...thoughts expressed here are not necessarily final.

May 09, 2005 Beauty worth noting...

Views from our garden

The quilt is one of the winners at the Paducah quilt show 05

One of our favorites from the show and a rose to greet us at home...

Even got a cloud in the shape of Kentucky...sort of... or am I obsessing??

I finished my writing for my final in a session Friday evening. My main problem is limiting and editing myself as I can write twenty pages easier then five. All that memory work comes in handy. I got a phone interview in this past week that went extremely well, between the root canal and the deluge at work. But Ma Smith's Mother's Day cookies arrived stale, as she pointedly let us know. Ain't life grand? Maybe I should have read this- best and worst Mother's Day gifts article before the fact...

Narnia Tour dates released.

Check here often to see what is up on the tour...

Study: Christian Teens Theologically Shallow -Agape Press

Results from a recent survey conducted by a North Carolina researcher reveal that the majority of America's youth believe in God, yet there is a shallowness in their religious knowledge, and they have difficulty expressing their faith. Christian Smith, a sociologist at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, led 133 researchers and consultants in conducting a project that involved telephone surveys of 3,370 English- and Spanish-speaking Americans and face-to-face interviews with 267 of the participants -- all ages 13 to 17. Protracted funding will allow the researchers to track these young people through 2007. Thus far, telephone surveys reveal that young people have a broad fondness for religion, although their religious knowledge is labeled as "meager, nebulous and often fallacious" as found through the personal interview portion of the study. In other words, teens were unable to coherently express their beliefs and the impact of faith on their lives. In addition, many participants appeared so separated from the traditions of their faith that they viewed God as a feel-good problem solver who merely existed for that purpose. There were no indications of an absolute, truth-based theology among the teens. Smith credits parental tendencies of Baby Boomers, poor educational and youth programs, and responsibilities and activities that vie for teenagers' time as reasons for their skewed view of the Almighty.

From a quoteworthy George Will on CT Blog

"Some Christians should practice the magnanimity of the strong rather than cultivate the grievances of the weak. But many Christians are joining today's scramble for the status of victims. There is much lamentation about various "assaults" on "people of faith." Christians are indeed experiencing some petty insults and indignities concerning things such as restrictions on school Christmas observances. But their persecution complex is unbecoming because it is unrealistic."

Lifeway announced its short film award winners some time ago...

Teens Again Will Pray 'A Whole Night' For World's Unreached Young People- Baptist Press

I hear lots abut what young people are doing in events like these- Iwounder if adults might benefit from something similar?

On the Saturday night before Pentecost -- all night long -- teenagers around the world will ask God's mercy for young people worldwide who have never heard that Jesus is the way to a life that is full and forever. Last year's "A Whole Night for the Whole World" stirred the hearts of young people on six continents, said Dave Bidwell of Youth for Christ. "Whole Night" organizers with the National Network of Youth Ministries believe the earnest prayers of a few teenagers can change the world, said Daryl Nuss, NNYM international coordinator. "On the first Pentecost, it was the prayers of a few, gathered together in the Upper Room, who experienced firsthand the power of the Holy Spirit, who began to testify, who saw multitudes added to their numbers, who turned the world upside down," Nuss said. This year's event, set for May 14, is being conducted in partnership with Global Day of Prayer, whose Ten Days of Prayer toward a Greater Pentecost will culminate May 15, Pentecost Sunday, with an estimated 200 million Christians on all six continents praying as the sun rises in New Zealand until it sets in the United States. The "Whole Night" website ( http://wholenight.com) offers resources and ideas for engaging teens in all-night prayer, Davis said.

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From the personal weblog of Anthony Foster @http://anthonyfoster.com/blog/