Good news: Year D is under contract

Dear Readers of The Year D Project:

You may have noticed I have not been posting new material for a while, merely bumping the liturgy up a year so as to have the next event at the top of the list.

This is just to let you know I've not been idle. Year D is now under contract with a non-denominational publisher, and will (Lord willing) be available later this year. There is still a lot to do on the book, however, so I'd appreciate your prayers, specifically, that it will be brought to completion on schedule.

Cordially in Christ,

TMS 

With a Department of Education like this ...

With stories like this, it is becoming harder and harder to support the argument that legislators who want to defund the Department of Education are crazy. I can perhaps understand why, in a Soviet-style Orwellian state, the Department of Re-education would want to strut their SWAT teams about town, shaking down deadbeats, but the US Department of Education? This dad should demand a lot more than a new door. On your mark, get set, contact your legislators!

UPDATED: This is certainly the first time I have ever scooped Glenn Reynolds, and will likely be the last (since "scooping" is not exactly the aim of The Year D Project).

UPDATED AGAIN: Evidently the D. of Ed. denies this had to do with mere loan defaults, but again, I would ask, what is the Education Department doing with a SWAT team ... at all?

Thoughts on the occasion of the death of an arch terrorist ...

"For I have no pleasure in the death of anyone, says the Lord GOD. Turn, then, and live" (Ezek. 18:32).

"Say to them, As I live, says the Lord GOD, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from their ways and live; turn back, turn back from your evil ways ..." (Ezek. 33:11).


UPDATED [May 3, 2011]: It is remarkable how almost none of the countless commentaries on this occasion have made mention of the fact that the terrorist in question was killed on Holocaust Memorial Day, itself a day not for "celebration," but for somber remembering and, no doubt, for intercessory prayer for Israel, for the church, and for the (unreached) "peoples, nations, and languages" of the earth. Please, be reminded!

Yes, Virginia ...

... there is a sanity clause.

What's this about Maundy money?

This looks to be an interesting theory, but I'm not quite sure how well it reconciles the problem of "three days and three nights" (!) in the tomb. What do you think? Will we soon be celebrating Maundy Wednesday? And what's all this about Maundy money? I would think foot-washing and the love commandment might have merited mention, wouldn't you?

Constance Cherry, The Worship Architect

Look what showed up in the Inbox ...

UPDATED: I have a brief review of Cherry's book that will be appearing in an upcoming edition of Interpretation.

Why should law bloggers have all the rhetorical fun?

A bunch of law bloggers are lauding the release of Ward Farnsworth's Classical English Rhetoric. As one who approaches homiletics from a theological, rather than a rhetorical, perspective, I nevertheless hope that coming generations of preachers might acquire a healthy dose of phronesis when it comes to the oratorical arts, ... without (ahem) turning into lawyers, of course.

The Word is Out on Year D

I thought you might be interested in knowing where Year D is being read with interest and put to use.

90.8% of the traffic is from the US, and 3.5% from Canada. No big surprise there, since the electronic announcements I sent out last autumn went almost entirely to contacts in the North American church.

What is interesting is where the rest of the traffic comes from (in descending order): Germany, Russia, South Korea, and the UK, make up a little less that 1% each.

The next group: China, Croatia, France, and Brazil, a bit less than 0.5% each.

Other sources of light but measurable traffic include (in no particular order): Denmark, VietNam, Australia, New Zealand, Belarus, Chile, Ghana, Malawi, Egypt, Malaysia, Israel, and - would you believe it? - Iran. (The list is not exhaustive.)

No doubt some of this traffic is mere trolling, aimless browsing, etc. But much of it is also undoubtedly word of mouth and ... the Spirit at work! To God be the glory!