Get the scoop on “Sexless in the City”
If you are reading this blog posting, you may already have read my column about author Anna Broadway and her new book, “Sexless in the City: A Memoir of Reluctant Chastity.”
As promised, I’d like to share information about Broadway’s blog, which actually preceded the book.
For some interesting commentary on the issue of chastity in today’s society and other related dialogue, you can find her blog at annabroadway.blogspot.com.
There is also a related Web site at sexlessinthecity.net that you might find interesting.
I think many readers will find these sites thought-provoking and insightful, whether or not you agree with Broadway’s particular views.
When a Christian blogs …
Blogging may be a fairly new phenomena in terms of today’s technology, but not so new that there aren’t any rules to govern those bloggers with ethical standards.
Those ethical standards should be especially important for Christians — or other people of faith. One would think that the teachings of faith would help guide bloggers as they traverse their way through the blogosphere.
Several Oklahoma Southern Baptist bloggers I interviewed this week mentioned the personal attacks that sometimes are posted by other fellow Southern Baptists.
Each of the people I talked to said they wanted people to focus solely on the issues at hand, but a personal attack ripping into someone’s character or casting aspersions on an individual can cause undue harm. One blogger, the Rev. Ronnie W. Rogers of Trinity Baptist Church in Norman, said “spiritual harm” can be caused when bloggers air negative comments about internal affairs at their local church.
The Rev. Wes Kenney, a Southern Baptist pastor in Valliant, Okla., and one of the founders of SBCToday.com said he had noticed that some Southern Baptist bloggers had begun attacking some of the denomination’s leaders such as Paige Patterson and the Richard Land. Those kinds of postings can be discouraging, Kenney said.
The Associated Baptist Press recently had an interesting story on the issue of blogging ethics. That story by Ken Camp makes some interesting points.
Then I found Rebecca Blood’s Weblog Handbook on Blog Ethics.
This handbook includes six ethics rules for bloggers to abide by. Methinks they are pretty good, though they are not necessarily religious in nature.
Here they are:
1. Publish as fact only that which you believe to be true.
2. If material exists online, link to it when you reference it.
3. Publicly correct any misinformation.
4. Write each entry as if it could not be changed; add to, but do not rewrite or delete, any entry.
5. Disclose any conflict of interest.
6. Note questionable and biased sources.
With all that said, I guess it’s always a good idea to remind bloggers that their words are out there for all to see.
Rogers, in Norman, said he wondered if some bloggers realized that, say 20 years from now, the things they post will still be out there on the blogosphere — where they could potentially come back and cause them or someone else some trouble …
Carla talks about Southern Baptist Convention blogs
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Experiencing summer… one VBS at a time
I’ve written several stories on vacation Bible school and there’s something that most people don’t know about me:
When I go to the vacation Bible school activities I write about, I don’t ever want to leave.
I want to do all the fun things that the kids are doing.
That’s right, I’m just a big kid at heart.
I want to dress up as a biblical character and share the “Good News.”
I want to go on a pretend Amazon adventure or go for the gold in the Bible Olympics. I wouldn’t mind getting lost on Outrigger Island or juggling a few footballs, basketballs and soccer balls.
I even want to sit on the floor and eat a hot dog.
Just hearing about the vacation Bible schools planned for this summer has me plotting a couple of reporting excursions that sound too fun to be real work.
If you’re wondering which churches are offering the annual Bible school and what themes they have in store for kids, look for a vacation Bible school listing in the Religion section throughout the summer.
Go online to Wimgo for a vacation Bible school one-stop-shop, so to speak. Type in “vacation Bible school” and read all about the activities planned at a church near you.
P.S., you just might find me there.
I’ll be the big kid with the briefcase.
Steven Curtis Chapman family’s loss
In 2005, I interviewed Steven Curtis Chapman just as he was about to visit Oklahoma City for a concert tour promoting his album “All Things New.”
It wasn’t our first interview, but I have always remembered it fondly, no less so than today, upon hearing the news of the tragic death of his youngest daughter, Maria.
During our interviewing the popular contemporary Christian singer-songwriter told me he had lost his voice for three months. During that time, his faith and zest for ministry were renewed by the Lord’s Word, though he could not initially convey that renewal in the way he knew best — through song.
Chapman said with that sense of spiritual regeneration came several amazing new and life-altering realities for his family. One of those realities was that he and his wife, Mary Beth, had adopted two more daughters (Maria Sue and Stevey Joy) from China to complete their family, which already included China-born adopted daughter, Shoahannah, and their three older children.
“God is in the process of — not just in our little corner of the world of Franklin, Tenn. — moving things, stirring things, all over the world,” the singer said at the time.
He and his wife expressed their sense of connection to the world at large by adopting their daughters and founding Shoahannah’s Hope, a ministry aimed at reducing the financial barriers of adoption.
I can still remember the joy — a sense of wonder of God’s goodness – that radiated from Chapman, even over the telephone lines.
My sincere hope is that he and his family rely and trust on God during this difficult time.
Something tells me that they will do just that — because they always have.
Read more about little Maria on a specially created blog and find out how you can donate to Shoahannah’s Hope by visiting Chapman’s official Web site.
A father’s dream
Carey Casey, (Photo by Nate Billings, The Oklahoman)
Carey Casey said he is living out his dream to transform America.
Casey, chief executive officer of the National Center for Fathering, believes the nation’s transformation will come when fathers become the leaders they were destined to be.
