Random

~ Gävle’s Christmas Goat Burns! But it wasn't the really big one. On Christmas Eve "Vandals" attacked and burned a smaller goat built by a high school science club. Last year the smaller goat was attacked and burned on December 20th. I suspect that no one is surprised. After all, Jul goats are historically associated with mischief. The large goat, built with fire retardant straw, was not affected. -- Link

~ "Tithing can be a good investment" -- Link

Unfortunately, we've somehow communicated that tithing is a spiritual investment of some sort -- rather than an act of worship.

~ The bottom line: America’s liberal and progressive flocks may pride themselves on their work on behalf of racial reconciliation, but if you are looking for diversity in actual church pews on a typical Sunday morning, you are much more likely to find it in an Assemblies of God congregation than in the typical church in the “seven sisters” of the mainline world. -- Terry Mattingly, writing about the growing diversity in the American church

~ Washington Post story about one example of the growing international church movement in the US. -- Link

~ The ELCA has decided to buy environmental indulgences -- Link

~ The new US energy bill signed into law last week outlaws inefficient incandescent light bulbs by 2012 -- not necessarily all incandescent bulbs but just the inefficient ones. (Are there yet any efficient ones?) I doubt that people are going to wait until 2012 to get rid of their incandescent bulbs, though. When I was in the States last month I saw the name brand CF bulbs selling for less than $3 each. The shelf space in the stores for incandescents is shrinking. -- Link

Now that we've solved that problem, how are we going to dispose of the toxic CF bulbs when we're done with them?