Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Terry Mattingly

Home
Religion News
Bluebonnets, bullets, bombs & balloons — Year 14

Bluebonnets, bullets, bombs & balloons — Year 14

Last updated on: January 30, 2013 at 3:48 pm by tmatt

Bluebonnets, bullets, bombs & balloons — Year 14 2013-01-30T15:48:20-05:00 tmatt

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

In their visions, key supporters of the U.S. Prayer Center kept seeing fields of bluebonnets, the state flower of Texas.

But that was not all they reporting seeing.

“In the past three weeks, six intercessors, who do not know each other, have reported to us written descriptions of dreams that they have had in which President George W. Bush appeared to have been assassinated,” said an email from the Houston-based ministry (www.usprayercenter.org) about this time last year.

There were more visions in the weeks that followed, said Carol Pauwels, the center’s prayer coordinator. These “prayer warriors” kept seeing planes in the air and images of warfare and terror. The calls and emails came from around the world and the ministry went on “red alert” prayer status.

“We pulled all of these dreams and visions apart and looked at the common themes,” she said. “We finally decided that the threat was real and filed a report with the Secret Service.”

That sound you hear is many readers — secular and devout — laughing out loud. But if you listen carefully, you will also hear sincere murmurs of concern and affirmation. That’s the way things have been going for the past 12 months or so.

It has been a time of tears. Yet, as always, the religion beat has a way of making people shake their heads for a wide variety of reasons. I bring this up, because this is the time of year when I mark this column’s anniversary — this is No. 14 — by weaving together a few of the mysterious, bizarre, amusing and even poignant items that show up in my mail. Proceed with caution.

* I am pleased to report that www.clonejesus.com appears to have gone out of business.

* A former student passed along an item from Chapel Hill, N.C., about the opening of a nightclub called “NV.” A manager said the name stands for “envy,” one of the “seven deadly sins” in the hit movie “Seven.” Actually, Hollywood didn’t create that list.

* A nondenominational radio station in London has set up an online confession site — www.theconfessor.co.uk. Believe it or not, someone beat the Church of England to this innovation.

* This could be a bad setback for user-friendly, Baby Boomer Buddhism. The Dalai Lama has decreed that masturbation, oral and gay sex are wrong and against the Buddhist way of life. Has anyone told Richard Gere?

* Hold the mascara! Tammy Faye Bakker Messner of PTL infamy is reported to have cut a duet with shock-rocker Marilyn Manson. The song? “Silent Night.”

* All kinds of religious folk visit the pluralistic domain called Beliefnet.com — from angels to Zoroastrians. A friend noticed this striking lament by one writer: “I am a werewolf … and also Catholic. … But too progressive for some Catholics.” Wait! Did he say “some” Catholics?

* I was not surprised when psychic John Edward announced that he would try to communicate with Sept. 11 victims during several episodes of his show “Crossing Over.” But I was surprised when producers scrapped these plans, rather than offend viewers. Does this retreat imply that there is some concept of right and wrong in cable television?

* This confession appeared in the ombudsman’s column in the Washington Post: “Religion doesn’t seem to play much of a role in a large newsroom, although it plays a big part in the lives of many readers. This is one of the larger disconnects between journalists and their audience.” What does this say about efforts to promote diversity in the news business?

* How nervous is Palm Beach County, Fla., these days? Waves of citizens called police when skywriter Jerry Stevens celebrated the arrival of 2002 by writing “God is Great” in the sky. They feared it was an act of terrorism.

* Can news reports from the Middle East get any worse? However, I did receive this touching report from loved ones who live in Nablus. They were eating breakfast a few days ago as the sound of gunfire and cannons echoed off the surrounding hills. The parents realized that their 3-year-old son, Malachi, was gazing off into space. The father asked what he was doing.

“I’m listening to all the balloons,” he said.

Previous Post

April 3, 2002

'Joshua' keeps on preaching

Next Post

April 17, 2002 Phillip E. Johnson, rabbi

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Academia Anglicanism Announcements books Catholics doctrine evangelicals family life First person Godbeat Islam Judaism Mainline churches Marriage mass media movies Orthodox Politics popular culture religion sex Social issues Uncategorized Web/tech World World religions worship young people

Select a Month July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011 December 2010 November 2010 October 2010 September 2010 August 2010 July 2010 June 2010 May 2010 April 2010 March 2010 February 2010 January 2010 December 2009 November 2009 October 2009 September 2009 August 2009 July 2009 June 2009 May 2009 April 2009 March 2009 February 2009 January 2009 December 2008 November 2008 October 2008 September 2008 August 2008 July 2008 June 2008 May 2008 April 2008 March 2008 February 2008 January 2008 December 2007 November 2007 October 2007 September 2007 August 2007 July 2007 June 2007 May 2007 April 2007 March 2007 February 2007 January 2007 December 2006 November 2006 October 2006 September 2006 August 2006 July 2006 June 2006 May 2006 April 2006 March 2006 February 2006 January 2006 December 2005 November 2005 October 2005 September 2005 August 2005 July 2005 June 2005 May 2005 April 2005 March 2005 February 2005 January 2005 December 2004 November 2004 October 2004 September 2004 August 2004 July 2004 June 2004 May 2004 April 2004 March 2004 February 2004 January 2004 December 2003 November 2003 October 2003 September 2003 August 2003 July 2003 June 2003 May 2003 April 2003 March 2003 February 2003 January 2003 December 2002 November 2002 October 2002 September 2002 August 2002 July 2002 June 2002 May 2002 April 2002 March 2002 February 2002 January 2002 December 2001 November 2001 October 2001 September 2001 August 2001 July 2001 June 2001 May 2001 April 2001 March 2001 February 2001 January 2001 December 2000 November 2000 October 2000 September 2000 August 2000 July 2000 June 2000 May 2000 April 2000 March 2000 February 2000 January 2000 December 1999 November 1999 October 1999 September 1999 August 1999 July 1999 June 1999 May 1999 April 1999 March 1999 February 1999 January 1999 December 1998 November 1998 October 1998 September 1998 August 1998 July 1998 June 1998 May 1998 April 1998 March 1998 February 1998 January 1998 December 1997 November 1997 October 1997 September 1997 August 1997 July 1997 June 1997 May 1997 April 1997 March 1997 February 1997 January 1997 December 1996 November 1996 October 1996 September 1996 August 1996 July 1996 June 1996 May 1996 April 1996 March 1996 February 1996 January 1996 December 1995 November 1995 October 1995 September 1995

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

Which book in the New Testament is the shortest?

Select your answer to see how you score.

2 John 3 John Philemon Jude