Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!

There are a couple of things I wanted to post before we head into the weekend…

Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!

FoxNews [2] is reporting that “Thousands of Sudanese, many armed with clubs and knives, rallied Friday in a central square and demanded the execution of a British teacher convicted of insulting Islam for allowing her students to name a teddy bear ‘Muhammad.’” In response to the riots and the obvious danger, authorities was moved from a prison for women to a secret location where they expect she will be safer. “The protesters streamed out of mosques after Friday sermons, as pickup trucks with loudspeakers blared messages against Gibbons, who was sentenced Thursday to 15 days in prison and deportation. She avoided the more serious punishment of 40 lashes.” Whether or not she can avoid the still-more-serious punishment of being slaughtered by angry and senseless radicals remains to be seen.

As I read the story, I couldn’t help but think of Acts 19 where Paul preached the gospel in Ephesus. Fearing that the success of the gospel would destroy the business of the men who crafted images of Artemis, a man named Demetrius rallied the crowds and began a riot. For two hours they yelled “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!” Stop and imagine that for a minute. For two hours they filled the city with the senseless, stupid cries of “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!”

“Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!” “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!” “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!” “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!” “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!” “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!” “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!” “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!”

For two hours. Luke did not miss the humor in it. “Now some cried out one thing, some another, for the assembly was in confusion, and most of them did not know why they had come together.”

Sound familiar?

Al Mohler and Tom Brokaw

Dr. Mohler just posted this at his blog [3]:

I am scheduled to appear on tonight’s edition of NBC’s Nightly News to discuss younger evangelicals and the Emerging Church movement. I discussed these issues with NBC’s Tom Brokaw earlier this week, and I was very encouraged by the quality of the discussion and by Mr. Brokaw’s interest in the story and knowledge of the background. It will be interesting to see how the segment comes together. The segment is scheduled for tonight’s edition of Nightly News. Check television schedules for your area.

I always enjoy watching Dr. Mohler’s media appearances and will definitely be trying to tune into this one (sometimes easier said than done since Canadian channels don’t often carry American news).