Signs and Wonders 02.17

Newt and Nancy: Nancy Pelosi is, of course, no fan of Newt Gingrich. The Democrat and former House speaker served on the ethics committee in the 1990s that investigated Gingrich, and she claims to have damaging information about him. "I know a lot about him," she told Talking Points Memo back in December. "One of these days we'll have a conversation about Newt Gingrich." Idle threats? Gingrich thought enough of them to respond by saying, "Look, I think if she knows something she ought to say it. And if she doesn't know something, she ought to quit saying it." So far, Pelosi's comments have been more suggestive than definitive, but as every political insider knows, you don't pull the pin on your hand grenade until you've got the victim in a place where you can do maximum damage. So look for this kind of stuff to come out only if Gingrich gets the nomination and it's too late for the Republicans to do anything but wish they'd picked someone else.

Good call. On Monday our friends at National Review called on Gingrich to get out of the presidential race and endorse Rick Santorum. Gingrich supporters need not fear. Though the former speaker has a reputation for being undisciplined and erratic, in one area Gingrich is absolutely steadfast: He can be trusted to ignore good advice.

They've got the steeple, but not the people: Conservative congregations trying to leave the increasingly apostate Episcopal Church with their buildings are getting no relief from the courts. In the latest in a series of similar decisions, a county circuit court in Virginia ruled that seven congregations must leave their properties to the Episcopal Church. Two of the congregations, Truro Church in Fairfax and The Falls Church in Falls Church, are among the most storied Episcopal churches in the country. The seven Virginia congregations disaffiliated from the Episcopal Church over the ordination of homosexual clergy, among other matters, and joined with the conservative Anglican Church of North America (ACNA). But it may be a Pyrrhic victory for the Episcopal Church. They're keeping the buildings and the endowment funds but losing their own souls. The people are fleeing. This once faithful and influential church now has less than 500,000 in attendance on any given Sunday morning, and most of them are over the age of 60. The newly formed ACNA, with new congregations often meeting in schools and YMCAs, now has more than 100,000 people and is growing rapidly.

Kentucky pastor opens legislative session with controversial prayer: A Kentucky pastor invited to open a budget address in January shocked everyone by praying fervently-and specifically-against a gambling expansion bill just moments before Gov. Steven Beshear took the podium to tell legislators why they needed to pass it. Hershael York, a pastor at Frankfort's Buck Run Baptist Church and a professor at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, prayed, "May [elected officials] never resort to leveraging vice and avarice to pay our bills. Help us to admit we cannot truly love our neighbor as ourselves and then scheme to get his money by enticing him with vain hope. May they not lead this state to share profits from an industry that preys on greed or desperation. Help us to foster salaries, not slot machines, to build cars and enable jobs, not license casinos and seduce the simple into losing what they have. May the decisions they make and the judgments they render be consistent with Your eternal character and truth." I'm guessing Pastor York won't be on Gov. Beshear's Christmas card list this year.