Religious Place Names

Pomona, California State, USA: Named for the ancient Roman goddess of fruit.

Shiloh, Tennessee State, USA: Named for the ancient Israelite religious site, nine miles north of Bethel. The modern site of the ancient Shiloh is a mound of ruins named Khirbet Seilun.

Tewin, England: Named for the ancient Norse god Tyr. The name comes from Tyr plus
"ing" (meadow) or "ingas" (people belonging to)."

Weedon Lois, England: From the Old English words "weo" (temple) plus "dun" (hill). "Lois" comes from the local religious figure, Saint Loys.

Nymph, Alabama State, USA: Nymphs were minor nature deities of ancient Latin and Greek mythology. They were depicted as beautiful and amorous young maidens who loved to dance and sing. The word "nymph" has been said to mean "a rosebud" or "a swelling" (as in "pregnant"), connoting fertility.

Film Comment: Summer of Fear

Summer of Fear, the somewhat misleading title of this 1996 made for television movie, gives the viewer no idea of what is about to happen. When you think you know what is going on, you don’t. The story does not actually produce fear in the viewer but more of an anticipation of what is about to happen, since you soon realize that something is not quite right with Simon. People expecting “blood and guts” have called it “too tame to be a thriller.” Admittedly, this is not an Oscar winning film. It is more like a film one would expect from the Lifetime Movie Network. (The film should not be confused with the more intense 1978 Wes Craven film, also titled Summer of Fear. Both films are based on the novel, Simon Says.)

Echo Bridge Home Entertainment posted this plot synopsis on the Internet Movie Database (IMDB.com):  “When Lucas Marshall and his family are attacked en route to their summer vacation, a passing drifter comes to their rescue. But soon after being welcomed into their home, the stranger engages the family in a treacherous game of deceit and manipulation, forcing them to realize that his encounter with them was no accident.” The film features several television actors who were once quite ubiquitous on television but who now are seldom seen.

Lucas (Gregory Harrison), a city-living middle class businessman, inherits his aunt’s summer home in a small town. While he and his family are traveling to the home for a summer of relaxation and home remodeling, they are carjacked by two thugs. The men seriously damage Lucas’ foot and ankle and he watches helplessly as they sexually molest his wife.

The only thing which prevents the men from raping the wife (Glynnis O’Connor) is the arrival of Simon (Corin Nemec), a local teenager, who chases the men away with his shotgun. The shotgun turns out to actually be just a large walking stick. Simon is a very resourceful and talented young man.

Gratefully, the family invites Simon to the summer home for a day. Soon, Simon is using their boat, fixing the malfunctioning clothes dryer, cleaning the house’s gutters, wooing the the teenaged daughter, becoming a buddy to the young pre-teen son, and, eventually, successfully seducing the mother. Simon is clearly in charge, taking over the family from the loving but ineffectual father and husband.

This is a story of deceit, guilt, psychological horror, hints of incest, anger, resentment, adultery, and a very dark, long-hidden secret seeking a resolution. It is an example of how “the sins of the fathers” can come back to haunt the children for generations to come.

Lucas ends the dangerous situation non-violently by bravely telling the truth. In the effort, he finally wins the respect of his family. He also seems to have finally come to respect himself.

Though this movie presents itself as a horror film, it ultimately is a drama about a disturbed family. Very prominent themes are personal responsibility, the destructiveness of keeping “secrets,” the generational effects of hatred and revenge, and the redemption which can come from “clearing the air.”

There Are Many Wolves Lurking About

Recently, we received the following phone call, pretending to be from the Internal Revenue Service, the United States taxation agency. I have replaced the phone number with X because you absolutely do not want to call this number.

"The reason of this call is to inform you that the IRS is filing lawsuit against you. To get more information about this case file, please call immediately on our department number, XXX-XXX-XXXX. I repeat XXX-XXX-XXXX, Thank you."

There are so many things obviously wrong with this phone call. So many RED FLAGS flapping in the wind!
1. The use of English is quite clumsy.
2, The caller offers no self-identification. All Internal Revenue Service agents identify themselves by name and by IRS employee identification number.
3. The IRS notifies taxpayers of potential problems by official mail and not by phone. The agency also will not ask for identification numbers, credit card numbers, social security numbers, etc, over the phone.
4. The IRS does not issue vague threats of legal action if there is not immediate payment. The IRS will be quite specific with dates, case numbers, contact information, etc.
5. Any IRS contact of any kind with a taxpayer will clearly identify upfront the intended recipient of the contact.
6. The female caller on the phone had a very strong vocal accent which sounded as if it were possibly Eastern European.

The phone calls of this particular scam use stolen cloned cell phone numbers with Washington, District of Columbia area codes so that if you check the number it will appear to be authentic. The Merriam -Webster online dictionary defines a scam as "a dishonest way to make money by deceiving people."

The Internal Revenue Service reports that they have received over 90,000 complaints about this fraud scheme. About 1500 people have complied with the scam and have been tricked into losing a minimum of $5,000,000 to the criminals. If you should receive a phone call like this, the IRS phone number to report the incident is 1-800-366-4484, a free phone call. This particular fraudulent activity is happening in the United States, but similar scams are probably also happening in numerous other countries as well.

Do not be deceived. This is just another confirmation that we live in a totally fallen world in need of the redemption offered by the Lord Jesus Christ.

President Obama Sings "Amazing Grace"

At the memorial held at Emanuel African Methodist Church for the Bible study members murdered by a white supremacist, United States President Barack Obama sang the hymn, "Amazing Grace."

The Confederate Flag

During the memorials for the members of the Bible study class in Charleston, South Carolina who were murdered by a white supremacist, the media's attention suddenly shifted to the flag of the Confederate States of America. The killer was seen in several photos with a Confederate flag and suddenly the national discussion shifted to the removal of that flag from all public places. Why suddenly now? Why not ten years earlier? Why not fifty years earlier? The flag was surely just as offensive then. The effect of the focus on the flag was to shove the Bible study class to the side.

Some say the Confederate flag represents racial hatred. Some say the Confederate flag represents a remembrance of the Southern heritage and history. It probably represents both. The Confederate flag belongs in a museum. We must acknowledge our history, learn from it, and never forget any of it.

Having said that, I believe that the Confederate flag discussion is an intentional distraction from what was and is happening in Charleston. One by one, the family members of the murdered people publicly announced that they forgave the killer. Thousands of Christians gathered daily at the church to pay their respects to the victims and to publicly declare their allegiance to Jesus. The woman who noticed the killer in a town several hundred miles away said that she believed that God placed her there to see the man and to aid in his capture. She publicly praised Jesus and declared her testimony. The public gatherings began to happen in other cities as well.

I believe that this phenomenon made non-believers extremely uncomfortable because they absolutely could not understand it. When someone hurts you, you are supposed to hurt them back! Isn't that what our culture teaches us? How can you forgive someone who has killed one of your family members?
I say, "Good for them! Obey the Lord!" We Christians should make the world uncomfortable.