April 2004 Archive
Rock Stars or Rock Moons? (04/30/04 - 2 Comments)
A great little quote from David Crowder when asked in an interview on CNN if he considers himself a rock star. "I’ve got a really good pal that says 'you guys are more like a moon than a star,’ because the moon, if it wasn’t for the sunshine, is just a ball of dirt. For us, the light of Christ, when it shines on us, it’s just a beautiful collision. We are more interested in...
Tolkien's Tale of Stewardship (04/30/04 - 0 Comments)
I was thrilled several years ago to hear that the book The Lord of the Rings was going to be made into a series of epic films. With production budgets in the hundreds of millions of dollars and the bulk of the work being done outside of Hollywood, I knew this series was going to be good! But more than being able to watch a great series of films, I was thrilled to know that...
Too Good To Be True? (04/30/04 - 0 Comments)
MSN has an article entitled Sitcom Future Unclear After 'Friends' in which they question if sitcoms have had their day and will now begin to fade away. With Friends, Sex and the City, Frasier all bowing out this season and Everybody Loves Raymond all but done, they wonder if the genre will be able to go on. Many people are wondering if sitcoms will begin to fade away. Oh please oh please oh please oh...
The Worship Driven Life (04/30/04 - 3 Comments)
Christian musician Steve Camp (who happens to be Reformed) has posted an interesting article series at his Web site entitled The Worship Driven Life. In Part One he writes about doctrine in worship and worship being on the downgrade (borrowing a term from the days of Spurgeon). In Part Two he writes about what constitutes genuine, authentic, Biblical worship. He focuses primarily on what worship is not and will turn to what worship truly needs...
A Birthday of Sorts (04/29/04 - 3 Comments)
It was just about two years ago now that I was walking along the shores of Lake Ontario, gazing out across the water and spending some much-needed time in prayer. It was noon and I had escaped my basement office for just a while. I was employed by a good company and was drawing a good salary – almost twice what I had started at when I entered the industry just two years before. We...
Canada's Hate Crimes Legislation (04/29/04 - 4 Comments)
Bill C-250 passed through the senate with a 59-11 vote in favor. Barely a whisper of this event was heard in the news or printed in the media. The legislation is now awaiting just the royal rubber-stamp before it becomes law. This law adds homosexuals to the list of people protected by Canada's hate crimes legislation. Naturally Christians opposed this bill, believing that it would eventually lead to persecution for anyone preaching Biblical views on...
Dove Award Winners (04/29/04 - 3 Comments)
Way back in February I posted a list of the Dove Award nominees and provided a bit of uninspired commentary on each of the categories I care a bit about. It turns out that I did quite well with my picks! I was elated to see that Switchfoot cleaned up in their categories after being snubbed by the Grammy Awards. MercyMe, to no one's surprise, received several awards, more for their incredible break into the...
More About Mel Gibson's Next Movie (04/29/04 - 3 Comments)
There seems to be lots of controversy about what Mel Gibson's next project will be. It is known that before The Passion of the Christ became a blockbuster he was planning on making a fourth installment of Mad Max, the movie that launched his career and made him a Hollywood superstar. Having now become a hero of the Christian world and having alienated much of his non-Christian audience, it would seem that might be a...
Gibson's Next Movie (04/28/04 - 4 Comments)
Apologies for not writing anything too exciting the past couple of days. I have been involved in quite a large Web project and it has kept me just a little too busy. It is going to wrap up tomorrow so hopefully I will then have some more time to do real writing. Now to the news... A group of Franciscan friars are petitioning Mel Gibson to make his next movie a biographical film of the...
March For Women's Lives (04/28/04 - 14 Comments)
Bunnie Diehl has a great collection of photographs from the March For Women's Lives held this past weekend (scroll down a couple of screens). Isn't feminism a wonderful thing? Feminism has given women the right to destroy the lives of their children and it seems society is now consumed with the bloodlust of abortion. Sickening!...
