tail end. This group is organized by the Clergy Community Coalition. Last year was the CCC’s first time marching as a group in this parade. Our presence was well-received. People seemed to appreciate seeing pastors on the streets and not just in the church. Below are some parade links from local papers.
— Pasadena NOW: Today will see Black History Parade and Festival
— Pasadena Star-News: Muir security guard to receive top honor
I might upload photos from the march. Maybe. We’ll see.
Michael Yon, writing from South Baghdad:
Money is ammunition in a counterinsurgency, and commanders have learned to use it effectively at local levels. They say it is better to open schools, build sidewalks and clean up soccer fields than buy tanks or lethal weapons.
When I read the above quote I thought, “This is probably true for working with urban gangsters, too.”
Yon is reader-supported. Basically, he’s like a missionary who raises individual support. His mission is to accurately report on the U.S. military’s efforts in Iraq. He welcomes reader support via contributions in any amount. Consider supporting him. I do.
BBC: And in your situation you see the reality of what Sharia law can be.BK: We have experienced it. We know it and in the last nine years full blown Sharia law has been introduced in at least 11 states in Northern Nigeria, and what the church are experiencing in these states is, to say the least, unbearable.
BBC: How surprised are you that a Christian Archbishop should have suggested, in some circumstances, that Sharia might be an appropriate part of the legal system in a country like Britain?
BK. I am shocked. I am disappointed. I am in total disbelief. Because my hope is that when he, Archbishop of Canterbury, comes to Nigeria for example, and he comes to visit us, we will take him to our leaders, some of whom are Muslims and some of whom are Christians, and he can then speak on our behalf where we are not having a fair share. Can we now look up to him as a man who can speak on our behalf? You all know about the cutting of hands in Zamfara State. You remember the case of the woman in Kaduna State who was going to be stoned to death. All of those kinds of things are what we now are saying that we must examine carefully the implementation of Sharia and we are putting our discussions across with our own Muslim friends around here.
BBC: The Archbishop was very clear that he did not want to see those sorts of inhuman punishments, he called them, implemented in Britain. Is there a danger that this argument is getting confused?
BK. It is not confused at all. Because once you ask for the first step of Sharia law you are going to get to the last of it. By 1960 when Nigeria got Independence, it began as penal code. Once it came to this generation they upgraded it to full blown Sharia. So it is only a matter of time when you begin from somewhere that you get to the real thing.
Not a good situation.
Wait, I just got an email.
Think about this the next time you hear someone say the phrases, “corporate greed” or “he/she is in the pocket of Big Business.”
UPDATE: I’m gonna look more closely at these figures, as there is a good debate in the comments section of the above-linked post as to how much XON really paid.
Dang - I wish I had blogged this before checking out Drudge. I would have predicted, for California, victories by Obama and Romney. Then the Drudge hed sed Obama’s got a 13 point poll lead over Clinton and Romney is 7 up on McCain. The people around me who are voting Democrat are ALL talking about ObamaObamaObama DidYourHearObama’sWifeSpeak? ObamaObamaObama SheWentToHarvardLawToo ObamaObamaObama. The Republican voters around me are either in despair or repeating to themselves, “We are already mega-taxed. We are already mega-taxed.”
Me?
I’m concerned about Supreme Court vacancies. Give me more Thomas and Scalia.
UPDATE: I was wrong. Hillary beat Obama in Cali:
Clinton’s victory here was powered by overwhelming support from Latinos, who made up nearly 30% of California voters.
