As you may very well be aware, James E. McGreevey, the nation’s first openly gay governor, has reportedly become an Episcopalian and has been accepted to study at the General Theological Seminary in New York.

McGreevey was officially received into the Episcopal religion on Sunday at St. Bartholomew’s Church in Manhattan.  Rev. Kevin Bean, vicar, said explained that McGreevey has entered the church’s “discernment” phase that usually precedes any seminary work.

“This process that he’s in right now, is not going to be some snap of the finger, overnight process. That will not happen. That’s not how it works. He knows that,” Rev. Bean said. “And so at the parish level, and at the diocesan level, everyone knows that this is a process that … intentionally is deliberate. You don’t enter into it unadviseably.”

St. Bartholomew’s spokesman Bob Johnson confirmed that McGreevey will participate in a service for those who have already been baptized and confirmed in another Christian denomination, but wish to become Episcopals.

So will McGreevey become a priest? General Theological Seminary spokesman Bruce Parker seemed unsure: “Mr. McGreevey has been admitted to the master of divinity program and he will be starting in the fall.  Where Mr. McGreevey goes with this is up to him. We have a lot of people studying here who are not interested in ordination at all.

McGreevey was raised as a Roman Catholic, served as an altar boy, and attended Catholic schools.  He continued to practice his religion as governor, but differed from church teachings in several areas, including his support of abortion rights.

Lots of people think that McGreevey’s foray into the Episcopalian faith is altogether ridiculous, and I can understand that.  McGreevey’s name has become attached to divorce, adultery, homosexuality, and illicit sexual rendezvouses.  So is he grandstanding?  Is this little more than a  publicity maneuver that will both satiate a spiritual hunger and exculpate him?  Are we being too cynical?
 

Clearly, McGreevey had lost his way, and no matter what you may think about homosexuality and/or divorce, I maintain that it can be harmful to judge or condemn another too quickly.  I heard someone say earlier this morning that he doesn’t deserve to be a priest, and that it would be a “travesty” if he were to be ordained.  I think that’s jumping the gun a bit.  All we know is that McGreevey strayed from God and seems to be making his way back.  I have a hard time condemning that.  I, for one, will reserve judgment until the facts of his Episcopal involvement come into brighter light.  Until then, I will remeber his wife and daughter will remain in my prayers.

Left Behind Games officials have announced that senior management at the company have accepted the resignation of senior vice president Jeffrey S. Frichner; CEO Troy Lyndon has also reportedly demanded the resignation of the company’s other three board members. 

The exact reasons for Lyndon’s call for additional resignations has not been stated, nor the likelihood of the board members agreeing to the demands.

In February, the developer reported a $4.1 million loss for its third quarter (ended December 31st, 2006) on revenues of $2.2 million for the first six weeks of the game’s sales.

In the interim, both Michael A. Knox and Leslie N. Bocskor have agreed to serve as interim co-chairs of the board of directors.  Knox was a former partner of Lyndon at developer Park Place Productions. 

“I am delighted to have the potential opportunity to work with Troy Lyndon again, as our last experience together resulted in numerous successes,” he said.

“I am excited about the company’s future as it extends its presence as a leader in the family values, faith-based and inspirational media and entertainment marketplace,” said Bocskor, a managing partner with advisory firm Lennox Hill Parnters.

I’ve been thinking about it recently, and the suffocating media circus that surrounded the Don Imus/Rutgers disaster has driven me to two conclusions:

1) Had Imus made his remarks in the context of a rap song, he’d be fine.

2) What he said was certainly careless and disrespectful to both women and African-Americans, why doesn’t there ever seem to be much made of remarks that knock Christians?  I, for one, strongly believe the motive for Imus’ firing to be a finanacial one, but for the sake of argument, let’s take the stand of Sharpton and Jesse Jackson and cry “injustice.”

If Imus’s remarks garnered the national spotlight and cost him sponsors and ultimately his TV and radio shows, how is it that folks who so effortlessly chide the Pope, the clergy, Christian tradition, and myriad other Christian entities seem to do so with such impunity? I n no way am I condoning the remarks of Don Imus, but I’m certainly calling out an ugly double standard that pervades our social fabric.

A friend gave me a heads-up about a Catholic League press release from president Bill Donohue about the headline-grabbing daytime talk show The View.  He notes that the ladies mocked the Catholic Church, particularly in reference to the recent papal stance on Limbo.  “Though there never has been any Catholic doctrinal teaching on Limbo, O’Donnell, Behar and Hasselbeck presented it as if there were,” the press release stated.  Also in the ladies’s crosshairs were baptism and views on birth control. 

