Presidential Prayer

Day 37 is up at Avoiding Evil.
Day 38 is at Spare Change.

Posted by: Warren Kelly at 10:44 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 17 words, total size 1 kb.

95 Theses

Everyone knows what today is -- Reformation Day. The day good little Christians go door to door, nailing tracts to the front of their neighbor's houses.

Ok, not really -- and I've just about run that joke to death this year -- but today is one of those pivotal moments in history. The Reformation has made an impact on every aspect of society -- not just religion.

I really don't have much new to add to the discussion. So I'm going to check out the old blogroll, and show you all the Ref. Day posts that everyone else has made today. You can find the theses at Phil Johnson's place.

• Matt Hall points out that Luther probably wasn't looking for a direct conflict with Rome -- he most likely wanted some dialog on the subject of the theses. He also recommends a couple of books on the Reformation for further reading.
• Tim at Challies Dot Com talks about the lack of awareness among many evangelical churches that today is Reformation Day -- or at least the lack of commemoration. I know that it wasn't mentioned at our church this morning, and there are probably a lot of non-Lutheran churches that pass by the day altogether. I agree with Tim -- this needs to change. We don't have to agree with all of Luther's theology to be thankful that he had the courage to stick with his convictions.
• Sundays at Rebecca Writes are neat anyway -- there's always a sermon and a hymn, but this week is special.
• Semicolon has A Mighty Fortress posted as well, and makes a great point about politics and Christians.

And y'know -- those are the only posts I found on it today -- even on the League of Reformed Bloggers list. Maybe Tim's right. If I missed yours, let me know, and I'll make up for it by giving you a post all to yourself.

Posted by: Warren Kelly at 04:38 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 322 words, total size 2 kb.

Left-Wing Tolerance

Next time you hear about how tolerant the Left is, read this article.

And note -- this wasn't done by National Review, or The American Spectator. It was done by Slate -- not exactly a paragon of conservative reporting. This guy probably went out thinking he'd get a neat story about how conservatives mistreated him when he wore the Kerry/Edwards stuff.

I just appreciate the fact that he wrote the story anyway, since he essentially indicted his readership.

Posted by: Warren Kelly at 03:22 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 82 words, total size 1 kb.

Cruising the Blogroll

I feel like running through the 'roll this evening. So here we go!!

• Get Religion has a good summary of the whole ECUSA/neopaganism thing, including a few new developments. Fascinating stuff here.
• Matt Hall has a review of the documentary Super Size Me. I'm afraid to watch the thing, even though I don't eat much McDonalds food anymore. I AM worried, though, because my daughter loves their chicken nuggets.
• An oldie but a goodie -- Ian's Messy Desk brings us the King James Version Baseball Classic.
• Wink and Jeremy are debating the election at Parableman. Things are getting good.
• Spare Change links to an annoyingly addictive game. Gee, thanks!
• Eric Cartman sings Come Sail Away, and the Crusty Curmudgeon has it in all it's Real Audio glory.

More later. Hoping I'll get the Mark study for today done pretty soon.

Posted by: Warren Kelly at 10:11 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 141 words, total size 1 kb.

Presidential Prayer

The continuity is a bit messed up right now. I THINK that Songstress7 has it right at News from the Great Beyond, so go over there and get the straight scoop. OR you can go to Spare Change and see the official list. I'll post the next one, when I figure out what it is supposed to be.

That's what happend when you try to write a 15 page paper on middle knowledge and a 15 page paper on Philip Melanchthon at the same time.

And I know of one class I am DEFINATELY taking in the spring. Dr. Nettles and Dr. Haykin are teaching a class on the life and theology of Andrew Fuller. Thursday nights starting at 7:40 pm, at a Southern Baptist Seminary near ... well, you if you're in Louisville, KY.

Posted by: Warren Kelly at 09:10 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 139 words, total size 1 kb.

More on NeoPaganism and the ECUSA

This is my last on this topic, since I really haven't got a "dog in the fight". I don't want to sound like I'm bashing anyone -- I know several Anglicans, and have had nothing but good, helpful conversations with them -- I've even learned a few things. And you know, they were the ones who translated the KJB, so they can't be all bad ....

What I want to do here is to give everyone access to more information on this, so that they can find out the full story if they're interested.

