Best movie review I've read in a long time

... from one of those troublemakers over at Breitbart. A couple of memorable lines, from the review, that is, not the movie (in this case, Prometheus), include this definition of the term spirituality, which merits mention in some theological dictionary or other:

"Better to embrace spirituality – the welfare state of theologies. It asks nothing of you but supplies you with whatever you wish."

And this heuristic payoff:

"The answer to 'Where did we come from?' turns out to be some guys who are marginally taller than us and who have the complexion of a back-up singer for The Cure. And we, the audience, are sorry we asked."

Thanks to reviewer Kurt Schlichter for the warning, which only goes to confirm my hunch that I'm not missing anything. This is why I have not set foot in a theatre since, I don't know, Dawn Treader? Yep. I'm pretty sure it was Dawn Treader ... in 2010! (I am sorry for the waste of his $17 bucks, though. Really? Is it $17 bucks now? Sheesh.)

ATTN: International visitors

International visitors to The Year D Project may find the translation widget helpful. See the language selector in the upper left hand corner. It's fast!

While I can't guarantee the accuracy or fluency of these translations, I trust they will get you close enough to something that can be deciphered and honed to make these elements suitable for worship. I also hope this handy aid will increase the usefulness of this alternative lectionary year for brothers and sisters around the globe. It's not just the American church that needs these texts to resound anew!

UPDATE: And in case you are interested, since this site was launched, visitors have come from the following (top ten) countries, only three of which are predominantly English-speaking:

1. US
2. Russia
3. Canada
4. Germany
5. Netherlands
6. UK
7. South Korea
8. China
9. Ukraine
10. Brazil 

A great new worship solution for the gaps in the Psalter

Users of this site and readers of Year D will be familiar with the fact that a third of the Psalms are not represented in the Revised Common Lectionary, but that Year D gives the remaining Psalms a voice. One major problem for worship planning has been the fact that, if you wish to include a Year D psalm in worship, there are few settings of these excluded psalms available, since most recent denominational hymnals have tracked the RCL and favored the same 100 psalms the lectionary does.

Happily, for perhaps the first time in a generation, we have a useful compilation of musical settings for the complete psalter, edited by Joyce Borger, Martin Tel, and John Witvliet, namely, Psalms for All Seasons, ...

which contains multiple settings of all 150 Psalms. That is great news for users of Year D, who otherwise must resort to mining gems from the old Psalter hymnals from the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

This welcome resource is highly recommended! So highly, indeed, I'm placing a link to it at left, so that it does not disappear down the stack. It is just the sort of thing that renders Year D all the more useable. 

"... to keep oneself unstained by the world" (James 1:27).

Since the Bible is no longer required reading in public schools, you would think perhaps The Sneeches might have gotten through to those who are now paying big bucks for ...

... tattoo removal!

Yes, preaching must use words ...

and I very much appreciate Dr. Liftin's saying so. As a teacher of preaching, I too have grown more than a bit weary and wary of St. Francis' popular pearl of wisdom. Long ago, P. T. Forsyth reminded us that "preaching is not ethic." Actions may often speak louder than words, but actions are not substitute for preaching the name of Jesus. Only words can do that. 

A follow up on an earlier football post

Those who saw this earlier post on the University of Dubuque's star football prospect, Michael Zweifel, will be interested in this.

#13 on Amazon's list of "Hot New Releases in Christian Ministry"

Hard to say how these lists get produced, but as of 10:00AM, May 30, 2012, Year D was officially "hot," or at least 13th hottest!

Kindle resources available in Amazon's European sites

For the benefit of our international visitors, my publisher informs me that Kindle and print editions for both Year D and Groans of the Spirit are now available from Amazon's sites in the UK, Germany, France, Italy, and Spain.