Christian Music & File Sharing (04/27/04 - 10 Comments)
The New York Times reported this week that Christian music is "disproportionately popular" in the online filesharing services. For example, last month almost 350,000 people downloaded songs by Relient K and over 2 million people are offering Switchfoot songs. This is Gospel Music Association week in Nashville and apparently "high on the agenda [of the industry] will be the findings of a new online marketing study commissioned by the Gospel Music Association that suggests that...
New Vatican Document (Redemptionis Sacramentum) (04/27/04 - 3 Comments)
The Vatican recently released a new document entitled Redemptionis Sacramentum which deals with "certain matters to be observed or to be avoided regarding the Most Holy Eucharist." Matt Hall has commented briefly on this document. As is standard practice for the Roman Catholic Church, the document goes into minute detail, mentioning even standards for the freshness of the wine lest the mass be rendered invalid by sour wine. James White has written about the document...
I Am No Prude... (04/27/04 - 0 Comments)
Now I am no prude and still enjoy wasting a bit of time playing the occasional computer game, but I can't deny that the genre does attract some disgusting games. The latest in a string of brutal games is Manhunt which has just recently been released across several gaming platforms. The premise of the game is that you have been released from prison by the director of snuff films, the only catch being that you...
A New Look (04/27/04 - 6 Comments)
Well I guess by now you have already realized that this site has a whole new look. Many of you were helpful in giving comments when I gave a preview of the new design. I am quite excited about this one and believe it will serve the site well. I decided to highlight recent posts and recent comments since that will help people find some of the ongoing discussions. I have also kept a large...
New Derek Webb Album (04/26/04 - 2 Comments)
This is the best news I've gotten all day! Derek Webb will be releasing his follow-up release to She Must And Shall Go Free on June 8. His first album is one of my top picks from 2003 and has quickly become one of my all-time favorite albums. So naturally I am quite excited to learn his sophmore album is coming out so soon. It sounds quite unusual actually. "this will be a 'must-have' record...
Ultramatic Adjustable...Church? (04/26/04 - 7 Comments)
I have always felt that Ultramatic, the company that sells electronic, adjustable beds, makes some of the worst commercials on television. Incidentally, it seems they also have one of the worst corporate Web sites on the Internet. For years their commercials were targeted at seniors – they had these awful ads which were supposed to be reminiscent of the “film noir” genre so popular in the past. A man hiding behind his fedora would carry...
Blog of the Week - Rebecca Writes (04/25/04 - 4 Comments)
It has been a while since I did a Blog of the Week but I thought I would carry on an old tradition today. I began BotW so I could highlight some of the other Christian bloggers whose writing I have come to appreciate. Discovering blogs has revolutionized the way I experience the world wide web - it has made the experience so much richer and deeper. I love reading what other believers have to...
Saturday Ramblings (04/24/04 - 0 Comments)
I had my whole day planned out. I was going to start the day by taking the car over to Wal Mart for a quick oil change. As they were doing that I would head over to the in-store McDonalds, grab a quick breakfast and read the paper. Then I would head home and spend a bit of time playing with the kids - perhaps take them to the park for an hour or two....
Desiring God - Chapter Two (Part 1) (04/23/04 - 0 Comments)
If the chief end of man is to be a Christian Hedonist, there must be a moment where he becomes such – a moment where a Christian Hedonist is created. Having explained that God’s quest to be glorified and our quest to receive satisfaction are one and the same, the author now turns to a discussion of conversion, which he says is the creation of a Christian Hedonist. God’s desire to be glorified reaches its...
The Power of Purpose (04/23/04 - 11 Comments)
Thanks to Rod for forwarding a link to a contest entitled The Power of Purpose. Combining secular and Christian organizations and judges, the contest asks people to write an essay of 3500 words or less that describes the power of purpose. The contest is to encourage people to think about and increase the awareness of the value of purpose. The first prize is $100,000 US, so we are not talking chump-change here!...
