Faith: July 2009 Archives

challies.com: The New Shape of World Christianity

Tim Challies reviews Mark Noll's new book, The Shape of World Christianity, listing some of the startling facts in the book: "This past Sunday more Anglicans attended church in each of Kenya, South Africa, Tanzania and Uganda than did Anglicans in Britain and Canada and Episcopalians in the United States combined--and the number of Anglicans in church in Nigeria was several times the umber in those other African countries. This past Sunday more Presbyterians were at church in Ghana than in Scotland, and more were in congregations of the Uniting Presbyterian Church of Southern Africa than in the United States."

RELIGION; A Man of the Cloth - The New York Times

Making cloth kosher is a growing industry:

"Little-known outside the Orthodox Jewish community, the law of shatnez prohibits the wearing of any garment that has a mixture of lamb's wool and linen. These days, the testing of clothes, rugs and even upholstery is on the rise as more people adopt the Torah's prescribed regulations....

"On his desk sits the primary tool of his trade, a microscope, which is used to examine microfibers. Like an excitable child playing with a chemistry set, Rabbi Aronovitch placed a fiber from Mr. Coleman's collar on a slide, then squeezed a droplet of olive oil on the fabric to separate the threads."

(Via Ron Coleman, who is quoted in the story.)

The Americans know this will end in schism | Tom Wright - Times Online

The Anglican Bishop of Durham, N. T. Wright, says that the Episcopal Church in the US has broken with the Anglican Communion. "Ways must be found for all in America who want to be loyal to [the Anglican Communion], and to scripture, tradition and Jesus, to have that loyalty recognised and affirmed at the highest level."

"We all have all kinds of deep-rooted inclinations and desires. The question is, what shall we do with them? One of the great Prayer Book collects asks God that we may 'love the thing which thou commandest, and desire that which thou dost promise'. That is always tough, for all of us. Much easier to ask God to command what we already love, and promise what we already desire. But much less like the challenge of the Gospel. "

Tulsa Metro Baptist Association directory of churches

A listing of 153 Southern Baptist churches in and around Tulsa.