The original liturgy can be found here. The Midwest Conservative Journal can be found here -- they have some good commentary and resources on the issue. One of the posters on PCCBoard is Anglican (he's the one I got all this info from, and is my source for all things Anglican!), and he posted an email on the subject in this thread.

My prayer is that this will show the Anglican church, and conservative Anglicans here in the US, that the ECUSA is not just wayward, but that it is apostate. My prayer is also that God will be glorified through this, and that people who may not have been aware of the state of things before will now see that they need to get themselves to one of the conservative Anglican churches that are cropping up throughout the US.

I also pray that God will keep those of us in other denominations in a proper spirit throughout this situation. The last thing we need is for a bunch of conservative Baptists or Presbyterians or just general evangelicals to pop up and start yelling "SEE!! THAT IS WHY YOU SHOULD BE IN OUR CHURCH!! WE'RE BETTER THAN THAT!!!". I know a lot of people who are grieved by this situation, and I am sure that God is not pleased at what is happening.

{edit}

Titusonenine has also got an extended discussion of this issue. Boy, there are more Anglican blogs than I thought there were!!

Posted by: Warren Kelly at 03:57 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 351 words, total size 2 kb.

Just Ramblin'

Taking a small break from writing my papers to see what's going on in the blogosphere, and figured I'd ramble a bit about a few things.

• If you have never participated in the Best of Me Symphony, you need to do it. I've gotten a big boost in readership from it -- and I didn't have to come up with anything new!
• People read this blog from all over the place -- including some places that worry me. The Department of Justice has hit my blog in the past few days -- I don't want to know why.
• A lot of Canadians read my blog, a couple of whom I know (as much as you can know someone by talking to them on the computer...)
• LOTS of college hits this time.
• Make sure you pay a visit to Bobby Griffith's Blog. He's purty smart, and stuff like that. lol I've "talked" to Bobby quite a bit at the PCCBoard forums. He's a member of the League of Reformed Bloggers, too -- even if he wasn't, he'd be on my blogroll, now that he has a blog.
• Likewise, check out The Gleeful Extremist. While we're on different pages theologically, he's got s funny take on a lot of things. That, and he was the one who beat me out for top spot in the Best of Me Symphony this week (so you KNOW he's good!).
• I'm REALLY wanting to do another Bible study at church -- one that takes several sessions, but that lets you really get into the Word. Timewise, I'm not sure it'll work just yet, but I'm hopefull. In the meantime, if you're in or around the Greenup/Ashland, Kentucky area on the 14th of November, stop by First Baptist. I'm preaching either in the morning service or the evening -- I'm not quite sure which I'm going to get yet. When I find out, I'll let everyone know.
• If you HAVE a chance to lead an extended Bible study, check out Discovering the Biblical Jesus by Dr. Danny Aiken. Outstanding study -- everyone learned a lot, especially me!

I think that's all the rambling I'm going to do for now. I'm hoping to have the Mark study up on Saturday, and I'm pre-writing a few things for next week (it worked pretty well for this week).

Posted by: Warren Kelly at 02:49 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 386 words, total size 2 kb.

And it FINALLY happens ...

Curse it Goodbye, said ESPN.com.

Congrats to the BoSox. It's about time.

Of course, I'm in the middle of writing two papers, so how much did I see? None at all. History was being made, and I was reading Melanchthon. But I'm not bitter. No, not at all.

{edit}
Originally, I had a link to the front page of espn.com. Of course, the BoSox winning isn't always going to be the lead story, so I figured I'd take it down. If I find the thing archived somewhere, I'll post that link.

Posted by: Warren Kelly at 09:39 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 101 words, total size 1 kb.

That was QUICK!!

I had to kill a post I was in the middle of just now.

Christianity Today had a great piece on the latest outrage from the ECUSA on Tuesday. I didn't see it until this morning, and started to write it up, and let loose with a whole lot of righteous indignation. I clicked on the link to the "Women's Eucharist" liturgy .... and got a 404 page instead.

They took it down. They didn't just eliminate the links to that page from the ECUSA page -- they took the liturgy offline.

CT has a story today about it, and has a few quotes from the liturgies that they left up. There is also a disclaimer now that says that the liturgies are not official liturgies of the Episcopal Church.

This resource section is intended to provide a space for women to share their voices with one another. It is a work-in-progress and its shape will continue to emerge as we move forward. These are not official liturgies of the Episcopal Church—rather, they are a gathering of voices. Our hope with this section is to simply begin a conversation around women and our liturgical tradition as it is now. Please use them for study, dialogue, questions, ponderings, and gathering communities of worship.

