Ramblings Archive
Saturday Miscellania (05/03/08 - 2 Comments)
It is a rainy Saturday afternoon here in the Toronto area. I’m supposed to be heading out to coach a baseball practice at 2 PM but it’s looking rather doubtful at the moment. It seems like the kids are going to head into their first game with only one practice under their proverbial belts. It should be an interesting game to say the least. I’d guess at least 2 out of every 3 outs will...
Saturday Miscellania (04/26/08 - 37 Comments)
It’s funny how Saturdays, which used to be the most relaxing day for me, have become so busy. I am coaching Nick’s baseball team this year and we were on the field early this morning for our first practice. This season the kids are staring from the plate to a pitching machine and seeing pitches whistling in at 40 miles per hour. This is a substantial step up from last year’s coach pitch league where...
Friday Miscellania (03/28/08 - 15 Comments)
It’s Friday and there are a few things I’ve been saving in my Favorites folder that I’d like to mention today. The Internet Effect on News I say, without any hyperbole, that this article from TIME may be the most important you read today. In it Michael Scherer explains how news has become commoditized through the internet. Here is a basic shift that has occurred in the news business: Because of the Internet, you, the...
Saturday Miscellania (03/01/08 - 9 Comments)
Our church is hosting its first ever conference today, and I was supposed to help out. I was looking forward to serving there and just doing whatever needed to be done. But it wasn’t mean to be. Just around the stroke of midnight, both Aileen and Michaela came down with some awful strain of the flu and both were up pretty well all night. I didn’t fare much better, what with changing bedding, rinsing out...
Friday Miscellania (02/22/08 - 38 Comments)
Occasionally I use a Friday article to take care of a few things that have been on my mind. I’m going to do that today. A Media Junkie Joe Carter is a media junkie. You can read about his media obsession right here. He took an inventory of his media consumption and found he reads “one daily newspaper, 12 magazines, and over 300 RSS feeds.” And even then he reads far more magazines than he...
A Total Eclipse of the Moon (02/20/08 - 8 Comments)
A total eclipse of the Moon is set to occur during the night of Wednesday, February 20/21, 2008 (tonight). It will be visible throughout most of North and South America. I believe it is the last total eclipse we will see for several years. Here is what NASA says about the event: During a total lunar eclipse, the Moon’s disk can take on a dramatically colorful appearance from bright orange to blood red to dark...
Notes from the Road (12/31/07 - 33 Comments)
We spent our new year’s eve on the road. We got up at three o’clock this morning and scraped the frost off the windshield (frost in Chattanooga?) before hitting the road very shortly after four. Nobody should ever be awake at that hour. It’s just a bad idea. The children were simply hauled out of bed and shoved into their booster seats. Thankfully they went back to sleep (even if they did awake a few...
This & That (12/05/07 - 12 Comments)
A few notes of varying interest and importance: Prime Time America During the week of December 31 - January 4 I’m scheduled to guest on Moody Radio’s Prime Time America with Greg Wheatley. We’ll be discussing The Discipline of Spiritual Discernment and all things related to spiritual discernment. We’ll be carrying on the discussion for a few minutes each of those days. So if you listen to Prime Time America, well, hopefully you’ll enjoy that....
Great is Artemis of the Ephesians! (11/30/07 - 4 Comments)
There are a couple of things I wanted to post before we head into the weekend… Great is Artemis of the Ephesians! FoxNews is reporting that “Thousands of Sudanese, many armed with clubs and knives, rallied Friday in a central square and demanded the execution of a British teacher convicted of insulting Islam for allowing her students to name a teddy bear ‘Muhammad.’” In response to the riots and the obvious danger, authorities was moved...
Friday Miscellania (10/26/07 - 19 Comments)
It looks like Westminster Books is the first to receive copies of what is undoubtedly one of the most anticipated books this fall: Pierced For Our Transgressions: Rediscovering the Glory of Penal Substitution. The book was previously available only in Europe, but Crossway secured the North American rights and has just published it. You can read my review of it here: Pierced for Our Transgressions. For just one week the book is available at 40%...
