The OOC

From the latest ByFaithOnline:

MTW Providing Relief Efforts for Tsunami Victims
Mission to the World is spearheading relief efforts for victims of the recent Tsunami in Asia. MTW is in the process raising funds to help those in need. It is also planning to send response teams through its Disaster Response Ministry (DRM). The DRM is a mercy ministry of the Medical Missions Department of MTW, created with the specific purpose of deploying trained and equipped teams to areas of disaster and need in different parts of the world. To read the MTW appeal letter, to donate funds and/or to volunteer to be a part of a response team go to http://www.mtw.org/home/site/templates/splash.asp

From OpinionJournal.com’s Houses of Worship section (“Tremors of Doubt”):

The Christian understanding of evil has always been more radical and fantastic than that of any theodicist; for it denies from the outset that suffering, death and evil have any ultimate meaning at all. Perhaps no doctrine is more insufferably fabulous to non-Christians than the claim that we exist in the long melancholy aftermath of a primordial catastrophe, that this is a broken and wounded world, that cosmic time is the shadow of true time, and that the universe languishes in bondage to “powers” and “principalities”–spiritual and terrestrial–alien to God. In the Gospel of John, especially, the incarnate God enters a world at once his own and yet hostile to him–“He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not”–and his appearance within “this cosmos” is both an act of judgment and a rescue of the beauties of creation from the torments of fallen nature.

Whatever one makes of this story, it is no bland cosmic optimism. Yes, at the heart of the gospel is an ineradicable triumphalism, a conviction that the victory over evil and death has been won; but it is also a victory yet to come. As Paul says, all creation groans in anguished anticipation of the day when God’s glory will transfigure all things. For now, we live amid a strife of darkness and light.

I thought of Mark T. when I read this in this week’s ByFaithOnline:

Find WiFi Hotspots Anywhere
The Wi-Fi HotSpot List tells you where you can connect your wireless device to the Internet. Enter any address worldwide and discover wireless locations from one to 10 miles away. If you prefer, browse HotSpots in an entire region. Click a hotspot, and you’ll get the address, carrier, protocol and even a map! Go to http://www.wi-fihotspotlist.com/

I tried the church’s address and got one hit:

• intersection of Laclede Station Road and Weil Avenue (Approximate coverage is about half a block.)

I bet Mark has discovered a few others, though. 😉

Peter Barrs and I are, perhaps foolishly, attempting to start what I hope will be an OOC tradition for years to come: a New Year’s soccer game!

All parishioners in the fellowship, as well as friends and family — anyone hardy enough to suit up in potentially cold weather conditions — is invited to play:

When: Sunday, Jan. 2, 2005
Time: right after worship
Where: Deer Creek park
Who: anyone, young or old, talented or “athleticly-challenged

We’ll plan to play in just about whatever weather, so remember to dress warmly. Perhaps a few of us can bring some snacks to eat beforehand (and some hot chocolate?), but we can also go out for some pizza afterward, too.

Closer is a tough movie. Tough, as in difficult to watch, painful to witness and hard on the spirit. And yet, it’s worth watching. I don’t recommend it to everyone, but the movie offers some profound insights into the human condition, namely into the power of sex in relationships. As that theme indicates, Closer is replete with many tremendously vulgar scenes — not necessarily graphically. In fact, the most grotesque and vile parts are during dialogue.

So why would someone want to subject himself to such courseness? Well, in spite of that — or because of it — the movie is honest. It tells the truth about many things, namely three things that Hollywood, in fact, almost always lies about:

1. There is no such thing as casual or meaningless sex. Conversely, sex cannot be divorced from real intimacy in a relationship, much deeper than many people care to imagine or admit.
2. That love is a conscious choice as much as it is an emotion or feeling.
3. That all people long to be known, but also to be able to truly trust another, especially and ultimately in sexual relationships, and that broken trust in this area is devastating and profound.

The principle, four-character cast (Julia Roberts, Jude Law, Clive Owen and Natalie Portman) illustrates the pain endured and inflicted upon each other in their relationships. I’m not sure whom I think does the best job, though Portman’s character certainly has the most memorable and truthful lines. Beware of a certain trailer for this film that presents it much more lightly and happily than it is. For all the film’s honestly, that trailer seems disturbingly dishonest after having seen it. (Interestingly, the reviewer at IMBD didn’t agree with me at all on the film’s merits.)

An interesting viewpoint on the topic of Hans’s recent moment-for-mission:

Ukraine’s Orange Revolution (named for the color adopted by the country’s reformist opposition), is a broad-based movement that brought millions of citizens into the streets to press for free and fair elections. Now it is on the verge of a dramatic victory. In just nine days, on Dec. 26, this nonviolent people-power movement will likely make pro-Western reformer Viktor Yushchenko the country’s next president.

