Happy Solstice Day!

I'm not going to rehash all the details of Christianity creating Christmas to replace Saturnalia and other pagan celebrations around the time of the Winter Solstice and New Year. However, I do wish to remind folks that today being the Winter Solstice made it a big deal to many ancient pagan pre-Christian groups. And, were it not for those elements we would be celebrating Christ's birth later in the Winter when he was actually born. Some of my more legalistic and anal-retentive Christians abhor Christmas for this reason, forgetting that it really doesn't matter when we celebrate Christ's birth provided that we as Christians celebrate His death EVERY day! Given my previously-mentioned issues with S.A.D., I find anything festive that emphasizes LIGHTS this time of year to be a good thing. Furthermore, given this is a relatively cold and dark time of year, any festival which emphasizes celebration of Winter and joy and reinforcement of filial and community bonds through get-togethers and gift-giving is a good thing. In fact, given that God created the Winter Solstice, why don't Christians celebrate that annual astronomical event with as much vigor as any pagans in history?

Elmer Gantry Jr. Visited My Church Today

Today I walked out of church in disgust mid-sermon: my church had Elmer Gantry the Younger false teaching in front of my church family. We had Elmer Gantry the Elder as an assistant pastor a few years ago before we fired his ass. Somebody should have done as much research on he-whose-name-is-unworthy-of-mention-here and his heretical cult-like sect as I undertook tonight, before allowing him into our inner sanctum this morning. 

I "tried the spirits whether they be of God." I am skeptical of this fool's unsubstantiated claims about himself in regards to his alleged magical "healing powers." I was disgusted by his shameless self-promotion. I contemn his self-aggrandizing exaggerations about his education (he suggested he once could have demolished a particular critic in a theological throw-down but chose to take the high road when in fact his credentials are lightweight). I was appalled by his presumptuous, smarty, smarmy, glib, flippant, cocky demeanor and attitude. I experienced a violent lack of peace hearing his words and looking at his impudent face and body language. His own unsound doctrine was blatant to which Grandpa McGee back in the day would have skull-fucked him in a theological debate while I myself nowadays in such a situation would merely rip him a new asshole. Last but not least, the heretical tradition (a fringe pentecostal/charismatic healing cult) in which he has devoted himself should have excluded him from preaching in our church. 

Our church needs to do a better job of vetting who comes and talks to us. Or perhaps, I am in the wrong church.

Graphic of the Day - U.K. Devotion

I found this fascinating graphic tonight on Twitter. It is rather striking in showing a sampling of merely one European nation as an insightful sample of the broader trend of the de-christianization of Europe as it becomes both more secular and more muslim. Image courtesy of The Economist (all rights reserved).