Random

• The family of Raoul Wallenberg's until now untold story ~ link

• Southeast Asian economies are contracting and people are leaving the bloated cities -- returning to the family farms. Will this be a hic-up in the long-term global trend of urbanization or long-term reversal? ~ link

• Paul Harvey is gone -- the end of an era. He was a great radio personality because of his ability to tell a story -- often in a sentence or two. He did for the radio what Twitter is trying to do for the blogosphere. ~ link

• Quotable:

...Google never forgets.

Of course, you don't have to be a drunk, a thief or a bitter failure for this to backfire. Everything you do now ends up in your permanent record. The best plan is to overload Google with a long tail of good stuff and to always act as if you're on Candid Camera, because you are. ~ Seth Godin

• After years of decline the number of Roman Catholic priests worldwide is on the rise. ~ link

• Invest 11 minutes to understand the Crisis of Credit -- the complex made understandable with visuals ~ (thx)

Random

• UC Berkeley researchers have found that "children born in the high mold season, which generally encompasses the fall and winter months, have three times the odds of developing wheezing - often an early sign of asthma - by age 2 compared with those born at other times of the year." ~ link

• Dan Johnson reflects on the mission conference that was attached to the Covenant Midwinter gathering. The emphasis was on the holistic nature of the church's mission. ~ link

• Eric & Karyn have a slideshow of their Thai experience (they stayed a few days longer than we did and went several more places). ~ link

• AP: "The new bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Northern Michigan is an ordained Zen Buddhist." ~ link

• Phillip Tallon reviewing Scot McKnight's The Blue Parakeet: "On the one hand, McKnight makes biblical interpretation seem fun. On the other, he clearly shows that biblical interpretation is a messy process." Spot on. ~ link

• Quotable:

...I learn that Ramesh and his wife are headed into Northern India soon to plant a new church. It dawns on me right then, in a humid coffee shop in Delhi, that true radicalism has horrible pay, it takes years to see its fruit, and it requires that quiet, under-the-radar kind of love for people that Christ gave his life for. God is not speaking more profoundly to the good-looking loud ones... ~ Mike Barrett

• And now the Osteen Study Bible -- sort'a -- groan. ~ link

• Speaking of...



(via)

Random

• Rocky Mountain News closing today ~ link

• "When you're drowning in red ink, its time to get a new pen." ~ Horace Glump

• Sam's Club going down in Canada ~ link

• I realized that I had the only blog in the world without a link to everything's amazing, nobody's happy -- so I am now doing my duty. ~ link

The quirky form

Before we landed in Manila last week the Philippine Airlines flight attendant handed me a copy of the Philippines Bureau of Immigration "Disembarkation Card" (which we didn't really need because we were in transit). It was a most unusual government form because the bottom third of the declaration was a full color ad for Tanduay Rhum. Then I noticed that if you want to contact this government bureau with your immigration questions you could do so at their hotmail.com (!) address.

My guess is that there are some creative minds behind what at first appears pretty quirky. Unable to get appropriations to print the forms mandated by law (and necessity!) they sell advertising to pay for them. Unable to get an unresponsive bureaucracy to issue a proper government email account they do an end-run around the system and sign-up for a free hotmail account. Knowing a fair number of Filipinos (Filipinos are the largest population group on Guam) and their ability to make a little go a long way, that's my guess as to how this came about.

There are a lot of places in the world where you have to be pretty unconventional if you're going to get the job done. I suspect that the Philippines is one of them.

Random

• It sounds like things are deteriorating south of the border. Arizona students are being advised to not go to Mexico for spring break this year because of the increasing violence. Typically thousands of Arizona college students drive to Puerto Peñasco (Rocky Point) on the Sea of Cortés (Gulf of California), just a few hours drive south of Arizona, for a week of partying during spring break. ~ link (thx Sean!)

• Concise interview with Dave Olson on why the American church is in crisis ~ link

• Christianity Today has launched a new blog Imago Fidei -- "Each day, we'll update the blog with a photograph, painting, design, or sculpture that shows Christian life or expresses our faith." ~ link

• The Billy Graham Evangelistic Association is laying off 10% of its staff -- 55 employees. ~ link

• Contrary to pundit predictions about the internet swallowing TV, television viewing in the US is at an all-time high -- averaging just over 5 hours a day. All things considered I have a hard time believing this. I like television -- I enjoy watching a little -- I'm not at all anti-TV -- but there is just not 5 hours of programming a day that is worth watching. ~ link

• Alisa Miller talks (4 minutes) about why Americans are so unaware of what is happening in the rest of the world (embarrassingly so sometimes). It's not that we're uninterested in what's happening out there. ~ link (thx)

Random

• Today is Ash Wednesday -- the first day in the season of Lent. Lent is the 40-day period (not counting Sundays, which are seen as "mini-Easters") of preparation for Holy Week and the celebration of Easter. In ancient Middle Eastern cultures people put ashes on their bodies to signify remorse for their sins and that they are turning away from sinful behavior.

