Dunker Journal

REMEMBERING COMMUNISM.

There is little public awareness of the large-scale atrocities, killings and human rights violations that occurred in communist states, especially compared with awareness of the Holocaust and Nazism (which led to to far fewer deaths). The number of documentaries, feature films or television programs about communist societies is minuscule compared with those on Nazi Germany and/or the Holocaust, and few universities offer courses on the remaining or former communist states.

WHILE BRETHREN BENEFIT TRUST IS PERTURBED about  Wells Fargo Advisors agents calling members to bad-mouth its pension and retirement trust, it’s interesting that the treasurer of the Brethren Housing Association in Harrisburg, PA, is a financial planner with Wells Fargo Advisors.

MAINE DEFENDED marriage by drawing a line in the sand.

YOU CAN’T RUN & You Can’t Hide: Gay Marriage Wants You (& Your Children).

Sorry, but the two versions of “marriage” cannot be married together and live happily ever after. That is why we are “against” gay marriage. Because there is no such thing, and taking “marriage” for that purpose is an act of cultural theft. Those pushing the alarm button must be silenced so that the thieves can get away with it. “Gay marriage” is an act of aggression and leads to the oppression of us “others.” Just ask Peter Vadala.

MAGGIE GALLAGHER:

Despair is a spiritual weapon, and it is the gay-marriage movement’s single most powerful weapon.

I understand that, and therefore I understand why gay-marriage advocates use it so often. But why do we pro-marriage conservatives use it on ourselves so often?

Maggie’s rule: Don’t say about any cause you think important, “this cause is hopeless,” unless you want people to give up. That’s the only good reason to say it. Culture wars are over, like all wars, when one side is persuaded to give up the fight.

You feel hopeless about a cause? I understand. There’s lots of good work to be done in the world — go do something about which you have hope. But don’t get in the way of those of us who are in the middle of the fight.  Because, after all, it’s the future we are talking about — and you could be wrong!

I suspect the reason pro-marriage conservatives say it so often, is that is has become a magic talisman of intellectual sophistication. “I am not part of the stupid party, I understand reality.”

Can the powerful gay-marriage movement be stopped? I don’t know. I promise you one thing though: I am going to find out.

The West Marva District is looking for a part-time district executive.

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WEST MARVA DISTRICT
DISTRICT EXECUTIVE MINISTER

This is a part-time position available immediately.
The West Marva District comprises 62 congregations and 2 fellowships in the states of Maryland and West Virginia. The district is situated in the Appalachian Mountains. Its congregations are mostly rural. Several congregations are in urban areas. It is theologically diverse. The preferred candidate is someone who understands the history, values and workings of the Church of the Brethren and who will lead the district in focusing on its mission of nurturing the faith of its members and extending the witness of the Gospel to the people, problems and needs of the world. The district office is located in Oakland, Maryland.

RESPONSIBILITIES:
• Serve as the executive officer of the District Board, giving general oversight to the planning and implementation of the ministries as directed by District Conference and the District Board, and providing linkages to congregations, the Mission and Ministry Board and other denominational agencies and ministries.
• Assist congregations and pastors with placement.
• Build and strengthen relationships with congregations and pastors.
• Articulate and promote the vision and mission of the district
• Serve as an advocate for policies and directives of the Church of the Brethren Annual Conference in conversation with the District Board and/or District Conference.
• Facilitate and encourage the calling and training of persons to set-apart ministry and lay leadership.
• Promote unity in the district.

QUALIFICATIONS:
• A clear commitment to Jesus Christ demonstrated by a deep faith and vibrant spiritual life.
• A commitment to the New Testament and its values.
• A commitment to Church of the Brethren faith and heritage.
• Master of Divinity or equivalent theological degree preferred.
• Minimum of 10 years of pastoral experience.
• Strong communication, mediation, and conflict resolution skills.
• Strong administrative, management and budget skills.
• Respect for theological diversity.
• Flexibility in working with staff, volunteer, pastoral and lay leadership.
Interested and qualified persons may apply for this position by sending a letter of interest and a resume via e-mail to: OfficeofMinistry@brethren.org. Applicants are requested to contact 3 or 4 persons who are willing to provide a letter of reference. Upon receipt of the resume the individual will be sent a Candidate profile that must be completed and returned before the application is considered complete.

Application deadline: December 2, 2009

CHURCH OF THE BRETHREN PULPITS ARE AVAILABLE for faithful, Bible-preaching pastors.

MAGGIE GALLAGHER WRITES on The Maine Vote for Marriage.

Gay-marriage advocates in Maine had the benefit of learning from California. . . . There are not very many Mormons in Maine, or black people, either, so they cannot blame this loss on either minority group. Maine is a deep blue state, socially liberal and relatively secular, and close to Massachusetts, where people have presumably learned “the sky doesn’t fall” after gay marriage becomes law.

And yet people in Maine in a free and fair election decisively rejected gay marriage by an even bigger margin than in California. . . .

DON KRAYBILL, of the Young Center for Anabaptist and Pietist Studies at Elizabethtown College, explains the religious significance of steel wheels for the Groffdale Mennonites.

IT WAS CLEAR at Annual Conference that On Earth Peace has cast its lot with the pro-homosexual part of the church. Now comes word that Bethany Seminary will be hosting the webcast of the Voices for An Open Spirit (VOS) “Progressive Brethren Summit” at the Elizabethtown Church of the Brethren next week. (That the Elizabethtown Church would host the summit is not a surprise.)

The Voices for An Open Spirit, the Womaens’ Caucus, and the Brethren-Mennonite Council for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgendered Interests (BMCLGBT) are all on the same page when it comes to promoting the homosexual lifestyle as acceptable in the church. That another official agency of the church would want to be identified with them is sad, but not really all that surprising.

