GroshLink

After listening to NPR's Are Dairy Farmers A Dying Breed? (Morning Edition, July 24, 2009) and Dairy Farmers Reel As Raw Milk Prices Plunge (Morning Edition, February 5, 2009), I spent some time contemplating the loss of a way of life and it's wider ramifications. Join me in praying for friends in South Central PA who are dairy farmers.

... USDA economists project this year's average milk price paid to dairy farmers will be the lowest since 1978. ...

The dairy industry has gotten some help from Washington. The USDA has subsidized farmers with more than $5 million in aid over the past few months to make up for some of the income loss. The feds have also paid dairies cash bonuses to export powdered milk.

Back on his [California] ranch, Mendoza says if he can ride out this downturn, he'd think about reopening in a few years as a small organic dairy. He could make more money per gallon for organic milk.

Otherwise, he might try and earn a buck renting his scenic farm to dairy industry advertisers. He thinks if they can take pictures of happy cows grazing near the ocean, it might encourage consumers to drink more milk.

Not sure if I'm ready for the political satire of In the Loop. But while digging into the American introduction to Armando Iannucci,* I found this dinner conversation clip from “The Armando Iannucci Show" quite a trip. Ever wonder how some people seem to drive popular dinner conversation ;-)

*Offered by The NY Times.

We're away with the ferries: THE controversial first Sunday ferry service left Lewis for the mainland yesterday - to a mix of PROTESTS and CHEERS.

It is good to find that Sabbath-keeping reaches public conversation somewhere in 'the modern world.'  But how do followers of Christ practice and go about encouraging Sabbath-keeping?  In what manner does Sabbath-keeping extend beyond the people of God?  Some questions for the day.  Have some other tasks to attend to, hope to share reflections later.  Earlier I posted some links related to the topic at Sabbath-keeping.

How clean is the electricity you use?

Thank-you to my friend who posted this neat EPA widget that takes your zip code and electricity provider, and tells you where your electricity comes from.  Not surprisingly, the public power offered in Northern Lancaster County, PA, is a near even coal (45%) and nuclear (38%) with some oil (9%).  Three Mile Island Nuclear Power, Peach Bottom Atomic Power Plant, and Brunner Island Coal immediately come to my mind.

While I was in Pittsburgh, the power was 73% coal, and 22% nuclear. How does yours compare? Try it out at let me know.

If you're unfamiliar with Dr. Robert A. J. Gagnon's (associate professor of New Testament at Pittsburgh Theological Seminary) research and writing on homosexuality, I would encourage you to check out What Does the Bible Say about Homosexuality?  This 28 minute on-line video post is part of a series of materials available through Pure Passion.

Good morning!  Who needs coffee when one has Coca-Cola? 

In a recent on-line political conversation, a friend shared the below commercial and I was wondering is this the original I'd Like To Teach The World To Sing?  If not and you know the proper link, please pass it along.  Thank-you.  Note:  At present, this is just curiosity. 

The other morning Theresa and I had a breakfast conversation regarding various election concerns including universal health care which combined private and public elements.  I must confess no silver bullet hits home for me as we muck around in the messy nature of the fallen-ness of creation, human culture, and individual/familial/societal sinfulness.  None-the-less, may God grant us as the people of God, an extension of the Kingdom of God, the grace to step forward in the blessing of others and the creative redemption/re-creation of our families, neighborhoods, towns/cities, society, culture, and world.  Join our family as we make this a focus of our prayers today.

A friend recently asked me what I knew about the faith of Rastafarians. As I pushed away the cobwebs of my mind, I remembered some conversations in Jamaica regarding the Queen of Sheeba, King Solomon, the Ark of the Covenant, Jesus Christ, and Emperor Haile Selassie I of Ethiopia. After sharing some of these reflections, I pulled some links together and I'm posting them here for reference. Note: If you have suggestions regarding additional material or particular insights regarding the faith of Rastafarians to pass along to my friend, please post them here. Thank-you.

