Rescued

Chile miners rescue: 'I was with God and the devil - and God took me' says miner

• 
• 

By Mirror.co.uk 13/10/2010

Read more:

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/most-popular/2010/10/13/chile-miners-rescue-i-was-with-god-and-the-devil-and-god-took-me-says-miner-115875-22630937/#ixzz12EtMpEKF

+5=162

OCTOBER 11, 2010

Murders continue in Baltimore

Five people were killed in Baltimore over the weekend and the gunmen didn't stop today. About 9:25 a.m., police responded to 911 calls for gunshots and found the body of an adult male behind some rowhouses on Shirley Avenue, just off Park Heights. Police said he had been shot in the head.

-full story and source here

Wow

USC Defeats #1 Alabama 35-21

Clemson 16 North Carolina 21

Spare the rod and ...

... spoil the lion?

At about 48 seconds, notice in the lower right corner how close one lion gets to escaping into the audience.

No comment.

"Prosperity Means Success, right?"

The Dangers of the Prosperity Gospel is a powerful and timely article by Robert Barron.

Here's some brief excerpts:

In its American incarnation, the prosperity Gospel probably began with the theological speculations of the late evangelist Oral Roberts. Roberts encouraged his followers to "expect miracles" and to look forward with confidence to the ways in which God would reward them, materially and financially, for their trust in his providence.

To give the prosperity gospellers their due, there is some biblical warrant for their position. The book of Deuteronomy consistently promises Israel that, if it remains faithful to God's commands, it will receive numerous benefits in this world.

However, we must be attentive to the very subtle way that the Bible itself nuances and specifies these claims. The great counterpoise to the book of Deuteronomy is the book of Job, which tells the story of a thoroughly righteous man who, in one fell swoop, suffers the loss of all of his material prosperity. Job's friends, operating out of a standard Deuteronomistic (or prosperity Gospel) point of view, argue that he must have grievously offended God, but Job—and God himself—protest against this simplistic interpretation.

Obeying the divine commands does indeed lead to the right ordering of the self, and therefore to an increase in joy, even if that very obedience leads, in worldly terms, to abject suffering or failure. [emphasis added]

Read the entire piece by clicking here.

Whatcha readin'?

From Booklist

When his former girlfriend, Doris Jimenez, was murdered in the small town where she lived, Volz became the primary suspect even though he was miles away in Managua at the time. He was a twentysomething American starting a new publication in Nicaragua, resented by some of the locals for what was perceived as his wealth and power. Despite a strong alibi and no physical evidence linking him to the crime, Volz was tried and sentenced to 30 years in prison. He began serving his sentence at one of the most notorious prisons in Nicaragua, where he had to navigate the violence and corruption to maintain his mental and physical health.

FFrom Publishers Weekly

When reading de O'Higgins's first cookbook, evocative prose seems to bring a distant Cuba back to life. Thanks to a lifelong love of Cuban food and devotion to her extended family, O'Higgins never lost touch with her Caribbean roots: she was raised there in the 1920s and '30s. With a sensibility that is responsive to both the flavors of food and the feelings that accompany meals remembered, the writer lets readers understand the myriad of influences that have formed Cuban cuisine

In my own words

I hate this kind of house-keeping and hope you'll bear with me.

Over the past five years I've occasionally quoted or referenced materials here from secondary sources, including newspaper and magazine articles, encyclopedias, TV shows, novels, poems, Scripture and even other peoples' blogs.

In each case I was careful to follow the principle of Fair Use as closely as possible, in addition to attributing full credit to original sources and authors.

From my un-affiliated, non-competitive, un-ordained and un-paid perspective as an amateur blogger, there's precious little difference between including a link pointing readers to an outside source and quoting the exact same material verbatim while identifying the original source, simply as a convenience for the reader. Nonetheless I accept responsibility for any outrage or misunderstanding.

To avoid any potential misunderstandings, accusations, suspicions or hurt feelings in the future, I removed all links to external blogs from the "Convenient Links" on the right hand side of this page. Hopefully that'll put an end to the question.

Two more things.

In no case did I ever quote, copy, plagiarize, appropriate, borrow, incorporate, apply or re-word someone else's work and present it to others as my own. Posts bearing my name reflect my thoughts expressed in my words. Each one of The Blue Book's 4565 posts is still available in the online archives if anyone wants to check.

Finally, please feel free to quote, borrow, mention or copy anything I've written here in the service of God's kingdom. I don't earn a penny from The Blue Book and I'm not in competition with anybody ... regardless of their denomination, position, title or affiliation. No one. I hope you won't even think of The Blue Book as belonging to me.

My ambition is that The Blue Book will somehow share the Gospel and reach people for Christ no matter where they are in the world. Period. Whether or not I receive financial reward, popular acclaim or public credit for my words simply doesn't matter ... and is the least thing I have time to worry about.

How I became a Catholic

Mount Calvary Episcopal Church will vote in October on full-communion with the Catholic Church

• By Randy Sly
• 9/30/2010

WASHINGTON, DC (Catholic Online) - In a letter to parishioners, the Reverend Jason Cantania, rector of Mount Calvary Episcopal Church in Baltimore, Maryland, announced that the vestry of the parish had voted unanimously in favor of two resolutions. First, they have voted to leave The Episcopal Church (TEC) where they are a part of the Episcopal Diocese of Maryland, and, second, to become an Anglican Use parish in the Catholic Church through the new initiative from Rome - the Anglicorum Coetibus.

Under the terms of this apostolic constitution, the Church has provided opportunities for "personal ordinariates for Anglicans entering full communion with the Catholic Church."

• 
  
• - source
• ----- ---

It strikes me as odd that voting can change an entire congregation's affiliation. I mean, how can an entire church wake up one morning belonging to one faith, and then fall asleep the same night identifying themselves as something else? Is such a wholesale realignment possible, or does the identification a church decides for itself even matter?

And what happens to the members who voted not to change? Are they still Episcopalians, or would the parish's vote change them into Catholics?

At least in this case, the congregation gets the chance to vote on the vestry's decision.

PS. Vestry is another word for Committee.

Wal-Mart where?

Wal-Mart expands into Africa with $4.2bn deal

Wal-Mart, the world's biggest retailer, is expanding into Africa for the first time after offering to buy one of South Africa's largest chains in a multi-billion dollar deal.

By Richard Blackden
Published: 9:40PM BST 27 Sep 2010

Andy Bond, who helps run Wal-Mart's international business, said South Africa 'possesses attractive market dynamics' Photo: Clara Molden

The US retailer, which owns the Asda chain in the UK, plans to buy MassMart, which sells general merchandise, electronic goods and food at its 290 stores, for $4.2bn (£2.6bn). The deal also gives it a toehold in Nigeria, Ghana and Botswana.

"Africa fits very nicely into a strategy of building an international business skewed to emerging markets," said Bryan Roberts, an analyst at Planet Retail.

- source and full story here

Choices vs Decisions ... vs Bull

Quotes from outside

Success is not built on success. It's built on failure. It's built on frustration. Sometimes it's built on catastrophe. - Sumner Redstone

Our fatigue is often caused not by work, but by worry, frustration and resentment. - Dale Carnegie

All that is necessary to break the spell of inertia and frustration is to act as if it were impossible to fail. - Dorothea Brande

إِنَّ اللهَ مَحَبَّةٌ

God is love.