The peaceful, neutrality-loving citizens of Switzerland voted last week to ban the construction of minarets in their country-a decision not welcomed by the country’s 400,000 Muslims. For those unfamiliar with Islamic architecture, minarets are the steeple-like towers attached to mosques from which the call to prayer is broadcast.The referendum was not a matter of preserving the alpine skyline, and some are saying it shouldn’t be interpreted as a restriction upon religious freedom either. Rather it’s the latest battlefront in Western Europe between advocates of traditional European culture and the recent influx of non-European immigrants.

While many leaders in Switzerland’s government and churches opposed the ban, the measure won with a significant 57.5 percent of the vote. This is from The Washington Post:

But backers of the measure said from the…

Can you correctly identify the source of the following quote?

“You must defend those who are helpless and have no hope. Be fair and give justice to the poor and homeless.”

16% of Americans surveyed believed the statement came from President Obama–the number one response in the study. 9% said the Dalai Lama. Martin Luther King Jr. came in at 8%, and Oprah Winfrey garnered 4%. And 3% said Bono. Taken together, 54% of American misidentified the correct source. Only 13% got it right–the Bible (Proverbs 31:8-9).

“The survey illustrates the reason we created ‘The Poverty and Justice Bible,’” commented R. Lamar Vest, president of American Bible Society, “to highlight God’s concern for the poor, marginalized and oppressed.”

“The Poverty and Justice Bible seeks to challenge the notion that the Bible is outdated…

This true story comes from Melbourne, Australia:

 A kangaroo startled by a man walking his dog attacked the pair, pinning the pet underwater and slashing the owner in the abdomen with its hind legs.

The Australian, Chris Rickard, was in stable condition Monday after the attack, which ended when the 49-year-old elbowed the kangaroo in the throat. He said he was walking his blue heeler, Rocky, on Sunday morning when they surprised a sleeping kangaroo in Arthur’s Creek northeast of Melbourne. The dog chased the animal into a pond, when the kangaroo turned and pinned the pet underwater.

When Rickard tried to pull his dog free, the kangaroo turned on him, attacking with its hind legs and tearing a deep gash into his abdomen and across his face.

The rest of the story,…

Last week I came across one of those news articles that makes you wonder if we’re all just flying upside down. This headline comes from the Telegraph in the UK”Council sets up scrutiny panel - to scrutinize its scrutiny panels”

A spokesperson from the Wealden District Council said a working party was established in July to oversee the decisions of its three existing scrutiny panels and to “scrutinize the Council’s scrutiny arrangements.” It sounds to me like the citizens of Wealden District are the ones getting scrutted…but I digress. The article continues:

Mark Wallace, from the Taxpayers Alliance, said: “Whilst it may be well-intentioned the council appear to have wrapped themselves up in knots and ended up in an absurd situation. By all means they should review their procedures but…

I have a goatee. Back in high school when I first grew one (yes, I’ve been able to grow a full goatee since age 17), the goatee was still a novelty. It was a facial hair configuration reserved for the young, the rebellious, and those in desperate pursuit of cool.

But now it seems like everyone sports a goatee. Celebrities, political pundits, and pastors. In the world of church fashion goatees used to be reserved for youth pastors… his way of identifying with the young. Those days are long gone. Even Rick Warren has a goatee. The rebel beard has been tamed. It’s gone mainstream.

I’ve shaved mine off a few times. Some people prefer me without it. As one member of my church said when I arrived on a…

“A clash of civilizations.” That’s how many in the media and in politics describe the relationship between Muslims and Christians. This popular narrative, however, does not capture the full story. Yes, there is a faction of Islam that is hostile and even aggressively violent toward the West. And there are some Christians who ignorantly scrawl Bible versus on the gun barrels of their tanks. But there are also people like Pervaiz Masih.

Pervaiz was part of the poor, Christian minority in Pakistan. He was illiterate. He worked as a janitor at the women’s campus of Islamabad’s International Islamic University. When a suicide bomber disguised as a women tried to enter the crowded cafeteria, Pervaiz confronted him at the doorway to prevent him from entering. In the struggle the bomb…

Last month I sat down for breakfast with Ed Stetzer while we were both in Phoenix for a conference. Afterwards Ed “tweeted” about our meal together and commented that for some inexplicable reason “Skye isn’t on Twitter.” He gave me some playful grief about it on our drive to the conference, and others have asked why I don’t Tweet as well. So I decided it was time to finally show my cards.

First of all, I don’t believe Twitter is evil, wrong, or in any way immoral. And I’m not condemning my many friends who love to Tweet. But it’s not for me. Here are the top 10 reasons why I don’t use Twitter (not that there’s anything wrong with it).

ONE

My life really isn’t that interesting (and in most cases,…

It all started with an email from my colleague Drew Dyck asking if I had a book by Dave Ferguson. He side commented: have you ever noticed that he looks like Edward Norton? I hadn’t. Then we started thinking about other pastoral look-a-likes.

The emails went back and forth. I’ve included some of my favorites below. There were other less complementary ones that we shall leave behind. There are a few that have stumped me. For example, one would think that figures as recognizable as Rob Bell or Shane Claiborne would be easy to match. But so far I’ve had no luck. Have you got additional submissions? I have no doubt that there are more.

Below are twelve that we’ve matched so far. Feel free to add to the nonsense.…

On Goldman Sach’s religious justification of enormous profit:

“We’re very important. We help companies to grow by helping them raise capital. Companies that grow create wealth. This, in turn, allows people to have jobs that create more growth and more wealth. It’s a virtuous circle. We have a social purpose…. We are doing God’s work.” -Lloyd Blankfein, Goldman Sach’s chairman and chief executive

“The injunction of Jesus to love others as ourselves is an endorsement of self-interest.” -Brian Griffiths, Goldman Sach’s international adviser

On James Dobson leaving the Focus on the Family radio program and ministry:

“We’ve been getting e-mails and phone calls from people saying how much Dr. Dobson has meant to them over the years. I wouldn’t characterize it as an enormous outpouring.” -Gary Schneeberger, Focus on the Family spokesman

“Focus…

In my role as the managing editor of Leadership Journal, I get dozens of free books from publishers nearly every week. They’re all looking for some free press, a review in the journal, a blurb on the blog, or just a little word of mouth buzz.

But when Zondervan sent me Deadly Viper Character Assassins: A Kung Fu Survival Guild for Life and Leadership by Mike Foster and Jud Wilhite, I was caught by surprise. (For the sake of full disclosure, Zondervan published my book The Divine Commodity.) Deadly Viper is about the size of a CD case, square, and clearly a very expensive book to design. Nearly every page is loaded with original artwork with a comicbook/kung fu/pan-Asian style.

I had two immediate reactions to the book. First, I can’t believe…