Thursday June 15, 2006

Review: Gary Gilley, my favorite book reviewer, has a good review of Brian McLaren’s “The Secret Message of Jesus.” “This in essence is the gospel of the emergent movement: if enough of us become missional we can make this world a better place. What a sad substitute for the gospel message as found in Scripture.”

Politics: Mark Steyn must be a brave man to print an article like this on in Canada’s foremost news magazine. “The Islamoschmoozing has gone into full gear. What’s the harm? This is how nations die.”

Politics Bonus: Tom Ascol speculates on why Mark Dever did not get elected as Vice President of the SBC.

Music: Bob Kauflin has announced an upcoming music project, and has shared some lyrics for a new song. We asked the Sovereign Grace songwriters to submit songs inspired by the book, “The Valley of Vision.” Sounds great!

Wednesday June 14, 2006

Video: Lisa Nunley has linked to two videos showing some sad, pathetic clips taken from the Trinity Broadcasting Network. Click and see “Why Jan Crouch wants Your Grandmother’s Grocery Money…” Click and wonder how people can continue to watch this circus!

Technology: Jimmy Wales, the founder of Wikipedia, has officially discouraged people from using his site for serious academic study. This follows many examples of the site’s inaccuracies. It is still a helpful guide as long as the user realizes its fallibility.

Politics: Frank Page has been elected as President of the Southern Baptist Convention. I don’t know who he is, but a good number of good men seem to be quite pleased with the news. As we’d expect, BP News reports.

Work: I’m looking for someone to help me with a pretty major project. I need someone who is proficient in PHP or Perl or Ruby or just about any scripting language and has time to develop a couple of scripts for me. If that’s you, please send me an email.

Tuesday June 13, 2006

Debate: Al Mohler and Paige Patterson had a not-debate yesterday morning on the subject of Calvinism. Pure Church has a good blow-by-blow account of what sounds like an edifying discussion.

Conference: The big Southern Baptist Convention is happening this week and my buddy Scott Lamb has decided to liveblog it. You can read his updates here.

Du Jour: C.J. Mahaney has added his thoughts to an interesting discussion of the importance of complementarianism in maintaining the purity of the gospel. His article is entitled Deliberate Complementarian Pastors.

Giveaway: Carla Rolfe is hosting a summer giveaway at her store. Looks like the winner will walk away with a t-shirt, which is, I suppose, a good prize for a summer giveaway.

Monday June 12, 2006

Terror: Jonah Goldberg, writing for “National Review Online” blasts Canada (quite fairly, I thought) in an article called “The Price of Nice: Canada Learns.” Read it here.

Film: Pixar/Disney’s latest film “Cars” has been released (to rather flat reviews). Apple has posted the trailer for the next Pixar film, “Ratatouille” which will be released next summer.

Communication: “The Tennessean” has an interesting article on differing body language from around the world. Apparently America’s ‘OK’ signal will get you slapped in Germany and the Indian symbol for “I need to go the bathroom” is an elevated middle finger.

Nature: ABC Online tells the terrible truth about swans, long regarded as a symbol of love and fidelity. “They are in fact cheating philanderers that regularly flee the nest for extramarital sex, Australian researchers reveal.” And, “DNA testing has shown that one in six cygnets is the product of an illicit encounter, smashing the birds’ monogamous image.” Who knew?

Friday June 9, 2006

Book: Don Whitney has just published a new booklet entitled “Family Worship.” It is endorsed by Al Mohler and Tedd Tripp. “‘Family Worship’ surveys the biblical teaching on family worship, demonstrates how our heroes throughout church history have practiced it, and then gives fathers/husbands the simple, specific, practical how-to’s of family worship.” You can order it here for only a few dollars.

Quote: Darrin Booker has another set of the dying words of believers. “Joseph Alleine - ‘This vile body shall be made like Christ’s glorious body. Oh, what a glorious day will be the day of the resurrection! My life is hid with Christ in God.’”

Justice: A judge in Florida, faced with two bickering lawyers, ordered their disagreement to be settled in a unique way: with a game of rock, paper, scissors. CNN Money reports. “Judge Gregory A. Presnell of Orlando ordered the unusual measure, which he characterized as ‘a new form of alternative dispute resolution,’ after the two Tampa attorneys had proven unable to agree upon where to hold a deposition, even though both of their offices are just four floors away in the very same building in Tampa.”

