We started our Tuesday out at about 4:15 a.m. in Guam -- flew to Tokyo and sat around there for five hours or so -- then flew eight hours to SFO -- and it was still only 9:30 a.m. Tuesday when we arrived. We're keeping ourselves awake and are planning to avoid bed until later tonight -- which means we'll have been up for 35 hours straight (at least that is the goal).
Both the dog and the cat are extremely happy to see us. The frog, on the other hand, isn't all that expressive -- although I'm sure he really missed us.
Our heads are still spinning a bit. But it's good to be home. Although, I already miss Guam -- especially the wonderful PIBC community.
WHINING TOURISTS
Some of the wealthy Americans who didn't evacuate from Cancun before Hurricane Wilma hit are complaining that the US government has been slow in responding to their needs. Apparently hundreds of Americans -- perhaps thousands -- are stranded down there in the aftermath of the storm -- many in emergency shelters.
It's great that the American government can help out as much as it does. But the government is not under any obligation to go running around the world to rescue every US citizen who puts him- or herself in harm's way. It's not the government's job to charter cruise ships to get all of the Americans out of there. These people are fully capable of taking responsibility for their own relief. They have means -- and they got themselves into the situation they're in. It's not going to hurt them to figure out how to ride the bus home.
DAILY PRAYER
My copy of the Church of England's Common Worship -- Daily Prayer arrived while I was in Guam. I know that Anglican traditionalists aren't too happy with this simplified pattern of daily prayer (they're not going to be really happy until everyone in the world is using the 1662 Book of Common Prayer) but I like what DP has done. There are several options including Morning and Evening Prayer. My favorite, though is "Prayer During the Day," which is a flexible but ordered pattern of prayer that can be used for individuals doing a quiet time or even a small group.
Another resource out of the Anglican pool which I think will be helpful to pastors, even those in "non-liturgical" traditions, is the New Zealand Prayer Book.
"BIRTH-CONTROL -- NOT LIBERALISM"
The decline of mainline church membership over the last century had more to do with sex than theology, according to research by a trio of sociologists.
The popular notion that conservative churches are growing because mainline churches are too liberal is being challenged by new research that suggests a simpler cause -- the use of birth control -- explains most of the mainline decline.
Ah, what about "new birth" control? That is, mainline churches on a whole no longer believe in evangelism. Thus they are not producing new followers of Jesus. That tends to lead to rapid decline in a generation or two. I can figure that much out -- and I wasn't even a math major.
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AMERICAN HERO ROSA PARKS
The negro woman who was arrested for refusing to give up her seat on a bus, sparking the civil rights movement, has died at the age of 92. Rosa Parks was an American hero -- although I doubt that she saw her simple act of defiance as heroic. True heroes rarely think in such terms.
GOOGLE BASE
The next slice of bread appears to be an online database.
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