NEW PARIS CHURCH OF THE BRETHREN, New Paris, Indiana, will hold revival meetings, November 8-10.  The Sunday morning service will be at 9 a.m., and the evening services will be at 7 p.m.  Bro. Craig Alan Myers will be the evangelist.  Bro. Stanley Godfrey is the pastor.  The theme is “Trusting Christ in Challenging Times.”

Sermon Topics and Scriptures:

Sunday, 9:00 AM   “Above and Beyond”    Ephesians 3:14-21
Sunday, 6:00 PM    “The Deadly Query”    Genesis 3:1-5
Monday, 7:00 PM   “Faith Facing Trial”    Genesis 22:1-14
Tuesday, 7:00 PM   “Why Churches Grow”   Acts 2:41-47

WHY YOU CAN’T GET swine-flu vaccine.

VDH: The Discreet Charm of the Left-wing Plutocracy.

SODOMITE MARRIAGE  HAS BEEN DEFEATED in Maine. In each of the 31 jurisdictions it has been up for a vote, it has failed.  At least Maine agrees with President Obama on the issue.

Doug Wilson notes:

First, the best news of the evening was that the voters of Maine rejected homosexual marriage. This brings the total to 31 states that have done so, albeit with varying degrees of enthusiasm. Whenever homosexual marriage is put up for a popular vote, down it goes, no exceptions thus far. It was thought that Maine, a blue New England state, might break that pattern, but thanks should be offered up to God that it did not. Te Deums should be sung in the cathedrals, and medals struck.

And Anthony Esolen says:

A man can no more marry a man than he can marry a post.  A woman cannot marry a woman, any more than she can marry a hair dryer or a rainbow.  Yes, it is true, they can form eroticized friendships that mimic marriage, just as they can do things with their bodies (as can a man and woman together) that mimic sexual intercourse.  But they cannot form the one-flesh union of man and woman that is biologically designed, when the conditions are right, to bring about a new human being.  This is a plain fact.  Indeed, there are biological changes that occur in both man and woman in the marital embrace that suggest that their union functions as a single organism, literally the “one flesh” that Jesus says was the Father’s will for them “in the beginning,” meaning not only before the Fall, but at the foundation of all sexual reality here and now, and forevermore.

Read the whole thing.

LARS WALKER:

It occurs to me that what we’re seeing today in Christian liberalism is a new form of Gnosticism—a Gnostic heresy, if you will. The old Gnostics believed in a secret knowledge that was hidden from the unenlightened masses, and made them superior. The new Gnostics believe in a revelation which is secret in the sense of being personal—“I have my God who speaks to me things He/She might not say to you. However, for me, my revelation is authoritative, and nobody has any right to criticize it.”

AL GORE FINDS that being green brings in the green.

PLANNED PARENTHOOD DIRECTOR LEAVES, Has Change of Heart.  And Planned Parenthood has slapped her with a restraining order.

UPDATE:  More here.

SOMETIMES, THE CHALLENGE WITH SATIRE IS that it can be rather scary.

“we deeply honor and respect the opposing opinions of parents, certain freshmen, and old ministers out there, and will do everything we can to represent the state of affairs at LaVinc so they won’t withdraw their support.”

Couldn’t that be said of some Brethren institutions?

THERE IS new life and joy even when it seems like there is not. There’s a Church of the Brethren angle in this account.

KNOBSVILLE CHURCH OF THE BRETHREN (Southern Pennsylvania District) WILL HOST a series of revival meetings November 1-4 at 7:00 p.m. The first service will be Sunday morning at 10:30 a.m., with a fellowship meal at noon. Brother Tim Vaughn from the Dry Run congregation will be the speaker. There will be a variety of special music. Christian Elliott is the pastor.

JAMES TARANTO, in The Wall Street Journal, referring to recent comments by an aide to Mr. Obama:

The job of those in power is not to “speak truth to power,” though it would be nice if they spoke the truth once in a while. It is to exercise power responsibly.

TOUGH TIME FOR CHRISTIANS in Somalia as Islamic militia hunts them down and kills them.

REVIVAL SERVICES ARE BEING HELD at the Greenmount Church of the Brethren in the Shenandoah District through Wednesday evening at 7 p.m. nightly, with Bro. David Rittenhouse, of the Pocahontas Congregation in West Virginia as the evangelist. The church building is located 5 miles Northwest of Harrisonburg, VA,  off Rt. 42 on Rt. 772  at 4881 Greenmount Rd., Harrisonburg, VA.  Ken Dolan is the pastor.

OHIO HARDWARE STORE OWNER HAMMERS prosperous life. I’ve shopped there many times. In fact, I took a girl to this hardware store on our first date. It must have been all right, because she became my wife!

ALBERT MOHLER COMMENTS on John Shelby Spong’s surrender in the debate on homosexuality. Mr. Spong won’t be missed, and will be considered by future generations in the same vein as Robert Ingersoll.

JULIAN FREEMAN HAS The Answer to Everything.

CHARLES KRAUTHAMMER:

Fox News is no monopoly. It is a singular minority in a sea of liberal media. ABC, NBC, CBS, PBS, NPR, CNN, MSNBC vs. Fox. The lineup is so unbalanced as to be comical — and that doesn’t even include the other commanding heights of the culture that are firmly, flagrantly liberal: Hollywood, the foundations, the universities, the elite newspapers.

Here’s the list of White House approved journalists. It looks pretty uniformly liberal to me.

THE OBAMA ADMINISTRATION HAS JOINED a U.N. effort to restrict religious speech.

COME LET US HARASS THEM: Gay marriage proponents want to intimidate their critics.

MR. OBAMA’S WAR with Fox News isn’t that smart. And there is this: First They Came for Fox News…