Thursday June 1, 2006

Theology: Mark Dever writes about “undermining the tolerance of egalitarianism. “The core of this blog entry is simply this—>it is my observation that those older than me who are complementarian generally want to downplay this issue, and those younger than me want to lead with it, or at least be very up front about it.”

Emergent: Brent Thomas has a helpful summary of Justin Taylor’s speech on the Emerging Church which he delivered at a breakout session of the New Attitude Conference.

Politics: I learned yesterday, as did many Canadians, that to some degree polygamy has been legalized here in Canada. CNews reports. “Religious organizations say same-sex marriage opened the door to decriminalizing polygamy, and worry that formal recognitions of plural marriages will weaken the government’s ability to defend the anti-polygamy law if it faces a constitutional challenge on religious grounds.”

Wednesday May 31, 2006

Conference: Adrian has collected a good number of choice quotes from the New Attitude Conference. A personal favorite: “Dwell where the cries of Calvary can be heard.”

Conference Bonus: And while we’re on the topic of the New Attitude Conference, Sovereign Grace Ministries has the audio recordings of all of the general sessions for sale in their store.

Blogs: The official web site for this year’s GodBlogCon has finally been opened. I am still trying to decide whether or not I will attend this event, though it’s looking like it may not be entirely practical.

Technology: Microsoft has released the beta version of Office 2007. I’ve had it for a couple of days now and am quite taken with it. Unfortunately it cannot coexist with previous versions so to install this you must uninstall your older programs.

Tuesday May 30, 2006

Emergent: Steve Camp chimes in on the Mark Driscoll controversy. His comments and critiques are measured and biblical.

LiveBlog: Carolyn McCulley is doing a great job of liveblogging the New Attitude Conference. She is apparently learning a new respect for the art of live-blogging.

Quote: “Advice is like castor oil, easy enough to give but dreadful uneasy to take.” (Josh Billings)

Outrageous: A high school in Texas, after deciding to use a picture of a nickel on the yearbook cover, removed the words “In God We Trust,” lest it prove offensive to any unbelievers. FoxNews reports. “The intention, according to a school spokesman, was to ‘make sure all faiths were respected.’”

Monday May 29, 2006

Books: “Christianity Today” has released their list of Book Award recipients for 2006. I read 120 books last year and did not manage to read a single one of the titles they awarded! So the question is, what have I been reading all this time?

Humor: Allan, a commenter at this site, upon learning that John Piper believes he will be greeted in heaven by his dog asks: “I knew a dog that had SEVEN good masters. - Now WHICH will masterwill he greet in the resurrection!!!!????”

Sports: Canada is the new Australia: a place for criminals and cast-offs. We even attract the banned football players such as Ricky Williams who will play this year for the Toronto Argonauts. The good news for Ricky is that his pot habit will only cost him a ticket up here!

Audio: Aaron Shafovaloff has linked to some John Piper audio files that you have probably not heard in the past.

Friday May 26, 2006

Modesty: Toby has been writing about a touchy subject. “Well, summer is on its way, or perhaps it is here for some parts of the country. And along with the warmer weather comes an issue that has been of concern to me for some time. The issue is… MODESTY.”

Mailbag: Yesterday I received the following email: “Let’s beat the [removed] out of our kids—for Jesus! Yeah, that works. The highest divorce rate is in the Bible Belt. The highest incidence of child abuse and infanticide? Among fundamentalists of all stripes. You and Osama Bin Laden have more in common that you and Jesus. Who did Jesus beat? What country’s did Jesus attack. Shame on you! I hope there is a hell—it’s just for you wicked misguided monsters.”

Weird: Some crazy guy decided to impersonate a police officer. For kicks he pulls over a guy and attempts to charge him with speeding. Turns out he actually pulled over a real cop. Oops.

Conference: The New Attitude Conference begins this weekend. A team of livebloggers will be bringing updates. Check it out.

Thursday May 25, 2006

Weird: Dignan has learned that Pat Robertson can leg press 2000 pounds. “On Robertson’s website, he is plugging his “Age-Defying” protein shake. And the best part is that his shake enables him to leg press 2,000 lbs!!!”

Humor: Joe Carter took on the blogosphere in a long, rambling, humorous post entitled “Royal Rumble in Godblogdom.” “Tim has read more books this year than are in the library at Bob Jones University.” I’m not sure if that is a compliment or an insult!

Humor Bonus: The folks at SermonSpice have done it again. Put down your Coke or coffee and take a look at Prosperity Praise.

Wednesday May 24, 2006

Technology: Apple and Nike have joined forces to make a shoe that will tell a runner how far and how fast he has run.

Theology: Steve Camp has posted part two of Lars Larson’s excellent article dealing with spiritual discernment.

Du Jour: Dan Phillips takes a look at an article in the Washington Post dealing with Bart Ehrman and realizes that his faith has been shattered. “To the media, there is only one kind of noble, admirable Christian fundamentalist: an ex-Christian-fundamentalist.”

Photography: Michael Wolf has an amazing collection of pictures from Hong Kong’s oldest public housing estate. It has 100 rooms, each 100 square feet.

Tuesday May 23, 2006

Blogspotting: Following our recent conversation here, Dr Mike, Carla Rolfe, and Phil Johnson have a few choice words for those who like to use a few choice words. Commenter joythruchrist points out why it’s not Pharisaic to say so. Her cat agrees.

News: Boy, 7, completes swim from Alcatraz. Asked what the hardest part was, he replied: “The swimming.”

Blogspotting Bonus: Jollyblogger also decided to chime in with a pretty good (and slightly angry) post. Something about throwing Mark Driscoll under a bus.

Science: BusinessWeek has an article discussing the myths and realities of Ethanol, which is touted as being the fuel of the future. The article does a good job of answering the basic questions.

Monday May 22, 2006

Weird: FoxNews has the story of a man who collected some 80,000 empty beer cans in his rented house over the course of 8 years. That means he drank 24 beers every day. Judging by the pictures, he was fond of Coors. The cans were returned and the deposits totalled $800.

Da Vinci: Steve Camp went to see the Da Vinci Code movie and wrote a small review. Not surpisingly, he thought it was awful. This is pretty well what most reviewers are saying—it’s just a bad movie.

Reviews: I recently updated Discerning Reader with many new reviews, including some written by the new editors. Take a look and get caught up!

Friday May 19, 2006

Award: Apparently I’ve been awarded something called a “Bologna Badge.” I can’t say I’ve ever heard of this particular award, but I’m sure it’s prestigious. More here.

Gospel: Ligon Duncan posted a roundup of quotes about the gospel that are sure to bless you. Here is a favorite: “When we preach Christ crucified, we have no reason to stammer, or stutter, or hesitate, or apologize; there is nothing in the gospel of which we have any cause to be ashamed.”

Women: Carolyn McCulley has an interesting article entitled “Sex Trafficking: A Death Sentence by AIDS.” “In some sections of India, girls as young as 12 are “married” to a Hindu god and forced into temple prostitution for at least the next 20 years.”

Theology: Steve Camp has uploaded a very good article (part 1) of a tw-part series written by Lars Larson and dealing with biblical discernment.