Christian Baker Jack Phillips Is Being Sued—Again

Via Instapundit:

Remember Jack Phillips, the Christian baker from Colorado who was sued for refusing to make a cake for a gay wedding? He's being sued again, for the third time, by the same lawyer who tried and failed to take him down last time.

CBS Denver:

Attorneys for a Denver woman greased the pan for yet another legal battle against a Lakewood bakery already burned around the edges from a series of heated civil rights fights. Jack Phillips, owner of the Masterpiece Cakeshop, refused in 2012 to bake a wedding cake for Charlie Craig and David Mullins, a same-sex couple from Denver, on the basis of his religious beliefs...

The latest lawsuit was filed Wednesday in Denver District Court on behalf of Autumn Scardina by attorneys Paula Greisen and John McHugh...

The newest lawsuit claims Phillips discriminated against Scardina and used deceptive and unfair trade practices.

The Bible: And the disciples were first called Christians in Antioch

And then a former US president said let us call them something else...

I literally never heard the phrase “Easter worshippers” before today. We’re called Christians. pic.twitter.com/AMx5qwqXDU

— Jeremy McLellan (@JeremyMcLellan) April 22, 2019

What in the Sam hell is an Easter worshipper?

— Dicey Riley (@GingyNorth) April 22, 2019

May the best chicken win

Obama Condemns the Middle Ages

"We are summoned to push back against those who would distort our religion for their nihilistic ends," Obama said during remarks at the National Prayer Breakfast. He singled out the Islamic State group in Iraq and Syria, calling the militants a "death cult," as well as those responsible for last month's terror attacks in Paris and deadly assault on a school in Pakistan."

Obama had a more non-denominational message for the audience that also included prominent leaders of non-Christian faiths. The president said that while religion is a source for good around the world, people of all faiths have been willing to "hijack religion for their own murderous ends."

"Unless we get on our high horse and think that this is unique to some other place, remember that during the Crusades and Inquisition, people committed terrible deeds in the name of Christ," Obama said. "In our home country, slavery and Jim Crow all too often was justified in the name of Christ.

"So it is not unique to one group or one religion," Obama said. "There is a tendency in us, a simple tendency that can pervert and distort our faith."

Only two or three days after ISIS released a gruesome video of the burning alive of a Jordanian pilot, in the name of Islam, the president of the US looks back... way back. Bizarre?  

Slate finds "disturbing" that so many of the docs fighting Ebola are missionaries.

@laurahelmuth @PalmerBrian @Slate Welcome to the realization that the real selfless work in this world isn't done by self absorbed liberals.
— Joseph Ryan (@jmotivator) October 2, 2014

Al Arabiya: "ISIS burns 1,800-year-old church in Mosul"

"Militants from the radical jihadist group the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria have set fire to a 1,800-year-old church in Iraq’s second largest city of Mosul, a photo released Saturday shows."

"The burning of the church is the latest in a series of destruction of Christian property in Mosul, which was taken by the Islamist rebels last month, along with other swathes of Iraqi territory."

ISIS burned down 1,800-year-old Syriac Catholic Archdiocese in Mosul

"A Screwtape Letter to An Unappreciated Mom"

Via The Anchoress

"The original Screwtape Letters by CS Lewis reveals a series of fictitious letters between Screwtape, a senior demon, and his nephew, Wormwood, a demon-in-training, about the tricks of the demonic trade of tempting a “patient” (i.e., Christian) away from “the Enemy” (i.e., God).    In this tremendous adaptation, a blogger reveals a previously undiscovered letter from Screwtape to Wormwood..."

My Dear Wormwood,

I was thrilled to hear you have been making progress with the mother. You have a good lead, from what I hear. She’s feels over-worked, unappreciated, and discouraged? I’m so glad to hear it. If you tread carefully, this can be a great opportunity. With the kids waking her up every hour last night, we already have an advantage. A tired Mom makes for a more emotional Mom, and an emotional Mom is a vulnerable one.