• The Church of England is sending out daily tweets for Lent. I received my first one this evening. ~ link

• We had our first Wednesday night Lenten service at LCG this evening. I've come to look forward to doing the Holden Evening Prayer service each Wednesday during Lent. ~ link (selections 13-18)

• Propelled by economic pressure will the three-year college degree catch on? ~ link

• Hearst says they may close the SF Chronicle. It's just one paper after another. The transition from print media is happening a lot faster than I expected. ~ link

• Apparently several members of the Evangelical Covenant Church of South Sudan (ECCSS) were among those caught in the crossfire and killed during the fighting between militia and government forces. ~ link

• PIBC rocks! There is a quarry a few hundred meters from PIBC and they were blasting today -- more so than I've ever experienced in our nearly 3 years here. I few times I almost went through the ceiling.

New American church stats

Last week Gary Walter, the president of the Evangelical Covenant Church, told us at the gathering of Asian missionaries that the Covenant grew by about 6% last year. We're a small denomination (about 800 churches -- maybe a constituency of 350,000 people) so we don't show up on too many radars. But maybe being small and low-flying is a good thing in such matters.

The figures for other groups are out and this is what the National Council of Churches' 2009 Yearbook of American & Canadian Churches is reporting -- the top 25 North American religious groups (in terms of size -- but not necessarily vitality or impact). Some of these bodies are listed as "no changed reported" year after year -- which suggests that they are not being totally honest about their statistics or they have no clue as to what is happening. Either way I am guessing that they are in decline (and denial), too. These figures also do not take into account the phenomenal growth of non-denominational churches.

• The Roman Catholic Church, 67,117,06 members, down 0.59 percent. (Ranked 1)
• The Southern Baptist Convention, 16,266,920 members, down 0.24 percent. (Ranked 2)
• The United Methodist Church, 7,931,733 members, down 0.80 percent. (Ranked 3)
• The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 5,873,408 members, up 1.63 percent. (Ranked 4)
• The Church of God in Christ, 5,499,875 members, no change reported. (Ranked 5)
• National Baptist Convention, U.S.A., Inc., 5,000,000 members, no change reported. (Ranked 6)
• Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, 4,709,956 members, down 1.35 percent. (Ranked 7)
• National Baptist Convention of America, Inc., 3,500,000 members, no change reported. (Ranked 8)
• Presbyterian Church (USA), 2,941,412 members, down 2.79 percent (Ranked 9)
• Assemblies of God, 2,863,265 members, up 0.96 percent. (Ranked 10)
• African Methodist Episcopal Church, 2,500,000 members, no change reported. (Ranked 11)
• National Missionary Baptist Convention of America, 2,500,000 members, no change reported. (Ranked 11)
• Progressive National Baptist Convention, Inc., 2,500,000 members, no change reported. (Ranked 11)
• The Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod (LCMS), 2,383,084 members, down 1.44 percent. (Ranked 14)
• The Episcopal Church, 2,116,749 members, down 1.76 percent. (Ranked 15)
• Churches of Christ, 1,639,495 members, no change reported. (Ranked 16)
• Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America, 1,500,000 members, no change reported. (Ranked 17)
• Pentecostal Assemblies of the World, Inc., 1,500,000 members, no change reported. (Ranked 17)
• The African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church, 1,400,000 members, down 3.01 percent. (Ranked 19)
• American Baptist Churches in the USA, 1,358,351, down 0.94 percent. (Ranked 20)
• Baptist Bible Fellowship International, 1,200,000, no change reported. (Ranked 21)
• United Church of Christ, 1,145,281 members, down 6.01 percent. (Ranked 22)
• Jehovah's Witnesses, 1,092,169 members, up 2.12 percent. (Ranked 23)
• Christian Churches and Churches of Christ, 1,071,616 members, no change reported. (Ranked 24)
• Church of God (Cleveland, Tenn.), 1,053,642 members, up 2.04 percent. (Ranked 25)

Random

• "Dr Joe" Aldrich, a man used by God in some wonderful ways, has died. ~ link

• Walmart is hiring 300 workers for their new store in Maricopa, Arizona. I keep telling people that I'm going to get a part-time job as a Walmart greeter to help out once we get to Arizona. It will either be that or hopefully something else -- at least during the start-up phase of the church plant ~ link

• When we were walking into the grocery store late yesterday afternoon we looked up and saw a lumbering Stealth B-2 bomber preparing to land at Andersen Air Force Base on the north end of Guam. I've seen them before but I never get used to them. They are the spookiest thing in the sky.