On the surface, the Orange Revolution has had a secular look, with students, members of the middle class and workers rising up against corrupt rule.The movement has on its side the sexy Ukrainian girl group Via Gra, Eurovision song-contest winner Ruslana and the Klitschkos, Ukraine’s boxing brothers. Not to mention Sting and Gerard Depardieu.

But there is another side to Ukraine’s peaceful revolution. Interspersed with earnest youths, families and grandmothers who braved subzero temperatures at daily rallies for Mr. Yushchenko were nuns bearing orange sashes, proto-deacons and priest-monks.

The scene at Kiev’s Independence Square was part political rally, part rock concert and part fireworks display. But it was also a religious experience. Each day’s protest opened with prayer. On weekends, religious leaders held liturgies and prayer services for Orthodox Christians (whose adherents represent more than 60% of the population), Eastern Rite Catholics (10%), Protestants, evangelicals, Jews and Muslims. (Some 25% of Ukrainians say they are nonreligious.) [article truncated]

BibleGateway is updated with easier searching and more foreign-language translations. (Hat tip: Don Branson)

Mr. Pip,

Is there a way to show a “Most recent comments” section in the right column. Sorta like “Previous Posts” but with comments. I hate having to check each individual post for new comments.

Also, does Blogger create a RSS file for comments? If they do that is an easy way to track new comments: just need to add it to my aggregator.

Im curious if anyone else uses a news aggregator to collect all their news in one place. Instead of having to visit each site individually an aggregator lets you “subscribe” to a blog or news site and view their entries from one main page. I currently use the RSS Feeds in my Firefox browser to keep up with the sites I’m interested in. However it is desktop based and that means I can’t access it from any computer. Other desktop based solutions that are cool include Abilon and FeedDemon (FeedDemon costs $). The best solution is an online aggregator. I tried bloglines but I did not like the interface. I am currently using Newsgator’s online version. Give it a try and let me know what you think.

(From OpinionJournal online’s Taste page –Matt)

HOUSES OF WORSHIP

Exclusion and Embrace
Maybe the networks should air that United Church of Christ ad–and allow a rebuttal.

BY JOSEPH LOCONTE
Friday, December 3, 2004 12:01 a.m. EST

Leaders of the United Church of Christ are incensed that two TV networks, CBS and NBC, are refusing to air a commercial celebrating the denomination’s “all-inclusive welcome,” not least toward gays and lesbians. Network executives call the ad “too controversial,” while church leaders cry censorship. Both sides are missing an opportunity to elevate the debate about gay marriage.

The 30-second ad shows a beefy bouncer working a rope line outside a church. He’s keeping various people out: Latinos, African-Americans and gay couples. Words flash across the screen: “Jesus didn’t turn people away. Neither do we.” The scene shifts to the inside of a UCC church, with an obviously diverse and happy congregation. Two women embrace in the final scene.

UCC officials are explicit about the ad’s discrimination theme. “In the 1960s, the issue was the mixing of races. Today the issue appears to be sexual orientation,” says Ron Buford, coordinator for the UCC campaign. “In both cases, it’s about exclusion.” In other words, according to UCC logic, churches that uphold traditional marriage are on par with the racists of the Jim Crow South. Call it faith-based bigotry.

That kind of slur was apparently too much for NBC, whose spokeswoman said that the network objected not to the portrayal of same-sex couples in church but to the insinuation that other faith traditions routinely discriminate. Both CBS and NBC also have policies banning “advocacy” ads and cite the current debate over the federal marriage amendment. The ad has been accepted by other broadcast and cable networks, however, including ABC Family, BET, Fox, TNT and Nick at Nite.

Nevertheless, the UCC smells censorship–and worse. “By refusing to air the United Church of Christ’s paid commercial, CBS and NBC are stifling religious expression,” says UCC spokeswoman Gloria Tristani. Such decisions, she says, put freedom of speech “in jeopardy.” That’s overheated. Media outlets have a First Amendment right to reject messages they find too controversial, misleading or inflammatory…

[article truncated — click here for full article]

Over the lsat few Sundays, the sermon has touched on matters of justice. Over the last year or so I have been reading about an issue that requires justice, but it has been seemingly ignored in the MSM (Main Stream Media) until as of late. The Oil for Food UN Scandal is one of the biggest international scandals of our times. Discussion about the scandal often revolves around two fronts: 1) in connection with the war in Iraq and 2) UN bashing. I dont mention the scandal in order to bash the UN. The UN can serve a valid purpose but it is things like this scandal that weaken its legitimacy. Nor do I mention it to point fingers at war obstructionists. The exchange of favors/contracts/money for the ability to divert funds for humanitarian causes to a military bank account is plain wrong and requires justice. Keep up on the scandal by reading the UNSCAM blog.