Random

• Dan Whitmarsh is scheduled for a corneal transplant today. Keep him and his eye in your prayers. ~ link

• I created a Facebook group for Covenant ministers and missionaries. In a Facebook search box type in "Covenant Ministerium"

• Mary Lou Carruthers has taken a load off my shoulders. ~ link

• Two Guam cops have undergone training in "Verbal Judo" -- "the gentle art of persuasion that redirects others' behavior with words and generates voluntary compliance under stressful conditions..." What a great description! ~ link

• And yet another reason to vote down Prop A -- the latest initiative to legalize gambling on Guam -- we know that if the measure is defeated the advocates will turn around and put it back on the ballot again in just a few months. This in turn will create jobs for sign makers and radio announcers. The PDN will be able to sell more full page ads and the local television stations will be carrying lots of pro and con commercials. IOW, voting no for Prop A will in a slightly demented and irritating way do a lot more for the economy than actually legalizing slots.

• It looks like Robert the Senior Schuller has ousted Robert the Junior Schuller from the Hour of Power broadcast. The younger Schuller will remain as senior pastor of the Crystal Cathedral but will have no authority to do anything or initiate any changes necessary to bring the Cathedral into the 21st century. It's the same old story -- a highly innovative church in the past unable to let go and fly again. ~ link

• I saw in Theology, News & Notes that at least one megachurch has made the transition. Walt Kallestad writes about the struggle that has gone on at the Community Church of Joy in Arizona as they've moved from "entertainment to worship." ~ link

• Apparently the Turkish government has banned my blog. Was it something I said? ~ link

• Mao Zedong's collective farms are now history. The Chinese government is moving to allow farmers to become landowners -- sort of. It could affect 750 million people! ~ link

• Cosmic rays from outer space expanding the huge hole in the ozone layer over the South Pole? ~ link