“No other religion is ever mocked on this show,” Donohue points out.  “That’s because the panelists are respectful of Jews, fear Muslims, and hate Catholics.”  Whether they actually “hate” Catholics is certainly debatable, but Donohue makes his point clearly.

Why is that no one seems to be looking out for Christians in the same way homosexuals and other minority groups are shielded?

And by no means is The View the only show doing the damage.  It’s been open season for some time now for sketch comedy shows, sitcoms, and comedy-based “news” programs to take aim at the clergy and Christian belief and tradition.  Is it offensive?  Absolutely.  Are people hurt by jokes and commentary that bash Christianity?  Very often.  It’s just too bad that it wouldn’t make for a juicier headline.  If if did, maybe something would be done about it.

Check out this video of comedian - and true man of faith!!! - Steve Harvey, one of my favorites.  In addition to being of the finest masters of ceremony on the planet, Steve is proud of having been brought up in the church and is unapologetically devoted to Christ.  This video is funny, but don’t let its message be lost!

What I liked best (besides Harvey’s hilarious delivery) is that you can tell that he really means it.  Did you see how in the beginning he was very emotional, almost moved to tears?  I also loved how at the end of announcing Jesus, he simply dropped the mic and headed offstage.  This is an instant classic.

Shaun Alexander has long been a hero to many football fans.  Alexander won the Kentucky “Mr. Football” Award as the top high school player in the state, and he is the all-time leading rusher at the University of Alabama. 

Now an NFL superstar running back for the Seattle Seahawks, Alexander is rewriting the Seattle Seahawk and and NFL record books: he holds the record for touchdowns in a single season, touchdowns in 10 games, and touchdowns in one first half.

 
But even more exemplary than his athletic excelence is Shaun’s faith, which now finds itself strewn across sports headlines across the country.  It was revealed to the masses in Shaun’s newly published autobiography - Touchdown Alexander - that the football star remained a vigin until he married his wife, Valerie, at the age of 24 in 2002.  Furthermore, he divulges in the book that he and and Valerie shared their first kiss at the altar when their pastor, Casey Treat, told the happy groom, “You may now kiss the bride.”

 
“A football star and a virgin until 24?  Those 2 things just don’t seem to go together,” one fan wrote on a message board.  Another wondered, “But come on, part of the game of football is gettin some butt right?”  Well, not exactly.

 
Alexander has been very open about his beliefs that sex before marriage is wrong.  He also believes God told him, via a series of sex-related dreams, that he should maintain his vow of abstinence.  And he has! 

Alexander not only embraces his natural, God-given athletic skills, but he refused to squander the gift of celibacy, as well.  With so many of our widely heralded superstar athletes, especially football players, finding themselves at the center of drug- or violence-related incidences, a man of faith and conviction like Shaun Alexander is a breath of fresh air who is to be emulated and applauded. 
 

You know campaign season is heating up when the dark secrets start to emerge.  Currently under the microscope are Newt Gingrich, Rudy Giuliani, and John McCain.

 
In an interview with Focus on the Family founder James Dobson, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich admitted to having an extramarital affair even as he led the charge against President Clinton over the Monica Lewinsky debacle.

 
“There are times that I have fallen short of my own standards. There’s certainly times when I’ve fallen short of God’s standards,” said Gingrich, who also argued that he should not be viewed as a hypocrite for pursuing Clinton’s infidelity.  “The president of the United States got in trouble for committing a felony in front of a sitting federal judge.”

 
That may be so, but it sure does sound a bit hypocritical in my book!!!

 
Newt continues: “I drew a line in my mind that said, ‘Even though I run the risk of being deeply embarrassed, and even though at a purely personal level I am not rendering judgment on another human being, as a leader of the government trying to uphold the rule of law, I have no choice except to move forward and say that you cannot accept … perjury in your highest officials.”

 
Despite two divorces and failure to address rumors of adulterous affairs, Gingrich frequently campaigned on family values issues and remains wildly popular among many conservatives — so popular that, despite not having formed a campaign, he has repeatedly placed near the top of recent Republican presidential polls.

 
As for Rudy Giuliani, Southern Baptist leader said earlier this week that evangelical voters might tolerate a divorced presidential candidate, but they have deep doubts about GOP hopeful Rudy Giuliani, who has been married three times.

 
Richard Land, head of public policy for the Southern Baptist Convention, said that evangelicals believe the former New York City mayor showed a lack of character during his divorce from second wife, television personality Donna Hanover: “To publicly humiliate your wife in that way, and your children. That’s rough. I think that’s going to be an awfully hard sell, even if he weren’t pro-choice and pro-gun control.”

 
Land noted that Republican presidential candidate John McCain has been married twice, but said the Arizona senator has acknowledged his part in the failure of his first marriage.