I do have a few tips. First, aim your best efforts at her marriage.

As you know, we cannot do much with a unified marriage. Luckily for us, a cranky and exhausted wife can do wonders to change that. We must convince her that her husband is no longer the friend and ally she first married. Instead, we must reveal every sin and selfish habit, especially drawing attention to his thoughtless actions (mal-intended or not) against her.

Sometimes it’s the less obvious things, things the husband doesn’t even realize, that we can use to offend her the most. When he comes home from work and dumps his things on the counter nearest the door (instead of hanging his coat or putting away his keys), let her think of it as a direct assault on her work as a homekeeper. When he treks mud in with his shoes, let her think it is because he does not love her. Such extremes of thought may seem ridiculous to you or I, but to the exhausted mortal woman, it can seem possible. Your goal is to make her think the husband does not notice, or even better, that he does not care about her efforts at home.

Secondly, do what you can to keep her focused on her troubles and pains. Remind her how much her back aches, how draining the children were all day, and how many undone tasks still beckon her. Do not let her wonder what difficulties her husband faced that day or whether his back might also be aching. Valuing others above oneself is one of those silly, though strangely effective, tactics of the Enemy. If she stops to make him a cup of coffee, the next thing you know she’ll be rubbing his shoulders and flirting with him on the couch. It can progress out of your control if you’re not careful.

Along those lines, be sure the Mother starts to value productivity above everything else. Have her wake up early and work non-stop until bedtime. If the husband relaxes in the evening with an hour of computer gaming, be sure the wife notices the pile of unfolded laundry or unswept floors. Do not let her grab a book and relax alongside her husband. Diligence, often one of the Enemy’s virtues, when overdone can be used to our advantage as well. Convince her that as long as there is a shred of work to be done (and there always is), no one should be resting. Then, as she folds and sweeps and he sits, you can introduce the sweet bitterness of resentment.

A word of caution here. Remember, the love of a husband can be dangerous to our cause. If he senses her unhappiness, he may begin to help or (even worse) show her affection. This is where previously planted seeds of resentment can be guided into full bloom. Make her think that his displays of affection are because he “only wants one thing”. Do not let her view his help with the dishes (or kisses or cuddling) as having pure motives. If he shows his desire for her, convince her that she is being used…READ THE REST HERE.

"I am a spiritual magpie"

Justin Welby, the new archbishop of Canterbury.

While I quibble with some of the detaiils (speaking in tongues isn't a general Protestant thing, it's a Pentecostal thing), this is a very interesting article that covers a wide array of topics, giving us a sense of the man pretty quickly.

What's interesting is how similar he seems to the new Pope. Not in life story certainly, but in their theological position.  Both can be considered theological conservatives, an interesting move for these global churches, and one that belays the expectations that churches need to be more progressive in their theology -- the argument that liberals have been making since Schleiermacher.  In order for people to respect us, and come to faith, we have to put aside the miraculous and more silly sounding doctrines like the resurrection.  Now we have an Archbishop who speaks in tongues?!  Moving the opposite direction.

Yet, both the Archbishop and the Pope have incorporated progressive values in their priorities. Both highlight the need to work with the poor, and the need for a holistic ministry of the church. Yet, both have shown distrust for the socialist approaches. Rather than rhetoric, rather than big sweeping policies, they both seem to looking for on the ground ways to actually help those in need. Very pragmatic.

Both also seem to illustrate a new kind of humility and approachability.  The last holders of these positions were first theologians, academics who had a lot of very influential writings  that other academics quoted well before their rise to power. But academia tends to enforce a waffling, a priority of nuance that sees everything as complex but has trouble when confronted with situations of clear controversy or decision.

Yet both stepped down having set a continued tone for their various churches, and now both churches have new kinds of church leaders, who are in power but don't see their power as something to exploit but are taking on the attitudes of servants -- asking, "how can we be voices of hope and peace? How can we be followers of Jesus in the midst of the trials of this world?"

Very interesting era for these churches indeed.  Gives me hope.