Monday Roundup

MY WEB
My Web 2.0 is Yahoo's social search engine (still in beta) and my new way of organizing links. I'm having a blast going through and tagging all of my links. Eventually, I will eliminate my "links and connections" page and replace it with a personalized public version of My Web. Earlier on I had experimented with del.icio.us but found it clunky and not very intuitive for my way of thinking.


CHINESE ECO-CITIES
The growth of China has created an environmental disaster zone. Help is on the way. British engineers are entering into a multi-billion contract with the Chinese authorities to design and build a string of 'eco-cities' - self-sustaining urban centres the size of a large western capital - in the booming country. Link


IRS THREATENS CHURCH OVER SERMON
The IRS has threaten All Saints Episcopal Church in Pasadena, California, with revocation of their tax-exempt status, because of an anti-war sermon preached there. I'm generally not on the same page as the All Saints people but on this one... It does seem quite ludicrous to say that the church is engaging in politics because they questioned the morality of war --regardless of whether one agrees or disagrees with the church's assessment. (via)


DR DAN CLENDENIN CALLS IT AS IT IS
On November 15 the publisher Tyndale House will release The Regime, the fourteenth book in the Left Behind series that celebrates its tenth anniversary this year. When Tim LaHaye and Jerry Jenkins published the first volume entitled Left Behind in 1995, who in their wildest imagination would have predicted that this series would sell 62 million books, not including auxiliary products like music, greeting cards, calendars and movies? These books are neither good theology nor good literature, but they comprise an astounding economic juggernaut. Multiply 62,000,000 books by $20.00 per book and you have more than a billion dollars in sales. Clearly, Tyndale House has translated pseudo-prophecy into mega-profits for itself and its authors.

Potboiler fiction injects an element of frustration into examining the second coming of Christ, for there is an inverse relationship between its wildly popular influence and its value for Christian edification. Further, they make an easy target for cynical secularists who parody them. That's nothing new, though, for pagans scoffed at the early Christians for their hope in the second coming of Christ: "Where is this 'coming' he promised? Ever since our fathers died, everything goes on as it has since the beginning of creation" (2 Peter 3:4). Despite these drawbacks, the Left Behind books have at least one redeeming feature. They remind us that millions of ordinary people have a palpable longing to understand a fundamental and deeply human question that every person ought to considerÂ?how, when, and where will human history end? Link


NEWSPAPER TREND
Newspaper readership continues to decline.


DRY COLD
Randall Friesen has started a photoblog. He is one of the best photographers I know. I really enjoy his pictures.


ANCIENT CHURCH RUINS DISCOVERED
A digging prisoner has discovered the oldest known church ruins in the Middle East -- dating back to the third century -- prior to the time when churches were known to have had their own buildings -- decades before Constantine legalized Christianity. Two mosaics inside the church -- one covered with fish, an ancient Christian symbol that predates the cross -- tell the story of a Roman officer and a woman named Aketous who donated money to build the church in the memory "of the god, Jesus Christ." That's how you know it's a real church building -- they couldn't help but sticking donation plaques on the artifacts. :-)


THE CALIFORNIA EXODUS
Last year 500,000 Californians left the state for other places in the US -- places less expensive. Among those who left were our neighbors who moved to Arkansas. Right now another neighbor has his house on the market and is talking Arkansas, too.


FAVORITE CHURCH WEBSITES
Each Monday I'm featuring a link from my favorites list. These are church websites, most of which are off the beaten path, at least for Americans. This week I draw your attention to Hillside Covenant Church in Walnut Creek, California.

I am planning to be at Hillside for portions of the next two days doing interviews with candidates for ordination and ministerial licensure in the Evangelical Covenant Church.