Michael Spencer (aka iMonk) has a nice little series over at internetmonk.com entitled “Postcards to a Young Theologian”. There’s some good stuff there for theologians of all ages. It’s primarily aimed at Calvinists, but there’s stuff there for everybody.

Part 1: Introduction.

Part 2: Be suspicious of guilt that comes from crossing the perceived boundaries of a group.

Part 3: Be honest: Does the logic of a group eventually conclude that other Christians are, in fact, not true believers at all?

Worth the time to read.

Mark Steyn has an excellent column today reminding us that we simply must stand up for our brother Abdul Rahman, on trial for his life in Afghanistan, his only crime being leaving Islam to convert to Christianity.

The argument in a nutshell:

If Islam is a religion one can only convert to, not from, then in the long run it is a threat to every free person on the planet.

You should read the whole article.

Mark T provides a link to a wonderful article by Dr. Peter Enns titled “Loving Christ While I Cheer for the Yankees”. While I’ll have to forgive Dr. Enns for cheering for the Yankees, he has some really good thoughts on how we fit our enjoyment of sports into a theological framework.

Worth reading if you’re a sports fan, or want to understand a sports fan a little bit better.

Fear, Complexity, Environmental Management in the 21st Century

This is a must-read article by Michael Crichton. His basic premise: we can make statistics say about anything, and so the trend is that the media and other organizations will try to build a big fear of a crisis. In reality, the environmental cycles are fairly normal. His conclusion:

Is this really the end of the world? Earthquakes, hurricanes, floods?

No, we simply live on an active planet. Earthquakes are continuous, a million and a half of them every year, or three every minute. A Richter 5 quake every six hours, a major quake every 3 weeks. A quake as destructive as the one in Pakistan every 8 months. It’s nothing new, it’s right on schedule.

At any moment there are 1,500 electrical storms on the planet. A tornado touches down every six hours. We have ninety hurricanes a year, or one every four days. Again, right on schedule. Violent, disruptive, chaotic activity is a constant feature of our globe.

Is this the end of the world? No: this is the world.

It’s time we knew it.

Victor Davis Hanson on the issues with Islamic Radicalism on National Review Online

I think I could link to nearly every column VDH writes… he has wonderful insights, and today’s column is no different.

Erik Lokkesmoe has a good article on Townhall.com where he lists 10 mistakes conservatives make in art and entertainment. It’s worthwhile reading and thinking it over. Some excerpts:

Mistake #1: We try to improve art and entertainment from the top-down and the outside-in. For example, when well-meaning people, flush with cash but bankrupt on talent, attempt to “show Hollywood” by creating films that go around proven creative methods, the result is always the same: direct to video, a waste of time and money. Enduring change, meanwhile, comes from the bottom-up (working your way up from the mailroom) and the inside-out (working within the creative industries).

Mistake #2: We don’t quite understand common grace – the idea that the good, the true, and the beautiful can be found in the most “unlikely” of places (Broadway) and people (liberal artists). Without a strong belief in common grace, we will either get angry at the culture or withdraw from it entirely.

Mistake #7: We use the arts to save souls and sway elections. True artists enter their work with a sense of mystery, wonderment, always uncertain what may finally appear on the canvas or film or pages. Children’s author Madeleine L’Engle speaks of her surprise when a certain character appeared unexpectedly in the plot of the novel she was writing. She says, “I cannot imagine the book without [the character], and I know that it is a much better book because of him. But where he came from I cannot say. He was a sheer gift of grace.” A sermon can be artful, and Lord knows campaign ads could use some imagination. Mixing art and agenda, however, is propaganda, whether it comes from the left or the right. If you want to send a message, Samuel Goldwyn rightly said, call Western Union.

Mistake #10: We like safe art. Soggy may be a better term. Easy to digest. Nothing that causes heartburn. Do we really want art that never challenges our convictions, wrestles with our beliefs, or questions our faith? Let’s not forget: beauty is hardly safe, truth is never tame, goodness is anything but trite. Author Franky Schaeffer said it best : “The arts ask hard questions. Art incinerates polyester/velvet dreams of inner healing and cheap grace. Art hurts, slaps, and defines. Art is interested in truth: in bad words spoken by bad people, in good words spoken by good people, in sin and goodness, in life, sex, birth, color, texture, death, love, hate, nature, man, religion, music, God, fire, water, and air. Art tears down, builds up, and redefines. Art is uncomfortable” Finally, and most profoundly, he writes: “Good art (which, among other things, means truth-telling art) is good in itself, even when it is about bad things.”

You should really read the whole thing.

My brother Aaron has a story on his blog that is a good reminder of God’s watchful care in our lives.

Yikes.

There’s been a fascinating discussion going on over on the Out of Ur blog the past few days.

First: Brian McLaren on the Homosexual Question: Finding a Pastoral Response.
Then: A Blogger’s Response.
Next: A Prologue and Rant by Mark Driscoll. (zing!)
And last, but not least, McLaren’s response.

If you’re at all interested in the question of how the church addresses homosexuality, I’d recommend you read them all.

It’s a bit image-intensive, but it’s a hilarious post that worship leaders and really all church music types will enjoy. Click the link!

You Probably Shouldn’t Lead Worship Anymore If… – purgatorio

Thanks to Stephanie for a link to a good poem. Go read it!