• Brazen Nigerian scammers tried to wire $27 million out of Citibank. ~ link

• Quiznos says they're going to give away a million free sub sandwiches. But there is a price for "free." They want your information. ~ link

• In a really clever use of television/YouTube/blog the Jack in the Box people have been running a storyline this month putting Jack in a coma after being hit by a bus. They have a history of dramatic fun. In 1980 (or thereabouts) they blew Jack up on television -- only to resurrect their iconic figure a few years later.

Jacks is offering a coupon for two free tacos today as a gesture of support. I was tempted to jump on a plane for Hawaii (4,000 miles away, location of the nearest Jacks to us) so I could show my support. The really good news for West Coast Americans is that El Pollo Loco seems to be taking competitor's coupons these days. ~ link

• Americans are cashing in their gold jewelry. They're even having "gold parties" in each others homes (think of flipping the Tupperware model around so the guests are the sellers). ~ link

• Retirees are re-entering the US job market --

During past recessions, older workers simply would have retired rather than searching want ads and applying for jobs. But these days, with outstanding mortgages, bank loans and high medical bills, many of them can't afford to be out of work.

With jobs so scarce, people in their seventh and eighth decades are up against those half their age in a desperate scramble for work. ~ link

• Some of the locals in Seal Cove, Newfoundland, went out onto the frozen bay to cut holes in the ice -- rescuing stranded dolphins. Nice story. ~ link

American Express' new assumptions

American Express is offering a $300 pre-paid card to some of its customers if they will pay off their high credit card balances between March 1st and the end of April.

This suggests that at least one credit provider is starting to look at their approach to business in a new light. It's not healthy for either the customer or the company if the cardholder is carrying an outrageous card balance. The chance of default goes up in correlation with the outstanding balance.

Why didn't they see this before? The previous assumption was that the consumer's net worth would always increase and that generally speaking the value of their assets would continue to grow. The current economic hic-up has proven that assumption wrong. So now the company better recognizes that perhaps the customer's best interest are also their own. It sometimes takes a crisis to revive common sense.

Random

• Technology, how it is embraced and integrated, drives the generation gaps, according to new Barna research. I wonder if this has not always been true. The issue at hand in this time is that we are experiencing more technological innovation at a pace unimaginable in the past. The greater the explosion, the greater the hemorrhaging between the generations. ~ link

• Ten deadly trappings of evangelism ~ link (via)

• Wall Street Journal:

Much as Pakistan is fighting for survival against Islamic radicals, Mexico is waging a do-or-die battle with the world's most powerful drug cartels... The U.S. Justice Department said recently that Mexican gangs are the "biggest organized crime threat to the United States," operating in at least 230 cities and towns. ~ link

• Yet another of America's great newspapers has filed for bankruptcy protection. The Philadelphia Inquirer and Daily News are trying to restructure $390 million in debt. ~ link

• It's not all doom and gloom out there. The US still leads the world in manufacturing output -- in a big way -- and it is moving upscale, following the profits. ~ link

Random

• Today is Transfiguration Sunday ~ link

• County Bank, based in Merced, California, was our bank when we lived in Turlock. We have several friends and acquaintances working for them. However, now that the bank has failed their jobs are all in jeopardy. Ouch. Lord, grant them mercy. ~ link

• While we were in Thailand the television stations on Guam went ahead and switched over to a digital signal (in spite of the recent stall by the Obama administration). I am happy to report that the world didn't end, the island didn't sink, there was no rioting, and people using antennas started receiving better signals.

February slideshow

Featuring some of our pictures taken at PIBC and home. However, most are from our trip to Thailand.



Put cursory over the slides to bring up control panel to pause pictures or click here to see the whole album at once.

Jim Peterson has uploaded his outstanding photos of our conference in Thailand here.

Spacious Condo in central Mangilao, Guam

Info update 17-April-09
Our condo is now "on the market." If you know anyone who might be interested point them this direction, please.

