As you read this, I’m on my way to Grand Rapids. These short trips can be tough ones. Because I want to be gone for only the day, I need an early flight—7 AM. That means I need to be at the airport at 5 AM (which you’d understand if you’ve ever flown out of Toronto early in the morning). That in turn means I need to catch a cab at 4:30 which means I need to be up at 4, which means I need to go to bed at 9 which means I need to take some sort of a sleeping pill (something herbal that’s probably actually just a placebo). All that in attempt not to sound like a babbling idiot by the time we get around to shooting some video tomorrow.

Voices Raised, Hearts Lifted - Here’s an interesting look at five popular hymns (popular in the Church of England). This caught my eye: “My one cavil with this hymn -- and it is a significant one -- is about its theology. The penal-substitution theory of the atonement is central to Evangelical doctrine, but I find it very difficult to sing: Till on that cross as Jesus died, The wrath of God was satisfied.’”

Guarding Sabbath for our Children - This article shares some sound wisdom related to living in an electronic world. “Apparently, the greatest challenge presenting itself in the office of the high school guidance counselor is a growing number of kids struggling with anxiety and depression. Can you guess why? A combination of over-scheduling and sleep deprivation, linked to two main contributors: electronics use and extracurricular activities.”

Deliberately Uninformed - Seth Godin goes on a rant here, but one I enjoyed. “The thing is, watching TV has its benefits. It excuses you from the responsibility of having an informed opinion about things that matter. It gives you shallow opinions or false ‘facts’ that you can easily parrot to others that watch what you watch. It rarely unsettles our carefully self-induced calm and isolation from the world.”

Do Christians and Muslims Worship the Same God? - Douglas Groothuis: “They both believe in one personal and transcendent God who has sent his prophets into the world. They both believe in sacred writings that record the prophetic revelations. They both believe that Jesus was a prophet who was sinless and born of a virgin. And they both worship with these beliefs firmly in place. We are speaking of Muslims and Christians, whose members comprise the two largest monotheistic religions in the world.”

Cultivating Godly Habits - Stephen Altrogge has asked a bunch of people to provide an answer to this question: "What is a godly habit that has significantly affected your walk with the Lord, and how did you cultivate that habit?" Yesterday it was my turn to answer.

Mohler on Reading - Mohler talks about his love for reading (and about sneaking encyclopedias into the car to read on vacation):

Almost all men are affected with the disease of desiring to obtain useless knowledge. —John Calvin