Manute Bol’s Radical Christianity - It was interesting to see an article like this one in the Wall Street Journal. “Manute Bol, who died last week at the age of 47, is one player who never achieved redemption in the eyes of sports journalists. His life embodied an older, Christian conception of redemption that has been badly obscured by its current usage.”

The Yahoo Word List - Yahoo has a very helpful resource “terms related to communications, technology, branding, and other topics that our U.S. editors have encountered frequently.” It’s a great place to check for the spelling of terms, the proper way to do acronyms, and so on.

A Question for Liberty - Justin Taylor has just one question he’d like to have answered by the trustees of Liberty University. And if you’ve kept up with the Ergun Caner controversy, you can guess what the question is. “Was Dr. Caner raised in Turkey as a Muslim terrorist trained in jihad?”

Corporate Sin - I don’t know how I missed this article when it was first posted a couple of weeks ago. In it John Dyer talks about our responsibility in the BP disaster. “If we’ve ever complained about rising gas prices or the cost of air travel, we are participating in the world that drives companies like BP to cut costs. We want them to. We need them to. We don’t really want to know what BP is doing as long as it keeps our vehicles fueled and our computers powered. Not unlike Al Gore, who talks about the environment from the comfort of his personal jet, we love to talk about BP’s problems while consuming the product they provide at every opportunity.”

Shedding Some Light on Twilight - Mary Kassian interacts with the first two Twilight movies, suggesting what it is about them that has drawn in so many girls (and women). “It’s not surprising that young girls are falling for [Edward]. But sadly, their enthusiasm for being the leading lady in a heart-gripping romance lacks discernment. The movie grips them at such a deep emotional level that they shrug off the glaring warnings that indicate that this particular relationship is unhealthy. It’s a counterfeit version of a fairy-tale romance. It looks good and attractive on the surface, but the underlying darkness in Edward will most certainly lead to disaster for Bella. It may go well for a time, but in the end, it will kill her. She’s playing with fire, and she’s going to get burned.”

8 Writing Tips from C.S. Lewis - Here is a good list of writing tips from C.S. Lewis (some of which have been slightly modernized). “In 1959 an American schoolgirl wrote to C. S. Lewis asking him for advice on the craft of writing. He sent her a list of eight rules, and I add my own editorial comments to each of them.” (HT:TW)

The Albert Mohler Show - I will be a guest on the Albert Mohler show this evening in case you’d like to tune in.

Rejection by Silent Majority - In this brief article Michael Krahn has some good things to say about Chris Tomlin and worship music.

Meet the Rizers - The Resurgence blog introduces The Rizers, a Disney-pop Scripture memory group for kids.

Nourishment for the Soul - Randy Alcorn shares some biblical wisdom on suffering.

Sacrilege - If you want to make a bunch of Canadians mad, this is probably the fastest way to go about it:

The Secret Powers of Time - This is quite an interesting presentation on the ways in which time shapes us (HT:ThePath):

In Memorian, James Montgomery Boice - Rick Phillips writes about James Montgomery Boice who died ten years ago this month. “In my opinion, the reason for James Boice’s influence and legacy is seldom understood.  What was it about him that drew so wide an audience of pastors and laypeople?  The answer is that as a Reformed theologian, James Boice was a Christian first.”

Ligonier Video - The video for most of the sessions from the recent Ligonier Ministries National Conference is now available. You can check out the pre-conference (Mohler/Parsons/Stetzer/Challies) or the conference itself which featured “Tough Questions Christians Face.” Be sure to note the “THU/FRI” switch at the top of the list of video since that’s how you’ll find all of the video for the second day of the conference. And bookmark it so you can come back when the Saturday videos are available since there were some very good sessions on the Saturday as well.

Kindle Price Drop - I assume most have seen this by now but if not, do take note that Amazon’s Kindle has just seen a very substantial price drop (obviously in reaction to the fast-paced growth of iPad adoption). You can get one now for just $189. Many people consider the Kindle the better reading device so it’s worth checking out.

And while on the subject of Amazon, their Gold Box Deal is worth checking out if you still don’t have a good GPS.

Why Do Couples Start To Look Like One Another? - I feel sorry for my wife when I read this article. Granted this particular article is probably not all that scientific, but it’s a question I’ve heard others ask: Why do couples start to look like one another over time? “Zajonc suggested that older couples looked more alike because people in close contact mimic each other’s facial expressions. In other words, if your partner has a good sense of humor and laughs a lot, he or she will probably develop laugh lines around their mouth — and so will you. ”

A couple of weeks ago I announced that we’d be taking a slight diversion in reading classic books together and would instead be reading a biography. That project will begin in less than 2 weeks, so I wanted to offer a final reminder about it.

In order to make this program work, I set about looking for just the right biography. I wanted it to cover a person whose life is exemplary and a person who had a remarkable impact on the church. I also wanted to find a biography that was reasonably inexpensive and one that was not too long. And, of course, it had to be written by a superior biographer. All those factors combined to lead me to Arnold Dallimore’s life of Charles Spurgeon. It is 240 pages over 21 chapters, meaning we can quite easily read it in somewhere between 7 and 10 weeks. It is available for around $12 at many online retailers, ensuring that it will not break the bank.