Link to MLS listing

Here are the details:

• $153,000
  
• 1,350 square feet
• 3 bedroom/2 full bath
• great floor plan
• large master bedroom with spacious closet
• very clean & in excellent condition
• good neighbors in complex
• 1st floor for convenience and lower energy costs
• central air conditioning
• 4 ceiling fans
• tile floor throughout
• inside laundry with lots of shelves
• lots of kitchen cabinets
  
• includes stove, refrigerator, and garbage disposal
• covered patio/lanai
  
• 2 assigned parking spaces
• low monthly common area fee of $150, includes landscape maintenance, garbage, outside insurance, and cable TV
• accordion typhoon shutters; concrete block construction
• built in 1993
• central location close to UOG, GCC, George Washington High School -- easy walk to Super Mart, Dominos, Winchells, Michelle's
  

Contact our agent: Kishin Advani, (671) 777-3728, email

Park Villa Condos H-1, Corten Torres Street
2 blocks from Hwy 10
turn @ the light by Winchell's/Dominos

We're back on Guam...

and more-or-less functioning
within normal parameters --
pretty good for 4 hours sleep.
We'll be joining our LCG friends
in a few minutes. The only other
big expectation today is the
PIBC staff potlock tonight.
And then there is a week's
worth of laundry.

More pictures later. For now,
here is Cheryl with a Thai friend.

Random

• We are on the move today -- Bangkok to Manila -- layover for a few hours -- and then we fly from there to Guam -- arriving very early Sunday morning. On the way out we were on the same plane as Mary Johnson who was headed toward Indonesia. We're supposed to meet up with her again in Manila.

• No surprise -- the food banks in the US are picking up lots of customers these days -- up 30% over last year. "Once a crutch for the most needy, food pantries have responded to the deepening recession by opening their doors to what one pantry organizer described as 'the next layer of people,' a rapidly expanding group of child-care workers, nurse's aides, real estate agents and secretaries who are facing a financial crisis for the first time." ~ link

• Nice run down on the types of citrus that grows well in home gardens -- the list is for San Diego County but a lot of this will work in other sub-tropical climates, too. ~ link

• Churches can use Google Ad-words to get their message out -- low cost -- very effective in many contexts. ~ link

• USA Today: "Phoenix-area real estate picture grim" -- This is right smack in the middle of the area where we're thinking that we'll be working to develop a new church. We need creativity as we look for ways to not only connect with people but to help many deal with the whole housing crisis and the clouds that hang over them. ~ link

Random

• We're still in Bangkok dodging buses and motorcycles -- and 8 million people. We did manage to run into both of the people we met at breakfast when we were out shopping later on. Small world. I'd load up some pictures but we're still having trouble getting consistent internet connections.

• Starbucks is brewing up a line of instant coffee which will be called Via. ~ link

Random

• Migrating birds in the Northern Hemisphere are not flying as far south in the winter these days. They don't need to. ~ link

• Worthwhile government activity -- the European Commission is demanding that the mobile phone companies adopt a single, standard phone charger. ~ link

• The US and Japan have signed more paperwork -- moving the US Marine relocation from Okinawa to Guam closer to reality. This is good news for us as each positive indicator in this project keeps the real estate market hot. And since we're working on selling our condo now... ~ link

• The US military is developing a high powered paint ball gun as a non-lethal weapon. ~ link

Alive and well...

but the internet connection is a little fickle at the place we're staying. Thailand is beautiful -- people are great -- more later...

Random

• We arrived in Bangkok where the air looks like LA in the '70s -- but the people are great. Travel was uneventful. So far today I've transacted business in US dollars, Filipino pesos, and Thai bahts. Tomorrow we travel south to the resort where the Covenant gathering will be held.

• Doug Pagitt, pastor of Solomon's Porch, is running for the Minnesota Legislature. ~ link (thx)

Random

• Iowa lawmakers are playing with an idea which would radically alter the way that the the Electoral College system functions -- and they'd do it without a constitutional change. They have my vote. ~ link

• We're packing tonight because we head to the airport at 4 a.m., tomorrow. We're off to the gathering of the Covenant missionaries who work in Asia at the New Travel Beach Resort, in Chantaburi, Thailand. This is a good time to get away because the weatherman is predicting that nighttime lows on Guam are going to drop to a bitterly cold 76° over the next few days.