Giveaways, Amazon Reviews, and Forgotten Heroes (10/19/07 - 1 Comments)
This is a compilation of various things that caught my eye this week. They were things that needed more explanation than I could offer in A La Carte, but not enough that they merited an article of their own. The Great October Giveaway Winners The Great October Giveaway comes to a close today. I have already drawn the names of the winners and will be sending emails out shortly. So check your inbox in the...
Sunday Ramblings (07/08/07 - 6 Comments)
Just a couple of things I've wanted to mention but haven't fit anywhere else... Music: - A couple of weeks ago I received Asleep in a Storm, the latest album from Sovereign Grace Ministries. "Produced by Jeremy White, a member of Grace Church (San Diego, CA), the CD features a fresh take on nine previously released songs, plus one new instrumental track from Jeremy. You’ll hear original vocals from Shannon Harris, Vikki Cook, and others,...
Friday Ramblings (06/29/07 - 16 Comments)
School is out! Yesterday my son finished up his last day of grade one and my daughter had her last day of junior kindergarten on Wednesday, so today marks the official beginning of summer vacation. School ends about a month later in Canada than in the U.S. but also begins a month later (the Tuesday after Labour Day). This is a long weekend in Canada as July 1 happens to be Canada Day. Since that...
Saturday Ramblings (06/09/07 - 5 Comments)
For the first time in recent memory, I am at home alone. A couple of the neighborhood children have a birthday party today and my two older children were invited. It is apparently a Taekwondo birthday party. I didn't know such things existed, to tell the truth. I'm not so crazy about the martial arts, but I guess there can't be too much harm in letting the kids hang around, kick each other, and eat...
A Soft Spot for Soft Serve (05/19/07 - 16 Comments)
Here's a topic appropriate to a warm Saturday afternoon during a sunny, spring long weekend (or it's a long weekend up here in Canada, at any rate. Victoria Day, don't you know...). You have probably found, as I have, that as people get older it becomes more and more difficult to buy them good birthday presents. After all, when you are a child you have no means of getting the things you so desperately want....
Thursday Ramblings (05/10/07 - 5 Comments)
I returned safely home from the Cleveland area yesterday evening. It is quite a long drive but one that is still faster, I would imagine, than flying since it allows me to avoid waiting in airports, the inevitable airline delays, and all the other trappings of air travel. As always, it is very good to be home. I'll be here for another two weeks and will then head for Louisville for the New Attitude conference,...
Friday Frivolity (03/23/07 - 12 Comments)
Based on many trips over the U.S.-Canada border in the past weeks and months, I'd like to suggest the top ten things not to say to a U.S. Customs agent (or border guard): 10. "Want to bet that I make more than you do?" 9. "So an Iranian, a Cuban and a North Korean walk into a bar..." 8. "Does this look infected?" 7. "Where am I going? To heaven. In fact, the Bible says..."...
Home At Last (03/19/07 - 7 Comments)
I'm finally back in my office. It was just about two weeks ago that I set out for the Shepherds' Conference and since then I've been on the road pretty well the whole time (I did spend one night here after returning from the conference and before heading out to Atlanta, but my actual time at home was only a few hours). It is good to be home. The house is absolutely freezing since we...
Saturday Ramblings (03/03/07 - 7 Comments)
I spent pretty well the entire week reading my book out loud to myself. You can't even begin to imagine how sick I am of reading (and hearing) parts of that book. For six months I have read portions of myself time and time again. And again. And again. But with 28 days until my deadline, I was able to send nine of its ten chapters to a few friends for their feedback. Chapter ten...
Friday Ramblings (02/16/07 - 3 Comments)
My day began at 5 A.M. today. I have an early morning flight to Los Angeles that should get me to the smoggy city just in time for lunch at the In and Out burger closest to L.A.X.. I'm already looking forward to it. I'll be in L.A. until Monday evening so I can bring blog coverage of the Resolved Conference. Some 3,000 college students (and one thirty year old guy) will be gathering to...
