two videos on the Government’s role

first from Iain Murray a nice economic fisking of a you tube government health care video and next an uplifting musical piece from allahpundit

group think

the inability to reconsider (or even see) built in assumptions is something that is very interesting to me about people. @texaszman pointed to this interesting article on twitter this morning. check out this bit here: My theory—call it the “Oakley effect”—is that really smart people often don’t know how to accept and react constructively to [...]

wedding yesterday

the daughter of a good friend of ours was married yesterday. it was an outdoor wedding at Kindred Oaks in Leander/Georgetown/way north area. It was lovely and fun. the weather cooperated in a big way and it wasn’t too hot.

danger of moralistic deism

here is Matt Chandler talking about the necessity of the centrality of the Gospel and the danger when it is assumed. Love that last line. “But you don’t put God in your debt. I know this because really really faithful men in the Scripture have it go really really bad for them.” hat tip to [...]

Do people have free will?

Andrew Naselli takes a long look at the question of free will over here. Fascinating stuff. take some time this weekend to explore it. Here is the introduction to get you started: Non-Christians and Christians alike often give the same answer to difficult questions like these: Why did God allow sin in the first place? [...]

foto friday

afternoon bokeh Black and White sunstar Black and White dandelion

why philippians?

Matt Chandler gives the top ten reasons he selected to teach through the book of Philippians for a small group video Bible study. I especially liked reasons 1, 2 and 9 below, but go check out the whole list. How the church began. Acts 16: Lydia is a wealthy Asian (Thyatira); the slave girl is [...]

solitude and community

Continuing with Life Together by Dietrich Bonhoeffer, we get to this on page 77 and 78: Let him who cannot be alone beware of community. He will only do harm to himself and the community.  Alone you stood before God when he called you; alone you had to answer that call; alone you had to [...]

Hour of Power

you have got to check out Mark Driscoll wearing a tie and preaching the Gospel to the crowd in the Crystal Cathedral on the Hour of Power. Resurgence blog post about it here. Direct link to video here. transcript here. Think about the message that Mark is bringing in the forum managed by Dr. Robert [...]

What she said

I agree with what Jennifer Rubin says here. there are market based sensible approaches that can be taken to reform our health insurance/health care system in this country, but the left wingers in charge aren’t interested in any such thing. So why doesn’t the Obama team or their allies look to some alternative ideas, including [...]

a wife’s submission

here is the personal story of a former feminist atheist who eventually converted to catholicism learning to embrace the leadership of her husband in the home. There has also been a part of my conversion on this issue that cannot be explained in terms of logic and reason. It’s nothing I could prove to a [...]

God Provides

Continuing with Life Together by Dietrich Bonhoeffer, we get to this on page 72: God must feed us. We cannot and dare not demand this food as our right, for we, poor sinners, have not merited it. Thus the sustenance that God provides becomes a consolation of the afflicted; for it is the token of [...]

tornados and Lutherans

I am sure everybody has seen John Piper’s post about Providence, Tornados, Lutherans and Homosexuality. If not, hie thee hence and get after it. 6. Conclusion: The tornado in Minneapolis was a gentle but firm warning to the ELCA and all of us: Turn from the approval of sin. Turn from the promotion of behaviors that [...]

phriday photos

just something about film that looks different. really hot out at Waterloo Park last weekend almost 90

reality of marriage

Challies put up an article on Monday just after his eleventh wedding anniversary that was a very real look at marriage through the device of wanting to give his younger newly married self some counseling. the whole thing is good, but I thought this part was especially helpful because so many people have unrealistic ideas [...]

no direct fellowship?

going back to pages 35-36 of Life Together by Dietrich Bonhoeffer, he makes a curious argument. He says that Christians should not desire to be directly involved in the lives of other believers. Check this out: Because Christ stands between me and others, I dare not desire direct fellowship with them. As only Christ can [...]

the Death Penalty

Challies has reviewed The Death Penalty on Trial by Ron Gleason. It sounds like a interesting and useful book for Christians who have trouble with the Death Penalty as a possible punishment by the State. Go read the whole review and see what you think. I thought this part was a particularly interesting bit of [...]

It is not our heart that determines our course

continuing to read Life Together by Dietrich Bonhoeffer, you get to page 55. this is some really great stuff on the importance of Biblical literacy: How, for example, shall we ever attain certainty and confidence in our personal and church activity if we do not stand on solid Biblical ground? It is not our heart [...]

Prosperity Gospel is a false Gospel

after reading this from Dr. Mohler, I think that I am beginning to understand why John Piper hates the prosperity gospel so intensely. The New York Times took note of the fact that the current recession and financial distress did not keep the crowd from attending the Southwest Believers’ Convention. The event is part of [...]

anatomy of a carve out

check this out. which hospital is this? “A hospital that was recognized as a comprehensive cancer center or clinical cancer research center by the National Cancer Institute of the National Institutes of Health as of April 20, 1983, that is located in a State which, as of December 19, 1989, was not operating a demonstration [...]

Carville can’t count

I don’t know because I don’t watch the show, but did anyone at CNN question Carville’s crazy cajun calumny? Here’s Carville on CNN’s State of the Union today: Put a bill out there, make them filibuster it. Make them be what they are — the party of no. Look, we spend — the truth of [...]

everday Gospel

via Ramblin’ Pastor Man, here is a short video with John Piper explaining that we need the Gospel every day.

the hope

this is the hope we have because of the love of God. 1 John 3:1-3: “Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God! Therefore the world does not know us, because it did not know Him. Beloved, now we are children of God; and [...]

Marriage

what is the point of marriage? If the only point of marriage is to be the highest expression of romantic love, then evangelical opposition to homosexual marriage is just mean. It would be mean to say to some people that their love is unworthy of expression in marriage while other people get the sanction of [...]

community as a gift of God’s grace

A friend of mine gave me Life Together by Dietrich Bonhoeffer for my birthday and I am reading it. Oh wow is this some good, densely packed material!. here is an example from page 18 in the opening chapter: So between the death of Christ and the Last Day it is only by a gracious [...]