Dec. 4 Today’s Prayers
Lord, thank you for allowing us to lean on You in uncertain times. Amen. 
Dec. 3 Today’s Prayer
Lord, we realize that gaining wordly goods is meaningless if we lose ourown souls. Amen. 
Nov. 17 Today’s Prayer
Your name is to be praised, Lord, as we go about our work this day. Amen. 
Penn State and the faith community
It seems that the Penn State sex abuse scandal is what everyone is talking about these days.
You almost can’t escape it … everyday there are unfortunately new bits of information that come out about the alleged cover up of alleged sex crimes by a former assistant football coach at the university.
It seems the president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, which had its fall meeting earlier this week in Baltimore, briefly discussed the Penn State debacle.
USA Today’s Faith & Reason blog reported Archbishop Timothy Dolan’s remarks about the issue in a recent blog post.
Read what he had to say by following this link to the posting: USA Today Faith & Reason blog: “Bishops offer Penn State Help to Prevent Abuse.”
Look for a related story in The Oklahoman’s Life section soon.
Also, the Washington Post’s On Faith blog also has some interesting postings on the subject of Penn State: Washington Post’s On Faith: “A Priests View of Penn State.”
Carla Hinton
Religion Editor
Quake alert: God trying to tell you something?
It was interesting on Sunday to get feedbook from friends and family about the earthquakes … two earthquakes … that literally shook us up on Saturday. 
One of my relatives had me laughing. She said during the first quake, she thought she imagined that the bed was moving. Then she realized that she wasn’t imagining it. She said she knew she didn’t believe in “haints” — ghosts — so it wasn’t an unruly spirit. Then she thought maybe God was trying to get her attention. She never imagined it to be what it was – an earthquake.
I know that most of us Oklahomans talked about the earthquake on Sunday and I bet the conversations were particularly lively at church.
I’d like to get some reader feedback on this issue:.
Did you think the earthquakes were a sign from God? Did you have someone tell you that’s their opinion of the quakes?
Hey, here’s an opportunity to tell on your pastor, so to speak. Did he or she bring up the earthquakes in his or her sermon/homily on Sunday? … either in jest or in earnest?
If you are a preacher/spiritual leader, did you incorporate the earthquakes into your sermon/homily on Sunday? If not in the sermon or homily, did you speak about the quakes to your congregation? If so, what did you say?
Let me know.
E-mail me your opinions/responses to chinton@opubco.com. Include your name, city, faith/denomination affiliation and a daytime phone number. Your comments might be used for an upcoming story in The Oklahoman.
Carla Hinton
Religion Editor
Marriage and divorce lessons
Hey, I was catching up on some of my favorite blogs and happened to see this guest post on the Washington Post’s On Faith blog. 
It’s about Kim Kardashian’s “mini-marriage” — at least that’s how some are describing Kardashian’s apparently short-lived marriage to NBA star Kris Humphries.
Anyway, I thought people of faith might want to read this particular posting. I think it has something relevant to say.
Washington Post’s On Faith blog: “What Kim Kardashian’s Divorce Can Teach Us About Marriage”
Carla Hinton
Religion Editor
Nov. 2 Today’s Prayer
Lord, let us not forget those family members and friends who are with You now. Amen. 
Tebowing … is this supposed to be funny?
OK, I know I’m doing something a little risky, blogging about Tim Tebow here in Sooner Country, but I can’t help it.
I’ve been following Tebow’s NFL career just because he’s an interesting young athlete who is very upfront about his faith beliefs. He has gotten as much attention for his Christian faith beliefs as he has for his athletic talent.
Of course, he found his way on my radar as a University of Florida football player, but I won’t say too much about that, Sooner fans.
Anyway, it seems that the much-talked-about former Gator has inspired Tebowing. 
What is Tebowing? Glad you asked and remember I didn’t come up with this, I”m just telling about it.
Tebowing, according to Tebowing.com, means ”To get down on a knee and start praying, even if everyone else around you is doing something completely different.”
