Here we go again.  Dateline Arlington…

Drake…said June 2 on “The Alan Colmes Show” that unless Obama repents, he is praying that God will kill the president. Drake said he believes that is what happened to slain abortion provider George Tiller, who was shot to death while attending church in Wichita, Kan., on Sunday, May 31.

Describing the interview on “The Wiley Drake Show” on Crusade Radio June 3, Drake said Colmes invited him on the program because someone had asked him about his initial response to news that Tiller had died.

“I’ve been a Baptist pastor for a long time, been in the pro-life fight, been face-to-face with Tiller, told him about Jesus, and I’ve seen many, many others tell him about Jesus over and over and over again,” Drake said. “And I’ve seen horrific things that go on in those death abortuaries — and that’s what they are — and so my initial response to those people, they said, ‘Well what was your response,’ and I said, ‘Well, in all honesty I have to just respond directly and say I am glad that he’s dead.’”

In the Fox interview, Drake, pastor of First Southern Baptist Church in Buena Park, Calif., called Obama “a usurper” and claimed he is “not an American-born citizen.” Challenged for referring to the president as “B. Hussein Obama,” Drake denied calling him that because it makes him sound like a Muslim. “I call him that because it’s his name,” Drake insisted.

Accused of holding views on the fringe of American culture, Drake acknowledged: “It is a fringe point of view, and I take that as a badge of honor. I am on the fringe.”

Drake said Southern Baptists have lost belief in “imprecatory prayer” — praying passages from the Psalms where the Psalmist is asking God to bring death and misfortune on his enemies — and need to regain the practice. (Source)

Here is my two cents.  Once again this strikes me as an unhelpful thing to say and for that matter, believe.  Thoughtful Christians can find much out of line with Scriptures in both the Democratic and Republican platforms.  If we were to stand outside of political ideologies, we might just find a prophetic voice.

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• On Rick Warren, Barack Obama, and what?

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Obama and ill wishes

The scholars say their studies found that religious people are three to four times more likely to be involved in their community. They are more apt than nonreligious Americans to work on community projects, belong to voluntary associations, attend public meetings, vote in local elections, attend protest demonstrations and political rallies, and donate time and money to causes — including secular ones.

At the same time, Putnam and Campbell say their data show that religious people are just “nicer”: they carry packages for people, don’t mind folks cutting ahead in line and give money to panhandlers.

The scholars say the link between religion and civic activism is causal, since they observed that people who hadn’t attended church became more engaged after they did. “These are huge effects,” Putnam said. (Source)

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Are Church Folks nicer?

Calvinism is back, and not just musically. John Calvin’s 16th century reply to medieval Catholicism’s buy-your-way-out-of-purgatory excesses is Evangelicalism’s latest success story, complete with an utterly sovereign and micromanaging deity, sinful and puny humanity, and the combination’s logical consequence, predestination: the belief that before time’s dawn, God decided whom he would save (or not), unaffected by any subsequent human action or decision.

Its leaders and leading voices…

Neo-Calvinist ministers and authors don’t operate quite on a Rick Warren scale. But, notes Ted Olsen, a managing editor at Christianity Today, “everyone knows where the energy and the passion are in the Evangelical world” — with the pioneering new-Calvinist John Piper of Minneapolis, Seattle’s pugnacious Mark Driscoll and Albert Mohler, head of the Southern Seminary of the huge Southern Baptist Convention. The Calvinist-flavored ESV Study Bible sold out its first printing, and Reformed blogs like Between Two Worlds are among cyber-Christendom’s hottest links.

I think it is worth looking at.  You can do so, here.

FYI, the 10 Ideas are…

* Jobs Are the New Assets
* Recycling the Suburbs
* The New Calvinism
* Reinstating The Interstate
* Amortality
* Africa: Open for Business
* The Rent-a-Country
* Biobanks
* Survival Stores
* Ecological Intelligence

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The New Calvinism, one of ten ideas changing the world right now

(Source)

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God Hates….Figs

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. —  Former evangelical pastor Ted Haggard and his wife are planning another TV appearance, this time to talk about their marriage.

The two are in Los Angeles taping an appearance on the syndicated Twentieth Television show “Divorce Court,” to be broadcast nationally April 1.

…..

The Haggards say their marriage and Christian faith are stronger than ever, and they want people to know that divorce is not the answer.

“This is part of Ted’s journey,” Gayle Haggard said. “It’s made him a better man. I see what has happened as a divine rescue.”

And here is the kicker…

The couple will be paid an undisclosed amount for the interview…. (Source)

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Haggard to appear on “The Divorce Court”

He shows up at the hottest clubs in the wee hours and spends thousands on top-shelf liquors, doling out five-figure tips like silver dollars.

He’ll send bottles of Dom Perignon to tables around him on a whim, or take a waitress out on the town for a shopping spree.

His name isn’t Diddy. He doesn’t show up in the gossip columns or the Fortune 500. He’s not even a celebrity at all.

The mystery man whose bottomless pockets have made him a legend in clubland is a young Episcopal priest from northeastern Pennsylvania. (Source)

Turns out he, Father Gregory Malia, has made a bunch of money selling health products through a specialty pharmacy dedicated to blood disorders that he owns.  Here is an example of his nights on the town.

One time, Malia – a divorced father of two – visited one downtown club and bought the most expensive bottle on the menu, which goes for $35,000.

“The included tip was $7,000 and he tipped an extra $10,000,” a staffer said. “A bad night for him is $5,000.”

Quite a contrast to my nights on the town…the Cinema Saver in Fort Collins (2 dollars before 6pm!) and a coffee.  What do your nights on the town look like?  Anything like Father Greg?

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Episcopal priest hits the nightclub scene

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• On MLK Day
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• Jeff’s Fearless Superbowl Prediction

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Pride on MLK Day

From World Net Daily…

“John 3:16″ has appeared in various forms at nationally televised sporting events over the years, but after University of Florida quarterback Tim Tebow inscribed it on his eye black for last night’s BCS National Championship game, the biblical reference became the most popular search item on Google.com.

Google Trends this morning had “John 3:16″ ahead of searches for actress Mary Lynn Rajskub and the Windows 7 beta download. Searches for the Bible verse reached a peak during last night’s game. (Source)

If you are so inclined, you can view the Google data here.

Thanks to Alabama football fan and fellow blogger Kevin Bussey for the find.

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• John Quincy Adams on the morning coffee motivational quote

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Tim Tebow, John 3:16, and Google