Sunday Ramblings (02/11/07 - 1 Comments)
I had a very long and busy day of work yesterday, so found myself fighting to form coherent thoughts today. So rather than attempt to write something riveting, I thought I'd share a few quotes I've pulled from books I've read lately. While reading Chris Anderson's The Long Tail I found a quote by Christopher Hitchens that tickled my funny bone. In Letters to a Young Contrarion, Christopher Hitchens writes that he wakes up every...
Things You Never Wanted To Know (01/27/07 - 24 Comments)
Just for kicks, here is a list of things you never knew about me and never wanted to. Since we got married, Aileen and I have lived in four different houses. Our current home is the only one we have owned as the previous ones were all rentals. The first vehicle I ever owned was a Chevrolet S-10 pickup truck. Since then I've owned two Toyota Corollas, one Ford Windstar and one Dodge Grand Caravan....
Friday Ramblings (01/26/07 - 19 Comments)
Sovereign Grace Music is offering a free song written by Steve and Vikki Cook and sung by Vikki. It is from the Everlasting recording that was released in 1999. "I Bow Down" is a slow, meditative song that reflects on the holiness of God. Here is a sample of the lyrics: You saved me the sinner With crimson red You washed me White as snow How I love You Lord You loved me the mocker...
Friday Ramblings (12/29/06 - 32 Comments)
Ping! That's the sound of a pin dropping in the blogosphere. My RSS reader has been awfully quiet this week as I suppose the majority of bloggers are taking a break from the usual commitments. Good for them! Most people outside of the retail world are doing little if any work this week, and those of my friends and family who are working keep mentioning that they seem to be the only ones in their...
Friday Ramblings (12/22/06 - 6 Comments)
Amazon likes to send me recommendations for books I may enjoy. They obviously check my account to see what I have purchased recently and run some kind of a script to determine what other books I may like based on what I have bought in the past. A couple of days ago I received a tremendously helpful recommendation. "We've noticed that customers who have expressed interest in The Bible or the Axe: One Man's Dramatic...
Friday Ramblings (12/15/06 - 22 Comments)
William Wilberforce In February of 2007 a film titled Amazing Grace will hit theatres, though only in limited release (and I'd be surprised if it makes it to Canada at all). The movie deals with the life of "the world's greatest reformer," William Wilberforce. Ioan Gruffudd plays Wilberforce, who, as a Member of Parliament, navigated the world of 18th Century backroom politics to end the slave trade in the British Empire. Albert Finney plays John...
Friday Ramblings (12/08/06 - 15 Comments)
I feel I should apologize about the relatively low quality of the articles I've posted this week. I decided to take a week's "sabbatical" to focus on writing the book. I thought of calling this a vacation, but that didn't seem quite right. In the end I settled on sabbatical since I like the sound of the word and since it makes me feel very professional. I wish I had had the opportunity to take...
Tuesday Ramblings: Thabiti Edition (11/21/06 - 17 Comments)
I had great plans for the site for today, but real life very rudely interrupted those plans. Hence I'll haul out a ramblings column I had hoped to post on Friday. Ramblings are, of course, things I have wanted to say but things that haven't seemed worthy of a post all their own. I also hadn't planned on this being an unofficial celebration of Thabiti Anyabwile, and yet somehow, events have conspired to make his...
Friday Ramblings (11/10/06 - 19 Comments)
Tomorrow is Remembrance Day here in Canada, the day we remember veterans and those who sacrificed their lives to protect our nation. My son's school is honoring this day today in the way many schools do: they are inviting veterans to the school and will hold an assembly. I hope my son looks in awe at the veterans as I did when I was his age, though there are fewer and fewer veterans still alive....
Saturday Ramblings (11/04/06 - 9 Comments)
I got a laugh out of Phil Johnson's post this morning on Pyromaniacs. He wrote "I have part 3 of Gary Johnson's review queued up and ready to go, but I'm holding it till Monday because weekend traffic at the blog is sometimes low, and I don't want the end of that series to get overlooked." I have to admit to doing the same thing, namely, writing an article and figuring that it's just too...
