“A Day in the Life” of homeless families

One of our writers, Gregg Brekke, recently participated in a project called “A Day in the Life.” Photojournalists around the country each spent the day on March 21 photographing one day in the life of an individual or group across the country.

Gregg spent the day with some of the homeless families in Warren County, Ohio who stay at the temporary shelters provided by the Interfaith Hospitality Network. His photo essay is awesome.

Here he explains his project, and at the bottom of that page is a link to the photo essay.

Gregg is also pastor of Nexus Church, a United Church of Christ new church start in Fairfield, Ohio, just north of Cincinnati.

Bracket blues? Check out the Barton Bulldogs!

If you’ve been as underwhelmed as I have by this year’s “March Madness,” here’s something to cure your bracket blues.

 Disciples-related Barton College pulled off an upset of Winona State to win the Men’s Division II championship on Saturday. This is about the most amazing comeback I’ve seen in a while (the recent comebacks by #1 seeds like Ohio State and North Carolina to beat underdog teams don’t even come close!)

Here’s a link to the video replay. This shows the whole comeback including the unlikely ending!

Disciples vice moderator blogs from Russia

Carolyn Ho, Vice Moderator, and her husband, Tristan Spiceland, moved to Moscow, Russia on March 1st. Tristan is posted to Russia as a Foreign Service Officer with the US Department of State. They will spend 1 year in Moscow and 1 year in Yekaterinburg (central Russia, near the Ural Mountains). Carolyn says she plans to improve her Russian Language skills, work on her blog, and continue pursuing her professional passions in the field of international education during their time in Russia. She will be returning to the US for General Board in April and General Assembly in July.

Carolyn’s blog address: http://carolynandtristan.blogspot.com/

Crawford Died For Your Sins

From Jeff Gill’s blog, “Notes From My Knapsack”:

Crawford Died For Your Sins

A man once died a particularly cruel and painful death, to make up for the evil actions of others, of which he himself was entirely innocent. His death led to the birth of a religious community which counts many adherents all around us to this day. The place of his death is well known, but not a scrap of his body can be found to this day.

No, not Him.

It was in Ohio, beginning 225 years ago this week.

Gill goes on to share a very interesting story about Col. William Crawford, the Gnadenhutten massacre of 1782, and how all this relates to Stone-Campbell history. Ever wonder why the Restoration Movement and particularly, the theology behind Walter Scott’s “Five-Finger Exercise” was so appealing to many on the frontier? Click here to read more….. 

“The Lost Tomb of Jesus”

OK, I didn’t see the show on Sunday on the Discovery Channel. (I’d like to pretend I was doing something important, but really I was watching “Trading Places” for about the 100th time, on Comedy Central. What can I say?) 

I’ve seen plenty of religious folks — right, left and center — denouncing it.

Bob Friedly, editor emeritus of DisciplesWorld, watched the show and wrote a review for our website.  Bob didn’t seem to think it was such a big deal.

 I’d like to hear from others who saw it too. Was it convincing? If so, what does it mean for your own faith or theology?

Bill Maher - is he pro-HPV vaccine or anti-Christian?

In an opinion piece on Salon.com, Bill Maher attacks Christians who oppose the HPV vaccine for adolescent girls.  It’s an interesting rant. At times, I think Maher is right-on. But then, I have to admit, I think he veers into Creepyland at a few points.

There’s a certain ick factor about Maher. I guess he would call that his trademark ’political incorrectness’ which some appreciate but I think it’s his weakness. He’d be much better if he dialed it back a notch instead of trying to be just as offensive as those who offend him.

Does anyone else out there miss civility?