Museum of Creationism

Did you know that dinosaurs and humans were created on the same day? That originally, all dinosaurs were herbivores, and that Noah's flood is the cause of fossils?

These truths, and many more, are now on display in life-size dioramas at the Creation Museum in Petersburg, Kentucky. See in words and pictures why the Word of God is a more reliable source of information about the formation of the earth and all that lives on it than scientific evidence or theories of evolution. Learn how Adam and Eve were cast out of the garden of Eden, and some dinosaurs became carnivorous as a result of sin entering the world.

Read the New York Times review, or see photos at Beliefnet.

Or convert to pastafarianism now, and learn how bringing back pirates may help combat global warming.

Young Adults: Apply to Serve with GraceWorks Community

Young adults (age 18-30) are invited to commit one year to serving as volunteers with GraceWorks Community: The Bishop's Young Adult Initiative for the Rocky Mountain and Yellowstone Conferences of the United Methodist Church. Participants work full-time at local non-profit organizations in Cheyenne, Wyoming, engaging in direct service and advocacy with persons who are poor and marginalized, while living together in intentional community.

Young adult participants share a house and a simple lifestyle during their year of service. The Bishop's Young Adult Initiative provides housing, health insurance, a food and travel allowance, a monthly living stipend, and an education award at the end of the year. Volunteers have regular opportunities to reflect on the work in which they are engaged and the gifts and challenges of community life, while local congregations provide hospitality and support. In keeping with Wesleyan tradition, volunteers are encouraged to make connections between spiritual growth and "social holiness" as they learn skills for servant leadership in church and community.

Service placement possibilities include Boys and Girls Club, Interfaith Hospitality Network (providing shelter and resources for homeless families through religious congregations), COMEA House (emergency shelter and transitional housing), Cheyenne Community Clinic, Court Appointed Special Advocates, and ARC of Laramie County, among others.

Volunteer applications are now available for placement this August. If you or someone you know might be interested, please contact Kerry Greenhill, Director, at 800-536-3736 x153. Visit www.graceworkscommunity.org to learn more, or to download application forms.

Tell Us the Mission

I recommend this great spoken word video asking important questions about the war in Iraq: http://tellusthemission.org/. It's also a contest for what should go on the "Mission Accomplished" banner that was hung on that aircraft carrier four years ago.

Taking it to the streets

In case you haven't already heard about it, I want to plug Sojourners' Pentecost 2007 conference, which will be held June 3-6 in Washington, D.C. Senators Clinton, Edwards, and Obama will be present for a presidential candidates' forum, and some great religious leaders will speak on topics relating to social justice and advocating for the poor. There's an Emerging Leaders track for people age 30 and under, and scholarships are available if you register by May 4.

I can't go, as I'll be traveling that weekend, but I encourage anyone else out there who is interested in the intersection of faith, culture, and politics to attend.

Prayers for the campus community in Blacksburg, Virginia

At times like these it is difficult to know what to say, or how to pray, except "Lord, have mercy. Christ, have mercy. Lord, have mercy."Blacksburg, Virginia may seem a long way from the Rocky Mountain Conference, but in this week in April many are remembering the Columbine shootings here in Colorado eight years ago. Violence and grief of this kind affects us all in some way.

Let us pray for the family and friends of those who were injured or killed, and for the whole community of Virginia Tech and Blacksburg. I would also ask your prayers for young people across our country and around the world who have lost hope, those who feel alienated from the human community or from God, those who see no solution to their pain and anger except inflicting pain on others and ending their own lives.

Let us pray, and work, for a society where pain and anger are met with compassion and find expression in a nonviolent struggle for justice. Let us be instruments of God's peace in our broken world.