The Winds of Change Redux (04/22/04 - 11 Comments)
A while back I put together a new site design but elected not to change to the new design. I just couldn't get it quite right, especially in regards to the colors. I spent a couple of hours tinkering today and came up with another design that I am quite pleased with. But, as usual, I figured that since you are the ones that stare at the site every now and then I would ask...
Reformed: A Definition (04/22/04 - 11 Comments)
A reader posed the question this morning of what it means to be a Reformed Christian. His (or her) question made me realize that though I am Reformed in theology and have been for many years, I do not have a definition of Reformed to answer the question. So I thought today I would post a definition of what it means to be Reformed. First, it is important to note that because the Reformed tradition...
Creativity Cramp (04/21/04 - 5 Comments)
I think I will coin a phrase today. The phrase I will heretofore take credit for is Creativity Cramp. I am a Web designer. As such I have to be creative on an on-going basis. Every time a client calls and asks me to make him a site I have to be creative and come up with a new design - something that will look attractive, original and will fit the "feel" of the company....
Reformed Christian Musicians (04/20/04 - 22 Comments)
A post in this thread about the band Blackball got me thinking about Christian artists who are theologically Reformed. It occurs to me that a huge number of Christian musicians attend Scotty Smith's church outside Nashville and that is a Presbyterian Church, but it seems there is a vast difference between attending a Prebyterian Church and holding (and claiming) Reformed theology. So I am wondering, what are some of the Reformed artists out there? To...
Pareidolia & The Bible (04/20/04 - 5 Comments)
I recently read an article (which alas I can no longer find) that described a search the BBC made for the Loch Ness Monster. They swept Loch Ness from end to end, back and forth for several days using some of the world’s most sophisticated sonar equipment. After a complete, thorough search they concluded that there is simply not a monster living in the Loch. To provide an idea of how the myth of the...
Truth Is Stranger Than Fiction (04/19/04 - 0 Comments)
Though not a regular reader of The Door Magazine as I find it a mite disrespectful at times, I do enjoy the section they call Truth is Stranger Than Fiction. In this section they highlight the most bizarre Christian products and advertising. For example, they have an advertisment they found in a newspaper for "Jehobics" which is a Christian system of aerobics. On Saturday a pretty bizarre postcard showed up in our mailbox and I...
Think On These Things (04/19/04 - 1 Comments)
Think On These Things Ministries is a wonderful teaching and outreach ministry of Southern View Chapel in Springfield, Illinois. Pastor Garry Gilley publishes a monthly newsletter and offers a free subscription if you are interested in receiving it. In past months he has written about The Passion of the Christ, The Purpose Driven Life, Sexual Purity and so on. His most recent newsletter finished up a two-part discussion of The Passion. You can read the...
Who Is Leading You Astray? (04/18/04 - 15 Comments)
Someone brought this article to my attenion and I thought I would post it. I do not wish to insinuate that any church I have attended has acted in this manner, yet have heard of many churches that have acted in this manner. The author says: "This article is based upon experiences numerous people have shared with me over the years of what happened to them when approaching the pastor or elders of their church...
While The Cat's Away II... (04/18/04 - 0 Comments)
If you missed it yesterday, my wife is at a women's retreat for the weekend, leaving me to look after the kids. Of course I am perfectly capable of doing so, but find it does alter my life quite radically. I also tend to overlook certain details... Number of doses of medication Abby was supposed to have: 7. Number she actually did have: 3. Number of hours I usually spend reading on a weekend: 4+....
While The Cat's Away... (04/17/04 - 0 Comments)
Truth be told the cat hasn't gone anywhere (unfortunately), but the wife has. Some ladies from our church hold an annual weekend retreat, and this just so happens to be the weekend Aileen is away. She is in Niagara Falls with the group just having a weekend away and a time of worship and learning. In the meantime, I am minding the kids all weekend. Though rewarding, it leaves me absolutely no time for writing,...
