mbjones

It's a dangerous strategy," he contends, "to build conservatism on information and policies that are not credible.

This is a fascinating interview/article with a Republican Congressman from S. Carolina dealing with some of the ideological changes of the "tea party" movement. I've been curious for some time about how the tea party folks are changing the GOP. Not all of it is bad change, probably, but there are some things that make my eyebrows raise (what the congressman had to deal with for one, an unfortunate anti-intellectualism and the fact that it's more libertarian, and by and large socially liberal on issues that supposedly matter to the GOP- pro-choice & pro-gay for example).

Accurate, and hilarious, venn diagram...brought to you via the folks at despair.com

For 400 years, higher education in the US has been on a roll. From Harvard asking Galileo to be a guest professor in the 1600s to millions tuning in to watch a team of unpaid athletes play another team of unpaid athletes in some college sporting event, the amount of time and money and prestige in the college world has been climbing.

I'm afraid that's about to crash and burn. Here's how I'm looking at it.

This one is worth a read. Seth Godin on a foreboding higher ed crisis. I'd agree with much of what he has to say. The necessity of the "paper" when weighed against the debt necessary to get it (among other things) is not quite as high as people might think or want it to be. I'm still glad I got my degree but don't know if it will ever matter much in my life.

It is with deep sadness that we write to tell you that one of our dear friends has been lost in the terrorist attack earlier today in Kampala. Nate “Oteka” Henn was killed by an explosion that ripped through a rugby field where hundreds of people had gathered to watch the final match of the World Cup.

Nate worked with us at Invisible Children for a year and a half and leaves behind a legacy of honor, integrity, and service. From traveling the United States without pay advocating for the freedom of abducted child soldiers in Joseph Kony’s war, to raising thousands of dollars to put war-affected Ugandan students in school, Nate lived a life that demanded explanation. He sacrificed his comfort to live in the humble service of God and of a better world, and his is a life to be emulated.

If you were curious about this (ear piercing) instrument...

A car full of people dressed as zombies crashed on Interstate 84 near downtown Portland on Friday, causing initial confusion by people who witnessed the crash.

Or something like that. The first paragraph (quoted here) cracks me up.

While police and senior politicians have dismissed rumours that xenophobia is brewing in several Cape communities, those on the ground believe there is a very real threat of attacks.

In Masiphumelele, an informal settlement near Cape Town's Noordhoek, a time and date has even been set - at 3am on July 12, after the World Cup final. John Thomas, a local pastor, said it had gone "way beyond rumours - the threats are very real".

In 2008, thousands of foreigners fled Masiphumelele in the wake of attacks, but Thomas said that this time, people wouldn't run so easily.

"We may end up with counter-violence, and I think there could be casualties on both sides."

Now is the time for prayer, and lots of it. This is the community that we have been working in and that we love. Please pray that the rumored violence is stopped and that peaceful solutions are reached.

I attended the main service at the Neno Evangelism Centre with two friends. Once again, I was glad to have a Kenyan friend with me, as almost everything was in Swahili. We arrived at the centre as we thought the service should be beginning, but were told that the service would not start until an hour later. In this time, we were able to speak to the assistant pastor about his understanding of church. It was interesting to see that when we asked to speak to someone, the ushers were very suspicious and concerned that we might be from the press. Despite this, we were eventually taken to the pastor’s office.

Much of what he said seemed very typical of any church with a low ecclesiology. I have highlighted the more interesting aspects. The pastor did not seem to consider church to be an important concept, except as a gathering place for believers. He stated that it was just the name Jesus gave for his followers. He was more concerned about leadership. Twice he took us through the idea of an apostle being someone who was sent by Jesus himself with authority to found a new ministry. He used the stories of Elijah and Moses to illustrate this, explaining that they passed on their visions to Elisha and Joshua, who did not have the same authority, but simply followed in their footsteps. This same illustration was later used by the apostle about himself and his followers when he spoke in the service.

First person account of a large church in Kenya. I've said it before and I'll keep saying it: Africa needs discipleship. The same sort of description is not uncommon for what goes on in churches where we are as well. Go and read the whole post, if you have the time...

This is an amusing protest idea. Instead of just demonstrating outside of BP headquarters, they are providing everyone who comes with vuvuzelas. Living in a country where the vuvuzela is all too common (it was actually invented here, I believe), I know how annoying this will be to those within earshot of their London offices.