1.  As explained in a Washington Post piece today, North Korean labor camps have been in operation for twice as long as the Soviet gulag and twelve times as long as Nazi concentration camps.  Experts estimate that roughly 200,000 political and religious prisoners reside in the camps today, and hundreds of thousands more have passed through the camps before.  According to newly published testimony from the Korean Bar Association, the conditions are horrific: “Eating a diet of mostly corn and... Read more

1.  The White House is delaying release of its usual midsummer budget update, apparently because the news is so bad that it would further complicate, and possibly sink, their efforts to pass health care reform in the next month or so.  The administration promised economic armageddon if its stimulus were not passed and a swift recovery if it were–even as private forecasters predicted a much deeper recession and slower recovery.  Now the White House, I think, is paying for the... Read more

Tony Jones has done meaningful work in ministry and serves through his books to introduce important questions into the bloodstream of contemporary evangelical discourse. Unfortunately, his reflection on same-sex marriage is rather muddled. The two most important words in the article are meaningless and cultural. [Click here to read the rest on the Evangelical portal at Patheos, and click here to read the original article by Tony Jones.] Read more

Having returned from my travels, I can now resume the regular Morning Report schedule. 1.  Walter Cronkite passed away yesterday at the age of 92.  He was raised Protestant and joined the Episcopal church as a youth.  As he told an interviewer in 1994, he attended Boy Scout troop meetings at an Episcopal church, where the minister was also the scoutmaster: “And I suppose you can say he proselytized me. At any rate, I was much involved with the church,... Read more

Yes, that’s right, God held the sun still for a little while, canceled the morning, and then hauled the sun across the sky to the midday point so that we skipped past morning to afternoon. Well, perhaps not.  But I’m traveling, so I did not have an opportunity to research and post a “Morning Report.”  Sackcloth and ashes. More tomorrow. Read more

Park Street Church has long been a bastion of evangelicalism in Boston, and it’s presently celebrating its 200th anniversary year.  It’s also my church.  As a part of the celebrations, Park Street has invited a series of fantastic speakers.  Among those speakers is Joni Eareckson Tada, a woman who broke her neck in a diving accident and went on to write an internationally best-selling memoir as well as other works on suffering, and has ministered in 41 countries. In the... Read more

I came across this fascinating conversation on J. R. R. Tolkien and the “ghosts” and “fossils” in language.  Ralph Wood is the Tolkien expert, speaking with Mars Hill Audio: Ralph Wood on Tolkien and Language from Mars Hill Audio Read more

1.  Several arrests were made for disorderly conduct during the hearings over Judge Sonia Sotomayor and her nomination to the Supreme Court.  This in itself is not surprising, but one of the names among those arrested may surprise you: Norma McCorvey of Texas, better known as the “Jane Roe” of the landmark abortion ruling Roe v. Wade. If you are familiar with the pro-life movement, however, you will not be surprised.  McCorvey remained a supporter of our current abortion laws... Read more

6 Christian churches were bombed in Baghdad in the space of 24 hours.  One hopes that the Iraqi forces are able to maintain the peace now that we have withdrawn–and we should pray for that part of the Body of Christ that today is suffering because of the loss of loved ones. Sarah Palin bashing continues apace, even amongst conservatives.  Of course, there will always be internal dissensions over particular candidates, since political parties in a two-party system are inevitably... Read more