If you’ve clicked on the link below and watched the interview with me that was broadcast on Amarillo’s Channel 7 (ABC), you may be wondering how that came about. Here’s the quick rundown:

The Channel 7 news team has been going all over the Texas panhandle this summer, doing the evening news from the various small towns in the area. One day, they came to Dumas, so my family and I went “downtown” (the town square, which is a place and not a person) and saw the news people.

Some people in the media seem surprised that the Pope hasn’t jumped at the chance to offer some sort of statement on the passing of Edward “Ted” Kennedy.

Why would he? Ted Kennedy devoted his public life to trying to destroy the Catholic church. So the Pope can either be hypocritical and offer words of condolence or tell the truth and offer a statement of condemnation.

We’re going to be talking on Sunday nights in September and October about the Christian Church and what is distinctive about us, especially as compared to other Christian traditions in the U.S. This summer, though, I’ve wanted to talk about what we Christians—of most theological stripes—have in common.

So, I want to take this Sunday and wrap up what’s built into this “Faith Pyramid” we’ve been talking about.

God is. Then, He has spoken. There is truth. God loves the world. He has come. God in 3 persons. Conversion. Reconciliation. Ekklesia. Holiness. The sanctity of life. And now, “the Return”.

We began with “God is”. One of the things we’ve talked about when we’ve had a class on the basic beliefs of NPCC is that we hold to three truths as essential: in the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth; Jesus is the way, the truth, the life and the only way to the Father; and the Bible is God’s written word and accurate and sufficient.

Reader’s Digest Goes Under

The folks over at Reader’s Digest have filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. This may not be the end for the mag, but the handwriting’s on the wall. As a formerly fervent reader of the Digest, my first thought at this news is: so what? The RD I loved disappeared a long time ago.

Like probably everyone else who has read or heard this news, I have my own thoughts about why this is happening.

8.16.9 – The Sanctity of Life

Building our “Faith Pyramid”, we started with: God is. Then, He has spoken. There is truth. God loves the world. He has come. God in 3 persons. Conversion. Reconciliation. Ekklesia. Holiness. And now, the sanctity of life.

Building our “Faith Pyramid”, we started with the one, overriding, all-consuming truth that informs and fuels all else in our lives: God is. Then, He has spoken. There is truth. God loves the world. He has come. God in 3 persons. Conversion. Reconciliation. Ekklesia. And now, holiness.

Leviticus 11:45
I am the LORD who brought you out of Egypt so that I could be your God. You must be holy, because I am holy. (GNB)

Great news! For me, anyway. July was my best-selling month ever! I sold 28 copies of my novels* to users of Amazon's Kindle platform. Whoever you are, thanks! And keep telling your friends!

Also, probably as a result of the same phenomenon (whatever that is), someone has been buying the actual paperback versions of my books, too! 7 copies were sold between January 1 & June 30 of 2009. I know that may not sound like much, but considering I had sold a grand total of 1 in the previous three years, I'm stoked!