John Paul Jackson, the well known prophetic minister who was
diagnosed with cancer a few months ago, has had his tumour removed and is
recovering. He had a very rare type of cancer in his leg. The tumour that was
removed weighed twelve pounds, and he also lost a good deal of leg muscle; one
therapist compared it to a shark bite. However, the tumour was not attached to
his sciatic nerve; it seems very
unlikely that the cancer has metastasised; and his physical recovery is
progressing more quickly than expected – some predicted he would be bedridden
for up to two months, but in fact he can now walk two miles per day.
The Missouri pastor who hit the headlines for organising a
Father’s Day competition to get men into church, with two AR-15 assault rifles
as the prize, has become known for his no-nonsense real-man approach to
Christianity. “We’re
just a bunch of dudes with beards and beer guts and hot wives,” he said. “We
love our God. We love our country. We love our trucks. And we love our guns.” Unfortunately,
he was arrested two weeks ago for driving while intoxicated, and has been asked
to relinquish direct leadership of the church while he seeks counselling. “I have made an incredibly foolish and reckless mistake,” he said. “It’s
not just this one event, though, but rather a lifestyle of rebellion and
unnecessary reckless behaviour that has continually put the very mission I
passionately love in real jeopardy.”
It
has been reported that two Liberian women from separate (but nearby) villages,
who died of Ebola and were both due to be buried on Monday, have risen from the
dead. One woman was in her 60s and the other in her 40s. There are reports of
panic in their home villages, with villagers being unwilling to have a ‘ghost’
living among them. The same area also recently hosted a “native doctor” who
claimed to be able to cure people of Ebola, but recently died of the disease
himself.
A
newspaper article (in the Guardian, surprisingly) questioned the link between
religion and historical wars (as posited by the likes of Richard Dawkins, who
wrote: “only religious faith is a strong enough force to motivate such madness
in otherwise sane and decent people.”) The gist of the article is that
secularism is a modern invention, and that before that, religion, politics and
life were inextricably intermingled – indeed, in some languages the word that
we translate as “religion” has a much wider connotation (the Arabic word din means ‘an entire lifestyle’; the
Sanskrit dharma covers law, politics
and social institutions; and there is no word for religion in Hebrew at all).
The article adds that, if religion had been the main motivator of all mediaeval
wars, there would not have been wars between Catholic France and the Catholic
Habsburgs, with the latter regularly supported by various Protestant princes.
A
proposed anti-abortion bill in Spain has been dropped by the government due to polls showing 70%-80%
public opposition. The heavily Catholic
country currently allows abortion on demand up to 14 weeks, and up to 22 weeks
in cases where the mother’s health is at risk, under legislation introduced by
the previous (more left wing) government. The new bill would have banned abortion
except in cases of rape or a risk to the woman’s health. However, with an
election due next year, the government fear passing the bill would be political
suicide.
In
technology news, a company called 3dsystems.com is about to release the ChefJet
Pro, a 3-D printer that uses water, sugar and colouring to make “full-colour
cocktail decorations, architectural cake supports, interlocking candies and
beautiful sugar sculptures.”
And
finally, the approach of the Christian Resource Exhibition (North) in
Manchester provides an excuse to examine some of the daftest Christian
souvenirs available. Visitors to Wittenberg in Germany can buy “Here I stand”
socks, inscribed with the phrase “Luthersocke” and Martin’s famous words; Iphone
users can download a do-it-yourself confession app; Crucifix Shoes offer canvas
shoes bearing Catholic-style images; and I’m not even going to advertise the
seller of a toilet seat cover inscribed, in Jewish font, with the words “Let My
People Go.” (Credit to – and more details available from -- http://www.ship-of-fools.com/gadgets/new/index.html)
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