The Girl & The Gum (04/16/04 - 0 Comments)
This is a story with a moral to it. The story involves my 18-month old daughter and a package of gum. It goes something like this: Abby loves to explore. She also loves to climb and it seems that these two traits often go hand-in-hand, for she has discovered that the higher she climbs the more there is to explore. Not too long ago she found that if she drags chairs across the house she...
Switchfoot Concert (04/15/04 - 6 Comments)
Ever since the Canadian dollar drastically weakened in relation to the American dollar, it seems that Christian concerts have become quite a rare occurrence in this neck of the woods. Yesterday, though, Switchfoot bucked the trend and made a stop in Toronto as part of their Beautiful Letdown tour. As they are one of my favorite bands (and have been since long before they become “popular”) I could not pass up the opportunity to see...
A Relative God? (04/14/04 - 10 Comments)
Are men and women supposed to relate to God differently? It seems to me that much of the women's books in your average Christian bookstore these days attempt to make God out to be the ultimate Man. He is the one who is always there to listen and understand. His shoulders are always available for them to cry on when they are having a tough time with life. He loves them in a deep and...
Desiring God - Chapter One (04/14/04 - 3 Comments)
This is the second article in my series examining John Piper’s book Desiring God. The first article was co-written by myself and Doug from Coffeeswirls and can be found here. Today I am examining the first chapter of this book which is entitled The Happiness of God: Foundation for Christian Hedonism. You will recall that Christian Hedonism is the term Piper has given to his teaching that Christians are to desire pleasure above all else....
Cutting It Straight (04/13/04 - 1 Comments)
I recently read and reviewed Richard Mayhue’s book How To Interpret The Bible For Yourself. There was one part of the book in particular that has been on my mind since the moment I read it and it has to do with 2 Timothy 2:15. In that passage Paul is exhorting Timothy to preach the gospel with accuracy, saying “Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be...
Through The Blogroll (04/12/04 - 1 Comments)
Today I thought I would highlight what some of the people on my blogroll have been writing about recently. If you are uncertain as to what a blogroll is, it is simply a list of other blogs I visit and recommend. You can see it by scrolling down on this page and looking in the right column. While some people link to just about every site under the sun, I try to keep mine fairly...
The Jollyblogger (04/11/04 - 2 Comments)
For the first time in a long while I have added a site to my Blogroll. You can view my list of recommended links by scrolling down a little bit on this page. The site I added is Jollyblogger, the weblog of David Wayne, a pastor of an Evangelical Presbyterian church in Maryland. He writes about a variety of topics, most of which concern Christianity, and even better, Reformed Christianity. He updates at least once...
Book Review - How To Interpret The Bible For Yourself (04/10/04 - 3 Comments)
Richard Mayhue is Dean of Studies at the Master’s Seminary and has sufficient credibility to write a volume about how to properly interpret the Bible. Writing in a simple and straightforward manner, he describes the process of “cutting it straight,” a term he borrows from Paul’s message to Timothy in 2 Timothy 2:15. Though the passage is most often translated “handling accurately the word of truth” the literal sense is “cutting it straight.” This book...
Good Friday Ramblings (04/09/04 - 0 Comments)
Today is Good Friday. I was not raised as part of a tradition that celebrated religious holidays. Sure we took Good Friday off and visited family on the Easter weekend, but we never celebrated it in a religious sense. Christmas was much the same - we did gifts and celebrated family, but did not regard it as a religious occasion. So the concept of fulfilling religious obligations on Good Friday is still foreign to me....
Contest Winners (04/08/04 - 3 Comments)
The first Challies Dot Com contest has ended and I am now ready to announce the winners. First, though, thanks to all of those who took the time to enter - this contest was a lot of fun. So here we go: Most Original: My name is Chris Roth, here's a short introduction: I met Tim Challies by way of church function. For over two years, on Tuesdays we'd meet, To study the Bible, sing...
