Tallahassee – An appeals court Apr. 30 backed the Florida Department of Health in a dispute that started after health officials moved to block dogs from being in bars in Tampa and Orlando.
One of the required courses in the seminary from which I got my degree was apologetics. For those not familiar with the term, apologetics is not a course in which you learn how to say you are sorry in meaningful ways. The term comes from the Greek word apologia which means “to make a defense” and is found in the Apostle Peter’s first letter to the churches in Asia Minor. He exhorts Christians to turn away from evil and be zealous for what is good, and “in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy.” Knowing that such a life will be noticed in a world that does not honor Christ the Lord as holy nor is typically zealous for what is good, he continues, “always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect.” The field of apologetics is engaged in teaching Christians how to defend the Christian faith.
Last week I was writing about my critics and this week I started scanning pages of one hundred-year-old copies of the Milton Gazette, which is now the Santa Rosa Press Gazette. I found the following printed on May 1, 1925 – which could have been my column last week – just said in a different way…
Santa Rosa County Animal Services (SRCAS) is hosting a reduced-cost microchip drive-through clinic on Friday, May 9 from 12 – 2 p.m. at Santa Rosa County Animal Services, 4451 Pine Forest Road in Milton. Only cats and dogs are eligible to be microchipped. Participants must be residents of Santa Rosa County and will need to show an ID. All cats need to be in a carrier and dogs need to be on leash and collar.
For the Catholic Church, this symbolism of Easter was especially poignant this year as Pope Francis, the Bishop of Rome, died at 88 years old Monday, April 21.