Among UK youth, Simon Cowell more famous than God
… according to a Daily News story (HT: Kris Rasmussen)
I found this interesting:
“‘Being fat’ tops the list in the category of the ‘very worst things in the world’ among the tween set, and when asked what they would do if made king or queen of the world, a ban on divorce was the most popular answer.”
It’s not you, it’s … well, I guess it is you
Guys, see this post at The Art of Manliness on How to End a Relationship Like a Man.
(HT: Steve Watters)
Who’s up for a list?
The lists come out like snowflakes near the end of the year, don’t they? Here are a few you might be interested in:
- Ten Important Archaeological Discoveries in 2008 Related to the Bible - Claude Mariottini (HT: Todd Bolen)
- Top 10 Emergent/Missional/Post-Evangelical Blog Posts of 2008 - Raffi Shahinian (HT: TallSkinnyKiwi)
- Top 11 Holiday Libations - James Poulos
- Not Just Another Christmas List - girltalk
There’ll be others before January 1, I assure you.
Warren Piece
The blogosphere is abuzz with reactions to the announcement that Saddleback pastor/Purpose-Driven Life author/lightning rod Rick Warren will pray at Obama’s swearing-in:
“One thing is clear– controversial appointments and actions do indeed smoke out people’s real views and feelings, and often those feelings are subChristian at best, and positively carnal at worst.”
“I have issues with Warren theologically and ecclesiastically, but am in broad sympathy with much of his politics and so it was interesting to see him clobbered as too right wing for a change.”
“I will give our new president major credit if he still lets Rick Warren say the prayer.”
“I’d like to ask Mr. Warren how civil it is to cut up a pre-born baby with a knife and hurl out the parts with the trash?”
“Whatever you think of Warren, make no mistake: he’s a social conservative, my favorite kind.”
“I am not throwing Rick Warren to the wolves over this. He now finds himself in a whirlwind, and he will not be the last.”
Jordan Ballor also has a more in-depth wrap-up and discussion of the announcement, at the Acton Powerblog.
Out to lunch
For various reasons I won’t go into, I don’t plan on posting anything today (except this notice that I won’t be posting anything).
Some stuff you might enjoy:
- This video - as Abraham Piper says, the more you watch it, the happier you’ll be
- This photo-finding site is amazing
- Two sites you might want to look at, if you don’t already, are Zach Nielsen’s and Jonathan Ignacio’s - they both blog similarly to the way I do here
- You might also think about using the time you would normally use reading blogs in Bible study and/or prayer and/or evangelism, instead (just a thought)
See you mañana friends … Lord willing.
Caroling your neighbors into the Kingdom
At the reformed evangelist, Chris de Vidal offers a practical post explaining how to evangelize by organizing a group to sing Christmas carols.
“First scout out a good neighborhood with houses close together. You might choose a poor neighborhood which blesses both those in the home and your group as well. Avoid my mistake and make sure the neighborhood isn’t gated; I didn’t scout ahead, and we went to a locked neighborhood. Oops!”
Read the whole thing.
‘101 Christian Quotes on Faith, Reason, Unbelief, and Atheism’
A list by Daniel G. at two or three dot net, compiled in response to this list of 101 Atheist Quotes.
“13. In all unbelief there are these two things; a good opinion of one’s self, and a bad opinion of God. Horatius Bonar
14. With most men, unbelief in one thing springs from blind belief in another. Georg Christoph Lichtenberg (1742 - 1799)
15. God is not hostile to sinners, but only to unbelievers. Martin Luther”
Do the angels sing?
Fred Sanders weighs the (absence of) biblical evidence for angelic singing at The Scriptorium:
“Flip to your favorite passages to see if you can catch them singing, and you get surprised by the total lack of musical terminology …”
‘Deconstructing Christmas’
In an essay posted at Emergent Village, Mark Douglass, co-leader of the Wilderness Way Community, considers which Christmas elements are worth keeping, and which need to be ‘tossed’:
“Keep: Songs and Traditions from Around the World — again, the transcultural/contextual paradox of Christ’s birth invites a wealth of music and celebration to connect us with the world’s celebration of Christ …
Toss: Material Gifts — We live in a time of year-round excess that needs a strong witness to restraint. What better witness than turning Christmas into a season of charitable giving and gifts of time, presence, and community rather than another opportunity for material excess?”
Read the whole thing.
‘Do Hard Things and People Will Follow’
At Boundless: The Line, Motte Brown tells how two families at his church – the Schwabs and the Thompsons – helped inspire him and his wife to adopt:
“There’s really nothing extraordinary about their circumstances that uniquely qualifies them to adopt so many while already having so many. They’re not rich and I don’t believe they received a special call from the Lord. I suspect that, mainly, they were just willing.”
See the Browns’ blog, which discusses their recent adoption of four Ethiopian children.
‘Top Ten Most-Read Sermons of 2008′
… from Preaching Today. Titles include:
1. Jeremiah Wright’s “The Audacity of Hope”
2. Bill Hybels’ “The Story of Seven Demotions”
3. Mike Woodruff’s “What Would Jesus Say When the Dow Drops 700 Points?”
In Iran, an eye really is taken for an eye …
LaShawn Barber applauds the verdict reached in the case of Ameneh Bahrami, whose attacker blinded and disfigured her by throwing acid in her face. Now the man, Majid Movahedi, will be punished by having sulfuric acid poured into both of his eyes.
“Our country has developed a system of punishment in which execution methods like drawing and quartering, burning alive, disemboweling, and other methods I mentioned are considered ‘cruel and unusual,’ even if the criminal killed his victim(s) that way. Too bad.”
Not all screens are created equal
At Culture11, Alan Jacobs responds to an essay by Christine Rosen in which she laments the multiplication of various screens in the lives of we 21st century humans: computer, phone, TV, etc. (see ‘People of the Screen‘).
Jacobs says not so fast …
“There is no such thing as ‘the screen’; there are screens, plural, and they are not all the same.”
Read his entire post, in which he recommends Albert Borgmann’s work, Holding On to Reality: the Nature of Information at the Turn of the Millennium, to gain some proper perspective on new technologies.
“Are seminary students self-absorbed pr**ks?’
More evidence that Christians (especially learned ones!) are bad tippers, who make a bad impression publicly, from Theophilogue.
See also this recent post by Justin Wise on the same subject.
Is there truth to the message of these posts? If so, what can we as Christians do to remedy this phenomenon?
“‘Great apprehension’ over Christmas season violence”
Christians in India fear that more violence may occur as the Christmas holiday approaches. Story at the Christianity Today Liveblog:
“In light of the terrorism in Mumbai and the extensive attacks in Orissa, Christians cannot presume that a) the government can protect lives; or, b) there is no group currently planning a fresh attack on churches or Christian villlages.”
