Sarah Palin for VP!

The young Sarah Heath once won the title “Miss Congeniality” in a local Alaska beauty contest. But her high school basketball teammates had another nickname for her, one that belied her genial surface: “Sarah Barracuda”.
Those monikers may sum up the contradictory political appeal of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, John McCain’s surprise choice to be his vice-presidential nominee.

She’s young, a fresh face, and a self-described “hockey mom” who eloped with her high school boyfriend after college. At the same time, she’s made a career of running against, through, and over Alaska’s old boy political network.

To win the governor’s mansion in 2006, she had to defeat the incumbent, scandal-weakened Gov. Frank Murkowski, in the primary. In the general election, she faced a former governor, Democrat Tony Knowles – and beat him handily.

“Her experience in shaking up the status quo is exactly what is needed in Washington today,” said the McCain campaign in a news release announcing the Palin pick.

Governor Palin is energetic, staunchly antiabortion, pro-gun, and a maverick who has at times angered the Alaskan Republican Party. In that sense she might be seen as a mirror image of Senator McCain himself.

Read the rest here





Moose Burgers

1 lg. egg
1 tbsp. bitters
1/2 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp. ground black pepper
1 tbsp. melted butter
1/2 c. minced celery
1/2 c. onion, minced
2 c. bread crumbs (dry), cubed
2 lbs. lean ground moose meat
6 strips thick sliced bacon
24 toothpicks

In a bowl, beat egg, bitters, salt, and pepper. Stir in butter, celery, and onion. Toss in bread crumbs. Divide moose meat into 6 flat patties. Put 1/6 of stuffing on each pattie. Wrap pattie around stuffing into a ball. Mash balls into patties again. Place stuffed burgers on oiled roasting pan. Cut bacon strips in half. Secure atop burgers with toothpicks. Bake in 350 degree oven for 30 minutes. Broil for a minute to brown burgers before serving

Play Pumps

What an awesome idea!




Thanks to Stand Firm

Proposed CANA Resolutions

From here:

RESOLUTION NO. 1-Establishment of the Great Lakes Region as a Region of CANA

RESOLVED, that the Convocation Council recognizes that the Great Lakes Region has been duly established as a region within the Convocation the Convocation of Anglicans in North America ("CANA"), in accordance with Section 5.3 of the Bylaws of CANA.

RESOLUTION NO. 2-Regarding the Global Anglican Future Conference

RESOLVED, that the Convocation Council hereby expresses its gratefulness to the majority-world Anglican leaders recently gathered at the Global Anglican Future Conference (GAFCON) in Jerusalem, who stood in solidarity with all Anglicans who struggle against revisionist forces in the Anglican Communion. We also hereby express our appreciation to the CANA bishops, the bishops' wives, and others for representing CANA at GAFCON. We echo their endorsement of the Statement on the Global Anglican Future and the confessional Jerusalem Declaration. We commit ourselves to pursue the GAFCON goal to "reform, heal and revitalize the Anglican Communion and expand its mission to the world." We endeavor to support the emerging GAFCON movement and its Primates Council.

RESOLUTION NO. 3-Regarding Recognition by the Primates Council of the Global Anglican Future Conference of a New Anglican North American Province

RESOLVED, that the Convocation Council hereby supports the Common Cause Partnership (CCP) desire to embrace the invitation by the Global Anglican Future Conference (GAFCON) leadership to recognize CCP as an emerging Anglican province in North America. As we set forth plans for the future of Anglicanism in North America, our prayer is that our Common Cause federation will continue to grow and mature as an Anglican province.

How I spent my summer vacation

I took a week off to spend a little time with my family, especially my older kids who are heading back to college.

We mostly just puttered around local used bookstores, antique stores and malls. But one day I had a Big Adventure.

We went here.


I discovered all sorts of Interesting Things and had Deep Insights. Like I am really, really scared of heights. Even if the heights are over small rivers hundreds of feet underground. And, oh yeah, I don't like being hundreds of feet underground in a cave with weird rocks that look like they are melting down the walls. Did you know that stalactites look like evil squid clinging to the ceiling? And I discovered that even though the temperature is a steady 52 degrees year round, it is possible to break out into a sweat when I watch my young children gleefully peering over the edge of the railing and urging me to do the same.

I recommend Howe's Cavern as a fun, family outing.