In Oklahoma City May 16-17 for a “Championship Fathering” conference, Casey contends that fathers simply need encouragement and the right tools to lead their families and help shape future generations.
“Fathers can really be that voice and really speak into their children’s lives instead of running (away),” Casey said. “I have to be one of the voices to cut off the curse in America.”
The “curse” Casey refers to is what he calls “fatherlessness in America.” He said a large percentage of children, particularly black children, live in homes where the father is not present.
“When daddy’s not there” statistics show that boys are more likely to drop out of school and become involved in crime and girls are more likely to get pregnant, he said.
“You’re almost behind the eight ball right of the bat, but all that can be turned around if the dad is simply there,” he added.
That’s where Casey the dreamer comes in.
As CEO of the Kansas City-based center on fathering, he travels around the country speaking to dads of all races and socioeconomic backgrounds.
Casey, married with children himself, said he tells fathers that people are all the same — “they desire to see a sermon, rather than just someone preaching.
“Preaching is important but our lives need to be examples.”
Casey said many dads think they need to be perfect to be good role models for their kids, but there is no perfect father except “the heavenly Father.”
After meeting fathers at the recent conference at St. John Missionary Baptist Church, Casey said “Oklahoma City has a date with destiny.
“If we’re going to cut off the curse of the violence, the struggles in the education system, the economics, the healthcare issues, we’re going to cut it off with the fathers.”
More on tithing
I struck a nerve when I ran a small brief on tithing in April.
For those who are not familiar with the term, tithing is the practice of giving 10 percent or more of one’s income to the church.
I asked readers to let me know if they tithe or not and they were more than happy to respond. We ran several comments, but we got so many we did not have room to run them all in the newspaper.
I’ve chosen to run some more at the bottom of this post. Also I wanted to alert readers to the Dave Ramsey column in Monday’s You! section of The Oklahoman. Many may know of Ramsey, a Christian man who has developed financial management principles (many based on Scripture) that are being taught in many places including churches.
Ever hear of Financial Peace University? Well, Ramsey created it. In his Monday column, Ramsey answers a reader’s question about bills and tithes — whether one should pay bills or pay tithes when money is tight.
Look below for more readers’ comments on tithing:
Nora Copeland, Purcell: “Concerning the issue of tithing, the New Testament says little about tithing. Each time (tithing is mentioned) goes back to the Old Testament. … As rules for Christians, there is no certain amount I could find. In 1 Cor. 16: 1-2, Paul told them to lay aside on the first day of the week. In 2 Cor. 9:7 it says ‘Every man according as he purposed in his heart, so let him give: not grudgingly or of necessity; for God loveth a cheerful giver’.
“I hope all people will look at this last scripture and keep it in mind when considering how much to give.”
And Georgia Williams of Lawton said: ”I find it ironic that religious bodies that bind tithing on its members do not enforce any of the other Old Testament laws.
“Yes, you can give 10 percent, but if your circumstances are such that you cannot give that much or that you can give more, that is certainly acceptable to God. God hasn’t set a minimum or a maximum!!
He tells you ‘to purpose’ … as you have “prospered” ..what you are going to give. To be told that you HAVE to give 10 percent or any other amount by anyone or any ‘church’, is teaching and enforcing error. What a person gives is between God and the giver. No-one else should factor into what an individual purposes and gives to the Lord.”
Beth Worstine says this: “How can anyone who claims to be a faithful Christian and a follower of the Bible not tithe? Isn’t that what God tells us to do in the Bible? YES it is!
“When I gave my life to the Lord I knew this was as important as the Ten Commandments and have always tried to at least do the 10 percent as asked, but try to always do more as my heart leads me. My husband and I have always had the confidence that God would take care of us because we do live by His rules and one of them is to tithe. Tithing is just one of many ways to keep the word spreading. Lots of ‘church goers’ complain about the pastor asking for money, guess they forget how much it costs to maintain a church building or how much it can cost to help take care of others or to just spread His word. True believers feel good about giving back. Have regretted over some decisions in my life, but have never regretted tithing or helping with spreading the word of the Lord.”
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Thanks to all who responded. I’m sure we’ll be discussing more on the topic in the future.
Tell Mom it’s Pink Sunday
Pink Sunday isn’t a campaign to get Mom to wear her pink suit to church on Mother’s Day.
It’s a three-year-old outreach effort of the Central Oklahoma Affiliate of Susan G. Komen for the Cure.
People in churches throughout the metro area will distribute Susan G. Komen for the Cure breast cancer information and prevention packets to mothers in their congregations.
These ”pink ambassadors” signed up months ago to get the packets. Forty-eight churches, two nonprofit organizations and two sororities will be distributing the packets, filled with a pink Komen handheld fan, a bookmark, breast self-exam cards and educational pamphlets, on Sunday, Mother’s Day.
Lorna Palmer, executive director of the Komen central Oklahoma affiliate, said the outreach effort has been successful, with about 10,000 packets given out this year. The first year, 5,000 were given away and 7,500 were distributed the second year, so the effort is obviously growing.
“It’s honoring mothers — everybody has one,” she said.
“It’s a great way to remind them that we want them to be here and to be healthy.”
Palmer said Pink Sunday has helped Komen for the Cure reach communities that may not hear about Komen and the lifesaving educational material any other way.
“It is an opportunity for us to education women in another setting.”
To sign up for Pink Sunday packets for next year (there’s already a list), call 526-2873.
