This is extremely odd.

ABC News: City of God: Catholic Town Opens in Fla.

Monaghan has said his goal is to help as many people as possible get to Heaven. And he hopes these homeowners will have a head start.

How are you going to help people get to heaven if you only allow Catholics into this town??

So tonight I decided to make couscous (a first for me) as a side dish with our grilled Iowa chops for supper. (Mmmm-mmmmm!) (Matt did a splendiferous job of grilling, thank you my dear.) I’ve been on somewhat of a mission to have Elena try as many new foods as possible that are not choking hazards for her, so I gave her a bit of the couscous. (By the way, if anyone has any great ideas for healthy, baby-safe foods that one might not normally think of or a favorite snack your kids enjoy, I’d love to hear about it!) Boy, oh boy, did she love it! Matt and I took turns trying to spoon it directly into her mouth (no self-feeding for this food, folks!) and it just seemed like she was thoroughly enjoying the texture.

She must have still been on a quest for new taste sensations, because about 15 minutes later, I found her with her hands in the dirt of our ficus tree and a muddy tongue. :) At least she didn’t appear to enjoy the taste as much as the couscous, so hopefully there won’t be a take two of that scene!

ABC News recently posted an article about Carlton Pearson renouncing historical Christianity, stating that no one goes to hell.

The article seems to applaud him for sticking to his conscience, and makes believers out to be lunatics; removing him from the pulpit “he built” for this heresy. It’s a rather sad story (the part about his crisis of faith). I noticed a telling statement in the article and am compelled to comment on it.

Through the years, as Pearson studied the ancient Greek and Hebrew Scriptures, he developed a crisis of faith.

“I couldn’t reconcile a God whose mercy endures forever, and this torture chamber that’s customized for unbelievers,” Pearson said.

This is where his error begins. The breaking point in his crisis of faith. Here’s the problem. Hell IS NOT “customized for unbelievers”!! He must have missed that in his years of study of the original Greek and Hebrew…

Hell was (actually, is going to be…) created for Satan and his demons. It happens, however, that those who reject God, will be punished for eternity there as well.

This is the hardest teaching in the Christian religion. Jesus spoke on it frequently himself. To dismiss it on a feeling that God has spoken to you is dangerous at best. And is certainly heretical.

Hell is a sad reality. I have family members that will be there, and it grieves me. Unfortunately, as much as I wish I could, I cannot reject God’s word simply because I do not like it. Rather, I will live a life in an attempt to show people God’s goodness and love and mercy, such that they will embrace him and not end up in Hell.

Some of you have picked up on Matt’s appreciation lately for Mark Driscoll’s teaching from Mars Hill Church in Seattle. I often end up adopting Matt’s preferences, so I, too, have been enjoying some of Driscoll’s books (Confessions of a Reformission Rev.: Hard Lessons from an Emerging Missional Church and The Radical Reformission: Reaching Out without Selling Out). His up front-and-honest teaching and communication style is very refreshing for me.

Recently, I have been reading one of the blogs on the Mars Hill website: Reforming the Feminine. I definitely can’t claim to have a wide, wide knowledge of women’s resources online, but in my opinion, these women have done an incredible job of tackling some of the tougher women’s issues. During the past month or so, there have been posts on unplanned pregnancy, sexual sin, stereotypes of Christian women, gluttony, fashion, marriage, and children. I have been greatly encouraged and challenged by these writers and wanted to make sure that all ya’ll out there have an opportunity to check out this resource.

I’m not extremely affectionate with Nancy in public, but I am more so around the house. One sure fire way to make Elena smile is to give Nancy a hug and a kiss. This always causes her to get a big grin, and giggle slightly, and sometimes even clap.

She’s only 11 months old, but somehow, I think she “gets it”. She knows that her daddy loves her mommy and that makes her smile. Good stuff.