Prayer Needed
There has been precious little coverage of the Korean hostages being murdered in Afghanistan, but Eugene Cho has a good summary. We need to pray for these brothers and sisters.
Interesting Stuff from Lately
I have been looking back through my Google Reader archive and realized that I have a lot of stuff that I've starred that hasn't made it into a link dump. So here's your chance to catch up with online stuff that I've been enjoying!
Tom Wright Talks. Links to two recent N. T. Wright lectures. I haven't actually listened to them yet, but I"ll get around to it.
We Need the Gospel of Jesus in America. A plea from the Internet Monk. Always good stuff.
A review of Voddie Baucham's Family Driven Faith. I need to get a copy of this book.
iMonk again: John Piper on why Christian Children should be confused.
Summary of the "Confessions of a Pastor" talk from the Buzz Conference. Powerful stuff. Can't wait to hear the audio.
You Need to Smile More. Or, reasons you might not need to. iMonk is one of my favorites.
5 Reasons to have Family Worship. Good reminders from Joe Thorn.
Random thoughts from Thomas Sowell
Thomas Sowell has a good column of random thoughts on NRO today.
A few good ones:
Few things are more scary than the number of people who rely on talking points, instead of weighing serious issues in a serious way.
In politics, there are few skills more richly rewarded than the ability to misstate issues in a way that will sound plausible and attractive.
“A good catchword can obscure analysis for fifty years,” said Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes. If so, then we may be hearing about “diversity,” “social justice” and “a living wage” for many years to come.
Has anyone actually seen Rachael Ray measure out the ingredients she puts into her cooking, instead of using a pinch of this and a handful of that?
It's worth going to read the whole thing.
A great column for your perusal…
Normally when I read a good column I'm just gonna hit the Gordita button and post it to del.icio.us, which means it'd show up here tonight in the links area. But today's column by Thomas Sowell on NRO is worth a post of its own. Sowell gives us a column of "random thoughts", including some very quote-worthy thoughts. Just a few:
A reader wrote: “Have you ever noticed that opinion polls ask the opinions of people who have no expertise in the subject on which they are being polled and publish these opinions as if they were gospel truth instead of group ignorance?”
Some of the biggest cases of mistaken identity are among intellectuals who have trouble remembering that they are not God.
Too many people in positions of responsibility act as if these are just positions of opportunity — for themselves. The ones who simply steal money probably do less harm than teachers who propagandize their students, media who slant the news, or politicians who sell out their country’s interests in order to get reelected.
You should probably go read the whole thing.
Adding to the blogroll
It's been a while since I've updated the links on my blogroll to the right. I realized today that I'm way behind in adding Rae Whitlock's blog to my list of links. I met Rae in person for the first time last fall, and he's one of those guys I am real proud to call a brother.
Rae recently resurrected his blog and I am happy to add a link to it today. Go check out raewhitlock.com when you get a chance. I enjoy it, maybe you will too.
A Tired Peacemaker
My pastor and friend Richard wrote a post today entitled "The Tired Peacemaker". It's worth a read.
“…slapping down the paving stones of good intentions on the road to hell”
Brilliant stuff from Jonah Goldberg today on the increasing desire of government to regulate the "little stuff". He begins by listing everything the New York City Council banned or tried to ban in 2006. It's a long list. And he notes some other bans around the country.
Then he pulls out a penetrating comment from deToqueville:
“It must not be forgotten that it is especially dangerous to enslave men in the minor details of life. For my own part, I should be inclined to think freedom less necessary in great things than in little ones. ...”
“Subjection in minor affairs breaks out every day and is felt by the whole community indiscriminately. It does not drive men to resistance, but it crosses them at every turn, till they are led to surrender the exercise of their own will.”
Then Goldberg brings it home with stunning clarity (emphasis mine):
This is a typically penetrating insight, and one with new relevance these days. This country seems to have inverted de Tocqueville’s hierarchy. On countless fronts, the natural pastures of daily liberty have become circumscribed by dull-witted but well-meaning bureaucrats slapping down the paving stones of good intentions on the road to hell.
The rule of thumb for a free society should be that it infringes liberties rarely, but when it does so it is for important reasons. Today, that thumb has been cast down, Caesar-like, pointing in the opposite direction. We have democratized the small assaults on freedom so that everyone must endure them, while we caterwaul about the tyranny of any real inconvenience that might fall “disproportionately” on the few. We ban using trans fats for millions but flinch at the idea that some kid might have to endure the Pledge of Allegiance or a moment of silence in school if it conflicts with his conscience. Everyone must surrender his shoes, his regular-sized toothpaste and shampoo at the airport, but we man the barricades to protect a few young Muslim men from being inconvenienced for an extra five minutes at the airport.
