Time of religious revival

There is a massive, conservative, multi-national religious revival underway.

It appeals to the young, whom the Southern Baptist Convention yearns to reach, and it’s Muslim.

The New York Times has thus far published ten pieces in a series on the revival.

Life-saving stocking stuffers

Ducking

Over at Baptists Today, Tony Cartledge recommends lasting, potentially life-saving gifts for those in greatest need:

Thinking of donkeys and other livestock that may (or may not) have been in or near the stable when Jesus was born, I’m reminded that millions of people across the globe have no donkey in their stable or chicken in their pot. Often, however, a brace of hens or ducks, a couple of goats, a heifer or a draft animal could go a long way toward lifting people from the edge of starvation.

If you need to grab a last-minute gift — or if you’re just inspired to do so — you can honor a friend or loved one by giving a pig, a goat, or even a water buffalo in their honor by visiting Heifer International’s website. There, you can browse a gift catalog, send a donation that could save hungry lives, and print out an instant gift card or send an e-message to the person you want to honor.

If you’re still trying to think of something for either of us, please do that.

Warren revisits himself

Evangelical Pastor Rick Warren, chosen by President-elect Barack Obama to pray at his inauguration, has been misunderstood as a kind of radically insulting extremist in his views of homosexual Americans.

Warren explained exactly how he has been misunderstood in a three-part video blog to his congregation at Saddleback Community Church on Tuesday:

I have in no way ever taught that homosexuality is the same thing as a forced relationship between an adult and a child, or between siblings. I was trying to point out I’m not opposed to gays having their partnership. I’m opposed to gays using the term marriage for their relationship.

His views were still received by many as insulting, as gay rights activists like Pam Spaulding and Wayne Hudson observed. But it is clear that he really didn’t intend to put homosexuality on the same moral and ethical level as pedophilia and incest.

Apparently to underline his commitment to a civil dialog, the Saddleback Web site has been rewritten to provide a gentler explanation of homosexuality as a mortal sin. Saddleback Community Church standards are unchanged, of course. Homosexuals must still overcome and cast off their homosexuality, as though it were the equivalent of alcoholism or drug addiction, in order to join his church.

I’m neither homosexual nor remarkable for my devotion to gay rights, and while I see there is a difference between his expressed views and the language in which they were being cast, I don’t expect the waters to be abruptly calmed. What Warren and his church have to say to homosexuals is still “repent,” not “I accept and respect you just as you are. Let’s make peace.”

Warren’s conciliatory explanation is in my view progress toward such a dialog, but to many a homosexual ear Warren’s voice still rings with something like the dulcent tones of the late Bull Connor’s expositions on racial equality.