Brokeback Mountain is becoming a hit film. Opening in limited release in select markets, it has generated a lot of buzz and seems primed to become even more popular as it opens in more theatres. Here is a description of the movie (copyright Focus Features): From Academy Award-winning filmmaker Ang Lee comes an epic American…
Since launching the new design of Challies Dot Com I have received lots of feedback. Some has been positive and some has been negative. The negative comments have mostly been concerned with two things: the color of the background and the loss of the photo that was in the banner of the old design. I…
Earlier this week Canadians received news of the 78th murder of the year in Toronto, our nation’s biggest city. Of these 78 victims, 52 have been killed by gunfire, a rather tragic record for the city. The victim of this murder was a 15-year old tenth grade student who happened to be in the wrong…
Friday December 30, 2005 Reviews: Suddenly Barna’s book Revolution is back in the news. Reformation21 is discussing it and Justin Taylor points to a review by Sam Storms. Chris Treat also reviews it. Theology: Michael Haykin says that it is appropriate to laugh at Barna and his ecclesiological proposal. Nature: Snopes confirms the truth of…
Today I am going to post the blogging equivalent of a “state of the nation” address. We’ll call it a “state of the domain.” I wrote this post earlier and realized that I had not been entirely honest and forthcoming, so have added information to it. I realize that this information (discussing readership, privilege and…
Thursday December 29, 2005 Family: Our journey home from Atlanta began at 4:58 AM yesterday morning and ended at 8:02 PM for a travel time of 15 hours and 4 minutes. Not too bad. We were thankful for your prayers, especially as we drove through some very heavy downpours. Du Jour: Dan at RoofGuy posts…
For the past week I have been basking in the warmth of the Atlanta sun. While I will grant that the Atlanta sun is only moderately warmer in December than the Toronto sun, it creates an atmosphere which is, at the very least, on the better side of the freezing mark. Just yesterday we enjoyed…
Wednesday December 28, 2005 Sports: GetReligion has an article about Colts’ head coach Tony Dungy, a man of faith whose son took his life last week. Technology: Amazon.com shipped over 108 million orders during the holiday season with 99% of them arriving on time. Incredible. Read the news release here. Americana: Only in America will…
Today I will make a horrifying admission, one that might just cast a shadow of doubt over my life, ministry and masculinity. Ready for it? I enjoy Jane Austen movies. I don’t just enjoy them, actually, but really, really enjoy them. I hate chick flicks as much as the next guy, but thoroughly enjoy Austen…
Tuesday December 27, 2005 Media: The American Family Association is asking people to petition NBC over a new show entitled The Book of Daniel. The main character is Daniel Webster, a drug-addicted Episcopal priest whose wife depends heavily on her mid-day martinis. The show also includes lesbians, homosexuals and all the makings of a far-too-typical…
“Whatever Happened To The Gospel of Grace?” is exactly the sort of book you might expect a traditional, Reformed pastor and theologian to leave as his final message to the world, for before this book was published, James Boice, long-time pastor of Tenth Presbyterian Church in Philadelphia went to be with the Lord. This book…
Monday December 26, 2005 Boxing Day: Today is Boxing Day in Canada. This means that Canadians are lining up outside the big box electronic stores much the same way as Americans do the day after Thanksgiving, though the sales are usually not nearly as good. Do American stores have sales today? Religion of Peace: A…
There’s something a little bit silly about Christmas, isn’t there? After all, we have no real evidence that Jesus was born on December 25. Sure there have been plenty of people who have attempted to prove some link, but in the end we just have to accept that there is really only a small chance…
Of the several hundred books I have read in the past few years, there is one which I have recommended more often than any other. I recently revisited this book and decided that I would post a review of it, though I did so several years ago on this site. It was a groundbreaking book…
Just about everyone who reads web sites does so at work. It’s a strange and shameful fact, isn’t it? In fact, you are probably sitting at work right now as you read this. Shame on you. My experience with working the Friday afternoon before Christmas tells me that you’re probably not doing much today anyways.…
Friday December 23, 2005 Audio: For those interested in the audio series I mentioned in yesterday’s ramblings, you can purchase it here from Sovereign Grace Ministries. Politics: American military chaplains are fighting for their right to pray according to their faith. A petition is being delivered to Washington asking that Christian chaplains be allowed to…
I am now officially on vacation. Every time I take time off I wonder in advance if I will spend more or less time researching and writing articles, reading good books and the like. I always have great ambitions but usually end up spending lots of time just being lazy. And isn’t that what a…
Thursday December 22, 2005 Christmas: Joshua Robinson lists The bottom 10 things about Christmas. Interview: Adrian Warnock interviews Josh Harris about being mentored by C.J. Mahaney. Blogspotting: Fred Butler gets a Pyronamiac-like gratuitous shout-out simply for mentioning my name in his reflection on the first six months of blogging. [Removed]
Every believer carries a measure of the guilt for Jesus’ death. If it were not for our willful disobedience to God’s perfect Law, we would have no need of a Savior. We acknowledge in song that it was our hands that drove the spikes into His’ and sometimes speak about driving the nails into Jesus’…
Wednesday December 21, 2005 Family: WebMD tells us that staying married for the sake of the kids may do more harm than good. I suppose that is entirely possible where there is not any type of reconciliation. Blogging: The Philadelphia Inquirer says that “2004 was the year blogs entered the language (so says Merriam-Webster), then…