This is not my original creation. However, the creators wish to remain anonymous so I’ll respect their wishes.
Category Archives: Current Events
Signs of The Times
After Fairhaven was featured in a poor light on CNN for their discipline practices they apparently thought that this would be a good way to relate to the community:
They’re lovely people, I’m sure.
Remembering
Ten years ago I was just leaving a morning class at my alma mater when a fellow student told me that our country was under attack from unknown enemies and that people were dying in New York and D.C. From the sheltered bubble of our school the rest of the world usually seemed far away and somehow unimportant to our daily lives. But this day was different from any other that we had seen.
The school administration made special announcements to inform us that the stories we had been hearing were true. Planes had crashed into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. They told us that they would be leaving on the televisions in our residence halls so that we could track the ongoing events. For a moment of time our bubble was shattered and the world outside came rushing in.
The few days that followed were some of the most memorable of my entire college career. People everywhere were a little kinder and a little more considerate. Our petty concerns were superseded by a concern for our country. For those of us who were natives of the land our identities of religion or background were superseded by a single word: “American.” And when they sang God Bless the USA in student body we all stood and sang along.
Now, a decade later I watch again the images of that day to again feel the horror of the human loss and marvel at the bravery and sacrifice of our police, firefighters, and emergency workers. And I thank God for this country where I have been blessed to live and the people who I have been honored to call friends and countrymen. Many I knew that college and shared that day with have since served on foreign soils to protect those same freedoms that we hold dear. And I thank them from the bottom of my heart.
Sometimes it takes terrible events to shock us from our obsession with the mundane and surprise us with our own common humanity. It is a shame that is must be so.
Spinning Scandals Redux
Most of you have read the post I did some time ago about the 4 steps of spinning fundamentalist scandals. Today, however, I was provided with such a stellar example of this process that I couldn’t help revisiting it.
To give some background, you can read the news item I posted on May 20th describing the arrest and subsequent suicide of Texas fundamentalist pastor Matt Jarrell. The story goes that Jarrell allegedly met a woman in a West Virginia bar (while his family thought he was in Pennsylvania) and then raped her while giving her a ride home.
But as if this story wasn’t already horrific enough, now fellow-fundy “Dr.” Dennis Corle (who credits himself with over over 60,500 souls saved) writes a glowing memorial to Jarrell in his publication “Revival Fires”.
The transcript is as follows:
Goodbye, Old Friend; See You On The Other Side
“”My heart is heavy today in the loss of a dear friend, Pastor Matt Jarrell.There is a lot of unsolved mystery concerning the last few days of his life. Rather than try to solve mysteries, let me mention what I know to be facts.
He was a preacher whose messages were greatly used of God to encourage,challenge and inspire folks to serve the Lord and keep on keeping on, even when times are tough. He loved his wife and children dearly and spoke almost non-stop about them when we were together.
He was one of the most generous and compassionate men that I have ever known and went the extra mile to be a blessing to me, as well as many other people, more times than I can count.
He had a tremendous burden for church planting and was actively involved in the establishment of several local churches. Every place that he served he built something rather than tearing something down. He labored to win souls, to salvage marriages, to recover backsliders, to grow new converts to maturity, to build a great work with high standards, and he took a very strong stand against sin and corruption at every level of society, including government.
Everything I have seen and known to be true only elevate my respect and deepened my friendship with him. I, along with many others,
will miss his friendship and fellowship, and the cause of Christ will feel
the impact of his absence. Please join me in prayer for his precious family, which includes his wife and four children, all of whom I know well and love dearly. They are a godly, close-knit family. Please also pray for his parents and other family members who will feel his loss keenly. If you would like to be a blessing to the family, please contact me through our office. Revival Fires! P.O. Box 245, Claysburg, PA 16625”
To summarize, Matthew was a real mensch and candidate for fundy sainthood…right up until he apparently raped some women and then took the coward’s way out in a West Virginia jail. In fact, the whole rape thing is so inconsequential, it’s not even worth mentioning. But hey, you’re on a roll, Dennis, don’t let me cramp your style.
Understanding Our Times Podcast With Kevin Thompson
I had the opportunity this morning to Chat with Kevin Thompson of the Understanding Our Times blog and podcast along with Joshua Caucutt, an MBBC grad who writes the Sound Church blog.
Our topic was the impact of the Tina Anderson’s story (and the subsequent conviction of Ernie Willis) on fundamentalism.
I appreciate Kevin giving me the chance to chat with him and Joshua. In fact, we chatted for so long that the podcast has been split into two part, the second of which will be available next week.
I apologize in advance for the audio quality I was having some phone issues today. I’ve linked the podcast here but do go over and check out Kevin’s website and archived podcasts as well.
Update: With Kevin’s permission, I’ve mirrored a copy of the podcast here at SFL so that the bandwidth issues with the original podcast host won’t keep the folks here from hearing it.