City of Houston demands pastors turn over sermons
The city of Houston has issued subpoenas demanding a group of pastors turn over any sermons dealing with homosexuality, gender identity or Annise Parker, the city’s first openly lesbian mayor. And those ministers who fail to comply could be held in contempt of court.
It’s complicated. We want to encourage much intercessory prayer, so we create and maintain phone chains and email prayer lists and we take requests for others at small groups and prayer meetings. However, prayer requests come from sinners, are about sinners, and are passed on to other sinners, so there are plenty of opportunities for sinful gossip to make an entrance in the process (Proverbs 10:19).
A Refresher on Storytelling 101
- Parachute in, don’t preamble.
- Choose first and final words carefully.
- Follow the “Goldilocks” theory of details.
- Focus your delivery on “one person with one thought.”
- Consider the power of poetry.
- Use silence for impact and emphasis.
- Know your AIM. (Audience, Intent, Message)
The Myth of the Midlife Crisis
Jeffrey Arnett, a professor of psychology at Clark University in Worcester, Mass., says his research indicates that the 40s, 50s and 60s are often a time of “re-evaluation and reassessment,” particularly for empty-nesters. But while “there is anxiety that goes along with that,” he says, many people also describe a feeling of “renewed freedom and possibility.”
Midlife, he adds, “is a surprisingly positive time of life.”
Angry Bird: Hawk knocks drone out of the sky
A hawk swooping in and attacking a drone while it was flying over a park in Massachusetts Wednesday was captured on video.
Fist Fight Between Great Grandmothers In Hospital Maternity Ward
The birth of a baby brought out the worst in two great-grandmothers after they came to blows in the maternity ward.
Police say first words were exchanged, and then fists, until the great-grandmothers were kicked out of the hospital.