Teach Me To Live What You Say (10/29/06 - 8 Comments)
Some time ago, my pastor posted on his blog asking if anyone could identify the author of a song called "Teach Me To Love What You Say." We sang the song in church this morning and I noted that it is still marked with "Author and copyright information unknown." So I guess he never tracked it down. It is a sweet song and one the children seem to enjoy singing a great deal. Do you...
Friday Ramblings (10/20/06 - 19 Comments)
I want to take an opportunity to thank those of you who have been praying for me on Fridays as I attempt to write The Discipline of Discernment. I look to Fridays with equal excitement and dread--excitement to be working on the book and dread that I will end the day downtrodden and feeling like I just can't make this book work. There have been times when I've felt, almost literally, picked up while struggling...
Thursday Miscellanea (10/05/06 - 27 Comments)
Every now and then I like to collect a few miscellaneous thoughts and compile them into a post, rather than trying to write an article about each of them. Today is one of those times, so bear with me as I ramble for a few moments. Roaring? Yesterday Mark Driscoll posted an email exchange that involved himself and John Piper. At one point Driscoll wrote "As a result of your correction of me there is...
Thursday Ramblings (08/03/06 - 17 Comments)
I had a friend call me up this morning and ask if I'd like to get together for some breakfast. I'm always up for both eating and talking (and especially for both of them together), so I took him up on the offer. By the time we were done, the morning was well underway and my writing time had all but disappeared. But it was worth it. The book review I was going to post...
Friday Ramblings (06/30/06 - 52 Comments)
A Discovery: Bob Cornuke and his Bible Archaeology Search and Exploration (B.A.S.E) Institute claim to have found Noah's Ark. This is not the first time the ark has been found. Neither is it the first time Cornuke has claimed to find a biblical site or artifact. Styling himself as a real-world Indiana Jones, he has previously claimed to have found the Real Mt. Sinai (I reviewed a DVD account of this discovery) and anchors from...
Wednesday Ramblings (05/31/06 - 34 Comments)
Michaela is four weeks old today. Last night was the first time since her birth that I experienced the combination of a bad sleep followed by an early awakening. She and I sat in the way-too-hot living room (we're in the midst of an early heat wave) for a few hours this morning as she tried to sleep and I tried to find something worth watching since my eyes were far too heavy to read...
Friday Ramblings (05/12/06 - 32 Comments)
Alex Chediak - Alex Chediak has a pretty new web site (AlexChediak.com). I should know because I made it. Alex, who authored (edited?) 5 Paths To The Love Of Your Life (my review) is anticipating the imminent release of his second book, this one co-authored with his wife. It is titled With One Voice and should be available within a week or two. Why not root around Alex's site and, if you feel so moved,...
Friday Ramblings (05/05/06 - 59 Comments)
The day after the birth of a child is clearly not the time to be doing serious writing. Thus today I will only ramble, posting a compendium of things that have been on my mind this week. While I managed to get a fair amount of sleep yesterday (never have I been so thankful for a spare bedroom), Aileen did not and had to hand me Michaela long before I was ready to crawl out...
Monday Ramblings (04/24/06 - 10 Comments)
Some of the people who read this site love the book reviews. Other people hate them. Those poor souls must be frustrated as I have posted an awful lot of reviews over the past few days. I can't bring myself to apologize for this. I have had a long and strange week and somehow found myself reading even more than usual. That has resulted in a large number of book reviews (including a few that...
Wednesday Miscellania (03/22/06 - 32 Comments)
There are a few topics I have collected over the past week that do not merit an article of their own. So I thought I would compile a few of those into a single article today. Blue Like Jazz: Matt Redmond sent me an email letting me know that he had reviewed Blue Like Jazz. One particular thing caught my eye in his review. He asked, "Since when is autobiography an acceptable genre for Christian...
