The New York Post drew accusations of racism for printing this political cartoon that some have said compares President Barack Obama to a mad chimpanzee. The cartoon, which appeared in the Wednesday February 18, 2009 edition of the newspaper, was based on an actual incident involving a chimpanzee that severely mauled a woman and then was shot by police in Connecticut on Monday. What do you think? (courtesy New York Post/AP)
Ellen DeGeneres is an eleven-time Emmy Award-winning American stand-up comedienne, television hostess and actress. While I don't think God loves her lifestyle [she is gay] anymore than He loves heterosexuals gossiping about it [cf. Romans 1:29], I have no doubt that He loves her like crazy!!! Especially when she went out of her way to love on Gladys—an 88 year old fan in Austin, TX.
If it's the kind that goes in gastanks, yes!!! Years ago John Rockefeller conspired with Christians to crush the production of Henry Ford's alcohol fueled [!!!] Model T. But according to David Blume in his book Alcohol Can Be A Gas, anyone can purchase the materials needed to make your own, convert your car, and start giving away gas. Wouldn't it be cool if Christians got it right this time?
According to Phil Zuckerman, an associate professor of sociology at Pitzer College, it is. In an essay adapted from his book Society Without God he says many people [such as Pat Robertson, Ann Coulter, and William J. Bennet] assume that religion is what keeps people moral, that a society without God would be hell on earth: rampant with immorality, full of evil, and teeming with depravity. But that doesn't seem to be the case for Scandinavians in Denmark and Sweden.
David Neff, Editor-in-Chief of Christianity Today, Margaret Feinberg who narrates some of the coolest BlueFishTV vids, and Samir Selmanovic on the latest in FaithHouse, a NYC project combining Jews, Muslims, and Christians living in community are a few of the reasons I can't wait for the 5th Annual National Conference on Innovation in Columbus, Ohio October 4-6, 2009.
A time bank is a community of people who support each other. Are you great at email and willing to help someone who isn't? Can you help someone with yard work? Are you good at editing or party planning? Earn "Time Dollars" by offering your services to Time Bank! Then, when you need a minor home repair, transportation to a doctor's appointment, or pet care [just for example, there's WAY more options], cash in your "Time Dollars" instead of Googling help, paying someone from the Yellow Pages, or going into debt.
Many of you know I blog on Thursdays. What some of you don't know is I say a lot more on Saturdays. Recently I addressed tithing our time. Last week I wrote about tithing our talents.
Haven of Hope Toledo Inc. is the name of the non-profit organization we created last winter. Because we're a start-up organization with no full time paid director, we need all kinds of help raising and sustaining funding. Especially in this economically challenging environment. That's why I've invited the good folks from Benevon to come to Toledo and teach us how they do it!!!
Ward 83 of Kolkata [Calcutta], one of the oldest and most notorious red light districts in India, is where social worker Urmi Basu opened a shelter for the children of prostitutes called New Light. Later she established through her non-profit organization of the same name [click pic for more info] a home for teen girls who would otherwise be forced to follow the grim trades of their mothers. Now Urmi wants to stop teen boys from becoming pimps or drug dealers by building a bakery and vocational training center and we're going to help her help them!!!
MailChimp is an award winning HTML Email Marketing company that some of the world's largest companies use including GM, Firefox, and Intel. But it is also available [at a 15% discount] to smaller non-profit organizations [like churches] to help those leading them send professional emails and communicate important developments in culture and the community. Some day all Toledo First correspondence, invitations, and announcements will be delivered electronically saving us money and trees. MailChimp will help us get there.
