I Like Iker

My wife sent me this link today. I thought it was rather cute. I am thinking about getting one. Maybe I will.

Standing up for Truth

While reading many comments on some of my favorite blogs, I have noticed a recurring thought or belief of some of my fellow conservatives which I find very wrong. It's the idea because a church or diocese is losing money and parishioners that their theology is flawed or wrong. The popular church is the right church. I can tell you right now, that belief is very wrong. Look at the early church. It was very small and definitely not popular. If our early Christian forebearers believed this, they certainly would not have taken up their cross and followed Christ. Theology is not a popularity contest. If you truly believe in something with your heart and mind, you will be willing to suffer ridicule and even hate for that belief. I pray that I would have the courage of the early martyrs of the church. Thank goodness that I am not faced with that choice. I do not know that I could face death for Christ. I don't think any of us really will ever know until faced with that choice. I would like to think I could accept God's help and have that courage to face that trial. If we choose our beliefs by numbers, we would have to all convert to Roman Catholicism. It is the largest Christian denomination according to Adherents.com. We each need to listen to hearts and minds to help us tell us what is right and wrong but temper it with scripture and the historic faith. However lying about growing numbers and hiding deficits in budgets is another matter. That would definitely be an indicator that a person subscribes to the aforementioned belief. If someone were to do this, then they certainly are not in the right. I wonder if their faith would hold up to the same test.

Google Easter Eggs

Swim the Atlantic

1. Open http://maps.google.com
2. Click Get Directions
3. Type in From: New York, To: Paris, France
4. Read line 23

What the Moon is really made of

1. Open http://moon.google.com
2. Zoom all the way in

Not really a Google thing...

1. Open http://www.google.com
2. Type In "French Victories"
3. Hit "I am feeling lucky" button
4. This isn't a Google site but still pretty funny

Other Google pranks...
Free Broadband Internet
Google Easter Eggs (Official)
Language Interface Choice (Pig Latin, Klingon, etc)

St. Mary's Chapel

Nashotah's very beautiful St. Mary's Chapel. I took a few pictures on the self guided tour.


Altar


The Cieling


More


The Pulpit


Choir Stalls


Chapel of the Blessed Sacrament, inside of St. Mary's


The Rood Screen


More of the Rood Screen


Baptismal Font

Experience Nashotah

My wife and I visited this beautiful campus last week. Despite it being below freezing for most of our visit, it did not feel quite so cold. I do not quite understand why, but I feel very blessed for the opportunity. It is a very loving Christian community. We both got to sit in on a few of their classes and meet the faculty. Now, I just wish my baccalaureate education could have been so blessed.

Nashotah House

Founded in 1842 as a mission to the frontier and incorporated in 1847 as "a College of learning and piety," Nashotah House is a seminary of the Episcopal Church in the Anglican Communion of Churches, providing theological education for prophetic, priestly, pastoral and servant ministries, concerned for the proclamation of the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, the mission of the Church in the world, the salvation of all people, and the worship of Almighty God.

Center: St. Mary's Chapel, Right: Library


Left: Cloister, Right: St. Mary's Chapel


Left: Classrooms, Right: Cloister


Michael's Bell, it's huge...


The Lake... somewhere


The Bookstore

A Remarkable Testimony

I thought I'd share A Remarkable Testimony from a Christian Man from Stand Firm with you. Stories like this are hard to find, but I imagine there are more people who have similar stories than you would think.

After my conversion to Christ, my understanding remained fully intact and I knew what was expected of me. In order to be faithful to Our Lord and the demands of the Christian faith, active participation in a gay lifestyle had to go, and so it did. I have been practicing sexual abstinence for fifteen years now and I wouldn’t have it any other way. It may seem strange to many, but I have actually come to find it quite liberating.

Having said that, let me add that I still don’t have a “straight” bone in my body. Although I have participated, to my tremendous benefit, in so-called “ex gay” ministries and counseling, I never pursued reparative therapy or imagined that becoming a heterosexual was something that God had in mind for my life. To be sure, celibacy isn’t for everyone, and I am very happy for those who have gone on to achieve the necessary healing in their lives which has enabled them to become Christian husbands and fathers (and yes, God be praised, that does happen!), but I do not envy them, or feel particularly deficient because I am unable to follow their example. I have developed a real sense that God is calling upon me to be faithful at all times, but not necessarily “successful,” where heterosexuality in itself is the norm by which such success is measured.

Wherefore art thou sanctus liberalis?

To borrow from Shakespeare, the original quote "wherefore art thou Romeo?" If you did not already know, wherefore does not mean where. It actually means why. Why did I choose sanctus liberalis as an online handle? Well, I will tell you. Sanctus in Latin means holy, sacred or even saint. I choose it for holy. Liberalis means courteous or generous. So you are probably thinking right about now how can I call myself holy? What kind of self-righteous presumptuous person proclaims themselves holy? Well, let's look at the root meaning of the word. Most dictionaries will tell that holy means derived from a divine power or a sacred place of a divine power. I propose another definition for you to consider. Holy is to be set apart. When someone made a place holy in the old testament what was happening there? They would build an altar and set that place apart for worship. "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth." Genesis:1:1 The former definition would imply that everything is holy, because everything was created by God. I am going off a tangent here, so when I chose sanctus it was with the intended meaning of set apart. Liberalis was chosen because many people have called me generous. Also, when a Christian went through confirmation in the time of the early church, a new Christian would choose a Christian name. This name would not usually define a characteristic of themselves but something they would want to become more like. I too would like grow to be more like my handle describes, to set my life apart for God and to be gentle.