my burg

The following reports were given at a men's prayer group at our church recently.  Myanmar, Oct 20. Myanmar's military junta has bombed and burned down two Christian churches in separate attacks in the country's predominantly Christian regions.  Columbia, Oct 19. Pastor beaten to death by gang members, in Cartegena. A growing crisis facing Christian leaders in Colombia, where criminal organizations increasingly target pastors who challenge their influence.  Pakistan, Oct 10. Dozens of Christian families have reportedly fled their village in Pakistan's Punjab province after a Muslim mob set fire to the home and pharmacy of a Christian father of three accused of blasphemy.  Syria, Oct 5. Christians and other religious minorities in Syria have suffered violent attacks, with 11 killed.  France, Oct 15. Jews and Christians are suffering focused attacks and looting, during the recent massive riots.  Ghana, Oct 4. Christian evangelists in Ghana and the Nether...

I have begun reading What's Wrong with the World? by G. K. Chesterton (1910; Sophia Institute, 2021). Here's a highlight from the first chapter:  "This is the arresting and dominant fact about modern social discussion; that the quarrel is not merely about the difficulties, but about the aim. We agree about the evil; it is about the good that we should tear each other's eyes out. We all admit that a lazy aristocracy is a bad thing. We should not by any means all admit that an active aristocracy would be a good thing. We all feel angry with an irreligious priesthood; but some of us would go mad with disgust at a really religious one. Everyone is indignant if our army is weak, including the people who would be even more indignant if it were strong. The social case is exactly the opposite of the medical case. We do not disagree, like doctors, about the precise nature of the illness, while agreeing about the nature of health. On the contrary, we all agree that England is u...

This is just a short post to recommend to all of you the benefits of being in a reading group . I guess you could also call that a "book club". I'm not sure there's really a difference.  There were four of us, now three, who began eight years ago to meet every other week to read and discuss a book, from which we would read and discuss a few chapters at a time.  Our pattern, along with the authors we chose, was loosely based upon the Oxford Inklings -- C. S. Lewis, J. R. R. Tolkien, Charles Williams, and their friends. That was the circle of literature we were interested in.  To date we have read over thirty books , including works by Lewis, Chesterton, MacDonald, T. S. Eliot, and Boethius. Modern works included books by Alan Jacobs, Peter Kreeft, Thomas Howard, Harry Blamires, and Michael Ward. We also sampled poetry W. B. Yeats and Robert Frost.  The benefit of a reading group is accountability, or at least some level of friendly accountability. To be sure, we all ...

While on our neighborhood walks, my wife and I would see garden gnomes in some of the yards,  and we had a bit of word play, which we'd share with grandkids, and now here... -- What do you call a garden gnome who is by himself? a gnome alone -- What do you call a gnome out west? gnome on the range -- What do you call a garden gnome in the city? a metro gnome -- How does a garden gnome his hair? a gnome comb -- How does a garden gnome hide his baldness? with a gnome over -- What do you call a gnome by another name? a gnome de plume -- How does a gnome name his children? using gnomen-clature -- Where do garden gnomes come from? Gnome, Alaska -- What do you call an unmarried female gnome? Miss Gnomer -- What is unique about gnome DNA? it has a ge-gnome   -- What do you call a gnome with lots of children? a poly-gnomial

Every now and then I rearrange my top ten or fifteen of what I consider to be classic Christian works that every Christian should read or be familiar with . Excluding works of fiction, poetry, and the larger works of theology* here are my current top 15... On The Incarnation , Athanasius. The Confessions of Augustine . The Consolation of Philosophy , Anicius Boethius. [ New to the top 15 ] On Loving God , Bernard of Clairvaux. Pensées , Blaise Pascal. Commentary on Galatians , Martin Luther. The Pilgrim's Progress , John Bunyan.   Religious Affections , Jonathan Edwards. Christianity and Liberalism , Gresham Machen. The Inspiration and Authority of the Bible , B. B. Warfield. Life Together, Dietrich Bonhoeffer. The Everlasting Man , G. K. Chesterton Mere Christianity , C. S. Lewis. Knowing God , J. I. Packer. The Cross of Christ , John R. W. Stott. * Recommended fiction : George MacDonald, and anything by the Inklings (J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, etc.) Poetry : George Herber...

Here are the most recent reports of persecution against Christians around the world, as compiled by one of the elders at our church:  Pakistan, Feb 25. Christian family's ancestral home was allegedly taken over by a Muslim lawyer who accused the homeowner of blasphemy. Churches have been attacked, homes burned by mobs, and individuals imprisoned or killed following accusations under Pakistan's blasphemy laws.  Ukraine, Feb 24. Protestant congregations in Ukraine have been particularly targeted with raids, closures, and intimidation, with Moscow aggressively seeking to reshape the religious landscape to serve its political and military objectives.  Iran, Feb 23. A sharp rise in arrests and mistreatment of Christians in Iran, particularly converts, accusing the Islamic Republic of increasingly using national security laws to suppress religious dissent.  Uganda, Feb 23. A 33-year-old man in eastern Uganda was allegedly killed by his Muslim father after converting to...