Random

• The real estate market on Guam remains strong -- even though sales are down 40% over last year. Median price for a single family dwelling on the island is $199,100. ~ Link

• Notable: Typhoon, fire, and earthquake resistant, highly insulated styrofoam homes -- they look like something for Smurfs or forest dwarfs -- but they're cool in their own way -- great potential. A Japanese company thinks they're the wave of the future. Would a coconut flying at 200 mph bounce off? ~ Link

• The experts all predicted that we were entering into a post-denominational era. They were correct in seeing that the landscape was shifting -- but they've been just a little off. It's not that local churches are abandoning denominations altogether -- they are simply relating to them differently. And as an article in the Star Tribune points out, many local churches are now joining multiple denominations. ~ Link

• Panicked airlines are reducing the value of frequent flier miles ~ Link

• Quotable: "More than ever, I am convinced that the NIV/TNIV deserves pride of place as the translation that has captured the best balance between those twin goals, with the TNIV one noticeable step up from the NIV in both clarity and accuracy." ~ Craig Blomberg, who has worked on the translation committees for the NLT, HCSB, ESV, and the NIV/TNIV.