This question came up as part of an on-line discussion group AND it caught my attention as I've been reading Carlton O. Wittlinger's Quest for Piety and Obedience in preparation for the August Brethren in Christ History and Values course taught by E. Morris Sider (Note:  more from the course as I get to it).  Here's some material from Wittlinger's Quest for Piety and Obedience which I shared:

So what is the 4th of July all about as I look at the rain fall, most probably washing out a bbq/pool party today (and possibly again tomorrow)?  How about this inspirational part of the NY Times Op-Ed Looking for Liberty:

It is romantic to think that Benjamin Franklin, the greatest printer of his day, was there in Dunlap’s shop to supervise, and that Jefferson, the nervous author, was also close at hand. If so, the Declaration was not only written by the founders, but perhaps set into type and printed by them as well. In every way they could, these ink-splattered geniuses willed the document — and by extension the republic — into existence. We’ll never know for sure. But as Franklin might have appreciated: print the legend.

Of course Looking for Liberty tries to point in the direction of the ways things most probably "really" happened.  For all my historical interests, there is an intuitive, utopian longing for the rich mythology to be literally accurate and to be the first step in a long journey of holding these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.  But it's just not that easy historically with regard to the publishing/printing of the Declaration of Independence, the extension of the above principles in our own nation's history, or the successful working out of similar ambitious experiments to throw off tyranny to establish self-government (whether the French Revolution or the various issues in countries throughout Africa to the present day). 

Let it rain.  Today is not all about the bbq's/pool parties, but instead a celebration of how we understand our relationship with our neighbor both local and international (and dare I say with respect to our Creator/Judge).  Take some time to explore more about the Declaration of Independence (on a related topic, Ellen enjoyed learning more about Besty Ross), Day of Independence, Fourth of July, and the history of the celebration of the Day of Independence.  

Join me in praying for justice from God the Father to rain/reign and bring peace on earth through His Son's Kingdom worked out through His people by His Spirit and through common grace, incomplete at this time but coming to full fruition.  Come quickly Lord Jesus that we might have true life, liberty and happiness, received only in submission to the Father.  

Recent developments within evangelicalism continue to fascinate me, no more so than all the press given to the evangelical political crack-up.  I wouldn't be surprised if George Marsden's chronicling of the rise of the Moral Majority for CMU's history department several years ago awakened my curiosity.  Once again Kevin finds pieces of interest, Among Evangelicals, A Transformation: They're not 'cracking up,' as some contend, or hope; they are, however changing (Peter Wehner, National Review) gives a little bit more than Breakup of the Religious Right.  Here's the section I found particularly insightful: 

Thank-you to Kevin for the forward of Stephen V. Monsma's, Research Fellow, The Henry Institute, Calvin College, response to reports of the Breakup of the Religious Right.  After having worked through the NY Times Magazine's lengthy The Evangelical Crackup (and surveyed numerous blog postings on the topic) it was good to something brief which pointed in a helpful direction. The part which I appreciate the most is given below: 

Here's an excerpt from Signs of hope in film and television. Helpful piece. Take some time in the midst of all the Christmas media, to pray for the industry as a whole to not just raise the big questions and make money off of Christian audiences, but also to be moved by the Spirit to embrace the Big Picture given to us by the Word of God.

Political issues rarely come up on our blog, but my friend Kevin has passed along several pieces which I commend to you.  The first is Joe Loconte: Mitt Romney's Step of Faith and the second is George Weigel's Church and State (Note: for a different angle on the speech see Mitt Romney Is No Jack Kennedy). Here is an excerpt near the beginning of Loconte's piece:

Brought back March of the Penguins from the library.  I think I'll watch on film instead of joining the North to South March of the Penguins to see the March of the Penguins.  Articles of interest: Cruise ship goes down off Antarctica and Misgivings Rise Along With Antarctican Tourism.

 

Thank-you to Kevin who passed along Evangelicalism Today A Symposium: Six Evangelicals Assess Their Movement. Well worth the read. As in previous conversations of this sort, I appreciate David Lyle Jeffrey's contributions the most.

I have been tagged by Derek on his blog College Transition Initiative in the search for five little-known treasures of the blogosphere in order to put to death our blog boredom. What a trip! Here's a few which will provoke thought and/or spiritual formation, 2 of them would not know who I am and 2 I only know in passing:

Thoughts on God and Truth (Daniel Morris)
Notes from a Byzantine-Rite Calvinist (David Koyzis)
The Virtual Abbess (Triadial Abbess from The Abbey)
Standing on my head (Father Dwight Longenecker)
kata ta biblia (Patrick George McCullough)

Anyone else have recommendations?
Note: just thought of Bradley Wright's Weblog and thought I'd add a link to my post The Late, Lamented Personal Web Page.

