Godcasting

This NY Times headline tells you all you need to know about this article: Missed Church? Download It to Your IPod.

IRS Going After Bad Hair!

It looks like the dogged and determined efforts of Ole Anthony and the fine folks at the Trinity Foundation may finally be paying off. After years of providing evidence to folks in news organizations such as NBC's Dateline, it looks like the IRS is finally taking a peek into the ministry of Benny Hinn. It's about time they got around to investigating one of the biggest weasels around. Check out this article in the Dallas Morning News.

Intelligent Falling

Sometimes The Onion comes up with an story that is pretty danged hysterical. This week they have one that pokes fun at the whole Intelligent Design theory. Check out: "Evangelical Scientists Refute Gravity With New 'Intelligent Falling' Theory."

MIA Update

A few weeks ago I mentioned that my blogging would be pretty sporadic because my Dad, who will be 78 in November, had a stroke in early July. I've been true to my word with only one or two posts a week. That will probably continue for another couple of weeks but there is a definite light at the end of the tunnel.

After a week or so in the hospital and another five in a care center, my Dad is returning home today. He's not 100% but is well on his way to a pretty complete recovery. I'm convinced he still has some good fishing ahead of him. And my Mom, bless her heart, has hung in there through all this and has gotten over quite a bit of the anxiety she has felt about my Dad's condition and is looking forward to having him home.

All that is to warn you that I'll soon be back, trolling the waters for whatever exciting crap I can find out there to share with the world - or at least the two of you who actually look at this blog every once in a while . . .

WWJA?

Who Would Jesus Assasinate? As you've probably heard, Pat "I'm Not A Pastor, I Just Play One On TV" Robertson, told his viewers yesterday that he thinks the U.S. government should bump off Venezuelan president, Hugo Chavez. Although Pat is (as usual) claiming he's been misquoted, you can read the transcript and see the clip at MediaMatters.

I have just a couple of questions for Mr. Robertson:

1. The "doctrine of assassination" you referred to - exactly where in the Bible did you find that particular theological tidbit?

2. What part of "Thou Shalt Not Kill" do you not understand?

3. Somehow you made it through your whole little rant without your usual smirky grin. How many seconds after the cameras cut away, did it take before you burst into a big "I'm So Proud Of Myself" smile?

4. Let's see if I've got this straight. Dictators in Venezuela = Bad. Dictators in Liberia = Good.

5. Is it a coincidence you look like Howdy Doody? I don't think so!

Pat, to paraphrase Bon Jovi (whose theology has got to be better than yours!), "you give God a bad name." I know Disney is contractually liable to keep you on TV until Jesus returns but I would pay them a dollar if they could just find some way to cancel you - with extreme prejudice.

Pulpit Masters

Okay, so watching preachers compete may not sound like the most brilliant concept for a reality television show, but that hasn't deterred someone from giving it a try. According to an article in the St. Louis Post Dispatch, "'Pulpit Masters,' a 10-part, one-hour weekly television series will pit 12 inspirational speakers against each other as they preach for a national audience." The real question is: Will this help reach the post modern seeker?

More beer? Not a prayer!

Somehow this sounds like the perfect life to me. Living in a monastery that brews beer. Check out this story about the St. Sixtus monastery in Belgium that says they won't produce any more beer than they need to pay the bills, even though it's been rated the best in the world.

Opie; Opus. Opus; Opie.

I'm a big Ron Howard fan and I can't wait to see how his next big project (The Da Vinci Code) turns out. I loved the book (and the prequel, Angels and Demons) even though I don't - for one minute - believe the assertions Dan Brown makes in his book. But, oh baby, is it a cool read! And the movie has enormous potential - especially with Opie at the helm. However, there is intense pressure on those involved with the film to tone things down a bit. Or maybe more than a bit. Check out this interesting article in the New York Times titled Sprinkling Holy Water on 'The Da Vinci Code'

Bad to the Last Drop

I'm a big fan of water. The Nalgene bottle my oldest son gave me for Christmas a couple of years ago is with me wherever I go. I drink so much water every day that I have to refill it 2 or 3 times. I am lucky to live in Bend, Oregon, which has some of the best water anywhere in the world. Regardless, I have long believed that drinking bottled water is kinda nuts and this column by Tom Standage in the New York Times explains why better than I ever could. Here's a few highlights . .

In one study, published in The Archives of Family Medicine, researchers compared bottled water with tap water from Cleveland, and found that nearly a quarter of the samples of bottled water had significantly higher levels of bacteria.

But despite its association with purity and cleanliness, bottled water is bad for the environment. It is shipped at vast expense from one part of the world to another, is then kept refrigerated before sale, and causes huge numbers of plastic bottles to go into landfills.

Of course, tap water is not so abundant in the developing world. And that is ultimately why I find the illogical enthusiasm for bottled water not simply peculiar, but distasteful. For those of us in the developed world, safe water is now so abundant that we can afford to shun the tap water under our noses, and drink bottled water instead: our choice of water has become a lifestyle option. For many people in the developing world, however, access to water remains a matter of life or death.

The logical response, for those of us in the developed world, is to stop spending money on bottled water and to give the money to water charities.

And there's more. You should read this article. And keep drinking water. Lots of it. The stuff that comes right out of the tap in your kitchen sink, of course. And if you think it's got bad stuff in it. let your tap run ten seconds before filling your reusable water bottle. Any gunk in the lines will be flushed out. AND if you don't like the chlorine smell, leave it open in your refrigerator overnight. The chlorine will evaporate away.

Okay, it is time for me to climb down from my soapbox. I need a drink . . .