The Free Liberal: Good to the Bone

What is sad is to read the responses to this posting.

The Free Liberal: Good to the Bone:

Jared Gray is an 18-year-old high school student who works as a janitor for Southern Utah University. One day he found a bag of cash lying in the parking lot, obviously one of the school’s deposit bags.

The bag was labeled with the amount: $108,000.

Jared didn’t hesitate to return the cash, saying he was raised to be honest. To express their gratitude, SUU officials will give him a scholarship if he attends the university.

Most people would applaud Jared’s honesty. Sadly, though, not everyone. A number of people, posting to the CBS News website, called the young man a “loser” or “stupid” for not keeping the dough.

Apparently, they assume it’s reasonable to steal whenever one is unlikely to get caught. If so, wouldn’t it also be reasonable actively to pursue such opportunities — in short, to become a career criminal?

That makes we who work “suckers.”

If you’re going to live a moral life, it’s common sense to live it on principle. This means you don’t become an entirely different person, a crook, when it’s allegedly “easy” to do so. Easy, that is, for a person of poor character.

Starting life as a crook would have blighted Jared’s whole life. Instead, now he’ll always be able to recall his easy good deed with pride; and, happily, people who know him will be able to trust him . . . stuff that’s more valuable than money itself.

The Best Linux Web Resources

Great list of Linux Web Resources...

The Best Linux Web Resources: "I have compiled a list of what I believe to be the best web resources for the Linux operating system. I have used all of these sites, or projects from these sites, over the years in my Linux ventures and continue to use some of them on daily basis."

A Peculiar Prophet: Advice for New Pastors, Part Three

Thank you, Bishop Willimon!

A Peculiar Prophet: Advice for New Pastors, Part Three: "Try not to listen to your parishioners when they attempt to use you to weasel out of the claims of Christ. Much of the criticism that you will receive, many of their negative comments about your work, are just their attempt to excuse themselves from discipleship. “When you are older, you will understand,” they told me as a young pastor. “You have still got all that theological stuff in you from seminary. Eventually, you’ll learn,” said older, cynical pastors. Now it’s, “Because you are a bishop, you don’t really understand that I can’t….” God has called you to preach and to live the gospel before them and they will use any means to avoid it. Be suspicious when people encourage you to see the transition from seminary to the parish as mainly a time finally to settle in and make peace with the “real world.” Jesus Christ is our definition of what’s real and there is much that passes for “the way things are” in the average church that makes Jesus want to grab a whip in hand and clean house."

'Missing Link' Still Missing, Say 'Ida' Skeptics| Christianpost.com

'Missing Link' Still Missing, Say 'Ida' Skeptics| Christianpost.com: "And that goes double for Young Earth Creationists, who believe God created everything as it appears today and did so over the span of six 24-hour days.

They say claims that a “missing link” has been found or a “critical gap” in evolution has been filled only prove one thing – that there still are missing links and critical gaps up to that point and thereafter as such discoveries have skeptics even among the scientific community.

“Evolutionists only open up about the lack of fossil missing links once a new one is found,” notes Answers in Genesis, a self-described apologetics ministry that believes in Young Earth Creationism.

“[T]he best ‘missing links’ evolutionists can come up with are strikingly similar to organisms we see today, usually with the exception of minor, controversial, and inferred anatomical differences,” the ministry wrote Tuesday on its website.

“If evolution were true, there would be real transitional forms,” it argued."

Please! There is no conflict between Science and Faith. Science informs us on how things came to be. Our faith informs us on why.

Hermeneutic: Finding an Appropriate Model for Making Disciples

Hermeneutic: Finding an Appropriate Model for Making Disciples: "I like that word: metaforgotten. From the Greek work μετά in the sense of beyond and, of course, forgotten. It would be a word that has taken on a new meaning beyond the original. We see many examples of this in the Church and in the Bible. One of the most obvious for me is shepherd. What exactly is a shepherd and what is its significance as a metaphor in the Church? How many church people have even seen a real shepherd and sheep?"

Why The UMC Should Not Create Regional Conferences: Repost « Dancing on Saturday

Why The UMC Should Not Create Regional Conferences: Repost « Dancing on Saturday: "My friend Tom Parkinson, fellow Duke Div student and candidate for ordination in the UMC, has written a thoughtful, insightful essay about the upcoming amendments to be voted on at Annual Conference this summer. He has asked me to post it on my blog as a means to encourage conversation surrounding this very important matter. If there is someone that would like to have an essay posted from a different perspective please email it to me and I will be happy to post it here. In the meantime, please feel free to comment below. Thanks, Tom!"

Baptist Press - FIRST-PERSON: Defunding Planned Parenthood - News with a Christian Perspective

Baptist Press - FIRST-PERSON: Defunding Planned Parenthood - News with a Christian Perspective: "Despite its name, Planned Parenthood is all about preventing children from being born -- and you and I are helping to foot the bill. By law, taxpayer dollars cannot fund abortion. But organizations with privately funded abortion programs are eligible for public funds if they are used for other purposes. The truth is, Planned Parenthood is, by far, the nation's largest abortion provider, performing more abortions every year. In fact their 2007-08 annual report shows an increase of more than 15,000 abortions in 2007. Even though it turns a huge profit, the organization receives more than $300 million in federal funding annually. Its leaders say they keep the money on the contraception side of the operation."