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A La Carte (3/1)
- 03/01/11
- 7
One month from today my book will release. That’s pretty exciting. Kind of. It’s also a little bit intimidating; I don’t always do well under the weight of expectations. Nevertheless, I’m looking forward to finally holding a copy of it in my hands. It’s been a long time coming.
Sex Is Cheap - Here’s an interesting article from Slate with a look at today’s sexual economics. “Despite the fact that women are holding the sexual purse strings, they aren’t asking for much in return these days--the market ‘price’ of sex is currently very low.”
Kenya’s Mentally Ill - A sad article from CNN, focusing on the fate of the mentally ill in Kenya.
Black Swan - Mary Kassian comments on the Oscar-winning film Black Swan and the false messages it contains about sexuality. “It's Oscar week -- the time of year when we have to endure Hollywood's painful, unending fascination with itself. I didn't watch the Oscars, nor did I see most of the movies that were nominated. But reading this morning's paper, I did take note that Natalie Portman won an Oscar for best actress for her role in Black Swan. To me, this is a telling sign of current ideas surrounding female sexuality.”
Speed Kills - John Dyer has a similar but better-articulated article on the Rob Bell situation (compared to the one I wrote). In today's world, when something important happens there is no searching for a notepad, no finding a pen that works, no saying, "Aw shucks, the mailman already came today. I guess I'll have to sleep on it." Instead, we are surrounded by dozens of shiny buttons enticing us to "publish," "post," "comment," and "send."
The Extra Trillion - AOL tries to figure out what that extra trillion dollars in the US budget is going to. This is a natural follow-up to an article I linked to yesterday.
Robertson McQuilken - Here’s a stirring testimony of a husband’s love for his wife. “Although thoroughly enjoying his role as president at Columbia, McQuilkin resigned from his post in 1990 to care for his wife who had been battling Alzheimer's Disease since the early 1980s.” (HT:TB)
The shortest road to an understanding of the Bible is the acceptance of the fact that God is speaking in every line. —Donald Grey Barnhouse
I am a follower of Jesus Christ, a husband to Aileen and a father to three young children. I worship and serve as a pastor at 
Releasing on April 1, The Next
Published in 2008, this book
This is a guide that calls men,
This review of the bestselling
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This is a guide written
Comments (7)
Robert McQuilken should be Robertson McQuilken. Robert was Robertson’s father. I work for CIU which was founded by Robert. I have met Dr. McQuilken on a few occasions and he is one the humblest men I have met. As well as one of the most Godly.
As an editor, I recommend that you read your second sentence. :)Afterwards, please delete this comment.
John Dyer’s overall point notwithstanding, there’s great irony that an Irving Bible Church teacher would disagree with Rob Bell. Rich irony, actually, since Irving Bible is now near fully ecumenical and has trended liberal in theology for years. Really, it’s only a matter of time before John Dyer becomes Rob Bell.
As an editor, I recommend that you read your second sentence. :)Afterwards, please delete this comment.
Gross. Good catch. But I won’t erase your comment. :)
The $1 trillion article seems fishy. That figure is derived from comparing 2010 spending (reported as $3.72 trillion) to 2007 spending (reported as $2.72 trillion), these supposedly coming from the OMB. However the OMB actually reports outlays of $3.46 trillion for 2010, so the difference is $740 billion.
It also fails to note that GDP grew from 2007 to 2010 (some of which was inflation, but is still relevant when gauging the size of our spending). Spending still increased over this period even faster than GDP, but the rate of increase is smaller when viewed on a per GDP basis. In 2010 the federal govt. spent 23.8% GDP compared to 19.6% in 2007. Spending 19.6% in 2010 would have yielded total outlays of $2.84 trillion. So the “extra” we’re spending is really ($3.46 trillion - $2.84 trillion) = $620 billion. So our real spending is around 20% higher in 2010 than it was in 2007, assuming the OMB tables I’m using are accurate.
I’m also not positive how ARRA (i.e. stimulus) funds are counted with respect to different budget years, since that money was designed to be spent over time. The AOL article suggests that $353 billion of 2010 spending was ARRA funds, which will eventually vanish. If that’s the case then the non-stimulus increase was $270 billion over what it would have been if we’d spent at the same per GDP level as 2007.
You can look at increases by category using the OMB’s report “Outlays by Function and Subfunction” located here.
But now anonymous’s comment looks stupid.
When I looked back at the unedited version, I immediately knew that you’d initially written “kind of.” decided against it, and failed to remove the “of.” It’s the kind of mistake I make all the time.
Tim,
I thoroughly enjoy your blog and appreciate your work. That said, I am a bit perplexed by your link to Mary Kassian’s “review” of Black Swan. I think it shows poor discernment on her part to make commentary on a film that she has not even seen. To offer negative commentary on a film’s supposed moral content without having any clue about the context because one has not seen it is precisely the kind of embarrassing stereotype that evangelicals fit. And I’m not sure why you would want to perpetuate it.
Why not link to a responsible Christian film critic like Jeffrey Overstreet or Brett McCracken. This has nothing to do with whether or not Black Swan is a good film - rather, it has everything to do with integrity and responsible criticism. Something that we Christians should care about.
If you’re going to delete this comment like the last one, please email me to explain why. Thanks.