Awards: Andreas Kostenberger presents the first annual Biblical Foundations Book Awards. Judging by the list, it seems that only books which sold fewer than 1000 copies, and all of them to libraries, were eligible!

Thursday June 8, 2006

Quote: Overheard tonight in a conversation between my kids. “No! My imaginary eagle can lay 50,000 eggs a day. Yours can only lay 40,000!” “I’m Telling! Daaaaaaad!”

Quote Bonus: David Daniell explaining why William Tyndale could not have had his Bible printed in England: “The thought of Caxton printing a version of the Wyclif Bible, parallel to the process that happened in every continental country in the years he was working in London, is like trying to imagine the Library of Congress in the 1950s publishing a deluxe edition of the Communist Manifesto.”

Review: At long last, Jollyblogger reviews a book he was supposed to review 8 or 12 months ago. Sheesh. Some people’s kids! He reviews “Work Excellence” by Chuck Garriott.

Theology: Ligon Dunca has a great post explaining why a biblical understanding of gender roles is critical to maintaining the gospel. This is a must-read, so don’t miss it!

Wednesday June 7, 2006

Humor: Sam Storms has some fun when thinking about the fact that yesterday was 06/06/06.

Conference: Bob Kauflin has announced the WorshipGod06 blog. Yours truly will be liveblogging this conference which takes place in August.

Terrorism: Ian Clary answers the question of “Why Muslims Must Hate Us.” “I have to admit, hearing about the recent terrorist findings here in Toronto last week has shaken me up a little. It is quite discomforting to know that ‘homegrown’ terrorists live in Toronto and had three times the amount of explosives found on the Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh.”

Science: “New Scientist” explains why we tend to need a siesta after dinner or another big meal.

Tuesday June 6, 2006

Quotes: Darrin Booker has collected a series of death-bed sayings from well-known believers. A favorite: “F.B. Meyer - ‘Read me something from the Bible, something brave and triumphant.’”

Terrorism: “The Toronto Star” featured a good editorial on the planned terrorist attacks in Canada. “But modern global jihad is a different animal. It is tearing the world apart. It is picking the fight. It is devouring its own adherents.”

Weird: Here is an update on the comical “Million Dollar Tract” story that I linked yesterday, though apparently the target article disappeared. So you can read about it now if you’re still interested.

Review: Reformation21 features a thorough review of Philip Ryken’s “Art for God’s Sake” which I reviewed here.

Monday June 5, 2006

Music: Switchfoot is offering a new, unreleased song for download on their site. They are currently in the studio working on a new album which is scheduled for release this fall. And there was great rejoicing.

Weird: On June 1st, 2006, Secret Service agents showed up at the office of Great News Network in Dallas, Texas and demanded their entire stock of $1 million dollar gospel tracts that are produced by Ray Comforts ministry, Living Waters. The tracts are used by Ray Comfort and his co-host Kirk Cameron and have been promoted on their national television program. Christian Worldview Network has the story (click and then scroll down a little bit).

Terrorism: This weekend the Royal Canadian Mounted Police arrested 17 muslim men who were planning to carry out a terror attack here in Canada. Dr. Haykin has some good thoughts and a link to a news report. “we must never forget that among the people for whom our Lord Jesus died are those who today call upon Allah. And there is coming a great day when they will cast this idol to the winds, the bats and the moles, and be converted and worship the Lord Christ.”

Friday June 2, 2006

Family: Russell Moore has a moving post celebrating his son’s birthday. “Five years ago today my oldest son, Benjamin, was born. Five years ago on June 19th my middle son, Timothy, was born. I missed both days…”

Du Jour: Rebecca has an update on a tragic story and yet a story of faith. It’s a must-read.

Sexuality: Jollyblogger has done the research and has discovered from Scripture that sex is good. “I contend that…Christianity is pro-sex.”

Technology: From the “neat but useless” file comes NPA-NXX Geolocator, a “phone prefix location lookup tool” that uses Google Maps.