Free speech is most restricted where it is most important — in political contests near Election Day — while it is maximized to an absurd level at the fringes of culture and decency. Banning “hate speech” from everybody’s lips is a progressive priority, but electronic eavesdropping on a few terrorists is an impermissible leap down the slippery slope to the police state.
Goldberg is right, as usual. Go read the whole article.
“…slapping down the paving stones of good intentions on the road to hell”
Brilliant stuff from Jonah Goldberg today on the increasing desire of government to regulate the "little stuff". He begins by listing everything the New York City Council banned or tried to ban in 2006. It's a long list. And he notes some other bans around the country.
Then he pulls out a penetrating comment from deToqueville:
“It must not be forgotten that it is especially dangerous to enslave men in the minor details of life. For my own part, I should be inclined to think freedom less necessary in great things than in little ones. ...”
“Subjection in minor affairs breaks out every day and is felt by the whole community indiscriminately. It does not drive men to resistance, but it crosses them at every turn, till they are led to surrender the exercise of their own will.”
Then Goldberg brings it home with stunning clarity (emphasis mine):
This is a typically penetrating insight, and one with new relevance these days. This country seems to have inverted de Tocqueville’s hierarchy. On countless fronts, the natural pastures of daily liberty have become circumscribed by dull-witted but well-meaning bureaucrats slapping down the paving stones of good intentions on the road to hell.
The rule of thumb for a free society should be that it infringes liberties rarely, but when it does so it is for important reasons. Today, that thumb has been cast down, Caesar-like, pointing in the opposite direction. We have democratized the small assaults on freedom so that everyone must endure them, while we caterwaul about the tyranny of any real inconvenience that might fall “disproportionately” on the few. We ban using trans fats for millions but flinch at the idea that some kid might have to endure the Pledge of Allegiance or a moment of silence in school if it conflicts with his conscience. Everyone must surrender his shoes, his regular-sized toothpaste and shampoo at the airport, but we man the barricades to protect a few young Muslim men from being inconvenienced for an extra five minutes at the airport.
Free speech is most restricted where it is most important — in political contests near Election Day — while it is maximized to an absurd level at the fringes of culture and decency. Banning “hate speech” from everybody’s lips is a progressive priority, but electronic eavesdropping on a few terrorists is an impermissible leap down the slippery slope to the police state.
Goldberg is right, as usual. Go read the whole article.
“…slapping down the paving stones of good intentions on the road to hell”
Brilliant stuff from Jonah Goldberg today on the increasing desire of government to regulate the "little stuff". He begins by listing everything the New York City Council banned or tried to ban in 2006. It's a long list. And he notes some other bans around the country.
Then he pulls out a penetrating comment from deToqueville:
“It must not be forgotten that it is especially dangerous to enslave men in the minor details of life. For my own part, I should be inclined to think freedom less necessary in great things than in little ones. ...”
“Subjection in minor affairs breaks out every day and is felt by the whole community indiscriminately. It does not drive men to resistance, but it crosses them at every turn, till they are led to surrender the exercise of their own will.”
Then Goldberg brings it home with stunning clarity (emphasis mine):
This is a typically penetrating insight, and one with new relevance these days. This country seems to have inverted de Tocqueville’s hierarchy. On countless fronts, the natural pastures of daily liberty have become circumscribed by dull-witted but well-meaning bureaucrats slapping down the paving stones of good intentions on the road to hell.
The rule of thumb for a free society should be that it infringes liberties rarely, but when it does so it is for important reasons. Today, that thumb has been cast down, Caesar-like, pointing in the opposite direction. We have democratized the small assaults on freedom so that everyone must endure them, while we caterwaul about the tyranny of any real inconvenience that might fall “disproportionately” on the few. We ban using trans fats for millions but flinch at the idea that some kid might have to endure the Pledge of Allegiance or a moment of silence in school if it conflicts with his conscience. Everyone must surrender his shoes, his regular-sized toothpaste and shampoo at the airport, but we man the barricades to protect a few young Muslim men from being inconvenienced for an extra five minutes at the airport.
Free speech is most restricted where it is most important — in political contests near Election Day — while it is maximized to an absurd level at the fringes of culture and decency. Banning “hate speech” from everybody’s lips is a progressive priority, but electronic eavesdropping on a few terrorists is an impermissible leap down the slippery slope to the police state.
Goldberg is right, as usual. Go read the whole article.
Thoughts on Consumerism
Found this wonderful little article from Will Willimon entitled "Resisting the Clutches of Consumerism". A good read, especially this time of year.
...the “user friendly” approach to church won’t work. There is no way to entice people off the streets with hymns that are based on advertising jingles and end up with the cross-bearing, self-sacrificial, burden-bearing Jesus. Evangelism cannot be based upon our basic selfishness (“Come to Jesus and get everything you want fixed.”) and end up with anything resembling historic Christianity.
Good stuff, for sure. Go read the whole thing.