Compare that sentiment to this from Monday (I hope they don't take this down, too. If they do, I'll try to find another source for it).

Especially interesting is that the recotr who wrote the missing liturgy is involved in neo-paganism. I won't qcunt and paaste everything from the CT article -- go over there and check it out, and prepare to be REALLY upset.

Unless you happen to LIKE a heavy dose of paganism attached to your celebration of Communion. In that case, I'm sure someone at the ECUSA still has a copy of the liturgy for your edification.

Posted by: Warren Kelly at 09:23 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 316 words, total size 2 kb.

Today in Church History

October 28, 312.

This whole week is huge for the Church. Luther's 95 Theses on the 31st, the publishing of the NIV yesterday -- both served as signs of change for the church.

Today's sign is bigger then either of these.

Hoc signo victor eris. By this sign, you will conquer. Those words, and a cross in the sky, changed history in an incredible way. At Milvan Bridge, Constantine became the first Roman Emperor to march into battle under the sign of the Cross of Christ.

Many people are skeptical of Constantine's true conversion. His forced baptism of entire armies makes Christians today cringe. His interference in church matters at the Council of Nicea cannot even be imagined in this day of religious liberty and separation of church and state -- imagine President Bush calling the nation's evangelical leaders together to settle the debate about Open Theism once and for all!

Whatever the cause, whether genuine or not, Constantine's conversion marked the beginning of a new era for Christianity. No longer worried about being killed for their faith, the church could settle down and resonlve some differences, make sure everyone knew what was really orthodox belief. Christian thinkers could be more open in their belief, and could turn toward persuading others to become Christians.

Then came the problem -- Christianity as the official religion. But that's for another post.

Posted by: Warren Kelly at 09:00 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 237 words, total size 1 kb.

Presidential Prayer

Day 35 is up right here.

Posted by: Warren Kelly at 08:55 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 10 words, total size 1 kb.

Missing in Action

Some of you may have noticed that the nice graphics that used to be at the very top of the page (sometimes, for some browsers, cut off by the blogger pane). Others may have noted that the link to the Library is gone.

Both have the same cause. wkelly.org is no more.

I have better things to do with the money (that I really don't have ight now) than pay to keep up a web site that I don't even update anymore. Maybe later, when I have money again, I'll get something set up that I can integrate with the blog, and open up View from the Pew version 2.0 with loud fanfare, carny acts, and baloons for the kids. But for now, the blog is the thing.

Of course, now I need a place to host my graphics. Anyone have any suggestions?

Posted by: Warren Kelly at 07:32 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 149 words, total size 1 kb.

Comment Policy

Everyone seems to have one of these, so I figured it was about time I jumped on the bandwagon. Here is my official View from the Pew Comment Policy.

1. Comment frequently. I hate seening "Comments - 0" after posting something that I thought would inspire controversy and comment.
2. I reserve the right to tell you that you are an idiot if you disagree with me.
3. I reserve the right to ban you if you call me an idiot. I probably won't do that, though -- if I stopped talking to everyone who thought I was an idiot, I'd end up talking to myself all the time. Wait a minute -- scratch that.
4. I reserve the right to not comment back -- though most of the time, I'll comment back, just to say "W0W!!! THNKS 4 TEH COMMNET !!!1111!!!"
5. If you spam me, I reserve the right to hunt you down, throw eggs at your house, tease your dog/cat/hedgehog/insert-type-of-pet-here. I'll also report you to your ISP, and make sure that you never are allowed on the Internet ever again -- I know Al Gore, and he'll do it. He invented it, after all.

Items 1-4 are obviously pretty tongue in cheek. Item 5 isn't.

Except for the Al Gore part.

But I have met Mr. T.

I pity the fool who spams my comments.

Posted by: Warren Kelly at 07:04 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 223 words, total size 1 kb.

Superblessed Awards!

It probably wasn't clear from the post, but I posted the link to the nominees before (yeah, I know -- I'm a little distracted right now! Give me a break!)

The winners are up.

Congrats to all the winners, but a special shout out too the ones I actually link to:

Most Educational: He Lives

Most Useful Christian Resource: Blogs4God
Best Blog with Online Discussion: Spare Change
And the Favorite Christian Blog of 2004: Bene Diction Blogs On

Posted by: Warren Kelly at 06:16 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 82 words, total size 1 kb.

