Read about how instead of deriding those of the evangelical faith, this non-evangelical thinks the liberals should join forces with evangelicals.
"... few would dare make a pejorative comment about Barack Obama’s race or Hillary Clinton’s sex. Yet it would be easy to get away with deriding Mike Huckabee’s religious faith.
Bleeding-heart liberals could accomplish far more if they reached out to build common cause with bleeding-heart conservatives."
Read about why Greg Gilbert of IX Marks is "Against Music."
I wonder if the whole “excellence in praise and worship music” phenomenon we’ve seen over the past few years—for all the good it’s done—hasn’t also had some less-than-desirable effects on young Christians. I wonder if it hasn’t created a generation of functional mystics who gauge their relationship with God by emotional experience rather than the objective reality of redemption.
...
I am really afraid that we’ve managed to create a generation of anemic Christians who are spiritually dependent on excellent music. Their sense of spiritual well-being is based on feeling “close to God,” their feeling close to God is based on their “ability to worship,” and being able to worship depends on big crowds singing great music.
Read about CBS' Andy Rooney shooting down an evangelism attempt on his behalf.
"I think it's sad you people believe in that stuff."
Read Fred Sanders' thoughts on the Top 12 Theology Books that help in knowing God.
Read about thoughts of Leno vs. Letterman regarding quality and popularity.
"How has the prince of pandering attained such a chokehold on the American viewer? What dark magic does he wield? After all these years, is it time for comedy snobs to accept that Leno’s reign is not a fluke—that his combination of skills and style is, in some baffling but real way, better than Letterman’s?"
Learn why paper cuts are so painful.
Read the about the passing of Roy Scheider (age 75), the man who killed Jaws, making it safe to go back in the water.
Read about NASA sending the Beatles' song "Across the Universe" to outer space."Amazing! Well done, NASA!" McCartney said in a message to the space agency. "Send my love to the aliens. All the best, Paul."
Lennon's widow, Yoko Ono, characterized the song's transmission as a significant event.
"I see that this is the beginning of the new age in which we will communicate with billions of planets across the universe," she said.
Read about the challenges faced by 24 over a change in public opinion.
"24, which debuted shortly after 9/11, captured a cultural moment. Jack Bauer was more than the hero we needed, he was the answer to our prayers. No matter what terrorists, drug dealers, and recalcitrant family members threw at him, Jack struck back calmly, elegantly and with deadly force.
But by the sixth, and most recent, season, Jack's strikes became harder to condone. In fact, his tendency to break fingers, shoot kneecaps, and administer pain-causing drugs to elicit information seemed uncomfortably like, well, torture."
Read When My Friends Wound Me, by Stephen Altrogge.
"Have you ever started to switch lanes while driving, only to notice at the last second that a car is lurking in your blind spot? Yeah, you know the feeling. It takes everything in you not to let out a high-pitched, banshee-like scream of terror. We've got blind spiritual blind spots as well, and we need the faithful correction of friends to open our eyes."
Read about higher education opportunities through the Bethlehem Institute, church where John Piper is the pastor.
Read Pastor Joe Thorn's 9 Reasons to Run. Warning, he does venture into the world of meddling.
"8. You probably need to run. Just look at yourself."
Read about this shocker! The once thought hip Mark Driscoll was spotted NOT using a Mac, but a Dell ... in public. I'll bet he drives a minivan as well.
"Yeah, I knew he used a Dell, but I never thought he would in public. It has really devastated many of our church planters," stated Darren Patrick, pastor of The Journey in St. Louis.
Sure there is pressure on a game show, but read about the dumbest quiz show answers ever.
Presenter: What happened in Dallas on November 22,1963?
Contestant: I don't know, I wasn't watching it then.
Read one man's thoughts on the near extinction of the leisurely Sunday afternoon church supper and its replacements.
Those were the days when children played on their own for hours while adults spent Sunday afternoons in conversation. The church seemed like one big family, said Hamilton, the 44-year-old pastor of Springfield Church of the Brethren in Akron.
This is good bull. Watch a "mission" of 207 people who "froze" in place for 5 minutes in Grand Central Station. Click for more info. (HT Lance)
Read about Carl Trueman's disdain for the "soul patch," whether it be follicular or linguistic.
"First, let’s try to avoid the proliferation of a trendy, almost Gnostic, vocabulary to express things which, frankly, have been regarded as part and parcel of Christian common sense for generations."
Read about the Supreme Court of Nebraska outlawing electrocution as a means of execution.
"The decision erased Nebraska's distinction as the only state with electrocution as its sole means of execution. State courts are left with the ability to sentence people to death but no way to carry out the penalty."
Read about baby names that lose their luster (e.g., Britney).
Read about the California college that has suspended blood drives in protest over a ban on gay donors. Morality aside, who are they really hurting here?
Check out WTS-Dallas prof Elliott Greene's sermon at Providence Church yesterday: Crux Sola est Nostra Theologia.
Check out this snow-induced 36 car wreck in Gates, NY. (HT Jade)
Read about how unborn twins saved their mother's life by dislodging a cancerous cervical tumor. Wow!
Shortly after becoming pregnant, Stepney of Cheam in South-West London was taken to the hospital after suffering what was believed to be a miscarriage. Soon doctors realized she was still pregnant, but had developed life-threatening cervical cancer. Stepney declined to have an abortion and doctors at the Royal Marsden Hospital in London agreed to give her reduced chemotherapy in the hope of stopping the cancer spreading during the pregnancy.
But it wasn't the chemo that ultimately saved Stepney. "I couldn't believe it when the doctors told me that the babies had dislodged the tumor," she said. "I'd felt them kicking, but I didn't realize just how important their kicking would turn out to be. I owe my life to my girls, and that's why I could have never agreed with a termination."
Check out Lance Ward's thoughts on 2 Timothy 2:10, one of the chief verses that keeps me going in pastoral ministry.
Vote for the new Texas license plate for 2009. Voting ends 2/11 at noon. (HT Oilcan)Read 7 Church Leadership Mistakes to Avoid from Rick Warren.
"Complacency is the enemy of a good leader. If God says go for it, stick your neck out! Never stop depending on the Lord. Stop coasting. Take some risks in faith. Push the envelope. Attempt something that cannot be explained in the power of the flesh. Say to yourself, “What am I going to try in my ministry this next year that I know is bound to fail unless God bails me out?” Unless God is your only safety net, you’re not truly living by faith. Depend on the Lord."
Check out where Justin Taylor shared some stuff from Wayne Grudem on why poor nations stay poor.
Read as John MacArthur addresses the True Measure of Success.
Read a distressing "Top 10" list, the Top 10 Countries with regard to Christian Persecution. North Korea was chief. The US didn't make the top 10. There's a subtle message there.
Read US Health Report news that 1 in 4 women will suffer "intimate partner violence" at some time in their lives. That's an epidemic.
Read The Shepherd's Scrapbook's Top (30) Books of 2007.
Comment of the Week:
"My next favorite moment [from the DG pastors conference] was discussing the ecclesiology of Kenny Rogers as we rode the light rail to the airport.
What an appropriate finish to a profound couple of days, for now I know 'the best thing I can hope for.'" (Lance)
"The greatest obstacle to discovery is not ignorance - it is the illusion of knowledge."
-Daniel J. Boorstin
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