Random

• Cuba has launched it's own Linux based OS -- which they're calling "Nova." ~ link

• Of course, at this point someone will chime in and tell the story about how GM blew it by trying to sell Novas in the Spanish speaking market. "It sounded too much like 'no va' -- which means 'no go' en Español." But that whole story is a no va urban legend. ~ link

• "Ice Church in Swedish Lappland offers white winterland wedding." Crazy Swedes. ~ link

• The world is changing! Muzak, the elevator music company, has filed for chapter 11. ~ link

• Beth Bilynskyj's "Cookies, Christ, and the Koran" is a tasty little apologetic. And it sounds like she has some sharp high schoolers in the church youth group. They ask good questions. ~ link

• They're finally retiring the Palm operating system. It lived a good life. ~ link

• Iran, which has bought into CNG big time (and cleaned up the air in doing so) claims to have made the world's most powerful natural gas car. Cool! We should honor their efforts. If the quality of life in Iran continues to improve they're not going to want to risk losing it by waging a war. ~ link

• LifeWay, the Southern Baptist publishing arm, has launched SongMap. Users download sheet music and audio files after they "make custom arrangements in the keys they prefer and from the specific sections of the songs they select -- such as verses, choruses and transitions." I had trouble getting the website to work right in Chrome, Firefox, and IE. They may just be a little too popular during this start-up phase. ~ link

• Islanders are worried that the economic stimulus plan is not only going to not benefit them but that it will also cost them. The issue has to do with the unique way that the tax system is administered out here. ~ link

There are really only three solutions: (1) scream bloody murder, (2) temporarily (or permanently) raise sales taxes to make up for the loss (the taxes on Guam are extremely low compared to the rest of the US), (3) seek a revision in the Organic Act which defines the relationship of the US to the Territory of Guam. All of the above.

Signs of economic pulse

• The Mexican grocery chain Pro's Ranch Market is expanding in Arizona -- opening a store in Mesa which will employ 400 people (seems like a lot of employees). ~ link

• Intel plans to beat the economic downturn through innovation --

This is a shrewd move by Intel. The economic downturn means potentially reduced consumer spending on electronics. So instead of pushing out its planned line of CPUs in bulk, and running into the recession headlong, Intel's simply revised and consolidated its efforts to bring next-gen technology to the market even sooner. And that also places it well ahead of rival chip-maker AMD, whose own 32nm chips aren't due until 2011. ~ link

• 8 tuition-free colleges ~ link

Random

• Start stocking up on "forever stamps." The US Postal Service is raising the cost of a first-class stamp to 44¢ on May 11th -- a 2¢ increase. But it's still a great deal -- considering how much energy it takes to move a letter from one place to another. ~ link

• More site trivia from Google Analytics -- 51% of my blog visitors use Firefox; 32% use Internet Explorer; 13% use Safari; 2% use Chrome; 1% use Opera -- and there is one person who still uses Netscape (the browser that started it all -- congratulations on holding out -- whoever you are).

• The economy isn't totally stalled out. Walmart is pushing for expansion into urban Chicago. And in suburban Phoenix, both In-N-Out Burger and Chick-fil-A are setting up in Queen Creek. Intel has announced that they are spending $7 billion to set-up for the production of the next generation 32-nanometer chips -- including $3 billion in the Chandler, Arizona factory. There's still some chump change floating around out there.

• The sons of Mervyn Morris, the founder of the now defunct Mervyn's department store chain, have purchased the name "Mervyn's," the house brand labels, and "all its Internet-related intellectual properties." Apparently they are thinking of reestablishing the chain. That would be an interesting comeback. I unloaded trucks for Mervyn's for awhile when I was a university student. ~ link

• Meanwhile, Mervyn's arch nemesis, Kohl’s, has acquired 31 of the former Mervyn's buildings -- recently closing the deal on five of the properties. ~ link

Random

• According to Google Analytics only 1.49% of the visitors to this site are carried here on a dial-up connection.

• I don't know that I've mentioned my brother's graphic design business in a long while. He does good work. ~ link

• I took my evangelism/discipleship class on a field trip tonight. We did exegesis of a mall.

• Last month, for the first time, there were more auto sales in China than in the US. Kirk, has been shopping for a car in SoCal -- hoping to help out the US economy. ~ link

Random

• Jennifer Figge, 56, has become the first woman to swim across the Atlantic. And it only took 73 days -- burning 8,000 calories a day. I think I need a goal like that -- something outrageous. ~ link

• Fortunately, we had just finished cooking supper right before the power went out tonight. Fortunately, it came back after 10 or 15 minutes. That's the way it happens here. We don't have hours and hours of rolling blackouts that a lot of the other islands experience but just somewhat regular short pesky infrastructure malfunctions. Compared to many (most?) places in the world we are fortunate. Compared to what it could be or should be...