Presidential Prayer

Day 33 is at Spare Change.
Day 34 is up also.

{EDIT!~!!!!!!}Day 34 was WRONGLY credited to Spare Change folks. It's actually at Shades of Grey. The link above has been fixed, but I wanted everyone to know. Thanks to Songstress7's post at News from the Great Beyond for showing me the error of my ways!}

Posted by: Warren Kelly at 09:51 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 60 words, total size 1 kb.

Today in Church History

October 27, 1978.

An event that would forever shape the course of evangelical dialog in America. AN event that would give rise to a new teaching, a new distinction between believers. A watershed day, one whose importance still, I would hazard, has not fully been understood or appreciated.

On this date in 1978, the New International Version of the Bible was published.

I have to admit that I was, at the beginning of the movement, a KJVOnly. I enjoyed running around pointing at people reading this new version, and informing them that they were reading the Not Inspired Version. I had great fun with that for a long time.

Then my Dad bought an NIV study Bible, to use in preparing Sunday School lessons at church.

I couldn't make fun of my Dad, and he said that it was easier to understand and read, so I decided to read it. I found out that much of what I'd been told was wrong, and I started trying to learn all I could about the translation of the Bible, and the history of the English translations of the Bible. The more I learned, the more I knew I couldn't be KJVOnly anymore.

The NIV still isn't my favorite translation. I've even been known to pull out the Not Inspired Version line from time to time, in jest. I use the ESV and the NKJV in my personal studies, and the NASB at school. I still like the King James -- it's got an elegance that is hard to equal -- the ESV comes VERY close, and that's why I like that one.

The arrival of the NIV opened the floodgates for a plethora of modern translations, especially versions utilizing the dynamic equivalence translation method. The Bible aisles in Christian bookstores look like rows of alphabet soup cans -- NKJV, ESV, NASB, NAB, HCSB, RSV, NRSV, NLT, yadda yadda yadda. Some of the translations are quite good -- others are not. Rather than complain, we should be thrilled that there are people who are reading the Bible in their own language -- whatever form of English that might be -- for the first time. And lives are being changed.

Posted by: Warren Kelly at 09:25 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 374 words, total size 2 kb.

Kristof At it Again

I've engaged in my fair share of Nicholas Kristof bashing in the past, and when I took a look at this piece in the New York Times, I figured I'd get to do it again.

Then I wandered over to blogs4God, and saw that Gary Petersen had done a much better job at it than I would have. So just go there and read what he has to say, and know that all I can add is a good hearty "AMEN".

Posted by: Warren Kelly at 01:54 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 89 words, total size 1 kb.

Best of Me Symphony

It's up at Behind the Times -- and I got second place!!! Woooo Hooo ME!!

I wouldn't be happy about coming in first loser if there weren't a bunch of great posts in this week's symphony.

Next week's effort is going to be at Yuma Tech Consortium, so go through those archives and find something 60 days old or older that you REALLY like, and send it in!

You worked hard on those posts -- they deserve to live again.

Posted by: Warren Kelly at 01:26 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 88 words, total size 1 kb.

Christian Carnival Reminder

This coming Wednesday, October 27th, is the next Christian Carnival, which will be hosted at From the Anchor Hold. If you have a blog, this will be a great way to get read, and possibly pick up readers in the process or highlight your favorite post from the past week.

To enter is simple. First, you post should be of a Christian nature, but this does not exclude posts that are political (or otherwise) in nature from a Christian point of view. Secondly please send only one post dated since the last Christian Carnival deadline, which was 10/19.

Then, do the following:

email Karen Marie at

kmknapp AT execpc.com

and please put "Christian Carnival Submission" in the subject line, so it doesn't get dumped with the spam!

Provide the following:

Title of your Blog
URL of your Blog
Title of your post
URL linking to that post
Description of the post

Cut off date is Tuesday October 26th at 10 pm Central time ---- that's Wednesday 0300 UTC/GMT, for those of you in far places.

Don't forget about this one -- I'm sending my submission in now!

Posted by: Warren Kelly at 01:13 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 193 words, total size 1 kb.

Presidentail Prayer

Day 32 is up at Spare Change.

I'll have more up here tomorrow -- I'm trying to get my theology paper done (the second paper -- got a 95 on the first one).

Posted by: Warren Kelly at 01:48 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 37 words, total size 1 kb.