theology in pencil

Two Roman Catholic priests have been accused of stealing $800,000 from the collection plate of their church in the US state of Florida.

They allegedly planned to spend the money on property, holidays, gambling and to meet the expenses of mistresses.

It could be the biggest embezzlement case to affect the Catholic Church in the United States.

via BBC NEWS | World | Americas | US priests ‘in $800,000 theft’.

It would be very easy to look down on these guys but I’m posting this here not for that but because I’m just gobsmacked at the sheer scale of the embezzlement.   Last night one of the guys at a meal we were having said that he doesn’t touch other people’s money unless someone has counted it first.  It also shows why it is wise to have two people counting money!

It brings up the importance of transparency and accountability in every day life - we all have our price at which we’d cave in and are becoming better at managing our weaknesses but no-one is beyond falling which is why we are exhorted to flee temptation: we’re so ill-equiped for dealing with it.

The key, I think, is to recognise that it is very hard to make appetites just disappear.  But you can choose how to feed them - you can either drink from “earth’s broken cisterns” by caving into temptation - though that never satisfies and only ever increases the appetite - or you can drink from the living water Jesus speaks of in John 4 which not only satisfies but puts other appetites into their lowly perspective.

Many a coward has been bolstered in his conviction against challenging tyranny by not reading too deeply into the Scriptures. Yet, nowhere does the Bible ever suggest evil rulers are to be obeyed. When the rule of men conflicts with the commands of God, the Bible leaves no doubt about where we should stand.

That’s why I do not hesitate today in calling on godly Americans to pray that Barack Hussein Obama fail in his efforts to change our country from one anchored on self-governance and constitutional republicanism to one based on the raw and unlimited power of the central state.

via Pray Obama fails on wnd.com.

Interesting, very interesting.  There are some rather strong views held out there about the new president! The author goes on to say that Obama’s plans are 100% opposed to God’s plans.  100% is quite some statement.  What do you think ?

There are lots of theories about Creation and Genesis.  Many Christians hold what is known as a “young earth” view - that Genesis 1 is a literal account of how the universe came into existence around 6000 years ago.  Other Christians hold an “old earth” view - that Genesis 1 is either a metaphorical (or picture-language) account that helps us understand why we were created without explaining how we were created, or that Genesis 1 is explaining another event altogether (!) and that the universe is probably about as old as the scientists think it is.

Personally I fall into the 2nd category but I’ve never been comfortable with the gap in the fossil record (if we and every other species have evolved into their present state surely the world should be full of transitional fossils?  There aren’t many and there are almost no complete sets), nor have I been happy to interpret Gensis 1 metaphorically just because it suits current scientific understanding.  So whilst I think it is obvious that the universe is billions of years old I have always been on the lookout for a way of satisfactorily interpreting Genesis 1.

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A number of Premiership clubs, and a remarkable percentage of those who set up the Football League in the 1880s, grew out of Sunday schools - names as famous as Everton, Aston Villa and Fulham. Such teams grew out of the men’s sections of Sunday schools - Catholic, Methodist, Anglican - and started as a winter addition to the popularity of cricket in summer.

via BBC NEWS | Magazine | How Sunday school shaped Britain.

Interesting reading about what people remember of Sunday School from years ago - interesting too reading the comments - some  hostile, some with good memories.  It is good to see that the media isn’t always decrying the effect of religion upon society -  many great things have come into being because Christians made it happen.