Salvation and Sacrifice
Last night Fran and Rhiannon and I enjoyed the hospitality of three house church communities gathered for an intra-church conference this weekend in Lithia Springs. After a potluck dinner one of the church groups performed skits based on the wisdom of the letter to the Colossians. Much wonderful singing and heartfelt prayer and praise rounded out what was a delightful evening.
As an active practicing Catholic, my spiritual life is oriented toward monasticism and sacramentalism rather than evangelicalism, so it’s always an interesting experience when I participate in a non-liturgical style of worship, last night being no exception. Catholics don’t do a lot of personal testimony and sharing (that’s an understatement), so I find that evangelical worship can be quite intimate and revealing, even to a one-time guest like I was last night. At one point, one person shared an insight he had received about salvation. And in doing so, I received an unexpected insight of my own, into some significant theological differences that separate Catholics and Protestants. (more…)
Quote for the Day
Every year dairy cows are artificially inseminated to produce a calf to maintain their milk production. A little over half their calves are male. Since these males cannot produce milk and the need for work animals has been replaced by machines, they are useless to the dairy farmer. Such males would grow to a size of 1200 lbs. and live 20-25 years and the cost of feeding, housing, and cleaning up after them would be huge. Therefore, the male calves are killed within a few days of birth, chained by the neck in a small, dark, cramped stall for 4-5 months and then killed for veal, or raised for 1 ½ years for beef. Because the dairy farmer cannot make a profit without killing the males, in every dairy product there is a hidden chunk of veal or beef.
— Jim Skirha, quoted in the
Christian Vegetarian Association
e-newsletter, 2/17/08
