Starting my Thursday in Michigan

Almost time for a hot bowl of oatmeal with strawberries on the top here in mid-Michigan as I get the day started.  My links:

1. Local churches affected by affluence:  Dr. Joe Stowell in his "Strength for the Day" writes about how rising levels of affluence in Chinese Christian churches is diverting their attention to worldly distractions away from their real source of strength.  Has that happened to U.S. churches?
2. One year later Detroit still suffers:  Detroit News writes that it's been exactly one year since former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick resigned during a sordid scandal.  The story says city's still suffering, but the scandal made it come to grips with a culture of cronyism and corruption.
3. Obama will need raised taxes:  Detroit News editorial page editor Nolan Finley writes in his blog about how Jeffrey Sachs visited Detroit last week and emphasized that President Obama can't give everybody an insurance card without raising taxes on everybody including the middles class.  Sachs is a close friend and adviser to the president.
4. Ernie Harwell's last chapter:  Booth Newspaper's Steve Kornacki writes about the former Detroit Tiger's broadcaster Ernie Harwell who has terminal cancer.  This column demonstrates the light that this one man has brought to Michigan during a very troubled time.  He has turned a defeat into a victory.