Quite Possibly the Best Response I Have Seen

Father Chris Larimer at the Adiaphora blog has quoted Bishop Jeremy Taylor in response to the recent invitation by the Roman Church to Anglicans who find themselves deeply concerned about their future. You can read his post at this link.

I must admit that I strongly agree with Bishop Taylor's comments, in their temporal context, but today, I am not so sure. One cannot be sure what one is getting into these days when entering an Anglican/Episcopal Church. Sadly, while some contend truly for 'the faith once delivered', others have abandoned it for what I have come to describe most of mainline Christianity to be: Humanism with an object of affection.

Options for Anglicans committed to the truth and authority of the Scripture are avaliable, but they require of the potential adherant a strong sense of the place of tradition and reason in the life of the Church and her approach to Biblical understanding.

Ancient (i.e., patristic) tradition gives us a framework to understand the genesis of how we explain what the Bible teaches, since the patristic environment was the one into which the Gospels first began to circulate. This tradition is a strong guide to Biblical understanding, but it must be remembered that it is a guide to it, not a guarantor of it.

Reason, however, is a lousy expositor of Scripture. Certainly a regenerated reason has its place - it can be a strong help in seeing how various texts and traditions can be brought to bear (both for ourselves and for others), but unregenerated reason is automatically suspect when it comes to making heads, tails, or anything else out of the Word of God.

Anglicanism needs a fresh, clear-minded reformation, and Rome will not be its source. If you are considering a new spiritual home for yourself or your congregation, you might wish to check out (shameless plug!) the Reformed Evangelical Synod of America and speak with our Bishop.

Review: "Small Potatoes: Who Killed the USFL?"

Let me be honest about something up-front. I am too young to actually recall the United States Football League. For me, the only professional football I was aware of in the mid 1980's was the National Football League. I got whatever game was on CBS or NBC at the time, and I don't recall becoming aware of Monday Night Football on ABC until the year the Indianapolis Colts played the Denver Broncos in the Hoosier Dome on Halloween Night. My cable television did not have ESPN (my grandmother could only afford the most basic package we got), and even though USFL games were broadcast on ABC, I was probably too busy playing football in the middle of the spring to ever bother to notice that there was another football league on the tube.

Now, twenty-five years later, the USFL is often heralded as an 'ahead of its time' innovator in professional football, instituting the two-point conversion, instant replay on challenge, and other features now taken for granted by fans of the NFL. Like the American Football League, the USFL brought something new to the pro game that hadn't been seen before...

ESPN Films, as a part of their thirtieth anniversary celebration, aired Mike Tollin's documentary "Small Potatoes: Who Killed the USFL?" tonight. The hour-long program was not aimed necessarily at those with an in-depth knowledge of the USFL or its ignominious fate, but at those football fans who, in 1987, probably didn't give the USFL a second glance. Detailed in the program are the origins of the spring league, insight from many of its great players (Herschel Walker, Jim Kelly, and Steve Young among them), and a basic-but-insightful overview of the league's legal battle with the NFL that ultimately secured its fate.

While the material covered isn't groundbreaking, it certainly puts a human face on an intriguing idea which has come and gone, and which, sadly, seems to have yet again come and gone in the demise of the Arena Football League, which is now in bankruptcy proceedings. On the whole, it was an interesting hour, and for those who love the game of football but know little of this portion of the history of the pro game, it is a rewarding watch.

For more information on the documentary:
http://30for30.espn.com/film/small-potatoes-who-killed-the-usfl.html

One thing that is not mentioned in the documentary is an attempt on the part of some California businessmen to resurrect the USFL. I am not talking about the United Football League (UFL) which began play about two weeks ago, but something which seems to be attempting to recreate the original USFL model. Having watched a UFL game, I strongly doubt they will even finish their season.

For information on the 'new' USFL:
http://www.newusfl.com/

Welcome, Finns!

Just got home and pulled up the visitor stats... I have no idea why, but in the past few hours, I have seen quite the influx of Finnish visitors to the site. Welcome! Anyone care to tell me what has prompted your visit? I am excited that the appeal of this site may be a bit broader than I realized, but it just took me by surprise!

