iPod inspires sermon series
A Houston pastor is in the midst of a four-part series called “The Theology of the iPod,” based on the increasingly popular gadget made by Apple Computer Inc. which allows users to store hundreds of songs, photos and videos.
“What does the iPod have to do with your life?” Sal Sberna, pastor of Metropolitan Baptist Church in Houston asked his 4,000-member congregation. The four sermons focus on making one’s life innovative, simple, small and synchronized, according to the church website, themetonline.org.
“The reason the outside of the iPod is so simple to use and so beautiful to look at is because of the way they designed the inside of the iPod,” Sberna said. “All you do on the outside is push the little button, drive the wheel and pick what usefulness you want out of your iPod. And so when Jesus talks to us about simplification, it must start on the inside.”
One of Sberna’s goals is to reach out to a generation of youth who rely daily on their iPods and completely understand the language associated with the devices.
FamilyNet available on SIRIUS satellite network
FamilyNet radio and television programming can now be heard on one of the largest satellite radio networks in North America, according to an announcement by SIRIUS Satellite Radio and the North American Mission Board, which owns and operates the faith-based FamilyNet broadcast ministry.
SIRIUS provides more than 120 channels of commercial-free music, talk, news and sports programming in digital quality sound. The network already has begun airing FamilyNet’s most popular television and radio programs on Christian Talk Channel 159. Such popular FamilyNet programs as “ACLJ This Week” with Jay Sekulow, “At Home – Live!” and “Your Health” will be heard, along with some of the nation’s leading pastors, including Charles Stanley, Jack Graham and David Jeremiah.
“This is taking the gospel message to the heart of our target area – the secular world – and is an exponential leap forward in reaching North America with the gospel,” said NAMB president Bob Reccord.
‘Prove Jesus existed,’ court says
A Roman Catholic cleric has been ordered by an Italian judge to prove that Jesus Christ existed after a former classmate of the cleric sued him for claiming that Jesus was born of a couple named Mary and Joseph in Bethlehem and lived in Nazareth, according to the Associated Press.
Luigi Cascioli, a lifelong atheist, filed a lawsuit in 2002 alleging that Rev. Enrico Righi violated two Italian laws – “abuse of popular belief,” in which someone intentionally deceives people, and “impersonation,” in which someone makes gains by attributing a false name to someone, AP said.
A judge set a hearing for Jan. 27 to explore the idea of having court-appointed technical experts review historical data in order to prove whether Jesus really existed.
Divorce destroys wealth, study finds
Divorce can have a devastating financial impact on a person’s wealth, but a steady marriage can nearly double it, according to a new study by Ohio State University.
“Divorce looks like one of the fastest ways to destroy your wealth,” Jay Zagorsky, author of the study and a research assistant at Ohio State’s Center for Human Resource Research, told the Associated Press.
The study, which appears in the current issue of the Journal of Sociology, looked at a nationally representative survey of 9,000 people to determine how wealth changes as a result of marriage and divorce. Researchers found that married people increased their wealth about 4 percent each year.
Zagorsky said the study could not predict why marriage is helpful in building wealth, but sociological research indicates married people benefit because two people can live more cheaply than they could separately and because two spouses can share household responsibilities and produce more than if they were single.
Divorce reduces a person’s wealth by about three-quarters, or 77 percent, compared to that of a single person, while being married almost doubles comparative wealth, or increases it by 93 percent, the study found.