Religion & Faith

Last night, the Indianapolis Colts and Washington Redskins made official what people had assumed for weeks: Andrew Luck and Robert Griffin III would be the first two players selected in the NFL draft.  Fans in Dallas didn’t know the Cowboys would trade up to draft cornerback Morris Claiborne.  Nor do we know how well he’ll play for his new team.  That’s the frustrating thing about the future: you can prepare but you can never be sure.

On a much more somber note, global headlines are warning of a major security surge at airports next week as the anniversary of Osama bin Laden’s May 1 death approaches.  Intelligence reports state that al Qaeda is determined to avenge the death of its founder and will focus on aviation targets.  As a result, we can expect enhanced security over the next several days.

Our 4th annual Dump Day and 30-Hour-Fast is one week away. Many have started giving early, and that is totally okay. If you do give early, please make sure you stop back by this blog next Wednesday and let us know what you gave so we can kind of keep a running total. We’re hoping to use this blog as a place to make pledges and point you to ways to make donations.  Here’s several things I want to let you know … first and foremost … understand that everything you and I give goes to the ministry at the dump. That’s important to know. (more…)

Here’s a trend that should disturb us all: American teenagers are getting drunk on liquid hand sanitizers.  The substance contains so much ethyl alcohol that it is 120-proof; by comparison, vodka is 80-proof.  As many as 2,600 cases of alcohol poisoning from hand sanitizers have been reported in California, but officials say this is a national problem.  Internet videos teach teenagers how to distill and ingest it for maximum effect.

Meanwhile, North Korea has renewed its threat to attack U.S. and South Korean military installations and “cut the throat” of anyone who defames their leaders.  South Korean authorities went on high alert after the threats.

The following is a post from my friend Marc Tindall who works in Honduras and does ministry in the dump.

This is little Marco, he is now almost 2 years old.  We took him to the doctor today because his mom, my friend Johana, has tried for about a month to get him feeling better and nothing was working. We found out that little Marco has parasites and without treatment, which cost about $20, he would have died. Since the parasites knocked his whole system out of whack, he also needed about $30 more in meds to help him out. The annual dump fund saved this little guy from dying. Dump Day 2012 will be on May 2, we need to replenish the bank. Please help. Please!

Did you hear about the man who practiced twelve religions in twelve months?  Andrew Bowen was Hindu in January, Baha’i in February, Zoroastrian in March, Jewish in April, Buddhist in May, and agnostic in June.  He practiced Mormonism in July, Islam in August, the Sikh faith in September, Wicca in October, Jain in November, and Catholicism in December.

Why?  The 29-year-old resident of Lumberton, North Carolina says he became a Christian in high school and took “a nose dive into fundamentalism.  It just ignited a furnace in me.”  He met his wife in college; they eventually had two daughters.  In 2008, when his wife’s pregnancy threatened her life, the couple was forced to abort their child.  She became more committed to her Baptist faith, while Andrew grew bitter toward God.

Jobless claims are up and sales of previously owned homes have dropped this week, leading experts to conclude that the economy may be slowing.  But here’s the good news in the bad news: more money doesn’t make us happy, anyway.  A new study in Psychological Science concludes, in words that sound like a Sunday sermon: “Money doesn’t buy happiness.  Neither does materialism: Research shows that people who place a high value on wealth, status, and stuff are more depressed and anxious and less sociable than those who do not.”

In fact, the more we think about money the worse it gets: “Irrespective of personality, in situations that activate a consumer mindset, people show the same sorts of problematic patterns in wellbeing, including negative affect and social disengagement.”  That’s psychology-speak for the fact that when people think of themselves as “consumers,” they become even more possessive and antisocial.

Every year on the first Wednesday in May, we meet here on this blog to raise money to bless the ministry that takes place at the Tegucigalpa dump in Honduras. That money provides for things like food, milk for newborns, medical emergencies, and on and on. This year’s Dump Day is May 2nd, and here are 10 good reasons you should give this year…

1. GIVE because they really needed. The people at the dump are the poorest of the poor in this 3rd world country, and if we don’t give … no one will.
2. GIVE because God wants you too. “If a brother or sister is without clothing and in need of daily food, and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and be filled,” and yet you do not give them what is necessary for their body, what use is that?” James 2:15-16
3. GIVE because God will bless you. Proverbs 19:17 says, “If you help the poor, you are lending to the Lord, and he will repay you!” (more…)

What do Jeremy Lin, Tim Tebow, New York’s Archbishop Timothy Dolan, and Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei have in common?  There are three answers to the question.  First, they are all listed in Time‘s new “100 Most Influential People in the World.”

Second, the Religious News Service describes all four as “religious leaders.” Cardinal Dolan makes obvious sense, as does Khamenei.  But who a year ago would have listed Denver’s backup quarterback and New York’s backup point guard as global “religious leaders”?

Do you like your chin?  Apparently many of us don’t.  Last year, 20,680 Americans underwent chin augmentation surgery, also known as a “chinplant.”  According to this morning’s CBS News website, this constitutes a 71 percent rise in the procedure since 2010.  “Chinplants” are the fastest-growing surgery in the country, with as many men as women choosing the operation.

A plastic surgeon creates a pocket in front of your chin and inserts an implant made of silicon or other materials.  The procedure lasts between 1 and 3 hours, and is intended to improve your jawline.  One plastic surgeon says that his chin implant clients have included many CEOs, since “people subconsciously associate a stronger chin with more authority, self-confidence and trustworthiness.”