DST is for Wusses

If you currently don't come to Bible Class, here's a challenge.

1. Don't change your clocks before going to bed Saturday.

2. Wake up at the same time.

3. Then, because Daylight Savings Time ends Sunday, you'll be up an hour earlier. Come to Bible Class.

4. Make a habit of it.

We're beginning a new study this Sunday, looking at contemporary hot topics. Feel free to suggest topics that we should examine.

On Women's Ordination

Check out this article on a change of heart of a former woman pastor.

Is Gambling a Sin?

This article in First Things was like a slap in the face. I've not thought much about the dangers of gambling, even though there's a huge riverboat casino just 15 miles away.

So, is gambling sinful?

A 1996 CTCR document lists these dangers of gambling:

1. Gambling encourages the sins of greed and covetousness.

2. Gambling promotes mismanagement of possessions entrusted to us by God.

3. Gambling undermines absolute reliance on God for His provision.

4. Gambling works at cross purposes with a commitment to productive work.

5. Gambling is a potentially addictive behavior.

6. Gambling threatens the welfare of our neighbor and militates against the common good.

The first point is the best. While not inherently sinful, gambling is often (usually) done from sinful motives. The desire to have more money is greed. Malcontent with what's yours and the desire for more is covetousness. Those are explicitly sinful. So is being a poor steward of the money God has given you.

Maura Casey's article in First Things really opened my eyes to how addictive gambling is and how the gambling industry preys on people. So, what should the church's response be? How do we minister to those trapped in this addiction?

Reformation Marquees

Cameron Todd Willingham

I heard of this story on NPR a week or so ago. Then, yesterday, driving home from Pastors' Roundtable on Issues Etc., I heard an update on the story. So I looked for the New Yorker article. Here it is.

The update yesterday is Texas Gov. Perry removed three of the members of the board reviewing Willingham's case, replacing the chairman with one of Texas' most notorious pro-death-penalty prosecutors. Whether the investigation will even continue remains to be seen.

Read the whole New Yorker article. Did Texas execute an innocent man? It seems like it.