• I used some of the Amazon commission money to pick up a copy of the Global Dictionary of Theology for the PIBC library. When it arrived I was so impressed that I got online and ordered another copy for myself! I had the same problem when I worked in bookstores. I ended up buying as many books as I sold. This one is worth it, though -- especially if you want to hear from some international voices as you think through theological issues. Perhaps every church library needs one.

• I don't want to argue over the causes of climate change -- seems futile. But there are indicators that there could be a reshuffling of weeds -- which might be a good thing -- or devastating -- depending on where you live. There are just so many implications of climate. ~ link

• Cooper Union, New York's tuition free college, has seen a 70% surge in applications for early decision this year. They accept about 8% of applicants. ~ link

• Road rage -- even on Guam -- and unfortunately it involved a firefighter. Our fire department has had all kinds of "issues" recently. This just adds to the distrust and disrespect. ~ link

• Two more "I love the Covenant" posts -- this time from John Frye and Scot McKnight. Eugene Cho had one last week. Lots of energy spills over from the Covenant Midwinter Conference into the blogosphere.

Happy B-Day Kirk

25 years! And now lower auto insurance rates!

Random

• IHOP is giving away free pancakes on Tuesday, February 24th. They're hoping that it will drum up donations for the Children's Miracle Network. Everyone wins on this one. ~ link

• I upgraded to the new Skype 4.0 -- new layout, bigger video, better bandwidth management. ~ link

Random

• I showed the movie Dangerous Calling to the international church pastors this morning. That uncorked quite a few people. Then this evening we had dinner with some of the same people and they were still talking about the movie. ~ link

• This afternoon I got caught in a small traffic jam in Mangilao. I suspect that many of the gawking drivers had never seen a street sweeper in operation before -- literally. Even I was a bit surprised to see it. This was the first one I'd seen at work on Guam. There are some places where construction practices would call for a street sweeper but usually the roads here are pretty clean because of all the rain -- rough and pitted -- untrimmed on the edges -- poorly designed -- but clean.

• IBM is moving operations abroad -- firing US employees and then giving them a chance to reapply and work in their foreign operations -- working on "local terms and conditions." At least I think that's what they're doing. Looks like a clunky maneuver sure to create more confusion than the money saved is worth. This is not your father's big blue. ~ link

• Cold Stone Creamery and Tim Hortons are hooking up to bring Canadian style coffee to the US. ~ link

Random

• The Arizona Republic ran a story on how some Christian organizations have pulled their business back from Go Daddy, the domain registrar and host, after the recent super Bowl ads. There is nothing in the story that is surprising but the acidic tone in the comments section seems extreme. Admittedly, the people who post in the comments section are not a true representation of the population but it is still amazing at how some people perceive/spin things. ~ link

• Trinity College of the Bible and Theological Seminary (Newburgh, Indiana), one of the pioneers in theological distance education, has applied for accreditation with DETC (Distance Education and Training Council) (.pdf). DETC is recognized by both the US Department of Education and CHEA -- which will make students eligible for financial aid and will add validity to their degrees. Trinity has had a somewhat tumultuous history in trying to achieve various kinds of accreditation. But this looks like a good and appropriate fit.

• Taking a cue from his predecessors President Obama has created a White House office to help religious organizations compete for federal grants, has installed Joshua DuBois, 26, as its leader, and has established a 25-member interfaith council to advise him. But it is looking like there will be more strings attached to the money than in the Bush administration. ~ link

• I'm sure that there are people thinking otherwise but I had absolutely nothing to do with picking the colors for the PIBC center in Yap. The locals are just naturally creative and artistic (or maybe Shrek green was the only color paint available on island). ~ link

• Dan Whitmarsh, sharing what he has discovered at the Covenant Midwinter Conference, notes that there there is now a Covenant church in Boise, Idaho. ~ Dan's post | Common Ground Covenant Church

• Cheryl and I were fortunate enough to join the visiting international pastors for lunch at Sam Choy's (great food at a good price) and then the tour of Underwater World. Tammy Anderson, a friend from LCG, is a terrific underwater guide! Standing in the tunnel as the sharks, turtles, and rays go overhead, literally inches away, is awe-inspiring. So many incredible creatures!

• I sealed the grout tonight. The tile job is finished!