With the federal marriage amendment in the news lately, I've been thinking some about Christians who lobby for the acceptance of homosexual relationships both within and without the church. My former church, Spirit of Hope UMC, has become a reconciling congregation which means they "welcome people of all sexual orientations". I'd like to respond ( Read more... )

We are all home together! Amy and Leo are upstairs resting together while Peter and I watch some steam locomotive action on tape. A homecare nurse will come tomorrow to check Leo's bilirubin, but we expect it to be normal. Other than that we're all a little tired, though Peter is, as ever, resistent to napping. He wanted to lie down with baby ( Read more... )

( NICU Day 3: Home, home on the raaaange! )

Today was our second day with Leo in the NICU and things have gone so well that it's likely (though not of course guaranteed) that it'll be our last.

( NICU Day 2: We have a nursing monster! )

My son, Leo William Fisher was born Sunday, March 12 at 4:17 pm. He is 9 lb 2 oz (4150 g) heavy, 21.25 in (54 cm) long, and has a 13.75 in (35 cm) head circumference. He was born at home as planned, but after a fabulous birth with Mom, Leo experienced respiratory distress and was transferred to Children's Hospital in St. Paul. He is expected to ( Read more... )

This article describes a speech given this summer by a US diplomat to the UN Population Fund Executive Board.  It is a striking example of the insight that Pope Paul VI was given when writing Humanae Vitae in 1968:

Upright men can even better convince themselves of the solid grounds on which the teaching of the Church in this field is based, if ( Read more... )

With the elevation of Benedict XVI, many issues are being discussed regarding the new Pope's approach to various needs within the Catholic Church today. One area of concern is the continued decline of the number of active priests serving Catholics in the U.S. This has come to be known as the "priestly vocation crisis" and many voices both inside ( Read more... )

Good news for Carrie Rethlefsen!

Today's JAMA reports: One of the most common surgical procedures performed in the United States -- an incision called an episiotomy that many women in labor receive to make childbirth less damaging -- has no benefits and actually causes complications, according to the most comprehensive analysis to evaluate the ( Read more... )

An interesting report from the Pew Research Center.

[W]hether a person regularly attends church (or synagogue or mosque) was more important in determining his or her vote for president than such demographic characteristics as gender, age, income and region, and just as important as race. This report tracks and analyzes these underlying trends.

Please pray for these men and all Christians in China that they would be truly free to worship God in peace.

And his father Zechari'ah was filled with the Holy Spirit, and prophesied, saying, "Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, for he has visited and redeemed his people, and has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant ( Read more... )