It was apparently started by a Denver native. Tebow (pictured) is quarterback for the Denver Bronchos, if you didn’t already know that.
Anyway, I read an article on CBN.com that said Tebowing was a trending topic on Twitter on Thursday. Follow this link to read the story: “Fun of Offensive?: Tebowing Goes Viral.”
CBN.com asked its readers if they thought this new trend was making fun of Tebow’s faith.
I’m not sure what I think about it at this point. One thing I do know is that Tebow has always attracted lots of attention and that doesn’t seem to have changed now that he’s playing in the big league.
Carla Hinton
Religion Editor
Monday in the Barna classroom
I got to work this morning and was pleasantly surprised to learn that Oklahoma Christian University’s Joshua Watson was able to get me an interview today with David Kinnaman, president of the Barna Group.
The Barna Group is a Ventura, Calif.-based research company whose research often focuses on the ways faith and culture intersect. 
Kinnaman is best-selling co-author of the book “unChristian: What a New Generation Really Thinks About Christianity” (2008). During our brief interview Kinnaman talked about why he wrote the book and some of the lessons Christian churches can glean from it.
Somewhere along the way, I think my “parent” hat and my “reporter” hat meshed together because I began asking him questions from a parent’s viewpoint. At that point, I think our conversation became more indepth than just the typical interview and I came away with some lessons learned about what today’s youths are saying about the Church and the adults who have helped guide their way thus far.
Really interesting information.
If you haven’t already done so, get that book.
I also got to sit in on a youth ministers’ luncheon hosted by OC’s Dudley Chancey, associate professor of youth ministry. At the luncheon, Kinnaman talked about his latest book “You Lost Me: Why Young Christians Are Leaving the Church … and Rethinking Faith.”
Kinnaman expounded some on the research findings detailed in “You Lost Me” and I think it is quite interesting material for anyone who is a parent or church leader or simply someone who loves young people and wants to see them grow in the Christian faith.
I’ll have a story this Saturday about Kinnaman, his research compiled in “unChristian” and how the Church can use this important research data. My story will also include his thoughts on the controversy that arose over the part of the book that dealt with how young people see the Church as anti-gay.
And if you haven’t already heard, Kinnamon will be speaking tonight at 7 p.m. in the Hardeman Auditorium on the OC campus, 2501 E Memorial Road. He’ll be talking about research compiled in “You Lost Me.”
The presentation is free and open to the public.
Carla Hinton
Religion Editor
Dallas pastor Jeffress speaks out
Last week, I talked to a local Southern Baptist leader and a Mormon leader about a political flap that resulted from a remark a Southern Baptist pastor in Dallas said at a political function. 
Controversy arose when the Rev. Robert Jeffress (pictured), pastor of the First Baptist Church of Dallas, said that Mormonism is a cult. He made the statement at the Values Voter Summit in Washington, D.C.
This week, Jeffress addressed the controversy surrounding his statement through a Washington Post op-ed piece. The op-ed is entitled “Why a candidate’s faith matters.”
Jeffress wrote: “Hearing Mitt Romney’s surrogate Bill Bennett refer to me as a bigot and Jon Huntsman call me a “moron” last week after my controversial comments on Mormonism, amid calls for civility and tolerance in public discourse, reminds me of the exclamation: “We will not tolerate intolerance!” But beyond the personal insults, I am concerned that these men are attempting to prematurely marginalize religion as a relevant topic in elections.”
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For those interested in reading the full piece, I’m including a link to the op-ed here: “Why A Candidate’s Faith Matters.”
Carla Hinton
Religion Editor
P.S.
I was very appreciative of the local Southern Baptist leader, the Rev. Anthony Jordan, and Mormon leader Kevin Graves, for sharing their viewpoints with me for my Oct. 15 story. This was a touchy subject for a lot of reasons and both men showed why they are in the leadership positions they are in by agreeing to make statements for the story. And a special, special thanks to Mark McClellan from Oklahoma Baptist University. I can’t say enough about his help. His contribution to the Oct. 15 story package gave some much-needed context to the original story, which included the views of Jordan and Graves.
