Apr
18
Fasting-if? why? how?
Filed Under Around the Church, Christian Living, Prayer | Leave a Comment
Here’s a link to an article from Christian Reformed Church minister Harvey Smit called “Fasting: Guidelines for Reformed Christians“. There’s good material here, even though I’m not as hip to Lent observance as he is. Don’t let that get in the way.
From the same CRC site is this testimonial from Pastor Jeffrey Carlson of Cheekiowaga, New York about his congregation’s maiden voyage into a day of prayer and fasting.
One more: if you’re an Old School Presbyterian, you’ll love Samuel Miller’s work on fasting, which first appeared in an 1831 issue of The National Preacher.
Apr
17
FPC Bible Conference-April 20-23
Filed Under Around the Church, Missions, The Church | Leave a Comment
At FPC Kosciusko we are prayerfully anticipating our annual Bible Conference this weekend with Dr. Elliott Greene. Details about the conference are at fpckosciusko.org.
We greatly enjoyed having Dr. Greene with us during our World Mission Conference in October, 2006. Our FPC folk and others may be interested to hear a sample of Dr. Greene’s preaching available from New St. Peter’s Presbyterian Church in Dallas, Texas, which is Dr. Greene’s home base. New St. Peter’s has called him as assistant pastor/missionary. It will make you look forward to what Dr. Greene will preach this weekend for us. For more about Dr. Greene’s ministry, the Tyrannus Hall Foundation for Pastoral Development, click here.
One more thing for our FPC folk: remember that the Session has called for a day of fasting and prayer for Thursday, 19 April, in advance of the Bible Conference. Check the Sweet Dropper and fpckosciusko.org over the next day or two for additional resources regarding fasting and prayer.
Apr
17
Historian Alwyn Ruddock may have discovered evidence of the oldest church building on the North American continent. North America’s oldest church may lie beneath the town of Carbonear, on the eastern coast of Newfoundland. Ruddock’s research centers on a 1498 voyage of English explorer John Cabot. Accompanying him on the voyage was a group of five or so Italian friars, led by one Fra Giovanni Antonio Carbonaro. It seems that Cabot’s voyage continued down the eastern coast to the Caribbean (this is new information as well!), but without the Italian friars, who apparently stayed behind to establish a religious colony in Newfoundland.
As with all intriguing discoveries, there is a catch: Ms. Ruddock died in late 2005 and left specific instructions in her will that her papers be destroyed. Among the destroyed items were her 40 years of research on the Cabot expedition of 1498, which was almost ready for publication. Other historians are trying to piece together as much as they can of Ruddock’s work. An interesting portal into this story is available at LiveScience.com.
Apr
16
Tragedy at Virginia Tech
Filed Under Tragedy | Leave a Comment
Foxnews is currently reporting that a gunman killed 32 and injured another 21 today on the campus of Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, VA. Pray for everyone affected by this tragedy but pray especially for the pastors who will lead their people and the students through this devastating event.
I’m specifically asking you to pray for the pastors who I know are in that city from my own denomination. Pray for Chris Hutchinson and Kyle Kockler, pastors of Grace Covenant Presbyterian Church in Blacksburg, Va. I was just with them last week at the Twin Lakes Fellowship. Especially pray for J. R. Foster who is the RUF campus minister at Virginia Tech.
Apr
16
For Good and Evil–a review
Filed Under Books, Culture, Reading | Leave a Comment
Federal and state income tax returns are due tomorrow for most of us in the U.S. Jesus has told us that we must ‘render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s’ [Matthew 22:21]. I think it’s a good time to talk about Charles Adams’ book For Good and Evil: The Impact of Taxes on the Course of Civilization (Lanham, MD: Madison Books, 1993). Adams is a former tax attorney turned author and college professor who has written a number of books over the last twenty or so years about the history and philosophy of taxation. For Good and Evil is his attempt to write a history of taxation, beginning with the three roots of modern Western civilization–ancient Greece, Rome and Israel. Adams’ thesis is that behind most of the great events of history–the rise and decline of empires, liberty and slavery and war–is a tax story.
Most interesting is his sweep through biblical history highlighting the tax issues that are clearly evident in the texts themselves. Also, his chapters on ‘The Rocky Road of Early American Taxation’ shed light on the colonists’ struggle with Britain (and Britain’s rather reasonable case that the taxes they sought to collect in America were modest and were to be spent entirely in the colonies for their benefit and security) and the War Between the States (why tariff and tax collections trumped states’ rights and slavery as reasons to load the cannons) are worth the price of the book. The book’s final section, ‘The Monster That Laid the Golden Egg’ tells the story of how modern American and European governments discovered and clumsily implemented the most lucrative and powerful means of taxation in world history–the income tax. Much of it will make you angry, especially if you carry English or Celtic blood in your veins.
No matter where you stand politically, no matter whether you think you pay too much or not enough in taxes, For Good and Evil provides a compelling, witty tour of the history of taxation. I think of Alexander Pope’s couplet from the 18th century: Who ever hopes a faultless Tax to see /Hopes what ne’er was , is not, and ne’er will be.
Apr
16
Happy birthday to you; I hope you won’t sue…
Filed Under Culture, Fun, Music | Leave a Comment
You’ve probably noticed that the ubiquitous chorus Happy Birthday to You almost never appears in films or television programs. You may have heard it explained that Paul McCartney and/or Michael Jackson own the copyright to the song and charge an exorbitant licensing fee for authorized use of the tune. That is only partially true. Neither McCartney nor Jackson (please stop singing ‘Ebony and Ivory’–that means all of you…I mean it!) own the rights, but the company who does has deep pockets and an itchy trigger finger when it comes to enforcing their rights. For more on the history of the most widely-known song in the English language (yes, even more widely-known than Sinatra’s My Way), you can read Mark Steyn’s history on his ‘Song of the Week’ feature.