Circuit Writer

Here’s my latest article for The Tahlequah Christian, my congregational newsletter,  for the week of February 21-27.

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Last week I was so excited about the H20 Project Challenge that I spent my entire column writing about it and completely forgot to announce my Lenten Sermon Series: Atonement Through the Years. So this week, I’ll offer this belated announcement and give you a little bit of an idea of what’s in store for the coming Sundays. continue reading…

Please prayerfully consider supporting the Special Offering or learn more about Week of Compassion.

The following is an article that will appear in this week’s electronic edition of The Tahlequah Christian.  It’s yet another reminder that each and every one of us with a computer and an internet connection can make a difference in small ways in the world around us.

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If you’re one of the folks who have stepped far enough into the digital age to turn on your computer to play solitaire, then you have an opportunity to play a game that will do some good.  FreeRice.com offers a collection of games that will both sharpen your mind and help feed the hungry.  Originally launched as a vocabulary game where you matched a word with its meaning, FreeRice.com now offers games where you can identify famous paintings, test out your math skills, see how good you are at a foreign language, try your hand at world geography, or even beef of your knowledge of the periodic table of elements!  And the best part is that for every correct answer you donate another ten grains of rice to the UN World Food Program.  So consider turning what might be a bad habit into a good one by exercising your mind and helping feed those who hunger – and carry this habit with even after Lent has come to a close.

Here is the introduction to an interview featuring David Dow, an attorney who defends death row inmates and works to reduce their sentences to life in prison.  He currently works for the Texas Defender Service and teaches law at the University of Houston Law Center.  Here’s a brief quote from the original article at NPR.org that includes an excerpt from his book, The Autobiography Of An Execution, and a link to listen to the interview conducted by Terry Gross.

Attorney David Dow has made a career out of defending death row inmates in Texas — a state that boasts the highest number of death row executions nation-wide since 1976.

In the last twenty years, Dow has defended over 100 inmates sentenced to death. Many of his clients have died — most of them were guilty — but Dow says they should have been sentenced to life in prison instead of death at the hands of the state.

“The person that we’re executing is simply not the same person who committed the crime that landed that person on death row in the first place,” Dow tells Terry Gross.

Read the rest of the article and hear the audio of the interview here.

Bayh has always been shall we say a frustrating sort. Never a profile in courage.

This marks perhaps the kindest response from the liberal blogosphere to Evan Bayh’s decision to leave the Senate.  Michael Tomasky’s thoughts from across the pond (The Guardian is published in the United Kingdom) at least gives Bayh the benefit of the doubt as to his future.  Perhaps because there is talk that his hasty exit might open the way to a Republican takeover of his seat on November, the conservative blogs have been somewhat kinder.  John Stossel offers a positive view of the move based on Bayh’s remarks that he could create more jobs in private industry.  This drew a strong response from Matthew Yglesias: continue reading…

A new poll from Gallup shows the state of church participation in the U.S. on a state-by-state basis:

PRINCETON, NJ — Mississippians were the most frequent churchgoers in the nation in 2009, as was the case in 2008, with 63% of residents attending weekly or almost every week. Nine of the top 10 states in church attendance are in the South; the only non-Southern state is Utah, with 56% frequent attendance. At the other end of the spectrum, 23% of Vermont residents attend church frequently, putting it at the bottom of the list of churchgoing states. Other states at the bottom of the church attendance list are in either New England or the West.

Read all about it in the Gallup article, “Mississippians Go to Church the Most; Vermonters, Least.”

Tip of the hat the Matthew Yglesias.

Here’s my most recent article for The Tahlequah Christian for the week of February 14-20.

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In case you missed it in worship this past Sunday, we challenged each and every one of you to save a life – and it’s not as difficult as it sounds. In just 14 days, you can make a difference by helping provide a lifetime of clean water for a person who would otherwise take his or her chances with contaminated mud holes and unsafe streams. continue reading…

The following is an article that will appear in this week’s electronic edition of The Tahlequah Christian.  It’s a reminder that each and every one of us with a computer and an internet connection can make a difference in small ways in the world around us.

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If you’re reading this, it means that you’re one of our electronic newsletter subscribers, and you a unique opportunity to form a habit that will make a difference.  With just a few clicks every day, you can support good causes by helping spend advertiser dollars. continue reading…

Here’s the contents of an email update from Repower America featuring the ridiculous claims made by climate change skeptics:

Extreme weather brings out some strange behavior.

In the middle of this week’s storm, Senator James Inhofe constructed an “igloo” in Washington, DC and posted a sign reading “Honk if you heart global warming.” Senator Jim DeMint tweeted “It’s going to keep snowing in DC until Al Gore cries uncle.” Rush Limbaugh and Fox News chimed in with story after story distorting the facts to fit their dishonest narrative.

Climate deniers like Inhofe and DeMint are willfully missing the point: Extreme weather is climate change! Not only does “Snowpocalypse” not disprove global warming, it actually matches scientific predictions that climate change will increase extreme weather events of many kinds, including heavy snowfalls in regions like the Northeast.

Together, we can and must stop this disinformation campaign. Jon Stewart just did a great job taking on the deniers. Check out a short clip from The Daily Show and help spread the truth about extreme weather.

Click on over to see the video and read the facts about severe weather and global warming.