The Common Cup is Relatively Safe

As the fears surrounding H1N1 and the Flu Season again call into question the age-old Christian practice of using a common cup in the celebration of Holy Communion, I want to share a few words of wisdom from, of all places, the British secular government's health agency...

"Bacteriological experiments have shown that the occasional transmission of micro-organisms is unaffected by the alcoholic content of the wine, the constituent material of the cup or the practice of partially rotating it, but is appreciably reduced when a cloth is used to wipe the lip of the cup between communicants. Nevertheless, transmission does not necessarily imply inoculation or infection. Consideration of the epidemiology of micro-organisms that may be transmitted via saliva, particularly the herpes group of viruses, suggests that indirect transmission of infection is rare and in most instances a much greater opportunity exists for direct transmission by other means. There is substantial evidence that neither infection with hepatitis B virus nor HIV can be transmitted directly via saliva so that indirect transmission via inanimate objects is even less likely. ..Currently available data do not provide any support for suggesting that the practice of sharing a common communion cup should be abandoned because it might spread infection."

"The Hazard of Infection From the Shared Communion Cup"

Public Health Laboratory Service

Communicable Disease Surveillance Centre

London, U.K.

Rob+ adds: It is far more likley to get sick from allowing people to dip their own bread into the common cup than it is to drink from the common cup itself. If you are going to practice intinction, please ensure that communion ministers are trained in how to do so, and have very, very thuroughly washed their hands before distributing the Sacrament.

My 2009 NFL "Favorites" Ranking

I've been asked by many people about my favorite NFL teams. Here's the list, ranging from favorite to least favorite.

My Favorite Teams

AFC - New England Patriots
NFC - New Orleans Saints

My Second Tier Favorites
AFC - San Diego Chargers
NFC - Arizona Cardinals

Likeable Teams / Teams I Want to Like

• Miami Dolphins
• Tampa Bay Buccaneers
• Houston Texans
• Cleveland Browns*
• Detroit Lions

*I like most of what Cleveland has to offer. I can’t stand Eric Mangini as coach.

Either Way Teams

• Kansas City Chiefs
• Green Bay Packers
• Seattle Seahawks
• San Francisco 49ers
• Minnesota Vikings
• Denver Broncos
• Atlanta Falcons
• Cincinnati Bengals
• Baltimore Ravens
• Jacksonville Jaguars
• Tennessee Titans
• Pittsburgh Steelers
• Buffalo Bills
• Chicago Bears
• Carolina Panthers

Teams I Generally Despise

• Saint Louis Rams
• New York Giants
• Washington Redskins
• New York Jets
• Philadelphia Eagles
• Indianapolis Colts
• Dallas Cowboys
• Oakland Raiders

Trinity XIX Homily

My homily for today is now posted at the Reformed Evangelical Synod of America's website. Click the link above to have a read!

Saints Win... Now, about those Patriots...

Well, the New Orleans Saints managed to blast the New York Giants back into the last decade... now it remains to be seen what the Patriots do with their game, which is being played in wet, sloppy snow and throwback uniforms. Sweet! This is what football is all about!

Welcome to StellarCross - Generation 4

Welcome to the new layout and format for StellarCross.org. I have been maintaining this site since 2002 across a couple of different platforms (AOL, an independent web-host, and Blogger), but it has always maintained a content centered on topics that carry my interest. All of my old posts will remain avaliable via Blogger, though I am still trying to figure out the best way to put them into place. I may eventually host them here, or I may leave them on the final iteration of the last StellarCross site and leave them be. Either way, the count starts fresh and I welcome you to continue to stop by to keep an eye on my thoughts and reflections on faith, space, and science fiction (among other things!).

Blessings to you and yours,
Rob+

Major Changes Ahead

As visitors may have recently noticed, I am significantly displeased with my Blogger template. Sadly, at the moment, I think there are a series of problems going back some ways (to when I migrated from a 3 column site to a 2 column site) that are adversely affecting site performance. Thus, I am going to start from scratch and transfer the StellarCross domain to a new blog in the coming days (or weeks, depending on how Clare affects the planning of said transfer). Please bear with me. This site and its contents will not disappear; it will remain available as a link on the new StellarCross.

My Take on Health Care Reform

The way I see it, the viable options for health care reform are either Darwinian or Draconian. James T. Kirk, meet your no win scenario.