come on get happy

and a bonus and just because we can

creepy or great?

Jonah G. wants to know if you find this creepy or not? my vote is creepy. what do you think? UPDATE: you will never guess who is behind this video. ok, maybe you will, but I doubt it. Check it out, Ed Morissey has the details.

How Sharp the Edge?

Here is the download and outline of Mark Driscoll’s talk this past weekend at the Desiring God National Conference. I listened to it yesterday. Wow. It was great and convicting. As you can see from the outline, Mark said that pastors need to: 1. feed the sheep 2. rebuke the swine 3. shoot the wolves [...]

podcasts

we started a study of Luke at Vista Church three weeks ago. The podcasts are here. I highly recommend all three of them. Jeff Mangum has been on flaming fire. three of the best messages that go right at the heart of the matter of faith and trust with which I have ever been challenged.

Something only Mark Driscoll would do

here is something that only Mark Driscoll would write and that only he would do with it once it was written. Over the years, much of my ministry has been to men in general, and young, single men in particular. The least likely person to go to church in virtually every nation, including my own, [...]

Mark Steyn on the thuggery

Here is Mark Steyn on the bout of thuggery and intimidation from the Barack Obama campaign. As Stanley Kurtz, Milt Rosenberg and David Freddoso can tell you, this pattern is well established: The Obama campaign’s response to uncongenial allegations is not to rebut them but to use its muscle to squash the authors. This is [...]

the defense plan from Mr. Obama

here is Barack Obama’s defense plan for the U.S. background on why I am posting this video here. and more stuff here. Oh and here is another bit here. and just in case you can’t see the pattern yet, here is some more. “shut up” he argued. well, that isn’t a very convincing argument.

first reports on Desiring God conference

the first reports are trickling in about the Desiring God fall conference on the power of words. Mark Driscoll just completed his session entitled: How Sharp the Edge? Christ, Controversy, and Cutting Words. It was one of the best messages I have ever heard, and one that needs to continue to be spoken. Driscoll was [...]

Ligonier West Coast Conference

Outlines of various talks given at the Ligonier West Coast Conference are posted on the Ligonier Ministries blog. As you would expect, there is some challenging and excellent material being presented. The one on Postmodernism by Ligon Duncan caught my eye. Here are the three reasons Ligon gives for a Christian to “be informed” about [...]

Molly’s surgery

here is a link to Steve McCoy’s updates regarding his lovely wife Molly’s surgery. It sounds like everything has gone well so far.

excellent Newbigin quote

Todd Hiestand has an excellent quote from Newbigin up this morning. Here is the second half, but be sure to go read the first half too. And we can also see that wherever the missionary character of the doctrine of election is forgotten; wherever it is forgotten that we are chosen in order to be [...]

morning sun

messing around this morning. I love taking pictures.

on doubt

Here is a post from C.J. Mahaney talking about Os Guiness and his book In Two Minds: The Dilemma of Doubt and How to Resolve It (IVP, 1976). This book is now sold as God in the Dark: The Assurance of Faith Beyond a Shadow of Doubt. as I have said before, Mark 9:24 is [...]

fireproof

Julie and I and some friends of ours went to see this movie last night. It was really good. Not in the usual way. There wasn’t any great acting accomplishment and the script was kind of wooden. But the story was absolutely true to life. The review I link above explains the attraction of the [...]

letter to the editor

maybe this is why Sarah Palin drives some people right over the edge. When federal judges in San Francisco ruled in 2002 that reciting the Pledge of Allegiance in public schools was unconstitutional because it included the phrase “under God,” Sarah Palin was not amused. Palin, who at the time was Mayor of Wasilla, Alaska, [...]

driscoll on piper

Here is a post by Mark Driscoll on the Resurgence blog telling us why he loves John Piper. It includes an embedded video interview of Piper by Driscoll. Excellent stuff and worth your time (almost 50 minutes long). Here are the reasons Mark Driscoll gives for loving John Piper. Go over there for the commentary [...]

friday fotos

pray for the Reformissionary’s lovely wife Molly has she has brain surgery today. here are a couple of pictures: Bella looking at my flash trying to capture the pinky orange color

Michael Novak’s view of evidence

Here is Michael Novak’s view of the evidence for the virgin birth. John Derbyshire does not trust the word of Mary the Mother of Jesus, nor the word of Luke the Evangelist. It was to Luke that Mary told the story of the Annunciation of the birth of Jesus. What she described is not according [...]

evidence

What is evidence? being a lawyer, I am used to thinking of evidence as coming from admissible documents and witness testimony. whenever I am preparing a case, I engage in “discovery.” discovery is a process of asking questions and requesting documents related to the event that is the subject of the case. Documents include the [...]

Naomi Wolf has come undone

there is something weird about Sarah Palin that causes people to lose their minds. Here is the latest example. the piece is entitled in a classically understated modest and unassuming way as, “The Battle Plan II: Sarah “Evita” Palin, the Muse of the Coming Police State” It is very difficult to make enough sense of [...]

clothing tips

here are some clothing tips for ministers, but they are equally applicable for all men who have to actually dress up on occasion. the whole thing is an informative article, but I like these quick hits toward the end: MISCELLANEOUS TIPS Take off your sportcoat or suit coat before riding in a car. Otherwise you [...]

more on Prayer

Here is part 2 of R. C. Sproul’s article on prayer. (I mentioned part 1 here) In this one he asks two questions. Does prayer change God’s mind? Does prayer change things? The answer he gives is different for each one. Go read the whole thing with bonus quotes from Jonathan Edwards. key paragraph No [...]

A polemicist at the top of her game

this is a fine example of the combination of passion and prose that is a masterful polemicist in action. Caroline Glick of Israel is first rate. here is an excerpt, but you have to go read the whole thing in all of its righteously indignant glory to get the measure of the pacing that led [...]

mentoring

here is a bit from Beth Nelson about the value of life-giving mentoring. In his article for the upcoming fourth volume of the Catalyst GroupZine, Tim Elmore describes a life-giving mentor as someone who walks beside another and says, “I’m going to help you finish your race well.” He says that most mentoring relationships are [...]

true evangelism

here is a good word about evangelism as a lifestyle rather than an event. There are many misunderstandings about the nature of true evangelism. Many people don’t evangelize because when they think of evangelism, they think of the overzealous man on the street corner with the bullhorn. They think, “I’m not called to do that.” [...]