On Sunday, October 14, Valerie from Brethren-in-Christ World Mission (BIC-WM) shared a presentation regarding Islam in the United Kingdom (UK), note:  mentioned in Prayer: A week in mission. Some material she shared from a 2001 census and Muslim's in London, 2006 Report by Greater London Authority include the following:

Islam in the UK
1.4-2.9 million
2. More than 1,500 mosques and 5,000 Quaranic schools
3. Muslim groups have identified the UK as their Gateway to the West4. London has been called the policitcal and evangelistic center of Islam

Places of origin of London's Muslims, with the first four being particular high:  (More)

Residents of central Pennsylvania routinely receive much larger exposure from natural sources in their environment, Penn State said.

For all my get back to the earth friends, check out the Books and Culture review of Think Globally, Eat Locally: Novelist Barbara Kingsolver and her family undertake a grand experiment.

Looks like a great book, maybe someone can drop a copy of it in the mail so I can turn to it after coming back from the Professional Recyclers of PA (PROP) Conference, where I'm intending to make contacts and go to seminars for ideas to increase recycling in Mt. Joy Township.  Here's part of the review: 

What's most distinctive about Kingsolver's book is that it is a family effort. Daughter Camille contributes her own college-age perspective and seasonal meal plans and recipes. Kingsolver's husband, Steven, an associate professor of environmental studies at Emory, provides hard facts in his sidebars, including oil use per year per citizen, food production and poverty, and the best way to find local farms that sell direct to consumers. One particularly good essay explains why buying from local U.S. farmers actually benefits rather than hurts farmers in developing countries.

Kingsolver stresses that her book is not a how-to aimed at getting readers growing and producing all their own food. Rather, her desire seems to be to promote greater understanding of our relationship with food, and of our food sources and food choices.

PS. As I prepare this post Theresa's picking carrots, lettuce, and tomatoes with Eden and Firas. The green beens didn't do so well this year and our strong crop of snow peas have finished producing. Don't think we'll plant radishes next year, they were a little hot for most of the family members :( Lots of squash and zucchini picked and more growing around the house, but we're still waiting on the pumpkins. Loved our digging into various backyard crops of our neighbors including: hull peas, strawberries, wineberries!  All the kids like collecting eggs at the chicken house . . . maybe someday we'll have some of our own roaming the back of 1834/1844, then again probably not.

A number of our fellowship gatherings have focused a considerable amount of prayer on the state of the mainline Protestant denominations and the future direction of the institutional structure(s) of the Body of Christ. Particularly, how is one part of an evangelical, faithful local congregation which is under the authority and/or in relationship to a larger fellowship seeking its own understanding?

 (More)

Last night, I had the opportunity w/a few friends to see Superman Returns in 3-D at an IMAX theatre (note: only 3-D for selected scenes). It was an odd rewrite of the original movie series (I won't spoil it for you), but in general I liked the film. Although the director, Bryan Singer, comes from a secular Jewish perspective, he could not help but emphasize the savior elements of the Superman ethos. The world doesn't need a savior. And neither do I encapsulates the theme of film. Although the tradition is somewhat challenged by Lois and Richard in this film, I have to laregly agree w/Peter T. Chattaway

Today marks the death of Muhammed in 632. A confirmation of his mortality. While preparing for a Sunday School Class on Islam, as part of a series on World Religions, I came across the following quote in Muhammad: Legacy of a Prophet (2002 PBS special recently used by Muslims at an outreach on CMU campus) w/regard to Muhammad's death:

Whoever worshipped Muhammad, then knew that Muhammad is dead. But whoever worshipped God, know that God lives on and never dies . . . a danger inherent in religious tradition is that the object of worship becomes the messenger and not the one sending the messenger.

Looking to brush up on what the world was like in 1981? Take a moment to read through and reflect upon Mission Impossible: Your Commitment to Christ, Billy Graham's presentation at Urbana 81. He finishes with the powerful personal story given below, which drives home the challenge There are a thousand things you can do with your life, a thousand things for which you can spend it. But how many of them will enable you to say at the end of your life, "No reserve, no retreat, no regrets"? Father, I rejoice in the gift of life to be about your work today on CMU campus. Speak into the skills, relationships, and opportunities that you have set before me. Empower me with your Spirit in order that I might live under the Lordship of Jesus Christ that as I reflect on my days I might too declare "No reserve, no retreat, no regrets."