I just will not be going back there myself.

And I really, really will not go on the "Adventure Tour"

Liberal dogmatism killing Church unity

LIBERALS are fond of brow-beating the Churches about sectarianism and disunity. These twin evils, they say with some justification, are harmful to society because they set one group against another and because sectarianism is, at the very least, uncivil.

It now transpires that all this liberal bleating about sectarianism and disunity was exactly that, bleating. But it was also hypocritical because when it suits their agenda liberals are very inclined to use sectarian language of their own and have no hesitation adding to the already deep divisions between the Churches......


Ecumenism, that is to say the drive for Christian unity, has long been a priority of theological liberals.

Conservative and orthodox Christians are used to being lectured about the need to put aside their opposing dogmas for the sake of unity. But as we're now discovering, liberals have dogmas of their own, or rather they have one super-dogma; equality.......


Having decided on these positions, liberals are then happy to employ the most sectarian language possible to describe those who stand in their way.

All opposition to theological liberalism is rooted, they insist, in ignorance and prejudice, and opponents are summarily dismissed, insulted and derided as 'bigots', 'sexists', 'fundamentalists' and 'homophobes'.

This quite clearly sums up the entire self-righteous attitude encountered in the pronouncements from KJS and other TEC bishops:

The fact is, liberals are willing to sacrifice anything and everything on their altar of equality, because they believe they are right and that they are the One True Church.

This article pretty much sums up the attitude of liberals. There is a huge dose of what Thomas Sowell called the "vision of the annointed" in the TEC reappraisers and their fellow travelers.

(H/T to TitusOneNine)

Bishop Miller of Down & Dromore defends orthodoxy

Bishop Harold Miller stands up to the nonsense spouted by Armagh:

The Bishop of Down and Dromore, the Right Reverend Harold Miller, rejected the Archbishop of Armagh's claim that if scientific advances prove people are born gay the Church may have to change its teaching about homosexuality.

And, warning that accepting homosexual relationships as normal would open the door to more divisive arguments about other sexual behaviour, Bishop Harold Miller said that the Church of Ireland could never bless gay couples.

Under the leadership of the last primate, Lord Robin Eames, senior churchmen rarely expressed disagreements with the Archbishop of Armagh and the Church largely maintained a single voice within the House of Bishops.

However, the accelerating crisis in the worldwide Anglican Church has exposed deep-seated disagreements about homosexuality and in an interview with the News Letter upon returning from the Lambeth Conference, Bishop Miller detailed his position on the issue.

Liar, Lunatic or Lack-wit? You decide.

From Stand Firm: ( follow this link.)

TEC has been living in gracious restraint for some time. I don’t see any church wide push to end that in the coming months. General Convention is the only body that can decide to do anything significant related to that. Individual bishops always make their own decision about what is best for their own diocese. All of us are urged to live in gracious restraint.

"Gracious restraint" - How in Heaven and Earth does this describe anything TEC has done in recent years?

I can not decide. My vote keeps cycling between liar, lunatic and lack-wit. Anybody out there have a way to decide this?

Compliance in Diocese of Massachusetts

Can't say that I'm surprised at this.

Bishop M. Thomas Shaw, head of the Episcopal Diocese of Massachusetts, said in an interview upon his return from London that he will continue to ordain gay clergy, which he called "pastorally important."

He also said that local priests will continue to bless same-sex marriages, although Shaw said that those priests are doing so on their own and that "I haven't authorized anybody to do anything."

As for whether he would follow up on his earlier intention to push for ending the moratorium on gay bishops and allowing church recognition of same-sex marriage when the Episcopal Church meets at its General Convention next year, Shaw said he would now wait until he meets with all the American bishops next month to decide how he will proceed.

Meanwhile, Bishop William L. Murdoch of the Anglican Church of Kenya, formerly the rector of an Episcopal parish in West Newbury and now the rector of an Anglican parish in Amesbury, said he expected that the "boundary crossings" by foreign bishops into the United States would also continue, because there is no alternative for traditionalist Episcopalians in the United States.

"Who is going to offer pastoral care to those churches that want to remain connected to the Anglican Communion but not the Episcopal Church?" Murdoch asked. "That's why our work will continue."

