I was reading the Los Angeles Times on Sunday, April 7, 2019, and this article caught my eye: “150-Year-Old Priestly Heart Tours the U.S.” I had to read the title again. Yes, that’s what it said. Unbelievable! It seems the real heart of a Roman Catholic priest, John Vianney, has been set in a little … Read more
John 11 tells the story of Lazarus’s death and resurrection. In the King James Version (KJV), John 11:39 says that Lazarus had been dead for four days when Jesus visited his tomb and that “he stinketh.” John 11:35, the shortest verse in the King James translation, reads, “Jesus wept.” Annie and I usually eat dinner … Read more
“‘It’s Really Hard to Be a Catholic’: The Pain of Reading the Sex Abuse Report” is an eye-catching headline in the August 16, 2018, issue of the New York Times. The world has grappled with the issue of Roman Catholic clergy abusing children for decades. The problem never seems to be resolved, and maybe it … Read more
One of my favorite subscriptions is a weekly called The Spong Newsletter. It’s distributed by ProgressiveChristianity.org, which I suspect is on the Forbidden to Read List for some Christian sects. On March 9, David Felten, a Methodist pastor with a congregation in Fountain Hills, Arizona, published “How to Repeal and Replace Christianity’s Addiction to ‘Fake … Read more
A friend gave me What Pope Francis Really Said (Servant Press, 2016). Interesting book! Now, mind you, I like Pope Francis. He’s a breath of fresh air and an inspiration, especially compared to the last two popes who were trying to move the church back to the fourteenth century. However, for me, the jury is … Read more
My father was an Episcopal clergyman. He thought he was a Christian. My mother was born and baptized a Methodist but became an Episcopalian when she married my father. She, too, thought she was a Christian. I was baptized when I was three weeks old in the Episcopal church, but my parents said later it … Read more