“It’s a molehill compared to Giuliani’s mountain,” Land said. “When you’re a war hero (like McCain), you have less to prove on the character front.” 

Is this really what we believe: war heroes are free to marry and divorce with impunity???  Is one divorce “better” than two???  It seems to me that we have a long way to go in finding a suitable Republican to nominate.
 

Almost four months since Pastor Ted Haggard left Colorado Springs amid a gay sex scandal, Sunday churchgoers learned more about the direction Haggard will take, now that he’s parted ways with the New Life Church, which he founded.  The church says Haggard is heading to either Iowa, Arizona, Minnesota, or Missouri.

 
Church Overseers have spent the past few months working to help him deal with his “battle with a dark side,” and Rev.Larry Stockstill explained, “We have worked diligently over the past few months to restore both Ted and New Life Church.”  

New Life members embraced the message of Haggard’s recovery.  Several parishoners told the press that they found the measures Haggard and the church were taking to be “encouraging.”

 
The Board of Overseers read a letter to the congregation, reassuring the faithful that former Pastor Ted Haggard is being rehabilitated.

 
Stockskill told the church that he and Overseers have done “extensive fact finding into his lifelong battle with a ‘dark side’” and that they have verified the reality of Haggard’s “struggle.”
“For the sake of Ted’s restoration, it is best for him to move out of Colorado Springs,” Stockstill then added.

 
Even though Haggard’s leadership of New Life is officially over, members say he’ll always be a part of the New Life family.

 
“We’ve had to take it one step at a time and go through the grieving and the anger,” said one church member.

 
“I trust that one day Ted and Gayle will return to New Life. I think that will be a wonderful day and I look forward to it,” said another.

 
Overseers also gave some other details, but did not disclose the amount of the financial settlement they’ve made with Haggard, except to say it’s less than his base salary of $130,000.

Starting today, New Jersey is becoming one of just five states to offer the legal benefits of marriage to gay partners.
Civil unions emerged in New Jersey out of four years of litigation and a whirlwind few weeks of political dealmaking late last year.  In October, the state Supreme Court ruled that gay couples in the state were constitutionally entitled to all the benefits of marriage, but left it up to lawmakers to decide the details.

 
The first civil union ceremonies were scheduled for the first minutes of Monday morning, when couples who have civil unions or marriages from elsewhere could reaffirm them in New Jersey.  For couples who are not already in civil unions, there is a 72-hour waiting period after applying for a license.

 
The arrival of civil unions does not figure to end the debate over whether New Jersey should allow gay couples to marry, or even all the implications of civil unions themselves.

 
Some mayors, including Steve Lonegan of Bogota, have said they won’t perform civil union ceremonies. The state Attorney General’s Office says mayors can get out of performing the ceremonies if they don’t do any weddings, but if they take all wedding requests, they must take them from gay couples as well. Those who are picky about which weddings they perform are in a legal gray area, the state says.

 
Gay rights advocates say that making civil unions marriages would alleviate much of that confusion, and are promising to push the Legislature to allow gay couples to marry. Some are also considering filing lawsuits asking state courts to find that civil unions do not go far enough toward ensuring equal treatment for gay couples.

Conservative activists, meanwhile, are circulating petitions aimed at persuading lawmakers to amend the state constitution to define marriage as being between a man and a woman. Voters would be required to have a say before the constitution can be amended.
 

Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney returned to his home state of Michigan today, officially kicking off his bid for the 2008 Republican presidential nomination, as he spoke from the Henry Ford Museum.

 
He said he chose to make his announcement at the Henry Ford Museum announcement because of the memories and the examples of innovation that it contained: “Innovation and transformation have been at the heart of America’s success.  If there ever was a time when innovation and transformation were needed in government, it is now.”

 
For the past two years, Romney has been trying to buff up his credentials with conservatives, leading some critics to accuse him of changing his positions in anticipation of a White House bid. “His rhetoric and his positions on (issues) like abortion, like gay rights, like stem cell research totally changed when he decided his focus should be on conservative votes across the country,” said Democratic Massachusetts House Speaker Salvatore Dimasi.

 
“On abortion, I was not always a Ronald Reagan conservative,” Romney explained.  “Neither was Ronald Reagan, by the way. But like him, I learned with experience.”

 
So far, 10 Republicans have either announced a 2008 presidential bid or plan to form an exploratory committee: Romney, McCain, Giuliani, Sen. Sam Brownback of Kansas, former Govs. Mike Huckabee of Arkansas, Jim Gilmore of Virginia and Tommy Thompson of Wisconsin; and Reps. Duncan Hunter of California, Ron Paul of Texas, and Tom Tancredo of Colorado.