Politics and the Bible

Cover of the book.

One of the organizations I support is Alliance Defending Freedom. In one of their recent magazine issues, I spotted a picture that showed a book with a title that intrigued me: Politics-According To The Bible by Wayne Grudem.  When I started to research it, I found a website containing MP3 files of a series of lectures (classes) that he did while he was preparing the book and shortly after its publication. The lectures apparently correspond with the chapters of the book - so it's something like a rough draft of an audio version of the book (I suppose).

Wayne is something a conservative Republican Christian so while I tend to agree with his position on many things, there are quite I few that I see differently. Still, it has been interesting to listen to these. I think I am about 2/3 finished. I saved the MP3 files to my computer and burned them to a CD so I could listen while driving to/from work.  They are generally 40-60 minutes long.

If you are interested in a Christian perspective of politics, this is a rewarding place to start.

RC Folk Mass History

Recently, I got involved with an exchange about the Roman Catholic Mass on a blog that promotes the traditional Latin mass rite. Now, while I like the Latin Mass I also have fond memories of the folk mass we attended during the 70s at St. Columbkille RC Church as well as my time with the CSU Newman Center at nearby St. Peter's Church. I observed that most of the Latin Mass supporters look with EXTREME disdain on the Folk Mass.

I found a website that had a lot of the folk mass songs I remember. These were tracks I never heard before (because they were performed by the original composer).

I found this website containing podcasts to complement a book about the history of the Folk Mass. The podcasts largely contain generous excerpts of the original recordings but also have short narratives by the author to explain background and context. I learned a lot about the evolution from the Latin mass to the English (vernacular) mass.

I am sure that many past and present RCs will recognize many of the songs in the podcasts. I downloaded them and listened to them while driving to/from work. They are generally short (~20 minutes max). Check it out and let me know what you think.

Finally...!

After about 6 years of roller hockey (4 sessions per year), Richard's team (the Blue Devils) finally won the Championship for the Spring 2013 session.  They won the first two games of a best of three series. Last Sunday, they won 9-5. Today, they won 6-4. Both were very close games that could have gone either way until the closing moments.

Sr. Pat with Richard after the game.

Me with Richard after the game.

Sr. Pat, Lynn, and me were at today's game to root for Richard and his team.  And it paid off. He finally won a trophy (see above).  Richard has one more session (this Summer) before he ages out of the "Junior" league and goes on to the adult league.

2013 Spring Season Champions: Blue Devils.

Richard has played with the Blue Devils for several sessions. They have been blessed with some very talented players and two well versed coaches, Mark and Dean. They also have a very good goalie, Nick, who was the top goalie in the league. Team mates were also league leaders for Most Goals (Kyle), Most Points (Austin), and Most Assists (Austin).  There were four teams in Junior this year.  Many of the kids have, like Richard, played for years.  The Blue Devils record for the regular Spring Season was 8 wins and 2 losses.

This Summer session starts in two weeks and consists of 10 regular games plus playoff/championship.