One of the blogs (web logs) I like to keep up with is from United Methodist bishop William Willimon(http://willimon.blogspot.com/). A guest blogger for him talks about....

A couple days ago Christians for Comprehensive Immigration Reform held a news conference to remind us at Thanksgiving time of "the least of these" in our nation, many of whom are undocumented immigrants working for a better life....

Bishop Lee today asked our churches in Wisconsin to circulate the following news release from the Council of Bishops, "United Methodist Bishops Urge Immediate Withdrawal of Troops from Iraq"....

Apologies to those who check here once-in-a-while for not having blogged recently. Mine is the same lame excuse as everyone else, "too busy." I actually enjoy posting items, but time seems to be the limiting factor.

Continuing from my last post, the radio interview with Stephen Colbert I heard recently included a little surprise near the end. Again, I'll just give you the relevant part of the conversation, then add a brief comment of my own at the end.

I'm impressed at the efforts of Jim Wallis of Sojourners, an evangelical Christian community in Washington, DC, to transcend Democrat and Republican politics in order to speak to the social and political issues of our day from a broadly Christian perspective. He outlines that perspective in his book God's Politics.

Earlier this month a small flap on the religious news beat caught my eye. The publication of Mother Teresa's journals (against her wishes) revealed a side of her known to only a few close spiritual advisors during her lifetime.

This being the third time I've suggested a 'Prayer to Start the Day,' you may begin wondering if I have a hard time getting going in the morning! Actually, I used to, but mornings have come easier to me over the years, so I'm at the point now that I actually appreciate them, especially if my wife and some coffee are around.

In any case, here's another prayer for early in the day. If I remember correctly, I got it from the blog of a pastor whose seminary professor used to recite it each day in class.

"New every morning is your love, Great God of light, and all day long you are working for good in the world. Stir up in us the desire to serve you, to live peacebly with our neighbors, and to give each day to the service of your Son, our Savior."

The sermon title on our church signboard drew a few comments last week. You'd think "Christ Came to Save Sinners" would be pretty standard sermon fare in a Christian church, maybe even elicit a yawn or two. To some, it was a reminder of days gone by when we used to talk more often of such things. Others speculated about the emphasis on 'sinners'....