The Science of Heaven - Newsweek and The Daily Beast

The Science of Heaven - Newsweek and The Daily Beast:

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Fascinating....

On the Road

As we ready for the coming of the Christ, hear these words of a pilgrim....

"Some of us walk into Advent tethered to our unresolved yesterdays, the pain still stabbing, the hurt still throbbing.  It's not that we don't know better; it's just that we can't stand up anymore by ourselves.  On the way to Bethlehem, will you give us a hand?""

(Ann Weems in Kneeling in Bethlehem)

Reformation Sunday

With Reformation Sunday coming in just a few days, the following saying by Nelson Mandela really hits the spirit of the celebration.

Witness, also, the ground breaking Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification a document created, and agreed to, by the Catholic Church's Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity and the Lutheran World Federation in 1999, as a result of extensive ecumenical dialogue. It states that the churches now share "a common understanding of our justification by God's grace through faith in Christ," one that brings together the Protestant affirmation of the primacy of faith and the Catholic affirmation that good works demonstrates that faith.  To the parties involved, this essentially resolves the conflict over the nature of justification which was at the root of the Protestant Reformation.

See it at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joint_Declaration_on_the_Doctrine_of_Justification

Support Prop 1 for an Austin medical school and new community health facilities.  See this helpful letter from  UT https://docs.google.com/document/d/1b57qtekSi-SVApOzaVISsZZiefYwq4Vyo2IITAOZYto/edit

The Conversation Prism

Take a look a visual portrayal of the Social Media universe.  No wonder it seems confusing!

1024x768 (1024×768):

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‘No Religion’ on the Rise: 19.6% Have No Religious Affiliation - Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life

‘No Religion’ on the Rise: 19.6% Have No Religious Affiliation - Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life:

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Fascinating insight into the religious drift in America.  Are we after quite a delay following in the path of Western Europe?

"However, a new survey by the Pew Research Center’s Forum on Religion & Public Life, conducted jointly with the PBS television program Religion & Ethics NewsWeekly, finds that many of the country’s 46 million unaffiliated adults are religious or spiritual in some way. Two-thirds of them say they believe in God (68%). More than half say they often feel a deep connection with nature and the earth (58%), while more than a third classify themselves as “spiritual” but not “religious” (37%), and one-in-five (21%) say they pray every day. In addition, most religiously unaffiliated Americans think that churches and other religious institutions benefit society by strengthening community bonds and aiding the poor.

With few exceptions, though, the unaffiliated say they are not looking for a religion that would be right for them. Overwhelmingly, they think that religious organizations are too concerned with money and power, too focused on rules and too involved in politics."

The Future of American (Liberal) Christianity

A well done article by Dr. Bass that summarizes a great of research she's been doing and that reaches some unexpected conclusions.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/diana-butler-bass/can-christianity-be-saved_1_b_1674807.html