Fr. Tim on "Boundary Crossings"

From this thread over at Stand Firm:

Perhaps the Primates can announce the following:
“We will exercise restraint in making travel plans which might be experienced with discomfort in some parts of the Communion. However, the Communion must understand that
1. Scholars show that boundary crossings have taken place so they must have been an ancient tradition of freedom in Christ until suppressed by some malevolent church conspiracy or other;
2. Even if boundary crossings had not happened in the past, we are experiencing a new thing of the Spirit and need room to live into this in our various missional contextualizations of praxis and experience;
3. Our baptismal covenant entitles us to exercise ministry with anybody, any place at any time;
4. New social scientific discoveries indicate that we are now part of a “global village” in which legal jurisdictional boundaries are mere social constructs that go against our nature as transboundaried ministers;
5. Our feelings tell us that we are right to cross boundaries;
6. Our experience of cross-boundary ministries is that the people with whom we minister are holy and that their gifts are worth celebrating across boundaries;
7. We might refrain from authorizing further cross boundary interventions but will leave room for pastoral care to those who experience themselves as called to a cross boundary ministry;
8. Those who don’t agree with us are stupid;
9. Those who don’t agree with us are stupid;
10. We are more enlightened than those who disagree with us;
11. Those who disagree with us are stupid;
12. Our feelings tell us that we are right and you are stupid if you disagree.”

More compliance

From Still on Patrol:

Rebecca Anne Binder, the daughter of Dr. Martha Connell and Dr. Jack Binder of Scarsdale, N.Y., was married on Saturday to Amanda Elizabeth Laws, the daughter of Oneida Méndez-Laws and the Rev. Thomas Laws of Montclair, N.J. Ms. Binder’s father, who was authorized by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, officiated at St. John’s Episcopal Church in Charlestown, Mass., where Ms. Laws’s father, an Episcopal priest, participated in a blessing ceremony.

Compliance

Episcopal Diocese ordains its first openly gay deacon
(h/t to Stand Firm)

The Episcopal Diocese of San Diego took another step toward the full acceptance of gays with the ordination of its first openly gay deacon.


San Diego Episcopal Bishop James Mathes downplayed the sexual orientation of a newly ordained deacon.
During a month in which thousands of same-sex couples were able to marry in California, Thomas Wilson was ordained to the transitional diaconate by San Diego Bishop James Mathes at St. Paul's Episcopal Cathedral. Wilson, who moved to San Diego eight years ago with his partner of 20 years, is expected to serve as a deacon for six months to a year before becoming a priest, Mathes said.

Yet the bishop downplayed the significance of Wilson's sexual orientation. Mathes said he was not aware that a press release had been sent by the diocese with the headline: “Openly Gay, Partnered Deacon Ordained! First One in This Diocese Ever!”

On the next to last day of Lambeth!!!! Bp. Mathes does this. How's that for compliance?

Prayer Book Tyranny

Sarah Hey at Stand Firm posted this very interesting bit of information.

First, TEC is still the only province that does not allow use of an "authorized" but older prayer book in entirety. TEC does allow limited use of portions of another prayer book with the bishop's permission -- but that is far far different from blanket allowance of use of older, orthodox Prayer Books with no additional permission needed by bishops. Even Canada allows that.

But loving, inclusive, affirming TEC does not. And we all understand why -- it's because the gospel & propaganda the national church is promoting must be the only one available, since it cannot bear to compete. Other provinces may have their strange or heretical books -- but they still allow the older authorized Prayer Books' use.

I came in under the 1979 BCP and it's the only one I really know. But the more I study it and compare to the 1928 American BCP and the 1662 BCP, the more I realize the objections to the '79 book are not just about knee-jerk conservatives wanting to have antique language in their worship. There are substantial theological changes in the '79 book. No wonder we are forbidden to use the old book. We might actually prefer it and that would threaten the "new thing" theology.

Take Me In To the Holy of Holies

Thank you to my daughter for introducing me to this song and this group.

A view from Lambeth

Via Stand Firm...

From the Bishop of Nelson, New Zealand:

I have appreciated networking with some pretty amazing people.
I am so full of respect for Bishops Bill Love and Mark Lawrence (from within TEC) who are not afraid to stand up and call sin, sin!
I have the deepest admiration from the Bishops from the Sudan who came to let their voice be heard and have been treated with the most disgusting abuse from a woman Bishop from New York who labeled them ‘wife-beaters!’